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UMASS/AMHERST 


2066  0308   0408   7 


'ECOLLEG 
EPOSITORY 


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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS 

AGRICULTURAL 

COLLEGE 

No L(cLi?_l DATE..^-J.§-SS 

SOURCE. Co.  Llea€„-^Li..Tifls_-.-. 
N444 


SFIbUAL  COU.ECTJOMS 
ft  ARCHfVES 


THE 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER; 


A    MONTHLY    JOURNAL, 


DEVOTED    TO 


AGRICULTURE,  HORTICULTURE, 


AND    THEIR    KINDRED 


ARTS    AND    SCIENCES 


AND  ILLUSTRATED  WITH  NUMEROUS  BEAUTIFUL  ENGRAVINGS. 


"  What  may  not  enlightened  citizens  accomplish,  who  have  discarded  the  false,  bustling  pleasures  of 
towns,  and,  carrying  into  the  country  the  knowledge  they  may  have  acquired,  apply  to  Agriculture  the  rich 
and  varied  assistance  of  the  physical  sciences  1"  —  Fodkceot. 


SIMON    BROWN,    EDITOR. 

FREDERICK  HOLBROOK  AND  HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  ASSOCIATE  EDITORS. 

VOLUME    XI. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED    BY   NOURSE,   EATON   &   TOLMAN, 
34    MERCHANTS'    ROW. 

1859. 


V 


at 


4 


\%5'\ 


INDEX  TO  THE  ELEVENTH   VOLUME. 


Page 
Academy,  Westfield,  Mass.  .         .         .         397 

Activity,  mental,  among  farmers,  .         .         307 

Agricuitureal  knowledge,  75,  258,  396  ;  progress 

of,  tlie  basis  of  human  progress,         .         .         238 
Agriculture,  progressive,  69,  74,  87  ;  Boards  of, 
107;    the  governor's   notion   of,    U7  ;    State 
Board  of,    124,    140  ;    convention    at   AVash- 
ington,  135  ;  Maine  State  Board  of,  138,  165  ; 
scientific,  140;  and  the  militia,  179;  in  Por- 
tugal, 219,    326;    and   North  American  Re- 
view, .......         540 

Air,  night,  45,  207  ;  pure,     ....         344 

Allen,  farmer,  his  farm,         .         .         .         445,  505 
Alligator,  habits  of  the,         ....         355 

Ammonia,      .......  86 

Animal,  fattening,  46 ;  a  luxury  for,  92  ;  drug- 
ging, 157;  kingdom,  grand  divisions  in,  357  ; 
instinct  of,  401 ;  vertebrate,  418;  and  plants, 
type,  species,  variety,  .         .  .         492 

Ape,  new  kind  of,         .         .         .  .         113 

Ap])arel,  ladies'  wearing,        .         .         .         .  152 

Api^le,  Baldwin,  35,  37  ;  crop  in  Waltham,  71  ; 
new  varieties  of,  204;  tree,  split  bark  on,  233, 
311  ;  tree,  time  for  pruning  the,  245  ;  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  261  ;  for  exportation,  262,  279  ; 
Minister,  329  ;  orchard,  341  ;  and  apple  trees, 
354  ;  tree,  philosophy  of  the,  399  ;  and  plums, 

459  ;  about  drying  the 542 

April,  calendar  for,  153  ;  suggestions  for,      .         154 
Art  and  science,  conservatory  of,         .         .         189 

Artichoke, i92 

Ashes,  in  the  hill,  139;  leached,  164;  on  clay 
soil,  179;  wood,  180;  coal,  as  a  manure,  194, 
237,  245,  277,  394,  404,  432,  557 ;  against 
plaster,  330;  as   a  disinfectant,   412;   versus 

lime, 569 

Associations,  town, 190 

August,  calendar  for,  345  ;  farm  work  foi-,    .         439 

B 


Barley,  and  oats,  51  ;  African  bald,  82  ;  foi 
horses,  203  ;  culture  of,  465  ;  winter. 

Barn,  tie-ups,  clapboards  or  battens,  89,  122; 
management  of  the,  158,  278;  cellar  for  ma- 
nure, 283  ;  new  arrangements  for,  283 ;  and 
loam,  319;  arrangement  in  the,  446;  how 
shall  I  build,  471,  480  ;  al)Out  a,  499  ;  for  New 
England,  .....         522, 

Barrels,  iron  or  metallic,         .... 

Bayberry  bushes,       ...  .  . 

Beans,  for  stock,  405  ;  great  crop  of,     . 

Beauty,  utility,  anil  refinement, 

Bee,  hives,  75,  309  ;  criticism  on  the,  217  ;  labor 
of  the,  in  the  liivc,  272;  criticism  about  the, 
ex])laincd,  ...... 

Beef,  fattening  it  on  potatoes. 

Beets,  CLiltivatio:)   of,  282  ;  sugar  from, 

Bernardston,  Mass.,  Bowers'  Institute  in. 


558 


538 
346 
524 
498 
477 


Page. 
Birds,  spare  them,  191  ;  and  boys,  247  ;  and  fruit, 

388 ;  seed  eating, 573 

Biennial,  and  perennial,         ....         559 
Blackberry,  Lawton,      .  278,  498,  526 

Blood,  the  river  of  life,         .         .         .  384 

Book,  noticed,  Milch  Cows  and  Dairy  Farming, 
and  Fruit  Culture  for  the  Million,  37  ;  farm- 
ing, 191  ;  on  American  Weeds  and  Useful 
Plants,  239;  Downing's  Landscape  Gardening, 
264  ;  a  new,  on  draining,  287  ;  against  experi- 
ence, 135  ;  Langstroth  on  the  Honey  Bee,  Life 
of  North  American  Lisects,  and  Essays  on  the 
Soiling  of  Cattle,  303,  304  ;  the  American 
Home  Garden,  306  ;  agricultural,  328  ;  Farm 
Drainage,  352  ;  Hints  to  IIorse-Kedpers,  Coun- 
try Life,  Wells'  Natural  Philosophy,  Country 
School  House,  books  in  Japan,  361  ;  Gray's 
botanical  series,  387  ;  College  Journal  of  Med- 
ical Science,  389  ;  Copeland's  Countrv  Life, 
449;  Campbell's  Agriculture,  463;  "Wells' 
I  Principles  of  Chemistry  and  Science  of  Com- 
I      mon  Things,  .....         566 

I  Bone,  will  sulphuric  acid  dissolve,  82  ;  manure, 
I     266  ;  and  boards,  cattle  and  horses  eating  of,   310 
I  Borer,  apple  and  peach,  50;  oil  soap  to  kill  the, 

I      356  ;  bark, 

I  Borrowing  and  lending,         .... 
I  Bots,  in  horses,  certain  cure  for,     .         .         355, 
iBovs,  a  story  for,  199  ;  at  home,  to  keep  the, 

]      238,  444  ;   and  birds, 

j  Bread,  and  salt,  180;  and  milk,  law  about,  . 

!  Brick  making,  ])_v  elephants, 

I  Bronchitis,  simjde  remedy  for, 

I  Brown,  Simon,  letter  from,  456,  459,  461, 

I  Buckwheat  and  clover  on   sandy   land,  90;    as 

food,  224 ;  and  wire  worms, 
iBuckt'liorn,  seeds  of,  for  hedge, 
lBud<lin£c,  time  for,  etc.,  .  ... 

iBuffalorthe, 

jBug,  jVIay,  or  dor,  276;  to  save  vines   from   a, 
I     323  ;  remedy  for  striped,  336,  340  ;  rose,  340  ; 
!     swarms  of,  ...... 

■Buildings,  farm,  ]dan  of,        .... 

I  Bull,  a  line  native,  233  ;  Ayrshire, 
I  Butter,  how  to  make  good  winter,  91,  122,  151, 
I     415  ;  white  sjjecks   in,  323,  343,  356,  373,  382, 
i     391,406,415;  how  to   make  good,  426,  436 ; 
I     makiuir, 


576 
299 


247 

271 

96 

65 

547 

2.53 
269 
428 
507 


470 


433 


434 


302 

47 

314 

230 


0 


Cabbage,  how  to  i-aise,  314  ;  stump  footed,  383,  407 
Calf,  a  stubborn,  232  ;  a  big,  233  ;  raising  a,  269  : 

lice  on  a,  286  ;  a  good,  "    .         .         .         .         356 
Calendar,  for  Januarv,  9  ;  for  February,  57  ;  for 

March,  105  ;  for  April,  154  ;  for  May,  201  ;  for 

June,  249  ;  for  July,  297  ;  for  August,  345  ; 

for   September,   393  ;    for    October,    441  ;    for 

Novcmbe'r,  489  ;  for  December, 
Canada,  about, 


Canker  worms. 


537 
466 
161,  269 


INDEX. 


Page. 
Can,  preserviiifr,    ......         375 

Camel,  strcno-th  of, 255 

Caps,  bay,  L'4G  ;  cloth  for  hay,         269,  336,  415,  498 

Care,  household, 104 

Carrot,  for  horses,  16  ;  for  culture,  55  ;  J.  and  J. 
T.  Dinsmoor's  crop  of,  188,  237  ;  value  of  for 
milk,  ;335  ;  wild,  451  ;  crop  of,  .  .  567 
Cattle,  wintering,  19  ;  sulphur  for,  89;  fatal  dis- 
ease among-,  90,  140;  soiling  of,  226,302;  eat- 
ing boards  and  boTies,  277  ;  new  way  of  salt- 
ing, 280;  native,  294;  lice  on,  .  .  480 
Cellar,  barn,  for  manures,      ....         283 

Celery,  cultivation  of, 236 

Cement,  for  broken  cliina,      .         .         .         .  130 

Cheese,  porous,  36,  172;  liow  many  pounds  of 

milk  to  make  a  jiound  of,         .         .         .         218 
Cheshire  county,  N.  11. ,  agricultural  meetings  in, 

97,  196;  crops  in, 443 

Chick,  how  liatched, 408 

Chicken,  to  prevent  eats  from   killing,  456;  how 

to  fatten  a, 560 

Child,  obedient, 56 

Chimney,  a  large, 25 

Churn,  a  new,         ......         498 

Cider,  how  to  improve,  38;  how  to  keep  it  sweet,  564 

Cistern, 366 

Clay,  to  amend  sandy  soils  with,    .  .316 

Clover,  Alexandrian,     .....         259 
Clubs,    farmers',  constitution   of,    44 ;   farmers', 
144,  151,  156,  212  ;  at  Lunenburg,  187  ;  Gro- 
ton  farmers',  223  ;  pioneer  farmers',  .         330 

Coal,  ashes,  a  fertilizer,  194,  237,  245,  277,  394, 

404,  432,  491  ;  as  a  disinfectant,  412  ;  and  iron,  512 
Cockroaches,  323  ;  how  to  kill,  ...  398 
Cold,  effects  of  on  apple  trees,  .  .  .  380 
Coffee,  how  made  in  France,  .  .  .  334 
Colt,  a  fine,  218;  an  injured,  223,  340;  a  sick, 
291,367;  bunch  on  hind  foot  of  a,  366  ;  a 
ru])tnred,  427  ;  cure  for  breach  in  a,  459,  470  ; 
a  contrary, 5.50,  569 


letter  from. 


222 
24 


121 


Concord,  Mass 

Coop,  chicken. 

Corn,  its  su])eriority  to  animal  food,  26  ;  crops, 
measurement  of,  32  ;  largest  yield  of  on  record, 
44  ;  a  new  kind  of,  48  ;  stalks,  topping,  52, 
55,  72,  87,  115,  180,181,237,427;  fall  ma- 
nuring for,  71  ;  experiments  in  raising,  145  ; 
Cyrus  Kilburn's  crop  of,  187  ;  Joseph  Good- 
rich's crop  of,  188;  culture  of,  216;  fodder, 
233.  246,  399,  420  ;  how  to  hull,  259,  277  ; 
tarring  seed,  274 ;  seed,  383 ;  crop,  experi- 
ments with,  421  ;  pollen  and  suckers  of,  458; 
nativity  of,  483 ;  harvesting,  501,  535;  husk- 
ing,    ."        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .536 

Correspondents,  to,         ...         .         210,  225 

Cottage  River,  residence  of  editor,  41 ; — Sec 
frontispiece. 

Cotton-seed  meal,  ..... 

Cow,  milch,  and  dairy  farms,  36,  143;  how  to  in- 
crease tiie  value  of,  68  ;  brain,  tumor  on,  69  ; 
sick,  152;  a  kicking,  164,  191,  232,  277,  291, 
308,  .341,356,374,426;  milch,  feed  of,  197; 
s])ayed.  225,  561  ;  stabled  at  night,  234 ; 
milking  young,  241  ;  eating  l)o.ards  and  bones, 
277  ;  india  rubber  ring  for  teats  of  the,  278; 
a  line.  278,  377,  382  ;  product  of  ten,  296  ;  ar- 
tichokes for  the,  323  ;  salt  and  ashes  for,  358  ; 
that  leaks  her  milk,  376  ;  garget  in,  cure  for, 
376,  458  ;  shedding  milk,  383  ;  pasturing  the, 
383  :  food  for  the,  454  ;  bunches  on  the  teats 
of  the 

Cranl)erry,  on  upland,  210,  278  ;  time  to  set  the, 
277  ;  i)re|iaring  meadows  for  the,  313  ;  meadow, 
a  costly,  484,  524  ;  meadow,  questions  about, 

Cream  and  churning,     ..... 

Cress,  water, 304, 

Crocodile,  about  the, 


i'aga. 
Crop,  in  Essex  County,  Mass.,  546  ;  how  to  keep 

good, .         564 

Crow,  to  prevent  pulling  corn,  291  ;  and  other 

birds, 407 

Cucumber,  how  improved,  ....  346 
Culture  and  over  culture,  ....  506 
Cultivator,  Sawyer's  improved,  .  .  .  553 
Curculio,  331;  the,  ....         375,469 

Currant  bushes,  soap  suds  for,  .  .  320,  518 
Cuttings,  striking  in  moss,     .         .         .         188,  263 

D 

Dairies, 266 

December,  calendar  for,  ....  537 
Dinner,  carving  a,  .....         536 

Draining,  in  New  England,  19,  50,  74,  92  ;  leg- 
islation about,  and  land  drainage  companies, 
136,  159,  219;  an  experiment  in,  146 ;  "hnd 
power  of  soils  to  retain  manures,  284  ;  under, 
329;  of  forms,  331,   339,  394,  396,438,473, 

495,  524 ;  in  Paris, 528 

Drought,  benefit  of, 387 

Dog,  a  trap  to  catch  sheep-killing,  370 ;  law 
about,  Massachusetts,  451  :  what  they  cost  us,    451 

Dove,  a  story  about; 38 

Ducks,  Muscovy, 398 

Dust,  saw,  as  a  fertilizer,  .  .  550,  567,  570 
Dyspepsia,  to  cure  the,         ....         470 

E 

Eagle,  golden,                72 

Eat,  what  shall  we, 144 

Echoes,           .......  141 

Education,   agricultural,    71;    female,    126;  of 

voung  men,  181  ;  home,     ....  491 

Electricity,  and  ventilation,  .  82,  130,  218 

Equestrianism  by  ladies,         ....  35 

Ergot,  effects  of,             ....  40 

Exercise,  effects  of, 162 

Exports,  our,                  39 


525 


567 
459 
415 
258 


Fair,  fitrmer's  market,  247  ;  at  South  Danvers, 
288,  377  ;  for  1859,  395  ;  attending  the,     . 

Fallacies,  po])ular,  notes  on. 

Farm,  life  in  New  England,  47  ;  system  in  man- 
agement of  a,  73  ;  of  Elijah  Wood,  Jr.,  Con- 
cord, Mass.,  99  ;  intellect  of  the,  101  ;  State, 
240 ;  experimental,  259 ;  work,  seasonable, 
420,  438 ;  labor,  make  it  fashionable,  555 ; 
order  and  economy  on  the. 

Farmer,  the,  his  position,  21,  251;  love  your 
calling,  128;  education  of  the,  156;  Nash's 
Progressive,  164  ;  mental  activity  of  the,  307; 
anti-book,  portrait  of  the,  321  ;  taste  of  the, 
327  :  science  for,  359  ;  the,  and  his  surround- 
ings, ....... 

Farming,  economy  in,  27  ;  well,  47 ;  in  Maine, 
55  ;  Sir  Isaac  "Newton's  taste  for,  56 ;  head 
work  in,  72  ;  high,  260;  high  and  insects,  370 : 
is  there  profit  in,  447,  553  ;  in  northern  New 
Hampshire 534,  538, 

Fashion,  the  hoop, 

February,  calendar  for, 

Feed,  grinding, 

Feet,  small,  in  Peru,| 

Female,  influence  of, 

Fences,  wire, 50, 

Fertilizer,  a  new  and  useful. 

Fish,  a  fat 

Fish,  northern  and  southern,  302  ;  habits  of,  409  ; 
pond,  ....... 

Flowage, 77,  117, 

Flowers,  for  rock  work,  208  ;  hardy,  native,  224 ; 
what  are  they  good  for,  438  ;  fall. 

Food,  cooked,  for  fattening  cattle, 


525 
503 


559 


572 


555 
200 
57 
87 
491 
550 
315 
257 
124 

532 
143 

535 
70 


INDEX. 


Fodder,  feeding  to  stock,  233  ;  good,  388  ;  corn,  420 

Follies, 500 

Forests,  destruction  of,  ....         120 

Fowls,  how  to  keep,  47  ;  diseases  in,  164  ;  white 

Shanghai,  170;  black  Spanish,  232;  game,        405 
French,  H.  F.,  letter  from,  on  agriculture  in  Coos 
County,  N.  H.,  14;  on  various  subjects,  2C0, 

284,  331,  473,  514 
Frost,  effects  of,  3G5  ;  early  and  late,     .         .         380 
Fruit,  report  of  committee  on,  in  Charlemont, 
Mass.,  13;  eating,  37;  culture  of,  197;  raise 
and  eat  it,  360 ;  prospects  for,  366  ;  and  birds, 
388 ;  mildew  in,  427  ;  gathering  and  preserv- 
ing, 450;  against  robins,    ....         467 
Fuel,  economy  in,  25  ;  wonderful  power  of,  22 

Furniture,  home  made,  ....         287 

G 

Garden,   flowers   in  the,  254  ;  gardening,  land- 
scape, 264  ;  a  walk  in  the,  363  ;  the,  and  pork 
barrel,  405 ;  women  in  the,         .         .         .         447 
Garget,  cure  for,  .         .         .         376,  458,  542 

Geese,  Bremen,      ......         567 

Girls,  school,  in  winter,  .         .         .         .         104 

Gooseberries,  mildew  on,  513  ;  and  currants,         574 

Grafting, 363 

Grain,  will  it  change  its  kind,  166 ;  crops  of,  183  ; 

harvesting,  381  ;  sifter  and  assorter,  .         423 

Grape,  vine,  grafting  the,  155,  268;  trimming  in 
spring,  281;  raising  the,  316;  shortening  in, 
341 ;  ringing,  367  ;  propagating,  389  ;  eggs  of 
insects  on,  398 ;  blight  in,  246 ;  unfruitful, 
448  ;  Hartford  and  Concord,  246,  534,  567 ; 
$100  premium  on,  281  ;  Isabella,  437 ;  how 
shall  we  learn  which  is  the  best,  444  ;  preserving 
the,  for  winter,  457  ;  white,  fabled,  492  ;  native, 
510;  Isabella,  laying  down  vine  of  tlie,  570; 
hardy,  574 ;  native,  ....  575 
Grass,  blue  joint,  426,499  ;  Hungarian,  114,  179, 
192,  234,  237,  254,  264,  291,  308,  442,  452  ; 
seed  to  an  acre,  277  ;  roots,  and  sward  worms, 
314  ;  winter-killed,  366 ;  what  kinds,  398  ;  wild, 
in  meadows,  405  ;  tall  oat  and  meadow  fescue, 
426  ;  land,  top-dressing  for,  439,  and  manur- 
ing, 458 ;  witcli,  .  .  .  499,  550,  574 
Groton,  Mass.,  farmer's  club,  .  .  .  223 
Guano,  164;  American,  or  Jarvis'  and  Baker's 
island,  203,  265,  576;  for  onions,  314,376; 
and  superphosphate,  426  ;  artificial,  491,  576  ; 
Peruvian, 545,  574 


H 


Habits,  negligent,  boiTOwing, 

Harness,  oiling  leather,  etc., 

Harrow,  Bucklin's  improved, 

Harvest,  liomc,  gigantic,         .... 

Hay,  stacks,  103  ;  and  roots,  226  ;  caps  for,  246  ; 
caps,  cloth  for,  ....         269, 

Hedge,  osage  orange  for,  180;  buckthorn,  seed 
for, 269, 

Heifer,  a,  that  holds  up  her  milk. 

Hemlock,  and  pine,  transplanting  the. 

Hens,  disorder  among  laying,  50  ;  diseased,  112  ; 
laying  all  the  year,  114;  lame,  180;  are  they 
profitable,  192;  lame,  that  die,  230;  profit  of, 
383  ;  and  hen's  husl)ands,  406  :  crowing. 

Hennery,  great,  French,         .         .         .  12, 

Hints,  to  farmers,  ..... 

Hive,  bee,  straight  comb  in,  324;  bee,  and 
apiary, 

334 ;  hoeing,       .... 
82;  net  weight  of  a,  91  ;  large,  114  ; 


Hoe,  wheel 
Hog,  a  fine 

in  Ohio, 

Hoof  ail, 

Home,  a  permanent,  and  $40,000,  247  ;  how  to 

build  up  a, 


18 
390 
545 

95 

498 

383 
437 
372 


499 
251 
236 

334 
358 

279 
40 

433 


Page. 
Horse,  carrots  for,  16  ;  coat  of  the,  48,  158;  in- 
jured and  diseased,  89,  123,  165,  312;  floors 
for  the,  90,  174  ;  stall  for  the,  123  ;  buncli  on 
leg  of  a,  140;  splints  on  a,  164;  garget  poi- 
son to  tiic,  191;  barley  for  a,  203;  premium 
for  speed  of  the,  218;  ]iower,  222;  treatment 
of  ringbone  in  a,  228  ;  foot  and  shoeing,  234  ; 
lock  jaw  in  the,  234 ;  blind  staggers  in  the, 
246  ;  to  cure  sprung  knees  in  the,  259  ;  glanders 
in  the,  267  ;  management  of  the,  303  ;  as  a 
breeder,  316  :  ringbone  in  tlie,  341  ;  cure  for 
bots  in  the,  355,  357 ;  worms  in,  375;  chafed 
under  the  collar,  455 ;  running  and  trotting 
of  the,  456  ;  cure  for  breach  in  a,  459 ;  to 
cure  a  hard  pulling,  490  ;  handling  the,  while 
being  sliod,  493;  walk,  train  him  to,  500; 
feed  for  a,  504 ;  contraction  of  feet  in  the,  509  ; 

qualities  of  the, 510 

Horticulturist,  the 289 

Hotbed,  planting  in  the,  ....  270 
House,  notes  on  tlie  dwelling,  .  .  .  412 
Hungarian  grass,  234,  237,  254,  264,  291,  308,  354 
Hydrophobia, 274 


Illinois,  from  Northern, 
Industry,  habits  of — nothing  to  do. 
Institute,  Powers,  at  Bernardston,  Mass., 
Iowa,  its  climate  and  crops,  30  ;  season  in. 
Islands,  Sandwich,  letter  from. 


January,  calendar  for, 
July,  calendar  for, 
June,  calendar  for. 


K 


Kale,  sea, 
Kansas,  farminj: 


500 
79,  295 
230 
279 
362 


9 
297 
249 


190,  212 

487 


Labor,  as  a  curse, 455 

Lambkill, 499 

Land,  grass,  management  of  permanent,  18;  ma- 
nuring the,  in  autumn,  27;  tabic  for  measuring, 
59,  80;  meadow,  in  Concord-liiver  valley,  77, 
117;  in  Maine,  259;  laying  to  grass,"  268, 
510;  gradual  improvement  of,  78,  323,429; 
sandy,  exhausted,  83,  183  ;  bill,  Mr.  Morrill's 
172,  175;  sandy,  350;  grass,  how  to  restore,  436 
Law,  delays  of  tlie,  65  ;  about  dogs,  .  .  451 
Leaves  and  chemists,      .....  27 

Legislative  agricultural  meeting,  102,  108,  132, 

141,  147,  167,  185,  204,  214,  227,  243 
Life,  rural,  influence  of,  ...  .  552 
Lime,  in  the  hill,  139;  and  its  properties,  163; 
gas,  217  ;  superphospliatc  of,  for  trees,  when 
transplanting,  224;  for  squashes,  291  ;  super- 
phospiiato  of,  when  to  apply,  426  ;  slaking 
common,  436 ;  and  wheat,  .         .         .         498 

Locust,  yellow,  cultivation  of,         .         .         .         101 
Lumber,  rules  for  measuring,         .         .         191,  438 

M 

Machine,  mowing,  wanted,  11  ;  experience  with 
a,  63  ;  four  years'  observation  of  a  mowing, 
in  Essex  county,  82  ;  mowing,  139,  322,  335, 
371,  374,  376,  389,  390,  391,  392,  396  ;  a  hay 
sjireading,  wanted,  194;  sewing,  in  England, 
203  ;  horse  power,  222  ;  labor-saving,         364,  470 

Maine,  crops  in,  122,  365;  lands  in,  259;  cli- 
mate and  fruits  in,  347  ;  Baldwin  apples  in, 
376  ;  State  Fair, 502 


INDEX 


Page. 
Mangold  wurtzel,  .         .  179,  180,  185,  218,  237 

Maple,  the,  521 

Manure,  fresh,  use  of,  23,  60,  67 ;  application  of, 
84 ;  composting  and  exposing,  86  ;  animal, 
95;  barn  cellar,  vs.  out-of-doors,  100;  when 
and  how  to  use,  115;  prize  essay  on,  119  ;  on 
sowed  crops,  139  ;  spontaneous  combustion  in, 
150;  preservation  of,  150,  155  ;  how  to,  when 
seeding  to  grass,  165;  on  dry,  gravelly  land, 
165:  about,  174;  useful,  191 ;  bone,  266;  hen, 
387  ;  coal  ashes  as  a,  394,  404,  424,  426  ;  top 
dressing  with,  451,  475  ;  horn  piths  for,  460; 
guano,  as  a,  491  ;  on  the  surface,        .         514,  518 

March,  calendar  for,  105  ;  farm  work  for,      .         106 

Market-day,  at  South  Danvers,  288;  at  North 
Andover,  313  ;  at  Sutton's  mdls. 

Marl,  is  it  a  fertilizer  "? 

Massachusetts,  bounty  of,  359 ;  western,  season 
and  crops  in, 

May,  calendar  for, 

Meadow,  Concord  Eiver,  Mass.,  meeting  about  at 
Sudbury,  178,  207,  222;  draining  a,  268;  pre- 
paring them  for  cranberries. 

Meat,  effect  of  heat  upon,      .... 

Melons,  forcing,  189  ;  how  improved,    . 

Mill,  portable  iron  grist,         .... 

Milk,  business,  the,  34;  cows  for,  71  ;  adulter- 
ated, 79  ;  before  the  calf,  81  ;  stand,  and  but- 
ter-worker, 88;  statement  about,  114;  price 
and  measurement  of,  137;  petition  to  legisla- 
ture about,  138;  affected  witii  flavor  of  wild 
onion  and  leeks,  140 ;  price  and  measure,  179  ; 
bloody,  192;  trade  in,  224;  and  bread,  laws 
about^  271  ;  law  regulating  sale  of,  271,  315  ; 
sour,  in  Greece,  322  ;  obstructed,  323;  cost  and 
price  of,  348;  pan,  self-ventilating,  353;  law 
in  relation  to  sale  of,  380  ;  that  does  not  yield 
butter,  and  how  to  make  it,  442  ;  illegal  trade 
in,  463  ;  substitute  for,  for  pigs  and  calves. 

Milking,  clean,  importance  of. 

Millet,  on  raising,  .... 

Militia,  and  agriculture. 

Mole,  star-nosed,  .... 

Moon,  influence  of,  on  temperature,       380 

Months,  spring,  weather  of,  in  1859, 

Montreal,  visit  to,  .... 

Mower,  tlie  best,  

Mowing,  machine  wanted,  11 ;  manner  of,     . 

Muck,  experience  with,  11  ;  bed,  and  its  future 
prospects,  43 ;  compost,  233,  520 ;  value  of, 
252,  350  ;  guano, 

Mutton, 


325 
567 


375 
201 


313 
539 
346 
258 


550 

336,  424 

340 

179 

458 

494,  526 

359 

459    461 

366 

415 


498 
61 


N 


Nails,  cut,  how  introduced. 

New   Hampshire,   Ilillsboro'  County,   crops   in, 

470  ;  Rockingham  county  fair. 
New  Jersey,  pines  of, 

0 


324 


511 
255 


Oats,  and  barley,  51  ;  Australian,  55  ;  will  they 
turn  to  barley,  66;  and  potatoes,  208;  turned 
to  rye,  232  ;  "lodging  of,  318  ;  and  corn,  402 

October,  calendar  for,  ....        441 

Onion,  excellent  crop  of,  59,  185  ;  maggot  in, 
199,  244,  247,  342,  343,  365  ;  growing,  268  ; 
peeling  the,  306;  guano  for,  314,  376;  blight 
in,  347  ;  and  turnip  crops,  354  ;  fly,  384,  407; 

the,  488,  551 

Orchard,  a  young,  how  to  treat,  198,  292  ;  apple, 
341,  372,  374;  a  young,  non-bearing,  398, 
422,  455,  551;    pear,  extensive,  .         .         568 

Orleans  County,  Vermont,  climate  of,  .  84 

Ornithology,  62;  golden  eagle,  72,  213;  wrens,    300 
Oxen,  how  I  buy,  keep,  and  sell,  280 ;  working, 
how  to  train,  351 ;  fine,      ....         567 


Partridge,  Henry,  death  of,  ...         282 

Paint,  adulteration  of,  ....         424 

Pasture,  experiments  with  a,  37 ;  land,  feeding 

off, 332 

Papers,  new,  agricultural,  ....  501 
Peach,  Van  Zandt's  superb,  17;  crop  of  the,  440  ; 

knot  on,     .  ....         517,  533 

Pear,  seeds  of  the,  82;  varieties  of,  130;  M.  P. 
Wilder  on  the,  184;  Flemish  Beauty,  192; 
new  English,  236  ;  blight  in  the,  223;  orchard 
culture  of  the,  241  ;  trees,  257,  279  ;  Doyenne, 
279  ;  tree,  decay  of,  304  ;  dwarf,  supporting, 
389;  moth,  392";  Tyson,  ...         298 

Peas,  in  potatoes,  to  prevent  rot,  .         .         140 

Phosphate,  action  of,  ....  .  436 
Phosphorus,  a  sand,  .....  364 
Pickles,  how  to  make,  427,  459,  469  ;  recipes  for 

making,  440  ;  about,  451  ;  two  years  old,  451 

Pig,  a  good,  218;  and  girls,  .         ...         242 
Pine,  white,  seed  of,  218;  time  to  sow  seed  of, 
233 ;  of  New  Jersey,  235 ;   transplanting  the, 
315,  340, 341,398;  and  hemlock,  372;  Scotch,  529 
Pipe,  water,  through  lead,  217  ;  wooden,        .         513 
Planting,  effects  of  deep,         ....         414 
Plants   must  have  food,  39;    sleeping,  166;   in 
rooms,  246;    how   they   grow,   270;    without' 
leaves,  315;  transplanting. 
Plaster,  in  the  liiil,         .".... 
Plowman,  a  simple,        ..... 
Plow,  steam,  160;  Universal,  192;  Universal  on 
stony  land,   194,  286,  311  ;  plowman,  a  new, 
325;  Holbrook's  Universal, 

Plowing,  fall, 

Plum,  on  the  peach,  217;  trees,  warts  on,  253; 
and  apples,         .....         459, 

Pollen,  uses  of, 

Poppies,  against  bugs,  ..... 
Pork,  proi)er  use  of,  as  food,  60;  and  scrofula, 

64 ;  barrel  and  garden,  .... 
Post,  inverted,  98  ;  time  to  cut,  .  499,  .524,  550 
Potato,  disease  in,  36,  45,  55,  64  ;  origin  of  tlie 
Carter,  64;  from  seed,  100;  rot,  remedy  for, 
121,  232;  culture  of  the,  128;  crop  of'lS58, 
139,  157;  the  Harrison,  105;  about,  173; 
from  the  seed,  182, 191  ;  J.  &  J.  T.  Dunsmoor's 
crop  of,  188;  and  oats,  208  ;  St.  Helena,  222  ; 
California,  233 ;  seeding,  237 ;  plant  pure, 
259  ;  changing  seed  of  the,  269 ;  sweet,  276  ; 
long  red,  278 ;  experiment  with,  292  ;  rot  in 
the,  293,  315,  396;  how  to  raise  the,  331; 
blight  in,  340;    sprouting,  363  ;    theory,  about 

bugs  in,  398  ;  tine, 

Potash,  and  coal  ashes,  36  ;  about, 
Poultry,  profit  from. 
Premiums,  awarded  in  1858, 
Primaries,  progression  of, 
Products,  farm,  how  to  reckon  cost  of. 
Progress,  agricultural,  52  ;  spirit  of, 
Pruning,  what  is  the  best  season  for,  216,  219, 
258,^414;  tap   root,  258,  419;  summer,  262, 

391  ;  about, 33S 

Pump,  Jeffries'  patent  ball  valve,  .         .  36 

Pumpkin,  against  squash,  199,  218,  524;  seed, 


363 
139 
359 


574 
553 

533 
458 
291 

405 


498 
364 
266,  278 
340 
410 
562 
341 


539, 


prolific. 


Q 


Quince,  bushes,  291 ;  orange, 
E 


232,  246 


470 


U 


at  the 


Radish, 

Rain,  philosophy  of,  98;  per  acre,  112 

west,  ......••         35a 

Rake,  horse,  and  hav  tedder,         .         •         •         335 
Ram,  hydraulic,    .   "     .         202,  208,  277,  511,  558 


INDEX. 


Easpberry,  Ohio,  everbearing,  .  .  341,  518 
Reaper,  Ketchum's,  .....  436 
Recipes,  domestic,  56,  104,  200,  248,  296, 392, 440,  488 
Reports,  agricultural,  301,  312  ;  compared,  .  549 
Ringbone,  treatment  of,  ...  .  228 
Robin,  the,  his  title  to  immunity  questioned,  34  ; 
and  worms,  268;  tlie,  269,  332 ;  American, 
461,  506;  plea  for,  ....  517,552 
Rock,  demolishing,  180:   lifter,  BoUe's   patent, 

320,  382 ;  blasting, 443 

Roller,  use  ot,  on  dry  land,    ....         165 

Roofing,  materials  for 43,  88,  123 

Root,  crops,  20,  29,  35,  54,  64,  118,  323  ;  cannot 
grow  without  leaves,  59  ;  and  stock,  64  ;  rais- 
ing and  feeding,  66  ;  for  stock,  79,  286,  388 ; 
comparative  value  of,  91 ;  and  hay,   .         .         226 
Rose,  insects  on,    ......         120 

Ruta  Baga,   and  corn  crops,   318,   338;   value 

of, 340,  365 

Rye,  green,  effects  of,  on  cows,      .         .         .         306 

S 


Sand,  potash  and  phosphorus,  364  ;  on  muck 
lands,  ....... 

Salt,  a  chemical  compound,  beds  of,  94 ;  as  a 
manure,  192;  for  the  dairy. 

Sap,  true,  of  trees, 

Saw-dust,  as  a  fertilizer,         .         .         .         550, 

Scare-crows,  ...... 

School,  State  Reform, 

Scientific,  conclusions,  119  ;  facts  for  the, 

Scions,  importing,  ..... 

Season,  review  of  the,  15,  51,  216,  231,  269,  275, 
337,  .347,  565  ;  in  Western  Massachusetts,  375  ; 
in  New  Hampshire,  375  ;  in  Vermont, 

Seed,  fowl  meadow  grass,  48 ;  per  acre,  75 ; 
steeps  for,  257  ;  thick  and  thin  sowing  of,  264; 
fowl  meadow  and  blue-joint,  426  ;  tall  and 
meadow  fescue,  426  ;  galiier  ripe. 

Sheep,  gross  and  net  weight  of,  1 1  ;  fine,  37  ; 
watering  in  winter,  49  ;  iambs,  and  wool,  55  ; 
care  of,  65  ;  value  of  to  the  American  farmer, 
68;  South  Downs,  71,  90;  most  profitable 
breed  of,  160 ;  ticks  on,  246  ;  shearing  of,  299, 
355  ;  Prussian,  342  ;  remedy  for  ])oisoned,  344, 
427 ;  profitable,  352 ;  biick,  South  Down, 
worms  in,  356  ;  blackfaced,  mountain,  472;  in 
Texas,  478  ;  destruction  of  bj"-  dogs. 

Shows,  town  agricultural,      .... 

Sifters,  or  screens,  Adams'  patent  wire, 

Sleigh,  steam,  98  ;  runners,  shape  of,    . 

Soap,  oil,  for  borers,  356,  453 ;  soft  into  hard, 

523, 

Society,  Worcester  Agricultural,  70,  397,  527 ; 
county,  and  tlie  State  bounty,  81;  Clieshirc 
County,  N.  H.,  meeting  of  at  Winchester,  97, 
at  Marlborough,  131,  at  Walpolc,  149,  at 
Keene,  196,  at  Marlow,  196;  the  Massaclui- 
setts,  116,  122,  348,  352  ;  Mass.  Horticultural, 
546;  countv,  102,  156;  Essex  County,  trans- 
actions of,"  103,  312,  382,  525;  Plymouth 
County,  lis,  425;  Hillsborough  Coimty,  N. 
H.,  oflicers  of,  131;  Norfolk  County,  146,  257  ; 
Hampden  County,  152  ;  town,  countv,  and 
state,  106,  212;  "Rutland  Count)%  Vtf,  222; 
Windham  County,  Vt.,  2C2;  Middlesex  County, 
324,  518  ;  Middlesex  Soutli,  328  ;  512  ;  Frank- 
lin, 351  ;  Worcester  North,  364,  527;  Housa- 
tonic,  408  ;  delegates  to  county,  414  ;  Middle- 
sex North,  434,  512  ;  Barnstable  Countv,  446 ; 
New  York  State,  478  ;  Ham]ishire,  Franklin, 
and  Hampden,  492;  East  Franklin,  512; 
Pennsylvania,  512;  St.  Louis,  512;  Massa- 
chusetts school  of  agriculture,  512 ;  Merri- 
mack County,  N.  H., 

Soil,  clay,  an  amendment  for,  316;  analysis  of 


426 

272 
262 
567 
356 
530 
549 
510 


.375 


518 


503 
190 
158 
112 

574 


527 


the,  424  ;  preparation  of  for  crops,  435  ;  deep- 
ening the,  ...... 

Soiling,  of  cattle,  ..... 

Sorrel,  ....... 

Sows,  why  they  destroy  their  young,     . 

Splints,  on  horses,  ..... 

Sfjuash,  marrow,  and  Scotch  drumhead,  51  ; 
Hubbard,   113,   175,308;  seeds, 

Stable,  light  in,  40  ;  floors  of  horse,  90  ;  cows  in 
at  night,  234  ;  cow,  well-arranged,     . 

Staggers,  blind,  in  horses,      .... 

Stalks,  corn,  78,  87  ;  cutting  corn, 

Starch,  sugar,  potato,  .... 

State  farm,     ....... 

Steam,  warming  a]iparatus  for  dwellings, 

Stock,  and  tools,  20;  Avrshire,  151;  native  and 
foreign,  188,  240;  feeding,  217,233;  to  kill 
lice  on  young,  278  ;  improvement  in  raising, 

Stomach,  is  it  merely  a  condenser  ? 

Strawberry,  the,  347  ;  selection  of,  388  ;  the  Cut- 
ter,    .  " 

Subsoiler,  the  little,         ..... 

Sugar,  157;  maple,  191,  315;  acid  maple  sap, 
218;  from  beets, 

Swine,  experiment  in  fattening,  149 ;  Chester 
Count}-,  Pcnn.,  sow,  161;  large, 


Page. 


571 
302 
290 
414 
1G4 

174 

516 
246 
403 
157 
240 
400 


278 
556 


463 
353 


314 


529 

268 
333 
507 
275 
103 
319 
139 

465,  495 
.531 

236,  290 
164 


Tan,  bark,  use  of, 

Tar,  as  a  disinfectant,  .... 

Thanksgiving-day,  at  the  Sandwich  Islands, 

Things  I  don't  like  to  see,      .... 

Thistle,  to  destroy  the  Canada, 

Tillage,  deep,  83  ;  thorough, 

Tiles,  number  per  acre,  .... 

Timber,  old,  discovered  in  the  ocean. 

Toads,  cast  their  skins. 

Tobacco,  against  useful  crops. 

Tomato,         ..... 

Toji  dressing,         .... 

Tiansplanting,  174,  258  ;  a  new  implement  for,    366 

Tree,  to  prevent  sap  flowing  in,  51;  fruit,  on  road 
side,  97  ;  fruit,  effects  of  grafting,  122  ;  plum, 
salting,  135;  apple,  pruning,  170,  177,  216, 
245,  258,  327,  354;  apple,  174,  277,  454,  484  ; 
premium  for  forest,  on  farms,  177,  246;  graft- 
ing and  pruning  fruit,  219;  split  bark  on  ap- 
ple, 233 ;  ages  of,  240  ;  fruitless,  245 ;  shade, 
246 ;  fruit,  252,  263  ;  fruit,  limited  duration 
of,  253  ;  pear,  257,  304,  363,  518  ;  apple,  tar- 
ring the,  259  ;  ringing  the,  262  ;  setting  fruit, 
269,  536,  574  ;  lice  'on,  278  ;  seedling,  280, 
574;  grass  under,  298;  pear,  decay  of,  304 ; 
apple,  cracking  of,  311;  plum,  315;  bcaut}^ 
in,  318  ;  pruning  and  raising  apple,  327,  354  ; 
a]>ple  and  pear,  363 ;  apple,  cause  of  loss  of, 
371;  effects  of  cold  on  apple,  380  ;  fruit,  effect 
of  weather  on,  386  ;  apple,  philosophy  of",  399 ; 
tap  root  of,  419  ;  ancient,  429  ;  winter-killing 
of,  451  ;  ])car,  protection  of,  518;  trans|ilant- 
ing,  536,  574  ;  pojilar,  an  examjile  of  what 
nature  will  effect  when  assisted  by  art. 

Trout,  propagation  of  by  art, 

Turnip,  as  food  for  stock,  49 ;  long  white  French, 
71;  are  they  a  profitable  crop,  157,  189,  211; 
crop,  285,  "289,  379;  among  corn,  298,  305  ; 
and  onion  crop,  354  ;  French,  culture  of  the. 

Turkeys,  a  crop  of,  36, 180  ;  and  pills,  75  ;  about 
fitttening.  574  ;  bronze,  large,     . 

Type,  species,  variety,  .... 

Tyson  pear,  the,  


551 
562 


365 


576 
492 
298 


U 


United  States  Agricultural  Fair,  at  Richmond, 
Va., 24,  31 


INDEX. 


Page. 


Valley,  the  Mascoma,  Vt.,     ....  85 
Vegetable  physiology,             ....         229 
Vegetation,  power  of,  to  resist  extremes  of  tem- 
perature,      28 

Veterinary  school, 72 

Vermont,  soil  and  climate  in,  132 ;  crops  and 
weather  in,  375,  376,  469  ;  business  and  crops 
in  Eyegate,  406;    State  Fair  in,   508;  Cale- 
donia County  fair  in,  ....         543 
Vine,  to  save  from  bugs,  323  ;  squash,  .         .         499 
Vineyard,  cultivation  of  the,  .         .         .         437 

W 

Wagon,  Willis'  steam,  ....         481 

Wart,  on  a  calf's  neck,  233 ;  to  cure  a,  259  ;  on 
plum  trees, 269 

Water,  decrease  of  on  the  globe,  190;  running, 
240 ;  poisoned  by  lead,  242  ;  well  and  aque- 
duct, 269;  cress,  415;  rain,  and  underdrains,     485 

Weather,  of  1858,  150,  162;  of  the  summer 
months, 482 


Weed,  noxious 

Wells,  Artesian,  injurious,     .... 

Westboro',  cattle  sliow  at,      . 

AVheat,  crop,  56,  242,  489  ;  Java,  Spring, 
165;  Martin  Johnson's  crop  of,  188;  value 
of,  237  ;  land,  lime  on,  278,  279  ;  winter,  285, 
315;  crop  of  1859,  417;  Weevil  proof,    . 

Willow,  basket,     .... 

Windows  and  walls,  leaky. 

Wine,  to  make  pure,  from  apples. 

Wood,  Elijah,  Jr.,  farm  of,    . 

Woodland,     ..... 

Women,  in  the  garden,  447  ;  universal  benevo- 
lence of,      . 

Work,  doing  too  much, 

Worms,  canker,  161,  269;  green, 

Wrens,  family  of, 


Page. 
409 
510 
497 


Wurtzel,  mangold, 


451 
37 

525 

559 
99 

383 

504 
404 
323 
300 
179,  180,  185,218 


Yearlings,  and  two  year  olds, 

Year,  crowned  with  goodness,  545 ;  closing. 


405 
573 


ILLUS  TRATIONS. 


Van  Zandt's  Superb  Peach, 

Figure  of  an  Ayrshire  Cow, 

Willard's  Patent  Root  Cutter, 

Fanning  and  Assorting  Machine, 

The  Gray  Doyenne  Pear,       .... 

The  Hubbard  Squash, 

Design   for  a  Farmhouse  of  the  Rural  Gothic 

Style, 

The  Crawford  Early  Peach, 

Chester  County,  Pa.,  Sow,     .... 

A  Pair  of  White  Shanghai  Fowls, 

A  Queen  and  her  Bees,  .... 

The  Mario  Louise  Pear,         .... 

A  Portable  Iron  Grist  Mill,  .... 

Folding  Vine  Protector,         .... 

W.  and  B.  Douglas'  Hydraulic  Ram,    . 

The  Guelderland  Fowl,  .... 

Siiort-Horn  Bull,  Double  Duke,    . 

A  Barrel  Fountain 


17'Ketchum's  One  Horse  Mowing  Machine, 

33! Design  for  a  Country  Residence, 

48  Drajjcr's  Machine  for  dressing  Mill  Stones, 

65  A  pair  of  Java  Fowls, 

96, Design  for  a  Country  Schoolhouse, 

113!  Hay  Caps,  Use  of,  illustrated, 
I  The  Little  Subsoiler,     . 

129  Field's  Horse  Pow-er  Jlachine, 

145  Design  for  a  Suburban  Cottage, 

161 1 A  Splendid  Dominique  Fowl, 

1 76 i  Ayrshire  Bull,  Albert, 

182|A'Pair  of  Scotch  Game  Fowls, 

193  A  Design  for  a  Country  House, 

198|A  Full-Blood  Devon  Bull,    . 

203 1  The  Bremen,  or  Embden  Geese, 

209  Pure  Devon  Cow,  Fairy, 

225  The  Scotch  Pine, 


241 
251 


The  Honey,  or  Sweet  Locust, 
The  Small  Stinging  Nettle, 


273, 


385, 


256 
274 
289 
305 
320 
336 
353 
368 
386 
416 
433 
449 
464 
481 
496 
513 
529 
544 
569 


POETRY. 


The  Laborer  and  the  Warrior, 

Swinging  in  the  Barn, 

Agriculture  and  Horticulture, 

Inscription  on  a  Watch, 

King  and  Queen, 

Charities  that  Sweeten  Life, 

The  Corn  Harvest, 

There's  Work  Enough  To  Do, 

The  Slave  Boy's  Wish, 

A  Scotch  Love  Song,    . 

An  Autumn  Leaf, 

Both  Sides,    .... 

The  Fanner's  Giri, 

Live  for  Something, 


23  Nursling  Vespers, 

34  Cottage  Song, 

38  Never  put  oft"  till  To-morrow, 

64  Times  go  by  Turns, 

68  The  New  Mown  Hay,    . 

72 1  The  Night  before  the  Mowing, 

85 [A  Farmer's  Song, 

98;  Farewell  to  the  Swallows, 


103 
121 
158 
181 
242 
292 


Autumn  Wild  Flowers, 
Love  is  Everywhere, 
Autumn — A  Dirge, 
A  Harvest  Hymn, 
The  American  Autumn, 
Autumn, 


306 
322 
357 
391 
4ol 
422 
432 
468 
476 
484 
500 
505 
528 
553 


DEVOTED   TO  AGKICULTUilE    AND    ITS   KINDBED   ARTS  AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  JANUARY,  1859. 


NO.  1, 


JOEL  NOURSE,  Proprietor. 
Office. ..13  Commerciai.  St. 


SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR. 


FRED'K  nOLBROOK,  )  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,     Editors. 


CAT^ENDAK  FOR  JANUARY. 

"That  our  sons  may  be  as  plants 

Grown  up  in  their  youth  ; 

That  our  daughters  may  be  as  corner-stones, 

Polislied  after  the  similitude  of  a  jjalace  : 

That  our  garners  may  be  full, 

Affording  all  manner  of  store  : 

That  our  sheep  may  bring  forth  thousands 

And  ten  thousands  in  our  streets : 

That  our  oxen  may  be  strong  to  labor ; 

That  there  be  no  breaking  in,  nor  going  out ; 

That  there  be  no  complaining  in  our  streets. 

Happy  is  that  people  that  is  in  such  a  case." 

Psalms  144, 12,  et  seq. 

ANUARY,  it  may 
be  thought,  has 
little  to  do  towards 
producing  that 
ha])py  state  of 
tilings  so  forcibly 
expressed  in  the 
inimitable  Psalms. 
But  can  it  be  so  ? 
Are  not  the  snows 
and  winds  as  much 
the  messengers  of 
God's  will  as  fer- 
vent suns  and  re- 
freshing rains  ? — 
Cannot  June  or 
July  be  omitted 
from  the  cluster  of 
-\  Months  as  well  as  Janu- 
It  must  be  so.  Then,  welcome 
to  thee,  January,  first-born  of  the 
Months,  and  though  cold  and  blustering  thou 
may  be,  warm  hearts  shall  receive  and  cherish 
thee,  as  being  as  important  as  though  heralded 
by  soft  showers,  gentle  airs,  or  the  singing  of 
birds.  That  point  being  settled,  let  us  talk  a  lit- 
tle about  what  naturally  presses  upon  the  mind 
at  this  season  of  the  year. 

In  wishing  "A  Happy  New  Year"  to  our  read- 
ers, we  know  not  how  better  to  improve  the 
occasion,  than  by  a  few  natural  reflections. 


Time  and  opportunities  passed,  cannot  be  re- 
called. The  only  use  we  can  now  make  of  the 
past  year,  is  to  hold  it  up  to  the  mind's  eye,  as  a 
beacon,  to  warn  us  against  its  errors  and  its  fol- 
lies, and  encourage  us  to  imitate  its  bright  exam- 
ples. 

Dr.  Kane,  in  the  Journal  of  his  Arctic  Expedi- 
tion, relates,  that,  on  one  occasion,  the  brig  in. 
which  he  sailed,  being  carried  along  irresistibly 
by  the  floating  ice,  was  borne  near  an  immense- 
iceberg,  which  seemed  to  be  stationary,  and!; 
against  which  the  seamen  Avere  afraid  of  being: 
dashed. 

As  they  approached  nearer,  it  occurred  to 
them,  that  by  making  fast  the  brig  to  this  levi- 
athan, they  might  obtain  safe  anchorage  and  se- 
cure themselves  against  impending  danger.  They 
soon  found,  however,  that  they  were  still  mov- 
ing forward, — that  the  iceberg  itself  was  carried 
along  by  the  current. 

So  it  is  with  the  great  stream  of  time.  It 
sweeps  everything  before  it,  and  is  hurrying  us 
all,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  learned  and 
unlearnedj  bond  and  free,  all,  onward  to  the 
great  ocean  of  eternity.  We  think  to  stay  our- 
selves by  making  fast, — one  to  his  farm,  another 
to  his  merchandise, — one  seeks  anchorage  in 
listless  ease,  another  in  luxurious  dissipation, — 
a  third  thinks  to  rise  above  the  current  on  the 
popular  breeze,  and  thus  escape, — while  a  fourth 
labors  to  erect  a  golden  tower,  to  which  his 
barque  may  be  made  fast.  But  all  in  vain !  Ed- 
itors, subscribers  and  readers,  have  all  been  hur- 
ried along,  through  another  revolution  of  time, 
and  now,  willing  or  unwilling,  they  are  ushered 
into  the  vestibule  of  a  New  Year  numbered 
Eighteen  Hundred  and  Fifty-Nine. 

We  may  as  well  now  make  a  virtue  of  our  ne- 
cessity, and  become  reconciled  to  the  idea  of  be- 
ing carried  irresistibly  down  the  subtle  stream  of 
life,  by  the  ceaseless  "floe,"  and  improve  the  ex- 
perience of  the  past,  l)y  making  the  best  possible 


10 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


preparation  in  our  power  for  the  duties  and  dan- 
gers, the  joys  and  sorrows,  of  the  future. 

But  we  need  not  be  despondent.  God  rules 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  He  has  not  led 
our  forefathers  from  the  despotism  of  Europe,  to 
this  wilderness,  sustained  them  in  their  trials,  in 
subduing  the  forests  and  the  savages, — imparted 
to  them  wisdom  to  devise  such  a  system  of  gov- 
ernment as  ours  and  given  them  ability  and  val- 
or to  defend  it, — crowned  the  labor  of  their  de- 
scendants with  such  success  that  this  little  one 
has  become  a  great  nation, — that  this  backwoods 
colony  of  but  three  million  of  inhabitants,  has, 
in  the  short  space  of  eighty-three  years,  so  de- 
veloped herself  in  all  the  elements  of  national 
greatness,  as  to  be  able  now  to  compete  with  the 
proudest  and  most  powerful  nations  of  the  old 
world, — as  to  do  more  to  promote  the  arts  of 
civilized  life  and  diffuse  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel  of  peace  than  any  other  nation  on  the 
globe, — we  do  not  believe,  we  say,  that  the  Rul- 
er of  the  universe  would  have  thus  signalized 
our  nation,  had  He  not  other  purposes  to  accom- 
plish. 

We  may  be  punished  and  chastened,  but  the 
tree  of  liberty,  which  our  forefathers  planted, 
watered  and  defended  with  so  much  care  and  at 
so  great  sacrifice,  will  not  be  stricken  down, — 
but  will  strike  still  deeper  its  roots,  and  extend 
still  wider  its  branches,  till  a  whole  continent 
shall  take  shelter  beneath  its  shade,  and  its 
leaves  shall  be  for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 

To  this  end,  the  people,  the  yeomanrj-,  the 
dwellers  in  the  "rural  districts,"  the  readers  of 
the  New  England  Farmer,  and  their  like,  must 
realize  that  they  are  the  legitimate  rulers  of  the 
land,  and  act  accordingly — must  take  the  reins 
into  their  own  hands,  and  by  that  conservative  wis- 
dom which  has  always  been  found  in  the  masses 
engaged  in  rural  life,  guide  on  the  nation  to  a 
state  of  civilization  and  power  that  has  no  paral- 
el  among  all  the  republics  or  empires  that  have 
preceded  it, — "when  nations  shall  beat  their 
swords  into  plow-shares,  and  their  spears  into 
pruning-hooks ;  when  nation  shall  not  lift  up 
sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn 
war  any  more." 

If  we  start  upon  the  New  Year  with  the  deter- 
mination to  discharge  every  duty  with  fidelity 
and  zeal,  we  shall  soon  find  that  Homeis  the  rich 
treasury  of  earth,  and  that 

"There  is  a  power  to  make  each  hour 

As  sweet  as  Heaven  designed  it ; 
>7or  need  we  roam  to  bring  it  home, 

Though  few  there  be  that  find  it ! 
JFe  seek  too  high  for  thinss  close  by. 

And  lose  what  nature  found  us ; 
For  life  hath  here  no  charm  so  dear 

As  home  and  friends  around  us." 


WOKK  FOR  JANUARY. 

A  good  farmer's  work  is  never  done  ;  that  is, 
he  can  always  find  profitable  employment,  no 
matter  what  the  season  may  be,  or  whether  suns 
shine  or  storms  beat.  And  in  this  he  ought  to 
find  one  of  his  principal  sources  of  comfort  snd 
contentment. 

This  is  not  always  the  case  with  the  mechanic  ; 
he  may  possess  energy,  health  and  skill,  and 
sometimes  be  unable  to  find  an  opportunity  to 
employ  them, — so  that  although  he  may  com- 
mand higher  wages  than  the  workman  on  the 
farm,  it  is  quite  often  the  case  that  the  want  of 
employment  and  the  greater  expenses  for  living 
to  which  he  is  generally  subjected  by  his  posi- 
tion, makes  the  average  income  of  each  more 
nearly  equal  than  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be. 
We  have  never  yet  known  an  instance  where  an 
active,  healthy  and  skilful  young  farmer  could 
not  find  profitable  employment ;  but  have  often 
known  such  instances  among  mechanics — M'here 
they  have  travelled  from  place  to  place,  and  in 
the  touching  language  of  Burns, — 
"Begging  leave  to  toil,'' 

while  the  meal  and  the  oil  were  swiftly  wasting 
away  at  home,  with  little  prospect  that  they 
could  be  again  supplied. 

Is  it  not  true,  then,  that  the  certainty  of  em- 
ployment ought  to  constitute  one  of  the  chief 
sources  of  contentment  to  the  farmer  ?  And  now, 
in  January,  it  may  be  amidst  sharp  winds,  drift- 
ing snows,  or  freezing  nights  and  softening  suns, 
of  deep  ruts  and  miry  ways,  or  of  smooth  and 
glassy  roads  over  which  man  and  beast  pass  with 
an  exhilarated  delight, — there  are  duties  to  be 
performed  just  as  important  as  v/ere  those  in  the 
flush  and  beauty  of  summer. 

If  the  cattle  have  been  well  tended,  they  liave 
again  assumed  the  plumpness  and  good  looks 
which  they  had  when  first  taken  from  the  grass. 
They  have  become  acquainted  with  their  master, 
and  seem  to  understand  what  any  motion  means 
that  he  makes  in  their  presence ;  their  ears,  as 
well  as  eyes,  are  ever  watchful,  as  they  move  to- 
ward the  sound  of  his  voice,  or  the  rustling  of 
the  hay,  the  chopping  of  the  roots  or  the  dash  of 
meal  into  the  feed-trough. 

Who  cannot  see  expressions  of  gratitude  in 
the  countenance  of  the  patient  ox  or  gentle  cow, 
or  hear  them  in  the  cheerful  "whinner"  of  the 
noble  horse,  as  he  remembers  their  kind  services 
and  ministers  to  their  daily  wants  ? 

"Who  abuseth  his  cattle,  and  starves  them  for  meat, 
By  carting  or  plowing  his  gain  is  not  great ; 
When  lie  that  with  labor  can  rise  tliem  aright. 
Hath  gain  to  his  comfort  and  cattle  in  plight." 

The  Barn  should  be  kept  neat  in  every  respect 
— so  that  the  cattle  may  lie  upon  clean   litter, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


11 


and  breathe  pui'e  air.  See  that  no  cracks  let  in 
a  stream  of  cold  air  directly  upon  a  cow  or  an 
ox  while  it  is  tied  up  and  cannot  get  away  from  it. 

The  Cellar  should  be  so  tight  as  to-  prevent 
cold  draughts  fr-om  coming  up  under  the  stock 
as  it  is  lying  down  at  night,  and  also  to  prevent 
manure  from  freezing,  so  that  it  may  be  over- 
hauled or  carted  out  during  the  winter. 

Give  the  Horses  a  few  carrots  at  noon,  and 
they  will  soon  show  you  a  sleek  coat.  Cover 
them  with  blankets  for  an  hour  or  two  when  they 
return  from  work  in  a  sweat. 

Let  the  Hogs  and  store  pigs  have  warm  and 
dry  sleeping  rooms,  if  you  mean  to  find  a  profit 
in  them. 

Feed  the  Poultry  with  a  variety  of  food; 
boiled  potatoes,  mashed  and  mixed  with  cob 
meal ;  corn,  oats,  barley,  scraps  or  bits  of  fresh 
meat,  gravel  or  pounded  oyster  or  clam  shells. 
These,  with  a  warm,  sunny  shelter,  will  please 
them  so  highly  that  they  will  yield  you  an  abun 
dance  of  excellent  eggs. 

Feed  out  roots  daily  to  all  the  stock;  to  milch 
cows  immediately  after  being  milked  in  the 
morning  ;  to  young  cattle,  dry  cows,  horses  and 
sheep,  whenever  it  is  most  convenient.  But  if 
you  have  no  roots — ah, — make  up  your  mind 
that  you  will  have  iJiem  next  year. 

Those  of  you  who  are  blest  with  plenty  of 
wood,  and  can  enjoy  the  luxury  of  good,  cheerful 
wood  fires,  gleaming  upon  your  hearths  and 
throwing  its  ruddy  light  into  the  glad  faces  of 
your  healthy  and  happy  children,  will  need  no 
suggestion  of  ours,  perhaps,  to  prepare  it  in  sea 
son,  and  never  to  make  the  wife  anxious  and  un- 
happy by  attempting  to  burn  it  in  an  unseasoned 
state. 

There  is  one  thing  more,  at  least,  appropriate 
to  the  Month  of  January,  and  well  worth  remem- 
bering, that 

"  'Tis  not  in  title  nor  in  rank, 

'Tis  not  in  wealth,  like  Lon'on  bank, 

To  make  us  truly  blest. 
If  happiness  have  not  her  seat 

And  centre  in  the  breast — 
We  may  be  wise,  or  rich,  or  great, 

But  never  can  be  blest." 


Gross  and  Net  Weight  of  Sheep. — A  few 
years  ago  we  ascertained  the  live  and  dead  weight 
of  a  large  number  of  sheep  slaughtered  for  the 
tallow  near  this  city,  and  found  that  the  carcass 
weighed  about  three-Jifihs  of  the  live  Aveight. 
These  were  common  sheep,  affording  only  about 
twelve  pounds  of  tallow.  Had  they  been  in  bet- 
ter condition,  they  would  have  afforded  a  higher 
proportionfite  weight  of  carcass. 

In  England,  with  the  coarse-wooled  mutton 
sheep,  fatted  for  the  butcher,  it  is  generally  esti- 
mated that  a  stone  live  weight  (14  lbs.)  will  give 
a  stone  dead  weight  (8  lbs.)  The  live  weight 
(ascertained  after  the  sheep  have  fasted  for  twelve 


hours)  is  divided  by  seven,  and  this  gives  the 
weight  of  the  carcass  in  quarters.  Thus  a  sheep 
weighing  140  lbs.  alive,  is  estimated  to  weigh 
20  lbs.  per  quarter.  We  have  known  whole 
flocks  to  exceed  this  estimate.  The  fatter  the 
sheep,  the  greater  the  dead  weight  in  proportion 
to  the  live  weight. — Genesee  Farmer. 


EXPERIENCE   "WITH  MUCK. 

In  the  summer  of  1855  I  had  an  upland  lot, 
preparing  for  wheat  or  rye,  aad  having  no  funds 
to  spare  for  the  purchase  of  guano,  bone  dust, 
&c.,  I  concluded  to  try  what  could  be  done  at 
home.  With  a  team  and  man  we  commenced 
drawing  muck  from  a  pond,  and  in  four  days  had 
one  hundred  loads  on  two  acres  of  ground.  The 
ground  was  again  plowed,  thus  mixing  the  muck, 
and  on  the  loth  of  September  was  sown  with 
wheat.  It  was  harvested  the  following  July,  and 
when  threshed  and  exhibited  at  the  County  Ag- 
ricultural Fair,  received  the  premium  for  being 
the  best  wheat  exhibited.  The  next  season  the 
plot  was  sown  with  oats,  and  such  a  crop  was 
never  raised  on  the  old  Jiomestead,  and  all  with- 
out any  other  manure.  This  season  we  have  put 
eight  hundred  loads  on  five  acres,  sown  to  wheat 
and  rye,  and  expect  to  be  able  to  give  you  and 
the  farming  community  as  good  a  report,  if  not 
better,  from  the  crops  next  summei-.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  above,  on  the  first  lot,  we  this  sum- 
mer cut,  per  acre,  three  tons  of  as  good  timothy 
hay  as  was  ever  housed,  and  up  to  this  present 
writing,  the  feed  is  good,  and  cows  easily  fill 
themselves  from  it  daily.  Let  every  farmer,  who 
can,  try  an  acre  with  muck,  and  he  certainly  will 
be  repaid  four-fold. — American  Agriculturist. 


Another  Mowing  Machine  Wanted. — It 
may  sound  alittle  singular  to  those  who  know  the 
number  of  patents  granted  to  hear  us  say  that 
another  is  wanted ;  and  each  particular  patentee, 
we  suppose,  will  hoot  the  idea  that  we  now  ad- 
vance, when  we  assert  that  very  much  the  larger 
portion  of  the  farmer's  of  the  Eastern  and  Northr 
ern  States  are  as  yet  unprovided  with  a  machine 
suitable  to  their  wants.  There  are  thousands  of 
farmers  living  in  comfortable  circumstances,  that 
do  not  and  should  not  keep  but  one  horse,  and 
yet  the  tendency  of  all  mowing-machine  inven- 
tors, with  but  the  trifling  exception,  has  been  to 
cater  for  men  who  keep  strong  teams,  such  as 
can  operate  one  of  the  heavy  two-horse  machines, 
only  working  half  a  day,  and  then  changing  for 
a  fresh  pair  or  else  over-woi'k  a  single  pair. 
Now  what  we  want,  and  it  is  what  inventors 
should  turn  their  attention  to,  is  a  compact,  light 
one-horse  moAving  machine,  that  can  be  afforded 
at  a  price  within  reach  of  the  large  class  who 
keep  but  one  horse,  yet  who  are  under  just  as 
much  necessity  of  using  labor-saving  machinery 
as  the  largest  owners  of  broad  fields.  We  can- 
not advise  small  farmers  to  l)uy  large  machines, 
because  we  do  not  believe  it  would  be  profitable 
for  mowing-machine  manufacturers  to  give  them 
one  suitable  to  their  circumstances,  which  they 
could  and  would  afford  to  buy. — New  York  Tri- 
hune. 


12 


lEW  ENGLAPiD  j-ARMER. 


Jan. 


THE    QBSAT  S'H.ENCH  HENNEHY. 

With  care  and  good  management,  no  branch 
of  domestic  industry  is  more  profitable  than  rear- 
ing poultry.  Many  persons  have  supposed  that 
what  is  profitable  on  a  small  scale  might  be  made 
still  more  so  Vv'hen  carried  on  to  a  larger  extent, 
but  repeated  experiments  in  this  and  other  coun- 
tries have  proved  this  to  be  a  mistake.  The  se- 
cret of  the  matter  is,  that  hens  cannot  thrive  and 
lay,  wilhout  a  considerable  quantity  of  animal 
food.  Where  but  a  limited  number  of  fowls  are 
kept  about  the  farm-yard,  the  natural  supply 
of  insects  is  sufficient  to  meet  this  demand, 
and  hence,  when  attempts  have  been  made  to 
extend  the  business  beyond  this  source  of  sup- 
ply, they  have  not  prospered.  It  will  be  seen 
from  the  following  interesting  account  that 
Mons.  de  Sora,  of  France,  has  adopted  a  method 
that  has  proved  completely  successful  by  afford- 
ing an  artificial  supply  of  this  essential  portion 
of  food. 

The  French  practical  philosophers  certainly 
know  how  to  make  the  most  of  things.  A  Mons. 
de  Sora  has  recently  discovered  the  secret  of 
making  hens  lay  every  day  in  the  year,  by  feed- 
ing them  on  horse  flesh.  The  fact  that  hens  do 
not  lay  eggs  in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer,  is  well 
known,  and  the  simple  reason  appears  to  be  that 
they  do  not  get  the  supply  of  meat  in  winter  M'hich 
they  obtain  in  the  warm  season  for  worms  and 
insects. 

M.  do  Sora  was  aware  of  all  these  facts,  and 
living  at  the  time  upon  an  old  dilapidated  estate, 
a  few  miles  from  Paris,  the  acres  having  been 
bequeathed  to  him  a  few  years  previously — he 
set  himself  earnestly  at  the  task  of  constructing 
a  hennery,  which  should  be  productive  twelve 
months  in  the  year.  He  soon  ascertained  that  a 
certain  quantity  of  raw  mince  meat  given  regu- 
iatly  with  the  other  feed,  produced  the  desired 
result,  and  commencing  only  with  some  300  fe- 
male fowls,  he  found  that  they  averaged,  the  first 
year,  some  twenty-five  dozen  eggs,  each,  in  the 
?>Go  days.  The  past  season  he  has  wintered  thus 
far,  about  100,000  hens,  and  a  fair  proportion  of 
male  birds,  with  a  close  approximation  to  the 
the  same  results.  During  the  spring,  summer 
aiul  autumn,  they  have  the  range  of  the  estate, 
but  always  under  surveillance.  In  the  winter, 
their  apartments  are  kept  at  an  agreeable  temper- 
ature; and,  although  they  have  mince  meat  ra- 
tions the  year  round,  yet  the  quantity  is  much 
increased  during  cold  weather.  They  have  free 
access  to  pure  water,  gravel  and  sand,  and  their 
combs  are  always  red.  To  supply  this  great  con 
sumption  of  meat,  M.  de  Sora  has  availed  him 
self  of  the  constant  supply  of  superannuated  and 
damaged  horses,  which  can  always  be  gathered 
from  the  stables  of  Paris  and  the  suburbs. 
These  useless  animals  are  taken  to  ar  abatto 
owned  by  M.  de  Sora  himself,  ana  there  neatly 
and  scientifically  slaughtered.  The  blood  is 
saved,  clean  and  unmixed  with  offal.  It  is  sold 
for  purposes  of  the  arts  at  a  remunerative  price. 
The  skin  goes  to  the  tanner — the  head,  hoofs 
shanks,  &c.,  to  the  glue  maker  and  Prussia  blue 
manufacturer ;  the  larger  bones  form  a  cheap 
substitute  for  ivory  with  the  button  maker,  while 
the  remainder  of  the  osseous  structure  is  manu- 
factured into  ivory  black,  or  used  in  the  shape  of 


bone  dust  for  agricultural  purposes.  Even  the 
marrow  is  preserved;  and  much  of  the  fashionable 
and  highly  perfumed  lip  salve  and  pomade,  was 
once  inclosed  within  the  leg  bones  of  old  horses. 
Uses  are  also  found  for  the  entrails — and  in  fact 
no  portion  of  the  beast  is  wasted. 

The  flesh  is  carefully  dissected  off  the  frame  of 
course,  and  being  cut  into  suitable  proportions, 
it  is  run  through  a  series  of  revolving  knives,  the 
apparatus  being  similar  to  a  sausage  machine  on 
an  immense  scale,  and  is  delivered  in  the  shape 
of  a  homogeneous  mass  of  mince  meat,  slightly 
seasoned,  into  casks,  which  are  instantly  headed 
up,  and  conveyed  per  railroad,  to  the  egg  planta- 
tion of  M.  de  Sora. 

The  consumption  of  horses  for  this  purpose, 
by  M.  de  Sora,  has  been  at  the  average  rate  of 
twenty-two  per  day  for  the  last  twelve  months, 
and  so  perfectly  economical  and  extensive  are  all 
his  arrangements,  that  he  is  enabled  to  make  a 
profit  on  the  cost  of  the  animals  by  the  sale  of 
the  extraneous  substances  enumerated  above — 
thus  furnishing  to  himself  the  mince  meat  for 
less  than  nothing  delivered  at  his  hennery. 

It  has  been  ascertained  that  a  slight  addition 
of  salt  and  ground  black  pepper  to  the  mass,  is 
beneficial  to  the  fowls,  yet  M.  de  Sora  does  not 
depend  upon  these  condiments  alone  to  prevent 
fermentation  and  putrefaction,  but  has  his  store 
rooms  so  contrived  as  to  be  kept  at  a  tempera- 
ture just  removed  from  the  freezing  point  through 
all  months  of  the  year,  so  that  the  mince  meat 
never  becomes  sour  or  offensive  ;  the  fowls  eat  it 
with  avidity  ;  they  are  ever  in  good  condition, 
and  they  lay  an  egg  almost  daily,  in  all  weathers, 
and  in  all  seasons. 

The  sheds,  offices,  and  other  buildings,  are 
built  around  a  quadrangle,  enclosing  about  twen- 
ty acres,  the  general  feeding  ground.  This  lat- 
ter is  subdivided  by  fences  of  open  paling,  so 
that  only  a  limited  numbtr  of  fowls  are  allowed 
to  herd  together,  and  these  are  arranged  in  the 
different  compartments  according  to  age,  no 
bird  being  allowed  to  exceed  the  duration  of  four 
years  of  life.  At  the  end  of  the  fourth  year,  they 
are  placed  in  the  fattening  coops  for  about  three 
weeks,  fed  entirely  on  crushed  grain,  and  sent 
alive  to  Paris. 

As  one  item  alone  in  this  immense  business  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  in  the  months  of  Septem- 
ber, October  and  November  last,  M.  de  Sora 
sent  nearly  one  thousand  dozen  of  capons  to  the 
metropolis. 

He  never  allows  a  hen  to  set ! 

The  breeding  rooms  are  warmed  by  steam, 
and  the  heat  is  kept  up  with  remarkable  uni- 
formity to  that  evolved  by  the  female  fowl  dur- 
ing the  process  of  incubation,  which  is  known  to 
mark  higher  on  the  thermometer  than  at  any 
other  periods.  A  pp'-Vs  of  shelves,  one  above 
^ho  ctrier,  loim  ine  nests,  wnue  blcnl--pts  are 
spread  over  the  eggs  to  exclude  any  accidenta. 
light.  The  hatched  chicks  are  removed  to  the 
nursery  each  morning,  and  fresh  eggs  laid  in  to 
supply  the  place  of  empty  shells.  A  constant 
succession  of  chickens  are  thus  insured,  and 
moreover  the  feathers  are  always  free  from  ver- 
min. Indeed  a  lousy  fowl  is  unknown  upon  the 
premises. 

M.  de  Sora  permits  the  males  and  females  to 
mingle  freely  at  all  seasons,  and  after  a  fair  trial 


1850. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER, 


13 


of  all  the  various  breeds,  has  cleared  his  estab- 
lishment of  every  shanghai,  cochin  china,  or 
other  outlandish  fowl,  breeding  only  from  old- 
fashioned  barn-yard  chanticleers,  and  the  femi- 
nines  of  the  same  species.  He  contends  that  the 
extra  size  of  body  and  eggs  pertaining  to  these 
foreign  breeds  can  only  be  produced  and  sus- 
tained by  extra  food,  while  for  capon  raising  the 
flesh  is  neither  so  delicate  nor  juicy  as  that  of  the 
native  bird. 

The  manure  produced  in  this  French  estab- 
lishment is  no  small  item,  and  since  it  forms  the 
very  best  fertilizer  for  many  descriptions  of  plants 
it  is  eagerly  sought  for  at  high  prices  by  the  mar- 
ket gardeners  in  the  vicinity.  The  proprietor 
estimates  the  yield  this  year  at  about  100  cords. 
He  employs  nearly  100  persons  in  different  de- 
partments, three-fourths  of  whom,  however,  are 
females.  The  sales  of  eggs  during  the  past  win- 
ter have  averaged  about  40,000  dozens  per  week, 
at  the  rate  of  six  dozens  for  four  francs,  bringing 
the  actual  sales  up  to  $5,000  in  round  numbers, 
for  every  seven  days,  or  $200,000  per  annum. 
The  expenses  of  M.  de  Sora's  hennery,  including 
wages,  interest,  and  a  fair  margin  for  repairs, 
&c.,  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  $75,000,  leaving 
a  balance  in  his  favor  of  $185,000  per  year,  al- 
most as  remunerative  as  Col.  Fremont's  Mari- 
posa grant. — Selected. 


For  tlie  New  Ensland  Farmer. 

BEPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  FRUIT 

At  the  AflEicuLTURAL  t'AiR,  Chaelemont,  Ms.,  Sept.  28. 

There  was  on  exhibition  one  small  lot  of  pears. 
In  traveling  the  county  of  Franklin,  and  all 
western  Massachusetts,  1  have  rarely  seen  a  pear 
tree  among  the  farmers.  Fifty  years  ago  there 
were  large  and  heavily  bearing  pear  trees  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  State.  Perchance  I  see  a 
small  tree,  now  in  the  hill  towns,  and  in  the 
Connecticut  valley,  loaded  with  delicious  pears, 
and  I  exclaim,  why  did  not  the  man  who  planted 
that  tree,  plant  20  at  the  same  time !  Well  en- 
riched, the  pear  is  a  sure  bearer  on  the  pear 
Gtock,  preferred  to  the  quince. 

The  plum  and  the  cherry  were  not  on  show. 
They  are  even  less  common  in  this  country  than 
the  pear.  There  are  cherries,  sweet  and  healthy, 
good  bearers  and  growers,  and  long-lived  shade 
trees  that  will  ilourish  beautifully  on  our  soil. 
Should  not  the  cherry  by  cultivated  ? 

Early  in  September,  I  was  in  the  garden  of 
the  llev.  B.Foster,  of  Dummerston,  Vt.  There 
I  saw  plum  trees  loaded  with  fruit,  perhaps  20 
bushels,  all  of  the  largest  and  most  delicious  va- 
rieties. The  trees,  all  small,  were  bending  un- 
der their  loads.  Mr.  F.  has  saved  the  fruit  from 
the  curculio  by  rapping  the  trees  and  killing  the 
grub,  beginning  when  the  trees  began  to  blossom. 
But  he  is  feeling  confidence  in  a  compound  ap- 
plied to  the  tops  of  the  trees  with  a  garden  sy- 
ringe. 

I  noticed  a  tree  loaded  with  plums  in  the  gar- 
den of  Dr.  Clark,  of  Conway.  He  says,  that  in 
the  spring  he  painted  the  body  of  the  tree  and 
the  limbs  as  high  as  h3  could  reach  with  soft 
soap  and  a  brush. 

Somebody,    everybody  in   the  hill  countrv  of 


Mass.,  has  neglected  his  duty  20  years  ago,  and 
every  year  since — and  to-day  we  are  none  the 
better  for  want  of  the  pear,  the  plum  and  the 
cherry. 

But  the  apple — every  owner  of  land  in  these 
parts  is  bound  by  his  home  comforts,  and  as  a 
good  citizen,  to  cultivate  some  of  the  best  ap- 
ples. The  climate,  the  soil,  the  profit,  the  com- 
fort and  the  crop,  in  the  valley  of  the  Deerfield, 
as  sure  as  in  any  place  in  the  world,  tempt  the 
people  to  cultivate  the  apple. 

You  see  these  ledgy,  hill-side  pastures  where 
the  maple  and  chestnut  and  hickory  grow.  That 
is  the  soil  for  the  apple.  Such  pastures,  well  set 
in  good  apples,  are  a  better  investment  for  your 
son,  or  for  the  sale  of  your  farm,  or  for  your  own 
comfort,  than  any  other  investment  you  will 
make  with  any  hundred  dollars.  In  ten  years, 
and  for  forty  years  afterwards,  the  pasture  will 
produce  ten  times  more  profit  than  it  can  yield 
in  feed  for  sheep  and  colts.  Keep  the  bushes 
dow'n,  keep  your  scythe  and  stock  out  of  it,  con- 
secrate the  soil  to  the  apple,  and  say,  since  God 
has  made  this  rocky  hill-side  very  good  for  the 
apple,  so  will  I. 

When  the  wife  and  the  children,  and  the  gen- 
eration after,  eat  the  delicious  fruits  which  you 
have  planted,  they  will  bless  the  man  who  plant- 
ed them — his  grave  will  have  a  pleasant  look  to 
the  children,  for  surely,  as  to  good  fruits,  the 
nearest  way  to  the  hearts  of  children,  younger  or 
older,  is  down  the  throat. 

In  the  east  part  of  Charlemont  along  the  road- 
side, there  has  been  lately  the  trimming  away  of 
the  hedge  of  50  j^ears,  and  the  planting  of  many 
apple  trees.  I  puss  that  way  every  week  and  re- 
peat the  thought: — "Surely,  in  this.  Dr.  Taylor 
has  done  a  thing  of  true  practical  wisdom." 

You  may  notica  that  Josiah  Ballad's  door- 
yard,  east  of  the  Charlemont  church,  is  full  of 
loaded  peach  trees.  These  were  planted  since 
the  memory  of  any  boy  of  12  years  old.  I  have 
lately  passed  these  enchanting  trees  severa^ 
times,  and  aUvays  repeat  the  same  words.  They 
are  these  :  "T//e  bearing  year  neeer  comes  to  him 
wild  cultivates  no  frees." 

Travelling  in  any  direction  through  western 
Massachusetts,  one  may  notice  the  neglected 
orchards, — old  orchards,  well  planted  and  well 
grown,  untrimmed,  ungrafted,  unprofitable, — 
neglected,  friendless.  This  remark,  with  some 
beautiful  exceptions,  extends  into  Vermont  and 
New  Hampshire.  Travelling,  this  autumn,  100 
miles  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  I  noticed 
not  many  young  orchards.  The  best  one  which 
'I  have  seen,  and  this  is  a  very  perfect  one,  is 
'  owned  by  Mr.  Wells,  at  the  point  of  the  hill  two 
miles  west  of  Greenfield. 

Last  year,  in  Denmark,  Iowa,  I  was  walking 
with  the  llev.  Mr.  Turner  in  his  orchard.  He 
had  planted  several  hundred  trees  about  12  years 
before,  on  very  rich  soil,  and  they  had  grown 
rapidly,  and  Avere  filled  to  excess  with  limbs.  I 
said,  your  trees  need  much  trimming.  He  re- 
plied, "The  soil  is  rich  and  will  sustain  a  heavy 
top."  I  said,  the  tops  arc  already  entirely  too 
thick,  and  unless  half  their  branches  are  cut 
away  your  fruit  must  be  diminished  in  quantity 
and  in  size,  and  your  trees  will  be  decaying  ear- 
ly. I  said  this  with  earnestness.  With  an  ex- 
pression like  begging  my  sympathy,  he  replied, 


14 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan 


"With  my  parish  and  my  farm  to  look  after,  I 
cannot  do  everything." 

You  go  through  western  Massachusetts  and 
you  may  hear  the  same  excuse  20  years  long  re- 
peated out  of  the  tops  of  the  abandoned  apple 
trees,  "Don't  look  at  us,  our  owner  cannot  do 
everytliing." 

Plant  apple  trees,  plant  fruit  trees,  and  do  not 
neglect  them  as  to  the  spade  at  the  root  and  the 
knife  at  the  top,  while  they  are  young.  Remem- 
ber, tlie  hearing  year  never  comes  to  him  tvho  cul- 
tivates no  trees.  A.  Foster,  Chairman. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LETTER    PKOM    JUDGE    FRENCH. 
AGRICULTURE  IN  COOS  COUNTY,  N.  H. 

Lancaster,  N.  H.,  Nov.,  1858. 

Friend  Brown  : — An  American  who  desires 
to  behold  nature  in  some  of  her  most  sublime 
and  picturesque  aspects,  need  not  incur  the  per- 
ils of  a  voyage  across  the  sea,  but  let  him  first 
visit  the  "Crystal  Hills"  of  New  Hampshire. 
There  are  many  things  in  the  Granite  State,  lit- 
tle dreamed  of  in  the  philosophy  of  Boston  peo- 
ple. It  is  not  only  a  very  good  State  to  emi- 
grate/"rowi,  but  it  seems  by  the  fashionable  world 
to  have  been,  of  late,  discovered  to  be  an  agree- 
able place  of  resort  in  summer,  by  way  of  escape 
from  the  heat  and  sinfulness  of  city  life. 

I  am  told  that  there  were  seven  hundred 
strangers  quartered  at  one  time  last  summer  in 
the  little  village  of  North  Conway,  below  the 
Notch  of  the  White  Mountains,  and  a  voice  is 
still  calling  to  them  to  come  up  higher. 

A  story  is  told  of  two  fast  young  gentlemen 
from  Boston,  who  wanted  to  go  to  the  farthest 
bounds  of  civilization  northward,  so  they  took 
the  railroad  to  Littleton,  and  there  chartered  a 
horse  and  wagon,  for  a  drive  into  the  wilderness. 
They  carefully  provided  a  flask  of  whisky  and 
some  crackers,  so  as  not  to  incur  danger  of  hun- 
ger or  thirst,  and  came  over  to  Lancaster,  ex- 
pecting to  see  the  spot  where  civilization  gradu- 
ally tapered  off  into  the  wilds  of  Indian  life,  whtn 
suddenly  they  found  themselves  in  front  of  the 
magnificent  hotel,  of  which  I  will  say  enough  to 
show  that  they  who  travel  this  way  need  not 
bring  provisions  or  tents. 

THE   LANCASTER  HOUSE. 

This  hotel,  which  is  the  largest  in  this  State, 
a  part  three,  and  a  part  four  stories  high,  was 
opened  last  summer  lor  guests,  by  Mr.  John 
Lindsay.  The  building  itself,  in  this  country  of 
cheap  lumber,  cost  about  $18,000 — and  when 
fully  arranged  will  accommodate  one  hundred 
and  fifty  guests.  The  rooms  of  the  lower  story 
are  thirteen,  those  of  the  second  story  twelve, 
and  those  of  third,  eleven  feet  in  height.  The 
largest  suite  of  rooms  open  into  one  spacious 
drawing-room   of  the   dimensions  of  54  by  24 


feet.  The  house  is  190  feet  in  length,  a  part  be- 
ing 64  and  the  rest  40  feet  in  width.  The  ample 
porticos,  the  lofty  ceilings  and  the  broad  wind- 
ing staircases,  are  arranged  with  an  architectural 
skill,  that  gives  the  structure,  both  without  and 
within,  an  effect  really  imposing.  It  is  designed 
to  accommodate  those  who  in  the  hot  season 
seek  health  or  pleasure  in  these  grand  moun- 
tain regions,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  where  art 
and  nature  have  better  combined  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  leisure,'than  at  this  same  spot,  so  far  north 
that  one  looks  back  from  it  towards  the  south- 
east at  the  peak  of  Mount  Washington.  The 
distance  from  Boston  is  about  two  hundred  miles, 
by  Concord  and  Littleton,  by  railroad,  and  twen- 
ty miles  stage,  and  two  hundred  and  forty,  in- 
cluding ten  miles  by  stage,  by  Portland  and  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway.  For  those  who  desire 
to  pass  through  the  Switzerland  of  America,  the 
stage  and  lake  steamer  routes  furnish  a  charm- 
ing variety  of  wild  scenery  through  the  Notches 
of  the  Mountains. 

AGRICULTURAL   PRODUCTS. 

The  price  of  the  best  rock  maple  wood,  which 
is  from  $1,25  to  $1,50  per  cord,  and  the  price  of 
potatoes  at  the  starch  factory,  twenty  cents  a 
bushel,  seem  to  indicate,  that,  notwithstanding 
our  spacious  hotel,  we  have  advanced  somewhat 
beyond  the  centre  of  population.  Indeed,  Lan- 
caster is  nearer  to  Montreal  in  Canada,  than  to 
Boston,  and  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  con- 
necting Portland  with  the  cities  of  the  Cana- 
das,  is  a  great  artery  which  sends  out  American 
blood  with  American  principles  and  sympathies, 
through  all  the  Provinces. 

England  cannot  desire  to  hinder  the  fraternal 
relations  of  her  provinces  with  the  States,  or  she 
never  would  have  assented  to  either  of  the  two 
great  steps  towards  fraternization  which  have  re- 
cently been  taken. 

By  one  of  them — the  reciprocity  treaty — agri- 
cultural products  are  carried  free  of  duty  be- 
tween us  and  Canada,  and  so  the  custom-house 
mark  o^  boundary  is,  in  part,  eflfaced.  By  the 
other,  Carada  has  adopted  the  decimal  currency, 
and  "the  almighty  dollar"  claims  dominion  there 
instead  of  the  former  sovereign  of  Great  Britain. 

But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  agricultural 
products.  This  is  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Con- 
necticut, famous  for  its  fertility,  but  as  this  por- 
tion of  it  is  two  hundrer"  miles  from  Boston,  its 
best  market,  farmers  are  obliged  to  send  down 
their  produce  in  a  form  not  chargeable  with  too 
much  freight.  Butter  and  cheese,  cattle  and 
horses  and  wool,  are  the  principal  articles  sold. 
Wheat  is  grown  to  some  extent,  but  a  great  deal 
of  flour  is  brought  down  from  Canada  to  supply 
the  deficiency.     A  great  deal  of  valuable  lumber 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


15 


now  finds  its  way  from  the  wild  regions  farther 
North,  down  the  river  and  the  railways.  Farm- 
ers are  slowly  coming  into  the  idea  that  sheep 
afford  mutton  as  well  as  wool,  and  begin  to  be- 
lieve that  some  of  the  larger  and  coarser  wooled 
breeds  might  be  more  profitable  than  the  Meri- 
nos. Lambs,  which  a  few  years  ago,  sold  for 
Sl,50,  readily  bring  twice  that  sum,  and  the  great- 
er weight  of  the  fleeces  of  the  coarser  sheep 
almost,  if  not  quite,  compensates  for  the  inferior 
quality  of  the  wool. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  manufacture  of  starch,  a 
sort  of  pioneer  business,  which  leads  the  march 
of  agriculture  towards  the  backwoods.  Let  me 
tell  the  children  who  read  the  Farmer 

HOW  POTATO  STARCH  IS  MADE. 

The  starch  used  in  families  for  stiflening  shirt 
collars  and  the  like,  is  not  made  of  potatoes  but 
of  wheat,  usually.  Potato  starch  is  used  in  cot- 
ton factories,  chiefly,  for  what  is  called  sizing. 
The  starch  mill  here  is  a  low,  cheap  building,  on 
a  stream  of  water  which  carries  the  machinery. 
Mr.  B.  H.  Plaisted  is  the  owner.  As  you  enter, 
he  will  show  you  great  heaps  of  potatoes,  rough 
and  dirty,  as  they  were  dug.  His  cellar  holds 
SIX  thousand  bushels  of  them  now.  The  Cali- 
fornia potato  is  a  good  deal  raised,  a  very  large, 
coarse  potato,  which  yields  a  great  crop,  not  very 
good  for  human  food.  As  the  farmers  sell  them 
for  only  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  thej'  must  get  a 
good  many  from  an  acre,  to  pay  for  their  labor. 
Onemgm  raised  1280  bushels  this  year  from  four 
acres,  of  the  kind  called  Peachblows.  The  pota- 
toes are  first  put  into  a  long  box  into  which  wa- 
ter is  constantly  pouring,  and  are  there  stirred 
about  with  long,  wooden  fingers  and  thus  washed. 
Then  they  go  into  another  place  where  there  is 
a  huge  grater,  like  a  nutmeg  grater,  only  greater 
by  a  good  deal,  and  thus  they  are  grated  into  a 
pulp.  This  pulp  is  carried  along  over  five  strain- 
ers, upon  which  streams  of  water  are  falling,  and 
thus  the  starch  is  washed  out  and  goes  through 
the  strainers,  while  the  skins  and  coarser  parts 
pass  aiong.  The  starch  seems  to  be  all  there  is 
in  potatoes  of  any  value,  for  what  is  left  is  thrown 
into  the  river,  and  is  thought  here  to  be  of  very 
little  use  for  cows,  to  which  it  is  sometimes  given. 
Next  the  starch  andAvater  that  went  through  the 
strainers,  are  pumped  into  large  vats  or  boxes, 
and  there  in  a  short  time,  the  starch  falls  to  the 
bottom,  and  the  water  is  taken  ofi"  the  top  by  a 
syphon,  and  the  starch,  clean  and  white,  is  so 
solid  that  it  can  be  shoveled  up  into  heaps. 
Lastly,  it  is  put  on  to  wooden  frames,  in  a  hot 
room,  heated  with  stoves  and  funnels,  and  there 
dried,  and  then  put  into  bags  and  sold.  About 
two  hundred  and  forty  bushels  of  potatoes  of 
sixty  pounds  to  the  bushel,  will  make  a  ton  of 


starch,  which  gives  about  a  pound  of  starch  from 
seven  pounds  of  potatoes.  The  best  and  most 
mealy  potatoes  make  the  most  starch,  but  farm- 
ers cannot  afford  to  raise  them  for  this  purpose, 
as  they  yield  a  smaller  crop  than  coarser  varie- 
ties. 

If  any  of  the  boys  or  girls  want  to  try  the  ex- 
periment of  making  starch,  it  can  easily  be  done 
at  home.  Take  a  half  dozen  potatoes  and  grate 
them  to  a  pulp.  Lay  the  pulp  on  a  coarse  sieve 
and  pour  cold  water  upon  it,  and  allow  that  which 
washes  through  to  stand  a  few  hours,  and  the 
starch  will  be  at  the  bottom,  fit  for  use. 

Winter  comes  early  here.  Snow  fell  so  as  to 
cover  the  ground  during  the  first  week  of  No- 
vember, and  sleighing  usually  lasts  four  or  five 
months,  leaving  a  season  rather  short  for  Indian 
corn,  which,  however,  is  cultivated  to  some  extent. 

All  mountain  regions  are  said  to  produce 
strong,  healthy,  free  and  virtuous  people,  and 
this  region  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Hard 
work,  pure  air  and  few  temptations,  perhaps,  may 
explain  the  fact. 

Let  not  New  Hampshire  mountains  be  forgot- 
ten when  summer  again  drives  people  from  their 
city  homes.        Yours  truly,       H.  F.  French. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
KEVIEW  OF  THE  SEASON. 

Mr.  Editor  : — A  review  of  the  season  may 
be  interesting  to  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  and 
journals  from  different  parts  of  the  country  kept 
with  considerable  care,  would  be  of  great  value, 
not  only  in  comparing  the  fluctuations  of  the 
season  at  a  given  place,  but  to  compare  the  cli- 
mate of  difl'erent  parts  of  our  country  with  each 
other,  so  that  we  may  know  what  crops  have  been 
successfully  raised  at  any  given  place,  and  what 
failures  have  occurred,  which  has  much  to  do  with 
the  prospect  of  market  prices  in  the  future.  The 
unsteady  climate  of  New  England  is  sometimes 
more  favorable  to  the  husbandman  than  the  more 
steady  climate  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  yet 
with  all  our  mountains,  rocks  and  hills,  kind  na- 
ture furnishes  us  with  all  the  necessaries  and 
many  of  the  luxuries  of  life.  The  season  has 
been  propitious — our  crops  have  been  mostly 
first  rate,  and  although  some  failures  have  taken 
place,  they  are  more  in  the  form  of  luxury  than 
any  of  the  necessary  elements  of  life.  I  will  now 
take  a  review  of  the  months  from  the  record  of 
1858,  beginning  with  the  growing  season. 

April  has  been  about  half  a  degree  colder  than 
the  mean,  yet  having  a  temperature  more  than 
three  degrees  warmer  than  1857,  but  coHer  than 
1855  and  1856.  Only  2.25  inches  of  rain  fell 
during  the  month,  consequently  the  ground  was 
much  too  dry  for  vegetation.  Cold  north-west 
winds  prevailed  to  a  great  extent  during  the 
month,  keeping  vegetation  in  a  backward  state. 
April  left  but  a  scanty  growth  of  grass  in  the 
pastures,  while  the  forests  were  bare  and  deso- 
late. The  rain  was  much  less  in  quantity  than 
usual,  and  we  had  barely  snow  enough  to  v.hiten 


16 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


the  ground,  but  the  mountains  have  frequently 
been  covereu,  probably  some  inches  in  depth. 
The  sky  has  heen  less  cloudy  by  more  than  one- 
tenih  than  last  year. 

May  was  rather  dry  during  the  first  part  of 
the  month,  but  copious  rains  al)out  the  2()th  gave 
p'enty  of  moisture  to  the  ground,  which  was  wet 
enough  during  the  remainder  of  the  month.  The 
mean  temperature  of  the  month  was  51.61  de- 
grees, being  l.i51  degrees  colder  than  last  year, 
and  2.91  colder  than  the  mean  of  the  past  five 
years, — being  the  coldest  of  the  six.  1854  was 
the  warmest,  being  57.64  degrees, being  more  than 
six  degrees  warmer  than  the  present.  There  was  a 
light,  easterly  wind  a  considerable  part  of  the  last 
three  days  of  the  month,  at  the  time  when  apple 
trees  were  in  full  bloom.  Fruit  trees  of  all  kinds 
had  a  full  medium  quantity  of  blossoms,  but  not  a 
great  extra  amount.  The  rains  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  month  were  favorable  to  grass,  which 
appeared  very  promising. 

June  was  neither  dry  nor  wet,  but  had  about 
the  usual  quantity  of  rain ;  its  amount  was  3.87 
inches.  The  weather  was  warm  and  favorable 
to  the  growth  of  corn.  The  mean  temperature 
of  the  month  was  67.58  degrees,  being  7.15  de- 
grees warmer  than  last  year  and  3.48  Avarmer 
than  the  mean  of  the  five  preceding  years.  The 
warmest  day  was  the  25th,  when  the  thermometer 
stood  at  91  degrees  at  2,  P.  M.,  while  the  mean 
temperature  of  the  day  was  82  degrees.  This 
was  the  most  favorable  month  for  corn  during 
the  season. 

The  first  half  of  July  was  rather  dry  for  vege- 
tation, but  the  latter  part  was  exceedingly  wet. 
Rain  fell  on  15  days.  The  temperature  of  the 
month  was  63.37  degrees,  being  6.05  colder  than 
last  year,  and  1.06  degrees  colder  than  the  five 
preceding  years.  The  amount  of  rain  was  4.80 
inches.     The  month  was  unfavorable  to  corn. 

August  had  a  temperature  of  65.67  degrees, 
which  is  about  an  average.  The  rain  was  dis- 
tributed in  showers  through  the  month,  giving  a 
bad  hay  season,  but  no  excess  of  rain  ;  its  whole 
amount  was  a  little  less  than  three  inches.  Kain 
fell  on  17  days,  and  the  amount  of  cloudiness 
was  45  hundredths.  Owing  to  the  cold  of  July 
the  corn  crop  remained  in  a  backward  state. 

September  was  warmer  than  the  same  month 
in  the  five  preceding  years,  by  1.19  degrees,  and 
had  a  temperature  of  59.52  degrees,  which  was 
warmer  than  last  year  by  2.39  degrees.  The 
amount  of  rain  was  nearly  3  inches,  or  about  an 
average.  The  first  frost  occurred  on  the  23d 
day.  It  was  hard  enough  to  kill  most  vegetables, 
and  was  preceded  by  a  thunder  storm  two  even- 
ings previous.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  last 
six  months  was  58.95,  and  the  warmest  month 
was  June. 

On  the  condition  of  these  six  months  were  in- 
cluded the  hopes  and  prosperity  of"  the  farmer, 
for  a  supply  of  all  his  wants.  Nature  has  fur- 
nished that  supply.  His  corn  crop  is  considera- 
bly above  an  average,with  large,  well-ripened  ears. 
Potatoes  were  never  better,  yet  the  rot  has  done 
some  damage.  The  warm  and  moist  weather  of 
September  has  increased  the  malady,  but  yet  the 
supply  is  greater  than  the  demand.  Of  the  ce- 
reals we  have  a  fair  crop.  Wheat  is  much  bet- 
ter than  last  year,  yet  some  pieces  are  nearly  de- 
stroyed by  the  weevil  and  rust.     Late  wheat  suf- 


fered much  from  rust.  Oats  are  a  good  crop, 
seldom  better,  yet  the  amount  of  land  in  oats  is 
comparatively  small.  Grass  was  about  an  ave- 
rage crop,  rather  below  than  above.  The  season 
was  rather  unfavorable  for  haying,  yet  no  great 
amount  was  damaged.  The  fruit  crop  is,  at  least, 
a  partial  failure.  Apples  are  very  scarce  and 
small.  Plums  are  almost  unknown,  while  grapes 
have  yielded  abundantly.  Wild  fruits  and  nuts 
exist  in  very  limited  quantities,  and  the  seeds  of 
forest  trees  in  general  are  scarce.  Not  only  dur- 
ing the  season  of  blossoms,  but  through  the  whole 
summer,  we  have  had  an  unusual  amount  of  east 
wind,  whose  blighting  influence  is  felt  in  this 
section  on  the  whole  fruit  crop. 

Among  the  periodical  phenomena  we  notice 
the  appearance  of  various  kinds  of  migratory 
birds.  Bluebirds  appeared  March  17th ;  robins 
.March  19th;  barn  swallows  May  3d;  grass,  first 
appearance  of  growth  April  6th  ;  general  leafing 
of  forest  trees  May  15th;  barn  swallows  disap- 
peared August  27th ;  general  fall  of  forest  leaves 
took  place  Oct.  21st. 

Such  are  the  results  of  the  record  of  1858. 
Shall  we  hear  like  results  from  other  parts  of 
the  country  ?  D.  BUCKLAND. 

Brandon,  Vt.,  Nov.  8,  1858. 


CA.RKOTS  FOB  HORSES. 

In  Great  Britain,  many  of  the  most  successful 
agriculturists,  and  cattle  breeders,  feed  their 
horses  liberally,  and,  indeed,  in  some  instances, 
quite  exclusively  on  roots.  The  carrot  they  hold 
in  high  estimation  for  this  purpose,  and  vast 
quantities  are  annually  raised  and  consumed.  It 
has  been  estimated  by  some  writers  on  domestic 
economy,  that  a  bushel  of^carrots  is  equal  to  half 
a  bushel  of  grain  ;  but  although  this  is  doifbtless 
a  somewhat  extravagant  appreciation,  we  have  no 
doubt  that  three  bushels  of  carrots  will  prove,  in 
all  cases,  fully  equivalent  to  one  of  oats.  It  was 
stated  not  long  since  in  one  of  the  papers,  that 
the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  most  extensive  livery 
stables  in  Connecticut  "considers  carrots  the 
most  valuable  article  of  winter  feed  he  has  ever 
raised."  Rasped,  and  mixed  with  chopped  straw, 
or  refuse  hay,  they  answer  a  double  purpo.se  of 
economy,  and  render  the  expense  of  wintering 
animals  far  less  than  it  would  be  were  we  to  em- 
ploy only  English  hay  and  grain.  Hogs  v/inter 
admirably,  and  even  fatten  on  these  roots.  We 
advise  every  farmer  who  can  command  a  piece  of 
old,  well  worked,  rich  and  deep  soil,  to  put  in  a 
few  square  rods,  and  try  them.  The  seed  may  be 
sown  in  this  climate  as  late  as  the  twentieth  of 
June.  The  ground  should  be  finely  pulverized 
by  harrowing  or  some  other  equally  efficient  dis- 
integrating process,  and  thoroughly  rolled  after 
sowing  the  seed.  Guano  and  bone  dust  are  effica- 
cious and  salutary  stimuli  for  the  crop.  Ashes, 
also,  and  gypsum,  have  a  decidedly  favorable 
and  energizing  efi'ect.  But  plenty  of  gaod  barn 
manure  is  best. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


17 


THE  PEACH. 


Among  all  the  fruits  natural  to  the  growth  of 
our  soil,  there  is  not  one  that  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  a  well  ripened  peach  of  one  of  the  fin- 
est varieties.  The  grape  and  the  pear  must  yield 
the  palm  to  the  peach,  and  so  must  the  plum, 
even  if  we  should  select  for  a  comparison  the 
Green  Gage,  the  Washington,  Jefferson  or  Co- 
lumbia. 

The  pear,  the  plum  and  the  grape  are  excel- 
lent dessert  fruits,  and  are  grateful  to  evei-y  taste  ; 
but  the  peach,  while  it  claims  just  as  high  rank 
as  a  dessert  fruit  as  any  of  those,  may  be  made  to 
serve  as  a  nourishing,  substantial  food  in  situa- 
tions where  they  can  be  raised  cheaply  in  large 
quantities.  We  have  never  known  a  person  who 
did  not  like  the  peach.  It  is  palatable  and  whole- 
some when  ripe,  and  uncooked,  and  when  cut 
and  served  up  with  sugar,  one  of  the  most  de- 
licious sauces  that  ever  came  upon  the  table.  In 
their  ripe  state  they  also  make  the  finest  pud- 
dings and  pies,  always  being  in  demand  at  the 
table,  even  though  epicures  surround  the  board. 
When  quartered  and  properly  dried  in  a  kiln, 
prepared  for  that  purpose,  they  are  just  as  suita- 
ble for  a  sauce,  and  in  the  estimation  of  many. 


quite  as  good  as  when  fresh  from  the  tree,  for 
pies  or  puddings. 

We  believe  the  peach  and  grape  to  ^e  the 
most  easily  digested  and  the  most  wholesome 
fruits  we  have,  and  that  if  we  used  them  as  arti- 
cles of  food  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  we  do 
— not  as  articles  to  please  the  appetite  merely — 
there  would  be  much  less  sickness  among  us 
than  usually  prevails  in  the  autumnal  months. 

If  this  be  so,  is  it  not  worth  while  for  every 
person  cultivating  a  piece  of  land,  to  introduce  a 
few  peach  trees,  sufficient,  at  least,  to  supply  his 
own  table,  provided  his  location  is  suited  to  their 
growth  ? 

It  is  not  our  purpose  now  to  speak  of  the  va- 
rieties of  this  fruit,  or  of  the  mode  of  culture,  or 
the  soils  most  suitable  for  them.  That  has  often 
been  done  in  these  columns,  and  probably  will 
be  again. 

The  beautiful  figure  above,  which  we  now  pre- 
sent the  reader,  is  an  illustration  of  Van  Zandfs 
Superb,  a  very  light  colored  and  handsome  peach, 
originated  some  years  ago  by  Mr.  Van  Zandt,  of 
Flushing,  Long  Island,  It  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  dessert  peaches,  though  only  of  medi- 


18 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


um  size,  and  possesses  a  very  agreeable  flavor. 
The  flesh  is  whitish,  but  tinted  with  red  at  the 
stone,  melting,  juicy,  sweet,  and  of  good  flavor. 
Ripens  first  of  September. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
NEGLIGSMT  HABITS— BOKEOWIKG,  &c. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — Heedlessness  costs  us 
more  than  we  are  aware  of;  did  we  but  consider 
the  value  of  the  time  spent  in  consequence  of 
our  negligence,  at  a  price  we  should  charge  our 
neighbor  for  work,  we  could  readily  account  for 
the  deficiency  which  often  happens  at  the  end  of 
the  year  in  balancing  our  books.  The  habit  of 
borrowing  tools  or  farm  implements  of  a  neigh- 
bor is  not  only  a  heavy  tax  upon  the  time  of  the 
borrower,  but  an  annoyance  in  addition  to  the 
.OSS  of  time  in  the  lender.  The  borrower  not 
on.y  sustains  the  loss  of  his  own  time,  but  fre- 
quently one  or  more  men  are  idle  for  the  want 
of  tools  to  commence  work,  and  in  a  few  years 
the  habitual  borrower  loses  enough  in  his  bor- 
rowing visitations  to  stock  his  farm  with  tools, 
beside  disgusting  his  neighbors  to  ill  will,  and 
wishing  the  borrower  well  supplied  with  imple- 
ments of  his  own. 

Borrowing  is  excusable  in  beginners,  espe- 
cially in  young  men  Avho  are  not  wealthy  ;  but 
for  farmers  or  mechanics  to  depend  upon  their 
neighbors  to  furnish  them  with  tools,  does  not 
look  like  regarding  the  Christian  precept  of  do- 
ing as  we  would  have  others  do  to  us.  In  what 
I  have  stated  above  1  do  not  wish  to  comprise 
those  who  lend  for  pay. 

Negligence  in  paying  small  debts  is  one  of  the 
worst  of  non-State-priscn  ofl'ences ;  the  debtor 
injures  his  own  credit  as  untrustworthy,  and  his 
character  as  an  honest  man  ;  lie  injures  his  cred- 
itor by  withholding  his  honest  dues,  and  he  stands 
a  poor  chance  to  make  a  profitable  speculation, 
if  he  wishes  to  boiTow  money  to  accomplish  it ; 
nobody  has  money  to  let  to  a  negligent  borrower, 
and  to  cap  the  climax,  he  is  liable  to  have  the 
sheriff's  fee  added  occasionally  to  some  of  his 
small  debts.  Pay  up  small  debts  and  interest 
on  large  ones  punctually,  and  my  word  for  it, 
your  credit  will  command  respect,  and  your  neigh- 
bor's spare  money  will  be  at  your  service,  when- 
ever you  see  an  opportunity  to  make  a  profitable 
use  of  it. 

The  most  cruel  negligence  is  disregarding  the 
wants  of  the  poor  laborer;  reason,  common  sense, 
common  honesty  and  Scripture,  all  tell  us  that  the 
laborer  "is  worthy  of  his  hire."  Men  and  women 
who  have  families  of  needy  children,  which  are 
dependent  upon  the  income  of  the  daily  labor 
done  by  their  parents,  to  supply  them  with  food, 
clothing  and  shelter,  stand  in  need  of  prompt 
payment,  and  v.'hoever  declines  prompt  payment 
for  such  services,  and  will  put  these  worthy  peo- 
ple to  the  dreaded  task  of  dunning  the  delinquent 
to  the  hundredth  time,  is  not  worthy  to  claim  a 
right  to  the  Christian  name,  let  his  professions 
be  what  they  may. 

Many  persons  suffer  more  for  the  want  of 
promptness  than  they  do  by  drought,  curculio 
and  the  whole  tribe  of  insects.  I  have  observed 
In  diff'erent  towns  where  I  have  lived,  the  diff'er- 
ent  habits  of  my  neighbors  ;  some  of  them  who 


possessed  valuable  farms,  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  would  want  a  few  shad  or  other  fish  for  fam- 
ily use,  and  v.ith  a  provident  care  for  the  future, 
would  wend  away  to  the  river,  where  they  would 
find  plenty  of  company  and  scarcity  of  fish,  some- 
times toiling  ail  night  and  "catching  nothing ;" 
but  fishing,  like  gambling,  let  the  luck  be  good  or 
bad,  tempts  him  who  is  successful  to  prolong  his 
stay,  that  he  may  add  more  to  that  already  gained  ; 
if  unsuccessful,  to  hold  on  with  a  pert>:stency  which 
would  do  honor  to  any  good  cause,  in  hopes  that 
luck  would  be  more  propitious  and  fish  more 
plenty.  At  length,  after  slecpness  nights,  disap- 
pointed hopes,  waste  of  time  and  heavy  potations 
to  "restore  v,-asted  energies,"  Jo  Trout  &  Co. 
would  think  it  about  time  to  look  at  their  farms. 
After  arriving  home,  and  the  fog  had  dispersed 
from  the  mental  atmosphere  of  Jo  and  Co.,  and 
vision  restored,  they  could  see  their  neighbors 
finishing  their  spring  work  of  manuring  and  seed- 
ing their  ground  ;  then  commenced  the  bustle 
and  hurry  among  fishing  farmers ;  everything 
was  to  be  done  ;  plowing,  manuring  and  planting 
must  be  done  in  a  hurry,  which  is  no  way  to  do 
a  thing  well,  and  so  instead  of  driving  business, 
business  took  the  reins  and  drove  Jo  and  Co. 
fretting  through  the  rest  of  the  season.  When 
harvest  time  arrived,  my  fishing  neighbors  com- 
plained of  bad  seasons,  poor  crops,  blighted  grain 
and  frost-bitten  corn ;  and  a  plenty  of  weeds 
might  be  seen  over  their  whole  premises.  This 
is  the  way  some  folks  make  both  ends  meet,  and 
consider  farming  as  really  an  unprofitable  busi- 
ness ! 

Without  promptness  and  systematic  order 
among  farmers  and  mechanics,  confusion,  delays 
and  loss  of  time  take  place,  to  the  detriment  of 
the  owners  or  interested  party,  which  diminishes 
the  profit  of  their  labors  and  often  prevents  suc- 
cess. The  successes  of  Washington,  Jackson 
and  Bona])arte  were  more  owing  to  their  prompt- 
ness than  to  any  other  circumstance ;  by  their 
quick  decision  and  rapid  movements  they  sur- 
prised the  enemy,  unprepared  to  engage  with 
them.  Had  Gen.  Washington  been  as  much  at 
ease,  and  tardy,  as  some  of  the  British  generals 
were,  his  negligence  would  have  given  Cornwallis 
an  opportunity  in  have  escaped  his  clutches  at 
Yorktown,  to  continue  his  depredations  and  pro- 
long the  v,-ar,  and  perhaps  to  end  in  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  colonies.  Silas  Brown. 
North  Wilmington,  Nov.,  1S5S. 


Remarks. — The  above  abounds  with  valuable 
suggestions,  which  ought  to  prompt  us  all  to  strict 
discharge  of  our  duty. 

The  jNIanagement  of  Permanent  Grass 
Land  ought  to  be  much  studied  by  our  farmers. 
We23loivtoo  much!  By  fall  manuring  we  may 
keep  up  the  productiveness  of  a  meadow  for 
many  years,  and  the  hay  will  continue  to  im- 
prove in  quality.  So,  also,  of  pastures.  Plaster 
should  be  used  more  freely.  It  is  not  right, 
either  in  morals  or  agriculture,  to  always  take 
and  never  give — we  must  carry  out  "the  doc- 
trine of  compensation." 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


19 


For  the  N«w  England  Farmer. 
DRAINING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Our  solitary  but  good-natured  friend,  "S.  F.," 
in  a  recent  article  upon  thorough  draining,  of- 
fers some  statements  and  logic  that  are  rather 
flattering  to  the  ability  or  good  sense  of  our  New 
England  farmers.  He  says,  in  italics,  just  as 
though  he  meant  it,  "That  the  thorough  drain- 
ing of  our  old  farms  in  New  England,  is  simply 
an  impossibility."  All  are  ready  to  admit  that 
there  are  many  farms,  which,  at  the  present  val- 
ue of  land,  I  mean  good  land  m  the  immediate 
vicinity,  would  not  "pay"  for  draining :  but  it  is 
no  less  a  fact  that  all  wet  and  low  lands  can  he 
drained,  and  nine-tenths  of  them  at  a  moderate 
price,  say  from  thirty  to  fifty  dollars  per  acre. 

Let  us  look  a  moment  at  his  mode  of  reason- 
ing. He  says  that  the  average  value  of  our  farm 
land  is  twenty  dollars  and  twenty-seven  cents 
per  acre ;  draining  costs  twice  that  amount,  hence 
it  is  impossible  !  To  illustrate  this  mode  of  rea- 
soning :  suppose  that  S.  F.'s  watch  has  been  neg- 
lected for  a  long  time,  needs  repairs,  and  stops. 
S.  F.  takes  it  out,  looks  atit,  finds  "no  tick  here," 
says  to  himself,  "This  don't  go,  no  use,  think  I 
will  throw  it  away  and  get  another."  But  a  bright 
idea  strikes  him  ;  "the  watch  as  it  is,  is  worth  a 
dollar  and  a  half,  if  the  watch-maker  will  repair 
it  for  a  dollar,  I  shall  make  fifty  cents  by  saving 
it."  F.  starts  for  the  watchmaker,  finds  him  ;  but 
the  extravagant  mechanic  wants  two  dollars  for 
adjusting  the  watch.  S.  F.  indignantly  informs 
him  that  the  watch  is  only  worth  one  and  a  half, 
and  it  is  absurd  to  think  that  he  will  pay  two 
dollars  for  having  it  repaired.  Watchmaker  says, 
your  watch  will  be  worth  twenty  dollars  when  1 
have  done  with  it.  S.  F.  goes  off"  disgusted  with 
the  stupidity  of  watchmakers,  throws  his  watch 
into  the  dock,  and  finally  believes  that  he  has 
saved  a  half-dollar  by  his  sagacity.  The  whole 
point  of  his  argument  is  this — that  a  farmer  must 
not  spend  more  in  the  improvement  of  a  piece  of 
land  than  the  land  is  worth  before  he  begins  to 
improve  it.  Every  practical  man  knows  better 
than  this,  for  ho  may  have  a  piece  of  meadow 
land  so  wet  as  to  be  entirely  v/orthless,  and  by 
laying  out  ten  dollars  in  ditching,  he  can  make  it 
worth  a  hundred  to  him.  But  to  be  still  more 
practical,  I  will  give  a  fact  which  will  prove  the 
fallacy  of  all  such  reasoning  Two  years  ago 
there  was  a  piece  of  land  near  Boston  which  was 
>vorth  nothing  at  all ;  in  fact,  was  a  nuisance ; 
Jie  owner  spent  about  five  hundred  dollars  per 
acre  in  improving  it,  and  his  land  is  now  valued 
at  one  thousand  dollars  per  acre  ;  was  it  possible 
or  impossible,  to  lay  out  more  on  the  land  than 
its  value,  and  still  make  it  pay  ? 

Your  correspondent  seems  to  be  in  a  severe 
fright  about  ditch-digging — he  fears  that  when 
our  young  farmers  learn  what  an  unlimited 
amount  of  ditching  is  in  store  for  them,  they  will 
"start  in  their  boots,"  and  scamper  for  the  west 
without  as  much  as  looking  behind  them  ;  he 
seems  to  have  forgotten  that  the  West  is  pre-em- 
inently a  muddy  place,  and  that  they  have  alrea- 
dy called  one  of  our  laest  engineers  to  lay  out 
drains,  and  extricate  them  from  the  mud.  If  all 
accounts  are  true,  "top  boots  four  feet  high," 
would  aff'ord  no  protection  for  travellers  on  the 
soft  lands  of  the  West. 


Since  F.  thinks  it  so  horrible  for  our  farmers 
to  be  dbliged  to  dig  ditches,  I  would  like  to  ask 
him  which  he  thinks  the  most  pleasant  and  satis- 
factory for  a  farmer,  to  spend  two  or  three  weeks 
in  the  dry  part  of  the  fall,  ditching  and  laying 
tile,  or  to  have  for  life  to  pole  his  hay  from  spun- 
gy wet  meadows,  with  boots  full  of  filthy  water, 
green  snakes,  lizards,  frogs,  and  other  such 
pleasant  denizens  of  his  good  old-fashioned  farm, 
and  dig  his  half-crop  of  potatoes  out  of  black 
mud,  while  his  boots  are  loaded  with  the  same 
rich  alluvial,  and  his  hands  feel  "kinder  dry  like." 

I  am  truly  sorry  that  the  sight  of  tile  gives  our 
friend  the  horrors,  for  I  see  no  chance  of  relief 
for  him,  indeed,  my  imagination  is  so  very  difter- 
ent  from  his,  that  I  see  the  spirit  of  the  age  still 
remaining  with  us.  Her  crown  is  still  the  wheat- 
en  wreath  ;  with  one  hand  she  swings  the  spade, 
with  the  other  firmly  grasps  the  drain  tile, 
through  which  she  lustily  shouts,  "home,  boys, 
home,  there  is  no  place  like  home." 

Boston,  Nov.,  1858.  Pensa. 


WINTERING  CATTLE. 

In  New  England,  the  winter  feed  of  cattle  con- 
sists principally  of  dry,  unsucculent  fodder — hay 
and  straw.  Occasionally  roots  are  given  either 
daily  or  at  intervals,  in  order  to  give  variety  to 
their  diet  and  create  a  keener  relish, — but  as  a 
general  thing  the  main  reliance  is  upon  the  arti- 
cles first  named.  Of  straw,  the  most  nutrimen- 
tal,  probably,  is  that  of  wheat,  especially  when 
the  crop  is  harvested  when  in  the  "milk,"  or  at 
the  period  of  its  growth  when  the  grain  is  chang- 
ing from  its  milky  condition  to  a  doughy  or  pul- 
py consistence.  The  straw  of  oats  and  barley 
rank  next  in  value,  and  that  of  rye,  as  fodder, 
the  last.  On  farms  of  large  size,  much  more  ac- 
count is  made  of  the  straw  of  these  grains,  than 
in  smaller  ones.  It  is  then  prepared  by  cutting, 
and  is  generally  fed  out  in  conjunction  with  corn 
and  cob  meal,  or  with  roots,  rasped,  cut  or 
cooked.  It  has  not  yet  been  fairly  ascertained 
by  accurate  comparative  experiment  to  what  de- 
gree the  various  roots  used  in  feeding  cattle  are 
improved  by  cooking.  That  their  nutritive  pow- 
ers are  considerably  augmented  by  the  process, 
seems  now  to  be  generally  admitted ;  but  wheth- 
er, when  we  consider  the  advantages  of  rasping 
— which  is  performed  by  a  machine  capable  of 
dispatching  the  business  with  great  facility,  the 
increase  of  alimentary  power  secured  by  boiling 
is  adequate  fully  to  indemnify  the  operator  for 
the  trouble  and  expense  involved,  is  somewhat 
doubtful. 

Where  rough  fodder  is  to  be  used,  either  boil- 
ing, cutting  fine  or  rasping,  will  be  found  highly 
economical,  as  without  some  such  aid,  a  very  large 
portion  of  the  haulm  and  straw  produced  on  the 
farm  would  possess  but  a  mere  nominal  value  in 
an  alimentary  estimate  of  the  products,  and  would 
scarcely  be  worth  the  storage  for  any  purpose  to 


20 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


which  it  could  possibly  be  applied.  Boiled  po- 
tatoes are  preferable  to  raw  ones  in  fattening 
swine  or  beef  cattle,  as  the  boiling  diminishes 
their  laxative  properties,  which  are  often  detri- 
mental to  health,  especially  when  fed  in  large 
quantities,  and  thus  tend  to  counteract  the  very 
results  they  are  intended  by  the  feeder  to  pro- 
duce. 

The  English  agriculturists  recommend  boiled 
potatoes  in  stall  feeding,  and  raw  ones  for  feed- 
ing cows  in  milk. 

Machines  have  been  invented,  and  for  a  long 
time  in  use,  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  which 
reduce  the  roots  to  a  semi-fluid  or  semi-liques- 
cent state ;  but  towards  these,  the  more  intelli- 
gent portion  cf  the  agricultural  community  are 
not,  apparently,  very  favorably  disposed.  But 
the  cutting  machine,  or  root-cutter,  now  so  gen- 
erally is.  use  in  New  England — and  which  reduces 
the  root  to  fine  pieces, is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
valuable  implements  that  can  be  used  in  the 
preparation  of  food  for  domestic  animals.  The 
use,  therefore,  of  one  of  these,  where  roots  and 
straw  constitute  the  principal  articles  of  food,  is 
recommended  both  on  theoretical  and  practical 
considerations,  and  will  be  found  highly  econom- 
ical, saving  both  time  and  fodder,  and  securing, 
at  the  same  time,  all  the  important  results  pro- 
duced by  a  more  costly  food. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ECONOMY  IN  TOOLS  AND  STOCK. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  agriculture,  as  well  as  every 
other  branch  of  business,  an  eye  must  be  kept 
out  for  the  expenses.  A  reduction  in  these,  as 
far  as  is  practical,  is  commendable  in  the  farmer. 
When  he  wishes  to  buy  an  article  for  farmi/ig 
purposes,  he  should  know  just  what  he  wants, 
and  in  order  to  ascertain  this  fact,  he  should 
look  at  and  test  the  new,  as  well  as  the  old  arti- 
cles that  are  in  the  market.  He  does  not  Avant 
to  purchase  an  article  because  it  can  be  bought 
low,  unless  it  is  what  is  wanted.  He  wants  the 
venj  best  kind,  and  in  purchasing  such  he  saves 
time  and  labor,  and  labor  is  equivalent  to  cash. 
After  an  article  is  bought  it  should  be  taken  care 
of,  and  after  it  has  been  used,  it  should  be  care- 
fully laid  away  until  it  is  again  wanted  for  use. 

In  speaking  of  economy  in  farming,  I  do  not 
wish  to  be  understood  that  it  is  good  policy  to 
keep  short,  or  starve  animals  that  are  kept  for 
work,  or  otherwise.  If  farming  will  not  admit  of 
keeping  a  horse,  oxen,  cows  or  any  other  ani- 
mals, well,  which  the  farmer  may  think  proper  to 
keep,  some  of  them  should  be  disposed  of. 
Above  all  things,  do  not  starve  a  horse,  one  of 
the  noblest  animals  we  have.  In  speaking  of 
horses,  the  farmer  does  not  need  what  is  termed 
a  "three-minute  horse,"  but  a  good  family  horse  ; 
one  with  which  he  can  take  his  family  to  church  ; 
one  that  can  be  hitched  to  the  cart,  or  drag  ;  one 
that,  if  his  wife  wishes  to  go  to  a  friend's  to  spend 
an  afternoon,  can  be  driven  by  her  in  safety. 


If  four  cows  cannot  be  kept  well,  keep  less. 
By  the  way,  it  is  a  good  calculation  to  give  cows 
a  little  meal  once  a  day ;  the  milk  is  of  better 
quality,  and  flows  much  longer,  and  there  is 
much  more  refuse  milk  to  give  the  hogs,  which 
thrive  much  better  on  milk  and  meal,  than  they 
do  on  water  and  meal.  The  breed  is  quite  an 
item  in  the  rearing  of  hogs,  but  I  have  only  time 
now  to  speak  of  it,  as  a  hint. 

Henry  Crowell. 

Londonderry,  N.  H.,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ROOT  CROPS. 

I  notice  the  article  in  this  week's  Farmer,  un- 
der the  caption  "Root  Crops,"  which  evidently 
emanates  from  a  gentleman,  "E.  E.,"  who  does 
not  think  very  highly  of  them,  and  has,  I  pre- 
sume, had  indifferent  success  in  their  culture. 

He  inquires,  in  the  outset,  if  a  man  can  pull, 
top  and  house,  a  hundred  bushels  of  English 
turnips  for  three  dollars  ?  I  am  not  informed 
precisely  of  the  size  of  the  aforesaid  esculent,  but 
will  say  in  reply,  that  this  Monday,  Nov.  8, 
1858,  three  of  us  have  "pulled,  topped  and 
housed,"  325  bushels  Swedish  turnips,  at  an  ex- 
pense of  less  than  three  dollars  for  the  lot,  and 
also,  if  Mr.  "E.  E."  will  bring  on  liis  turnips  we 
will  take  the  job  off  his  hands  at  the  same  ratio. 
This  much  for  that  lion. 

He  then  goes  on  to  note  his  ill  success  in 
growing  them  with  his  corn,  and  finds  fault  be- 
cause he  did  not  get  two  good  crops  from  the 
same  soil.     Too  bad,  intirely. 

Again,  he  acknowledges,  that  in  feeding  out, 
they  increased  the  quantity  of  the  milk,  but  not 
of  the  butter.     Some  hocus-pocus  here,  surely ! 

And,  finally,  he  says  he  would  not  have  them 
in  his  cellar  because  they  scented  up  his  house. 
The  probabilities  are  that  this  took  place  merely 
for  want  of  sufficient  ventilation. 

The  writer  has  practiced  the  raising  of  root 
crops  for  a  series  of  years,  having  the  present 
season  harvested  some  2500  bushels,  and  will 
follow  it  no  longer  than  he  is  satisfied  it  will  pay 
in  every  sense  of  the  word.  His  present  opin- 
ion, founded  on  years  of  experience,  is,  that 
there  is  no  better  means  of  renovating  the  soil, 
than  by  growing  roots  and  feeding  them  out  on 
the  farm ;  carefully  saving,  housing  and  applj'- 
ing  the  manure  derived  from  feeding  them  out, 
and  that  a  perseverance  of  this  course  for  a  term 
of  years  will  most  assuredly  tell  upon  the  fertili- 
ty of  his  land. 

What  comparison,  indeed,  is  there  between  a 
ton  and  a  half  of  grass  to  the  acre,  and  fifteen 
tons  of  roots,  both  as  to  feeding  and  manurial 
purposes  ?  To  be  sure,  the  roots  cost  more  cul- 
ture and  higher  manuring, — but,  after  all,  there 
is  no  comparison  as  to  their  value. 

Thus  have  I  attempted  to  reply  to  some  of 
"E.  E.'s"  objections  to  this  branch  of  farming, 
feeling  that  he  must  have  obtained  a  wrong  idea 
of  its  practicability.  w.  J.  P. 

Salisbury,  Conn.,  Nov.  8,  1858. 


Remarks. — The  writer  of  the  above  is  one  of 
our  best  New  England  farmers, — working  with 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


21 


his  own  hands,  and  constantly  exercising  a  sound 
iudgment  in  his  operations.  He  took  the  first 
premium  on  farms  at  the  Connecticut  State 
Fair,  in  1856.  Our  opinions  are  more  in  accord- 
ance with  his  than  ^yith  those  expressed  by 
Mr.  Emerson ;  but  we  like  the  objections  of  Mr. 
E.  because  their  tendency  is  to  call  out  facts  like 
the  above. 

For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 
THE   FABMER'S  POSITION". 
"Pride  still  is  aiming  at  the  blest  abodes." 

Mr.  Editor: — This  subject  is  rather  hack- 
neyed, I  grant ;  but  the  fact  shows  that  the  ru- 
ral population  take  an  interest  in  it,  as  they  write 
so  frequently  about  it.  With  many  of  the  senti- 
ments of  the  various  articles  in  the  agricultural 
journals  relative  to  this  Protean  matter  I  hearti- 
ly coincide.  That  the  position  of  the  farmer,  who 
owns  his  farm,  and  is  obliged  to  work  it  for  his 
maintenance,  is  a  position  of  average  respectabil- 
ity, profit,  happiness,  and  rather  superior  as  to 
health,  I  am  fully  persuaded.  But  more  than 
this  I  am  not  prepared  to  admit.  This  paper  is 
devoted  to  the  great  agricultural  interest  of  the 
country  ;  but  I  suppose  you,  as  agricultural  edi- 
tor, are  not  prepared  to  claim  that  it  is  the  only 
important  interest,  or  that  it  can  be  made  remu- 
nerative without  supporting,  in  return,  those 
other  and  varied  interests.  All  men  should  not 
be  farmers,  nor  are  all  men  fitted  to  be — in  a 
high  state  of  civilization — whatever  we  may  say 
of  the  natural  blessedness  of  farming.  It  seems 
to  be  a  law  of  progress,  that  the  more  advanced 
civilization  is,  the  more  must  labor  be  subdivided. 
And  in  this  state  all  vocations  are  reciprocally 
dependant.  Allow  a  correspondent  who  has  an- 
nually written  more  or  less  for  your  neat,  inter- 
esting and  valuable  periodical,  ever  since  its  ori- 
gin, the  freedom  of  saying,  that  he  thinks  many 
of  the  articles  which  appear  in  the  agricultural 
■ournals — on  the  particular  vocation  to  which 
they  are  devoted — to  be  over-wrought ;  and,  if 
written  by  farmers,  a  little  too  self -laudatory .  If 
not  written  by  practical  farmers,  they  can  have 
but  little  or  no  claim  to  belief.  I  grant  the  fault 
is  common  in  other  vocations  ;  but  it  may  be  no 
less  a  fault  in  all.  The  profession  of  the  law  de- 
mands the  most  learned  men,  though  there  is  a 
very  strong  suspicion  that  it  can  tolerate  those 
that  are  not  the  most  honest !  And  it  claims  to 
be  the  royal  road  for  those  "seeking  the  bauble 
reputation."  Medicine  also  requires  the  greatest 
amount  of  intelligence,  and  claims  unsurpassed 
honor,  though  it  admits  it  is  a  little  plethoric  in 
the  varied  apathies,  and  requires  a- gentle,  if  not 
a  brisk,  purging.  The  profession  of  theology 
claims  to  be  divine,  and  admits  no  superlative,  or 
even  equal,  in  any  vocation  ;  though  its  divinity 
must  be  weak  in  proportion  to  its  compass,  if  it 
embrace  all  the  2^seudo  religions  of  the  present 
business  age. 

But  I  return  to  agricultural  laudation,  or  exag- 
geration— which  is  evidently  injurious  to  the 
cause  it  would  foster,  furnishes  vulneral)le  points 
for  attack,  and  leads  young  men  of  the  country, 
to  turn  their  backs  on  what  they  know  to  be  false, 
and  also  upon  the  farm  itself — at  least  till  they 
try  their  capacities  somewhere  else. 


In  the  monthly  Fanner  for  October,  I  notice  a 
well  written  article  on  "Farmers'  Sons  as  Schol- 
ars," by  Mr.  Euler  Norcross,  of  South  Iladley — 
though  the  hope  expressed  in  his  last  paragraph 
I  think  can  never  be  realized — believing  that  the 
profession  of  the  farmer  can  never  become  one 
of  the  'Hearncd  professions."  That  farmers'  sons 
frequently  make  better  scholars  than  some  oth- 
ers, cannot  be  gainsaid  ;  but  perhaps  no  better 
than  those  of  the  mechanic,  or  laborer,  or  of  any 
other  vocation,  where  the  son  has  been  drilled  to 
severe  industry  and  economy.  The  poor  and  sed- 
ulous student  believes  with  Franklin  (who 
snatched  his  education  from  the  universe,  and 
not  a  farmer's  son  either,)  that  ''A  vocation  to 
be  profitable  must  be  worked."  What  Mr.  N. 
says  of  this  class  is  very  well ;  though  he  ought 
not  to  imply  that  they  are  all  farmers'  sons,  or 
that  there  can  be  no  poverty,  industry  and  schol- 
arship anywhere  else  ! 

But  passing  to  a  more  important  point,  I  wish 
I  had  faith  to  hope  with  him  for  the  sublime  re- 
alization of  the  thoughts  expressed  in  his  last 
paragraph  ;  but  it — (my  faith) — has  shown  me  so 
many  "jadish  tricks,"  and  so  seldom  given  me 
anything  but  old  and  stern  realities,  that  I  am 
reluctant  to  give  it  credit.     Mr.  N.  says : 

"I  hope  the  day  may  come  when  our  farmers 
and  laborers  shall  rank  first  in  point  of  education 
among  the  people  of  the  land  ;  when  every  far- 
mer shall  not  be  afraid  to  compare  his  education 
with  any  college  graduate.  Then  will  labor  really 
be  honored,  and  our  laborers  be  truly  our  na- 
tion's strength,  the  safeguard  of  our  liberties  and 
our  country's  pride." 

The  writer  of  the  above,  in  his  golden  antici- 
pations, does  not  say  that  he  hopes  farmers  will 
rank  erpial  to  the  "first  in  point  of  education," 
but  rank  first !  How  he  is  going  to  bring  this 
about,  or  how  it  is  to  come,  he  does  not  hint.  I 
am  bound  to  suppose,  however,  that  he  expects 
that  the  day  is  not  far  distant,  when  every  man 
intendedto  labor  on  and  carry  on  a  farm  for  a 
livelihood,  must  first  be  fitted  for  college,  (occu- 
pying two  years,)  then  go  to  college  and  spend 
four  years,  and  then  to  fit  him  for  his  special 
business,  spend  three  years  in  a  professional 
"School  of  Agriculture" — like  the  lawyers,  doc- 
tors and  ministers — before  he  can  be  in  good 
working  order  for  the  farm,  or  able  "to  compare 
his  education  with  any  college  graduate  !"  This 
plan  would  be  expensive,  but  we  think  all  our 
Universities  would  favor  it,  if  no  one  else  !  But 
I  am  disposed  to  make  the  following  query: 
Which  would  be  the  wiser  of  two  young  men 
having  $1500  apiece,  and  intending  to  become 
farmers,  he  who  procured  his  collegiate  education 
first  and  then  run  the  hazard  of  getting  a  farm 
afterwards,  or  he  who  purchased  his  farm  first, 
and  then  afterwards  educated  himself  in  the  best 
manner  his  means  would  allow  ?  Mr.  Norcross, 
however,  may  not  intend  that  farmers  shall  be 
college-educated,  but  only  as  well  educated.  Per- 
haps he  means  they  shall  be  self-educated.  This 
would  render  the  desirable  state  he  hopes  for 
still  more  hopeless  ;  for  instances  of  good  self- 
education  are  comparatively  rare.  Men  do  not 
easily  become  a  Franklin.  We  can  more  readily 
carry  his  bundle  of  stockings  and  eat  his  rolls, 
than  acquire  his  philosophy. 

Although  I  cannot  sympathize  with  Mr.  N.  in 


22 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


his  bright  anticipations,  there  are  some  others 
Vv'ho  may.  I  notice  a  writer  in  the  May  number 
of  that  very  able  and  heavy-laden  periodical,  the 
Genesee  Farmer,  entertains  similar  views.  He 
observes  :  "It  will  be  a  better  day  for  all,  when 
it  is  discovered  that  the  highest  honors  of  the 
college  do  not  unfit  a  man  for  the  practical  duties 
of  agriculture — that  it  is  not  burying  one's 
knowledge  to  graduate  from  the  college  to  the 
farm." 

Why  should  not  all  mechanics,  merchants,  ed- 
itors, artists  and  laborers,  be  liberally  educated, 
to  give  dignity  to  their  varied  callings  ?  I  wish 
they  might,  but  know  that  a  tithe  of  them  cannot 
be.  These  writers  seem  to  be  insensible  of  the 
immense  labor  requisite  to  properly  educate  youth. 
Although  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  knowledge  ex- 
tant, and  decreases  none  the  less  as  it  is  acquired, 
yet  the  work  of  education  is  a  Herculean  and 
perpetual  labor.  Ignorance  is  the  rock  of  Sis- 
yphus, forever  recoiling  upon  society.  A  man 
can  easily  drop  a  fortune  into  his  son's  lap,  yet 
though  learned  as  Newton  or  Bacon,  he  cannot 
give  him  an  idea  without  effort — as  education  or 
learning  is  in  its  nature  intransmissible.  Hence 
it  is  an  obvious  fact  that  society  will  always  em- 
brace a  large  number  of  ignorant  beings.  They 
must  be  supported,  and  they  must  labor.  What 
shall  they  do  ?  If  we  raise  agriculture,  mechan- 
ics and  trading  above  their  capacities,  they  must 
enter  the  pulpit,  the  bar  and  medicine !  Such 
an  idea  is,  of  course,  preposterous. 

In  our  large  cities  and  towns  are  great  num- 
bers of  able-bodied  men,  some  from  foreign  coun- 
tries and  others  native  born,  out  of  employment, 
and  in  danger  of  being  led  into  crime.  They  are 
told  to  go  into  the  country  and  go  to  work.  But 
if  a  college  education  is  to  be  required  ere  they 
can  properly  wield  the  spade  and  the  hoe,  an  ex- 
tensive means  of  employment  will  be  cut  off. 
Trying  to  be  serious  about  the  subject,  I  think 
they  should  be  employed,  even  if  the  University 
farmers  are  obliged  to  hoe  their  row  with  such 
profound  ignorance  and  brute  force — of  which  the 
latter,  I  have  always  thought,  never  came  amiss 
on  a  farm.  These  unlettered  men  should  be  di- 
rected and  controlled,  but  employed  thev  must 
be. 

I  beg  pardon  of  all  farmers  when  I  repeat  the 
opinion,  (meaning  no  disrespect,)  that  to  success- 
fully carry  on  a  farm  does  not  demand  the  high- 
est jrder  of  intellect,  or  the  highest  cultivation 
of  an  ordinary  intellect.  If  it  did,  we  could  not 
expect  many  good  farmers,  neither  could  we  hope 
to  see  agriculture  popular,  or  farm  products  cheap 
and  abundant,  as  they  ought  to  be.  It  must  be 
evident  to  every  reflecting  man,  that  the  culture 
of  God's  earth  should  never  become  so  elevated 
and  exclusive  that  the  humblest  man  may  not 
freely  engage  in  it,  if  he  choose,  and  not  feel 
mortified  and  ill  at  ease  from  the  vast  array  of 
learning  and  agrarian  aristocracy  around  him. 
Farmers  need  not  be  scholastically  learned,  but 
they  should  be  sensible,  and  understand  their 
business  better  than  any  one's  else.  Perhaps 
"the  highest  honors  of  a  college"  may  not  "un- 
fit a  man  for  the  practical  duties  of  agriculture," 
but  if  they  beget  in  him — as  they  always  do — a 
belief  that  he  can  get  an  easier  livelihood  in  some 
other  vocation,  the  result  to  the  farm  is  the  same 
as  if  they  did.     Men  do  not  labor  here  or  there, 


from  sheer  moral  obligation,  but  from  necessity 
or  interest.  Give  a  hundred  of  our  best  farmers 
a  college  education,  and  then  look  and  see  if  you 
can  find  them  laboring  three  consecutive  days  in 
their  former  employment — except  as  a  mere 
healthy  pastime! 

If  carpenters,  masons  and  painters  should  meet 
in  convention,  and  resolve  that  they  and  their 
business  could  never  be  properly  respected  until 
their  education  was  as  good  as  that  of  any  col- 
lege graduate,  I  will  venture  to  say  that  farmers 
would  smile  ;  for  their  labor  is  more  of  the  hand 
than  the  head.  Yet  it  requires  no  more  liberal 
education  to  raise  corn  and  potatoes  than  to  build 
a  house. 

The  respect  which  a  discerning  public  yield  to 
the  cultivators  of  the  soil  is  permanent  and 
healthy,  and  should  be  appreciated.  It  is  true, 
they  cannot  expect,  as  such,  to  be  recorded  in 
history,  or  to  live  in  the  future  in  brass  or  stone 
— as  we  hope  good  farming  is  too  common  a 
thing.  This  esteem  is  not  that  which  is  periodi- 
cally lavished  upon  them  by  the  politicians  for 
their  endowment  of  suffrage,  but  that  which  a 
State  or  federal  election  cannot  effect.  If  their 
respect  were  to  rise  and  fall  only  with  the  politi- 
cal barometer,  they  might  well  complain.  As  it 
is,  we  think  it  argues  ill  for  them  to  demur,  as 
he  Avho  habitually  laments  his  position,  instead 
of  boldly  pushing  on  and  forgetting  it,  rarely  is 
successful. 

Hon.  Horace  Greeley,  of  New  York,  lately  de- 
livered an  able  agricultural  address  in  Indiana, 
from  which  I  quote  the  following  sentence  :  "It 
is  the  most  melancholy  feature  of  our  present  so- 
cial condition,  that  very  few  of  our  bright,  active, 
inquiring,  intelligent  youth  are  satisfied  to  grow 
up  and  settle  down  farmers."  With  all  deference 
to  Mr.  Greeley's  opinion,  and  unfaltering  respect 
for  the  farmer's  position,  I  cannot  think  so.  If 
the  children  of  the  hardy  yeomanry  make  some 
of  the  most  enterprising  men  in  the  country,  I 
can  see  no  good  reason  why  other  interests  and 
vocations  should  not  share  in  the  benefit  of  them. 
If  the  country  sends  men  to  the  city,  the  city  re- 
turns men  to  the  country,  and  they  are  more  like- 
ly to  become  contented,  and  hence  better  farmers 
than  those  youth  who  have  had  an  opportunity 
to  see  but  little  of  the  world  ere  they  "settle 
down  farmers ;"  for  the  latter  can  rarely  be 
made  to  believe  that  they  could  not  have  bettered 
their  condition.  Let  these  intellectual  youth  go. 
If  they  succeed,  no  one  can  complain  ;  if  they  re- 
turn to  become  farmers,  they  will  be  the  more 
happy.  I  question  whether  Mi-.  Greeley  would 
ever  have  delivered  his  elaborate  address  on  Ag- 
riculture, if  he  himself  had  not  wandered  to  the 
city,  where  he  assumed  a  vocation  whose  success- 
ful flow  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  New  York 
Tribune,  and  sent  its  proprietor  to  Congress. 
AVill  farmers  lament  and  exclaim,  "O,  how  much 
has  agriculture  lost  in  Horace  Greeley's  early  be- 
coming a  printer  ?"  But  he  now  owns  a  farm 
and  takes  a  great  interest  in  rural  pursuits.  Very 
well.  Will  he  give  his  whole  attention  to  that 
vocation  which  seems  to  inspire  him  with  so  much 
respect  ?  If  so,  and  he  bring  ample  means  with 
him  back  into  the  country,  has  agriculture  or  the 
community  suffered  ?     Others  may  do  the  same. 

Those  who  dp  the  least  on  the  farm,  I  some- 
times suspect,  are  the  loudest  in  its  praise.     The 


l8&9. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


23 


"intellectual  youth"  see  this,  and  as  example  is 
stronger  than  precept  with  them,  they  take  the 
liberty  of  bustling  in  the  flood  of  society,  till  they 
can  v*ell  judge  for  themselves  what  vocation  they 
shall  choose.  I  think,  on  the  whole,  this  is  well. 
Agriculture  has  many  resources,  and  will  take 
care  of  itself.  It  stands  on  too  important  and 
permanent  a  basis  to  be  shaken  by  smart  boys. 
But  while  on  this  subject,  let  me  observe,  that  if 
farmers  really  wish  their  sons  to  remain  at  home 
or  on  a  farm,  they  should  be  careful  that  they  do 
not  compel  them  to  labor  and  associate  with  every 
ignorant  and  vicious  workman  that  may  come 
along,  because  their  necessities  make  them  cheap  ; 
for  youth,  with  proper  self-x-espect,  M'ill  resent  it 
as  an  indignity.  It  is  true,  as  I  am  bound  to  be- 
lieve, that  the  time  will  never  come  when  college 
graduates  will  let  themselves  out  on  a  farm  by 
the  month,  or  that  such  men  as  Daniel  Webster, 
Edward  Everett,  Ralph  W.  Emerson,  (S:c.,  will  be 
seeking  employment  in  the  rural  districts  ;  yet 
farmers  will  do  well  to  discriminate  a  little  in  fa- 
vor of  the  most  available  virtue,  good  manners 
and  intelligence,  that  may  pass  along — besides 
giving  an  air  of  cultivation  and  content  around 
their  homes. 

But  I  will  close  this  extended  communication 
by  the  relation  of  a  simple  anecdote.  Some  few 
years  ago  I  heard  a  gentleman  deliver  a  lecture 
upon  "Character."  It  was  a  dull,  prosy  thing, 
and  those  who  knew  the  value  of  "balmy  sleep," 
were  inclined  to  nod.  Yet  at  its  close  he  apolo- 
gized for  any  thing  that  might  have  been  too 
pointed  !  Not  wishing  to  appear  as  that  gentle- 
man did,  I  drop  my  pen  without  pleading  favor. 

JV.  Medford,  Oct.,  1858  D.  w.  l. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
USE  OF  FKESH  MANUKE. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  saw  an  article  in  a  recent 
Farmer,  from  Mr.  Ward,  "about  manures." 
I  am  glad  he  had  the  courage  to  write  his  ex- 
perience, which  differs  so  much  from  the  practice 
of  some,  and  the  theory  of  many  more.  The 
reason  so  many  barn  cellars  are  built,  is  not  be- 
cause the  many  know  their  benefits,  but  because 
it  is  said  to  be  the  best  way  to  manufacture  food 
for  plants.  From  results  in  my  own  experience, 
I  find  that  the  manure  composted  under  cover, 
is  a  dangerous  article  as  food  for  plants.  I  have 
used  manure  that  has  lain  a  considerable  time 
in  a  barn,  (merely  on  the  top  of  ground  in  that 
section  usually  styled  a  bay,)  for  the  corn  crop, 
and  not  more  than  five  per  cent,  of  the  corn 
planted  ever  came  up.  1  have  observed,  in  dif- 
ferent fields,  that  where  manure  from  barn  cel- 
lars is  used,  that  the  corn  plants  were  sadly  de- 
ficient in  number  at  harvest  time.  After  forty 
years'  labor  among  corn  crops,  I  find  more  chang- 
es, among  cultivators,  for  the  worse,  than  for 
the  better.  Mr.  Ward,  it  seems,  has  a  question 
in  his  own  mind,  whether  to  remove  his  manure 
from  his  cellar,  in  accordance  with  his  better 
judgment,  or  to  let  it  remain  as  do  his  neigh- 
bors, and  have  a  scanty  crop.  My  advice  is  to 
give  his  manure  the  benefit  of  both  sun  and  rain. 

There  is  no  place  more  suitable  for  manure  in 
the  winter  than  under  the  eves  of  the  south  side 
of  the  barn.  All  the  water  that  falls  from  the 
barn,  and  the  snow  that  accumulates  upon  it,  is 


no  more  than  is  needful  for  the  preparation  of 
the  manure  to  fit  it  as  food  for  plants.  Whatev- 
er loss  there  is  by  evaporation  from  the  manure 
heap  in  a  dry  day,  is  more  than  balanced  by  re- 
ceipts from  the  atmosphere  in  the  night-time  and 
in  cloudy  days. 

I  believe  it  is  good  policy  to  have  our  yards 
for  manure  outside  the  barn  ;  let  swine  have  free 
access  to  them  during  the  day  time,  and  fifty 
per  cent,  more  manure  in  value  may  be  made, 
than  in  the  more  modern  way,  of  keeping  both 
manure  and  swine  in  a  cellai*.  At  the  same  time 
swine  will  be  more  healthy,  and  consequently 
more  profitable. 

If  space  was  not  so  limited,  I  should  be  glad 
to  say  a  few  words  touching  the  corn  crop.  It  is 
in  fact  tJie  crop  of  New  England,  so  far  as  profit 
in  dollars  and  cents  is  considered.  With  due 
care  in  preparing  the  manure,  in  selecting  and 
cultivating  the  soil,  selecting  the  variety  of  corn 
for  seed,  and  choosing  from  that  variety,  with  a 
dozen  other  etceteras,  the  corn  crop  will  assured- 
ly pay  from  twenty-five  to  forty  per  cent.,  year 
after  year.  R.  Mansfield. 

West  Needham,  Nov.,  1858. 


THE  LABORBB  AND  THE  "WABBIOR. 

BY  EPES   SARGENT. 

The  camp  has  had  its  day  of  song ; 

The  sword,  the  bayonet,  the  plume, 
Have  crowded  out  of  rhyme  too  long 

The  plow,  the  anvil  and  the  loom  ! 
0  I  not  upon  our  tented  fields 

Are  freedom's  heroes  bred  alone  ; 
The  training  of  the  workshop  yields 

More  heroes  true  than  war  has  known. 

Who  drives  the  bolt,  who  shapes  the  steel, 

May  with  a  heart  as  valiant  smite 
As  he  who  sees  a  foeman  reel 

In  blood  before  his  blow  of  might ; 
The  skill  that  conquers  space  and  time. 

That  graces  life,  that  lightens  toil, 
May  spring  from  courage  more  sublime 

Than  that  which  makes  a  realm  a  spoil. 

Let  labor,  then,  look  up  and  see 

His  craft  no  path  of  honor  lacks  ; 
The  soldier's  title  yet  shall  be 

Less  honored  than  the  woodman's  axe  ; 
Let  art  his  own  appointment  prize, 

Nor  deem  that  gold  or  outward  light 
Can  compensate  the  worth  that  lies 

In  tastes  that  breed  their  own  delight. 

And  may  the  time  draw  nearer  still, 

When  man  tlus  sacred  truth  shall  heed, 
That  from  the  thought  and  from  the  will 

Must  all  that  raises  man  proceed  ; 
Though  pride  may  hold  our  calling  low, 

For  us  shall  duty  make  it  good  ; 
And  we  from  truth  to  truth  shall  go. 

Till  life  and  death  are  understood. 


Emery's  Journal  of  Agriculture  and 
Prairie  Farmer,  published  at  Chicago,  at  $2 
a  year.  This  journal  has  earned  for  itself  a  good 
name  by  its  neat  appearance  and  its  practical 
good  sense.  The  prairie  farmers  can  increase 
their  profits  by  reading  it  carefully,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  wliat  it  may  do  for  the  women  and  chil- 
dren.    We  wish  it  great  success. 


24 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


For  the  New  Enfjland  Farmer. 

TJIflTED   STATES   AGKICDLTUKAL   FAIR 
AT   RICHMOND. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — Having  in  a  former  com- 
munication given  some  account  of  the  stock  at 
the  Fair,  it  remains  for  me  to  notice,  briefly,  the 
other  departments. 

The  vegetable,  fruit  and  horticultural  depart- 
ments were  not  largely  represented,  but  each 
contained  some  very  fine  specimens.  There  were 
very  nice  potatoes,  sweet  and  Irish,  some  very 
large  cabbages,  one  that  weighed  sixteen  pounds, 
some  excellent  beets,  both  table  and  sugar  beets. 
The  fruit  show  consisted  chiefly  of  preserved  fruits, 
such  as  the  strawberry,  plum,  peach,  cherry,  rasp- 
berry, &c.  There  was  a  good  exhibition  of  pre- 
served fruits  and  other  vegetables.  The  show  of 
plants  and  flowers  was  quite  small.  It  contained, 
however,  some  of  the  finest  and  most  elegant 
roses  that  I  have  ever  seen.  The  "Old  Domin- 
ion" is  famous  for  fine  roses,  as  I  ascertained  by 
observation  and  from  conversation. 

The  domestic  department  contained  a  very 
creditable  exhibition  of  the  handiwork  of  the  la- 
dies. The  Southern  mothers  and  daughters  gave 
demonstrative  evidence  of  possessing  much  skill 
in  needlework  and  embroidery.  This  department 
is  becoming  a  prominent  feature  in  all  our  agri- 
cultural exhibitions.  County,  State  and  National 
Let  it  be  encouraged,  for  it  is  a  hopeful  omen. 
Not  only  needle-work,  shell-work,  embroidery, 
&c.,  but  bread,  cake,  butter,  cheese,  and  other  ed- 
ible things,  are  also  exhibited,  showing  a  great 
diversity  of  skill  in  these  several  arts,  so  essen- 
tial to  domestic  comfort  and  enjoyment.  It  is 
true  that  bad  bread  and  butter  and  poor  cheese 
will  prevent  starvation,  but  let  it  be  remembered 
that  good  bread,  sweet  butter  and  delicious  cheese 
ai*e  a  continual  feast  in  the  few  households  where 
they  not  only  abound,  but  superabound,  as  in 
some  that  we  wot  of.  Wines  and  grapes  were 
on  exhibition,  which  I  omitted  to  mention  in 
connection  with  the  fruits. 

One  of  the  most  prominent,  interesting,  note- 
worthy and  important  departments  of  the  Show, 
yet  remains  to  be  mentioned  with  some  minute- 
ness, and  that  is,  the  one  including  farm  imple- 
ments and  machinery,  designed  to  promote  and 
aid  farm  labor  in  its  various  departments,  such 
as  relate  to  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  sowing  or  plant- 
ing the  seed,  cultivating  the  crops,  harvesting 
them,  husking  and  shelling  the  corn,  tlu'cshing 
and  winnowing  the  smaller  grains,  potato-dig- 
gers, &c.  There  was  a  very  creditable  exhibition 
in  this  department. 

What  surprised  me  more  than  any  thing  else 
that  I  noticed  in  connection  with  the  Show  and 
Fair,  was,  that  so  many  of  these  were  made  south 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  I  regarded  this  as 
a  favorable  omen,  but  was  told  by  Southerners, 
that  they  regarded  or  looked  upon  it  otherwise, 
for,  said  they,  "Our  agricultural  resources  are 
what  we  are  to  study  to  develop  and  make  pro- 
ductive, leaving  other  portions  of  our  countrj^  to 
do  the  manufacturing."  This  is  undoubtedly 
good  doctrine  and  true.  New  England  has  a 
hard,  unproductive  soil,  naturally,  but  capital  fa- 
cilities for  manufacturing,  as  is  demonstrated  by 
her  wares,  which  find  their  way  into  all  markets. 

Among  the  I'eapers  and  mowers,  are  Morrison's, 


manufactured  in  Richmond,  Atkins's  Reaper  and 
Mower,  made  in  Illinois,  the  Buckeye,  Allen's, 
the  Eagle  Mower  and  Reaper,  and  others.  The 
last  mentioned  was  exhibited  by  A.  G.  Mott,  of 
Baltimore,  agent  of  the  House  of  Nourse.  Ma- 
son &  Co.,  Boston.  I  heard  a  good  account  of 
this  machine.  The  same  Eastern  House  had  sev- 
eral other  articles  on  exhibition.  I  wish  they  had 
sent  on  samples  of  all  their  plows ;  for  the  show 
of  plows  was  not  very  good,  at  least,  I  so  judged, 
after  careful  observation. 

Watt,  of  Richmond,  was  a  large  contributor 
to  the  implement  department,  and  especially  to 
that  of  plows.  Mr.  W,  is  a  very  intelligent  and 
enterprising  mechanic,  as  I  had  ample  opportu- 
nity to  learn.  Iron  plows  were  exhibited  by  R. 
B.  Winston,  of  Richmond.  There  was  a  ma- 
chine called  the  corn  and  potato-furrower,  from 
Orange  county,  Va.  Cultivators  of  various  pat- 
terns, shovel-plows,  surface-draining-plow,  (price 
$25,)  which  will  enable  a  man  to  drain  sixty  acres 
a  day,  with  three  mules  to  draw*  it.  I  shall  refer 
to  this  again. 

There  were  various  planters,  seed-sowers,  drills, 
iScc,  some  of  which  excited  much  attention, — 
and  none  more  so,  nor  more  deservedly,  than 
Wiggin's  Corn-planter,  from  Boston.  This  was 
made  to  be  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  to  fertilize 
and  plant  four  rows  at  "a  bout."  It  is  so  made  that 
a  plowshare  like  implement  opens  a  small  furrow, 
the  corn  and  fertilizers  are  dropped,  covered  by  a 
contrivance  that  turns  the  furrow  back,  as  it  M'ere, 
and  then  rolled  by  wide-rimmed  wheels,  which 
follow  and  finishes  the  work.  This  machine 
made  a  decided  and  favorable  impression  upon 
those  farmers  who  have  much  planting  to  do  on 
smooth  land.  It  may  be  so  constructed  as  to  be 
used  with  one  horse  or  two,  and  to  plant  the 
rows  three,  three  and  a  half  or  four  feet  apart. 
To  Mr.  Wiggin  was  awarded  the  medal  for  his 
invention.  It  is  just  the  thing  for  planting  corn 
in  the  Western  States,  where  the  steam-plow,  it 
would  seem,  is  destined  to  turn  up  the  soil  ere 
long.  Farmers  of  the  West,  just  think  of  it !  A 
steam-plow  to  till  the  soil  and  fit  it  for  planting, 
Wiggin's  planter  to  put  in  the  seed,  horse-hoes 
and  cultivators  to  do  the  weeding  and  cultivating 
with,  a  harvester  to  gather  it,  worked  by  horses, 
Xourse,  Mason  &  Co.'s  buskers  and  shellers,  and 
Sanford's  mill  for  grinding  it  for  stock  or  the  ta- 
ble, leaves  but  little  for  hand  labor,  all,  nearly, 
being  done  with  machinery,  propelled  by  steam 
or  horse  power. 

There  were  subsoil  plows  and  a  great  variety 
of  other  implements,  that  excited  much  attention, 
among  which  were  barrows,  carts,  wagons,  hay, 
straw,  corn-stalk  and  husk  cutters,  platform- 
scales,  horse-powers,  stoam-engin' s,  gri«t-mills, 
saw-mills,  threshing-machines,  a  superb  tobacco- 
press,  a  machine  for  making  syrup  of  the  Chi- 
nese sugar  cane,  &c.,  &c. 

The  Platform  Scales,  for  weighing  hay,  live 
stock  and  other  ponderous  products,  patented  by 
Strong  &  Ross,  and  manufactured  by  J.  Howe, 
Jr.jBrandon,  Vt.,and  Frank  E.  Howe,  New  York 
city,  proprietors,  attracted  much  notice.  They 
were  used  for  weighing  the  live  stock  on  the  Fair 
ground. 

These  scales  are  the  best  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  the  farmers,  not  less  than  to  others,  of  any 
that  I  have  yet  seen.     Thev  do  not  require  a  pit 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


25 


to  be  dug  to  the  depth  of  three  or  four  feet,  but 
may  be  placed  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
and  used  as  v/as  illustrated  on  the  Fair  grounds. 
The  knife-edges  upon  which  the  scales  turn  are 
protected  from  dulling  hy  the  use  of  balls ;  but 
two  simple  levers  are  used,  thus  avoiding  com- 
plications; remarkable  for  their  self-adjusting 
power  and  accuracy,  absence  of  check-rods,  and 
may  be  used  for  weighing  upon  an  inclined  plane, 
a  peculiar  and  convenient  quality  for  some  local- 
ities. They  were  tested  by  placing  a  heavy  sub- 
stance upon  the  centre  of  the  platfoi-m,  weighing 
it,  and  then  moving  it  to  the  several  corners  of 
the  platform  and  Meighing  it,  without  showing 
the  slightest  variation.  The  judges  awarded  the 
silver  medal  and  the  bronze  medal  on  large  and 
small  scales  as  first  premiums,  as  stated  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  National  Agricultural  Society. 
More  anon  about  implements. 


ECONOMY  IN  FUEL. 

Very  much  of  the  fuel  consumed  in  our  stoves 
is  lost.  If  it  is  not  dry,  all  the  water  it  contains 
must  be  converted  to  steam,  and  this  requires  a 
large  amount  of  heat.  Could  this  steam  be  con- 
ducted to  some  reservoir,  where  the  heat  was 
■wanted,  and  there  condensed,  the  heat  would  be 
saved,  but  in  ordinary  cases,  it  passes  with  all  its 
heat  to  the  chimney.  The  only  exception  is  when 
the  stove-pipe  is  very  long  or  passes  through  a 
cold  room,  and  then,  "O,  what  dirty  work  the 
dripping  makes."  Drying  wood  in  the  stove  by 
fire,  when  sun  and  wind  are  afforded  free,  is  like 
using  sunlight  to  sleep  by,  and  gas  and  oil  to 
work  by. 

Another  error  consists  in  admitting  more  air 
within  the  stove  than  is  necessary  to  promote  a 
combustion  of  the  fuel,  and  also  admitting  it 
where  it  docs  not  aid  the  combustion.  The  ob- 
ject of  r,'---  is  to  afford  oxygen  to  unite  with  the 
carbon  i,f  the  wood.  In  this  chemical  union, 
forming  carbonic  acid,  heat  is  produced  or  given 
out.  Now  all  the  air  admitted  to  the  stove  which 
does  not  so  pass  through  the  fire  as  to  be  decom- 
posed and  yield  a  port-ion,  at  least,  of  its  oxygen, 
becomes  only  an  absorber  of  heat  already  made, 
and  a  carrier  of  that  heat  off  into  the  chimney  to 
warm,  not  the  room  or  its  occupant,  but  "all  out- 
doors." A  very  great  error  is  often  made  by 
those  who  study  economy.  They  split  their  wood 
fine,  put  but  a  little  in  the  stove  at  a  time,  and 
give  it  a  full  draft  in  order  to  make  it  burn  rap- 
idly, so  that  a  little  wood  shall  make  a  large  fire. 
But  this  little  is  repeated  so  often  that  the  ag- 
gregate is  large. 

Would  you  study  economy,  convenience  and 
comfort,  then  you  will  find  them  all  in  the  same 
management.  Leave  most  of  your  wood  large. 
Have  a  little  quite  fine  for  starting  your  fire,  use 
sun  and  wind  to  dry  it.  After  your  fire  is  start- 
ed, keep  a  full  supply  of  wood  in  the  stove,  never 
letting  it  get  down  to  one  stick,  and  give  it  so 
much — ^just  so  much,  and  only  so  much  air  as  will 
keep  the  fire  sufficiently  alive  to  give  the  desired 
temperature  to  the  room.  Any  person  who  will 
follow  these  directions  with  one  stove,  will  save 
enough  each  winter  month  to  pay  for  the  Cultur- 
ist  one  year,  besides  securing  a  large  amount  of 
ease  and  comfort. — Berkshire  CuUurist. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ENGLISH  TURNIP  CROP. 

Mr.  Brown  : — Having  tried  an  experiment 
(new  to  me)  in  the  culture  of  the  common  flat 
turnip,  which  has  proved  successful,  lam  induced 
to  furnish  a  detailed  statement  of  the  same,  for 
the  use  of  the  thousands  of  farmers  who  road 
your  paper. 

The  ground  selected  for  my  turnip  crop  was 
part  of  a  field  intended  for  corn  culture  next 
year — so  that  the  plowing  is  so  much  work  done 
in  advance  ;  extent  half  an  acre.  The  soil  is  a 
light  sandy  loam.  This  was  plowed  July  22d ; 
depth  seven  inches.  After  harrowing  thorough- 
ly, three  ox-loads  of  composted  manure  and  one 
barrel  of  wood  ashes  were  spread  on  one-half  of 
it,  viz.,  one-fourth  of  an  acre,  carefully  harrowed 
in,  the  turnip  seed  sowed  and  bushed  in.  The 
seed  came  up  readily  and  grew  finely,  for  a  time; 
but  produced  an  indifterent  crop  of  small  roots. 
The  remaining  quarter  of  an  acre  was  allowed  to 
lie  till  August  5th,  when  it  was  carefully  har- 
rowed, and  on  one-half  of  it  I  spread  seven 
bushels  of  a  compost  (which  I  prepare  every  year 
for  raising  fodder  corn,)  consisting  of  four  parts 
of  wood  ashes,  (taken  damp  from  the  cellar,) 
one  part  of  hen  manure  and  one  part  of  plas- 
ter, (thoroughly  mixed  and  suffered  to  stand  ten 
days  before  using.)  This  was  harrowed  in,  the 
seed  sown  and  bushed  in.  On  the  remaining 
one-eighth  of  an  acre,  I  spread  six  bushels  of 
hen  manure,  well  pulverized ;  and  treated  as 
above.  This  sowing  came  up  readily  and  the 
plants  grew  rapidly,  overtaking  in  size  those 
sown  fourteen  days  previously,  in  about  four 
weeks,  and  then  fairly  "distancing"  them.  No 
culture  was  bestowed  on  the  crop.  It  was  har- 
vested November  10th.  On  the  part  where  the 
hen  manure  was  spread  the  yield  was  at  the  rate 
of  550  bushels  per  acre ;  the  roots  of  large,  uni- 
form size,  and  of  very  fine  fibre.  Where  the 
compost  of  hen  manure,  ashes  and  plaster  was 
spread,  the  yield  was  somewhat  lighter,  the  roots 
being  smaller  in  size,  though  finer  grained,  and 
better  for  table  use. 

I  am  induced  to  publish  this  statement,  not  be- 
cause the  yield  was  extraordinary,  but  to  show 
our  farmers,  who  keep  two  or  three  dozens  of 
fowls,  how  they  may  make  the  droppings  of  the 
hen  roost  (commonly  wasted)  pay  a  large  profit  ; 
and  with  little  labor,  secure  a  crop  which  helps 
make  up  the  variety  of  an  old  fashioned  "boiled 
dish,"  and  helps  to  graduate  for  their  stock  the 
change  from  grass  to  dry  winter  fodder. 

JosiAH  H.  Temple. 

Framingham,  Nov.  12,  1858. 


Big  Chimneys. — The  chimney  at  Bolton. 
England,  mentioned  the  other  day,  is  not  the 
highest  in  the  world,  although  a  hundred  feel 
taller  than  the  Charlestown  structure.  There  is 
one  near  Manchester,  England,  that  is  480  feet 
high,  while  the  chimney  shaft  of  the  St.  RoUox 
chemical  works,  at  Glasgow,  is  twenty  feet  higher 
still,  being  450  feet  high  ;  and  a  yet  larger  one 
is  in  course  of  construction  at  Glasgow,  for  a 
chemical  manufactory.  It  is  to  be  460  feet  high, 
or  nearly  twice  as  tall  as  the  Charlestown  chim- 
ney, which  is  2.''9  feet  high.     In  order  to  secure 


26 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


its  solidity  and  strength,  the  constructor  is 
building  into  the  centre  of  the  brick  work  at 
every  stage  of  twenty-five  feet  a  malleable  iron 
ring  3.^  inches  broad,  and  7-8  of  an  inch  in 
thickness.  The  mortar  used  is  of  a  peculiar 
character.  The  foundation  was  built  with  a  mix- 
ture of  Irish  lime,  ironstone,  Ardcn  lime,  and 
sand,  forming  a  cement  impervious  to  damp. 
The  rest  of  the  shaft  is  to  be  built  with  mortar 
of  a  similar  description,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Arden  lime. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

CORN"  A.GAT]>r— ITS  SUPBRIOBITY  TO 
ANIMAL  FOOD. 

Mr.  Editor: — Your Kennebunk  correspond- 
ent, K.,  in  your  number  for  October  23,  takes  oc- 
casion to  differ,  "respectfully,"  from  some  of  the 
views  I  have,  from  time  to  time,  presented  in 
your  valuable  columns ;  especially  those  which 
are  found  in  an  article  entitled  "Corn  versus 
Beef."  With  your  jiermission  I  wish  to  review, 
as  "respectfully"  as  I  can,  his  apparently  honest 
objections  ;  and  remove,  if  possible,  his  difficul- 
ties. This  I  do  the  more  freely,  as,  in  his  ob- 
jection and  animadversions,  he  represents  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  your  less  scientific  but 
inquiring  readers. 

He  saj  s,  "Domestic  animals  form  the  basis  of 
all  farm  improvement."  Do  they  so  ?  and  do 
they  form  the  basis  of  all  garden  improvement 
too?  How  was  it  with  the  fi'-st  two  gardeners? 
How  has  it  been  with  the  Chinese  and  with  the 
Japanese  of  several  centuries  past — concerning 
the  latter  of  whom  the  best  authorities  tell  us 
that  while  they  are,  compared  with  the  other 
Asiatics,  a  highly  cultivated  and  progressive 
people,  they  subsist  almost  wholly  by  means  of 
spade  husbandry  ;  not  having  in  the  whole  em- 
pire, with  its  twenty  to  thirty  millions  of  people, 
as  many  domestic  animals  as  .there  are  in  a  sin- 
gle township  of  modern  Sweden  ? 

Perhaps  he  will  say,  "1  do  not  see  the  neces- 
sity of  going  back  to  the  days  of  Adam,  nor  to 
the  opposite  side  of  the  globe  ;  let  us  have  facts 
r-earur  our  own  times,  and  at  our  own  firesides." 
Very  waW  ;  they  are  ut  nand. 

Rev.  Samuel  Nott,  of  Wareham,  who  owns 
about  an  acre  of  land,  and  who  has  had  it  under 
high  cultivation  for  (1  think)  about  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  assures  me  that  spading  it  up  well, 
every  year,  instead  of  plowing  it  at  all,  with  but 
a  very  little  manure,  is  found  to  be  the  most  eco- 
nomical course  ;  and  Mrs.  N.,  who  is  no  careless 
observer,  concurs  in  his  opinion.  Are  domestic 
animals  so  very  indispensable  hcrt;  ':■ 

Mr.  Abijah  Johnson,  of  Auburndale,  finds  sub- 
soiling  his  old,  worn-out  lands,  the  basis  of  farm 
improvement.  He  does  not  v/holly  exclude  ma- 
nuring, but  he  relies  chiefly,  so  far  as  he  relies 
on  them  at  all,  on  such  manures  as  are  made 
without  domestic  animals  ;  as  soapsuds,  the  con- 
tents of  the  chamber,  &c.  &c. 

I  have  myself  cultivated  one  acre  or  so  of  land 
these  twenty  years,  and  with  as  much  success,  to 
say  the  least,  as  the  average  of  my  neighbors. 
My  grounds  have  been  constantly  improving. 
Yet  I  never  kept  a  domestic  animal  in  my  life, 
save,  occasionally,  a  cat  and  a  very  few  kens  ; 
nor  have  I  Ijought  much  manure.    Indeed,  what  I 


have  bought  has  been  pond-mud,  night-soil,  lime 
and  leached  ashes.  I  have  never  bought  a  pound 
of  any  other,  except  once,  a  little  guano. 

Sometimes,  indeed,  I  have  found  that  certain 
ingredients  of  the  soil  which  seemed  needful  to 
certain  crops,  were  wanting ;  but  by  little  atten- 
tion to  the  discoveries  of  chemistry,  I  have  sup- 
plied them  without  the  aid  of  domestic  animals. 
And  so  far  am  I  from  believing  domestic  animal 
manures  form  the  basis  of  all  farm  improvement, 
that  I  do  not  believe  they  ever  form  its  basis. 
At  most,  they  are  to  the  soil,  what  condiments 
are  to  our  food  ;  or  rather  to  the  stoxnach  and  to 
digestion.  Though  I  might  not  wholly  exclude 
them,  I  never  would  place  much  permanent  re- 
liance upon  them.  How  very  evanescent,  for 
example,  guano ! 

And  if  further  proof  were  needful  to  show  your 
correspondent  his  mistake,  I  have  but  to  refer 
him  to  frequent  articles  in  your  columns — and 
that,  not  from  yisionary,  but  highly  practical 
men  ;  such,  for  example,  as  that  from  Mr.  French, 
on  the  first  page  of  your  number,  October  30. 

Your  correspondent  next  tells  us  "cattle  that 
are  stall-fed  are  only  finished  off  on  corn  after 
they  have  attained  their  full  size  on  grass  and 
hay."  Grant  it;  but  whence  comes  the  grass  and 
hay  ;  except  from  land  that  might,  at  least,  to  a 
very  large  extent,  produce  corn,  or  rye,  or  pota- 
toes, or  fruit,  just  as  well  as  "grass  and  hay  ?" 

"The  s_tme  is  true,"  he  adds,  "with  regard  to 
pork,  it  being  raised,  chiefly,  on  the  products  of 
the  dairy,  and  refuse  articles  of  the  orchard  and 
farm,  until  fattening  time."  Now,  I  have  seen  a 
hog,  within  a  few  days,  that,  on  being  killed, 
weighed  400  pounds,  whose  owner  never  had  any 
dairy  to  furnish  his  food.  It  is,  however,  true, 
that  he  was  the  scavenger  of  the  family  ;  and 
that  they  have  a  diseased  dainty  as  their  reward 
— unless,  indeed,  they  should  conclude  to  sell 
him  to  the  city  people,  or  exchange  him  for  other 
and  better  articles  of  human  sustenance. 

If  the  various  considerations  which  your  cor- 
respondent has  presented  loere  sufficient  to  in- 
duce me  to  change  my  "figures,"  the  change 
would  by  no  means  be  favorable  to  the  views  of 
my  opponents  in  opinion.  The  owner  of  the  hog 
weighing  400  pounds,  says  he  cost  him  over  S30. 
Now,  .$30  laid  out  in  farinaceous  substances,which 
are  miich  richer  in  that  which  nourishes  the 
])ody,  and  quite  rich  enough  in  carbon  for  cora- 
bus-tion  in  the  lungs,  would  give  us  some  1800 
pounds  of  the  one,  to  400  of  the  other.  This  is 
not,  indeed,  quite  ten  to  one  in  figures  ;  but  at 
least  ten  to  one  in  reality ;  since  pork,  in  res- 
pect of  bodily  nutrition,  is  apt  to  remind  one  of 
the  Irishman  who  said  his  fiddle  had  music 
enough  in  it,  but  he  could  not  get  it  out.  My 
brother,  who  raises  some  five  or  six  hundred 
pounds  of  pork,  yearly,  for  family  use,  told  me, 
the  other  day.  that  his  hogs  cost  him  enough  to 
support  (so  far  as  mere  food  was  concerned,)  his 
whole  family  of  six  or  seven  persons. 

No  living  man,  in  the  temperate  regions,  can 
get  much  nutriment  out  of  fat  pork  ;  and  they 
who,  by  aid  of  powdered  fern  roots  or  bark  inter- 
mingled therewith,  joined  to  the  force  of  long 
habit,  get  a  little  nutriment  out  of  fat,  in  high 
latitudes,  gain  but  a  meagre  apd  nnserable  sup- 
port. It  is  the  testimony  of  Sir  John  Richard- 
son and  other  British  polar  navigators,  that  Indi- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


27 


an  corn,  ■when  obtainable  in  the  Arctic  regions, 
is  better  than  fat. 

Your  correspondent  says  something  about  the 
teeth — that  those  of  man  indicate  a  mixed  diet. 
This  argument,  if  it  proves  any  thing,  proves 
that  we  should  eat  half  grass  or  hay,  and  half 
fle&n.  Will  he,  then,  adhere  to  it?  Or  if  man, 
because  he  has  four  sharp-pointed  teeth,  ought 
to  eat  a  part  animal  food,  surely  the  sheep  and 
the  camel,  that  have  four  sharper  teeth  than  man, 
ought  to  eat  quite  as  much  flesh,  fowl  or  fish,  as 
the  latter. 

That  pork  and  beef  eaters  are  better  fighters 
than  vegetarians,  I  will  not  now  stop  to  deny, 
except  to  say  that  the  Makrattas,  the  greatest 
fighters  in  India,  were  the  most  rigid  vegetari- 
ans ;  nor  that  children  of  one  year  old  sometimes 
"choose  meat ;"  nor  yet  to  prove  that  all  the 
hogs  we  eat  are  diseased  hogs,  and  all  the  men, 
women  and  children  who  eat  them  are  diseased, 
as  the  consequence.  W.  A.  A. 

Auhurndalc,  Nov.  1,  1S5S. 


and  wasteful  farmer,  if  such  a  man  can  be  called 
a  farmer.  A  shingle  ofl:'  here,  and  there  a  board 
hanging  by  one  nail — a  door  with  one  hinge  brok- 
en off.  I  need  not  quote  wnat  the  wise  man  has 
said  in  regard  to  a  certain  character  in  his  day, 
"I  went  by  the  field  of  the  slothful,"  &c.  It  would 
seem  that  words  need  not  be  multiplied  to  in- 
duce economy  and  neatness  in  farming.  A  word 
to  the  wise  is  sufficient.  Eco>'OMY. 

North  Leomin&ter,  1858. 


Remarks. — These  are  more  than  hiats- 
haps  they  may  benefit  some  of  us. 


-per- 


i'or  C/ie  jS'eiv  England  Farmer. 
ECOIf OMY  IN  FAHMING. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  was  pleased  with  the  recent 
remarks  of  your  correspondent  "Roger,"  on 
"neatness  in  farming."  In  juxtaposition  with 
neatness  is  economy  in  farming.  These  remarks 
on  neatness  led  me  to  reflect  on  the  amount  of 
waste  in  our  farming  community. 

In  the'first  place,  I  would  notice  the  waste  of 
time — how  many  hours  are  passed  to  no  profit, 
either  to  body,  mind,  or  estate.  When  farm- 
work  is  not  2'1'essing,  time  is  passed  idly  away 
instead  of  devoting  these  leisure  hours  in  clear- 
ing waste  land,  collecting  and  placing  under  cov- 
er wood  which  has  been  broken  from  trees,  and 
thus  liable  to  become  rotten.  From  an  ordina- 
ry farm,  sufficient  summer  fuel  could  thus  be 
collected,  which  would  otherwise  be  lost. 

Waste  land  ;  how  much  land  is  suffered  to  run 
to  Vr'aste  on  almost  every  farm.  On  how  many 
farms  do  you  see  bushes  and  rank  weeds  by  the 
road  fences,  perhaps  from  six  to  eighteen  feet, 
and  thus  the  stone  wall  and  fences  along  the 
farm  are  hid  from  view.  Bushes  are  suffered  to 
grow,  when  a  few  hours,  which  are  often  spent 
in  idleness,  would  remove,  and  leave  the  land 
free  for  culture.  Stony  ground,  which  is  unfit- 
ted for  cultivation  could  be  made  to  produce  a 
fine  growth  of  wood,  and  one  inch  of  land  on  a 
good  farm  would  not  be  left  to  waste. 

In  fact,  economy  and  neatness  are  inseparable, 
one  and  the  same.  Wherever  you  see  a  neat 
farm,  be  assured  the  manager  of  that  farm  is  an 
economical  man ;  and,  whenever  you  see  a  slov- 
enly farm,  you  may  rest  assured  that  the  manag- 
er of  that  farm  is  no  economist. 

These  remarks  will  apply  to  every  department 
of  farming.  Hov>'  many  there  are  who  so  man- 
age in  the  feeding  of  cattle,  swine  or  poultry,  as 
to  waste  half  their  food,  and  consequently  their 
neat  stock  are  never  thrifty,  their  fovrls,  many  of 
them,  at  least,  are  unprofitable,  they  have  eggs 
only  half  the  season,  and  not  abundant  even 
then.  Porkers  that  might  be  made  to  weigh  450 
to  500  lbs.,  weigh  little  more  than  half  as  much 
as  their  neighbor's. 

Again,  look  at  the  buildings  of  the  slovenlv 


MAWUBING  GRASS  LANDS  IN  AUTUMN. 

^lany  of  our  readers  do  not  seem  to  be  aware 
that  mowing  lands,  in  order  to  be  kept  up  in 
fertility  and  productiveness  for  a  series  of  years, 
require  some  sort  of  dressing  every  year  or  two. 
They  will  work  hard,  and  be  to  great  expense  to 
put  the  land  in  good  order,  and  to  seed  it  well. 
They  then  begin  to  mow  it,  and  follow  it  up  year 
after  year,  taking  a  heavy  crop  of  hay  at  first  in 
the  summer,  and  feeding  it  late  in  the  fall  by 
their  cattle.  In  a  few  years  they  find  the  land  "run 
out"  as  it  is  called,  and  they  find  it  necessary  to 
manure  and  plow  and  seed  it  as  before. 

Now  it  is  abundantly  evident,  that  much  of 
the  running  out  may  be  prevented  by  a  lit- 
tle seasonable  application  of  fertilizers,  without 
the  labor  and  cost  of  plowing  and  reseeding  so 
often.  Your  land  is  a  workshop  or  laboratory,  in 
v.'hich  certain  kinds  of  raw  material,  such  as  ma- 
nure from  the  barnyard — or  muck  or  ashes,  &c., 
is  manufactured  into  grass,  but  it  must  have  the 
raw  material  to  work  up,  or  your  mill  will  stop. 

We  have  found  by  our  own  experience,  and  by 
observing  the  experiments  of  others,  that  the 
best  time  to  put  many  fertilizers,  such  as  decom- 
posed barnyard  manure,  or  composts  of  different 
kinds,  and  even  bone  dust  and  plaster  of  Paris,  is 
in  the  full,  before  the  fall  rains  commence.  By 
applying  them  at  this  season,  the  coarser  particles 
become  disintegrated  and  mingled  with  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil,  and  the  whole  become  more  in- 
timately incorporated  with  the  earth  about  the 
grass  roots,  not  only  stimulating  them  by  their 
nutritive  elements,  but  also  affording  protection 
more  or  less  during  the  v/inter. 

Every  one  who  has  a  mowing  field  that  is  be- 
ginning to  deteriorate  in  consequence  of  the  an- 
nual cropping,  and  we  nearly  all  of  us  have, 
would  do  well  to  put  on  the  dressing  as  soon  as 
may  be  now,  so  that  they  may  be  benefited  by 
it,  not  only  during  the  coming  winter,  but  early 
in  the  spring.  If  you  cannot  do  any  better,  try 
a  few  rods  and  wait  the  results. — Maine  Farmer. 


Leaves  .\re  Chemists. — Have  you  ever  con- 
sidered the  amount  of  surface  a  single  tree  pre- 
sents to  the  atmosphere  ?  the  extent  of  surface  of 
leaves  in  a  field  of  corn  ?  Measure  a  leaf — take 
the  area  of  one  side,  multiply  it  by  two,  (the  num- 
ber of  sides,)  and  that  product  by  the  number  oi 
leaves  on  a  single  tree  !  This  surface  is  all  neces- 
sary to  the  growth  of  the  tree.  If  you  take  off  a 
part  of  the  leaves,  those  which  remain  grow 
inoader.  They  separate  from  the  atmosphere  and 


28 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


swallow  the  food  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  tree. 
Think  of  this,  reader  ;  here  is  a  suggestion  for 
some  interesting  pencil-work.  You  have  a  pencil 
and  a  power  to  use  it.  Burn  a  plant,  and  how 
small  a  portion  remains  as  ashes.  Where  is  the 
balance  ?  In  the  atmosphere.  Where  then  does 
the  plant  obtain  this  organic  matter  for  its  con 
struction  ?  Not  altogether  from  the  atmosphere 
direct,  but  when  we  consider  that  each  square 
inch  of  the  surface  of  the  leaves  of  some  plants 
contains  from  150,000  to  175,000  mouths,  which 
absorb  and  assist  in  preparing  the  food  for  the 
plant,  we  may  form  some  idea  of  their  impor- 
tance. 

POWERS  OP  VEGETATION  TO  RESIST 
EXTREMES  OF  TEMPERATURE. 

It  is  most  essential  to  the  success  of  the  oper- 
ations, both  of  the  agriculturist  and  the  horticul- 
turist, that  as  comprehensive  a  view  as  possible 
should  be  obtained  of  the  organization  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  and  of  the  powers  of  resist- 
ance that  it  possesses  of  the  extremes  of  temper- 
ature. For  although  practically  he  may  pass 
through  life  without  ever  even  seeing  the  moss 
which  in  Lapland  not  only  lives,  but  grows  be- 
neath the  snow,  and  furnishes  the  frugal  meal  of 
the  docile  reindeer,  and  without  boiling  eggs  for 
his  breakfast  reposed  upon  the  herbage  which  we 
shall  presently  advert  to  as  growing  in  the  hot 
springs  of  the  Himalaya  mountains,  yet  the 
knowledge  of  such  powers  of  endurance  in  differ 
ent  families  of  plants,  when  combined  with  other 
knowledge  of  various  descriptions,  connected 
with  the  organs  of  plants,  tends  immensely  (if  it 
does  nothing  else)  to  make  the  inquiring  agricul- 
turist cautious  and  careful  in  his  experiments  , 
and  in  the  deductions  which  he  draws  from  them* 

Hastily-formed  conclusions  are  seldom  very 
accurate,  in  whatever  branch  of  scientific  inquiry 
they  arrived  at,  and  applied  to.  But  in-  no  de- 
partment of  practical  knowledge  is  it  more  need- 
ful to  guard  against  them,  than  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  agricultural  pursuits.  Slight  differences 
of  temperature,  of  moisture,  or|  of  atmospheric 
change,  have  frequently  been  sufficient  to  con- 
found and  to  obscure  the  most  carefully  conduct- 
ed experiments.  And  in  the  much  canvassed,  but 
yet  unsolved,  problem  of  the  potato  disease,  we 
have  at  this  moment  unfortunately  patent  evi- 
dence that  our  present  acquirements  in  agricul- 
ture have  by  no  means  attained  a  degree  of  ef- 
ficiency, with  which  we  can  rest  satisfied. 

Nothing  is  more  surprising  in  the  study  of 
vegetable  physiology  than  the  variation  of  the 
powers  of  endurance  of  the  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold  in  different  famflies.  And  this  is  the  more 
remarkable,  because  those  powers  appear  to  have 
little  or  nothing  in  connection  with  the  texture 
of  their  organization.  In  reference  to  the  pow- 
ers of  endurance  of  moisture  and  drought,  it  is 
otherwise,  at  least  to  a  considerable  extent.  For 
we  find  the  Cacti  family,  and  many  others  that 
are  indigenous  to  climates  that  have  long  sea- 
sons of  drought,  are  provided  with  organs  that 
are  calculated  to  retain,  as  it  were,  reservoirs  of 
moisture,  whilst  the  organization  of  their  cuticle 
is  such  as  to  lessen  evaporation  and  exhalation 
from  their  surface.  But  in  regard  to  the  powers 
of  resisting  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  [many 


families  of  plants  with  organizations  of  the  most 
fragile  texture,  are  found  to  have  these  po;;Ner3 
equally ;  some  as  to  heat,  others  as  to  cold. 

This  is  a  subject  that  deserves  considei-ation 
in  connection  with  the  study  of  climate,  and  the 
following  descripcion  of  the  hot  springs  of  the 
Himalaya  from  Dr.  Hooker's  Journal,  are  well 
deserving  attention  : 

"The  hot-springs  (called  Soorujkoond)  near 
Belcuppte  (altitude  1219  feet)  in  the  Behar 
mountains,  north-west  of  Calcutta,  (lat.  24  N., 
long.  86  E.,)  are  four  in  number,  and  rise  in  as 
many  ruined  brick  tanks  about  two  yards  across. 
Another  tank  fed  by  a  cold  spring  about  twice 
that  size  flows  between  two  of  the  hot,  only  two 
or  three  paces  distant  from  one  of  the  latter  on 
either  hand.  All  burst  through  the  Gueiss  rocks, 
meet  in  one  stream  after  a  few  yards,  and  are 
conducted  by  brick  canals  to  a  pool  of  cold  water 
about  80  yards  off. 

"The  temperatures  of  the  hot  springs  were  re- 
spectively 169°,  170'',  nS'',  and  190°  of  the  cold, 
84°  at  4  P.  M.,  and  75°  at  7  A.  M.  the  following 
morning.  The  hottest  is  the  middle  of  the  five. 
The  water  of  the  cold  spring  is  sweet  but  not 
good,  and  emits  gaseous  bubbles;  it  was  covered 
with  a  green  floating  conferva.  Of  the  four  hot 
springs  the  most  copious  is  about  three  feet 
deep,  bubbles  constantly,  boils  eggs,  and  though 
brilliantly  clear,  has  an  exceedingly  nauseous 
taste.  These  and  the  other  warm  ones  cover  the 
bricks  and  surrounding  rocks  with  a  thick  in- 
crustation of  salts. 

"Conferva  abounds  in  the  warm  stream  from 
the  springs,  and  two  species,  one  ochreous  brown 
and  the  other  green,  occur  on  the  margin  of  the 
tanks  themselves,  and  in  the  hottest  water  ;  the 
brown  is  the  best  salamander,  and  forms  a  belt 
in  deeper  water  than  the  green  ;  both  appear  in 
broad  luxuriant  strata,  whenever  the  tempera- 
ture is  cooled  down  to  168°  and  as  low  as  90°. 
Of  flowering  plants,  three  showed  in  an  tmioent 
degree  a  constitution  capable  of  resisting  the 
heat,  if  not  a  predilection  for  it ;  these  were  all 
cyperacea,  a  ojperas,  and  an  elescliaris,  having 
their  roots  in  water  of  lOO'',  and  where  they  are 
probably  exposed  to  greater  heat ;  and  a  timhri- 
stylis  at  98°  ;  all  v/ere  very  luxuriant.  From  the 
edges  of  the  four  hot  springs  I  gathered  sixteen 
species  of  flowering  plants,  and  from  the  cold 
tank  five,  which  did  not  grow  in  the  hot.  A  wa- 
ter-beetle, colymbetes,  and  notonecta,  abounded 
in  water  at  112°  with  quantities  of  dead  shells  ; 
frogs  were  very  lively,  with  live  shells  at  90°  ; 
and  with  various  other  water-beetles." 

From  the  foregoing  quotation  it  will  be  per- 
ceived that  the  temperature  of  the  hottest  spring 
was  100°  Farenheit,  which  is  but  little  below  that 
of  boiling  water.  And  although  not  so  luxuriant 
as  in  the  cooler  springs,  yet  vegetable  life  was 
found  to  exist  and  grow  in  that  high  tempera- 
ture. Had  a  cabbage  or  a  potato  been  placed  by 
the  side  of  the  conferva  in  that  spring,  it  would 
have  been  soon  cooked  ready  for  the  dinner  ta- 
ble ;  and  the  powers  of  endurance  of  the  action 
of  heat  possessed  by  a  living  plant,  therefore,  can 
be  easily  conceived. 

With  such  well  attested  facts  before  us,  we 
may  well  hesitate  before  we  form  a  decided  opin- 
ion upon  the  adaptability  of  any  plant  of  a  new 
character,  that  it  may  appear  desirable  to   intro- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


!20 


duce  as  an  agricultural  crop.  It  is  not  possible 
to  judge  of  many,  from  the  result  of  tvv'o  or  three 
trials  only.  Because,  although  oftentiuies  we 
may  be  quite  right  in  the  view  we  take  of  our 
first  experiments,  yet  it  Vvill  frequently  occur  that 
until  by  repeated  trials  we  become  by  experience 
■well  acquainted  with  the  constitution  of  a  new 
plant,  we  may  attribute  our  success  or  our  failure 
to  causes  which,  in  fact,  had  nothing  to  do  with 
either.  And  therefore  we  may  so  be  led  into  er- 
ror which  further  experiment  would  dispel. 

That  this  is  so,  will  be  evident  to  any  one  who 
is  familiar  with  the  vast  changes  that  have  taken 
place  within  the  last  few  years  in  the  cultivation 
of  fruits  and  vegetables.  Many  crops  that  some 
years  back  were  considered  to  require  years  (es- 
pecially in  fi'uits,)  of  previous  care  of  the  plants 
to  produce  them,  are  now  produced  in  less  than 
one.  And  this  with  things  that  have  been  famil- 
iar to  the  gardener  for  above  an  hundred  years. 

In  fact,  the  agriculturist  no  less  than  the  hor- 
ticulturist, who  would  prosecute  his  calling  with 
due  reference  to  the  guidance  of  scientific  princi- 
ples, will  never  assume  that  he  has  arrived  at  a 
knowledge  of  the  best  mode  of  cultivating  any 
crop.  Whilst  he  will  be  cautious  not  to  exper- 
mentalize  without  due  regard  to  prudence  and  to 
principles,  he  will  nevertheless  be  ever  earnest  in 
the  "forward"  effort,  and  will  take  care  that  his 
labors  are  as  steadily  directed  by  his  judgment,  as 
his  plow  is  by  his  hand. — American  Farmer'' s  Mag- 
azine. 

THB  IMPORTANCE  OF  ROOT  CROPS. 

Several  of  our  intelligent  correspondents  are 
amusing  themselves,  in  giving  expression  to  their 
views  in  relation  to  the  value  and  importance  of 
root  crops,  in  our  farm  economj*.  Their  opinions 
— as  the  careful  reader  has  undoubtedly  observed 
— are  widely  difi"erent.  That  they  are  sincere 
opinions,  we  can  have  no  doubt — and  we  have  as 
little  doubt  that  there  existed  widely  different 
circumstances  between  the  parties,  which  led  to 
the  different  conclusions  to  which  they  severally 
arrived. 

For  many  years,  our  own  opinions  were  unfa- 
vorable to  the  culture  of  roots  as  feed  for  stock  ; 
but  they  were  founded  more  upon  the  general 
expression  of  those  around  us,  than  upon  investi- 
gation and  actual  production  and  use  of  them 
under  our  own  labor  and  supervision.  When  we 
had  gone  through  with  these,  we  became  con- 
vinced that  we  v,ere  in  error,  and  that  the  "gen- 
eral expression  of  opinion  around  us,"  to  which 
we  have  alluded,  had  no  better  basis  than  the 
views  we  had  entertained. 

The  successful  culture  of  roots  requires  more 
plowing  and  harrowing,  and  preparation  gener- 
ally, than  our  corn  or  grain  crops,  and  more  care 
in  tending  them  after  the  seed  is  committed  to 
the  ground.  It  is  more  delicate  work — requir- 
ing more  thought  and  skill  and  more  exactness 
of  arrangement,  and  all  this  is  what  farmers 
generally  have  disliked, — and   hence  the  opin- 


ion naturally  enough  grew  up,  that  the  culture 
of  beets,  turnips,  mangolds,  &c.  was  unprofitable 
as  food  for  stock. 

The  discussion  of  our  correspondents  has 
prompted  us  to  look  again  at  some  of  the  state- 
ments made  in  regard  to  these  crops,  and  we 
find  the  highest  testimony  in  their  favor  in  abun- 
dance, both  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  the  London  Quarterly  Review  for  April  last, 
is  a  long  article  reviewing  five  or  six  works  upon 
agricultural  subjects,  in  which  we  find  statements 
having  a  direct  bearing  upon  our  subject.  In 
speaking  of  the  condition  of  English  agriculture 
at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  writer 
says : — 

"The  greater  number  of  breeds  were  large- 
boned  and  ill-shaped,  greedy  eaters,  and  slow  in 
arriving  at  maturity ;  while  as  very  little  ivinter 
food,  except  hay,  loas  raised,  the  meat  laid  on  by 
grass  in  the  summer  was  lost,  or  barely  main- 
tained, in  winter.  Fresh  meat  for  six  months  of  the 
year  was  a  luxury  only  enjoyed  by  the  wealthiest 
personages.  Within  the  recollection  of  many  now 
living,  first-class  farmers  in  Herefordshire  salted 
down  an  old  cow  in  the  autumn,  which,  with 
flitches  of  fat  bacon,  supplied  their  families  with 
meat  until  the  spring.  Esquire  Bedel  Gunning, 
in  his  'Memorials  of  Cambridge,'  relates  that 
when  Dr.  Makepeace  Thackeray  settled  in  Ches- 
ter, about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
he  presented  one  of  his  tenants  with  a  bull-calf 
of  a  superior  breed.  On  his  inquiring  after  it  in 
the  following  spring,  the  farmer  gratefully  replied, 
'Sir,  he  was  a  noble  animal ;  we  killed  him  at 
Christmas,  and  have  lived  upon  him  ever  since.'" 

We  have  underscored  the  words  "very  little 
winter  food,  except  hay,  icas  raised,"  to  show,  as 
one  reason,  why  the  cattle  were  worthy  of  the 
description  given  them. 

After  speaking  at  considerable  length  of  the 
changes  effected  in  the  breeds  of  cattle  and  sheep, 
and  the  light  thrown  upon  these  subjects  by  the 
investigations  of  Arthur  Young,  Cobbett, 
Robert  Bakewell,  and  others,  the  writer  says  : 

"But  the  fattening  qualities  and  early  maturity 
of  the  improved  stock  would  have  been  of  little 
value  beyond  the  few  rich  grazing  districts  of  the 
Midland  counties,  without  an  addition  to  the  sup- 
ply of  food.  The  best  arable  land  of  the  king- 
dom had  been  exhausted  by  long  years  of  culti- 
vation, and  the  barren  fallow,  which  annually 
absorbed  one-third  of  the  soil,  failed  to  restore 
its  fertility.  A  new  source  of  agricultural  wealth 
was  discovered  in  turnips,  which,  as  their  impor- 
tant qualities  became  known  excited  in  many  of 
their  early  cultivators  much  the  same  sort  of  en- 
thusiasm as  they  did  in  Lord  Monboddo,  who  on 
returning  home  from  a  circuit,  went  to  look  at  a 
field  of  them  by  candle-light.  Turnips  answered 
the  purpose  of  a  fallow  crop  which  cleaned  and 
rested  old  arable  land ;  turnips  were  food  foi 
fattening  cattle  in  winter  ;  turnips,  grown  on 
light  land,  and  afterwards  eaten  down  by  sheep 
which  consolidated  it  by  their  feet,  prepared  the 


30 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


way  for  corn-crops  on  wastes  that  had  previously 
been  given  up  to  the  rabbits." 

Under  this  system,  a  Mr.  Rodwell  made  the 
produce  of  820  acres  of  land  worth  one  hundred 
andjifty  thousand  dollars  more  in  twenty-eight 
years,  than  his  predecessor  did  in  the  same  time, 
under  the  old  system,  without  roots.  This  great 
advance  in  arable  fai'ming  took  its  rise  in  the 
county  of  Norfolk.     Again — 

"Turnips,  which  are  said  by  Young  to  have 
been  brought  into  farm  cultivation  by  the  cele- 
brated Jethro  Tull,  found  such  a  zealous  advo- 
cate in  LordTownshend,  that  he  got  the  name  of 
'Turnip  Townshend.'  Pope  speaks  of  'all  Towns- 
hend's  turnips,'  in  one  of  his  imitations  of  Hor- 
ace, published  in  1737.  This  crop  he  had  the 
sagacity  to  see  was  the  parent  of  all  the  future 
crops.  Without  winter  food  little  stock  could 
be  kept,  without  stock  there  could  be  little  man- 
ure, and  with  little  manure  there  could  not  be 
much  of  anything  else.  The  turnips  were,  there- 
fore, employed  to  secure  a  large  dung-heap,  and 
the  dung-heap  in  turn  was  mainly  appropriated 
to  securing  the  largest  possible  store  of  turnips. 
This  tillage  in  a  circle  was  as  productive  as  it 
was  simple.  The  ground,  cleaned  and  enriched 
by  the  root-crops,  afterwards  yielded  abundant 
harvests  of  corn  ;  and  as  we  have  already  stated, 
the  treading  of  the  sheep  u])on  the  loose  soil, 
while  they  fed  off  a  portion  of  the  turnips,  gave 
it  the  necessary  firmness.  Thus  through  the 
agency  of  turnips  a  full  fold  and  a  full  bullock- 
yard  made  a  full  granary.  Essex  and  Suffolk 
soon  copied  the  method,  but  they  did  not  carry 
it  so  far  as  in  Norfolk ;  and  in  many  places  the 
turnips  were  never  thinned  or  hoed,  upon  which 
their  size  and  consequently  nearly  all  their  value 
depended." 

With  a  single  extract  more  we  will  leave  this 
highly  interesting  and  instructive  article,  hoping 
at  a  future  time  to  show  equally  as  decided  testi- 
niony  in  favor  of  root  culture,  in  the  practice  of 
our  own  people. 

"In  the  old  days  distance  operated  as  a  bar- 
rier to  imitation,  and  three-fourths  of  England 
only  heard  of  what  was  done  in  the  well-cultivat- 
ed fourth  to  ridicule  and  despise  it.  When  the 
father  of  Mr.  George  Turner,  of  Barton,  Devon, 
the  well-known  breeder  of  Devon  cattle  and  of 
Leicester  sheep,  who  had  learned  something  in 
his  visits  with  stock  to  llolkham,  began  to  drill 
turnips,  a  well-to-do  neighbor  looked  down  from 
the  dividing  bank  and  said  to  his  son,  'I  suppose 
your  father  will  be  sowing  pepper  out  of  a  cruet 
next.'  Lideed,  the  whole  history  of  the  turnip 
cultivation  affords  a  characterisiic  contrast  be- 
tween the  spirit  of  the  past  and  the  present.  It 
took  upwards  of  a  century  to  establish  the  proper 
growth  of  this  crop,  notwithstanding  that  the 
wealth  of  meat  and  corn  which  proceeded  from  it 
was  as  plain  to  those  who  would  open  their  eyes  as 
that  a  guinea  was  worth  one-and-twenty-shillings. 
The  first  difficulty  was  to  persuade  farmers  to 
try  it  at  all  ;  and  not  one  turnip  was  ever  seen 
on  a  field  in  Northumberland  till  between  1760 
and  1770.  The  second  difficulty  was  to  get  them 
to  be  at  the  expense  of  hoeing,  insomuch  that 


Young  said  that  he  should  be  heard  with  incre- 
dulity in  most  counties  when  he  bore  testimony 
to  the  vast  benefits  which  were  derived  in  Nor- 
folk from  this  indispensable  portion  of  the  ])ro- 
cess.  The  third  difficulty  was  to  induce  tiiem  to 
replace  broadcast  sowing  by  drilling,  which  ap- 
peared, as  we  see,  to  novices  no  less  ridiculous 
than  peppering  the  land  from  a  cruet.  The  big- 
otry of  the  farmer  cramped  the  energies  of  the 
mechanics  whom  he  now  welcomes  as  among  his 
best  friends.  The  implements,  even  by  the  first 
manufacturers,  from  the  absence  of  criticism  and 
competition,  from  the  limited  extent  of  custom, 
and  from  the  want  of  artisans  skilled  in  work- 
ing in  iron,  were,  however  excellent  in  idea,  both 
clumsy  and  costlj'.  The  choicest  specimens  which 
existed  in  1840  have  been  so  altered  in  execu- 
tion by  cheaper  materials  and  improved  work- 
manship that  they  can  scarcely  be  recognized." 

With  the  aid  of  root  crops,  and  that  of  machi- 
nery in  our  labor,  it  is  not  difficult  lo  anticipate 
the  time  when  our  farmers  shall  labor  less,  but 
yet  prosper  more.  The  success  of  the  steam- 
plow  on  the  beautiful  and  fertile  prairies  of  the 
West,  almost  makes  real  tlie  expression  in  the 
fine  lines  of  Mr.  Thackeray  on  the  Great  Exhibi- 
tion in  England  in  1851. 

Look  yonder  where  llie  engines  ton  , 
The  Nation's  arms  of  conquest  are, 
The  trophies  of  her  bloodless  war ; 
Brave  weapons  these. 
Victorious  over  wave  and  soil, 
With  these  she  sails,  she  weaves,  she  tilLi, 
Pierces  the  everlasting  hills 

And  spans  the  seas. 


Far  tfte  New  England  Farmer. 
IO"WA— ITS  CLIMATE  AISTD  CROPS. 

We  must  be  somewhere  about  mid-way  be- 
tween the  extremes  of  dryness  and  wetness  men- 
tioned by  Prof.  Brocklesby,  in  his  work  on  mett 
orology.  So  rare  is  the  occurrence  of  a  real 
shower  at  Lima,  in  Peru,  that  it  is  a  source  of 
terror ;  and  when  such  an  event  happens,  relig- 
ious ju'ocessions  parade  the  streets,  imploring 
the  protection  of  heaven  for  their  endangered 
city.  In  the  interior  of  Guiana,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  sun  and  stars  are  seldom  visible,  and 
the  rains  not  unfrequently  continue  for  five  or 
six  months,  with  scarcely  any  intermission. 

For  the  last  four  weeks,  we  have  had  veiy 
nearly  the  same  kind  of  weather  as  prevails  on 
the  Isle  of  Chiloe,  (43°  S.  lat.,)  where  "it  rains 
six  days  of  the  week,  and  is  cloudy  on  the 
seventh." 

Early  in  October  we  had  a  sharp  frost  for  two 
or  three  nights.  For  more  than  a  month  we 
have  had  none  ;  but  almost  incessant  rainy  and 
cloudy  weather,  with  some  snow.  I  picked  to- 
matoes from  my  vines  yesterday,  (Nov.  11th,)  as 
fresh  as  in  September.  Many  seeds  germinated, 
and  currant  bushes  and  apple  trees  started  anew 
in  October.  To-day,  (12th,)  it  has  snowed  stead- 
ily without  any  prospect  of  fair  weather  for  some 
time  to  come. 

Farmers  are  about  discouraged.  In  addition 
to  the  failure  of  the  wheat,  oats  and  potatoes,  we 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


31 


now  have  to  include  the  buckwheat,  wh'ch  is 
nearly  or  quite  ruined  by  the  long  continued  wet 
weather.  Corn  is  very  good,  but  most  of  it  is 
still  in  the  field.  Broom  corn  is  also  good,  and 
well  secured ;  but  there  is  very  little  of  it  raised 
in  this  region.  The  Chinese  sugar  cane  has  sur- 
{jassed  all  expectation.  It  was  only  planted  by 
a  few,  as  an  experiment;  but  proves  so  satisfac- 
tory that  thousands  of  acres  will  be  put  in  anoth- 
er year.  We  are  daily  using  the  sirup,  which  is 
sufficiently  good,  considering  the  imperfect  means 
of  manufacture,  to  warrant  the  confident  expec- 
tation of  its  taking  the  place  speedily  of  our  best 
sirups,  at  a  much  lower  figure  than  they  can  be 
obtained. 

One  good  result  of  the  extensive  failure  of 
the  wheat,  will  no  doubt  be,  to  lead  the  people 
to  try  other  crops  as  a  staple.  And  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  some  other  articles  can  be  made 
much  more  productive  than  wheat  has  been  for 
a  number  of  years  past. 

Notwithstanding  the  hard  times,  of  which  we 
have  had  rather  more  than  'an  even  share,  v/e 
have  had  great  health,  as  a  State  ;  and  have  abun- 
dant cause  for  Thanksgiving,  which  Vv'e  propose 
to  celebrate  on  the  same  day  as  in  Massachusetts. 
Among  other  things  to  be  grateful  for,  our  wor- 
thy Governor  Lowe  mentions  the  remarkable 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  "by  which  the  faces  of 
multitudes  have  been  turned  Heavenward." 

Tipton,  Iowa,  Nov.  12.  M.  K.  c. 


Ji'or  the  New  England  Farmer. 

UNITED    STATES  AGBICULTUKAL  EAIB 
AT  KIGHMOND. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  implements  on  the 
fair  ground,  to  the  farmer,  was  A.  P.  Routt's 
patent  Drain  Plow.  This  implement  makes  a 
furrow  a  foot  deep,  two  feet  and  a  half  wide  at 
the  top  and  four  inches  wide  at  the  bottom,  the 
sides  sloping  at  such  an  angle  as  to  insure  the 
drain  from  falling  in  by  the  frost,  the  whole  be- 
ing perfectly  completed  at  one  operation  by  this 
plow,  or  tool.  Those  who  have  tried  it  say  it  is 
the  very  thing  for  surface  draining,  which,  on 
wet  lands,  is  certainly  very  beneficial  where  un- 
derdraining  has  not  been  done.  The  manufac- 
turer resides  in  Somerset,  Orange  County,  Va. 
The  plow  is  so  made  that  it  opens  a  deep  furrow, 
turning  both  to  the  right  and  left,  and  is  followed 
by  a  heavy  iron  roller  that  hardens  the  earth 
both  on  the  sides  and  the  bottom  of  the  surface 
drain,  thus  doing  very  handsome  work.  The 
price,  as  heretofore  stated,  is  $25,  and  with  it,  a 
man  can,  with  a  good  pair  of  team  horses,  sur- 
face-drain 60  acres  of  land  a  day. 

A  patent  subsoil  turn  plow,  combining  four 
distinct  features,  is  a  consideration  for  farmers. 
First,  the  combination  of  the  subsoil  and  turn 
plow  ;  second,  the  movableness  of  the  mould- 
boards,  which  can  be  adapted  to  deep  or  shallow 
plowing,  as  desirable ;  third,  a  second  bar  to 
which  the  regulator  is  attached,  which  steadies 
the  plow  ;  fourth,  a  regulator  for  the  depth  of 
the  furrow.  It  may  be  used  to  break  up  the  clay 
without  turning  it  up.  It  is  highly  recommended 
by  those  who  have  tried  it.  The  proprietors, 
Messrs.  Utley,  Smith  and  Macfee,  reside  in 
Richmond,  Va. 


The  "Triumph  Corn  Sheller,"  patented  last 
April,  by  A.  B.  Davis,  of  Philadelphia,  and  oper- 
ating on  an  entirely  novel  principle,  ha'uvj:  so 
constructed  and  arranged  that  the  power  required 
in  driving,  is  expended  in  separating  the  corn 
from  the  cob,  v.ithout  any  grinding  or  tearing  of 
the  latter.  Tlie  machine  may  be  fed  with  a  shov- 
el, the  cobs  passing  out  at  the  rear,  while  the 
corn  falls  into  a  receptacle  prepared  for  it,  thus 
avoiding  the  work  of  sifting  in  order  to  separate 
the  corn  from  cobs,  8cc. 

Pennock's  patent  Seed  and  Grain  Planter  is 
a  machine  that  is  highly  approved.  It  is  a  Del- 
aware product.  It  has  received  about  40  silver 
medals,  and  took  the  highest  award  at  the  World's 
Fair,  at  the  New  York  Crystal  Palace.  It  is  a 
capital  thing  for  planting  or  drilling  wheat,  rye, 
or  other  grain,  which  is  undoubtedly  the  true 
method  of  grain  planting.  It  is  made  so  as  to 
distribute  fertilizers  at  the  time  of  sowing,  if  de- 
sired. He  also  exhibited  Pennock's  Iron  Har- 
vester, or  new  combined  Reaper  and  Mower, — a 
corn-sheller  that  will  shell  300  bushels  a  day, — 
plantation  mill,  and  threshing  machine. 

The  Eagle  Mower  and  Reaper,  that  took  the 
$1000  premium  of  the  Massachusetts  Society,  in 
1856,  the  first  ])rize  awarded  by  the  Indiana  State 
Agricultural  Society,  the  same  year;  also  the 
first  awarded  by  the  Royal  Society  of  England, 
Ireland  and  Scotland,  in  1857,  was  exhibited  by 
A.  G.  MOTT,  agent. 

R.  C.  Mauck's  Corn  Harvester  will  enable 
three  men  and  a  boy, with  one  or  two  horses,  to  cut 
and  stook  10  acres  of  corn  a  day.  By  this  ma- 
chine the  hardest  part  of  the  labor  is  performed 
by  horses.  It  is  a  desideratum  to  growers  of 
Indian  corn.  Mr.  Mauck  is  a  Virginian,  residing 
at  Conrad's  Store,  Rockingham  Co. 

Another  "Old  Dominion"  invention  on  exhi- 
bition was  a  Tobacco  Press  by  Musser  &  Col- 
man.  This  machine  is  of  great  importance  to 
tobacco  manufacturers. 

Sanfokd's  Reciprocating  Portable  and  Planta- 
tion Mill,  patented  the  present  year,  price  $15, 
for  grinding  feed  for  stock  and  grain  for  family 
use  ;  also,  plaster,  bones,  cement,  drugs,  paints, 
printer's  ink,  emery,  &c.,  seemed  like  a  valuable 
discovery. 

Douglas  &  Brothers  exhibited  a  Sugar 
Cane  Mill  for  making  sugar  of  the  Chinese  sugar 
jcane. 

I  Thus  have  I  noticed  some  of  the  important  ma- 
;  chines  shown  at  the  fair,  serving  to  confirm  the 
I  intimation  before  given,  that  the  South  is  pro- 
1  grossing  in  inventing  and  manufacturing  agricul- 
tural machines.  I  might  add  other  things,  but 
let  these  suffice.  Farm  implements  and  machines 
are  greatly  multiplying  on  every  hand.  Some  of 
these  are  very  useful,  others  moderately  so,  and 
others  still,  of  little  or  no  economical  value  to 
farmers.  Such  results  are  incident  to  the  lives 
and  fortunes  of  inventors  and  manufacturers. 
They  serve  to  show,  on  the  whole,  that  great 
progress  and  improvement  are  making  in  the 
furnishing  of  farm  tools  and  machinery. 

The  subjcL't  for  discussion,  one  evening  dur- 
ing the  fair,  at  the  "African  Church,"  was,  "Farm 
Implements."  Leandeu  Wetherell,  of  Bos- 
ton, was  invited  to  open  the  discussion,  which  he 
did,  and  was  followed  by  Messrs.  Watt,  of  Rich- 
mond, Spangley,  of  Philadelphia,  Rogers,  oi 


32 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan 


Maryland,  and  others.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
profitable  discussions  on  the  subject  I  have  ever 
heard. 

It  was  maintained  by  some  of  the  speakers 
that  utility,  strength  and  durability  are  too  often 
sacrificed  to  fancy,  and  lightness.  One  speaker 
scouted  the  idea  of  making  a  good  economical 
mower  and  reaper  to  be  worked  with  one  horse, 
stating  that  no  such  machine  could  be  expected 
to  do  the  work  so  well  as  a  good  two-horse  ma- 
chine. He  maintained  that  implements  should 
be  well  made,  and  of  good  stock,  which,  he  add- 
ed, is  not  the  case  now.  Poor  stock  and  fancy 
work  supply  the  market  with  frail  and  almost 
worthless  wares. 

The  demand  for  low  priced  tools  has  done 
much  to  bring  about  this  state  of  things.  De- 
mand good  implements,  made  of  good  stock,  and 
pay  the  price,  and  you  will  get  them.  If  you 
have  any  doubts,  try  it.  Viator. 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MBASUilEMENT  OF  CORN  CHOPS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  luxuriant  growth  of  Indi- 
an corn  the  present  season,  brought  to  mind  a 
eommunica  ion  from  the  veteran  farmer  of  Ply- 
mouth county,  on  the  measurement  of  this  crop  ; 
and  the  best  mode  of  determining  the  quantity 
grown  to  the  acre.  There  is  no  man  whose  judg- 
ment and  experience  is  more  to  be  relied  on  than 
Mr.  Allen's.  There  is  no  crop  grown  upon  our 
farms  of  more  importance  than  Indian  corn.  I 
enclose  his  letter,  to  be  used  at  your  discretion, 
omitting  such  paragraphs  as  do  not  relate  to  this 
subject.  Very  truly  yours, 

J.  W.  Proctor. 


Fembrol-e,  Feb.  19,  1858. 
Dear  Sir  : — In  reply  to  your  candid  inquiries, 
I  will  state  the  rules  which  have  governed  the  P. 
Co.  Society  in  its  decisions  on  the  measurement 
of  Indian  corn  from  the  commencement  of  its  op- 
erations. At  first  the  requisition  was  that  the 
whole  crop  should  be  measured  in  a  basket,  one 
basketfuU  shelled,  and  the  product  of  the  acre 
estimated  by  that.  This  rule  soon  proved  unsat- 
isfactory, and  it  was  then  determined  that  the 
whole  crop  should  be  weighed,  calling  seventy- 
five  pounds  a  bushel,  and  that  the  weight  should 
be  certified  by  the  owner  and  one  laborer.  This 
was  the  practice  for  many  years,  but  at  length  it 
was  thought  the  measurement  should  be  by  a 
disinterested  person,  and  a  supervisor  was  chos- 
en, who  was  directed  to  select  and  weigh  an  av- 
erage rod  and  estimate  the  crop  accordingly.  It 
is  very  manifest  that  in  every  case  there  would  be 
some  danger  of  error  in  judgment,  but  an  agent 
could  not  devote  so  much  time  as  would  be  nec- 
essary to  weight  he  whole  crop.  The  last  change, 
from  75  lbs.  to  85  lbs.  as  a  bushel,  was  made, 
since  I  ceased  to  participate  in  the  doings  of  the 
society,  excepting  occupying  the  place  of  super- 
visor a  short  time  after  the  death  of  Mr.  How- 
ard. Had  I  been  at  the  meeting  I  should  have 
felt  bound  to  oppose  the  change,  because  I  firmly 
believe  that  75  lbs.  in  the  ear  at  harvest  will 
make  a  bushel  of  shelled  corn  when  ripe  for  the 
market,  and  for  this  belief  have  some  better  evi- 
dence than  conjecture.  At  harvest,  one  year,  I  put 


75  lbs.  in  the  ear  into  a  barrel,  covered  securely, 
and  let  it  remain  till  January,  when  I  shelled  and 
measured  and  there  was  a  bushel  and  between  one 
and  two  quarts.  Judge  Buel,  who  was  a  pretty  ac- 
curate experimenter,  said  that  the  shrinkage  of 
corn  from  harvest  to  merchantable  condition  was 
20  per  cent.  I  have  no  doubt,  we  may  safely  buy 
or  sell  at  harvest,  calling  75  lbs.  a  bushel.  There 
may  be,  as  you  suggest,  some  difference  in  the 
ripeness  of  the  several  sorts  of  corn  at  the  usual 
time  of  harvest,  but  if  frosts  have  occurred,  which 
usually  is  the  case,  there  is  no  dange;-  of  exces- 
sive weight  in  the  greenest  fields,  for  the  weight 
will  be  much  lighter  there  than  in  the  well- 
ripened  field. 

It  seems  to  me  if  all  societes  would  observe  one 
rule  in  the  measurement  of  corn  at  harvest,  we 
should  soon  become  less  suspicious  of  the  honesty 
of  applicants  for  jiremiums,  and  of  the  fidelity  of 
agents.  Your  secretary,  Mr.  Dodge,  wrote  to  me 
concerning  my  premium  crop  of  corn,  which  has 
occasioned  so  many  remarks,  inquiring  how  it 
was  managed,  expressing  his  surprise  at  the 
amount,  and  saying  he  thought  a  large  crop  had 
been  reported  in  that  county,  but  it  wjs  much  less 
than  mine.  You,  or  some  other  friend,  soon  af- 
ter sent  me  your  Transactions.  I  looked  at  the 
gentleman's  statement,  and  found  his  corn  was 
planted  so  much  wider  apart  than  mine,  that 
nothing  was  wanting  to  make  bis  crop  equal  or 
superior  to  mine  but  the  supply  of  his  deficient 
number  of  plants.  In  my  experience,  many  ap- 
plicants have  failed  of  obtaining  premiums  mere- 
ly from  the  lack  of  a  sufficient  number  of  corn 
plants.  I  would  not  be  understood  to  say  that 
thick  planting  secures  a  great  crop,  but  that  thin 
planting  occasions  a  smaller  crop  in  many  instan- 
ces than  we  might  be  justified  in  hoping  for, 
from  the  preparations  of  the  field.  Corn  plants 
will  prosper  and  mature  wherever  they  can  find 
sufficient  food  and  stand  accessible  to  the  influ- 
ences of  the  air  and  the.sun.  Both  the  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and  yourself  seem  to 
think  corn  should  be  dry  enough  for  market  be- 
fore it  is  measured  ;  can  you  describe  any  way 
in  which  this  can  be  done,  and  not  leave  open  a 
wide  door  for  suspicion  or  fraud  ?  You  probably 
can,  yet  it  would  require  more  labor  and  expense 
than  you  would  think  a  society  should  submit  to. 
I  think  if  the  Board  of  Agriculture  would  recom- 
mend to  county  societies  the  measurement  of 
corn  crops  at  harvest  by  some  reasonable  and 
uniform  rule,  the  progress  of  improvement  in  the 
culture  of  this  important  article  would  be  better 
understood,  and  the  motives  to  emulation  in  cul- 
tivation more  effectually  encouraged. 

Resectfully  yours,         Morrill  Allen. 

Hon.  John  W.  Proctor. 


Buist's  Almanac  and  Garden  Manual,  be- 
side felling  you  when  it  rains  and  when  it  shines, 
and  what  he  has  to  sell  in  the  way  of  seeds  and 
implements  for  the  garden,  has  a  great  many  con 
venient  things  to  know  about  making  and  man- 
aging a  garden. 

^^The  duty  on  flour  imported  into  Brazil,  has 
been  reduced  thirty  per  cent.,  which  is  expected 
to  diminish  the  drain  of  specie  from  this  country 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


33 


FIGURE  OF  AN   AYRSHIRE  COW. 


The  Ayrshire  breed  of  cows  is  at  present  gain- 
ing favor  among  the  milk  producers  of  New  Eng- 
land— we  mean  those  who  produce  milk,  for  mar- 
ket. How  they  stand  with  dairymen  who  con- 
vert the  milk  into  butter  and  cheese,  we  do  not 
know  ;  nor  do  we  know  whether  fair  trials  have 
yet  been  made  with  them  among  the  dairymen  of 
Western  Massachusetts,  or  in  New  Hampshire  or 
Vermont.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  they  are 
a  gentle  race,  easily  kept,  and  produce  well  for 
the  cost  of  keeping. 

In  looking  over  Mr.  Secretary  Flint's  new 
work  on  "Milch  Cows  and  Dairy  Farming,^'  we 
find  a  portrait  of  a  fine  cow  of  this  breed,  and 
with  his  consent  give  the  engraving  and  his  des- 
cription of  it  to  our  readers.     He  says  : 


"The  Ayrshires  are  justly  celebrated  through- 
out Great  Britain  and  this  country  for  their  ex- 
cellent dairy  qualities.  Though  the  most  recent 
in  their  origin,  they  are  pretty  distinct  from  the 
other  Scotch  and  English  races.  In  color,  the 
pure  Ayrshires  are  generally  red  and  white,  spot- 
led  or  mottled,  not  roan,  like  many  of  the  short- 
horns, but  often  presenting  a  bright  contrast  of 
colors.  They  are  sometimes,  though  rarely,  near 


carcass  of  the  pure-bred  Ayrshire  is  light,  partic- 
ularly the  fore  quarters,  v/hich  is  considered  by 
good  judges  as  an  index  of  great  milking  quali- 
ties ;  but  the  pelvis  is  capacious  and  wide  over 
the  hips. 

A  cow-feeder  in  Glasgow,  selling  fresh  milk,  is 
said  to  have  realized  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars in  seven  months  from  one  good  cow  ;  and  it 
is  stated,  on  high  authority,  that  a  dollar  a  day 
for  six  months  of  the  year  is  no  uncommon  in- 
come from  good  cows  under  similar  circumstan- 
ces, and  that  seventy-five  cents  a  day  is  below 
the  average.  But  this  implies  high  and  judicious 
feeding,  of  course ;  the  average  yield,  on  ordinary 
^■^feed,  would  be  considerably  less. 

Youatt  estimates  the  daily  yield  of  an  Ayrshire 
cow,  for  the  first  two  or  three  months  after  calv- 
ing, at  five  gallons  a  day,  on  an  average  ;  for  the 
next  three  months,  at  three  gallons  ;  and'for  the 
next  four  months,  at  one  gallon  and  a  half.  This 
would  be  850  gallons  as  the  annual  average  of  a 
cow ;  but,  allowing  for  some  unproductive  cows, 
he  estimates  the  average  of  a  dairy  at  600  gallons 
per  annum  for  each  cow.  Three  gallons  and  a 
half  of  the  Ayrshire  cow's  milk  will  yield  one 
and  a  half  pounds  of  butter.  He  therefore  reck- 
ons 257  pounds  of  butter,  or  514  pounds  of 
cheese,  at  the  rate  of  24  pounds  to  28  gallons  of 
milk,  as  the  yield  of  every  cow,  as  a  fair  and  per- 


ly  or  quite  all  red,  and  sometimes  black  and] haps  rather  low  average,' in  an  Ayrshire  dairy, 
white;  but  the  favorite  color  is  red  and  white  ]  during  the  vear.  Aiton  sets  the  yield  much  high- 
brightly  contrasted,  and  by  some,  strawberry  jer,  saying  that  "thousands  of  the  best  Ayrshire 
color  is  preferred.     The  head  is  small,  fine,  and  jjaii-y-cows,  when  in  prime   condition   and  well 


clean  ;  the  face  long,  and  narrow  at  the  muzzle, 
with  a  sprightly  yet  generally  mild  expression  ; 
eye  small,  smart,  and  lively ;  the  horns  short, 
fine  and  slightly  twisted  upwards,  set  wide  apart 
at  the  roots  ;  the  neck  thin  ;  body  enlarging  from 
fore  to  hind  quarters  ;  the  baci;  straight  and  nai-- 
row,  but  broad  across   the  loins  :  joints  rather 


fed,  produce  1000  gallons  of  milk  per  annum  ; 
that  in  general  three  and  three-quarters  to  four 
gallons  of  their  milk  will  yield  a  pound  and  a 
half  of  butter  ;  and  that  27A  gallons  of  their  milk 
will  make  21  pounds  of  full-milk  cheese."  Mr. 
Rankin  puts  it  lower — at  about  050  to  7QlO  gal- 
lons to  each  cow  ;  on  his  own    farm  of  inferior 


loose  and  open  ;  ribs  rather^flat ;  hind   quarters  soil,  his  dairy  produced  an  average  of  550  gallons 
1         o         ._,,  r.  "  '      '  -   only. 

One  of  the  four  cows  originally  imported  into 
this  country  by  John  P.  Gushing,  Esq.,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, gave  in  one  year  3864  quarts,  beer 
measure,  or  about  464  gallons,  at  ten  pounds  to 


rather  thin  ;  bone  fine  ;  tail  long,  fine  and  bushy 
at  the  end  ;  hair  generally  thin  and  soft ;  udder 
light  color  and  capacious,  extending  well  ibtward 
under  the  belly  ;  teats  of  the  cow  of  medium 
size,  generally    set   regularly    and   wide   apart; 


milk-veins  prominent  and  well  developed.     The  'the  gallon,  being  an  average  of  over  ten  and  a 


34 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Ja\. 


half  beer  quarts  a  day  for  the  whole  year.  It  is 
asserted,  on  good  authority,  that  the  flrst  Ayr- 
shire cow  imported  by  the  Massachusetts  Socie- 
ty for  the  promotion  of  Agriculture,  in  1837, 
yielded  sixteen  pounds  of  butter  a  week,  for  sev- 
eral weeks  in  succession,  on  grass  feed  only. 
These  yields  are  not  so  large  as  those  stated  by 
Alton  ;  but  it  should,  perhaps,  be  recollected  that 
our  climate  is  less  favorable  to  the  production  of 
milk  than  that  of  England  and  Scotland,  and  that 
no  cow  imported  after  arriving  st  maturity  could 
be  expected  to  yield  as  much,  under  the  same 
circumstances,  as  one  bred  on  the  spot  where  the 
trial  is  made,  and  perfectly  acclimated. 


THE  MILK  BUSINE3SS. 

The  Springfielcl  (Mass.)  Hepuhlican  furnishes 
the  following  facts  in  relation  to  the  supply  of 
milk  for  that  city  : 

We  have  made  an  effort  to  learn  some  of  the 
aggregates  of  this  industry — to  compare  the  av- 
erage quantity  of  milk  per  cow  in  each  herd  ;  and 
to  learn  the  different  methods  of  feeding ;  all 
points  of  curious  interest  and  suggestive  value. 
For  this  purpose  circulars  have  been  addressed 
to  most  of  the  milkmen  of  this  city,  of  course, 
with  varying  success.  All  have  not  answered, 
but  enough  have  done  so  to  give  a  nearer  esti- 
mate than  otherwise  would  be  possible.  There 
are  from  twelve  to  fourteen  regular  dealers  of 
milk  in  this  city.  Not  far  from  2,000  quarts,  or 
$100  worth,  are  sold  daily  through  the  year. 
The  highest  quantity,  sold  by  any  one  milkman, 
in  the  best  of  the  season,  so  far  as  known,  is  400 
quarts  daily,  and  this  man,  in  the  average  for  the 
year,  is  put  down  at  250  quarts.  Taking  all  the 
milkmen,  the  average  is  lG6x  quarts  each  dai- 
lj\  To  raise  this  milk  requires  a  herd  of  about 
300  cows,  which  give,  on  an  average,  about  seven 
quarts.  The  force  requisite  to  carry  on  this  busi- 
ness equals  one  man  for  every  six  cows,  or  an 
aggregate  of  fifty  men,  summer  and  winter.  The 
best  milkers,  generally,  are  crosses  of  Short- 
Horn  with  Ayrshire  and  Natives,  but  good  milk- 
ers can  be  found  of  almost  every  breed. 

The  feed  that  produces  the  most  milk  is  yet  a 
vexed  question.  In  the  opinions  received,  cot- 
ton seed  meal,  corn,  rye  and  buckwheat  ground 
together,  and  roots,  with  rowen  hay,  have  equal 
prominence.  The  order  of  feeding  cows  varies 
with  different  individuals.  Some  feed  roots  the 
first  thing  in  the  morning,  and  others  late  at 
night.  Some  give  hay  the  first  thing,  and  oth- 
ers reserve  it  till  noon.  Each  feeder  gives  his 
practice  and  reasons  with  equal  freedom — which 
is  a  very  hopeful  system  in  any  debate.  Our 
conclusion  is,  that  the  best  order  is  as  follows : 
AVet  cut  feed  mixed  with  meal  after  each  milk- 
ing, with  hay  and  roots  between.  Neither  roots 
nor  grain  should  be  fed  upon  an  empty  stomach. 
In  the  first  case,  the  milk  is  more  likely  to  re- 
ceive the  odor  of  the  roots.  In  the  latter  the  ap- 
petite is  greatly  impaired  for  other  food.  No  fact 
is  more  clearly  established  than  that  the  flavor 
and  quality  of  the  milk  and  flesh  depend  in  part 
upon  the  quality  of  the  food.  Various  expedi- 
ents have  been  resorted  to  counteract  bad  fla- 
vors. The  English  heat  their  milk,  and  then  add 
saltpetre  to  it  to  prevent  the  taste  of  cabbages. 
The  Virginians  slice  and   salt  rutabagas,  twelve 


hours  before  feeding,  in  order  to  escape  that 
odor.  In  this  region,  regularity  in  feeding,  as 
to  quantity  and  time,  by  some  is  considered  suf- 
ficient remedy  for  common  turnips.  Experience 
proves  that  corn  and  carrots  make  first  quality 
pork.  Cows  that  give  milk  require  more  food  in 
proportion  to  their  bulk  than  either  oxen  or 
horses  ;  twenty-five  to  thirty  pounds  of  dry  hay 
daily  is  the  usual  consumption  of  farm  animals. 
Of  course,  if  roots  or  meal  are  added  the  con- 
sumption will  be  less. 


SWINGING  IN  THE  BABN. 

Swing  away, 
From  the  great  cross-beam — 
Through  the  scented  clover-hay. 
Sweet  as  any  dream ! 

Higher  yet ! 
Up,  between  the  eaves. 
Where  the  grey  doves  cooing  tilt 
'Twixt  the  sun-gilt  leaves. 

Here  we  go ! 
Whistle,  merry  wind ! 
'Tis  a  long  day  you  must  blow. 
Lighter  hearts  to  find. 

Swing  away  ! 
Sweep  the  rough  barn  floor ' 
While  wo  gaze  on  Arcady 
Framed  in  by  the  door. 

One,  two,  three ! 
Quick,  the  round  red  sun, 
Hid  behind  yon  twisted  tree. 
Means  to  end  the  fun  ! 

Swing  away ! 
Over  husks  and  grain  ! 
Shall  we  ever  be  as  gay 
If  we  swing  again  .' 


Fur  the  New  England  Fanner. 

THE  KOBIN'S  TITLE  TO  IMMUNITY 
QUESTIONED. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  the  Farmer  of  Nov.  Gth, 
some  one  sailing  without  colors  is  doubting  my 
sincerity,  in  respect  to  my  communication  regard- 
ing the  robin.  Perhaps  the  injury  sustained  by 
me,  caused  by  the  depredation  of  the  robin,  may 
be  of  more  immediate  effect  than  that  sustained 
by  my  neighbors  in  their  pastures,  yet  in  my  pas- 
ture land  I  perceive  an  injury  more  lasting,  for 
I  find  it  a  slow  operation  to  eradicate  the  wild 
herbage,  of  which  the  seeds  Avere  distributed  by 
the  troublesome  birds.  Did  not  man  have  do- 
minion given  him  over  the  birds  of  the  air,  as 
well  as  all  things  else?  Our  nameless  friend  asks 
the  question,  "Did  not  the  Power  that  created 
the  robin  endow  him  with  an  instinct  to  sustain 
life?"  I  answer,  "Yes."  Did  he  not  give  the 
same  power  and  instinct  to  the  rattlesnake?  then 
why  slay  him?  Would  not  that  be  selfish?  Does 
not  the  house-fly,  that  scavenger  demanded  by  the 
presence  of  fetid  and  corrupting  matter,  have  in- 
stinct to  sustain  his  life?  Did  our  unknown 
friend  ever  destroy  them  by  the  use  of  German 
fly-paper  ?  Did  he  ever  devise  or  recommend 
any  phm  for  the  destruction  of  the  onion  worm  ? 
I  have  no  doubt  his  life  is  as  dear  to  him  as  the 
robin's,  for  he  received  it  from  the  same  great 
source.    Do  not  the  insects  that  prey  upon  fruits 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


35 


and  other  vegetation  have  as  good  a  right  to  a 
livelihood  as  their  destroj'er,  (as  he  would  have 
us  believe  the  robin  to  be,)  "notwithstanding 
the  title  deeds  of  the  most  grasping  miser  ?" 
Why  save  the  robin,  if  he  is  such  a  wholesale 
slaughterer  of  insects  that  God  created  and  en- 
dowed with  instinct  to  sustain  life  ? 

The  aim  of  man  is  or  ought  to  be,  progress. 
Are  we  not  having  wiser  and  better  laws  in  every 
succeeding  generation  ?  Are  they  now  perfect  ? 
By  no  means,  and  never  can  be  while  man  is  finite. 
Is  it  not  known  that  committees  draft  all  our 
laws  ?  Even  they  do  not  at  all  times  see  the  ef- 
fects of  them  in  all  their  bearings  ;  they  pass 
through  their  usual  stages  without  much  debat- 
ing as  to  their  merits,  and  frequently  with  no 
apparent  interest  felt  in  regard  to  them  ;  then 
they  become  the  laws  of  the  land.  If  our  laws  are 
perfect,  what  need  of  further  legislation  ?  for  this 
day  our  statute-books  are  voluminous,  (he 
would  have  us  believe,)  containing  just  laws, 
burdensome  to  no  virtuous  and  honorable  call- 
ing. "Those  living  in  glass  houses  should  not 
throw  stones." 

I  was  much  interested  in  the  perusal  of  INIr. 
Flagg's  communication^  may  not  the  bird  that 
survived  in  his  imprisonment  have  had  an  ac- 
quired appetite,  a  vitiated  appetite,  not  dissimi- 
lar to  the  user  of  opium,  arsenic  and  tobacco  ?  or 
may  he  not  require  to  sustain  his  nature,  some 
inorganic  material,  such  as  phosphate  of  lime,  or 
some  other  inorganic  matter  found  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  ?  Did  not  that  bird  find  in 
the  wings  of  those  bugs  some  silica,  or  a  sub- 
stance akin  to  it  ?  I  have  never  discovered  the 
robin  take  any  insect  from  the  ground  except  the 
angle-worm.  He  says  the  extermination  of  the 
robin  is  out  of  the  question,  as  it  would  hardly 
be  desirable  to  sacrifice  the  interest  of  all  the 
staple  products  of  agriculture,  to  preserve  a  few 
bushels  of  cherries. 

Is  the  robin  man's  guardian  angel?  Must  he 
starve  without  him,  and  the  earth  become  a  bar- 
ren waste  ?  J.  S.  Needham. 

West  Danvers,  Nov.  20,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BOOT  CROPS. 

The  above  is  the  heading  of  an  article  which 
appeared  in  the  New  England  Fanner  of  Nov.  6, 
signed  E.  E.,  in  reply  to  an  article  of  D.  Need- 
ham,  on  English  turnips,  rutabaga,  &c. 

Having  raised  some  300  bushels  of  rutabaga 
turnips  this  season,  and  not  having  had  much  ex- 
perience in  feeding  turnips,  I  was  about  to  in- 
quire, through  the  columns  of  the  Farmer,  as  to 
what  stock,  and  in  what  manner,  I  could  feed 
them  to  the  best  advantage,  when  I  saw  the  ar- 
ticle from  E.  E. 

I  raised  the  above  number  of  bushels  upon  48 
rods  (or  3-10  of  an  acre,)  of  sandy  land,  and  not 
very  highly  manured  at  that,  no  pains  taken  to 
transplant  and  thin  out ;  hoed  them  but  twice, 
sowed  them  the  17th  of  June.  The  expense 
of  pulling,  cutting  off  the  tops,  Src,  putting 
them  into  the  cellar,  as  follows  : — First  half-day, 
Avith  the  assistance  of  a  man  over  70  years  of 
age,  I  pulled,  cut  the  tops,  and  put  in  the  cellar, 
100  bushels ;  the  next  day,  with  the  assistance  of 


two  boys  under  16  years  of  age,  I  put  in  200 
bushels  in  four  hours'  time.  The  turnips  were 
large  and  very  smooth,  being  free  from  fibers. 

I  have  commenced  feeding  them  to  cows,  and 
think  they  not  only  increase  the  quantity,  but 
also  the  quality  of  the  milk.  I  also  boil  them 
and  mix  corn  and  rye  meal  and  feed  my  fatting 
hogs,  and  if  the  turnips  are  no  other  benefit,  they 
certainly  improve  the  food  so  that  the  hogs  eat 
it  more  readily  and  fat  faster  than  they  will  upon 
the  meal  without  the  turnips.  I  hope  to  heai 
from  others,  more  experienced  in  raising  and 
feeding  turnips  than  I  am.  A.  J.  DoDGE. 

Lowell,  rt.,  Nov.  11,  1858. 


SXTBACTS  AND' REPLIES. 
THE   BALDWIN   APPLE. 

I  wish  you  to  inform  me  through  the  Farmer 
the  age  of  the  Baldwin  apple.  I  have  of  late 
trimmed  a  very  large  tree  of  the  above-named  ap- 
ple, the  owner  of  which  says  it  must  have  been 
grafted  over  forty  years  ago.  It  is  a  Baldwin,  as 
he  produced  one  of  the  very  apples  that  grew  upon 
it.  I  had  my  fears  as  to  tlie  truth  of  the  state- 
ment ;  I  think  that  the  apple  was  known  by  some 
other  name  a  long  time  ago.  J.  A.  F. 

Remakks. — The  Baldwin  apple  has  probably 
been  known  for  about  one  hundred  years — but 
originally  under  the  name  of  "Woodpecker," 
which  was  abbreviated  to  the  "Pecker"  apple. 
The  apple  was  brought  into  notice  by  Col.  Bald- 
win, and  received  his  name. 

EQUESTRIANISM   BY   LADIES. 

"Where  SO  many  people  may  receioe  so  miivli 
pleasure  also  little  personal  sacrifice,  pray  allow 
them." 

This  is  the  comment  of  an  eminent  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture,  upon  the 
equestrian  exhibition  by  ladies  at  one  of  the  county 
shows,  in  this  commonwealth  in  1857.  What  did 
he  mean  by  this  P  Certainly  not  to  approve  of 
such  exhibitions.  He  simply  meant  to  speak  of 
it  as  a  harmless  foible.  Is  this  the  purpose  for 
which  $1200  a  year  is  drawn  from  the  treasury 
of  the  commonwealth  ?  If  one  species  of  vain 
amusements  can  be  countenanced,  why  not  oth- 
ers ?  Who  will  say  that  billiard  saloons  are  not 
places  of  healthy  exercise?  Grave  and  reverend 
seniors  should  be  careful  what  they  write. 

Nov.  22. 

Remarks. — We  are  not  at  all  surprised  at  such 
strictures  as  the  above.  Our  people,  especially 
our  farmers,  are  slow  to  find  fault  with  what 
seems  to  afTord  pleasure  to  others.  But  they 
have  learned  that  some  practices  prevail  at  our 
county  shows  .which  are  subverting  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  they  were  founded,  while  the 
number  which  they  please  is  far  from  being  a 
majority.  

SWAMP   MUCK. 

I  have  a  large  quantity  of  swamp  muck  which 
can  be  carted  to  any  part  of  my  farm,  a  part  of 
which  is  sandy,  and  the  rest  a  sandy  loam.  What 


36 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


fertilizers  -will  be  best  to  mix  with  it  to  form  a 
compost  for  my  sandy  lands  ? 

North  Lisbon,  N.  H.,  1858.    A  SuBSCRIBEK. 

Remakks. — Barn-yard  manure,  if  you  have  it. 
If  not,  use  wood  ashes,  from  five  to  twenty  bush- 
els to  the  cord.  If  a  clay-bed  is  convenient,  mix 
a  portion  of  that  with  the  muck  in  addition  to 
the  manure  or  ashes. 

THE   POTATO   DISEASE. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Your  kindness  in  admitting  to 
your  columns  my  queries  as  to  your  endorsement 
of  the  theories  of  Mr.  Reed  and  others,  as  to  the 
cause  of  the  decay  of  the  potato,  (commonly 
called  the  potato  rot,)  has  imposed  on  me  the  ne- 
cessity of  further  explanation.  In  making  this, 
I  wish  to  say  distinctly,  that  I  have  not  had  the 
opportunity  to  make  the  microscopic  observa- 
tions spoken  of,  and  therefore  have  not  been  able 
to  see,  what  is  not  to  be  seen  without  the  aid  of 
such  glasses. 

That  Mr.  Reed  and  others  have  found  many 
extremely  minute  insects,  in  and  about  the  pota- 
to, I  cannot  doubt,  with  such  evidence  as  is  ac- 
cumulated on  the  subject.  I  have  read  this  tes- 
timony Vvith  care  ;  but  whether  the  insects  are 
the  cause  or  the  consequence  of  the  rot,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  evidence  to  determine. 

As  our  Board  of  Agriculture  have  undertaken 
the  investigation,  I  hope  they  will  not  abandon 
it,  until  something  is  made  certain. 

Truly  yours,  J.  W.  Proctor. 

Nov.  5,  1858. 

Remarks. — No  man  within  our  knowledge  is 
more  deeply  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  agri- 
culture, or  more  zealous  in  the  cause,  than  our 
correspondent  above.  He  writes  with  a  bold  pen, 
and  expresses  his  opinions  without  circumlocu- 
tion, so  that  if  they  sometimes  lack  a  little  gen- 
tleness, we  can  readily  enough  impute  it  to  the 
zeal  manifested  by  him  in  the  cause  generally. 
He  puts  his  hands  cheerfully  and  earnestly  to 
whatever  he  thinks  will  benefit  the  farmer. 

JEFFRIES'  PATENT  BALL  VALVE  PUMP. 

I  would  inform  your  subscribers  that  I  have 
one  of  "Jeffries'  Pktent  Ball  Valve  Pumps"  in 
use,  which  I  like  very  much  ;  they  are  manufac- 
tured by  Mr.  George  L.  Newcomb,  in  Harbor 
Street,  Salem,  who  has  them  for  sale,  and  where 
one  can  be  seen  in  operatien.  I  think  his  price 
is  $25  and  $35  for  the  two  sizes  of  very  thorough 
manufacture.  B.  P.  Ware. 

Salem,  Mass.,  1858.  

potash  and  coal  ashes, 

I  wish  to  know  through  the  Farmer  what 
amount  of  first  rate  potash,  dissolved,  will  make 
a  bushel  of  anthracite  coal  ashes  equal  to  one  of 
wood  ashes  in  that  article  alone. 

I  am  aware  there  is  other  good  fertilizing  ma- 
terial in  wood  ashes,  but  can't  we  compound  with 
coal  ashes,  potash  and  bone  dust,  a  very  good 
manure  for  fruit  trees  ?  L.  c.  C. 

East  Lexington,  Nov.,  1858. 


MILCH    cows  AND  DAIRY  FARMS. 

Mr.  Brown  : — In  a  late  number  of  the  Boston 
Cultivator,  I  noticed  a  severe  criticism  on  the  late 
publication  of  Secretary  Flint,  on  "Milch  Cows 
and  Dairy  Farming,"  in  which  the  plates  illustra- 
tive were  strongly  condemned.  I  was  astonished 
to  see  such  strictures  from  such  a  source.  I  had 
looked  upon  the  editor  of  that  paper  as  high 
authority  in  these  matters,  and  as  candid  and 
reasonable  in  his  judgment.  For  instance,  in 
speaking  of  the  representation  of  the  Oakes  cow 
on  the  73d  page,  he  says  it  looks  more  like  a 
kangaroo — than  like  the  original.  After  more 
than  forty  years'  interval,  I  cannot  bring  to  mind 
distinctly  the  points  of  that  celebrated  animal — 
hut  until  I  saw  Mr.  H.'s  criticisms,  I  thought 
Mr.  F.'s  representations  gave  a  fair  idea  of  her. 
I  have  compared  it  with  the  representation  given 
of  her  in  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Massachusetts 
Journal  and  Reports,  while  she  lived — and  do  not 
perceive  suflicient  variance  to  condemn  the  print 
entirely.  What  could  have  induced  Mr.  H.  to 
speak  thus  harshly  of  a  publication  favorably  re- 
ceived by  farmers  generally  ?  My  attention  was 
particularly  called  to  this  fact,  yesterday,  by  a  com- 
plimentary reference  to  tfiis  volume  in  a  "Report 
on  Milch  Cows,"  drawn  by  Hon.  R.  S.  Rogers, 
who  illustrates  his  fitness  for  such  a  task,  by  the 
purely-selected  stock  of  animals  on  his  splendid 
estate.  Has  our  friend  swallowed  a  file  in  his 
late  tour,  or  has  he  lost  his  balance  among  the 
hills  of  Ayrshire?  Essex. 

Essex  Co.,  Nov.,  1858. 

DISEASE   IN   potatoes. 

I  am  not  unwilling  to  be  classed  with  unbe- 
lievers, while  I  have  such  associates  as  a  major 
part  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  and  your  intel- 
ligent correspondent  from  West  Medford.  I 
know  it  is  generally  deemed  a  reproach  to  be 
thought  skeptical ;  but  I  deem  it  a  greater  error, 
to  yield  assent  upon  authority,  without  sufficient" 
reason  therefor.  As  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
have  taken  into  consideration  the  question  of  the 
decay  of  the  potato,  I  hope  wa  shall  hear  from 
them  a  distinct  exposition  of  what  is  known  in 
relation  to  it.  I  am  clear  in  the  opinion,  that 
the  theories  put  forth  by  Messrs.  Reed,  Hender- 
son, &c.,  of  bugs  being  the  cause  of  the  rot,  are 
not  the  true  cause.  J.  "W.  P. 

Nov.  1,  1858.  _  * 

'     A   TURKEY   CROP. 

I  have  raised  this  year,  from  five  old  turkeys, 
seventy-five.  They  are  now  about  five  months 
old,  and  the  males  weigh  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
pounds  each.  The  old  male,  (seventeen  months 
old,)  weighs  thirty  pounds,  and  has  gained  five 
pounds  in  the  last  seven  weeks. 

David  R.  Gates. 

New  Worcester,  Nov.,  1858. 

POROUS  cheese. 

Will  j"ou,  or  some  of  your  numerous  readers, 
inform  me  Avhat  the  cause  is  of  porous  cheese  ? 
Is  it  too  much  scalding,  or  not  enough  ?  I  should 
be  pleased  to  read  any  dairyman's  opinion  on  the 
subject.  New  Subscriber. 

North  F err ishury,   Fi{.,  1858. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


37 


APPLES. 

The  three  varieties  sent  by  AVm.  F.  Bassett, 
of  Ashfield,  Mass.,  are  all  new  acquaintances. 
The  variety  he  calls  "Russett  Sweet,"  resembles 
the  apple  of  that  name  we  are  familiar  with,  but 
has  more  color,  and  the  skin  is  smoother  and 
fairer.  It  is  a  good  apple,  but  rather  dry.  The 
other  sweet  apple  we  are  not  aware  of  ever  hav- 
ing met  before,  but  think  it  better  than  the 
"Russett."  The  sour  apple  is  also  new  to  us, 
and  from  the  specimens  sent,  we  can  hardly  pro- 
nounce an  opinion  as  to  its  merits. 

riNE    SHEEP. 

I  have  a  pretty  good-sized  buck  of  the  English 
breed,  one  year  and  six  months  old,  the  sixth 
day  of  this  November,  that  weighs  230  pounds, 
and  a  ewe  of  the  same  breed  whose  weight  is 
162  lbs.  They  were  sired  by  the  big  imported 
buck  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  of  Montpelier,  which 
weighs  350  lbs.  The  ewe  has  raised  me  a  lamb 
this  year  that  weighs  94^  lbs.  They  are  cross 
bloods.  The  buck  is  of  the  Cotswold  breed,  and 
the  ewes  were  of  part  Leicestershire.  The  buck 
when  one  year  and  nine  days  old  sheared  S^  lbs. 
of  good  clean  wool  the  15th  day  of  May,  and  the 
ewe  6|  lbs.  when  one  year  and  fifteen  days  old. 
They  have  had  no  extra  keeping  from  that  of  the 
rest  of  the  flock.  Joel  Learned. 

WaiLrfteld,  T?.,  Nov.,  1858. 

THE  BASKET  WILLOW. 
In  reply  to  the  query  of  IMr.  MULLIKEX,  of 
Lexington,  for  information  respecting  the  Bas- 
ket Willow,  in  the  Farmer  of  Nov.  6,  we  would 
refer  him  to  Messrs.  George  J.  &  E.  A.  Colby, 
of  Waterbury,  Vt.  They  are  intimatelj  acquaint- 
ed with  the  whole  process  of  cultivating  and 
preparing  it  for  the  market. 


PASTUKB  BXPBIIIELBWT  PHOPOSED. 

Mr.  Editor  : — There  is  one  experiment  I 
would  like  to  see  tried  in  this  State,  in  the  way 
of  pasturage,  viz. : — If  a  farmer  has  25  acres  of 
pasturing,  let  him  plow  one-fourth  of  it  and  sow 
it  with  oats,  rye  or  any  kind  of  grain  he  may 
choose,  and  seed  it  down  at  the  same  time  with 
grass,  and  let  his  cattle  crop  all  that  grows.  The 
next  year  let  him  take  another  fourth  and  treat 
likewise,  and  so  until  he  has  cultivated  the  whole, 
and  then  repeat,  and  my  word  for  it,  you  would 
see  better  stock  in  your  pastures  in  autumn,  and 
the  butcher  would  not  have  to  carry  an  extra 
pair  of  mittens  to  put  on,  that  the  bones  might 
not  hurt  his  hands,  when  he  has  to  examine  so 
closely  to  know  if  they  will  possibly  do  to  eat. 

Note. — The  plan  proposed  by  our  correspond- 
ent is  a  very  good  one  where  the  plow  can  be 
used,  and  it  should  be  done  more  often  than  it  is. 
But  what  shall  we  do  with  those  pastures  which 
are  so  rough  that  the  plow  cannot  be  used? 
Shifting  the  kind  of  stock  pastured  on  them  oc- 
casionally, from  neat  stock  to  sheep,  and  vice 
versa,  is  a  good  plan.  Sowing  on  plaster  and 
bone  dust  is  also  a  good  plan. — Maine  Farmer. 


NE'W  BOOKS. 

Milch  Cows  asd  Dairy  Farming  ;  comprising  the  Breeds,  Breed- 
ing and  Management,  in  Health  and  Disease,  of  Dairy  and 
other  Stock  ;  the  selection  of  Milch  Cows,  with  a  full  explana- 
tion of  Guenon's  Method ;  the  Culture  of  Forage  Plants,  and 
the  Production  of  Milk,  Butter  and  Cheese ;  embodying  the 
most  recent  Improvements,  and  adapted  to  farming  in  the 
United  States  and  British  Provinces.  With  a  treatise  upon  the 
Dairy  Husbandry  of  Holland ;  to  which  is  added  Horsfall's  Sys- 
tem of  Dairy  Management.  By  Charles  L.  Flint,  Secretary 
of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  For  sale 
by  A.  Williams  &  Co.,  Boston. 

Every  person  engaged  in  dairy  business, 
should  own  this  book,  and  read  It  attentively,  as 
it  contains  many  facts,  and  abounds  with  sugges- 
tions that  must  be  of  value  to  all  who  have  not 
already  a  large  experience  in  dairy  matters.  We 
recommend  it  as  a  matter  of  economy,  because,  if 
studied,  It  cannot  fail  to  imjjart  facts  of  more 
value  to  most  dairymen  and  dalrywomen  than 
several  times  its  cost. 

The  chapter  on  the  diseases  of  animals  is  ju- 
dicious,— the  remedies  recommended  mild  and 
safe,  and  that  upon  the  culture  of  grasses  and 
plants  to  he  used  as  fodder,  is  one  of  great  impor- 
tance. 

The  work  is  printed  on  fine,  white  paper,  and 
beautifully  illustrated  v/ith  engravings  of  vari- 
ous breeds  of  dairy  stock,  and  Avith  the  utensils 
usually  employed  in  the  making  of  butter  and 
cheese,  and  a  copious  Index  is  added  for  the  ben- 
efit of  those  who  use  it  as  a  book  of  reference. 

If  the  cotton  and  wollen  goods  of  our  manu- 
factories, as  a  whole,  were  no  better  than  the 
products  of  our  dairies,  we  question  whether  the 
manufacturers  would  be  entitled  to  the  credit  of 
skilful  workmen  in  the  production  of  their  fab- 
rics. Perhaps  there  is  no  single  article  brought 
to  our  markets.  In  which  there  is  so  much  that  is 
Indiiferent,  or  decidedly  bad,  as  in  the  article  of 
butter.  It  is  strange  that  so  much  of  It  is  badly 
made  and  put  up,  when  the  fact  Is  so  obvious 
that  good  butter  always  brings  a  high  price  every- 
where. 

Froit  Culture  for  the  Million,  A  Hand  Book  of  Fruit  Cul- 
ture ;  being  a  Guide  to  the  Cultivation  and  Management  of 
Fruit  Trees  :  with  Condensed  Descriptions  of  many  of  the  best 
and  most  popular  varieties  in  the  United  States.  Illustrated 
with  ninety  engravings.  By  Thomas  Gregg.  Fowler  & 
Wells,  New  York,  1858.    Price  50  cents. 

This  is  a  cheap  and  useful  book  for  those  who 
think  they  cannot  afford  to  purchase  a  larger  one. 
But  our  opinion  is  that  Downlng's  Fruit  and 
Fruit  Trees  of  America  is  cheaper  at  one  dollar 
and  fifty  cents. 

Eating  Fruit. — No  liquid  of  any  description 
should  be  drank  within  an  hour  after-eating  fruits, 
nor  any  thing  else  be  eaten  within  tv;o  or  three 
hours  afterward.s — thus  time  being  allowed  for 
them  to  pass  out  of  the  stomach,  the  system  de- 
rives from  them  all  their  enlivening,  cooling  and 
opening  influences.  The  great  rule  is,  eat  fruits 
in  their  natural  state,  without  eating  or  drinking 
any  thing  for  at  least  two  hours  afterwards. 
With  these  restrictions,  fruit  and  berries  may  be 


58 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


eaten  with  moderation  during  any  hour  of  the 
day,  and  without  getting  tired  of  them,  or  ceas- 
ing to  be  benefited  by  them  during  the  whole 
season.  It  is  a  great  wast  of  lusciousness  that 
fruits  and  berries,  in  their  natural  state,  are  not 
made  the  sole  dessert  of  our  meals,  for  three- 
fourths  of  the  year;  human  enjoyment,  and 
health,  and  even  life,  would  be  promoted  by  it. — 
HalVs  Journal  of  Ilealtli. 


AGRICUIiTTJBE  AND  HOKTICULTUKE. 

THE  TRUE  FRIENDS. 

BY  I!ES.   LTDIA   H.    SIGOCRNET. 

"They  leave  no  sting  in  the  heart  of  memory, — no  stain  on 
the  wing  of  time." — Hon.  Marshall  P.  JVilder. 

Brown  Ceres,  one  day  with  Pomona  was  meeting 

'Neath  Autumn's  Spiriting  smile, 
So  giving  each  other  a  sisterly  greeting 

Tliey  sate  down  to  gossip  awliile. 

'T  hope  you're  r.  .ite  well,  dear,  tliis  elegant  weather," 

"How  charming  tlie  country,"  they  said, 
"And  how  do  jou  prosper,"  botli  speaking  together,— 

"With  rejard  to  your  business  and  trade?" 

"Look,  whsi-e  tte  rude  thorn  bush  and  bramble  were  jprin-ing 

With  fruitage  the  apple  tree  bends, 
The  scyihe  of  the  mower  at  sunrise  is  swinging, 

And  the  song  of  the  reaper  ascends." 

"Let  us  walk  hand  in  hand,  for  no  obstacle  caring 

Till  vines  o'er  the  mountains  shall  grow ; 
Its  suit  of  green  velvet,  the  brown  heath  be  wearing 

And  deserts  with  p'.enty  o'erdow." 

"The  gold  in  its  mine,  with  excitement  and  wonder 

May  summon  an  emigrant  band, 
And  the  chariot  of  Mars,  trample  on  in  its  ttumier 

But  we're  the  true  strength  of  the  land." 

"For  us,  no  lorn  wife  in  her  cottage  is  grieving. 

Earth  welcomes  us  both  in  her  prime. 
No  sting  in  the  bosom  of  memory  we're  leaving, 

No  stain  on  the  pinion  of  time." 


HOW  TO  IMPKOVE  CIDEK. 

The  following  letter  upon  preserving  cider  in  a 
•nild  form,  is  from  Professor  Horsford,  of  Cam- 
bridge, to  the  President  of  the  Massachusetts 
Horticultural  Society,  and  may  be  valuable  to 
some  of  our  readers. 

We  add  also,  another  simple  recipe  for  im- 
proving cider,  but  probably  much  like  the  Pro- 
fessor's method. 

Cambridge,  Oct.  2o,  18.58. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  beg  to  inclose  a  recipe  for  im- 
proving cider.  The  object  to  which  my  efforts 
have  been  directed,  was  to  provide  a  cheap,  easi- 
ly-managed, and  perfectly  safe  ngent  for  arrest- 
ing fermentation  at  any  desired  stage  of  its  prog- 
ress. The  fermentation  of  the  sugar  of  the  cider, 
it  is  well  known,  is  due  to  the  fermentation  of  an 
albuminous  substance  which  the  cider  holds  in 
suspension  or  solution.  By  fermentation,  the 
sugar  is  first  converted  into  alcohol  and  carbonic 
acid.  Ifthe  albuminous  matter  be  ingrent  excess, 
as  it  uniformly  is,  its  fermentation  goes  forward 
to  convert  the  alcohol  into  acetic  acid,  and  the 
cider  becomes  sour. 


minous  matter  consumed  to  produce  alcohol  and 
carbonic  acid,  and  of  course  less  will  remain  to 
convert  the  alcohol  into  vinegar. 

But  if,  when  the  fermentation  has  been  car- 
ried forward  just  far  enough  to  impart  to  the 
cider  the  taste  which  is  most  preferred, — when  it 
is  sparkling,  still  sweet,  but  slightly  acid, — if  at 
this  stage  the  albuminous  matter  be  withdrawn, 
the  cider  will  permanently  retain  its  acceptable 
flavor. 

To  accomplish  this  withdrawal  I  employ  Sul- 
phite  of  Lime — a  salt  made  soluble  only  by  acid, 
and,  of  course,  quite  inert  until  acid  presents  it- 
self to  the  cider.  As  soon  as  fermentation  pro- 
duces acetic  acid,  this  salt  yields  sulphurous  acid, 
which  destroys  the  ferment.  This  is  essentially 
the  agent  employed  to  prevent  fermentation  in 
the  wine  production  of  France. 

The  substance  I  employ  settles  out  at  the  bot- 
tom with  the  lees,  and  maybe  entirely  separated 
from  the  cider. 

The  testimony  of  quite  a  number  of  friends 
who  have  for  the  last  three  years  followed  the 
recipe,  as  well  as  the  experiments  I  have  myself 
directed,  are  so  emphatic  as  to  the  excellence  of 
the  result,  that  I  feel  justified  in  submitting  to 
the  attention  of  the  Horticultural  Society  this 
method  of  improving  cider. 

E.  N.  Horsford, 

Prof,  of  Chem.  to  the  Mass.  Hor.  Society. 

RECIPE   FOR   IMPROVING  CIDER. 

Let  the  new  cider  from  sour  apples  (sound  and 
; selected  fruit  is  to  be  preferred,)  ferment  from 
I  one  week  to  three  weeks,  as  the  weather  is  warm 
or  cool.  When  it  has  attained  to  lively  fermen- 
tation, add  to  each  gallon,  according  to  its  acidi- 
ty, from  half  a  pound  to  two  ])ounds  of  white 
crushed  sugar,  and  let  the  whole  ferment  until  it 
possesses  precisely  the  taste  which  it  is  desired 
should  be  permanent. 

In  this  condition  pour  out  a  quart  of  the  cider, 
and  add  for  each  gallon,  one  quarter  of  an  ounce 
of  sulphitejof  lime,  known  as  an  article  of  manufac- 
ture under  the  name  of  anti-clorida  of  lime.  Stir 
the  powder  and  cider  until  intimately  mixed,  and 
return  the  emulsion  to  the  fermenting  liquid. 
Agitate  briskly  and  thoroughly  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, and  then  let  the  citler  settle.  The  fer- 
mentation will  cease  at  once. 

When,  after  a  few  days,  the  cider  has  become 
clear,  draw  off  and  bottle  carefully,  or  remove  the 
sediment  and  return  to  the  original  vessel.  If 
loosely  corked,  or  kept  in  a  barrel  on  draft,  it 
will  retain  its  taste  as  a  still  cider.  If  preserved 
in  bottle  "i  carefully  corked,  which  is  better,  it 
will  become  a  sparkling  cider,  and  may  be  kept 
indefinitely  long. 


A  Dove  Story. — A  gentleman  of  this  city 
who  has  a  dove  cot  at  his  residence  at  the  West 
End,  relates  the  following  incident  as  having  oc- 
curred last  week.  In  the  cot  were  a  male  and 
female  dove  and  two  squabs.  The  male  squab 
having  died,  the  elderly  dove  drove  from  his 
nest  his  female  mate,  and  promoted  to  his  bed 
If  the  quantity  of  sugar  be  I  and  board  the  young  female  squab,  pecking  at 
large,  a  corresponding  quantity  of  alcohol  is  pro- 1  and  driving  from  his  cot  the  female  dove.  Final- 
duced.  When  it  is  not  in  sufficient  quantity  it  ly,  upon  one  occasion*,  when  the  female  appeared 
may  be  added  tothe  ci  I'.T,  and  :noreof  the  aJbu-'at  the    door  of  the   cot.,  the    male   sallied   out. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


39 


pecked  at  her  and  drove  her  away.  The  perse- 
cuted mother  flew  down  to  a  perch  below,  where, 
■with  her  head  undtr  her  winj^  she  remained  for 
a  short  time,  and  then  fell  suddenly  to  the  gi'ound. 
The  inmates  of  the  house,  who  had  witnessed  the 
proceeding,  immediately  went  out  and  ascertained 
that  the  dove  v/as  dead,  but  no  wound  was  found 
sufficient  to  cause  death.  Possibly  she  died  of 
a  broken  heart  from  the  brutal  treatment  of  her 
false  and  fickle  mate. — Traveller: 


PIiA.WTS  MUST  HAVE  FOOD. 

Veget-ition  annually  appropriates  to  itself,  and 
removes  from  the  soil,  a  portion  of  nutritive  prin- 
ciples therein  containf=d,  and  if  they  be  removed 
without  compensation  in  some  way,  barrenness 
will  ensue.  Upon  the  facilities  which  the  farmer 
may  be  able  to  command  to  secure  an  adequate 
supply  of  food  for  his  crops,  his  success  must  in 
a  great  measure  depend. 

Manure  is  a  term  o'  broad  application.  It  was 
formerly  confined  chiefly  to  the  excrements  of 
animals,  but  nov/  has  a  wider  signification,  and 
may  be  understood  as  embracing  any  animal, 
vegetable,  or  mineral  matter,  capable  of  improv- 
ing and  fertilizing  the  soil,  or  of  correcting  its 
faults  and  supplying  its  defects.  Whether  arti- 
ficial fertilizers  may  or  may  not  be  profitably  em- 
ployed, is  of  far  less  moment  for  us  to  under- 
stand, than  how  to  make  the  most  of  home  re- 
sources ;  the  true  policy  being  to  increase  the 
productiveness  of  the  farm  from  within  itself. 
To  accomplish  this,  every  source  of  fertilizing 
material  upon  the  farm  should  be  made  to  con- 
tribute, ami  care  should  be  taken  that  nothing  be 
wasted.  Not  only  should  the  solid  excrement  of 
animals,  which  too  often  is  the  sole  dependence 
of  the  farmer,  be  properly  cared  for,  but  special 
efforts  should  be  directed  to  the  liquids  also, 
which  are  not  only  more  exposed  to  waste,  but 
possess  a  superiority  over  others,  which  renders 
their  loss  irreparable.  An  eminent  agricultural 
writer  says:  "When  it  is  considered  that  Avith 
every  pound  of  ammoni  i  that  escapes,  a  loss  of 
sixty  pounds 'of  corn  is  sustained,  and  that  with 
every  pound  of  uiine  a  pound  of  wheat  might  be 
produced,  the  indifference  with  which  these  liquid 
excrements  are  regarded  is  quite  incomprehen- 
sible." Another  says  :  "The  quantity  of  liquid 
manure  produced  by  one  cow  annually,  is  equal 
to  fertilizing  an  acre  and  a  quarter  of  ground, 
producing  elfects  asdural)le  as  do  th;^  solid  evac- 
uations. A  cord  of  loam,  saturated  with  urine, 
is  equal  to  a  cord  of  the  best  dung.  If  the  liquid 
and  solid  evacuations,  including  the  litter,  are 
kept  se[)arate,  and  soaking  up  the  liquid  by  loam, 
it  has  lieen  found  that  they  will  manure  land,  in 
proportion  by  bulk,  of  seven  liquid  to  six  solid, 
while  their  actual  value  is  as  two  to  one.  The 
simple  statement,  then,  in  figures,  of  the  difl'er- 
ence  in  value  of  the  solid  and  liquid  evacuations 
of  a  cow,  should  impress  upon  all  the  impor- 
tance of  saving  the  last  in  preferenc3  to  the 
first." 

Excrementitious  matter,  whether  solid  or  liquid, 
is  by  no  means  our  only  source  of  food  for  plants. 
Almost  every  farm  possesses  an  indefinite,  and 
oftentimes  a  most  abundant  supply,  in  the  de- 
posits of  decayed  vegetable  matter  known 
muck  or  ocit.     This,  to   be   sure,  in  its  natural 


condition,  is  not  readily  available  by  plants ;  they 
would  relish  and  thrive  upon  it  about  as  well  as 
we  would  on  raw  potatoes,  but  nevertheless,  the 
food  is  there,  and  only  needs  due  preparation  to 
make  it  both  palatable  and  nutritious.  Muck  or 
peat  is  also  of  great  value,  and  almost  indispen- 
sable as  an  absorbent  of  liquid  manure,  and  of 
the  gases  generated  during  decomposition.* 

In  this  way  it  not  only  proves  a  most  eftectual 
and  economical  means  of  preventing  waste,  but 
is  itself,  in  so  doing,  modified  or  changed  so  as 
to  be  converted  into  valuable  and  available  man- 
ure. Muck,  treated  with  ashes,  is  found  to  do 
exceedingly  well.  Another  mode  of  treating  it, 
which  has  many  advocates,  is,  to  slake  quick- 
lime, with  a  saturated  solution  of  common  salt, 
and  mingle  with  the  muck,  in  the  proportion  of 
one  cask  of  lime  to  a  bushel  of  salt,  mixed  with 
a  cord  of  muck.  Thus  prepared,  it  is  not  a  sim- 
ple mixture  of  lime,  salt,  and  muck,  but  during 
its  preparation  as  stated  above,  a  decomposition 
of  the  salt  takes  place,  alkali  is  liberated  equiva- 
lent to  the  ashes  used  in  the  other  case,  and  by 
its  action  the  vegetable  food  in  the  muck  is  I'en- 
dered  soluble,  and  thus  made  available  to  plants.f 
— ^Plough,  Loom  and  Anvil. 


*  Too  much  can  hardly  be  said  of  the  value  of  dried  mack,  to 
b3  thrown  into  the  stalls,  as  nn  absorbent  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  adding  to  the  value  of  the  manure,  and  of  purifying  the 
air  '  f  the  premises. 

t  If  convenient,  it  would  be  well  to  prepare  this  some  weeks 
before  app'ying  it,  and  if  turned  over  a  few  times,  all  the  better. 


OUR.  BXPORTS. 


Oar  often  stated  and  reiterated  assertion,  that 
we  do  not  raise  our  own  food,  is  true, — import- 
ing, as  we  do,  corn,  and  wheat,  and  flour,  beef, 
and  mutton,  and  poik  ;  vrhile  the  agricultural  ca- 
pabilities of  our  soil  are  such,  that  with  only  a 
little  more  intelligent  farming,  our  home  produc- 
tion of  the  very  things  we  import  might  be  vastly 
increased  ;  perhaps  so  that  the  exports  would 
more  than  coimterbalance  the  imports  ;  and  this 
without  involving  the  employm-nt  of  much  more 
labor  or  capital,  or  even  mooting  the  question 
whether  these  are  the  most  profitable  things  we 
can  raise.  Yet  we  can  learn  many  a  useful  lesson 
from  the  exports  of  our  State  and  neighboring 
region. 

This  year  the  aj)ple  crop  attracts  most  atten- 
tion among  our  exports,  for  we  have  been  favored 
with  comparative  abundance,  while  the  general 
crop  of  the  country  is  next  to  nothing.  Sloop- 
load  after  sloop-load  has  floated  down  the  river, 
and  the  cars  have  taken  many  more.  Specula- 
tors have  gone  through  the  land,  and  many  ap- 
ples have  been  engaged  at  moderate  prices,  be- 
fore the  market  price  became  settled.  This  prac- 
tice of  selling  to  speculators  is  generally  well 
enough  under  our  present  system  of  doing  things, 
though  we  hold  that  the  ware-house  system, 
wherever  practicable,  should  be  employed.  Spec-- 
ulators  and  their  agents  will,  if  held  to  it,  gener- 
ally offer  all  that  they  can  afford  to  give,  and,  if 
the  risks  and  expenses  of  marketing  are  taken 
into  the  account,  they  usually  leave  themselves  a 
small  enough  margin,  and  ofi"er  more  than  the 
small  farmer  can  get  for  his  crop,  if  he  should 
market  it  himself. 

We  have  often  alluded  to  the  Golden  Sweet 


40 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan, 


apple  as  our  most  profitable  sort  for  shipping. 
The  demand  for  winter  apples  has  been  such  that 
this  year  the  Golden  Sweet  crop  is  quite  thrown 
in  the  shade.  The  market  is  still  active,  and  will 
continue  to  be,  for  sometime,  we  presume,  con- 
stantly advancing  prices,  for  good,  sound  winter 
fruit. 

Potatoes  have  long  been  a  prominent  article  of 


If  a  horse  was  in  the  same  condition  as  a  po- 
lype, with  no  organ  of  vision,  who  shuns  light, 
a  dark  stable  might  prove  to  be  his  earthly  par- 
adise, but  as  the  horse  has  special  organs  of  vis- 
ion, evidently  susce[)tible  to  the  influence  of  light, 
and  the  integrity  of  his  organism,  or  a  part  of 
the  same  depending  entirely  on  the  admission  of 
light,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  stables  should 


export,  probably  in  value  this  far  exceeds  any  be   constructed   accordingly. — Amencan    Veteri- 


other.  The  towns  which  particularly  enjoy  this 
trade  and  make  preparations  for  it,  are  those  sit- 
uated upon  tide-water.  We  cannot  come  at  any 
reliable  estimate  of  the  quantity  or  value  of  po- 
tatoes annually  exported.  It  will  be  larger  than 
usual  this  year.  Our  imports  in  this  line  are 
small  in  comparison,  if  we  do  not  include  sweet 
potatoes.  In  early  spring  considerable  quantities 
of  Bermuda  potatoes  are  imported,  at  a  cost  of 
two  to  six  times  as  much,  bushel  for  bushel,  as 
we  can  get  for  those  we  export. 

Certain  localities  also  derive  great  profit  from 
certain  peculiar  articles  of  export,  for  instance  : 
Stonington,  and  some  towns  in  its  neighborhood, 
export  poultry  in  great  quantities ;  Hartford 
and  Middlesex  counties  in  our  own  State,  and 
the  river  counties  in  Massachusetts,  export  to 
bacco,  both  in  the  crude  state  and  manufactured, 
in  value  to  a  very  large  amount ;  Wethersfield 
has  long  been  famous  for  its  speciality,  onions, 
and  should  now  be  equally  so  for  garden  seeds, 
for  these  enterprising  seed  gardeners  send  their 
precious  crops  by  tons  almost  to  all  parts  of  the 
Union, — Editorial,  in  Homestead 


LIGHT  IW   STABL"raS. 

Stables  should  be  so  constructed,  by  the  inser- 
tion of  windows  in  various  parts  of  the  building, 
that  they  should  be  "light  as  day."  A  "dark" 
stable  is  only  a  suitable  black  hole, — prison-house 
for  such  a  vicious  specimen  of  the  equine  race 
as  the  notorious  "Cruiser;"  it  is  also  the  very 
worst  location  for  any  kind  of  animal.  Sir  A. 
Nylie  (who  was  long  at  the  head  of  the  medical 
staff  in  the  Russian  army)  states  that  cases  of 
disease  on  the  dark  side  of  an  extensive  barrack 
at  St.  Petersburg,  have  been  uniformly,  for  many 
years,  in  the  proportion  of  three  to  one,  to  those 
on  the  side  exposed  to  a  strong  and  uniform  light. 
Humboldt  has  also  remarked  that,  among  bipeds, 
the  residents  of  South  America,  who  wear  very 
little  clothing — thus  allowing  the  cutaneous,  as 
well  as  the  orbital  surfaces,  to  receive  a  free  ray 
of  light — enjoyed  immunity  from  various  diseases 
which  prevailed  extensively  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  dark  rooms  and  underground  locations, 
and  so  excellent  an  authority  as  Linna?us  con- 
tends that  the  constant  exposure  to  solar  light, 
is  one  of  the  causes  which  render  a  summer 
journey  through  high  northern  latitudes  so  pe- 
culiarly healthful  and  invigorating.  Dr,  Edwards 
has  also  remarked  that  persons  who  live  in  caves 
or  cellars,  or  in  very  dark  or  narrow  streets,  ai'e 
apt  to  produce  deformed  children  ;  and  that  men 
who  work  in  mines  are  liable  to  disease  and  de- 
formity. 

Light,  therefore,  is  a  condition  of  vital  activity, 
and  in  view  only  of  preserving  the  sight  of  a 
horse,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  while  he  be 
the  habitat  of  the  stable,  his  optics  shall  have 
free  access  to  the  sun's  ravs. 


najry  Journcd. 


EBGOT  AMD  HOOF  AIL. 

FRtEND  Harris  : — In  my  last  communication 
for  the  Cultivator,  (June  1st,)  I  mentioned  hav- 
ing purchased  five  head  of  cattle,  diseased  from 
eating  the  ergot  of  hay,  for  the  purpose  of  exper- 
iment. Three  head  were  considered  hopeless, 
one  old  cow  was  much  enfeebled,  scarcely  able 
to  rise,  and  most  of  the  time  refused  to  set  one 
hind  foot  to  the  ground.  Two  two-year  old  steers, 
much  shrunken  in  muscle  and  bowels,  and  very 
lame.  Two  one-year  old  steers  not  quite  so  bad. 
I  commenced  treating  them  all  with  diuretics  and 
alteratives,  medicines  internally,  and  applying 
antiseptics  to  the  lame  feet.  I  used  different 
articles  of  the  same  properties  on  different  ani- 
mals with  the  same  results.  The  cattle  all  soon 
exhibited  a  favorable  change  of  symptoms,  which 
continued  until  they  were  turned  to  grass,  since 
that  time  they  have  done  as  well  as  any  other 
cattle  in  the  same  herd.  Nearly  all  lost  one,  and 
[some  both  shells  of  the  hoof  off  one  foot,  but  not 
until  a  new  one  had  nearly  grown  out.  They  all 
appeared  to  feel  well,  and  playful  as  any  cattle 
after  treating  them  ten  days,  lameness  excepted. 

It  has  been  stated  in  the  prints  that  the  ergot 
is  the  cause  of  cows  casting  untimely  calves.  This 
is  not  my  experience  ;  on  the  contrary,  all  the 
calves  of  such  diseased  cows  appear  healthy  al- 
though not  strong,  and  have  taken  the  milk  up 
to  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  mother,  without 
inconvenience.  Many  new  ideas  have  suggested 
themselves  to  me  while  treating  the  above  cases  ; 
one  I  will  here  suggest  for  future  observation : 
Does  the  ergot  so  affect  the  urinary  organs,  that 
the  urine,  coming  in  contact  with  the  hind  feet, 
causes  gangrene  and  sloughing  of  the  same  ?  It 
has  been  observed  that  those  cattle  that  run  out 
to  stacks,  and  not  stabled,  were  less  liable  to 
lameness,  although  their  systems  suffered  equal- 
ly. Those  that  run  out  appear  to  be  more  affec- 
ted in  the  nervous  systems,  stiffness  of  the 
joints,  &c. 

I  have  had  opportunities  of  knowing  that  the 
ergot  is  more  abundant  than  usual  in  all  the 
northern  counties  in  Ohio.  I  have  seen  several 
small  meadows  that  I  would  not  think  of  cutting 
for  fodder.  However,  the  people  are  mostly 
aware  of  its  existence  and  its  effects  on  cattle  ; 
some,  no  doubt,will  be  careless,  others  indifferent, 
and  others  over  nice  respecting  the  use  of  it. 
This  must  necessarily  be  the  case  as  long  as  some 
are  trying  to  investigate,  and  apprise  the  people 
of  the  danger,  while  some  of  our  learned  scientif- 
ic M.  D.'s  deny  its  bad  effects  on  cattle.  Some 
of  us,  if  not  all,  are  certainly  behind  the  times. 
This  matter  should  have  been  settled  years  ago  ; 
however,  caution  is  advisable  at  this  time  of 
gathering  in  our  hay.  We  would  suggest  the 
leaving   of    the   worst   spots,   threshing   before 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


41 


feeding,  if  bad,  and  salting  the  hay,  when  put  in, 
with  nine  parts  common  salt  and  one  part  salt- 
petre; also,  salting  cattle  thus  exposed,  with  a 
composition  of  salt,  wood-ashes  and  sulphur, 
frequenth'  through  the  winter,  and  if  stabled, 
keep  the  floor  as  clean  as  possible. — W.  PlEKCE, 
V.  S.,  in  Oldo  Cultivator. 


aiVEB    COTTAGE. 

Joel  Nourse,  Esq., — Dear  Sir : — Tne  express 
has  just  brought  me  a  very  pretty  picture  of 
Eiver  Cottage,  the  place  where  the  Editor  of  the 
Neio  England  Farmer,  escaping  from  the  turmoil 
of  city  life,  is  accustomed  to  enjoy  his  otium  cum 
dignitate,  setting  us,  at  the  same  time,  an  exam- 
ple of  good  taste  and  good  husbandry.  The 
sketch,  T  understand,  is  to  go  into  the  January 
number,  and  if  you  can  somehow  arrange  with 
the  printer,  while  the  editor  is  out  on  his  farm, 
to  slip  into  the  number  what  I  am  writing,  per- 
haps his  modesty  will  not  be  very  painfully 
shocked,  and  our  readers  may  be  enabled  to  find 
more  in  the  picture  than  can  be  seen  at  first 
glance.  You  will  see,  before  long,  that  1  know 
something  about  River  Cottage,  and  the  people 
that  dwell  therein. 

To  write  a  perfect  history  of  any  event,  it  has 
been  said,  that  it  is  necessary  to  begin  with  the 
garden  of  Eden,  but  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  we 
will  omit  some  of  the  "first  causes,"  and  come 
down  to  about  a  dozen  years  ago,when  our  friend, 
after  several  years'  residence  in  the  wicked  city 
of  Washington,  departed  therefrom,  like  righte- 
ous Lot  out  of  Sodom,  determined  to  seek  in 
some  sp-^t  nearer  the  rising  sun,  the  realization 
of  his  Lie-long  dreams  of  happiness  on  a  New 
England  farm. 

More  fortunate  than  the  good  man  of  old,  he 
left  no  pillars  of  salt  to  mark  the  spots  of  look- 
ing backward  in  the  journey,  but  brought  his 
small  household, //'es/i  as  ever,  back  to  their  na- 
tive hills.  And  then,  to  adopt  the  style  of  a 
modern  novel-writer,  one  beautiful  spring  morn- 
ing, two  travellers  might  be  seen  slowly  wending 
their  way  among  the  green  hills  of  the  Bay  State, 
in  "a  one-horse  shay,"  stopping  ever  and  anon, 
to  take  an  agricultural  survey  of  some  field  or 
meadow,  some  vine  or  fruit  tree,  some  Shorthorn 
or  Devon,  or,  perhaps,  to  make  thorough  exami- 
nation of  a  farm  advertised  in  the  papers  as  "suit- 
ably divided  into  mowing,  tillage  and  pasturing, 
with  uncommon  school  and  gospel  privileges." 

In  these  two  travellers,  the  discerning  reader 
will  not  fail  to  discover,  with  very  little  assistance, 
the  present  editor  and  his  humble  associate,  the 
one  a  gentleman  in  search  of  a  farm,  ardent  in 
the  faith  that  he  could  take  off  his  coat,  work  all 
the  year  like  a  day-laborer,  make  a  first-rate  liv- 
ing, and    be  perfectly  happy  on  a  New  England 


farm, — the  other  painfully  dubious  whether  his 
companion's  agricultural  zeal  would  not  outrun 
his  discretion  and  his  purse,  and  land  him  so 
high  that  he  would  never  get  comfortably  off! 

"What  do  you  sell  from  your  farm?"  was  the 
test  question  of  profit  or  loss.  Everybody  knows 
what  a  farmer  must  buy,  such  as  clothing,  groce- 
ries and  implements,  and  that  he  must  pay  taxes 
and  doctor's  bills,  and  a  thousand  incidentals  in 
cash,  and  these  almost  any  one  may  estimate.  If, 
then,  the  farmer  does  not  sell  enough  to  pay 
these  expenses,  he  is  running  in  debt.  It  was, 
usually,  pretty  hard  work  for  the  man  who  want- 
ed to  sell  his  farm,  to  furnish  the  items  of  sales 
from  the  produce  of  it  so  as  to  bring  out  a  living 
balance. 

So  we  looked  the  State  over,  and  made  no 
purchase,  and  the  next  thing  I  knew,  this  indi- 
vidual, whose  interests  I  had  guarded  with  such 
watchful  care  that  he  could  not  begin  to  buy  any 
farm  we  had  examined,  had  bought  his  present 
residence,  without  even  the  compliment  of  ask- 
ing my  advice  ! 

Of  course,  I  was  determined  not  to  approve  of 
a  step  so  inconsiderate,  and  when  I  accepted  an 
invitation  to  look  at  the  purchase,  it  was  with  a 
fixed  resolve  to  withhold  my  judgment  of  dis- 
approval, and  not  to  find  much  to  praise. 

The  cottage  and  twenty  acres  of  land  was  pur=- 
chased  in  April,  1848,  and,  except  to  the  eye  of 
faith,  it  was  rather  a  hopeless  establishment  to 
be  called  a  farm.  There  was  the  house,  to  be 
sure,  new,  and  in  much  the  same  style  as  now,  a 
pretty,  snug,  convenient  dwelling.  Then  there 
was  an  old  tumble-down  barn,  good  for  nothing 
but  fire  wood,  and  a  littlefmeau  shed.  The  land 
was  mostly  up-hill  or  down-hill,  and  where  there 
was  no  ledge,  there  were  round  stones  in  abun- 
dance, varying  in  weight,  from  one  to  twenty 
tons.  The  last  owner,  who  was  a  paper-hanger, 
had  set  out  some  fruit  trees,  which  were  strug- 
gling along  at  a  poor  dying  rate,  and  had  graft- 
ed a  few  of  the  old  apple  trees.  The  land  was 
run  out,  to  the  lowest  ebb,  and  its  chief  recom- 
mendation seemed  to  be  that  "the  oldest  inhabi- 
tant" could  remember  when  it  bore  sixty  bush- 
els of  corn  to  the  acre,  and  other  crops  to  match. 
The  farm  then  cut  hay  enough  for  two  cows  and 
a  horse,  and  produced  about  twenty  bushels  of 
cider  apples,  by  way  of  fruit. 

Now,  agriculturally  speaking,  that  was  not 
much  of  a  farm, — but  there  was  another  side  to 
the  picture,  which,  after  all,  is  worth  looking  at. 
You  have  seen  a  young  man,  sometimes,  who  had 
thoughts  of  marriage.  He  determines  to  do  the 
thing  in  a  rational,  considerate  manner.  He  will 
find  some  discreet  girl,  who  understands  house- 
keeping and  accounts,  who  is  sober-minded,  and 
perhaps  has  a  little  property  of  her  own,  and  ar- 


42 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


range  matters  on  a  fair  business  basis, — but  the 
next  thing  you  know,  he  is  engaged  to  some  lit- 
tle sentimental  school-girl,  with  apparently  only 
poverty  and  pretty  looks  and  ways  for  her  por- 
tion. Be  patient,  and  the  application  will  be 
seen. 

We  walked  up  on  to  the  hill  behind  the  cot- 
tage, on  to  the  bald  ledge,  which  commands  a 
view  of  the  distant  hills,  and  of  the  beautiful 
quiet  meadows  through  which  the  Concord,  the 
river  of  harmony,  gently  flows.  Here,  on  the 
verge  of  this  rock,  on  the  memorable  19th  of 
April,  1775,  were  "the  rebels"  watching  the 
progress  of  Earl  Percy's  troops  up  to  the  bridge, 
whose  abutments  may  still  be  seen,  and  there, 
where  the  granite  shaft  rises  by  the  further  riv- 
er's bank,  among  the  trees,  the  British  soldiers 
received  the  fire  of  the  brave  farmers  who  had 
made  their  stand  for  freedom  and  their  homes, 
and  there  was  shed  the  first  British  blood  of  the 
Revolution. 

"By  the  rude  bridge  that  arched  the  flood, 

Their  flag  to  April's  breeze  unfurled  ; 
Here  once  the  embattled  farmers  stood, 

And  fired  the  shol  heard  round  the  world." 

Driven  back   in  disorder,    the   flower  of  the 

English  army,  attacked  from  behind  fences* 
and  woods,  and  buildings,  slowly  retraced  their 
weary  eighteen  miles,  to  Boston,  In  a  field  in 
view  from  the  spot  where  we  stand,  some  of 
the  cannon,  which  the  soldiers  came  up  to  des- 
troy, were  placed  in  the  open  furrow,  and  buried 
by  the  plow.  And  there,  beyond  the  battle- 
ground, is  the  "Old  Manse,"  of  Hawthorn's  tales, 
and  in  the  village  lived  the  good  old  man  who 
went  on  a  mission  of  freedom  to  Charleston,  and 
was,  to  the  eternal  disgrace  of  that  Southern 
city,  compelled  to  flee  from  it  for  his-  life.  Em- 
erson's home  is  here,  and  his  pen  and  the  pens  of 
Channing  and  Thoreau  have  made  classic  ground 
of  the  shores  of  the  Concord  and  the  Assabet. 

And  so,  after  all,  our  friend  had  given  way  to 
sentiment  and  imagination,  and  had  paid  his  dol- 
lars for  revolutionary  associations,  for  beautiful 
views,  and  the  good  society  of  one  of  the  best 
of  New  England  towns. 

And  now,  when  ten  years  have  passed,  our  so- 
ber verdict  must  be,  that  it  was  money  well  ex- 
pended. Glancing  again  after  our  young  friend 
who  married  for  love,  we  shall  most  likely  find 
him,  ten  years  after,  a  happier  and  a  more  pros- 
perous man  than  he  who  married  from  pruden- 
tial motives.  He  has  worked  hard,  but  hopeful- 
ly, and  of  his  young  dreams,  he  has  wrought  out 
a  reality  which  is  not  a  disappointment.  An 
"Angel  in  the  House"  has  made  his  home  more 
than  earthly ;  a  "home  where  the  heart  is,"  and 
that  is  better  than  a  palace. 

Ten  years  have  changed  the  scene  at  the  cot- 


tage. Various  duties  of  a  private  and  public  na- 
ture have  claimed  its  owner's  attention,  but  the 
centre  of  all  has  been  Home.  Slowly,  year  after 
year,  the  scene  around  it  has  been  wrought  into 
the  proportions  with  which  imagination  clothed 
it  from  the  first. 

A  large  and  convenient  barn  has  been  built, 
with  cellars  under  the  whole  extent.  The  huge 
boulders  have  been  blasted  and  built  into  walls, 
wet  places  have  been  tile-drained  and  made  fer- 
tile, several  acres  of  apple  trees  have  been  set  out 
and  already  brought  into  bearing,  and  the  gar- 
dens are  filled  with  pears  and  cherries  and  plums 
and  grapes  of  the  choicest  kinds.  Sixteen  acres 
of  land  have  been  added  to  the  farm,  and  it  now 
winters  a  dozen  head  of  cattle  and  four  horses. 
The  birds  find  none  but  friends  in  these  grounds, 
and  you  see  in  the  picture,  how  they  are  clustei'- 
ing  as  doves  at  their  windows,  and  the  bees,  that 
never  will  work  for  any  person  Avho  does  not  give 
away  part  of  the  honey,  are  busy  all  the  sum- 
mer long,  with  their  labors.  But  that  is  all  mat- 
ter of  fact. 

Do  you  see  that  elm  tree,  in  front  of  the  house, 
around  which  a  vine  is  twining  ?  One  cold  win- 
ter da) ,  about  nine  years  ago,  the  editor  and  the 
writer  hereof,  with  some  half  dozen  yoke  of  ox- 
en and  men  to  help,  hauled  that  same  tree  about 
half  a  mile  with  a  ball  of  frozen  earth  of  half  a 
dozen  tons  weight,  and  set  it  where  it  now  is. 
It  has  grown  finely,  and  as  a  mere  tree,  is  valua- 
ble, but  when  we  look  at  it  with  the  associations 
of  bygone  days,  it  takes  its  position  with  the  bat- 
tle monument.  Like  Tennyson's  "Talking  Oak," 
long  may  it  stand  the  guardian  of  the  place, 

"And  flourish  high  with  leafy  towers 
And  overlook  the  lea," 

recounting  to  future  generations  stories  of  the 
prospered  loves  and  realized  hopes  of  the  cot- 
tage inmates. 

And  so  our  friend  lias  wrought  his  life  into  his 
Home.  The  helping  hands  of  kindred  and  family 
have  aided  to  adorn  its  surrounding  grounds. 
Within,  a  new  life  has  recently  been  added  to 
the  family  group,  and  the  child's  prattle  reminds 
us  that  a  third  generation  is  begun,  though  the 
grandsire's  raven  locks  tell  us  that  time  is  deal- 
ing gently  with  him,  or  rather  that  he  has  taken 
this  second  degree  somewhat  earlier  in  life  than 
is  usual. 

And  now  with  this  picture  before  us  of  the 
pleasant  home  of  one  who  is  doing  all  he  can  to 
improve  the  homes  and  the  hearts  of  others,  and 
to  make  the  earth  more  fruitful  and  beautiful,  let 
us  unite  in  wishing  a  Happy  New  Year  to  the 
inmates  of  River  Cottage.  With  the  like  wish 
for  yourself,  I  remain  your  friend, 

Henky  F.  French. 

Exeter,  N.  77.,  Dec,  1858. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


43 


Fijr  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  MUCK  BED,  AND  ITS  FUTURE 
PSOSPECTS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Twenty-five  years  ago,  the  low 
lands  in  New  England  were  a  very  difi'erent  affair 
from  what  they  now  are.  They  were  then  con- 
sidered great  useless  affairs,  good  for  nothing, 
unless  for  growing  Tamarack,  poles  and  black  ash 
basket  timber,  which  could  be  obtained  only,  as 
people  then  thought,  in  severely  frozen  times  in 
winter,  or,  when  excessively  dry  in  summer. 
Every  spring,  somebody's  cattle  got  mired  on 
their  margin,  in  their  exertion  to  grasp  the  first 
green  tuft  of  wild  grass,  and  then,  when  the  ani- 
mal was  once  ashore,  what  wishes  that  the  swamp 
would  sink  into  a  clear  pond  of  water. 

Times  change.  The  market  for  wood  increases, 
and  the  sv/amp  is,  on  a  cold  winter's  day,  full  of 
the  music  of  axes.  Tree  and  shrub  suffer  the 
same  fate.  When  the  sun  returns  on  his  north- 
ern visit,  he  sends  searching  rays  of  light  and 
heat  into  the  hitherto  impenetrable  moor,  to  scan 
the  changes  winter  has  wrought  upon  its  pro- 
ducts. The  bogs  shrink,  and  the  quagmires  evap- 
orate under  his  penetrating  glances.  Cattle  no 
longer  mire  there,  and  tall  grass  and  weeds  wave 
luxuriantly,  to  tell  that  deep  fertility  gathers  at 
their  roots.  What  a  beautiful  lesson  to  man,  of 
the  value  of  the  eld,  deprecated  swamp  !  Fertili- 
ty, strong  and  durable,  lies  in  its  cold  bosom. 

The  first  time  we  ever  heard  of  the  application 
of  muck  as  a  manure,  was  many  years  ago,  when 
we  saw  an  individual  going  two  miles  to  a  swamp 
to  get  a  load  for  his  garden.  He  described  his 
course  of  management  as  follows  :  The  muck, 
with  some  three  or  four  bushels  of  ashes  to  a  load, 
was  allowed  to  lie  only  a  day  or  two  to  dry.  The 
compost  was  then  put  under  cucumbers  and  spread 
for  a  top-dressing  on  radish  beds,  when  prepared 
for  the  seed.  No  insect  destroyed  plants  sown 
or  planted  on  lands  thus  prepared,  and  they  grew 
with  peculiar  freshness  and  vigor.  Its  value  for 
the  kitchen  garden  v/as,  by  one  experiment, 
placed  beyond  a  doubt. 

In  passing  through  the  Shaker  settlement  in 
New  Lebanon  some  autumns  since,  we  saw  some 
fine  beds  of  compost  of  which  muck  was  the  base, 
and  in  the  same  field,  men  were  employed  in 
opening  holes  five  or  six  feet  square.  Subse- 
quently we  passed  that  way,  and  found  apple 
trees  standing  where  these  holes  were  opened, 
and  that  the  compost  had  been  liberally  applied 
around  the  roots  of  those  trees  in  setting.  These 
trees  now  show  for  themselves,  showing  the 
growth  and  vigor  of  trees  in  a  new  and  favorable 
soil. 

Equally  favorable  results  from  the  application 
of  muck  have  been  noticed  in  other  places  and 
circumstances.  Still,  with  oceans  and  continents 
of  it  in  every  neighborhood,  and  on  almost  every 
farm,  the  agricultural  community  has  been  slow 
to  adopt  its  use. 

But  a  new  era  is  fast  opening  in  this  matter. 
The  summer  and  fall  of  1858  have  been  favorable 
to  the  progress  of  farm  labor  in  general,  and  it 
may  be,  farmers  have  had  more  time  than  usual 
to  turn  aside  from  the  hitherto  usual  routine,  and 
work  out  improvements.  At  any  rate,  it  is  a 
pleasant  certainty,  that  a  A'astly  increased  quan- 
tity of  muck  has  been  taken  to  the  uplands  for 


composting,  over  that  of  any  past  year,  for  now, 
almost  every  farmer  has  a  good  pile,  and  many 
three  or  four  stout  piles.  This  is  but  the  i)egi.'i- 
ning  of  progress  in  the  matter.  Another  year 
will  bring  them  a  full  reward  for  all  their  labor 
and  cost  in  the  matter,  and  yet  good  effects  wit' 
be  in  store  for  years  to  come,  and  the  effect  once 
seen,  extra  exertions  will  be  made  in  successive 
years  to  increase  the  quantity  annually,  until  the 
uplands  shall  have  been  well  fattened  from  the 
richness  of  the  cold,  wet,  miasma-breeding  swamp ; 
and  hereafter,  wlien  the  farmer  goes  to  purchase 
land,  one  of  the  earliest  inquiries  will  be,  is  there 
a  muck  bed  on  the  place'}  a  consideration  next  in 
importance  to  the  supply  of  wood  and  water  ;  for 
a  very  great  proportion  of  the  future  agricultu- 
ral fertility  of  New  England  lies  in  her  now  prof- 
itless swamps  and  quagm.ires. 

Reader,  we  fully  anticipate  the  exclamation 
you  are  about  to  utter.  We  expect,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  to  be  denounced  as  visionary,  eccentric, 
and  all  such  pretty  things.  But  what  then?  We 
predicate  our  opinion  from  facts  that  already  ex- 
ist ;  that  greater  and  more  astonishing  facts  will, 
from  similar  causes,  develop  themselves,  not  in 
a  year,  or  it  may  be  not  in  a  decade,  but  in  the 
course  of  sure  and  untiring  progress,  with  the 
assurance  that  he  who  labors  first  and  most  earn- 
estly, will  earliest  reap  the  reward.  w.  B. 

liichmond,  Kov.  23,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MATERIALS  FOB   ROOFING. 

This  is  the  subject  of  an  article  in  your  Novem- 
ber number,  and  while  I  cheerfully  agree  with 
the  author,  so  far  as  he  compares  slate  with  any 
or  all  other  materials  for  roofing,  in  this  climate, 
(New  England,)  when  he  takes  into  account  ex- 
pense, durability  and  security  from  fires,  and 
while  I  also  agree  with  him  in  his  comparison 
between  the  slates  of  Vermont  and  those  of 
Maine,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  &c., 
yet  I  find  him  in  error  when  he  settles  down  to 
compare  the  slates  of  Vermont.  There  is  no 
question  but  that  poor  slate  will  absorb  more 
water  than  good  slate,  neither  is  there  any  doubt 
but  that  a  soft,  poor  quality  of  slate  stone,  requires 
a  greater  thickness,  and  consequently  much 
greater  weight  than  a  moderately  hard  stone  of 
pure  quality.  I  am  well  acquainted  with  the 
slate  made  at  sixteen  different  quarries,  all  of 
which  are  within  a  range  of  four  miles  from  the 
railroad  station  at  Hydeville,  Rutland  Co.,  Vt.,  of 
which  the  Glen  Lake  and  Eagle,  (which  your  cor- 
respondent asserts  are  the  best.)  are  a  part.  The 
Eagle  slate  are  a  good  slate,  weighing,  on  an  av- 
erage, 700  pounds  to  the  square.  The  Glen  Lake 
slate  average,  in  Aveight,  about  580  to  the 
square.  There  is  another  kind  of  slate  far  supe- 
rior to  either  of  these  two,  in  my  estimation,  so 
far  as  uniformness  of  color, thickness  and  strength 
are  concerned.  These  slates  arc  made  by  the 
Forest  Slate  Company,  but  in  the  immediate  vi- 
cinity are  better  known  as  the  "Humphrey  slate." 
They  are  of  a  uniform  purple  color,  split  true, 
and  the  stone  is  of  such  purity  that  thcr^  is  no 
difliculty  in  spliting  the  slate  all  of  one  thickness. 
Many  of  these  shites,  I  am  told,  have  been  made 
during  the  past  season    in  Massachusetts,  at  and 


44 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan- 


near  Springfield,  North  Adams,  Chicopee,  &c. 
The  average  weight,  per  square,  is  560  pounds. 
Without  the  fear  of  contradiction  I  have  never 
seen,  either  in  the  Welsh  yards  of  Boston,  or 
other  places,  or  in  the  slate  yards  of  Vermont,  as 
beautiful  piles  of  slate  as  I  have  repeatedly  seen 
at  the  yards  of  the  Forest  Company,  at  Hyde- 
ville.  There  is  no  reason  why  these  slates  can- 
not be  delivered  in  Boston  or  Charlestown  at 
six  dollars  per  square.  A  Subsckiber. 

November,  I808. 


FARMERS'  CLUBS. 


The  constant  attendance  upon  the  meetings  of 
a  Farmers'  Club  for  six  months  in  a  year,  through 
several  years,  and  a  constant  watchfulness  of  the 
opinions  and  practices  of  those  who  have  been 
associated  with  us  in  such  a  club,  give  us  a  high 
opinion  of  their  usefulness. 

A  correspondent  from  Hopkinton,  Mass.,  writes 
us  as  follows  : — "As  this  is  a  favorable  season  in 
the  year  for  the  formation  of  Farmers'  Clubs,  and 
especially  as  my  neighbors  are  agitating  the  sub- 
ject, I  wish  you  would  say  a  few  words  in  regard 
to  the  usefulness  of  such  institutions,  and  also  in 
regard  to  the  formation  and  manner  of  conduct- 
ing the  meetings  of  a  successful  Farmers'  Club. 
And  I  should  like  to  hear  from  those  who  are 
connected  with  clubs  in  different  parts  of  the 
State." 

In  response  to  this  appeal,  we  cannot  urge  up- 
on our  readers  with  too  much  earnestness  the 
importance  of  forming  clubs  for  the  discussion 
of  all  matters  relating  to  the  farm. 

Noio  is  the  appropriate  time — suffer  it  not  to 
pass  unimproved.  You  will  find  amusement,  im- 
provement, and  capital,  in  its  deliberations,  which 
you  cannot  now  appreciate.  Form  the  club,  and 
be  determined  to  take  an  active  part  in  it,  and 
you  will  find  your  thoughts  ranging  in  new  and 
delightful  fields  through  another  year.  Meet  at 
your  own  dwellings,  and  thus  while  you  are  in- 
terchanging civilities  with  each  other,  you  will 
save  all  expense  of  hall  hire,  fuel  and  lights. 

The  following  is  a  suitable  form  of  a  constitu- 
tion : — 

CONSTITUTION. 

Art.  1. — This  Association  shall  be  styled  The 
Farmers'  Club 


Art.  2. — Its  officers  shall  be  a  President,  Vice 
President,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  who  shall  be 
chosen  annually  by  ballot. 

Art.  3. — The  President  shall  preside  in  all 
meetings  of  the  Club,  with  power  to  preserve  or- 
der, appoint  Committees,  and  assign  topics  for 
discussion. 

Art.  4. — In  the  absence  of  the  President,  all 
his  powers  shall  be  exercised  by  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent. 

Art.  5. — The  Secretary  shall  keep  a  record  of 
the  proceedings  of  each  meeting,  which  shall  be 
read  by  him  at  the  next  subsequent  meeting.  He 
shall  preserve   all    reports  of  Committees,  and 


conduct  whatever  correspondence  shall  be  or- 
dered by  the  Club. 

Art.  6. — There  shall  be  at  each  meeting  a  dis- 
cussion upon  a  topic  previously  announced,  which 
shall  be  commenced  by  four  members  designated 
at  the  preceding  meeting  by  the  presiding  of- 
ficer ;  and  such  other  exercises  as  the  Club  shall 
deem  proper. 

Art.  7. — There  shall  be  in  the  Club  twelve 
Standing  Committees  : — One  on  Manures ;  Hoed 
Crops  ;  Root  Crops  ;  Grain  Crops  ;  Grass  Crops  ; 
Live  Stock  ;  Farm  Buildings  and  Farms  ;  Far- 
ming Tools  ;  Reclaiming  Waste  Lands  ;  Garden 
Fruits  ;  Ornamental  Gardening ;  Fruit  and  Or- 
namantal  Trees. 

Art.  8. — Select  Committees  maybe  appointed 
as  the  exigencies  of  the  Club  may  require. 

Art.  9. — Each  Committee  shall  make  report 
in  writing,  from  time  to  time,  as  t'ae  Club  may 
order,  and  the  reports  so  made  shall  be  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Club. 

Art.  10. — Any  person  may  become  a  member 
of  this  Club  by  paying  one  dollar  to  the  Treasurer. 

Art.  11. — The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Club 
shall  be  holden  on  the  first  Monday  of  Novem- 
ber of  each  year,  for  the  election  of  officers  ;  and 
all  officers  to  hold  over  until  new  officers  are 
elected. 

Aside  from  the  agricultural  information  that 
may  be  gained  by  such  association,  it  will  make 
families  of  the  same  town  better  acquainted  with 
each  other,  excite  a  bond  of  sympathy  and  inter- 
est, and  promote  those  delightful  social  relations 
which  ought  always  to  exist  among  a  rural  pop- 
ulation. Merchants,  manufactures  and  mechan- 
ics have  their  meetings  to  discuss  their  business 
affairs  and  lay  down  some  common  platform  or 
rules  by  which  they  may  be  guided,  and  in  this 
way  they  strengthen  each  other's  efforts,  and 
profit  by  each  other's  example.  In  the  language 
of  the  Woi-Jiing  Farmer,  we  say,  "take  your  sons 
and  workmen  to  these  meetings,  and  they  will 
learn  to  respect  an  employment  which  calls  into 
active  use  the  talent  of  all.  If  you  have  a  sick 
animal,  you  may  have  advantage  by  the  experi- 
ence of  all  your  neighbors,  and  probably  save  the 
life  of  the  animal.  If  you  have  excess  of  crops, 
such  as  are  usually  used  on  the  farm,  or  are  short 
of  others,  may  you  not  at  such  meetings  learn 
where  you  may  sell  or  exchange  ?  Do  not  such 
meetings  tend  to  soften  asperities,  cement  friend- 
ships, and  do  away  with  peculiarities  of  temper, 
which  always  occur  with  men  who  work  alone  ? 
We  would  sooner  forget  much  of  our  reading, 
than  to  lose  the  recollection  of  such  pratieal  im- 
provements as  we  have  been  acquainted  with  at 
farmers'  clubs." 


Largest  Yield  of  Corn  on  Record. — A  cor- 
respondent writing  from  Vanderburg  county,  In- 
diana, informs  us  that  at  the  State  Agricultural 
Exhibition  a  silver  pitcher  was  awarded  for  the 
best  Jive  acres  of  corn.  The  award  was  made 
upon  the  decision  of  three  disinterested  men  i: 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


45 


each  town,  who  examined  the  corn  growing  in 
the  fields,  and  measured  one  acre  of  each  plot. 
They  then  made  oath  to  the  yield  of  the  single 
acre,  and  of  the  whole  five  estimated  from  the 
acre  actually  measured.  The  award  made,  under 
oath,  was  for  8o7S  bushels  of  shelled  corn  on  five 
acres,  or  171^  bushels  to  the  acre. 

If  this  has  been  excelled  at  any  other  time,  or 
in  any  other  place,  we  shall  be  glad  to  hear  of  it. 
Till  we  do,  we  shall  put  Vanderburg  County, 
Indiana,  at  the  head  of  the  corn  column — unless 
we  hear  of  some  mistake  in  the  above  report. 


I'^or  the  New  England  Farmer. 
"POTATO    DISEASE." 

Mr.  Editor  : — For  several  years  past,  I  have 
made  it  an  almost  invariable  rule  to  omit  the 
reading  of  any  article  in  your  paper,  if  its  head- 
ing indicated  that  it  treated  of  the  "potato  dis- 
ease,"— more  especially  if  it  professed  to  expound 
the  cause  of  the  disease  and  prescribe  a  remedy. 
There  have  been  such  multitudes  of  various  and 
contradictory  causes  put  forth,  each  claiming  to 
be  the  certainly  true  one  ;  such  a  variety  of  in- 
fallible recipes  for  the  prevention  and  cure  of 
the  plague,  that  I  am  ready  freely  to  acknowl- 
edge myself  a  skeptic  in  regard  to  ninety-and- 
nine-hundredths  of  them.  An  inquiring  mind 
is  an  object  of  my  especial  respect ;  I  would  not 
discourage  any  one  from  the  most  searching  in- 
quisition into  any  of  the  wonderful  and  interest- 
ing works  and  ways  of  nature  around  him.  It 
has  often  happened  that  important  discoveries 
have  been  made  for  science,  by  those  belonging 
to  what  is  called  the  unlearned  class ;  and  even 
if  no  important  fact,  before  unknown,  should 
be  brought  to  light,  yet  the  habit  of  a  wide  awake 
observation  of  what  is  going  on  around  him,  is 
of  incalculable  importance  to  the  individual,  as 
a  means  of  giving  activity  and  strength  and  clear- 
ness to  his  intellectual  faculties,  and  of  improv- 
ing the  manhood  of  the  real  man.  But  I  would 
ask  that  their  discoveries  be  not  published  to 
the  world  as  absolute  verities,  till  they  have  been 
tested  under  difl'erent  circumstances  for  several 
seasons,  with  a  single  and  sincere  desire  to  get 
at  the  truth,  with  no  bending  of  facts  to  the  sup- 
port of  favorite  preconceived  theories. 

I  did  not  intend  to  make  so  long  an  introduc- 
tion to  my  story.  I  merely  intended  to  say,  that 
I  was,  last  spring,  induced  to  read  a  letter  from 
an  English  farmer,  introduced  to  your  readers 
by  Judge  French — and  they  will  doubtless  all 
agree  with  me  that  what  he  is  willing  to  recom- 
mend will  generally  be  found  worthy  of  a  care- 
ful consideration.  This  Englishman's  letter  gave 
a  detailed  account  of  planting  potatoes  with  a 
pea  inserted  in  each  one,  and  the  result  was  the 
absence  of  rot  in  those  so  planted,  while  others, 
planted  without  the  pea,  in  the  same  or  adjoin- 
ing fields,  were  badly  affected.  (I  write  this  from 
my  recollection  of  the  letter,  and  may  not  be  ex- 
actly correct.)  _  This  had,  at  first  sight,  the  as- 
pect of  an  empirical  remedy ;  but  my  confidence 
in  the  Judge's  character  for  judicious  caution  in 
his  statements,  led  me  to  try  the  experiment,  but 
in  a  modified  form.  Instead  of  cutting  the  po- 
tato and  inserting  the  pea  in  it,  I  merely  planted 
two  or  three  peas  in  each  hill.     This  was  tried 


with  about  a  half  peck  of  chenangoes,  a  variety 
that  has  so  invariably  suffered  badly  from  the 
rot,  that  I  had  not  intended  to  plant  them  again  ; 
and  the  result  was  almost  entire  freedom  from 
disease  among  them,  though  the  varieties  that  I 
planted  for  my  main  crop  were  more  than  usually 
aff"ected.  How  the  pea-vine  operated,  if  it  had 
any  efifect,  is  not  for  me  to  say.  Perhaps  it  might 
be  l)y  absorbing  into  its  own  tissues  some  ele- 
ment in  the  atmosphere  that  is  deleterious  to  the 
potato  ;  perhaps  it  exhales  elements,  that,  com- 
bining with  the  surrounding  air,  so  affect  its  con- 
dition as  to  make  it  suitable  and  wholesome  for 
the  potato.  But,  before  theorizing  extensively 
on  the  how,  perhaps  it  is  best  to  ascertain  if  it 
has  any  effect.  This  is  not  put  forth  as  a  certain 
remedy ;  it  has  not  been  sufliiciently  tested.  I 
intend  to  try  it  an  a  larger  scale  next  year.  And 
if  any  one  of  your  readers  has  perused  this  arti- 
cle, I  hope  he  will  assist  in  giving  a  fair  and  thor- 
ough trial  of  the  proposed  remedy  under  differ- 
ent circumstances,  by  carefully  observed  experi- 
ments, and  note  the  result.  Minot  Pratt. 
Concord,  Nov.  27,  1858. 


NIGHT-AIR. 

During  the  months  of  September  and  October, 
throughout  tlie  United  States,  v;herever  there 
are  chills,  and  fever  and  ague,  intermittents,  or 
the  more  deadly  forms  of  fever,  it  is  a  pernicious, 
and  even  dangerous  practice,  to  sleep  with  the 
outer  doors  or  windows  open ;  because  miasm, 
marsh  emanations,  the  product  of  decaying  veg- 
etation— all  of  which  are  difi'erent  terms,  express- 
ing the  same  thing — is  made  so  light  by  heat, 
that  it  ascends  at  once  towards  the  upper  por- 
tion of  atmospheric  space,  and  is  not  breathed 
during  the  heat  of  the  day,  but  the  cool  nights 
of  the  fall  of  the  year  condense  it,  make  it  heavy, 
and  it  settles  on  the  ground,  is  breathed  into 
the  lungs,  incorporated  into  the  blood ;  and  if 
in  its  concentrated  form,  as  in  certain  localities 
near  Rome,  it  causes  sickness  and  death  within 
a  few  hours.  The  plagues  which  devastated 
Eastern  countries  in  earlier  ages,  were  caused  by 
the  concentrated  emanations  from  marshy  local- 
ities, or  districts  of  decaying  vegetation ;  and 
the  common  observation  of  the  higher  class  of 
people  was,  that  those  who  occupied  the  upper 
stories,  not  even  coming  down  stairs  for  market 
supplies,  but  drew  them  up  by  ropes  attached  to 
baskets,  had  entire  immunity  from  disease,  for 
two  reasons,  the  higher  the  abode,  the  less  com- 
pact is  the  deadly  atmosphere,  besides,  the  high- 
er rooms  in  a  house,  in  summer,  are  the  warmer 
ones,  and  the  miasm  less  concentrated.  The 
lower  rooms  are  colder,  making  the  air  more 
dense.  So,  by  keeping  all  outer  doors  and  win- 
dows closed,  especially  the  lower  ones,  the  build- 
ing is  less  cool  and  comfortable,  but  it  excludes 
the  infectious  air,  while  its  warmth  sends  what 
enters  through  the  crevices  immediately  to  the 
ceilings  of  the  rooms,  where  it  congregates,  and 
is  not  breathed ;  hence  is  it  that  men  who  en- 
tered the  bar-room  and  dining-saloons  of  the 
National  Hotel,  remaining  but  a  few  brief  hours, 
were  attacked  with  the  National  Hotel  Disease, 
while  ladies  who  occupied  upper  rooms,  where 
constant  fires  were  burning,  escaped  attack,  al- 


46 


XEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


though  remaining  in  the  house  for  weeks  at  a 
time.  It  was  for  th°  same  reason  that  Dr.  Rrsn 
was  accustomed  to  advise  families  in  the  summer 
time,  not  being  able  to  leave  the  city,  to  cause 
their  younger  children  especially,  to  spend  their 
time  above  stairs.  We  have  spent  a  lifetime 
ourselves  in  the  West  and  extreme  South,  and 
know  in  our  own  person,  and  as  to  those  who 
had  firmness  to  follow  our  recommendation,  that 
whole  families  will  escape  all  the  forms  of  fall 
levers  who  will  have  bright  fires  kindred  at  sun- 
rise and  sunset  in  the  family  room.  But  it  is 
too  plain  a  prescription  to  secure  observance  in 
more  than  one  family  in  one  thousand.  After 
the  third  frost,  and  until  the  fall  of  the  next  year, 
it  is  an  important  means  of  health  for  persons 
to  sleep  with  an  outer  door  or  window  partly 
open,  having  the  bed  in  such  a  position,  as  to  be 
protected  from  a  draught  of  air.  We  advise 
that  no  person  should  go  to  work  or  take  exer- 
cise in  the  morning  on  an  empty  stomach ;  but 
if  it  is  stimulated  to  action  by  a  cup  or  a  crust 
of  bread,  or  apple,  or  orange,  exercise  can  be 
taken,  not  only  with  impunity,  but  to  high  ad- 
vantage in  all  chill  and  fever  localities. — Hall's 
Journal  of  IleaUlt. 


FATTENING  ANIMALS. 

There  are  certain  principles  which  apply  to  the 
feeding  of  all  animals  which  we  will  shortly  no- 
tice. 

1.  The  breed  is  of  great  importance.  A  well 
bred  animal  not  only  affords  less  waste,  but  lias 
the  meat  in  the  right  places,  the  fibre  is  tender 
and  juicy,  and  the  fat  is  put  on  just  Avhere  it  is 
wanted.  Compare  the  hind  leg  of  a  full-blood 
Durham  ox,  and  a  common  one.  The  bone  at 
the  base  of  the  tail  extends  much  further  in  the 
former,  afibrding  more  room  for  flesh,  and  the 
thigh  swells  out,  of  convex  or  circular  shape  ; 
while  in  the  common  ox  it  falls  in,  dishing  and 
hollow.  Now  the  "round"  is  the  most  valuat)le 
cut,  and  is  only  found  in  perfection  in  high-bred 
stock.  The  same  is  the  case  over  ttie  whole  body. 
So  well  do  eastern  butchers  understand  this, 
ths"!;  their  prices  are  regulated  by  the  breed,  even 
where  two  animals  are  equally  fat.  They  know 
that  in  a  Durham  or  Hereford  ox,  not  only  will 
there  be  less  offal  in  proportion  to  weight,  but  the 
greatest  quantity  of  meat  will  be  where  it  brings 
the  highest  price  when  retailed,  and  will  be  of  a 
richer  flavor,  and  more  tender  fibre.  The  same 
is  the  case  with  hogs.  A  large  hog  may  chance 
to  make  more  meat  on  a  given  quantity  of  f')()d 
than  a  small  one,  but  the  meat  of  the  first  will  be 
coarse  and  tasteless  compared  with  the  other  ; 
and  in  the  east,  flavor  and  tenderness  greatly 
regulate  prices.  Consequently,  moderate  sized, 
short-legged,  small-headed  hogs,  always,  in  the 
long  run,  beat  large  breeds  out  of  favor.  In  pre- 
paring for  a  market,  "fashion  and  taste"  must  be 
as  much  considered  by  the  farmer  as  by  the  tail- 
or. This  one  fact  is  at  present  revolutionizing 
the  English  breed  of  sheep.  The  aristocracy  al- 
ways paid  high  for  small  Welch  and  Scotch  mut- 
ton ;  but  the  great  consumers,  the  mechanics, 
preferred  large  fat  joints.  The  taste  is  now 
changed.  In  Manchester  and  other  such  cities, 
these  large  joints  have  become  unsaleable  ;  and 
all  the  efforts  of  the  breeder   are  now  turned 


towards  small  breeds  maturing  early,  with  com- 
paratively little  fat.  According  to  late  writers, 
the  large  Leicester  and  Cotswold  are  going  quite 
out  of  fashion.  When  we  give  .$3,000  for  a  Dur- 
ham bull,  it  is  not  that  his  progeny  are  "intrinsi- 
cally" more  valuable  to  that  amount,  but  the  in- 
creased value  and  the  fashion  together,  make  up 
the  difference.  And  it  is  thus,  that  while  Dur- 
hams  and  Herefords  are  preferred  for  ships  and 
packing,  Devons  are  high  in  repute  for  private 
families.  The  joints  are  smaller,  but  the  meat 
has  a  peculiar  richness,  probably  found  in  no  oth- 
er kind  of  stock  :  and  the  proportionate  waste  is 
said  to  be  less  than  in  any  other  breed.  Thus  in 
the  London  market,  the  Scotch  Kyloes,  and  then 
the  Devons,  (the  former  even  smaller  than  the 
latter,)  bring  the  highest  price,  because  preferred 
by  the  aristoci-acy.  So  in  Dublin,  spayed  heifers 
are  sought  for.  But  the  i)reed  also  regulates  the 
profit.  There  is  nothing  more  certain  than  that 
one  kind  of  animal  will  fatten  to  a  given  point 
on  much  less  food  than  another,  and  as  fattening 
our  stock  is  only  another  mode  of  selling  our 
grain  and  grass,  those  animals  are  to  be  preferred 
which  come  to  maturity  soonest,  and  fatten  on 
jthe  least  food.  The  difference  in  hogs  is  very 
I  great  and  important.  While  some  breeds  must 
jbe  fed  for  two,  or  even  three  winters,  others  are 
full  grown  and  fattened  at  ten  months  old  ;  and 
the  difference  in  profit  is  enormous.  We  cannot 
go  into  particulars,  but  the  following  rules  may 
be  considered  as  applying  to  all :  An  animai 
may  be  expected  to  fatten  easily  when  it  has  fine, 
soft,  elastic  skin,  Avith  thin  or  silky  hair  ;  the  head 
and  legs  short,  the  "barrel"  large,  but  chest  and 
lungs  small;  and  when  it  is  quiet,  sleepy  and 
easy  in  temper.  An  unquiet,  restless,  quick-tem- 
pered animal,  is  generally  a  bad  feeder,  and  un- 
profitable. 

;  2.  Much  depends  in  fattening,  on  outward  and 
mechanical  management.  Fat  is  carbon,  or  the 
coal  which  supplies  the  body  with  heat.  If  we 
are  exposed  to  cold,  it  is  burnt  up  in  our  lungs  as 
fast  as  it  is  dep  sited  by  the  blood  ;  l)ut  if  we  are 
kept  warm,  by  shelter  or  clothing,  it  is  deposited 
throughout  the  body,  as  a  supply  on  hand  when 
needed.  Warm  stables  and  pens  are  a  great  as- 
sistance in  fattening,  and  should  never  be  neg- 
lected. So,  also,  quiet  and  peacefulness  are  im- 
portant. Every  excited  action  consumes  some 
part  of  the  body  which  has  to  be  supplied  by  the 
food,  and  detracts  from  the  fat.  In  the  climate 
of  Michigan,  warm  stables,  regular  feeding  at 
fixed  hours,  and  kind  treatment,  with  perfect 
cleanliness,  save  many  a  bushel  of  grain.  Ani- 
mals fed  at  irregular  times  are  always  uneasy  and 
\  fretting. 

3.  Ground  and  cooked  food  fatten  more  prof- 
itably than  raw  food.  Mr.  Ellsworth  found  that 
hogs  made  as  much  flesh  on  one  pound   of  corn 

I  ground  and  boiled  to  mush,  as  two  pounds  raw 
unground  corn  ;  though  the  first  did  not  fatten 
quite  as  rapidly,  as  they  could  not  consume  as 
much  food  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  By  grind- 
ing and  smoking,  ten  hogs  will  each  gain  100 
pounds  in  weight,  on  the  same  food  that  five 
would  do  if  it  were  raw. 

4.  A  change  of  food  helps  in  fattening.  Thus 
an  ox  fed  entirely  on  corn  and  hay,  will  not  fat- 
ten as  fast,  or  as  well,  as  one  which  has  roots, 
pumpkins,  ground  oats  or  buckwheat,  &c..  fed  to 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


47 


it  at  regular  periods.  The  latter  may  contain 
intrinsically  less  nourishing  matter  than  the  corn, 
but  the  change  produces  some  unknown  effect  on 
the  stomach  and  system,  that  adds  to  the  capa- 
bility of  depositing  fat.  The  best  feeders  change 
the  food  very  frequently,  and  find  that  they  make 
a  decided  profit  by  so  doing.  Salt  should  be 
given  with  every  meal  to  cattle — say  an  ounce  a 
day.  It  preserves  the  appetite  and  prevents  tor- 
por of  the  liver  to  which  all  fattening  animals 
are  subject.  This  torpor,  or  disease,  is  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  conducive  to  fat ;  but  carried  too  far, 
the  animal  sinks  under  it. 

5.  In  cattle  the  skin  should  be  particularly  at- 
tended to.  A  fat  animal  is  in  an  unnatural  state, 
and  consequently  subject  to  disease.  Taking  no 
exercise,  it  has  not  its  usual  power  of  throwing 
off  poisons  out  of  the  system,  and  if  the  skin  is 
foul,  the  whole  labor  is  thrown  on  the  kidneys. 
It  is  found  by  experience  that  oxen,  regularly 
curried  and  cleaned  daily,  fatten  better  and  fast- 
er than  when  left  to  themselves  ;  and  if  the  legs 
are  pasted  with  dung,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  it 
seriously  injures  the  animal. 

6.  Too  much  rich  food  is  injurious.  The  stom- 
ach can  only  assimilate  a  certain  quantity  at  once. 
Thus  an  ox  will  prosper  better  on  thirty  pounds 
of  corn  and  thirty  pounds  of  cob  ground  togeth- 
er daily,  than  on  forty  pounds  of  ground  corn. 
These  mixtures  are  also  valuable  and  saving  of 
cost  for  hogs  when  first  put  in  the  pen.  If  an  an- 
imal loses  its  appetite,  the  food  should  at  once 
be  changed,  and  if  possible  roots,  pumpkins  or 
steamed  hay  may  be  given. 

7.  Oxen  will  fatten  better  if  the  hay  or  stalks 
are  cut  for  them,  but  care  must  be  taken  not  to 
cut  too  short.  An  inch  in  length  is  about  the 
right  size  for  oxen,  half  or  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  for  horses. — Farmers'  Com.  and  Horticultu- 
ral Oazette. 

For  the  New  England  Fanner. 
FARM  IjIFE  IW  NEW  ENGLAND. 
WHO   SILILL  DECIDE   WHEN  DOCTORS  DISAGREE  ? 

The  recent  discussion  upon  "Farm  Life  in  New 
England,"  and  the  noted  caricature  of  the  farmer 
that  has  appeared  in  the  kid  glove  magazine  of 
the  city,  has  awakened  a  degree  of  attention,  that 
will  probably  be  productive  of  sound  instruction. 
In  that  paper  are  some  statements  prettily  made, 
and  others  neither  pretty  nor  trite,  so  far  as  my 
observation  has  extended.  That  a  lady  of  New 
Hampshire  should  have  been  indignant  at  the 
assertion  that  her  sex  were  treated  by  the  lords 
of  the  soil,  with  less  sympathy  and  kindness,  un- 
der circumstances  of  greatest  trial,  than  the  ani- 
mals of  the  stall  is  not  surprising'  No  gentleman, 
who  has  been  permitted  to  enter  the  abode  of  a 
respectable  farmer  would  hazard  such  an  asser- 
tion. No  one  well  informed,  would  presume  to  say 
that  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  substantial 
yeomanry  of  New  England  are  in  any  respect  in- 
ferior to  the  better  class  of  wives  and  daughters  in 
our  cities.  True  it  may  be,  that  the  life  of  the 
farmer  is  hard — work,  work,  work,  from  morn 
to  eve, — with  but  a  slight  balance  in  his  favor, 
accruing  at  the  end  of  the  year,  upon  the  observ- 
ance of  the  strictest  economy.  But  firm  muscles, 
ruddy  cheeks,  and  a  clear  conscience,  are  its  sure 
accompaniments.  Essex. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOW  TO  KEEP  FOWLS. 

In  my  younger  days,  when  on  the  old  home- 
stead farm,  I  always  kept  hens  ;  but  more  for  the 
convenience  of  having  good  new  eggs,  than  for 
the  profit  of  them,  if  profit  there  is. 

It  is  thought  by  most  farmers,  and  many  oth- 
ers, that  there  is  no  profit,  at  all,  in  keeping 
hens ;  still,  I  have  heretofore  read  accounts  of 
the  keeping  of  fowls,  where  the  credit  was  con- 
siderable of  a  balance  in  favor  of  the  hens.  I 
presume  many  persons  make  it  profitable. 

Having  some  eighty  or  ninety  hens  and  chick- 
ens on  hand,  I  mean  to  keep  debt  and  credit  with 
them,  on  and  after  January  1st,  so  that  I  can 
know  exactly  the  cost  of  keeping  them,  and  the 
profit,  if  any  there  is.  We  have  a  good  henery, 
so  that  I  can  keep  them  confined  in  the  building, 
with  the  privilege  of  the  cellar  under  a  barn,  or 
can  let  them  run  at  large,  when  the  weather  is 
suitable.  I  would  like  to  be  informed  of  the  best 
way  to  manage  and  feed  the  hens  through  the  . 
winter,  in  order  to  keep  them  laying  eggs,  or  to 
make  them  lay  at  all — as,  unless  they  do  lay,  more 
or  less,  through  the  winter,  there  cannot  be  any 
profit  in  keeping  them.  James  Leonard. 

Leoviinster,  Nov.,  1858, 


Remarks. — Keep  the  hens  in  a  warm,  clean 
place,  where  they  can  have  access  to  the  sun 
whenever  it  shines.  Feed  them  regularly  with  a 
variety  of  food,  such  as  corn,  which  may  always 
be  before  them,  barley,  wheat,  boiled  potatoes, 
mashed,  and  mixed  with  cob  meal — that  is,  corn 
and  cob  ground  together,  and  give  them  access 
to  plenty  of  gravel,  old  plaster,  or  broken  oyster 
or  clara  shells.  The  barley  and  wheat  may  be 
fed  to  them  occasionally,  if  convenient.  Add  to 
these  plenty  of  clear  water,  and  pork  or  beef 
scraps  or  bits  of  fresh  meat  two  or  three  times 
each  week,  and  you  will  not  fail  to  find  your 
fowls  profitable. 

We  shall  expect  an  account  of  your  experiment 
when  completed,  for  the  benefit  of  others. 


Farming  Well. — The  great  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  good  farming  is  too  much  land.  Farmers 
are  so  hurried  in  the  getting  in,  and  in  the  har- 
vesting of  their  crops,  that  they  have  really  no 
time  to  devote  to  the  improvement  of  the  soil. 
Let  any  one  visit  some  of  the  ten-acre  farms  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  truth 
will  soon  become  apparent,  that  more  profit  can 
be  made  from  ten  acres,  properly  tilled  and  ma- 
nured, than  can  be  realized  from  one  hundred 
acres  run  over  in  the  usual  negligent  manner. 
The  occupants  of  these  "ten-acre  farms"  are 
growing  richer  every  year,  while  many  who  occu- 
py large  farms  barely  "hold  their  own." — Ohio 
Valley  Farmer. 

Fattening  Beef  on  Potatoes.  —  About 
twelve  years  ago  I  fattened  a  heifer  for  beef 
wholly  on  potatoes.  My  plan  was  to  feed  small 
potatoes  whole,  without  cooking,  with  as  much 
hay  as  was  wanted,  and  but  little  water,  and  I 
had  as  good  beef  as  those  fattened  on  corn  meal. 


48 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


WILLAED'S  PATENT  KOOT-CUTTBK. 


"This  cutter  is  a  recent  invention.  It  cuts 
■vegetables  very  rapidly,  and  in  slices  thin  and 
fine  enough  for  sheep,  lambs  or  calves.  It  is  very 
easily  operated,  so  that  a  boy  can  turn  the  crank 
rapidly.  The  inside  arrangement  is  such  as  to 
prevent  all  liability  of  clogging  the  cutter  while 
working  it,  and  the  knives  are  easily  repaired. 
The  vegetables,  after  being  passed  through  the 
cutter,  may  be  mixed  with  straw,  coarse  hay,  or 
other  cheap  forage  which  one  w'ould  like  to  dis- 
pose of  economically,  and  the  mixture,  after  lying 
a  little  time,  so  that  the  forage  may  become  im- 
pregnated witH  the  sceut  and  juices  of  the  sliced 
roots,  will  be  greedily  and  wholly  consumed  by 
the  stock.  Pumpkins  (if  not  hard-shelled,)  are 
easily  cut  with  this  machine,  so  as  to  be  conveni- 
ently and  quickly  cooked  for  swine." 

It  would  be  a  matter  of  economy  for  any  per- 
son feeding  out  two  or  three  hundred  bushels  of 
roots  annually,  to  purchase  one  of  these  ma- 
chines. They  are  very  thoroughly  made,  and  sold, 
singly,  for  $10,  by  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.,  Quincy 
Hall,  Boston. 

Horses'  Coats. — Lately  going  to  the  country 
to  spend  a  few  weeks  with  a  friend  of  mine,  I 
drove  a  very  handsome  horse,  and  a  good  one — 
but  he  was  always   annoyed  about  his  coat.     It 


was  more  like  a  lot  of  bristles  than  a  horse's 
smooth  skin,  and  all  the  grooming  he  could  get 
"wouldn't  do  it  no  good."  My  friend,  who  is  a 
great  horse-breeder  and  fancier,  made  me  try 
giving  him  a  few  raw  carrots  every  day  to  eat  out 
of  my  hand,  saying  that  he  would  have  a  good 
smooth  coat  in  three  weeks, — and  he  was  right, 
for  in  that  time  my  horse  had  a  beautiful,  sleek, 
glossy  coat,  and  all  from  eating  a  few  raw  car- 
rots daily.  He  tells  me  it  is  infallible.— C'o)'.  Par- 
ter's  Spirit  of  the  Times. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 

FOWL  MEADOW  GHAS3  SEED. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Much  inquiry  has  of  late  been 
made  for  fowl  meadow  seed,  as  to  where  it  can 
be  found,  &c.  I  read  with  much  interest  the  de- 
scription, as  given  and  represented  l)y  cut,  in  the 
N.  E.  Farmer  of  June  26th,  never  having  known 
before  what  "fowl  meadow"  was.  But  I  have 
for  years  known  that  the  grass  more  abundant 
than  any  other,  which  goes  to  seed  at  the  height 
of  a  few  inches  in  all  our  pastures  and  by  the 
roadside,  bearing  a  very  fine  seed,  is  considered 
by  many  as  the  native  grass  of  this  country. 
Upon  reading  the  article  above  alluded  to,  it  ap- 
peared to  me  that  the  "fowl  meadow,"  the  "Poa 
jiervata"  there  described,  was  identical  with  this 
grass  which  is  so  common  among  us.  Mowing 
on  low  ground  last  July,  I  found  the  grass  you 
describe,  which  had  crippled  down  and  produced 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


49 


an  out-growth  from  the  joints,  answering  the  de- 
scription given  of  fowl  meadow  precisely.  Near 
this  which  had  crippled,  grew  that  which  had  not 
crippled,  but  which  v/as  precisely  similar,  except 
the  new  growth  at  the  joints.  I  traced  it  along  to 
the  upland  and  to  high  land,  and  found  the  same 
grass  there,  precisely  the  same.  And  it  is  that 
grass  which  1  had  before  supposed  to  be  the  na- 
tive grass  of  this  country.  Our  farmers  call  it 
blue  grass.  It  grows  in  all  our  pastures  and  cul- 
tivated fields  more  or  less,  and  by  the  road-side, 
up  and  down  the  country  everywhere,  in  soils 
suited  to  its  growth.  It  produces  the  finest  and 
s-oftest  seed  of  any  grass,  and  it  is  the  heaviest 
and  most  valuable  hay.  I  have  saved  some  from 
the  meadow  and  some  from  the  upland  for  seed, 
and  if  there  is  any  difference,  should  be  glad  to 
have  it  pointed  out.  As  usually  cleaned,  the  seed 
■weighs  about  fourteen  pounds  the  bushel,  and 
farmers  get  for  it  from  three  to  five  dollars  the 
bushel. 

There  is  another  kind  of  grass  among  us,  some- 
what resembling  this,  which  we  call  "red-top," 
called  by  some  "Rhode  Island  blue  grass  ;"  it 
looks  of  a  beautiful  blue  when  mown  down.  It 
grows  taller  perhaps,  but  thinner,  not  having  the 
thick  bottom  of  our  blue  grass,  and  is  conse- 
quently not  so  productive  ;  the  quality  of  the  hay 
not  as  good,  and  the  second  growth  is  nothing. 
This  may  be  the  German  grass  of  which  you 
speak. 

But  I  have  no  doubt  that  your  fowl  meadow 
and  our  blue  grass  are  identical,  and  if  so,  fowl 
meadow  seed  is  raised  here  in  large  quantities. 

R.   F.    COPELAND. 

East  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  Nov.,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

VALUE  OF  TUKJflPS  AS  FEED  FOB 
STOCK. 

Mk.  Editor  : — I  should  like  to  ask  your  cor- 
respondent, W.  F.  P.,  for  a  little  more  informa- 
tion than  he  has  given  me,  as  to  the  culture  and 
feeding  of  his  turnips.  I  say  turnips,  because  it 
was  turnips  that  I  spoke  of  particularly,  in  a 
former  article. 

He  says  he  has  raised  over  2,500  bushels  of 
turnips  this  year.  How  much  land  did  he  culti- 
vate with  turnips  ?  How  does  he  feed  them  ? 
How  much  manure  did  he  put  on  it,  and  what 
was  the  state  of  the  land  when  he  commenced  on 
it  this  year  ?  How  many  days  labor  of  man  and 
oxen  did  it  require  to  put  the  crop  in  the  cellar  ? 
How  far  was  the  field  from  the  house  or  barn 
where  he  housed  them  ? 

If  I  am  wrong  as  to  the  profit  of  the   turnip 
crop,  I  shall  like  to  be  informed  of  it.     I  experi- 
mented on  turnips  until  I  thought  they  were  no 
profitable. 

I  had  an  ox  that  would  eat  two  bushels  of  tur- 
nips a  day,  and  about  as  much  hay  as  though  he 
had  not  had  the  turnips,  but  he  did  not  care 
about  any  water.  It  was  a  great  saving  of  water. 
I  would  recommend  turnips  for  any  one  who  is 
short  of  loater. 

A  cow  may  be  put  into  the  barn  and  given 
half  a  bushel  of  turnips  or  ])otatoes  night  and 
morning,  with  other  dry  feed,  and  she  will  do 
M'ithout  water  by  the  month  at  a  time.  I  tried  it. 
I  have  put  up  a  breeding  sow,  and  kept  her  four 
months  on  turnips  ;  she  had  nothing  else  except 
what  she  picked  out  of  the  manure  of  two  horses. 
She  lived  and  brought  a  great  litter  of  pigs.  I 
gave  her  about  three  pecks  of  turnips  a  day,  and 
one  quart  of  corn  in  meal  a  day  would  have  kept 
her  better. 

I  think  turnips  have  from  92  to  95  per  cent,  of 
water.  If  that  is  the  fact,  my  friend's  2,500  bush- 
els of  turnips  had  from  2,300  to  2,375  bushels  of 
water  in  them.  I  think  his  comparison  of  one 
and  a  half  tons  of  hay,  or  fifteen  tons  of  turnips, 
to  the  oxen,  should  be  looked  at  a  little  more. 
He  should  take  his  turnips  and  cut  them  as  fine 
as  the  hay,  and  then  spread  them  over  an  acre  of 
ground,  and  let  them  have  the  advantage  of  two 
good  hot  days'  sun  in  July  or  August — carefully 
turning  it  as  we  do  hay,  and  then  weigh  it,  and 
he  will  find  his  fifteen  tons  of  turnips  have  lost 
a  great  part  of  their  90  to  95  per  cent,  of  water, 
and  would  then  weigh  less  than  the  hay.  As 
my  friend  has  disposed  of  that  lion,  if  he  will 
give  me  the  above  information  asked,  I  will  be 
much  obliged.  Ed.  Emerson. 

Hollis,  Nov.  25,  1858. 


For  the  Neio  England  Farmer. 
A  KE'UT  COKN. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — I  have  what  I  consider  a 
new  variety  of  corn,  which  I  obtained  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner. 

A  few  years  since  I  purchased  some  corn  at  a 
seed  store  and  planted  it,  and  while  it  was  in  the 
process  of  maturing,  I  discovered  two  or  three 
stalks,  each  having  two  and  three  ears  upon  them, 
and  being  eigJd  or  ten  days  earlier  than  the  rest. 
I  picked  these  stalks  with  the  corn  ripe  upon 
them  in  the  middle  of  August,  and  this  is  the 
origin  of  the  corn. 

For  two  years  past  I  have  raised  the  Rhode 
Island  premium  corn,  in  order  to  test  it,andlam 
able  to  state  that  mine  is  at  least  one  week  ear- 
lier, and  1%  fifteen  per  cent,  more  productive  than 
that,  while  it  has  the  advantage  in  color,  being 
a  bright  yellow,  with  a  trifling  intermixture  of 
blue.  Taking  into  consideration  its  color,  com- 
pactness, shape  of  the  ear  and  the  remarkably 
short  time  required  to  bring  it  to  maturity,  I  can- 

not  but  believe  that  it  is  the  best  variety  of  corn'  j^;;;;;^;'  ^,{^^^i      j^   ^gH   known.     That   they 
that  has  yet  been  introduced  among  us.        ^  ^        ^-^^^^^^  ^^^  j^^^.^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^.j^j^  ^  1^^,  quantity  than 

■n       i£  Ti    -n/r  yr       -. o -..'^^^^'^^^      ^^^ ^*       they  des'ire,  or  compelled  to  do  without  any  ex- 

Brookfidd,  Mass.,  Nov.,  18ob.  ^^^/^  ^^^^  '-^   accidentally  supplied^  by  melting 

snow  or  rain,  no  reasonable  or  merciful  man  can 


A77ATERING  SHEEP  IN"  WINTER. 
That  sheep  can  do  with  less  water  than  other 


Remarks. — We  have  seen  specimens  of  the 
corn  mentioned  above,  and  they  are  certainly 
very  handsome.  We  have  no  other  knowledge 
of  it. 


believe  for  one  moment.  In  some  experiments 
on  South  Down  sheep,  at  Rothamstead,  we  found 
that  in  the  summer  months  each  sheep  eat  three 
pounds  of  clover  hay,  and  drank  about  six  pounds 


50 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jai, 


of  water  daily.  Thinking  that  they  drank  more 
than  was  favorable  for  the  deposition  of  fat,  we 
confined  them  to  a  less  quantity  of  water  for  one 
week.  The  result  was  that  during  that  time  they 
eat  less  food  and  lost  weight.  This  result  satis- 
fied us  that  sheep  knew  better  than  man,  though 
he  were  scientific,  how  much  water  they  required. 
But  we  need  not  quote  experiments.  The 
common  sense  of  every  man  tells  him  that  sheep, 
as  well  as  all  other  animals,  should  be  abundant- 
ly supplied  with  good,  fresh  water.  Cov/s  and 
•  sheep,  if  possible,  should  have  free  access  to  it 
at  all  times.  For,  unlike  the  horse,  they  will  not 
always  drink  at  stated  times,  however  regularly 
observed.  A  well,  pump  and  troughs  would  seem, 
therefore,  to  be  necessary  appendages  to  every 
well-managed  barn-yard  or  sheep-fold.  Kind 
reader,  ad  on  this  matter,  and  your  sheep  and 
cows  will  bless  you,  if  not  in  words,  at  least  in 
wool,  milk  and  profit. — Genesee  Farmer. 


EXTKACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
THE   APPLU   AND   PEACH  TPvEE   BORER. 
Is  there  any  application  in  use  which  will  pre- 
vent  the  ravages  of  the  borer  ?     AVhat   is  the 
most  direct  method  to  dislodge  them  and  stop 
their  depredations  ?  A  Subscriber. 

Nov.,  1858. 

Remarks. — Various  remedies  have  been  pre- 
scribed, such  as  whitewashing  the  tree,  washing 
with  spirits  of  turpentine,  with  whale  oil  soap, 
&c.,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  with  beneficial  re- 
sults. Some  persons  insert  a  bit  of  camphor  gum 
into  the  hole  and  then  plug  it  up  with  a  piece  of 
soft  wood,  while  others  cut  out  the  grub  with  a 
knife  or  gouge.  The  latter  remedy  is  a  rough  one 
for  the  tree,  iu  unskilful  hands — but  often  is  ef- 
ficacious in  dislodging  the  enemy.  One  of  the 
oldest,  safest,  and  most  successful  methods  that 
■we  have  adopted,  is  killing  the  worm  by  thrust- 
ing a  pliable  wire  into  the  holes  it  has  made. 
This  does  no  injury  to  the  tree,  is  cheap,  conve- 
nient, and  quite  often  eff"ects  the  desired  object. 

Below  v.'e  give  an  article  from  the  Genesee 
Farmer  on  the  subject  of  borers,  merely  adding 
that  we  have  often  expressed  the  opinion  tliat  the 
borer  will  attack  an  xmliealtliy  tree  in  preference 
to  a  liealtliy  one,  and  this  we  believe  to  be  in  ac- 
cordance with  that  law  of  nature,  that  when  ani- 
mals or  vegetables  begin  to  decay,  there  are  im- 
mediately agencies  at  work  to  hasten  their  de- 
struction. 

THE  APPLE  tree   BORER. 

Editors  Genesee  Farmer  :  —  Conversing 
with  an  intelligent  friend,  who  is  largely  engaged 
in  apple  growing,  the  conversation  turned  upon 
the  apple  tree  borer.  His  opinion  in  regard  to 
this  insect  was,  that  it  would  never  attack  a  iper- 
fectly  liealthi/  tree.  There  was  a  vast  diff'erence 
between  a  thrifty  tree  and  a  healthy  one.  A 
healthy  trae,  according  to  his  idea,  is  one  that  has 
received  nothing  but  vegetable  manure,  whereas 
a  thrifty  tree  may  have  received  animal  manure.* 
It  was  his  opinion  that  the  borer  would  not  mo- 


lest a  tree  which  had  been  grown  wholly  by  the 
aid  of  vegetable  manures. 

To  illustrate  this  theory,  he  referred  to  one  of 
his  orchards,  which  was  set  out  on  unbroken  pas- 
ture land,  receiving  but  one  plowing  and  no  man- 
ure. Receptacles  were  dug  and  partly  filled  with 
fragments  of  turf,  on  which  the  tree  was  set,  cov- 
ered with  earth,  and  thoroughly  mulched  with 
strav/,  brakes,  leaves,  and  other  refuse  vegetable 
matter,  which  was  repeated  as  often  as  necessary. 
In  this  orchard  the  borer  is  not  to  be  found ; 
while  in  others,  which  have  been  repeatedly 
plowed  and  fertilized  with  animal  manure,  they 
commit  their  yearly  depredations. 

Has  any  one  else  noticed  a  similar  result  ? 

Belfast,  Me.,  Nov.,  1858.     G.  E.  Brackett. 

*  By  animal,  we  understand  common  barn-yard  manure, 
made  up  in  part  by  the  droppings  of  animals.  Wliy  such  man- 
ure is  unhealthy,  we  cannot  conceive. — Eds.  Genesee  Farmer. 

disorder  among  laying  hens. 

For  some  years  past,  but  the  last  more  partic- 
ularly, my  hens  have  been  taken,  in  the  season  of 
laying,  with  a  dangerous  disorder  which  often 
proves  fatal.  The  sick  hen  will  lose  her  eggs 
prematurely,  but  will  continue  to  set  on  her  nest 
daily,  and  sometimes  lays  an  egg,  though  seldom. 
I  have  sometimes  found  under  the  roost  two  or 
three  eggs  partly  developed.  Frequently  the  egg 
will  break  in  the  passage,  in  which  case  the  hen 
often  dies  or  suffers  very  much,  drooping  around 
for  a  number  of  days.  I  think  that  sometimes 
the  passage  itself  is  broken,  so  that  the  broken 
egg  runs  in  among  the  intestines,  as  I  have  dis- 
sected a  number  that  were  filled  up  with  the  yolk 
of  eggs.  Out  of  about  a  dozen  hens,  I  have  lost 
the  use  of,  or  had  die,  as  many  as  seven.  This 
winter  I  have  commenced  with  twelve,  and  I  have 
already  had  one  attacked.  I  first  found  her  sit- 
ting and  unable  to  walk  ;  but  she  got  up  and  ap- 
peared as  well  as  ever  next  day,  but  she  has  not 
laid  from  that  time,  and  probably  she  will  never 
be  worth  much  more  as  a  layer.  If  any  one  can 
tell  of  a  preventive  or  a  cure  for  this  disorder,  I 
hope  he  will  give  us  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge. 

C.  T.  Paine. 

East  Randolph,  Vt.,  Dec,  1858. 

Remarks. — We  can  think  of  no  cause  of  the 
disorder  you  describe,  but  a  want  of  proper  food 
and  shelter.  It  may  not  be  either,  but  these  are 
the  points  to  which  we  should  especially  direct 
your  attention.  Fowls  will  not  prosper  well  iu 
damp  places,  or  without  a  variety  of  nutritious 
food,  and  access  to  plenty  of  gravel  or  shell- 
forming  substances.  Look,  also,  to  the  breed, 
and  learn  whether  your  present  stock  is  from 
those  long  kept  together  on  the  same  farm  or 
neighborhood.  See  article  in  another  column 
entitled,  '^How  to  keep  Fowls." 

DRAINS  and  wire  FENCES. 
Would  you  advise  underdraining  and  subsoil- 
ing,  either  or  both,  on  a  side  hill,  the  soil  of 
which  is  a  gravelly  loam  ?  It  is  new  land.  In  the 
Farmer  of  Aug.  14,  there  is  an  article  taken  from 
the  Working  Farmer,  entitled  "Restoration  of 
Exhausted  Soils,"  wherein  the  writer  advocates 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


51 


underdraining  and  subsoil  plowing,  as  among  the 
best  means  of  bringing  the  soil  to  that  condition 
necessary  to  a  high  state  of  fertility.  Would  it 
be  advisable  on  such  lands  as  the  above  ? 

Hon.  H.  F.  French,  in  one  of  his  articles  on 
vrire  fences,  speaks  of  the  necessity  of  some  one 
inventing  a  spring  to  hold  the  wires  that  would 
relieve  them  of  the  continual  strain  upon  them. 
Would  not  India  rubber  be  just  the  thing?  It 
seems  to  answer  every  purpose  in  summer  and 
winter  when  used  as  car  springs.  Would  it  not 
do  as  well  for  the  above  purpose  ? 

In  regard  to  a  corner-post  to  strain  and  fasten 
the  wires  to,  I  would  ask,  where  there  are  no  trees 
that  Can  be  used  for  that  purpose,  and  there  are 
large  rocks  near  the  spot,  could  not  the  wires 
composing  the  fence  be  gathered  to  one  point  and 
fastened  to  an  iron  staple  driven  in  the  rock  ? 
Would  the  frost  heave  the  rock  so  as  to  slacken 
the  wires  ?  B.  F.  M. 

Lowell,  Nov.  29,  1858. 

Remarks. — It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
give  valuable  advice  about  draining  land,  with- 
out a  personal  inspection  of  it.  There  are  some 
evidences,  however,  in  the  vegetation  itself,  of 
the  necessity  of  draining,  where  too  much  cold 
water  is  near  the  surface.  In  most  instances  of 
this  kind,  such  grasses  will  appear  as  naturally 
grow  in  low,  wet  places,  and  they  will  gradual- 
ly assume  the  whole  ground,  by  pushing  out  the 
grasses  which  we  usually  cultivate.  Where  these 
evidences  are  found,  the  land,  as  a  general  thing, 
needs  draining.  It  is  difficult  to  plow  or  other- 
wise work  such  lands  in  season  to  get  in  the 
crops. 

Perhaps  your  suggestion  about  the  India  rub- 
ber springs  may  induce  some  to  try  them.  There 
can  be  no  question,  wc  think,  but  that  attaching 
wires  to  a  rock  would  be  effectual. 


TO   PREVENT   FLOWING   SAP   IN   TREES. 

Friend  Brown  : — In  your  paper  of  Nov.  13, 
I  noticed  an  article  by  T.  Ellis,  of  Ptochester,  in 
which  he  inquires  if  any  one  can  tell  him  how  he 
can  save  his  trees  ?  I  would  saj'  that  I  have  an 
infallible  remedy  for  stopping  the  flowing  of  sap, 
or  bleeding,  as  we  term  it.  It  is  simply  to  dip 
the  end  of  the  limb,  twig,  or  grape  vine,  into 
boiling  pitch  or  rosin,  and  let  it  remain  two  or 
three  minutes.  But  this  remedy  probably  cannot 
be  applied  in  his  case,  and  I  will  give  another  : 
Take  a  flat  bar  of  iron  and  apply  it  red-hot  to 
the  end  of  the  stump  until  the  bark  and  wood 
are  well  seasoned  downward,  say  half  an  inch  ; 
then  apply  a  good  coat  of  pitch  or  rosin,  and 
melt  it  in  with  the  same  iron,  moderately  hot ; 
this  will  form  a  cap  that  will  keep  all  sap  in,  and 
all  weather  out,  until  friend  Ellis  is  too  old  or 
too  wise  to  trim  his  valuable  trees  in  May. 

Peterhoru\  N.  II.,  185S.  S.  Maynard. 

THE  season. 
After  a  beautiful  season  for  ripening  and  gath- 
ering, winter  appears  to  have  taken  a  permanent 
hold.     The  13th  gave  us  an  easterly  snow-storm, 
and  the  rough,  March  like  north-west  winds  of 


the  following  week  kept  the  snow  in  perpetual 
motion.  The  atmosphere,  through  the  week,  felt 
like  winter  and  the  young  drifts  looked  like  win- 
ter. 

Sunday  evening,  the  21st,  we  had  another  fall 
of  about  three  inches  of  snow,  which  settled  one- 
half  under  the  mild  sunshine  cf  the  following 
day. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  the  23d,  another 
snow  storm  commenced  at  about  two  o'clock 
from  the  north  east,  and  continued  for  twelve 
hours,  giving  a  full  of  about  four  inches,  very 
damp  snow,  lying  nearly  level  which  gives  a  pros- 
pect of  sleighing  for  Thanksgiving.  w.  B, 

Richmand,  Nov.,  1858. 

barley  and  oats. 
Will  barley  turn  to   oats  if  cut  down  by  frost, 
or  eaten  ofi'  by  cattle  ?  E.  B. 

Chester,  N  H. 

Remarks. — We  have  never  heard  of  such  a  case, 
and  find  nothing  like  it  recorded  in  the  books. 
Barley  is  a  grain,  however,  that  rapidly  deterio- 
rates on  soils  unsuitable  for  it — or  under  careless 
cultivation.  It  is  a  tender  plant,  and  easily  hurt  in 
any  stage  of  its  growth  ;  and  as  it  is  so  easily  af- 
fected by  soil  and  cultivation,  we  should  not  be 
surprised  that  if  it  were  cut  down  by  frost,  or 
eaten  off  by  cattle,  it  might  be  so  far  affected  as 
to  resemble  oats  when  it  had  headed  out. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MAREOW  SQUASH— SCOTCH  DRUM- 
HEAD. 

Mr.  Editor: — The  question  regarding  the 
first  introduction  of  the  autumnal  marrow  squash, 
called  Boston  marrow,  into  the  city,  I  have 
thought  might  be  interesting  to  some  of  your 
readers ;  I  herewith  send  you  the  following  con- 
densed account,  so  far  as  I  have  ascertained,  of 
its  origin.  A  specimen  of  this  vegetable  was 
brought  to  my  place  in  North  Salem  by  a  friend 
from  Northampton,  in  this  State,  in  1831.  In 
the  spring  of  1833  I  distributed  seeds  to  many 
members  of  our  Mass.  Horticultural  Society, 
they  never  having  seen  it  previously.  At  the 
Annual  Exhibition  of  this  Society  at  Fancuil  Hall, 
Sept.,  1834,lexhibited  a  specimen, merely  marked 
"New  Squash."  This  was  previous  to  the  de- 
scription or  cut  being  made.  One  month  from 
this  (in  Oct.,  1834,)  I  forwarded  the  name,  au- 
tumnal marrow,  together  with  a  wood  cut,  to  the 
N.  E.  Farmer  ;  it  soon  after  appeared  in  the  Iior- 
ticuUural  Register  of  Teschemacher,  and  also  in 
Tlovei/s  Magazine.  Some  years  after  this  the 
Mass.  Horticultural  Society  presented  me  with 
a  testimonial  for  the  introduction  of  this  vegeta- 
ble. Regarding  its  origin,  I  can  only  say  that 
it  was  received  from  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  that  it 
was  brought  there  by  some  Indians  who  visited 
that  city.  This  I  ascertained  from  my  North- 
ampton friend.  This  vegetable  hybridized  with 
all  the  tribe  of  pumpkins,  hence  it  is  a  true,  sweet 
pumpkin;  the  Valparaiso  or  Lima,  and  all  those 
we  call  true  pumpkins,  will  mix  ;  but  not  so  with 
the  Winter  or  Canada  crookneck,  which  I  consider 


52 


NEW  ExNGJ.AND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


a  true  squash ;  this  will  not  hybridize  (as  far  as 
lean  ascertain  from  others,  as  well  as  by  my  own 
experience,)  with  the  pumpkin  tribe.  I  cannot 
say  but  that  it  may  with  the  gourd  family,  but  I 
have  not  as  yet  observed  this. 

MIXING   OF   THE   JIAKKOW. 

The  first  indication  of  the  mixing  of  this  fine 
vegetable  with  others,  is  the  thickening  of  the 
skin  and  contracting  or  smallness  of  the  stem. 
Second,  in  the  green  color  at  the  seed  end.  Third, 
in  the  enlargement  of  the  fruit,  and  lastly,  the 
disappearance  of  the  elevated  margin  around  the 
seed.  This  vegetable  is  now  raised  in  abundance 
in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  having  re-  j 
ceived  them  originally  from  your  city,  they  are  j 
known  as  "Boston  marrow." 

Another  vegetable  which  is  considered  by  the ; 
cultivators  around  Marblehead,  as  an  acquisition, 
and  Vvhich  they  raise  with  great  success,  is  a  mam- 1 
moth  cabbage,  weighing  twenty-five  pounds  and 
upwards.  These  were  first  raised  by  Mr.  Mason, 
of  that  place,  and  hence  are  called  Mason's  cab- 
bage. This  variety  was  first  raised  from  seed 
which  I  received  some  fifteen  to  eighteen  years 
since,  from  Charlwood  &  Sons,  Seedsmen,  Cov- 
ent  Market,  London ;  it  came  to  me  as  a  new 
cabbage,  marked  "Scotch  drumhead  ;"  I  gave  the 
small  paper  to  Mr.  Mason.  This  vegetable,  by 
the  high  manuring  for  which  the  Marblehead 
cultivators  are  famous,  has  increased  the  size  of 
this  variety  at  least  one-half.  I  recently  visited 
afield  of  these  enormous  vegetables  with  a  friend, 
who  suggested  that  in  order  to  identify  this  va- 
riety with  the  town,  it  should  be  called  "Marble- 
head mammoth  cabbage."         John  M.  Ives. 

Salem,  Mass.,  Nov.,  1858. 


For  the  Niiw  England  Farmer. 
TOPPING  CORN  STALKS, 

"The  practice  of  cutting  corn-stalks  as  soon  as 
the  corn  is  glazed,  is  still  followed,  notwithstand- 
ing the  loss  in  the  weight  of  the  corn  is  more 
than  the  value  of  the  stalks." 

I  extract  this  sentiment  from  page  72  of  the 
forthcoming  Transactions  of  the  Essex  Coun- 
ty Agricultural  Society ;  a  work  to  which  I  am 
accustomed  to  look  for  sound  instruction.  1 
know  of  no  work  of  the  kind,  prepared  with  more 
care,  or  better  entitled  to  confidence.  Is  it  true 
that  this  error  among  farmers  is  "still  followed" 
almost  universally,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  crop  ? 
Who  knows  that  the  quantity  of  corn  is  dimin- 
ished by  the  removal  of  the  stalks  ?  Has  there 
been  any  well-conducted  experiments  to  deter- 
mine tJ^^c  fact?  Without  doubt,  the  stalks  are 
more  valuable  to  be  taken  off,  and  properly  cured. 
But  corn  is  not  cultivated  for  the  stalks  that  can 
be  saved,  but  for  the  corn  itself.  I  have  often 
heard  it  averred,  that  the  kernel  will  be  better 
filled,  if  the  stalks  are  left  on  until  the  harvest. 
But  this  may  be  all  theoretical.  If  any  one 
knows  the  fact,  let  them  come  forth,  and  be  heard. 

I  am  pleased  to  see  among  the  contributors  to 
the  pamphlet  above  named,  several  talented 
young  men.  There  is  no  danger  of  knowledge 
fading  away,  although  the  fathers  decay.  I  hail 
with  sfitisfaction,  among  these  contributors,  the 
names  of  Page,  Gregory,  Sargent,  Phippen,  Put- 
nam, Preston,  and  others.  Essex. 

November,  1858. 


For  the  Nezo  England  Farmer. 
AGRICULTURAL  PROGRESS. 
BY   WILSON   FLAGG. 

Dr.  Franklin,  on  seeing  a  fly  make  his  escape 
from  a  bottle,  in  which  for  a  long  period  of  years 
it  had  been  corked  up  in  a  torpid  state,  ex- 
pressed a  wish  that  he  could  sleep  half  a  century 
or  more,  and  then  awake,  like  the  fly,  to  witness 
the  progress  which  had  been  made  in  his  beloved 
country.  But  if  steam-power  had  been  carried 
into  operation  to  its  present  extent  in  Franklin's 
day,  I  do  not  believe  he  would  have  expressed 
any  such  wish.  When  I  consider  the  inevitable 
tendency  of  this  great  invention  to  concentrate 
all  wealth  and  power  into  the  hands  of  capital- 
ists, I  feel  as  if  I  should  be  reluctant  to  wake  up 
some  ages  hence,  to  view  my  country  when  the 
world  is  finished.  Though  it  will  be  admitted 
that  steam,  in  its  application  to  travelling  and  to 
manufactures,  has  conferred  great  apparent  ben- 
efits upon  mankind,  we  still  have  reason  to  pon- 
der seriously  upon  the  ultimate  consequences  to 
small  independent  farmers,  of  the  introduction  of 
steam  power  into  the  operations  of  agriculture. 

I  read  in  the  journals  of  the  day,  some  weeks 
since,  that  a  company  had  been  formed  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State  of  New  \'ork,  for  agri- 
cultural purposes,  and  that  they  had  purchased 
a  "mammoth  farm,"  on  which  they  designed  to 
operate  by  steam,  in  connection  with  the  several 
magnificent  inventions  which  have  lately  attract- 
ed the  attention  of  our  agricultural  societies. 
However  expedient  this  system  of  associated  cap- 
ital may  be  for  the  growth  of  manufactures,  it 
would  very  soon  be  fomid  destructive  to  the 
prosperity  of  individual  farmers.  These  corpo- 
rations, executing  almost  all  their  heavy  labor 
by  steam  power  and  mammoth  implements, 
would  crowd  out  of  the  ranks  of  agriculture  all 
those  whose  farms  were  of  such  small  extent, 
that  steam  could  not  be  profitably  used  by  them. 
In  competing  with  the  companies,  the  small  far- 
mer would  find  himself  in  the  situation  of  the 
hand-spinner  and  the  hand-weaver,  who  should 
undertake  to  compete  with  the  manufactories  of 
Lowell  and  Lawrence. 

Last  year,  the  Illinois  State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture off'ered  a  premium  of  $5000  for  the  best 
steam-plow — thus  encouraging  an  invention  cal- 
culated to  make  the  business  of  farming  profita- 
ble exclusively  to  great  corporations  or  capital- 
ists ;  to  destroy  the  value  of  the  present  mode 
of  farming,  and  to  extirpate  the  whole  class  of 
small  farmers  from  the  State  !  All  such  inven- 
tions tend  to  make  it  necessary  that  agriculture 
should  be  carried  on  by  large  employments  of 
capital,  and  on  a  magnificent  scale  of  operations. 
All  agricultural  implements  which  are  moved  by 
steam  must  be  profitable  in  a  certain  ratio  to  the 
extent  of  even  and  uninterrupted  surface  which 
is  to  be  tilled.  On  small  fields  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  use  them  with  success.  Hence  fol- 
lows the  necessity  of  farming  by  associated  capi- 
tal, of  greatly  increasing  the  size  of  farms  by 
combining  many  into  one  ;  and  under  such  ira- 
proved  circumstances,  the  present  system  of  farm 
labor  could  not  stand  in  competition  with  steam- 
farming.  The  agricultural  steam-company,  with 
their  implements  carried  by  steam-power,  would 
cultivate  ten  acres  with  about  the  same  expense 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


53 


of  labor  which  is  noAV  employed  in  cultivating 
one  acre.  If  the  moral  education  and  physical 
improvement  of  laboring  men  were  to  be  the 
effects  of  this  new  system  of  farming,  there 
would  be  reason  for  rejoicing  over  the  prospect 
of  the  change.  But  no  such  happy  results  would 
spring  from  it ;  laboring  men,  instead  of  being 
elevated  into  lords,  would  be  degraded  into  mere 
machines. 

Men  are  too  prone  to  base  their  theories  of 
human  progress  on  the  assumption  that  labor 
is  a  curse,  and  not,  as  it  is  undoubtedly,  when  it 
is  free  and  justly  rewarded — a  blessing.  But  la- 
bor ceases  to  be  free,  in  the  highest  sense,  when 
the  laborers  are  under  the  control  and  in  the 
power  of  mammoth  associations.  Labor  then 
becomes  servitude,  which  is  closely  allied  to  sla- 
very.  No  one  would  say,  that  under  the  present 
circumstances  of  the  country,  the  operatives  in 
our  manufactories,  however  well  paid,  are  as  free 
as  our  farmers,  masons  and  carpenters.  It  should 
be  remarked,  also,  that  when  labor  is  performed 
by  powerful  machines,  man  becomes  a  slave  to 
the  machinery  ;  when,  on  the  other  hand,  \\\.i  im- 
plements in  use  are  small,  the  machinery  is  the 
servant  of  man.  The  production  may  be  great- 
er in  the  former  case  ;  but  the  health  and  free- 
dom of  the  masses  are  sacrificed  to  obtain  it. 
The  object  of  the  statesman  and  the  philanthro- 
pist should  be  to  make  the  people  free,  virtuous 
and  happy  ;  and  any  increase  of  the  wealth  of  the 
nation  which  must  be  obtained  at  the  expense  of 
the  moral  and  physical  welfare  of  the  people,  is 
not  to  be  desired. 

But  it  may  be  asked  by  some  jealous  friend  of 
"progress,"  if  it  is  right  to  refuse  to  agriculture 
those  aids  which  have  built  up  our  manufac- 
tures ?  I  would  answer  that  we  should  refuse  to 
agriculture  any  aid  which  is  not  beneficial  to  the 
agriculturist — for  the  farmer  is  of  more  impor- 
tance than  his  crops.  Let  us  not  improve  agri- 
culture by  any  such  means  as  will  degrade  man. 
If  we  could  double  the  agricultural  produce  of 
the  whole  country  at  the  present  cost,  by  a  sys- 
tem which  would  destroy  the  independence  of 
our  farmers,  we  should  turn  all  our  forces  against 
it,  as  against  the  invasion  of  a  foreign  army. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  consequences  of  this 
sort  of  "progress,"  we  will  apply  it  to  an  imag- 
ined case.  We  will  suppose,  for  example,  that  in 
some  indefinite  period  of  the  future,  when  steam- 
farming  by  associated  capital  has  become  nearly 
universal,  there  remains,  in  a  certain  part  of  the 
country,  one  of  those  farming  villages  which  are 
now  so  common  in  our  happy  land.  The  far- 
mers in  this  place  are  intelligent  working-men, 
and  small  land-proprietors,  who  have  but  little 
capital  except  their  lands  and  stock,  and  support 
themselves  by  ind-astry  and  honest  trade.  After 
steam-plows,  steam-rakes,  steam  mowing-ma- 
chines, and  other  magnificent  improvements  con- 
nected with  them,  have  swept  over  the  country, 
they  have  arrived  at  last,  at  this  antiquated  vil- 
lage, where  labor  is  free,  and  where  the  farmers 
are  so  old-fashioned  and  behind  the  times,  as  to 
own  the  lands  they  till,  and  carry  on  farming  as 
we  carry  it  on  in  the  present  barbarous  age  of 
political  and  social  equality. 

These  industrious  farmers  have  ascertained  now 
by  bitter  experience,  that  by  the  use  of  hand  im- 
plements and  horse  and  cattle  power,  in  the  op- 


erations of  the  farm,  they  cannot  compete  Avith 
the  great  agricultural  corporations,  which  by 
means  of  steam-power  can  produce  at  an  expense 
of  ten  dollars,  results  which  they  could  not  pro- 
duce at  an  expense  of  less  than  one  hundred. 
The  agent  of  a  new  company,  chartered  with  ten 
millions  of  capital,  offers  to  these  unhappy  men 
a  price  for  their  farms,  which,  through  exceed- 
ingly low,  is  such  as  under  their  present  circum- 
stances they  feel  obliged  to  accept,  especially  as 
a  promise  accompanies  the  offer,  to  employ  them 
as  laborers  on  the  soil,  under  the  direction  of  the 
officers  of  the  company.  The  majority  consent 
to  the  sale,  and  the  remainder  are  obliged  to 
consent  by  a  law  of  the  legislature  placing  it  in 
the  power  of  corporations  "established  for  the 
jmblic  good"  as  it  is  now  in  the  power  of  rail- 
road corporations,  to  seize  upon  a  refractory  in- 
dividual's land  and  estate,  after  paying  him  what  a 
body  of  commissioners  deem  an  equivalent  for 
the  property  seized.  These  mammoth  agricul- 
tural corporations,  by  means  of  bribery  and  po- 
litical manieuvreing,  would  easily  obtain  suffi- 
cient influence  over  legislative  bodies  to  cause 
the  enactment  of  such  a  law.  This  any  one  will 
believe  who  has  had  any  political  experience, 
and  who  knows  how  easily  the  worst  measures 
may  be  carried  by  making  them  party  tests. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  consequences  in  de- 
tail, after  this  little  village  of  happy  and  inde- 
pendent laborers  has  been  converted  into  a  mam- 
moth farm,  owned  by  a  company,  and  carried  on 
by  steam-power.  At  the  commencement  all  the 
pleasant  old  farm-houses  are  removed,  because 
they  stand  in  the  way  of  tillage,  which  is  per- 
formed as  much  as  possible  in  large,  undivided 
lots.  All  fences  and  boundaries,  except  those 
by  the  roadside,  are  for  the  sam.e  reason  taken 
down,  to  open  many  small  fields  into  one.  It 
has  been  ascertained,  by  experience,  that  no 
single  field  can  be  worked  with  the  best  advan- 
tage, unless  it  contains  at  least  five  hundred 
acres.  If  it  contain  a  thousand,  it  is  still  better, 
since  the  larger  the  field,  the  more  conveniently 
can  it  be  worked  by  steam.  Hence  the  prelimi- 
naries for  steam-farming  are  necessarily  a  work 
of  devastation.  Many  delightful  groups  of  trees 
and  shrubbery,  some  that  skirted  a  winding  brook, 
others  that  bordered  the  walls  and  fences,  includ- 
ing many  standard  oaks  and  maples,  are  swept 
to  the  ground,  rooted  up  by  some  giant  infernal 
machine,  as  easily  as  a  farmer  pulls  up  weeds. 
All  abruptly  swelling  ridges  and  other  eminen- 
ces— the  charm  of  many  a  landscape — some  of 
them  beautifully  crowned  with  trees  and  shrubs, 
and  others  velveted  with  green  herbage,  and 
forming  numerous  little  valleys,  now  smiling  in 
sunshine,  and  then  sweetly  sleeping  under  the 
summer  shadows  of  trees,  where  the  flocks 
found  a  comfortable  resort  in  all  weathers,  are 
now  graded  into  one  vast  level. 

The  brooks  are  conducted  into  canals,  and 
carried  along  in  straight  courses  for  the  conve- 
nience of  labor  and  the  purposes  of  irrigation ; 
for  it  is  necessary  that  their  circuities  should  not 
interfere  Avith  the  progress  of  the  steam-plow. 
In  fine,  that  pleasing  variety  of  surface  Avhich 
beautified  the  landscape,  when  it  was  in  posses- 
sion of  the  original  inhabitants  ;  those  quiet  rus- 
tic lanes  fringed  with  wild  roses,  hawthorns  and 
viburnums,  conducting  from  the  dwelling-hous- 


54 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARI^IER. 


Jan. 


es  to  the  adjoining  fields  and  woods ;  the  com- 
fortable enclosures  that  resounded  with  the  low- 
ing of  cattle  and  the  cheerful  noise  of  poultry, 
and  worst  fate  of  all,  the  old  farm-house,  Avhere 
the  patriarch  of  a  small  estate  presided  over  a 
happy  family,  happy,  because  they  were  free  and 
healthfully  employed — all,  all  arc  sv/ept  away  by 
this  besom  of  improvement. 

And  where  are  the  inhabitants  ?  The  sturdy 
yeoman,  who,  though  doomed  to  hard  labor, 
foimd  this  labor  sweet,  because  it  was  volunta- 
ry ;  the  happy  and  independent  swain  who  called 
no  man  master,  and  who  was  really  a  king  in  his 
own  acres,  is  now  a  hired  servant  of  the  corpo- 
ration The  farmers,  their  wives  and  their  chil- 
dren, have  all  been  reduced  to  servitude  in  this 
grand  manufactory  of  corn  and  vegetables.  The 
tiller  of  the  soil  has  become  a  slave  to  his  crops. 
Each  thousand  acres  devoted  to  a  single  crop  is 
managed  by  an  agent  imported  from  the  city, 
who  understands  book-keeping,  but  was  never  ac- 
customed to  labor.  He  receives  a  large  salary, 
and  pays  out  their  weekly  pittance  to  the  farm 
laborers.  In  order  to  facilitate  operations,  there 
is  a  minute  division  of  labor,  as  in  the  cotton 
and  woollen  factories.  Some  of  the  farmers  are 
employed  exclusively  as  shovellers ;  some  are 
used  as  drivers  of  cattle ;  some  ride  on  the  en- 
gine ;  others  are  employed  continually  to  follow 
after  the  cattle  and  pick  up  their  droppings, 
which  are  all  nicely  economized,  and  never  al- 
lowed to  lie  and  waste  one  minute  upon  the 
ground. 

The  several  families,  with  the  exception  of 
those  who  emigrated  to  some  other  place,  are 
tenants  of  wooden  boxes,  put  up  close  to  the 
ground,  for  the  economizing  of  land.  All  these 
are  in  exact  uniformity,  and  are  owned  by  the 
corporation.  I  ought  to  add  that  the  majority 
of  the  farmers,  flattered  with  the  hope  of  sudden 
wealth,  invested  all  their  capital — the  proceeds 
of  the  sales  of  their  estates — in  the  corporation 
stock,  which  they  were  soon  obliged  to  sell,  at 
an  immense  sacrifice,  because  the  extravagance 
and  dishonesty  of  the  company's  agents,  ab- 
sorbed all  the  profits,  and  cut  down  their  divi- 
dends. In  less  than  ten  years,  almost  every  one 
of  these  independent  farmers  was  a  poor  man ; 
and  th"  village  children  who  lived  as  free  as  the 
birds  of  the  air  in  their  humble  rural  homes,  now 
work  in  platoons  upon  such  parts  of  farm  labor 
as  they  are  able  to  perform.  Before  the  village 
was  sold,  you  might  see  these  little  children, 
with  their  satchels,  going  regularly  to  the  dis- 
trict schools,  clad  in  neat  and  various  attire, 
skipping  and  playing  on  the  route,  full  of  glad- 
ness and  freedom.  Now  they  are  called  up  in 
the  morning  by  the  ringing  of  a  bell.  They  rise, 
they  work,  they  eat,  they  go  to  bed  and  they 
sleep  to  the  sound  of  a  bell,  that  tolls  dismally 
in  their  weary  ears,  the  knell  of  all  their  former 
joys. 

In  the  story  of  this  once  happy  village  and  its 
inhabitants,  we  may  read  the  fate  of  the  whole 
country,  should  the  steam-engine  ever  be  intro- 
duced into  the  business  of  agriculture  :  and  this 
would  inevitably  follow,  if  farming  were  to  be 
carried  on  by  corporations,  involving  large 
amounts  of  associated  capital.  Such  a  class  as 
that  of  independent  laboring  farmers — the  only 
under/eneraiedcliiiif,  in  any  civilized  community — 


would  cease  to  exist.  If  it  be  '"progress"  or  "im- 
provement" to  convert  all  these  valuable  men 
into  hirelings,  under  the  agents  of  mammoth 
corporations — then  we  must  adm.it  the  utility  of 
the  change.  But  I  am  n:>t  yet  ready  to  admit 
any  measures  to  be  progressive,  which  lessen  the 
happiness  and  liberty  of  men,  how  much  soever 
they  may  increase  the  productiveness  of  the  arts. 

"Ill  fares  the  land,  to  lurking  ills  a  prey. 
Where  wealth  accumulates  anil  men  decav. 
rrinces  and  lords  may  flourish  and  may  fade  ; 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made ; 
But  a  bold  peasaatry — their  country's  pride — 
When  once  destroyed,  can  never  Iv  supplied." 


For  the  New  England  farmer. 
ROOT  CROPS. 
Mr.  Editor  : — Your  correspondent  "E.  E.,"  in 
the  Farmer  of  November  6,  inquires  if  I).  Need- 
ham  can  gather  a  hundred  bushels  of  turnips  for 
three  dollars  ?  and  if  so,  he  will  try  and  hire  him 
to  do  it  for  him  ;  yet  in  his  last  paragraph,  he 
says  he  would  not  let  you  (or  any  one  else,)  put 
a  hundred  bushels  into  his  cellar,  if  they  were 
given  to  him. 

He  then  goes  on  to  say,  the  raising  of  root 
crops  in  his  "region"  was  as  fashionable  fifteen 
or  twenty  years  ago,  as  it  is  unfashionable  now. 
He  does  not  undertake  to  say,  why  others 
changed,  but  gives  his  own  reason  for  so  doing. 
His  first  trial,  was  to  put  some  seeds  into  his  hen 
manure  that  he  intended  for  corn,  which  resulted 
in  a  great  loss  to  his  corn,  where  there  was  one 
or  two  good  turnips  in  the  hill.  Now  I  think 
that  is  a  new  and  very  novel  way  of  raising  ruta- 
bagas ;  and  I  think  it  would  not  be  surprising 
to  any  one,  that  "one  or  two  good  stout  turnips" 
would  take  the  "starch"  out  of  a  hill  of  corn  ; 
and  that  pretty  effectually  too  ;  and  no  wonder 
that  a  portion  of  the  stalks  had  "no  maturing 
ears  on  them."  I  can  tell  "E.  E."  that  the  sur- 
est and  the  best  way  to  raise  root  crops,  is  to 
raise  them  separate  from  any  other.  If  he  would 
like  to  know  of  an  easy  and  expeditious  method 
of  raising  rutabagas,  I  can  tell  him  how  my  ex- 
perience has  taught  me. 

Select  a  piece  of  land  that  is  suitable  for  corn, 
that  has  been  planted  the  last  year  to  corn  or  po- 
tatoes, so  that  it  shall  be  mellow,  and  of  fine 
tilth.  In  the  spring,  when  the  ground  is  suf- 
ficiently dry,  plow  it  thoroughly,  deep  and  fine, 
and  then  harrow  it  down  level ;  now  prepare  a 
good  supply  of  manure,  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 
live  to  forty  cart-loads  to  the  acre  ;  then  about 
the  last  of  June,  spread  on  your  manure,  and 
plow  it  in  crosswise.  Then  harrow  it  again  and 
brush  it  perfectly  smooth  ;  previous  to  which, 
however,  the  stones  and  other  obstacles  should 
be  removed  from  the  field,  so  as  to  facilitate  the 
running  of  the  seed-sower.  Now  sow  the  seed 
at  the  rate  of  a  pound  to  the  acre  ;  have  the  rows 
at  least  thirty  inches  apart,  so  that  you  can 
use  a  horse  and  cultivator  ;  with  the  aid  of  a  boy 
to  lead,  you  can  do  the  work  of  eight  men  with 
hoes  easily.  When  the  plants  are  about  two  or 
three  inches  high,  thin  them  to  one  foot  apart, 
keep  the  ground  clean  and  free  from  weeds,  and 
I  will  warrant  a  crop  of  turnips  that  will  be  a 
pleasure  to  look  at,  equal  to  anything  upon  the 
farm. 

As   regards   the  labor   of  cutting  turnips  by 


1839. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


55 


hand,  and  feeding  them  out,  if  it  is  thought  to 
be  too  much  work  about  it,  purchase  a  root-cut- 
ter that  will  do  the  work  quickly.  I  do  not  think 
it  ad-visabie  for  any  man  to  have  "hired  help" 
about,  that  takes  a  man  an  hour  to  cut  and  feed 
out  four  bushels  of  turnips,  when  one-quarter 
part  of  the  time  is  sufficient  for  the  operation.  If 
you  do  not  like  them  in  the  cellar  of  your  house, 
provide  a  place  under  your  barn,  as  every  good 
farmer  should. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  say  to  "E.  E." 
that  I  think  it  will  give  more  satisfaction  to  the 
readers  of  the  Farmer,  if  he  and  all  others  will 
please  to  give  their  name  and  place  of  residence, 
that  it  may  be  known  what  "region"  they  hail 
from,  for  then  they  will  not  "hide  their  light," 
as  it  were,  "under  a  bushel,"  but  will  shine  for 
the  good  of  all  around  them.      J.  UNDERWOOD. 

Lexington,  Nov.  1858. 


3SXTEACTS  AND  EEPLIES. 
PKESERVING   SPECIMENS   OF    BIRDS  'AND   FISHES. 

Will  you  inform  me  in  regard  to  the  best  man- 
ner of  preserving  specimens  of  birds  and  fishes 
for  the  cabinet  ?  Qui. 

Remarks. — In  volume  4  of  the  monthly  Far- 
mer for  1852,  page  349,  you  may  find  a  specific 
account  of  the  manner  of  stuffing  birds,  which 
will  undoubtedly  be  just  what  you  desire.  It  is 
too  long  to  copy  here.  It  was  prepared  by  our 
associate.  Judge  French,  expressly  for  our  col- 
umns. 

You  will  find  an  answer  to  other  portions  of 
your  letter  in  another  column. 

SHEEP,   LAMBS   AND   WOOL. 

In  March,  1857, 1  bought  seven  French  Meri- 
no ewes,  from  which  I  raised  6  lambs  that  spring, 
and  sheared  50  pounds  of  wool.  Last  spring  I 
received  10  lambs  from  6  of  the  old  ewes,  and 
from  the  7  original  sheep,  and  the  6  yearlings,  I 
sheared  100  pounds  of  thoroughly  washed  wool. 

CORN. 
?.ly  corn,  (which  is  known  by  the  name  of  the 
King  Philip)  I  planted  in  three  separate  patches. 
From  one  of  these  pieces,  containing  -i"  an  acre,  I 
received  115  bushels  of  ears.  Also  from  another 
piece  of  |  of  an  acre,  I  got  135  bushels.  This 
piece  sufi"ered  considerably  from  drought. 

POTATOES. 

« 
From  \  of  an  acre  planted  on  the  "one  eye 
system,"  I  dug  95  bushels  of  sorted  potatoes.  As 
I  did  not  put  in  seed  enough,  I  am  dissatisfied 
with  this  trial,  and  am  confident  that  I  can  raise 
a  much  larger  crop  next  year  on  the  same  plan, 
These  potatoes  were  raised  on  greensward  land, 
enriched  with  only  two  loads  of  manure. 
Sharon,  Vt.,  1858.  D.  L.  Steele. 

EMIGRATION  EAST. 

Mr.  Jacob  Crowley,  West  Mansfield,  Mass., 
one  of  our  old  subscribers,  writes  us  that  he  has 
purchased  a  large  farm  in  Franklin  County,  Me., 
near  Lake  Moosetumaguntic,  where  the  soil  is 


excellent,  the  timber  heavy  in  the  forest,  with 
a  plenty  of  good  pasture  and  smooth  tillage  land, 
and  Vv'here  farms  may  be  purchased  at  the  rate  of 
four  dollars  per  acre.  He  says  hay,  oats,  wheat, 
barley  and  potatoes  are  raised  in  abundance,  and 
within  29  hours  ride  of  Boston.  He  thinks  there 
will  be  a  considerable  emigration  from  Western 
New  England  to  that  portion  of  Maine  next 
spring.  

AUSTRALIAN   OATS. 

The  readers  of  the  Farmer  will  remember  the 
large  yield  I  had  of  this  kind  of  oats  last  year. 
They  have  done  equally  well  this  year,  except 
that  they  are  not  quite  as  heavy,  on  account  of 
the  rust  striking  them  before  they  were  ripe.  I 
had  heads  over  twenty  inches  long  in  my  front 
yard  ;  the  average  length  in  the  field  was  about 
twelve  inches.  Last  year  there  was  a  great  call 
for  them,  and  I  had  none  to  sell,  as  all  I  had  to 
spare  were  sold  to  those  who  saw  them  before 
they  were  cut.  C.  F.  LINCOLN. 

Woodstock,  Vt.,  Dec,  1858. 

KIND  OF  CARROTS  FOR  CULTURE. 

I  wish  to  inquire  which  is  the  most  productive 
variety  of  field  carrots,  and  which  the  best  for 
feeding  neat  cattle  and  swine  ? 

I  have  cultivated  the  Orange  carrot  on  a  small 
scale  for  two  vears  past  with  good  success. 

Clements,  N.  S  ,  Dec.  1858. 

Israel  Balcomb. 

Remarks. — Tho  long  Orange  carrot  we  con- 
sider the  sweetest  and  most  nutritious,  but  per- 
haps will  not  produce  quite  as  many  pounds  per 
acre,  under  the  same  circumstances,  as  the  AI- 
tringham  carrot.  

grasses — PLAN   OF    FARM  BUILDINGS. 

Mr.  T.  P.  Bayley,  of  South  Ryegate,  Vt.,  has 
our  thanks  for  the  plan  of  Farm  Buildings  sent 
in  a  recent  letter. 

We  are  not  quite  clear  as  to  what  all  the  grasses 
are,  about  which  inquiry  is  made.  The  first  is 
undoubtedly  the  fowl  meadow,  common  to  most 
parts  of  New  England,  and  an  excellent  variety. 
A  small  book  on  The  Grasses,  recently  published 
by  Charles  L.  Flint,  Secretary  of  the  State  Board 
of  Agricidturc  of  Mass.,  will  give  you  great  aid 
in  an  investigation  of  the  grasses  which  grow  on 
your  farm. 

We  think  you  will  find  it  advantageous  to  re- 
claim swamp  lands  that  are  convenient  to  the 
buildings,  by  taking  it  in  moderate  portions,  and 
thoroughly  performing  the  work  as  far  as  you 
go.  You  will  not  probably  err  in  hauling  too 
much  muck  upon  your  uplands  if  they  are  of  a 
sandy  character.  Try  a  piece  at  the  rate  of  fifty 
ox  loads  per  acre,  and  another  with  half  that 
amount,  and  let  them  be  treated  precisely  alike 
in  other  respects,  and  note  the  result. 


56 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jan. 


A  GHEAT  "WHEAT  CKOP. 

"A  writer  in  the  Oenesee  Farmer  says  that  he 
has  tried  the  cultivation  of  wheat  in  hills,  like 
corn,  having  the  hills  two  feet  apart  each  way  ; 
and  two  or  three  plants  to  the  hill ;  and  he  re- 
ports obtaining  from  a  small  plat  of  ground,  'a 
crop  so  large  as  to  be  equal  to  two  hundred  bush- 
els to  the  acre.'  The  soil  is  kept  stirred  and  cul- 
tivated during  the  growth  of  the  crop." 

Remarks. — This  seems  to  us  impossible — we 
believe  the  "writer  in  the  Genesee  Farmei''"  must 
be  mistaken.  When  we  look  at  a  field  of  wheat 
that  produces  thirty,  or  thirty-five  bushels  per 
acre,  we  are  puzzled  to  find  room  to  place  the 
plants  to  bring  ten  bushels  more.  It  is  the  pub- 
lication of  such  improbable  events,  such  wild  as- 
sertions, that  throws  discredit  on  the  agricultural 
press. 

BOYS'  DEPARTMENT. 


SIB  ISAAC  NEWTON'S  TASTE 
FARMING. 


FOB 


— it  has  no  parent ;  it  is  its  own  master — it  is 
peevish,  forward,  headstrong,  blind — born  to  a 
double  portion  of  trouble  and  sorrow  above  what 
fallen  man  is  heir  to  ;  not  only  miserable  itself, 
but  worthless,  and  a  plague  to  all  who  in  future 
will  be  connected  with  it. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


DOMESTIC  EECEIPTS. 

Pickled  Eggs. — Boil  the  eggs  until  very 
hard ;  when  cold,  shell  them,  and  cut  them  in 
halves  lengthways.  Lay  them  carefully  in  large- 
mouthed  jars,  and  pour  over  them  scalding  vine- 
gar, well  seasoned  with  whole  pepper,  allspice,  a 
few  pieces  of  ginger,  and  a  few  cloves  of  garlic. 
When  cold,  tie  up  closely,  and  let  them  stand  a 
month.  They  are  then  fit  for  use.  With  cold 
meat,  they  are  a  most  delicious  and  delicate 
pickle. 

Hoe  Cake. — This  cake,  so  popular  in  the 
South,  as  a  breakfast  and  tea  cake,  is  made  in 
the  following  way  :  Scald  a  quart  of  Indian  meal 
with  a  pint  of  water  ;  stir  in  two  teaspoonsful  of 
salt,  and  a  little  butter  melted;  put  it,  when 
properly  mixed,  into  a  well-greased  tin,  and  bake 
it  half  an  hour. 

To  Restore  Sour  Milk  or  Cream. — Milk 
or  cream,  when  it  has  turned  sour,  may  be  re- 
stored to  its  original  sweetness  by  means  of  a 
small  quantity  of  carbonate  of  magnesia.  When 
the  acidity  is  slight,  half  a  teaspoonful  of  the 
powder  to  a  pint  of  milk. 

Stale  Bread. — It  is  not  generally  known  that 
stale  bread,  when  immersed  in  cold  water  for  a 
moment  or  two,  and  re-baked  for  about  an  hour, 


When  Newton  had  reached  his  fifteenth  year, 
he  was  called  from  the  school  at  Grantham,  to 
take  charge  of  his  mother's  farm.  He  was  thus 
frequently  sent  to  Grantham  market,  says  Timbs, 
to  dispose  of  grain  and  other  agricultural  pro- 
duce, Avhich,  however,  he  generally  left  to  an  old 
farm  servant  who  accompanied  him,  and  New- 
ton made  his  way  to  the  garret  of  the  house  in 
which  he  had  lived,  to  amuse  himself  with  a  par- 
cel of  old  books  left  there ;  and  afterwards  he 
would  entrench  himself  on  the  wayside  between 

Woolsthorpe  and  Grantham,  devourina;  some  fa-i-    •  ,  i  .  i     u  i     i  v        i 

..  A       ..„  1  .  '    .     ,        ?        ,        'IS  m  every  respect  equal  to  newly-baked  bread, 

vorite   author  till  his  companion  s  return  from  j        if  i  j 

market.  And  when  his  mother  sent  him  into  the  RiCE  AND  Apple  Pudding. — Boil  half  a  pound 
fields  to  watch  the  sheep  and  cattle,  he  would 'of  "ce  in  half  a  pint  of  milk  till  it  is  soft,  then 
perch  himself  under  a  tree,  with  a  book  in  his  [fill  the  dish  half  full  of  apples  which  have  been 
hand,  or  shape  models  with  his  knife,  or  watch] pared  and  cored  ;  sweeten  with  sugar  or  molas- 
the  movements  of  an  undershot  water-wheel,  ses  ;  put  the  rice  over  the  fruit  as  a  crust,  and 
One  of  the  earliest  scientific  experiments  which 
Newton  made  was  in  IGoS,  on  the  day  of  the 
great  storm,  when  Cromwell  died,  and  when  he 
himself  had  just  entered  his  sixteenth  year. 
Newton's  mother  was  now  convinced  that  her 
son  was  not  destined  to  be  a  farmer  ;  and  this, 
with  his  uncle  finding  him  under  a  hedge,  occu- 
pied in  the  solution  of  a  mathematical  problem, 
led  to  his  being  again  sent  to  Grantham,  and 
then  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  which  thence 
became  the  real  birth-place  of  Newton's  genius. 
— Scientific  American. 


An  Obedient  Child. — No  object  is  more 
pleasing  than  a  meek  and  obedient  child.  It  re- 
flects honor  upon  its  parents  for  their  M-ise  man- 
agement. It  enjoys  much  ease  and  pleasure  to 
the  utmost  limit  of  what  is  fit.  It  promises  ex- 
cellence and  usefulness,  to  be,  when  age  has  ma- 
tured the  human  understanding,  a  willing  subject 
in  all  things  to  the  government  of  God.  No  ob- 
ject, on  the  contrary,  is  more  shocking  than  a 
child  under  no  management.  We  pity  orphans 
who  have  neither  father  nor  mother  to  care  for 
them ;  but  a  child  indulged  is  more  to  be  pitied 


bake  one  hour. 

Cottage  Pudding. — Mix  about  two  pounds 
of  pared,  boiled  and  mashed  potatoes  with  one 
pint  of  milk,  three  eggs  well  beaten,  and  two 
ounces  of  sugar.  Bake  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 

Potato  Apple  Dumplings. — Boil  any  quan 
tity  of  white,  mealy  potatoes ;  pare  them  and 
mash  them  with  a  rolling-pin  ;  then  dredge  in 
flour  enough  to  form  a  dough ;  roll  it  out  to 
about  th^  thickness  of  pie  crust,  and  make  up 
the  dumplings  by  putting  an  apple  pared,  cored 
and  quartered  to  each.     Boil  them  one  hour. 

Baked  Apple  Pudding. — Boil  one  pound  and 
a  half  of  good  apples  Avith  a  gill  of  water,  and 
half  a  pound  of  brown  sugar,  till  reduced  to  a 
smooth  pulp  ;  stir  in  one  gill  of  sweet  cream,  a 
table  spoonful  of  flour  or  fine  bread  crumbs  ; 
flavor  with  a  little  lemon  juice,  or  grated  lemon, 
and  bake  forty  minutes. 

Rice  Custard. — Boil  two  ounces  of  ground 
rice  in  a  pint  and  a  half  of  new  milk  ;  add  four 
ounces  of  sugar,  an  ounce  of  grated  cocoa-nut, 
four  ounces  of  sweet  cream,  and  bake  in  a  slow 
oven. 


DEVOTED   TO  AGBIGULTUBB    AN"D    ITS  KITfDUBS)   ARTS  AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  FEBRUARY,  1859. 


NO.  2. 


JOEL  NOURSE,  Proprietor. 
Office. ..13  Commercial  St. 


SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR. 


FRED'K  HOLBROOK,  )  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  \  Editors. 


CALSIfDAB  FOR    FEBRUARY. 

"Wide  o'er  hU  northern  realm  stern  winter  reigns 

A  conquering  tyrant ;  and  his  icy  chains 

Are  on  the  streams  that  lately  danced  along 

To  the  glad  music  of  their  own  sweet  song. 

The  brave  old  oak,  where  through  the  summer  days 

Sported  the  birds  and  carolled  forth  their  lays, 

Stripped  of  its  foliage  by  the  northern  gale, 

Waves  its  dark  arms  aloft,  and  seems  to  wail 

Unto  the  heedless  blast  that  sweeps  the  snowy  vale." 

^  EBUUAEY  once  more 
— the  last  of  the 
winter  months, 
and  a  short  one, 
too.  The  sun  is 
ah'eady  coming 
back  from  its 
southern  tour,  and 
the  visibly  length- 
ening days  give  us 
a  premonition  of 
bpring,  though 
till  the  latter  part 
of  the  month  this 
is  about  all  the 
sign  of  its  coming. 
It  requires  a 
good  deal  of  faith 
to  look  out  on  the  snow- 
covered  landscape,  and  realize 
>\hat  seeiets  Nature  keeps 
locked  up  from  our  sight. — 
"Every  season,"  says  Beecher,  in  his  "Life 
Thoughts,"  "every  season  forms  itself  a  year  in 
advance.  The  coming  summer  lays  out  her  work 
during  the  autumn,  and  buds  and  roots  are  fore- 
spoken.  Ten  million  roots  are  pumping  in  the 
streets  ;  do  you  hear  them  ?  Ten  million  buds 
are  forming  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves ;  do  you 
hear  the  sound  of  the  saw  or  the  hammer  ?  All 
next  summer  is  at  work  in  the  world,  but  it  is 
unseen  by  us." 

When  w»  think  how  much  of  our  time  and  la- 
bor are  required  merely  to  protect  oui'selves  from 


the  cold — to  warm  our  houses  and  provide  com- 
fortable clothing,  we  are  almost  inclined  to  envy 
the  inhabitants  of  a  less  rigorous  climate.  But 
even  in  this  we  may  see  the  law  of  compensation. 
Every  one  knows  that  energy,  forethought,  en- 
terprise, industry,  and  many  kindred  virtues,  are 
especially  the  growth  of  a  cold  latitude.  Doubt- 
less the  direct  influence  of  a  bracing  atmosphere 
has  much  to  do  with  this,  but  we  may  find  still 
other  causes.  When  the  choice  lies  between 
freezing  and  working,  most  men  will  work. 
When  a  man  knows  that  for  six  months  of  the 
year  he  must  look  out  upon  a  barren  world,  he- 
will,  from  necessity,  employ  the  other  six  months- 
in  providing  for  this  emergency.  Hence  he  ac- 
quires habits  of  forethought. 

Again,  there  seems  to  be  a  law  of  nature  tha-t- 
by  overcoming  obstacles,  we  become  stronger, 
morally,  intellectually  and  physically,  and  that 
what  we  gain  by  hard  labor,  we  value  propor- 
tionally. It  is  the  son  who  has  a  fortune  left  him 
who  becomes  a  spendthrift,  not  the  father,  who 
by  slow  and  constant  toil,  accumulates  that  forr 
tune.  It  is  the  young  man,  who,  by  earnest  and 
constant  effort,  acquires  an  education,  who  be- 
comes a  Franklin  or  a  Webster,  and  not,  usually, 
the  oflspring  of  wealthy  parents,  who  stand  ready 
to  hold  him  up  at  every  step.  The  one  knows  he 
has  the  battle  to  fight  for  himself,  so  he  puts 
his  armor  on.  The  other  is  born  to  wealth,  po- 
sition, friends — and  there  is  nothing  to  call  forth 
his  energy — and  so  he  lacks  that  strength  of 
character  which  is  of  more  real  value  than  any- 
thing he  can  inherit. 

Success  is  not  to  be  won  by  proxy.  "Serve 
yourself  would  you  be  well  served,"  is  an  excel- 
lent adage.  We  all  remember  the  fate  of  Miles 
Standish  in  his  wooing,  because  he,  for  the  time, 
forgot  his  own  motto  ! 

In  our  cold,  hilly,  sterile  New  England,  we 
must  "do  or  die" — but  then  the  home  which  we 
found  "upon  a  roek,"  to  stand  against  storm  and 


68 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


flood,  we  prize.  The  wealth  we  gather  out  of 
rough  hills  and  barren  swamps,  we  are  not  likely 
to  squander ;  the  knowledge  we  acquire  in  our 
intervals  of  physical  labor,  we  value. 

With  regard  to  reading  and  writing  we  would 
remark,  for  the  benefit  of  our  younger  readers, 
that,  a  great  deal  is  lost  by  loant  of  system.  The 
one,  two  or  three  leisure  hours  of  each  day,  ■ 
which  are,  perhaps,  spent  in  reading  miscellane- 
ous, if  not  trifling  matter,  would  suffice  in  one 
year  to  lay  a  good  foundation  for  the  knowledge 
of  almost  any  language.  Think  of  that,  or  if 
inclination  or  expediency  do  not  point  in  that  di- 
rection, a  course  of  history  or  biography  select- 
ed with  some  regard  to  the  nation,  era,  or  char- 
acter of  the  hero,  will  be  of  much  greater  use 
than  amass  of  indiscriminate,  unconnected  read-! 
ing.  Not  that  we  would  condemn  light  reading 
entirely — it  is  useful  in  its  way — but  let  it  be, 
the  dessert,  and  not  the  main  dish.  If  summer 
is  the  seed-time  of  the  physical  world,  winter  is 
our  intellectual  seed-time.  Let  us  use  it  to  gar- 
ner up  treasures  for  our  future. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  other  lands  and  oth- 
er climates,  we  cannot  aff"ord  to  lose  our  winters 
and  especially  our  winter  evenings.  Of  these  we 
have  spoken  before,  but  they  form  too  character- 
istic and  important  a  feature  of  New  England 
life  to  be  forgotten  or  passed  over. 

The  gathered  household — the  fireside  circle — 
of  how  many  plans,  and  hopes,  and  wishes,  is  it 
the  centre  !  AVho  can  compute  its  influence  upon 
the  national  character  ? 

"From  scenes  like  these  old  Scotia's  grandeur  springs, 
That  makes  her  lov'd  at  home,  revered  abroad  ; 

Princes  and  lords  are  but  the  breath  of  kin-is — 
Au  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God." 

But  winter  has  other  pleasures  peculiar  to  it- 
self, beside  those  of  the  Home  circle.  There  are 
social  gatherings,  lyceums,  concerts,  and  last, 
but  not  least,  in  the  opinion  of  the  young  people, 
sleigh-7  ides, — though  some  confess  to  an  invol- 
untary shiver,  a  sort  of  "Arctic  Expedition"  sen- 
sation, at  the  bare  mention  of  such  a  thing !  But 
such  persons  must  have  been  among  those  who 
went  a  sleigh-riding,  and  found  "Love's  Labor 
Lost."  It  ought  to  kindle  one's  blood  into  a 
delightful  glow,  even  to  think  of  an  old-fashioned 
sleigh-ride.  With  the  roads  glassy,  the  ther- 
mometer a  little  above  zero,  a  pair  of  spanking 
steeds,  plenty  of  buff"alo  robes,  and  three  humans 
on  a  seat,  the  hero  in  the  middle,  who  would  care 
for  Old  Boreas,  even  if  he  came  with  all  the 
Arctic  Regions  on  his  back ! 

We  suppose  it  was  in  a  milder  climate  than 
ours,  that  the  old  song  was  written, — 

"  'Twas  on  the  Eve  of  Valentine, 
When  birds  bepin  to  mate," 


for,  as  those  who  have  not  outlived  their  romance 
will  remember,  Saint  Valentine's  day  comes  on 
the  14th  of  February,  when  few  birds  besides  the 
adventurous  snow-birds  are  to  be  seen  in  our 
region,  and  they,  like  many  of  their  betters,  must 
be  too  much  engaged  "in  getting  a  living,"  to 
think  of  matters  of  love. 

For  the  farmer,  February  is  not,  comparative- 
ly, a  busy  month.  He  stops  to  take  breath,  as 
it  were,  before  the  time  for  breaking  up  the  earth, 
and  preparing  for  Spring's  work,  comes  on 
again.  If  a  systematic  farmer,  he  lays  his  plans 
for  that  work,  and  has  it,  as  it  were  a  map,  con- 
stantly before  him,  so  that  he  knows  just  at  what 
point  to  strike  to  press  forward  his  business  to 
the  best  advantage.  He,  also,  grows  lusty  and 
strong  on  the  leisure  he  has  enjoyed,  and  on  the 
mental  aliment  which  he  has  stored  up.  For 
such  an  one  the  earth  unlocks  the  treasures  of 
her  bosom,  and  welcomes  him  to  the  banquet. 

Winter  affords  grand  themes  for  the  poet,  and 
and  if  they  are  not  so  gentle  and  soothing  as 
those  of  spring  or  summer,  they  have  a  grandeur 
and  sublimity,  equally  as  indispensable  in  the 
passage  of  the  seasons.  And  as  the  poet  opened 
our  pleasant  discourse  with  the  reader  on  this 
February  topic,  so  roay  he  grace  its  close. 

The  Ice-King  loves  no  music  save  his  own, 
Thf.t,  like  an  organ's  deep  and  solemn  tone. 
Swells  where  the  midnight  tempest  wildly  sweeps 
Through  leafless  forests  and  o'er  craggy  steeps. 
And  voiceless  is  my  harp  ;  or  if  its  tone 
Should  mingle  with  the  winds  a  plaintive  moan, 
'lis  not  my  hand  the  tuneful  change  that  rings. 
Nor  mine  the  voice  that  to  its  musij  sings — 
'lis  but  the  wind  that  sweeps  its  sounding  strings. 

George  BLANcn.\Ri>. 


■WALKING  AS  AST  EXERCISE. 

It  is  well  understood  that  the  general  health 
of  cities  is  due  to  the  custom  of  constant  walk- 
ing, which  prevails  among  the  residents  of  crowd- 
ed towns.  This  compensates  for  the  want  of  fresh 
and  free  air.  It  is  certain  that  city  ladies  walk 
much  more  than  their  country  friends.  The  lat- 
ter, when  they  can  command  a  horse,  think  a 
mile's  walk  a  great  undertaking.  Ladies  in  the 
country  hesitate  about  venturing  abroad  on  foot ; 
and  they  remain  within  doors,  or  in  quiet  inac- 
tion, while  the  city  dames,  who  are  presumed  to 
be  "delicate,"  and  unable  to  endure  fatigue,  walk 
miles  over  the  pavements,  without  thinking  of 
the  exertion.  Visitors  to  the  city  from  the  coun- 
try are  worn  out  by  a  day's  "shopping,"  while 
their  city  guides  are  apparently  as  fresh  at  the 
close  as  in  the  beginning  of  the  day's  work. 

Walking  is  the  most  natural,  useful  and  thor- 
ough exercise  that  can  be  taken.  Infantry,  in 
an  army,  can  outmarch  the  mounted  men.  A 
proof  of  the  superioi-ity  of  the  biped  over  the 
quadruped,  is  given  in  the  result  of  a  recent  wa- 
ger. A  man  undertook  to  walk  from  New  York 
to  Cincinnati  in  eighteen  days,  and  accomplished 
the  task,  with  nine  hours  to  spare.     The  person 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER, 


59 


Ti-ith  whom  the  bet  was  made  accompanied  him 
m  a  carriage,  and  the  pedestrian,  at  the  end  of 
the  journey,  was  in  better  condition  than  the 
horse  or  his  driver.  This  accords  with  all  expe- 
rience. The  human  frame  becomes  inured  to 
wholesome  and  proper  exertion,  and  the  biped 
gains  strength  under  it,  in  a  greater  degree  than 
any  quadruped.  "We  have  no  objection  to  dumb 
beils,  and  other  paraphernalia  of  the  gymnasium. 
But  none  of  these  contrivances  are  half  so  bene- 
ficial as  the  use  of  our  natural  means  of  locomo- 
tion. 

The  people  of  this  republic  have  the  largest 
continent  in  the  world  to  travel  over,  and  are,  as 
a  nation,  the  greatest  travellers.  But  while  the 
rail,  the  river  and  the  horse  carriage  are  all  used 
to  the  utmost,  v>e  walk  less  than  any  civilized 
people  under  the  sun.  A  man,  no  matter  how 
much  his  leisure,  or  how  great  his  need  of  econ- 
omy, would  be  thought  very  poor,  or  next  to  in- 
sane, who  should  use  his  feet  for  a  journey.  He 
would,  at  the  very  least,  be  set  down  as  eccen- 
tric or  a  humorist.  Where  time  is  valuable,  or 
strength  is  to  be  husbanded  for  active  employ- 
ment, it  is  well  to  take  advantage  of  public  con- 
veyances. But  if  Americans  would  prescribe  to 
themselves  what  John  Bull  calls  his  ''constitu- 
tional walk,"  we  should  gain  in  strength  of  mus- 
cle, and  banish  or  diminish  the  common  com- 
plaint, dyspepsia.  Athletic  games  are  well  in 
their  way,  but  one  cannot  always  get  up  a  crick 
et  or  rowing  match.  The  consent  of  others  is 
required,  whereas,  to  walk  briskly  and  habitual- 
ly, it  needs  only  that  we  overcome  our  own  iner- 
tia, and  diabuse  ourselves  of  the  notion  that  a 
horse's  legs  are  better  than  a  man's. 

No  motion  calls  more  of  the  muscles  into 
healthy  play  than  walking — not  gliding  like  a 
ghost,  with  arms  motionless,  but  pushing  along, 
with  a  hearty,  springy  swing.  Nothing  more  ex- 
hilarates the  whole  man  than  a  current  of  air 
created  by  his  own  brisk  movements.  If  this 
exercise,  so  conducive  to  health,  and  so  readily 
taken,  v/ere  more  in  fashion  and  in  favor,  we 
might  meet  the  doctors  with  an  independent  air  ; 
a,nd  as  to  the  nostrum-mongers,  starve  them  into 
taking  up  a  more  useful  avocation. — Philadel- 
phia Gazette. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

AH"  EXCELLE2JT  CROP  OF  ONIOITS. 

]Mr.  Euitok  : — It  may  recur  to  the  memory  of 
some  of  your  readers,  that  in  the  course  of  last 
spring,  L  furnished  for  the  columns  of  the  Far- 
mer the  measurement  of  several  huge  mounds  of 
manure,  which  I  found  standing  on  the  farm  of 
Mr.  Setii  Hathaway,  of  this  town.  In  that  ar- 
ticle, I  intimated  that  I  should  keep  an  eye  on 
the  crops  of  Mi-.  Hathaway  during  the  season, 
with  the  viev/  of  reporting  at  some  future  time 
how  such  manuring  paid.  I  would,  in  general, 
remark  on  the  result  of  this  high  manuring,  that 
the  returns  were  proportional  to  the  outlay,  the 
crop  of  potatoes  in  particular  being  remarkably 
heavy.  Of  the  onion  crop,  I  have  now  before 
me  the  weighed  yield  of  half  an  acre,  which  I 
think  will  be  on  all  sides  conceded  to  be  a  credit 
to  his  skill  and  industry.  Number  of  pounds  of 
onions  marketed  from  a  measured  half-acre  of 
land,  17,575  ;  which,  at  fifty  pounds  to  the  bush- 


el, would  make  351  <^-  bushels,  or  at  the  rate  of 
703  bushels  to  the  acre  !  Who  will  take  the  palm 
from  Mr.  Hathaway  ?  J.  J.  H.  Gregouy. 

Marblehcad,  Dec.  15,  1858. 


ROOTS  CA.NNOTGROW  "WITHOUT 
LEAVES. 

It  is  a  well-known  and  well-settled  principle 
in  vegetable  physiology,  that  no  part  of  a  plant 
can  grow  without  the  assistance  derived  from  the 
leaf,  which  decomposes  and  re-arranges  the  crude 
materials  of  the  food  of  plants,  and  thus  forms 
new  wood. 

For  this  reason,  a  very  simple  and  easy  way  to 
kill  a  patch  of  Canada  thistles,  or  any  other  weed 
whose  roots  spread  wide  and  extend  deeply  into 
the  soil,  is  by  keeping  the  tops  cut  off  or  the 
leaves  smothered,  so  that  no  food  can  be  fur- 
nished to  the  roots  below.  A  few  months  of  star- 
vation in  summer  will  destroy  the  plants. 

For  the  same  reason,  clover  or  any  other  plants, 
will  extend  the  grov;thof  their  roots  more  rapid- 
ly and  freely  if  a  larger  top  is  permitted  above 
ground  than  if  closely  pastured. 

The  following  statement,  not  wholly  new,  from 
a  source  that  we  cannot  at  this  moment  give,  is  a 
further  corroboration.  The  "curious  circum- 
stance" mentioned,  exists  the  same  v/ith  any  oth- 
er plant,  as  with  clover  : 

"Agricultural  Experiment. — A  curious  cir- 
cumstance connected  with  the  growth  of  clover 
is,  that  by  cutting  the  clover  twice  and  removing 
all  the  hay,  a  much  better  wheat  crop  is  obtained 
than  by  feeding  it  off  by  sheep,  even  if  some  ar- 
tificial food  is  used.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  growth  of  the  roots  of  clover  in  the  land 
is  in  exact  proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  leaves 
in  the  air.  Each  leaflet  that  shoots  upward  sends 
a  radicle  or  root  downward.  If  the  leaflet  be 
bitten  off  or  destroyed,  its  radicle  ceases  to  grow. 
It  therefore  follows  that  grazing  clover  by  sheep 
materially  diminishes  the  amount  of  vegetable 
matter  accumulated  in  the  soil  by  the  roots,  and 
consequently  the  produce  of  the  succeeding  crop." 

The  above  is  sustained  by  the  following: 

"A  friend  of  mine  in  Northamptonshire  had  a 
field  of  clover  ;  it  was  divided  into  two  portions  ; 
both  were  cut  at  midsummer,  and  one  part  was 
then  fed  off  with  sheep,  and  the  other  left  to  grow 
till  September,  when  it  was  again  cut,  and  the 
hay  removed.  Equal  portions  of  the  several 
pieces  were  then  compared.  Where  the  clover 
had  been  cut  once  and  fed  off",  he  got  35  cwt.  of 
clover  roots  per  acre.  Where  he  cut  twice,  he 
got  75  cwt. ;  there  being  a  difierence  of  two  tons 
of  vegetable  matter  per  acre." — Country  Gentle- 
man. 

Table  for  Measuring  Land. — The  attention 
of  the  reader  is  called  to  the  Table  for  the  Meas- 
urement of  Land,  which  we  give  in  another  col- 
umn. We  think  it  will  be  found,  not  merely  con- 
venient, but  exceedingly  useful  to  all  classes  of 
farmers.  It  was  prepared  at  our  suggestion,  with 
great  care,  by  one  of  the  clerks  of  Messrs.  Shedd 
&  Edson,  Civil  Engineers,  42  Court  Street,  Bos- 
ton, at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  twenty-five  dollars. 


60 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


PKOPEB  USE  OF  PORK  AS  FOOD. 

The  Scientific  American  having  endorsed  the 
opinion  that  "A  fat  hog  is  the  very  quintessence 
of  scrofula  and  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  that  fat 
pork  was  never  designed  for  human  food,  making 


We  could  not  live  on  fat  pork  alone — nor  on 
sugar  and  starch — though  vs-e  could  on  bread. 
Bcead,  the  staff  of  life,  contains  the  materials 
both  for  breathing  and  making  blood  and  red 
flesh  (muscle)  in  a  supereminent  degree,  greater 
even  than  lean  beef  or  any  other   single  article 


no  red  meat  or  muscle,"  etc..  Dr.  Holston,  ot^of  food,  and  this,  or  some  substitute,  such  as 
Zanesville,  who  is  one  of  the  most  intelligentjjjg^^j^g^g^s,  potatoes,  etc.,  is  always  eaten  with 
physicians  of  Ohio,  wrote  to  the  Cowrie?-:  -  ...  _  .  ,       , 

A  fat  hog  is  truly  the  quintessence  of  scrofula, 
for  scrofa  in  Greek  is  hog,  and  the  derivative 
scrofulous  means  hoggish.  The  disease  scrofula 
was  so  called  when  medical  science  was  in  its  in- 
fancy, from  its  supposed  resemblance  to  some 
diseases  of  the  hog,  and  then  the  inference  was 
easy,  that  eating  the  hog  (scrofa)  produced  the 
hog-disease  (scrofula.)  It  is  well  known,  how- 
ever, that  our  American  Indians  and  the  Hin- 
doos, v/ho  never  use  pork,  are  liable  to  this  dis- 
ease ;  that  in  Europe  it  prevails  chiefly  among  the 
ill-fed  poor,  who  hardly  taste  meat  of  any  kind. 

On  the  otb"^"  hand,  the  Chinaman  and  our  own 
pioneers,  who  hardly  eat  any  other  flesh,  are  re- 
markably healthy  and  exempt  from  scrofula — a 
disease  we  have  much  more  reason  to  suspect  as 
originating  long  ago  from  the  hereditary  taint 
of  an  unmentionable  disease  favored  by  irregular 
living  and  poor  diet. 

In  the  South,  from  their  sleek  appearance  and 
exemption  from  scrofula,  you  can  at  once  distin- 
guish the  bacon-fed  negro. 

These  examples  may  suflice  on  that  head. 

Fat  pork  is  not  in  any  sense  carbonic  acid,  but 
hydro-carbon,  a  combination  of  hydrogen  and 
carbon.  It  becomes  carbonic  acid  and  water  by 
combining  with  oxygen  in  the  act  of  being  burned' 
or  digested,  which  is  much  the  same  thing — giv- 
ing olf  during  those  processes  large  amounts  of 
heat  and     ght. 

It  is  true  ihefat  of  pork  does  not  make  blood 
or  red  flesh,  though  the  lean,  which  is  always 
eaten  alone,  does.  It  is  as  your  article  says  tru- 
ly, material  for  breath.     Well,  that  is   a  good 


fat  pork,  so  that  there  is  a  sufficient  supply  of 
blood  and  flesh-making  material.  However,  ex- 
cess is  bad,  and  the  fat  pork  must  not  constitute 
the  bulk  of  a  meal. 

Chemical  analysis  is  a  poor  substitute  for  the 
observation  of  facts  in  the  living  body,  nor  can 
we  even  base  very  much  on  experiments  made 
on  Mr.  Martin,  the  man  with  the  hole  in  his 
stomach,  by  which  food  can  be  introduced  and 
digestion  observed,  for  that  is  not  nature's  way 
of  getting  it  there,  and  a  stomach  with  such  an 
unnatural  opening  is  much  like  a  leaky  dinner- 
pot  with  a  hole  in  the  bottom  stuff'ed  with  a  rag. 
Extended  experience  alone  can  settle  such  a 
question. 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  esteem  pork  as  a  lux- 
ury, and  a  most  wholesome  diet;  their  athletes 
and  gladiators  (prize-fighters)  were  fed  on  pork. 
Our  own  Saxon  (Teutonic  Scandinavian)  ances- 
tors esteem  it  so  highly  that  they,  even  in  their 
heaven,  provided  a  great  hog  with  golden  bris- 
tles, called  Gullibortstli,  of  whose  bacon  the  he- 
roes of  Walhalla  dined  every  day,  when  at  night 
the  picked  bones  again  united  and  became  cov- 
ered with  a  fresh  supply  of  fat  pork.  In  this 
estimate  of  the  hog,  the  mass  of  mankind,  not 
of  the  Shemite  race,  (Jews,  Turks,  Arabs,  etc.,) 
who  follow  Moses'  law,  that  had  spiritual  and 
representative  meaning,  have  in  all  ages  agreed, 
and  will  agree,  as  long  as  man  has  canine  teeth, 
and  lives  by  drawing  his  breath.  Whenever  the 
Scientific  American  or  Prof.  Liebig  will  discover 
a  new  process  of  living  without  breathing,  we 
may  be  guided  by  their  opinion  ;  till  then,  I  opine, 
'good  corn-fed  (o.nd  no  other  is  good)  pork"  will 


deal.     It  is  supposed  that  if  the  writer's  breath  1.^1^  ^^^  ^.^-gj^  ^^  ^.j^j^l^  themselves  will  not  be 

had  stopped  five  minutes  before  he  took  his  pen,  |  ^j^^^,  ^^  partake. 

we  should  never  have  seen  his  article  on  fat  pork.  |      ^j^  remarks  are  of  course  onlv  applicable   to 

But  it  does  more.     All  the  fat  that  goes  mtojj^^g^^  women  and    children  with"  comparatively 
the  stomach  and  thence  into  the  blood  does  notjj^g^^j^j^^,  stomachs,  who  have   suflicient  exercise, 
undergo   slow  burning,  but  is   deposited  m  the  I  ^-ith  pure  air  and  water, 
body  as  human  fat.     Now  a  certain  amount  of 
fat  is  so  necessary  for  the  proper  play  of  all  the 
parts,  muscles  included,  that  without  it,  the  body, 
like  an  ungreased  engine,  wears  itself  out  by  its 
own  friction.     In  consumption,  the  waste  of  fat 
is  one  alarming  and  most  dangerous   symptom, 
and  the    far-famed    cod   liver   oil   acts   perhaps 
chiefly  by  supplying  the  blood  with  fat. 

I  am   satisfied  by  experience  that  fat  pork 


Pot  the  Ken)  England  FriryiteT. 


"USB  OP   PBESH  MAKTUBES." 

Mr.  Editor: — I  noticed  an  article  in  your 
paper  of  the  27th  of  November,  under  thj  above 
[caption,  from  Mr.  Mansfield,  of  West  Needham. 
Is  it  possible  in  this  enlightened  age,  and  after  a 
when  the  stomach  will'  receive  it — does  just  as  man  has  spent  "forty  years  among  the  corn  crops," 
well.  Moreover,  few  of  those  delicate  persons! that  he  should  be  so  greatly  mistaken  or  blind 
that  have  so  great  an  aversion  to  pork  or  other  in  regard  to  the  manufacture  and  application  of 
fat,  ever  live  to  see  forty  years.  They  die  young:  manures,  or  that  he  should  have  the  "courage" 
of  consumption.  Butter,  sugar,  starch,  vegeta-j  to  write  such  an  experience  for  an  agricultural 
ble  oils,  act  to  some  extent  as  animal  fat,  and  in  paper  ?  (And  I  think  you,  Mr.  Editor,  must 
tropical  climates  are  used  as  substitutes.  |have  a  large  share  of  moral  courage  to  publish 

But  go  to  the  Arctic  regions  and  see  the  refined  ^  it.) 


Dr.  Kane  and  his  men  devour  raw  walrus  blub- 
ber with  a  gusto,  as  we  would  take  a  dish  of  ice- 
cream, and  you  will  conclude  that  "fat  pork," 
]>srticularly  in  our  Arctic  winters,  is  not  so  bad 
au  institution. 


How  many  converts  does  he  expect  to  make 
to  his  theory,  "that  manure  composted  under 
cover  is  a  dangerous  article  as  food  for  plants ;" 
or  how  many  careful  farmers  will  be  likely  to  fol- 
low his  advise,  and  "give  their  manure  the  ben- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


61 


eSt  of  both  sun  and  rain  ?"  Or  will  he  find  one 
iadividual  outside  of  the  walls  of  a  lunatic  asy- 
lum to  subscribe  to  his  doctrine,  "that  there  is 
no  place  more  suitable  for  manure  in  the  winter 
than  under  the  eaves  of  the  south  side  of  the 
barn,  that  all  the  water  that  falls  from  the  barn, 
and  the  snow  that  accumulates  upon  it  is  no  more 
than  is  needful  for  the  preparation  of  the  manure, 
to  fit  it  as  food  for  plants,"  &c.,  &c.  In  his  "for- 
ty years'  experience,"  has  it  never  occurred  to 
him,  that  he  could  compost  his  manure?  mix 
with  it  soil,  mud,  peat,  Szc,  and  by  this  process 
secure  all  the  juices  and  gases  that  otherwise 
would  escape  by  drainage  and  evaporation  ? 

In  his  long  CKperience,  has  he  never  learned 
that  the  caustic  qualities  of  powerful  manures, 
(whether  barn  manure  or  guano)  if  he  puts  an 
undue  quantity  in  the  hill,  will  prevent  the  ger- 
mination of  his  corn  or  other  crops  ?  and  yet  if 
instead  of  exposing  it  to  the  weather  and  bleach- 
ing it  in  the  rains,  he  v.ould  mix  it  with  the  same 
bulk  of  soil  or  mud,  he  would  have  twice  as 
much  manure,  and  of  a  better  quality  ;  then  his 
barn  cellar  will  not  poison  it,  and  it  will  not  pois- 
on his  crops  or  prevent  their  germination. 

Can  it  be  possible  that  Mr.  M.  is  in  earnest 
in  recommending  his  ruinous  theory  ?  or  that 
he  would  for  a  moment  think  of  practising  it 
himself?  If  so,  we  would  suggest  that  his  "for- 
ty years'  experience  in  the  cornfield"  has  been 
in  vain,  and  that  he  had  better  have  slumbered 
all  that  time  with  Rip  Van  Winkle. 

Horace  Collamore. 

North  Pembroke,  Alass.,  Dec,  1858. 


CARE  OF  SHEEP—fllUTTON. 

The  opinion  is  quite  prevalent  in  some  sec- 
tions, that  sheep  require  no  water  in  winter,  and 
that  they  actually  do  better  without  than  with 
it.  This,  hov/ever,  is  a  mistake,  and  one  that 
has  not  unfrequently  caused  considerable  losses 
When  permitted,  sheep,  although  they  are,  from 
their  particular  nature,  capable  of  subsisting  a 
longer  time  without  fluids  than  any  other  do 
mestic  animal,  will  generally  drink  from  four  to 
eight  times  a  day,  and  with  evident  benefit,  par- 
ticularly during  winter,  when  they  are  necessarily 
restricted  to  dry  and  unsucculent  food,  which  en- 
genders thirst,  and  requires  much  drink  to  ren- 
der the  economy  of  digestion  and  assimilation 
sufficiently  rapid  and  perfect  to  insure  a  continu- 
ance of  thrift  and  health.  When  practicable 
there  should  always  be  a  v/atering-trough  in  the 
shed  or  yard,  to  which  the  animals  confined  in  it 
can  at  all  times  have  free  access,  without  mixing 
with  cattle  or  large  stock  of  any  kind,  as  they 
are  liable  to  be  injured  by  the  latter,  especially 
when  young.  When  there  is  a  pump  in  the  yard, 
the  trouble  attending  such  an  arrangement  is 
comparatively  slight,  even  where  the  sheep  and 
cattle  yards  are,  as  they  always  ought  to  be,  dis- 
tinct. 

From  twenty-five  to  thirty  sheep  are  as  many 
as  can  well  be  kept  in  one  enclosure.    When  the 


number  exceeds  this,  unless  special  care  be  taken 
10  secure  the  most  perfect  ventilation,  the  ani- 
mals are  likely  to  contract  diseases,  and  never 
do  so  well  as  when  confined  in  smaller  flocks. 
Pure  air  is  essential  to  all  animals,  but  especially 
to  the  sheep.  On  taking  sheep  from  their  sum- 
mer ranges,  in  autumn,  the  sudden  change  from 
green  to  dry  feed  often  operates  detrimentally. 
This  is  sufficiently  evinced  by  the  sudden  loss  of 
appetite,  and  consequent  emaciation  exhibited, 
and  which  is  often  attributed,  erroneously,  to 
disease.  As  soon  as  they  are  taken  from  the 
pastures,  a  few  messes  of  turnips  should  be  giv- 
en them,  daily,  for  a  week  or  so,  gradually  di- 
minishing the  quantity  as  they  become  accus- 
tomed to  other  food.  By  adopting  this  plan,  and 
allowing  them  a  liberal  supply  of  water  and  salt, 
their  constitutional  vigor  will  remain  unimpaired, 
and  the  change  rendered  unavoidable  by  circum- 
stances, be  productive  of  no  unpleasant  or  dete- 
riorating results. 

In  Great  Britain,  where  so  much  use  is  made 
of  mutton  by  all  classes,  from  the  peer  to  the  la- 
borer, great  attention  has  been  accorded,  not  only 
to  the  production  of  the  greatest  quantity,  but 
also  to  the  best  quality  of  mutton.  After  so 
long  a  series  of  eftorts  and  experiments,  it  is  but 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  very  many  important 
discoveries  have  been  made  in  this  particular 
branch  of  rural  economy,  and  that  the  business 
of  fattening,  in  all  its  details,  is  there  more  thor- 
oughly understood  and  practiced  than  in  any 
other  country.  It  appears,  indeed,  to  be  univer- 
sally conceded  by  agricultural  writers  of  England, 
that  sheep  of  great  size  and  rapid  growth,  will 
not  give  so  fine  mutton  as  smaller  animals,  and 
those  which  are  longer  in  coming  to  maturity. 
This  axiom  may,  in  fact,  be  regarded  as  consti- 
tuting the  genuine  secret  of  the  success  which 
so  markedly  attends  the  efforts  of  the  British 
herdsmen  and  flock-masters  in  fattening  their 
animals  for  the  market.  The  Leicesters,  conse- 
quently, are  less  valuable,  being  large  and  of 
quick  growth,  than  the  "South  Downs,"  which 
are  of  a  more  diminutive  size,  and  much  longer 
in  coming  to  maturity. 

A  late  writer,  in  remarking  on  this  subject, 
says : — "A  sheep  to  be  in  high  order  for  the  pal- 
ate of  an  epicure,  should  not  be  killed  earlier 
than  when  five  years  old,  at  which  age  the  mut- 
ton will  be  rich  and  succulent,  of  a  dark  color, 
and  full  of  the  richest  gravy;  whereas  if  only 
two  years  old,  it  is  flabby,  pale  and  flavorless." 

In  this  country,  mutton  rarely  attains  the  age 
of  four  years,  and  hence,  probably,  the  reason 
why  the  article  known  by  that  name  is  generally 
so  poor  compared  with  the  English  article.  Weth- 
ers of  good  size,  and  of  a  breed  disposed  to  take 
on  fat  readily,  are  often  marketed  at  two  or  three 


62 


NEW  ENGLAND    FARMER. 


Jan. 


years  old ;  but  it  would  be  for  the  breeder's  in- 
terest to  keep  them  at  least  till  they  were  five 
years  old,  as  he  would  then  be  able  to  ofler  a  very 
superior  a:rticle,  and  to  secure  a  price  according- 
ly. There  is  no  meat  superior  to  good  mutton  ; 
it  is  wholesome,  and  possesses  a  flavor  equal,  if 
not  superior,  to  the  best  beef. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ORNITHOLOGY. 
BY  S.  P.  FOWLER. 

The  annual  migration  and  flight  of  birds  is  an 
interesting  subject,  and  was  thought  by  the  an 
cients  to  be  a  matter  of  real  and  indispensable 
study  and  use  to  the  State.  Augury  was  regu- 
larly taught  among  the  Romans,  and  an  officer 
was  appointed,  whose  duty  it  was  to  foretell  fu- 
ture events,  by  the  singing  and  flight  of  birds, 
appearances  of  quadrupeds  and  celestial  phe- 
nomena. A  college  or  communion  of  augurs 
was  established,  and  it  was  held  in  high  respect. 

The  system  and  practice  of  agricultui*e  among 
the  ancients  was  to  a  considerable  degree  regu- 
lated by  the  flight  of  birds  in  their  migration. 
Whether  we  shall  ever  acquire  so  perfect  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  habits  of  our  birds,  that  by  the  use 
of  a  calendar  noting  their  arrival  and  disappear- 
ance, we  can,  to  any  considerable  degi-ee,  improve 
upon  our  system  of  agriculture,  is  perhaps  some- 
what doubtful.  But  the  appearances  and  mani- 
festations of  nature,  as  seen  on  our  farms,  to  a 
thoughtful  and  cultivated  mind,  are  calculated  to 
awaken  devout  and  pleasant  emotions,  and  when 
accurately  observed,  denote  to  us  the  proper  time 
to  commence  and  close  our  agricultural  labors. 

The  peeping  of  the  little  hyla  and  the  note  of 
the  bluebird  is  the  unmistakable  voice  of  spring; 
the  mellow  note  of  the  Baltimore  bird  and  the 
quaint  melody  of  the  bobolink  remind  us  that 
tlie  yellow  maize  should  be  lain  in  the  earth,  and 
left  to  "sleep  in  the  rain  and  sunshine ;"  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  blue  jay  in  autumn,  having  left 
the  woods  for  our  cultivated  fields,  proclaims  to 
us  !)y  its  clamorous  note,  the  harvest  near ;  the 
call  of  the  wild  goose,  over  our  heads,  late  in 
autumn,  as  it  pursues  its  southern  flight  in  long, 
converging  lines,  is  a  sure  indication  that  the 
northern  lakes  are  frozen,  and  that  the  earth  is 
soon  to  be  closed  with  frost ;  while  the  appear- 
ance of  the  shrike,  as  he  descends  from  his  home 
in  the  mountainous  forest,  indicates  to  us  the 
approach  of  the  snows  of  winter. 

To  an  ornithologist,  the  study  of  the  migra- 
tion of  birds  is  particularly  interesting.  Many 
of  our  land  birds  probably  are  guided  instinc- 
tively in  their  journeys  by  the  course  of  our  great 
rivers  and  mountain  ranges,  and  our  water  birds 
by  the  trending  of  our  coast  line.  But  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  conceive  of  the  instinct  that  directs  some 
of  our  birds,  which  do  not  appear  to  heed  the  di- 
rections supposed  to  be  apparent  on  the  face  of 
the  country,  but  carelessly  pass  along,  intent 
only  in  feeding,  as  they  slowly  progress  in  their 
journey,  taking  no  landmarks,  and  heedless  lit- 
tle creatures  as  they,  do  not  even  so  much  as 
take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  country  over  which 
they  pass.     For  insiance,  there  is  the  little  ruby 


crowned  wren,  that  little  atom  of  ornithology, 
not  larger  than  one's  thumb,  which  passes  from 
Hudson's  Bay,  where  in  summer  it  breeds,  to 
Florida  in  winter,  and  back  again  to  its  northern 
home  in  spring.  In  its  migration  in  autumn,  it 
passes  through  Massachusetts  in  October,  glean- 
ing its  food,  principally  consisting  of  the  larvae 
of  insects.  This  little  timid  bird  does  not  for  a 
moment,  a])pear  to  lose  its  way,  or,  as  we  say, 
get  its  head  turned  round  ;  but  uniformly  enters 
an  orchard  or  garden  on  its  northern  side,  and 
passing  through  it,  from  tree  to  tree,  leaves  it 
from  its  southern  border,  and  thus  pursues  its 
journey  silently  and  quietly  along  for  months, 
until  it  at  last  reaches  the  most  southern  portion 
of  the  Union.  In  February,  it  leaves  Florida  in 
its  journey  north,  and  arrives  around  Hudson's 
Bay  by  the  first  of  June,  and  after  rearing  its 
young,  leaves  these  nortbern  regions  for  the  south 
about  the  middle  or  last  of  August. 

Although  most  of  our  small  birds  migrate  to 
the  south  in  winter,  the  swallow  tribe,  under  pe- 
culiar circumstances,  do  not  always  conform  to 
the  great  migratory  law  of  their  nature,  but  pro- 
vide themselves  with  winter  quarters  in  hollow 
trees,  sand  banks  and  the  bottom  of  ponds.  The 
proclaiming  of  this  singular  fact,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  disturbs  some  of  my  ornithological  friends. 
Well,  the  exhibition  of  unbelief  upon  this  sub- 
ject is  nothing  new  or  strange,  more  especially, 
with  those  who  hold  that  nature  never  contra- 
venes her  own  laws.  The  parts  visited  by  our 
birds  in  autumn  and  winter  are  Mexico  and  the 
southern  portions  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Nuttall, 
who  has  given  considerable  attention  to  the  mi- 
gration of  our  birds,  remarks  that  the  greater 
number  of  birds  travel  in  the  night ;  some  spe- 
cies, however,  proceed  only  by  day,  as  the  diurnal 
birds  of  prey,  crows,  pies,  Avrens,  creepers,  cross- 
bills, larks,  blue-birds,  swallows  and  some  others. 
Those  which  travel  wholly  in  the  night  are  owls, 
butcher-birds,  kingfishers,  thrushes,  fly-catchers, 
night-hawks,  whip-poor-wills,  and  also  a  great 
number  of  aquatic  birds,  whose  motions  are  of- 
ten principally  nocturnal,  except  in  the  cold  and 
desolate  northern  regions,  where  they  usually  re- 
tire to  breed.  Other  birds  are  so  powerfully  im- 
pelled by  this  governing  motive  to  migration, 
that  they  stop  neither  day  nor  night ;  such  as 
the  herons,  plovers,  swans,  cranes,  wild  geese, 
storks,  &c.  When  untoward  circumstances  ren- 
der haste  necessary,  certain  kinds  of  birds,  which 
ordinarily  travel  only  in  the  night,  continue  their 
route  during  the  day,  and  scarcely  allow  them- 
selves time  to  eat ;  yet  the  singing  birds,  prop- 
erly so  called,  never  migrate  by  day,  whatever 
may  happen  to  them.  And  it  may  be  here  in- 
quired with  astonishment,  how  these  feeble  but 
enthusiastic  animals  are  able  to  pass  the  time, 
thus  engaged,  without  the  aid  of  recruiting  sleep? 

The  migration  of  birds  is  a  subject  on  which 
comparatively  few  observations  have  yet  been 
made.  Even  the  precise  periods  of  their  ap- 
pearance and  disappearance  in  different  parts  of 
this  continent  have  not  been  noted  with  the  nec- 
essary degree  of  attention ;  and  until  persons 
properly  qualified  shall  undertake  the  task,  we 
must  remain  contented  without  being  able  to  an- 
swer the  rather  difficult  question,  "What  causes 
birds  to  migrate  ?" 

I)anvers-port,  Nov.  24,  1858. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


63 


VALUE  OP  HAY-CAPS. 

Messrs.  Editors: — One  of  the  principal  uses 
of  our  agricultural  papers  is  to  promote  an  ex- 
cliange  of  views  and  experiments  among  farmers. 
If  a  man  has  convinced  himself,  as  Mr.  Halsey 
has,  that  a  doing  any  kind  of  work  is  useless  or 
unprofitable,  he  cannot  do  a  greater  service  to 
his  brother  farmers  than  to  warn  them  how  to 
avoid  a  foolish  and  useless  expenditure ;  but  be- 
ing now  fully  convinced  that  my  experiments 
have  been  fairly  made  ^ind  supported  by  the  tes- 
timony of  many  who  have  tried  them,  I  must  ad- 
here to  my  hay-caps.  Mr.  Halsey  says  he  never 
expects  to  save  hay  uninjured  through  a  two 
days'  rain.  I  have  done  it,  and  hope,  not  to  have 
the  rain,  but  to  do  it  again,  if  it  unfortunately 
comes.     In  July,  1855, 1  had  ten  tons  of  hay  cut 


tious  to  avail  myself  of  those  improvements,  so 
that  what  I  say  noio,  will  not  apply  to  the  ma- 
chine I  purchased  four  years  since. 

With  the  first  machine,  it  required  one  and  a 
half  hour  to  cut  an  acre,  and  it  was  hard  work  at 
that  for  man  or  beast.  Yet  I  was  pleased  with 
that  machine,  because  it  was  so  much  in  advance 
of  scythes  in  'he  hands  of  Irishmen. 

My  mowing  forces  had  hitherto  consisted  of 
three  or  four  Irishmen  and  one  Yankee,  and  they 
were  usually  cutting  grass  until  about  ten  or 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  x\bout  five  dol- 
lars per  year  was  required  for  scythes,  snaths, 
and  whetstones.  This  was  just  about  the  state  of 
things  under  the  old  hand-scythe  administration. 
Now  we  will  commence  with  the  new  machine, 
which  I  procured  last  season,  (1857,  when  I  had 
cut  about  half  of  my  grass  with  the  old  one,)  and 


on  four  acres,  by  mowing  machines.  It  was  put  Lj^jg  j^as  been  the  result,  alluding  to  this  season 
up,  and  the  second  day  covered  with  200  covers.  Lj^j  With  one  Irishman  to  trim  out  the  borders 
I  weighed  several  of  the  cocks,  and  they  aver- 1  £^g^.  t^^g  machine  was  done,  occupying  perhaps 
aged  100  pounds.  It  rained  nearly  two  days,  and  Lj^g.^o^j.^!^  ^^  niuch  time  as  the  machine,  we 
the  quantity  of  water  was  two  inches  and  four-k^^^.g  g^,^  sixty-eight  acres.  This  statement  does 
tenths.  On  the  third  day,  at  10  o'clock,  I  began  1  ^^^  include  a  meadow  of  ten  acres  where  the  ma- 
to  draw  it  in,  only  the  bottom  being  a  little  wet.  L^i^e  would  not  work.  The  whole  has  been  done 
This  saved  me  one  day  opening  and  spreading,  ^  ^^^  Irishman,  and  I  think  he  has  not  worked 
and,  in  my  opinion,  saved  one-third  of  the  valuel  ^j.g  y,omx&  than  he  has  cut  acres.  I  have  kept 
of  the  hay.  My  hay-caps  to  cover  a  ton  cost  56,  U^e  machine  in  order  with  less  time  than  it  would 
and  the  hay  sold  for  b'12  a  ton,  and  this  saving  [j^^ve  cost  me  to  keep  the  other  Irishman  in  trim 
was  for  three  days' use  of  the  hay-caps.  Ihavei^j^j^  j^j^  ggythe,  providing  he  had  worked  as 
heard  them  so  frequently  commended,  that  Mr.'  ^uch  time.  I  have  had  occasion  to  grind  but 
Halsey's  condemnation  of  them  astonishes  me  L^^e  during  the  whole  season,  and  the  breakage 
very  much.  How  much  hay  is  injured  by  being jj^a,s  amounted  to  only  one  blade,  costing  twenty 
wet  IS  a  matter  I  cannot  speak  of  with  entire  cer-  Lgj^^g^  i^  fact,  the  cost  of  repairs  for  the  past 
tainty,  but  I  had  rather  keep  even  the  dew  offlfouj.  yg^rs  has  not  amounted  to  one  dollar  and 
of  mine.— Wji.  H.  Denning,  in  Country  Gentle-  g^y  cents  for  both  machines. 
fno,n.  ^ 'jjig  matter  of  grinding  needs  a  little  explana- 

tion. When  I  say  that  I  have  ground  but  once, 
I  allude  to  a  general  grinding  of  all  the  blades 
in  the  finger  bar.  With  the  exception  of  grind- 
ing a  single  knife  after  it  had  come  in  contact 
with  a  stone  or  a  bone,  the  whole  has  been  done 
Mr.  Editor; — In  the  use  of  labor-saving  ma-:  with  the  English  burr  whetstone,  costing  twenty- 
chines,  perhaps  there  is  no  question  among  far- .five  cents,  and  consuming  less  time  than  it  takes 
mers  that  engrosses  more  attention  and  discus- 1  to  grind  the  scythe  for  an  Irishman  after  he  has 
sion  than  the  expediency  of  employing  a  mowing  whet  the  same  a  dozen  times.  My  horses  have 
machine.  This  is  a  question  which  every  sensi-:  seldom  sweat  during  the  operation  of  mowing, 
ble  farmer  will,  of  course,  settle  for  himself,  ta-,and  I  do  not  think  it  harder  work  for  a  pair  of 
king  into  consideration  the  quantity  of  grass  to  i  horses  than  the  splitting  of  corn  hills, 
be  cut,  the  amount  of  labor  to  be  hired,  and  the  The  machine  can  be  put  in  order  for  work  in 
adaptation  of  his  farm  to  a  njower  ;  still  I  think  less  than  five  minutes  after  reaching  the  lot  to  be 
a  little  practical  experience  may  be  necessary  to  |  cut,  and  proceed  forthwith  to  cut  the  double 
lead  him  to  a  just  and  positive  conclusion.  It  is  swath.  It  makes  very  little  difference  with  horses 
the  weakness  of  some  men  to  believe  that  animal] or  machines  whether  the  grass  is  thick  or  thin, 
and  mechanical  labor  is  much  cheaper  than  man-, lodged  or  standing  up,  wet  or  dry.  In  the  matter 
ual,  and  your  subscriber  happens  to  be  of  that  of  drying,  however,  it  is  better  to  wait  until  the 
class.  Under  the  influence  of  this  infirmity,  I  dew  is  oft",  if  the  grass  is  heavy.  The  finger  bar  not 
purchased  a  Ketchum  machine  four  years  since 'being  encumbered  with  any  thing,  we  run  it  up  un- 
of  the  firm  oi  Ruijgles,  Nourse,  Mason  8c  Co.,  and'der  a  low  apple  tree,  round  a  stone,  in  fact,  any 
whatever  I  have  to  say  relates  wholly  to  that  pa- [place  where  it  does  not  require  a  short  corner  to 
tent.     I  was  among  the  first  to  employ  a  mower  the  left.  Being  on  a  line  with  the  driving  wheel. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

FOUR  YEARS  BXPERIENCE  "WITH  A 
MOWING  MACHINE. 


in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  likewise  a  horse- 
rake,  having  used  the  latter  nineteen  years.  I 
have  never  seen  any  other  machine  in  operation, 
and  am  not  qualified  to  judge  of  their  relative 


it  shaves  the  convex  and  concave  surfaces  beau- 
tifully. I  have  this  season  cut  a  surface,  so  un- 
even that  we  could  not  cart  a  load  of  hay  over 
it.   It  is  nearly  all  iron,  not  subject  to  decay,  ex- 


merits.  I  think,  however,  that  the  firm  who  nowicept  the  pole  and  driver's  seat.  Take  off  the  fin- 
manufacture  the  Ketchum  machine,  (Nourse,'ger  bar  and  pole,  and  it  is  as  compact  as  a  wheel- 
Mason  &  Co.,)  have  been  very  ambitious  to  dis-1  barrow,  and  may  be  run  and  stored  by  one  man 
cover,  and  to  add  improvements  as  fast  as  they  I  in  like  manner.  Every  part  appears  to  be  of  the 
could  be  discovered,  in  order  to  perfect  the  ma-  required  relative  strength,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
chine.     On  my  part,  I  have  been  equally  ambi-jsay  which  part  is  most  likely  to  fail. 


64 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


Now,  Mr.  Editor,  if  I  have  not  weaned  you 
with  my  "four  years'  experience  with  a  mower," 
I  should  like  to  tell  you  what  I  consider  to  be 
the  advantages  of  a  mowin<^  machine. 

1.  It  gives  all  the  hands  about  three  hours 
every  morning  to  pitch  off  hay  carted  the  day  be- 
fore— keep  clear  of  weeds  the  hoed  crops,  and 
throw  up  muck  and  compost  manure  for  fall  seed- 
ing. The  importance  of  the  two  last  items  far- 
mers have  net  yet  begun  to  appreciate. 

2.  It  gives  an  opportunity  of  cutting  all  we 
wish  to  cut  for  the  day  after  the  dew  is  off,  and 
the  reputation  of  the  day  for  a  haymaker  estab- 
lished. 

3.  It  spreads  the  swaths  better  than  is  done 
by  hand. 

4.  The  facilities  for  cutting  are  such  that  they 
enable  us  to  cut  our  grass  at  the  precise  time  it 
ought  to  be  cut,  thereby  saving  a  loss  by  being 
cut  too  early  or  too  late. 

5.  The  cheapness  of  the  operation  makes  it 
advisalile  to  take  from  grain  fields  the  stubble 
and  weeds  which  remain  after  the  reapers  or  cra- 
dlers  and  doing  which  cleanses  the  future  crop 
and  affords  bedding  for  stock. 

6.  In  cutting  the  after  swath,  you  can  cut  at 
the  rate  of  an  acre  an  hour,  and  cut  to  "suit  your 
taste,"  whether  close  to  the  ground,  or  take  off 
the  heads  of  clover  for  seed. 

Finally,  the  mowing  machine  imparts  to  the 
whole  process  and  operation  of  haying,  the  pleas- 
ing aspect  of  relief  and  comfort,  instead  of  labor 
and  anxiety.  CiiAs.  Humphreys. 

Lancaster,  Nov.  24,  1S58. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ROOT  CROPS. 

I  noticed  in  a  recent  Farmer  the  article  of  "E. 
E.,"  on  "Root  Crops."  He  seems  so  much  to  un- 
dervalue turnips,  that  I  feel  constrained  to  bring 
in  my  testimony  in  favor  of  them.  Having  had 
an  opportunity  of  testing  their  worth,  I  am  desi- 
rous that  others  should  be  informed  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

Last  year  I  raised  sixty  or  seventy  bushels  ot 
French  and  rutabaga  turnips  among  my  corn.  I 
had  a  first  rate  crop  of  corn  notwithstanding. 
Now  I  do  feel  confident  that  turnips  are  good 
not  only  for  cattle,  but  for  hogs  also.  I  began 
to  feed  my  shoats  last  fall  oh  boiled  turnips,  and 
continued  so  to  do,  until  the  next  June,  and  think 
them  as  good,  if  not  better,  than  potatoes  for 
hogs.  Your  correspondent  objects  very  much  to 
the  smell  of  turnips  ;  for  my  part  I  wish  I  had 
five  hundred  bushels  of  them,  for  the  smell  would 
be  no  more  offensive  to  me  than  the  sweet  odor 
of  a  confectioner's  shop.  L.  Chase. 

Hampstead,  N.  II, 


Pork  and  Scrofula. — There  has  long  exist- 
ed a  strong  prejudice  against  the  use  of  pork  as 
food  for  human  beings — how  it  gained  such 
strength,  we  cannot  tell,  but  have  always  be- 
lieved the  prejudice  to  be  without  any  good  rea- 
son. We  have  known  persons  with  comparative- 
ly feeble  powers  of  digestion,  to  eat  pork  in  va- 
rious forms  with   as   much  comfort  as  they  did 


any  other  meat,  and  we  believe  it  may  be  used 
in  moderate  quantities  by  most  persons  with  as 
much  benefit  as  is  derived  from  any  other  meat. 
When  well  cooked,  it  is  so  palatable  and  deli- 
cious that  we  are  apt  to  partake  of  it  too  freely, 
and  this  is  probably  the  reason  why  pork  has  got 
so  bad  a  name. 

We  refer  the  reader  to  an  interesting  article 
on  the  subject  of  pork  as  food,  in  another  col- 
umn, and  thank  Dr.  HoLSTON  for  his  lucid  ex- 
position of  the  question. 

INSCRIPTION  FOR  A  WATCH. 

Could  but  our  tempers  move  like  t'jis  machine, 
Nor  urged  by  passion  nor  delayed  by  spleen  ; 
And  true  to  Nature's  regulating  power, 
By  virtuous  acts  distinguish  every  hour  : 
Then  health  and  joy  would  follow,  as  they  ought, 
The  laws  of  motion  and  the  laws  of  thought ; 
Sweet  health  to  pass  the  present  moments  o'er, 
And  everlasting  joy  when  time  shall  be  no  more. 

Dr.  J.  Byron. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
POTATOES— ROOTS  AND  STOCK. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  have  made  an  accidental  ex- 
periment this  year,  that  may  be  worth  adding  to 
your  collection  of  facts  in  respect  to  the  potato 
culture.  I  plowed  an  acre  of  green  sward  in 
April,  and  planted  it  with  Carter  potatoes,  cut  in- 
to one  eye  pieces,  and  without  any  manure.  It 
was  plowed  deep,  and  a  handful  of  ashes  was  ap- 
plied to  each  hill,  at  first  hoeing.  For  some 
time  the  potatoes  looked  small ;  but  they  yielded 
a  hundred  bushels  of  very  good  sized,  i.xcellent 
potatoes,  quite  free  from  disease. 

In  the  middle  of  the  field,  however,  there  was 
a  large  heap  of  barn-yard  manure,  that  had  been 
drawn  out  in  the  fall  and  left  there  till  planting 
time.  The  manure  was  carried  away  and  the  spot 
it  had  covered  planted  exactly  like  the  rest  of  the 
land.  The  result  was  a  much  larger  yield  of 
larger  potatoes  on  this  spot  than  on  any  other 
part  of  the  field.  But  all  of  them  were  so  much 
diseased  as  to  be  almost  entirely  worthless. 

•I  may  also  add  my  experience  to  that  of  sev- 
eral of  your  correspondents,  in  favor  of  roots 
for  cattle.  A  year  ago  my  stock  of  cows  and 
yearlings  were  kept  entirely  on  turnips,  straw 
and  corn  fodder  till  March.  They  were  then  in 
good  condition  and  never  wintered  so  well. 

C.  B.  Haddock. 

West  Lebanon,  N,  H.,  Dec.  6,  1858. 


Origin  of  the  Carter  Potato. — About 
thirty  years  ago,  more  or  less,  John  Carter,  a  res- 
ident of  Savoy,  in  the  county  of  Berkshire,  ex- 
perimented for  the  purpose  of  the  improvement 
of  potatoes  by  planting  potato  lialls,  and  at  har- 
vesting the  first  year  he  found  that  he  had  ad 
vanced  one  step  towards  bringing  out  a  new  po- 
tato. He,  therefore,  the  next  year  planted  the 
seed  raised  the  first,  and  so  on  for  several  years, 
till  he  produced  the  potato  now  distinguished  as 
the  Carter.  Mr.  Carter  died  soon  after,  and 
therefore  did  not  enjoy  the  full  glory  of  his  dis- 
covery.— Spruigjield  Itepublican, 


1859. 


KEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


65 


FANNING-  AND  ASSORTING  MACHINE. 


We  speak^of  this  machine  after  a  personal  in- 
spection of  it,  and  after  witnessing  repeated  op- 
«!rations  of  its  work.  We  saw  a  variety  of  seeds 
as  thoroughly  mixed  in  a  box  as  they  could  be, 
turned  into  the  hopper  of  the  Assorting  Machine, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  returned,  thoroughly  clean, 
and  each  kind  of  seed,  as  well  as  all  imperfect 
seeds,  in  a  box  by  itself!  You  may  mingle  grain 
and  grass  seeds,  garden  and  flower  seeds,  beans, 
peas,  coffee,  rice,  and  they  will  be  rapidly  re- 
turned to  you,  clean,  and  each  by  itself!  Peas 
and  beans  may  be  assorted  according  to  their 
size,  and  thus  give  them  a  uniform  appearance, 
which  increases  their  market  value.  The  machine 
is  simple  in  construction,  not  liable  to  get  out  of 
order,  and  is  so  easily  operated  that  a  boy  a  dozen 
years  of  age,  can  comfortably  do  it.  It  was  in- 
vented by  Mr.  RuFUS  Nutting,  of  Randolph, 
Vt.,  who  may  be  addressed  by  those  interested. 


A  Simple  Remedy  for  BRoxcniTis.— A 
writer  in  the  Baltimore  Snn\vh.o  has  been  afflict- 
ed severely  in  his  family  by  that  appalling  dis- 
ease, bronchitis,  has  found  relief  from  the  follow- 
ing remedy : — "Take  honey  in  the  comb,  squeeze 


it  out  and  dilute  with  a  little  water,  and  wet  the 
lips  and  mouth  occasionally  v.ith  it."  It  had 
never  been  known  to  fail,  in  cases  where  children 
had  throats  so  swollen  as  to  be  unable  to  swal- 
low. It  is  certainly  a  simple  remedy,  and  may 
be  a  very  efucacious  one. 


Delays  of  the  Law.  —  In  one  of  Judge 
French's  letters  from  London,  published  in  the 
Farmer  in  August,  1857,  in  speaking  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  he  said,  "England  had 
made  many  advances,  while  we  in  New  England 
have  stood  quietly  still,  awe-stricken  and  uncov- 
ered in  our  veneration  for  old  legal  fictions  and 
forms,  which  are  really  entitled  to  no  more  re- 
spect or  reverence,  than  are  the  old  horse-hair 
gray  wigs,  which  in  England  every  judge  and 
every  barrister  is  compelled  to  wear  in  the 
courts."  "Of  these  matters,"  he  added,  "I  may 
have  something  to  say  at  some  proper  time  and 
place,  when  further  observation  shall  have  assist- 
ed my  knowledge." 

It  appears  that  this  sort  of  a  half-promise  was 
gladly  received  by  some  persons,  and  they  have 
been  waiting  patiently  for  its  fulfilment.     Upon 


66 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Fee. 


suggesting  this  to  the  Judge,  he  writes — "I  have 
already  twice  delivered  a  charge  to  the  Grand 
Jury  on  the  Delays  of  the  Law,  in  which  I  sug- 
gest the  improvements  made  in  Old  England, 
especially  in  the  system  of  County  Courts.  I 
have  been  requested  by  the  Grand  Jury  of  Car- 
roll County  to  furnish  it  for  publication,  which  I 
may  do  at  some  future  time.  It  is  not  a  sub- 
ject adapted  to  an  agricultural  paper,  but  rather 
to  a  law  magazine." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
KAISING  AND  FEEDING  BOOTS. 

Mr.  Editou: — In  the  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject there  is  one  important  point  which,  if  I  recol- 
lect rightly,  has  not  been  made  sufficiently  promi- 
nent by  your  correspondents ;  that  is,  the  great  ad- 
vantage to  be  derived  from  root  crops,  in  lengthen- 
ing out  a  proper  rotation,  and  in  affording  a 
change  or  variety  of  feed.  I  am  not  yet  a  be- 
liever in  turnips,  or  any  other  root,  as  an  ex- 
clusive feed,  nor  do  I  think  it  best  to  feed 
them  to  any  great  extent,  in  severe  cold  weath- 
er, unless  warm  shelter  is  afl'orded  for  the 
stock  to  which  they  are  fed.  But  I  have,  for 
several  j'ears,  fed  a  few  turnips  to  young  stock 
in  the  spring,  and  I  am  fully  confident,  that,  not 
only  did  it  make  them  more  healthy,  improving 
their  coats  and  affording  a  gradual  change  from 
liay  to  grass,  but  that  the  nutriment  supplied 
was  amply  sufficient  to  pay  all  expense  of  raising 
the  turnips. 

No  one  doubts  the  advantage  of  a  little  corn 
meal,  or  oil  meal,  or  oats,  in  addition  to  the  usu- 
al feed  of  hay,  yet  no  sane  man  would  think  of 
attempting  to  keep  neat  cattle  entirely  on  either. 
Why,  then,  do  they  expect  any  better  results  from 
roots  fed  in  like  manner?  Perhaps  no  one  would 
think  of  carrying  it  quite  to  this  extent,  yet  I 
think  Mr.  Emerson  went  nearly  as  far  in  some 
respects,  and  I  would  respectfully  suggest  to  him 
to  read  an  article  in  the  November  Agnculiurist, 
by  "Diogenes  Redivivus,"  entitled  "A  Despond- 
ing Farmer." 

I  think  highly  of  turnips,  also,  as  a  feed  for 
swine,  to  which  I  have  been  feeding  them  for  a  few 
weeks  in  the  following  manner.  I  fill  a  barrel 
kettle  with  one-fifth  turnips  and  the  rest  pota- 
toes, and  boil  with  water  enough  to  wet  a  half 
bushel  of  meal,  which  I  add  when  cooked  soft. 
I  have  not  the  means  of  weighing,  to  ascertain 
the  precise  result,  but  they  appear  to  be  thriving 
much  better  than  I  ever  saw  any  when  fed  on 
clear  meal,  and  the  way  they  take  hold  of  it,  cer- 
tainly indicates  that  it  suits  their  taste  exactly. 
I  ought,  perhaps,  to  add  that  I  tried  the  potatoes 
and  meal  without  the  turnips,  and  allowing  pig- 
gy to  be  a  judge,  the  addition  of  the  turnips  is  a 
decided  benefit.  I  have  seen  the  experiment  tried 
of  raising  swine  on  corn  meal,  and  on  corn  and 
oat  meal,  repeatedly,  and  although  either  may 
answer  well  for  fattening  swine  previously  grown 
on  other  feed,  or  when  mixed  with  a  good  sup- 
ply of  skimmed  milk,  it  has  invariable  proved  a 
complete  failure  when  fed  to  young  animals,  un- 
less with  the  addition  of  a  large  amount  of  milk. 

My  own  experience,  as  well  as  the  directions 
of  nearly  all  agricultural  writers,  indicates  that, 


as  a  general  rule,  no  one  cultivated  crop  ought  to 
be  taken  from  the  same  land  two  years  in  succes- 
sion ;  and  in  the  cultivation  of  young  orchards 
especially,  which  is  an  absolute  annual  necessity, 
and  where  grain  crops  are  considered  injurious, 
the  turnip  is  indispensable,  and  farther,  as  far  as 
my  experience  goes,  it  can  be  profitably  grown  ; 
in  proof  of  which,  I  will  give  the  result  of  a  small 
patch  which  I  raised  the  past  season  : 

ESPENBE   OP   CEOP. 

Use  16  rods  land $1,00 

Preparing  land  and  sowing 1,00 

Hoeing 2,00 

Harvesting 2,00 

Manure 1,00 

Total $7,00 

Amount  of  crop,  103  bushels,  at  121  cts $r3,87 

Cost 7,00 

Profit ,.$5,87 

It  is  true  the  land  was  in  good  condition  ;  an  acre 
of  such  land  would,  with  an  addition  of  30  loads 
hog  manure  in  the  hill,  have  produced  80  bu. 
corn,  (GO  pounds  to  the  bushel,)  and  this  leads 
me  to  another  point,  viz.,  without  this  same  hog 
manure  I  could  not  raise  over  half  that  amount 
of  corn  per  acre,  and  I  believe  more  than  half 
the  farmers  of  the  northern  part  of  New  Eng- 
land are  in  the  same  predicament,  unless  they 
substitute  some  of  the  concentrated  fertilizers,  a 
plan  which  I  consider  to  be  of  more  than  doubt- 
ful expediency. 

I  have  liad  plenty  of  evidence  that  we  cannot 
keep  swine  without  roots  or  milk,  the  last  of 
which,  after  deducting  for  raising  calves,  &c.,  is 
in  many  cases  a  minus  quantity  ;  therefore  I  come 
to  this  conclusion — no  roots,  no  swine — no  swine, 
no  corn. 

I  should  have  stated  that  in  harvesting  turnips, 
I  cut  off  all  the  roots  close  to  the  bulb,  which, 
although  adding  one-quarter  to  the  cost  of  get- 
ting in,  makes  them  much  neater  to  feed. 

William  F.  Bassett. 

AsJifield,  Mass.,  Dec.  13,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

"WILL  BABLEY  TUEN  TO  OATS? 

In  the  Farmer  of  Dec.  11,  "E.  B."  inquires  if 
barley  cut  down  by  frost  or  eaten  down  by  cattle 
will  turn  to  oats.  Some  sixty  years  ago  an  opin- 
ion prevailed  extensively  in  the  lower  or  sea- 
board towns  in  this  county  (York,  Me.,)  that  bar- 
ley, under  such  circumstances,  would  turn  to  oats. 
When  a  small  boy,  I  heard  farmers  talk  about  the 
matter,  and  my  brothers  made  some  experiments 
to  test  the  accuracy  of  this  opinion,  but  could  not 
produce  the  effect.  The  first  experiments  I  ever 
made  in  farming  was  when  a  small  boy,  may  be 
less  than  ten  years  old.  In  going  to  school,  to 
save  travel  I  crossed  a  field  in  a  footpath  through 
a  piece  of  growing  barley,  and  as  I  passed,  I 
cropped  it  off  in  several  places  just  before  the 
heads  appeared,  so  as  to  touch  the  top  of  the  com- 
ing head.  The  mutilated  barley,  in  due  time,  made 
its  appearance,  or  was  destroyed  entirely,  but  no 
oats.  Where  I  have  lived  the  last  forty  years  no 
barley  of  any  consequence  is  raised,  and  I  have 
heard  nothing  of  such  an  improbable  suggestion, 
but  a  similar  notion  has  prevailed  here  that  win- 
ter wheat  will,  when  injured  in  the  winter,  turn 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAR:MER. 


67 


to  rye — so  at  the  South  and  West  many  contend 
that  winter  wheat  in  such  circumstances  will  turn 
to  chess  or  cheat. 

In  1826  or  1827,  being  in  the  north-western 
part  of  Maine,  I  brought  home  winter  wheat,  and 
the  next  year  sowed  it  in  my  garden,  to  test  the 
correctness  of  this  notion,  not  that  I  believed  it, 
but  to  convince  my  neighbors  of  the  error.  I 
continued  to  sow  that  from  year  to  year  for  many 
years,  and  nearly  every  year  since  have  sowed 
that  or  some  other  M'inter  wheat,  and  though  of- 
ten partially  or  wholly  winter-killed,  it  never 
turned  to  chess  or  rye. 

My  impression  is,  that  winter  wheat  being  a 
tender  plant,  gets  injured  and  killed,  and  gives 
way  to  rye  or  chess,  which  ever  kind  there  may 
be  of  stray  kernels  in  the  ground.  There  being 
no  chess  here,  rye  is  the  only  chance  seed  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  the  killed  wheat.  My  father  used 
to  raise  barley  and  sell  considerable  quantities 
for  seed,  because  he  kept  his  grain  clean  and  free 
from  oats,  and  he  was  never  troubled  with  its 
turning  to  oats. 

He  used  to  sow  some  barley  mixed  with  wheat, 
under  the  impression  that  then  prevailed  that 
wheat  with  barley  would  not  rust  or  blast  as 
when  sown  alone.  I  know  not  if  there  was  any- 
thing in  that  impression,  but  it  was  curious  to 
see  the  operation  of  the  practice.  Sometimes  for 
a  series  of  years  the  wheat  part  of  the  mixture 
would  dwindle  and  nearly  all  disappear,  and  then 
for  another  series  of  years  the  wheat  would  gain 
on  the  barley,  and  nearly  exterminate  it.  This 
practice  of  mixing  wheat  and  barley  sometimes, 
so  far  as  I  recollect,  operated  well,  and  generally 
produced  good  crops,  and  it  made  good  bread,  but 
I  believe  he  used  to  make  the  experiment  on  his 
best  land.  Barley  was  easily  raised  and  was  a  sure 
crop  on  my  father's  farm  formerly,  bui  for  the 
last  twenty  or  thirty  years  it  is  almost  an  entire 
failure.  The  fact  is  difficult  to  amount  for,  as  it 
was  why  the  wheat  should  give  way  to  barley 
and  at  other  times  the  reverse. 

RuFUs  McInttre. 

Parsonsfield,  Me.,  Dec,  1858. 


THE  SUNLIGHT. 


In  Lewes'  "Seaside  Studies,"  is  *he  oiiowing 
fine  passage  :  "And  now,  reader,  as  you  ramble 
through  the  corn-fields,  and  see  the  shadows  run- 
ning over  them,  remember  that  every  wandering 
cloud  which  floats  in  the  blue  deep  retards  the 
vital  activity  of  every  plant  on  which  its  shadows 
fall.  Look  on  all  flowers,  fruits  and  leaves,  as 
air-woven  children  of  the  light.  Learn  to  look  at 
the  sun  with  other  eyes,  and  not  to  think  of  it  as 
remote  in  space,  but  nearly  and  momentarily  con- 
nected with  us  and  all  living  things.  Astronomy 
may  measure  the  mighty  distance  which  separ- 
ates us  from  that  blazing  pivot  of  life  ;  but  biol- 
ogy throws  a  luminous  arch  which  spans  those 
millions  upon  millions  of  miles,  and  brings  us 
and  the  sun  together.  Far  away  blazes  that  great 
centre  of  force,  from  which  issues  the  mystic  in- 
fluence, 'Striking  the  electric  chain  wherewith 
we  're  darkly  bound.'  For  myriads  and  myriads 
of  years  has  this  radiation  of  force  gone  on  ;  and  ' 
now  stored  up  force  lies  quiescent  in  corn-fields 
of  vast  extent,  once  all  pure  sunlight  hurrying 
through  the  silent  air,  passing  into  primeval  for- 


ests, before  man  was  made,  and  now  lying  black, 
quiet,  slumbering,  but  ready  to  awaken  into  bla- 
zing activity  at  the  bidding  of  human  skill.  From 
light  the  corn-fields  came,  to  light  return.  From 
light  came  the  prairies  and  meadow  lands,  the 
heathery  moors,  the  reedy  swamps,  the  solemn 
forests  and  the  smiling  corn-fields,  orchards,  gar- 
dens— all  are  air-woven  children  of  light."  Yet, 
after  all,  it  is  but  an  amplificatio'n  of  Stevenson's 
well-known  reply  to  Buckland,  on  the  power  that 
was  drawing  the  railway  train. 


For  the  New  England  Fanner 
ON"  THE  USE  OP  FRESH  MANUBS. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  saw  a  piece  in  the  Farmer 
of  Nov.  27th,  signed  "R.  Mansfield,"  on  "The 
use  of  fresh  manure."  He  thinks  that  manure 
made  and  kept  in  a  barn  cellar  is  not  as  good  as 
that  thrown  outside,  where  it  receives  the  rains, 
snow,  frost,  &c.  He  says,  "I  believe  it  is  good 
policy  to  have  our  yards  for  manure  outside  the 
barn,  where  swine  can  have  free  access  to  them 
during  the  daytime  ;  and  fifty  per  cent,  more  ma- 
nure in  value  may  be  made  than  in  the  more 
modern  way  of  keeping  both  manure  and  swine 
in  a  cellar." 

Now  I  wish  to  give  you  some  of  my  experience 
and  practice  in  making  manure  in  a  barn  cellar, 
and  you  may  make  such  use  of  it  as  you  think 
proper.  My  barn  is  seventy  feet  long  by  thirty-six 
wide,  with  a  cellar  under  the  whole  of  it.  I  keep 
from  thirteen  to  fifteen  cows,  one  yoke  of  oxen, 
one  horse  ;  sometimes  tAvo.  1  made  from  sixty  to 
seventy  loads  of  manure  a  year  before  I  dug  the 
cellar,  which  was  six  years  ago ;  but  since  then  I 
have  made  from  150  to  175  loads  in  the  same  time. 
My  cellar  is  made  so  warm  that  the  manure  or 
loam  does  not  freeze  in  the  winter,  and  it  is  a  fine 
place  to  keep  my  roots  to  feed  to  my  stock  in  the 
winter.  I  commence  tying  up  my  cows  nights,  the 
first  of  Sept.  I  make  from  them,  by  the  midule 
of  November,  from  twenty- five  to  thirty  load"  of 
manure,  which  I  cart  out  and  put  it  in  a  heap 
where  I  intend  planting  the  coming  year,  and 
cover  it  up  well  with  loam.  I  then  put  in  thirty- 
five  to  forty  loads  of  loam  for  the  winter ;  I  put 
my  loam  under  the  barn  floor,  except  eight  or  ten 
loads  under  the  stable.  I  make  a  pen  for  my 
shoats  under  the  bay,  where  I  keep  six  through 
the  winter.  The  horse  manure  is  thrown  into 
the  pig-pen,  and  every  few  days  a  little  loam,  and 
in  this  way  I  make  thirty  If^ads  first-rate  manure. 
The  middle  of  the  cellar  being  the  lowest,  the 
water  from  the  cow  stable  settles  between  the 
loam  and  manure,  and  is  absorbed  by  the  loam 
and  thrown  upon  the  manure  heap  once  or  twice 
a  week  through  the  winter.  In  this  way,  I  save 
all  the  water  and  mix  it  well  with  the  manure, 
which  is  carted  out  in  the  spring,  on  my  corn 
ground.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  have  the  ma- 
nure so  saturated  with  the  urine  that  it  will  drip 
from  the  cart,  which  I  think  is  much  better  for 
the  land  than  to  be  filled  with  the  water  from  the 
eaves  of  the  barn,  snow.  Sec.  I  put  no  corn  stubs 
or  orts,  from  the  cows'  manger,  into  the  manure, 
unless  it  is  run  through  a  cutting-machine. 

You  will  see  from  the  above  that  I  increase 
my  manure  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent,  in 
quantity,  and  I  believe  more  than  twenty-five  per 


68 


NEW  ENGLAND    FARMER. 


Feb. 


cent,  in  value,  to  every  load,  as  you  will  see,  by  and  another  portion  of  it  into  manure,  for  that  is 
the  increase  of  my  crops.  Previous  to  having  the  natural  result  of  the  chemical  change  pro- 
my  cellar,  I  raised  from  thirty  to  forty  bushels  ^duced  in  the  laboratory  of  the  cow's  stomach, 
of  corn  to  the  acre,  and  since,  I  have  raised  from  I  The  same  result  will  follow  any  other  kind  of 
fifty  to  seventy-five  bushels  per  acre.  I  bought 'feeding.  Good  pasture  Avill  produce  an  abundance 
$100  worth  of  hay  a  year,  but  since  I  have  had: of  milk,  often  as  much  as  the  cow  can  carry ;  but 
the  cellar  I  have  kept  more  stock  and  had  several  [does  it  follow  that  even  then  it  Avill  not  be  prof- 
tons   of  hay  left,  notwithstanding  I  have  turned  itable  to  feed  her  with  some  more  oleaginous  food 


out  four  acres  of  mowing  to  pasturing.  I  have  not 
only  got  my  mowing  in  good  condition,  but  I 
plowed  last  spring  four  acres  of  an  old  pasture 
that  produced  hut  very  little  feed,  manured  it 
well,  and  raised  fifty-five  bushels  corn  to  the  acre. 
Barre,  Mass.,  Dec.  11,  1858.       R.  Haynes. 


Remarks. — Isn't  that  a  practical  report  from 
a  practical  man  ?  It  is  such  a  report  as  we 
phould  expect  from  such  an  operation. 


KING  AND  QUEEN. 

B7   L.    B.    ADAMS. 

I  am  a  king  in  my  own  domain, 

And  my  little  wife  is  queen, 
And  jointly  over  our  realm  we  reign, 

A  royal  couple,  I  ween. 

Beauty  and  grace  are  the  robes  that  Dow 

From  her  lily  shoulders  down. 
The  gems  of  truth  on  her  bosom  glovr. 

And  love  is  her  golden  crown. 

But  her  dainty  hands  are  brown  with  toil — 

Her  cheeks  with  the  breezes  kiss, 
And  she  works  for  a  tiller  of  the  soil 

As  if  toil  for  him  were  bliss. 

I  am  the  king  and  the  tiller  too, 

lly  farm  is  my  proud  domain, 
And  the  will  to  dare  and  the  s trengtn  to  do 

Are  the  scepters  of  my  reign. 

At  my  touch  the  teeming  earth  yields  up 

Her  wealth  for  my  feast  and  store, 
The  nectar  of  health  brims  high  my  cup. 

My  measure  of  bliss  runs  o'er. 

0,  ne'er  was  a  happier  realm,  I  ween. 
Than  ours,  'neath  the  arching  sky, 

And  never  a  happier  king  and  queen 
Than  my  little  wife  and  I. — Michigan  Farmer. 


to  increase  the  quantity  of  butter  just  as  it  some- 
times proves  profitable  to  feed  bees  to  enable 
them  to  store  more  honey.  It  certainly  does  ap- 
pear to  us  that  the  value  of  a  cow,  feeding  upon 
ordinary  winter  food,  may  be  almost  double  by 
making  that  food  suitable  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
creasing the  quantity  of  milk,  if  that  is  the  pur- 
pose for  which  the  cow  is  kept.  Farmers  gener- 
ally understand  that  they  can  convert  corn  into 
beef,  pork  and  lard,  and  some  of  them  know  ex- 
actly at  what  price  per  bushel  it  will  pay  to  con- 
jvert  it  into  these  substances  :  but  does  any  one 
know  at  what  rate  it  M-ill  pay  to  convert  corn  or 
any  other  grain  into  butter,  or  any  other  kind  of 
feed  into  the  dairy  products?  Is  the  whole  busi- 
ness a  hap-hazard  one  ?  We  fear  so.  Some  per- 
jsons  know  that  they  can  increase  the  saleable 
j  value  of  butter  by  adding  the  coloring  matter  of 
carrots  to  it.  Does  any  person  know  the  value 
of  a  bushel  of  carrots  fed  to  a  cow  to  increase  her 
value  as  a  butter-producing  laboratory  ?  Exper- 
imental proof  upon  this  point  would  be  far  more 
worthy  of  agricultural  prizes  than  it  is  to  see  who 
can  show  the  largest  sized  roots  ;  for  by  a  few 
carefully  conducted  experiments  we  should  be 
able  to  increase  the  value  of  a  cow  almost  at 
pleasure. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

"VALUE  OP  SHEEP  TO  THE  FARMER." 

A  selection  entitled  as  above,  (monthly  Farm- 
er, Sept  ,'58,  p.  399,)  has  called  forth  some  "Hints 
on  Keeping  Sheep,"  {Farmer  for  Nov.,  p.  499,) 
from  J.  Whitney,  of  East  Sullivan,  N.  H.  His 
communication  contains  many  ideas  of  value,  but 
seems  to  me  not  in  all  respects  applicable  to  the 
text  upon  which  he  comments.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  as  Mr.  W.  says,  that  "sheep  are  profitable 
to  the  farmer  who  has  a  broken  and  uneven  farm, 
and  his  pastures  have  been  suflered  to  grow  up 
to  bushes,  or  where  the  soil  has  become  exhaust- 
ed by  excessive  feeding,  and  M-ill  produce  none 
(not  more,  as  printed)  of  the  grasses,  except  June 
grass  or  white-top.  Land  that  has  thus  been  re- 
duced will  keep  sheep  better  than  any  other 
stock."  This  is  claimed  by  the  writer  in  ques- 
tion, and  also,  that  sheep  will  give  such  pastures 
a  smoother  appearance,  by  eradicating  the  wild 
In  summer  or  winter  this  plants,  so  that  good  glasses  may  take  their  place, 
can  be  improved  just  as  the  yield  of  a  cultivated  j  Whether  white  clover  would  come  in,  if  continu- 
crop  can  be  improved  by  what  is  fed  to  each,  and  I  ally  crop])ed  by  sheep,  I  have  my  doubts,  and 
it  is  simply  a  question  of  will  it  pay,  in  manuring  j  agree  with  Mr.  W.  that  a  good  pasture,  produc- 
the  one  or  feeding  the  other.  Indian  corn  will  ing  clover,  red-top  and  timothy,  would,  if  fed  by 
add  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  butter  to  sheep  alone  for  fifteen   or  twenty  years,  give,  in 


HOW   TO  INCREASE  THE  VALUE  OP 
A  COW. 

Every  one  who  owns  a  cow  can  see  at  a 
glance  that  it  would  be  profitable  to  increase  the 
value  of  her,  but  every  one  cannot  tell  how  to 
do  it.  We  can,  and  we  think  that  we  can  make 
it  equally  palpable  to  our  readers.  If  a  cow  is 
kept  for  butter,  it  certainly  would  add  to  her  val- 
ue if  the  butter-making  properties  of  her  milk 
should  be  improved 


a  very  sensible  degree,  and  it  is  simply  a  ques 
lion  of  easy  solution,  by  experiment,  whether  it 
will  add  to  the  profit  of  the  butter-maker  to  buy 
corn  at  one  or  two  cents  a  pound,  and  convert  a 
portion  of  it  into  butter  at  twenty-five  cen^s  a 
pound,  or  whatever  the  market  price  of  corn  and 
butter  may  be,  and  another  portion  of  it  into  fat, 


the  end,  very  little  clover  or  timothy.  The  same 
would  be  true  if  fed  constantly  and  closely  by 
horses  and  cattle. 

The  proportion  of  sheep  to  other  stock,  should 
depend  "on  the  character  of  the  pasturage,  and 
the  proportion  of  the  same  fitted  and  desirable 
for  tillage,"  if  one  would  keep^sheep  "without  in- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


69 


jury  to  the  farm  for  other  purposes."  So  says  the 
first  writer.  On  a  fully  improved  farm,  there 
ought  to  be  little  rubbish  to  consume.  But  we 
must  take  into  account  also,  the  value  of  the  ma- 
nure furnished,  as  well  as  the  food  consumed — 
nor  forget  that  a  starved  sheep  is  no  more  prof- 
itable than  any  other  half-fed  animal.  His  state- 
ment may  be  considered  entirely  true  only  under 
peculiar  circumstances,  partly  true  under  others, 
and  that  sheep  may  be  more  profitable  than  ad- 
ditional neat  stock  in  other  cases,  while  it  may 
be  entirely  false  in  regard  to  some  farms  and  cir- 
cumstances. 

In  wintering  sheep,  it  would  be  the  poorest 
policy  in  the  world  to  keep  them  entirely  "on 
rubbish  left  by  other  animals."  As  Mr.  W.  says, 
"they  may  survive,  but  not  flourish,  without  ex- 
tra feed."  I  would  rather  feed  my  sheep  first, 
and  give  what  they  refuse  to  other  animals,  than 
to  pursue  the  contrary  course.  "Attention  to 
their  wants,  the  eye  and  thought  of  the  owner," 
alone  can  make  sheep  profitable.  "Division  of 
the  flock  (according  to  age  and  condition)  good 
shelter,  with  (bean  and  oat)  straw  and  a  little 
grain,  will  bring  them  to  spring  pastures  in  bet- 
ter order,  than  if  kept  together,  with  double  ra- 
tions of  hay,  one-half  of  which  is  wanted  by  the 
stronger  animals,  while  the  weak  of  the  flock 
pick  up  but  a  scanty  living,  and  oftentimes  fail 
in  that,  befoi'e  winter  comes  to  an  end." 

I  have  taken  up  this  subject,  more  because  it 
is  one  that  needs  "stirring  up,"  among  us,  and 
to  commend  to  every  one  Mr.  Whitney's  closing 
remarks,  than  in  any  spirit  of  controversy  or 
fault-finding  with  his  article.  There  are  other 
points  in  regard  to  sheep-culture  on  which  I  may 
present  views,  hereafter,  in  their  proper  season. 

Eoyalton,  N.  Y.,  1858.  j.  n.  b. 


For  the  Netc  England  Farmer. 

A  TUMOE  OKT  A  COW'S  BRAIN. 

A  very  valuable  cow  belonging  to  Mr.  Nathan- 
iel Johnson,  of  Sturbridge,  was  killed  recently, 
to  put  an  end  to  her  sufferings,  and  on  opening 
her  head  there  was  found  a  hard  tumor  on  the 
brain,  but  no  disease  in  any  other  part.  It  ap- 
peared that  the  vitiated  humors  of  the  animal 
had  settled  on  the  brain,  forming  a  hard  excres- 
cence, which  must  have  caused  the  intense  pain 
that  gave  rise  to  the  singular  symptoms  of  dis- 
ease which  were  perceptible  for  some  six  or  eight 
weeks.  When  first  taken,  she  would  turn  her 
head  towards  one  side,  and  sometimes  turn  her 
jaws  slightly  upwards,  continuing  in  this  posi- 
tion, at  times,  for  several  minutes.  To  use  the 
common  phrase,  she  acted  strangely.  When  the 
spasms  were  not  on,  she  would  eat,  chew  her  cud 
and  give  milk  as  usual,  but  would  occasionally 
push  with  her  head  against  one  side  of  the  sta- 
ble, knocking  off  the  boards ;  and  although  her 
flesh  wasted  away  till  she  became  mere  skin  and 
bones,  yet,  the  night  before  she  was  killed,  she 
burst  open  the  barn-door,  (requiring  surprising 
strength  in  one  so  poor  and  sick)  and  was  found 
lying  on  the  ground  in  the  morning.  The  latter 
part  of  the  time  she  could  neither  eat  nor  drink, 
except  what  was  put  into  her  mouth  by  means  of 
a  bottle  and  the  hand.  Her  tongue  seemed  te 
be  paralyzed,  and  she  could  not  suck  in  water. 


As  the  difficulty  gradually  increased  in  severity, 
Mr.  J.  feeling  concerned  for  her  safety,  consulted 
those  who  are  reported  to  be  skilful  in  treating 
the  diseases  of  animals,  but  no  one  could  tell 
what  the  matter  was ;  some  pronounced  it  horn- 
ail  ;  others  thought  she  had  been  hurt  on  the 
head  or  neck,  or  both,  but  there  was  no  external 
sign  of  bodily  injury.  Mr.  J.  employed  every 
kind  of  rational  treatment  he  could  think  or  hear 
of,  with  but  little  relief  to  the  cow.  In  short,  he 
snared  no  pains  to  cure  her. 

This  case  is  considered  to  be  so  singular  that 
Mr.  J.  is  desirous  of  having  it  published  in  the 
Farmer,  to  elicit  statements  of  similar  cases,  with 
their  remedies,  if  any  such  be  known.  But  to 
dissolve  a  tumor  on  the  brain  of  a  living  animal 
is  probably  beyond  the  power  of  the  healing  art. 
Had  the  disease  been  known  on  its  first  appear- 
ance, it  would  have  been  an  act  of  mercy  to  kill 
her,  for  she  must  have  suffered  for  nearly  two 
months  a  degree  of  acute  pain  which  would,  in 
the  end,  have  caused  her  death. 

In  consideration  of  the  loss,  trouble  and  sick- 
ness of  Mr.  J.,  his  neighbors  have  promptly  made 
him  a  liberal  donation,  for  which  he  feels  exceed- 
ly  grateful.  c. 

Sturbridge,  Mass.,  Bee,  1858. 


PKOGRBSSIVE    AGRICULTUBE. 

The  N.  Y.  Observer  says  of  progressive  agri- 
culture : — "Under  its  influence,  spring  up  tasty 
and  convenient  dwellings,  adorned  with  shrubs 
and  flowers,  and  beautiful  Avithin  with  the  smiles 
of  happy  wives,  tidy  children  in  the  lap  of 
thoughtful  age — broad  hearts,  and  acts  as  well 
as  woi'ds  of  welcome.  Progressive  agriculture 
builds  barns  and  puts  gutters  on  them,  builds 
stables  for  cattle  and  raises  roots  to  feed  them. 
It  grafts  wild  apple  trees  by  the  meadow  with 
pippins  or  greenings, — it  sets  out  new  orchards 
and  takes  care  of  the  old  ones. 

It  drains  low  lands,  cuts  down  bushes,  buys  a 
mower,  houses  tools  and  wagons,  keeps  good 
fences  and  practices  soiling.  It  makes  hens  lay, 
chickens  live,  and  prevents  swine  from  rooting 
up  meadows.  Progressive  agriculture  keeps  on 
hand  plenty  of  dry  fuel,  and  brings  in  the  oven- 
wood  for  the  women.  It  plows  deeply,  sows 
plentifully,  harrows  evenly,  and  prays  for  the 
blessings  of  Heaven.  Finally,  it  subscribes  for 
good  religious,  agricultural  and  family  journals, 
and  pays  for  them  in  advance,  advocates  free 
schools,  and  always  takes  something  besides  the 
family  to  the  county  fair. 


Leaks  Simply  Stopped. — The  Lijvn  Kews 
says  : — "Some  years  ago  I  had  a  leaking  'L.' 
Every  northeast  storm  drove  its  waters  in.  I 
made  a  composition  of  four  pounds  of  resin,  one 
pint  linseed  oil,  and  one  ounce  red  lead,  applied 
it  hot  with  a  brush  to  the  part  where  the  'L'  was 
joined  to  the  main  house.  It  has  never  leake^^ 
since.  I  then  recommended  the  composition  to 
my  neighbor,  who  had  a  dormer  window  which 
leaked  badly.  He  applied  it,  and  the  leak 
stopped.  I  made  my  water-cask  tight  by  this 
.composition,  and  have  recommended  it  for  chim- 
neys, windows,  etc.,  and  it  has  always  proved  a 
cure  for  a  leak." 


70 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


COOKED  FOOD  FOB  FATTENIDTO- 
CATTLE. 

Mr.  Samuel  H.  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  has  been 
experimenting  in  feeding  several  lots  of  hogs, 
changing  them  from  raw  to  cooked  and  from 
cooked  to  raw  food,  ground  and  unground.  The 
Valley  Farmer  furnishes  us  with  the  following 
results : 

Mr.  Clay's  experiments  show,  that  to  make 
pork  on  dry  corn,  one  bushel  gave,  in  one  in- 
stance, a  gain  of  five  pounds  and  ten  ounces. 
In  changing  the  food,  on  the  same  animals,  to 
boiled  corn,  one  bushel  produced  a  gain  of  four- 
teen pounds  and  seven  ounces,  and  a  bushel  of  | 
corn  ground  and  cooked,  gave  a  gain  of  sixteen! 
pounds  and  seven  ounces  ;  while  in  another  in- 
stance, after  a  change  from  dry  corn  to  cooked 
meal,  the  gain  upon  one  bushel  was  but  a  frac- 
tion short  of  eighteen  pounds. 

These  experiments,  then,  show  an  average  gain 
of  about  three  pounds,  when  the  animals  were 
fed  on  cooked  food,  to  a  gain  of  one  pound  when 
fed  on  dry  corn.  Or,  to  reduce  the  comparative 
cost  of  the  gain  per  pound,  estimating  the  corn 
at  28  cents  per  bushel,  the  following  are  the  re-  j 
suits  :  When  the  hogs  were  fed  on  dry  corn,  the  i 
average  gain  cost  a  fraction  over  44  cents  perj 
pound.  The  same  animals,  when  fed  on  cooked  j 
meal,  the  gain  cost  a  fraction  over  Li-  cents  a  | 
pound,  or  when  fed  on  cooked  corn,  unground,  | 
the  gain  cost  1  cent  and  9  mills  per  pound,  leav- 
ing but  four  mills,  or  less  than  half  a  cent,  per ; 
pound  in  favor  of  cooked  unground,  or  allowing 
but  four  mills  per  pound  for  grinding,  exclusive  j 
of  the  greater  time  required  to  cook  whole  corn, 
over  that  which  is  ground.  But  to  come  to  the! 
point  more  definitely,  vre  will  reduce  the  price  of  j 
the  corn  to  25  cents  per  bushel,  (which  is  as  low 
as  may  now  ever  be  expected,  except,  perhaps, 
in  some  remote  quarter,)  and  reduce  the  gain 
from  two-thirds  to  one-half,  for  the  difference  be- 
tween cooked  and  uncooked  food,  which  will  be 
equal  to  twelve  and  a  half  cents  on  each  bushel 
of  corn  fed  out,  and  see  how  the  question  v.'ill 
stand. 

With  a  properly  constructed  apparatus  and 
suitable  feeding  arrangements,  one  man  can  cook 
and  feed  out  100  bushels  of  meal  in  a  day.  To 
do  this,  his  meal  must  be  placed  in  bins  so  as  to 
be  conducted  into  the  steam-vat  without  hand- 
ling, and  his  feed-troughs  so  arranged  that  the 
slop  Avill  flow  into  them  in  the  same  manner, 
without  handling.  But  if  corn  is  cooked  with- 
out shelling  or  grinding,  two  men  -would  be  re- 
quired to  manage  the  same  quantity.  In  the 
first  instance,  then,  there  would  be  a  saving  of 
50  bushels  of  corn,  which,  at  25  cents  per  bushel, 
is  $12,50,  to  be  offset  by  the  labor  of  one  man, 
one  day,  which,  at  $1,25  per  day,  leaves  a  profit 
of  $11,25  in  favor  of  cooking.  But,  if  the  corn 
be  cooked  whole,  and  requires  to  be  fed  out  by 
nand,  allovving  two  hands,  at  the  same  cost  per 
day,  there  will  still  be  a  gain  of  $10. 

But  to  simplify  the  question  still  further  :  Is 
it  not  cheaper  to  cook  100  bushels  of  corn  than 
it  is  to  raise  50  bushels?  But  besides  a  saving 
of  one-half  of  the  corn,  by  the  process  of  cook- 
ing, there  are  numerous  other  advantages  to  be 
taken  into  account.  The  same  weight  is  attained, 
according  to  the  experiment  above  quoted,  in 
one-third  of  the  time,  or  we  will  reduce  this  also 


to  one-half,  avoiding  the  risk  of  accidents  to  an- 
imals on  the  time  gained,  the  care  and  attend- 
ance in  feeding,  the  advantages  of  weather  in  the 
earlier  and  more  favorable  season  for  feeding,  to- 
gether with  other  incidental  matters  not  enu- 
merated. 

The  conclusions,  which  are  generally  arrived 
at,  are  predicated  upon  the  idea  that  prevails  in 
regard  to  the  cost  of  cooking  food,  according  to 
the  primitive  methods  employed  in  the  East  in  a 
single  kettle,  or  Mott's  agricultural  boiler.  These 
are  adapted  only  to  small  operations,  and,  of 
course,  to  depend  on  them,  would  incur  consider- 
able cost  for  labor,  fuel,  &c.  But  Ave  should  not 
forget  that  this  is  a  progressive  age,  and  the  in- 
ventive powers  of  our  countrymen  are  adequate 
to  any  emergency  of  the  times,  or  demands  of 
the  age.  Every  one  Avho  is  acquainted  with  dis- 
tilling, knows  that  many  hundred  of  bushels  of 
corn  go  through  the  destructive  process,  in  one 
of  these  establishments,  in  a  single  day  ;  and  if 
the  same  quantity  was  only  to  be  prepared  as 
food  for  swine,  with  boilers  constructed  alone  for 
that  purpose,  the  same  work  could  be  performed 
with  greater  facility,  and  less  labor.  To  provide 
a  boiler  and  steam-vat  of  a  capacity  suited  to 
extensive  feeding,  with  the  necessary  fixtures, 
would  cost  severa'.  hundred,  or  perhaps  a  thous- 
and dollars,  but  like  many  other  branches  of 
business,  we  are  convinced  that  the  larger  the 
establishment,  the  more  profitably  it  may  be  con- 
ducted, and  that,  not  only  may  the  cost  of  the 
fixtures  soon  be  saved,  but  a  large  per  centage 
of  the  corn  usually  fed. 

We  are  perfectly  satisfied  from  our  own  re- 
peated experiments,  which  have  been  fully  sus- 
tained by  those  conducted  by  others,  that  with  a 
suitable  establishment  of  capacity  adapted  to 
the  end  in  view,  a  great  saving  may  be  secured 
by  this  method  of  preparing  food  for  swine,  and 
we  believe  with  scarcely  less  profit  for  beef  cat- 
tle. We  Avish  some  philanthropic,  enterprising 
farmer  Avould  take  the  matter  in  hand,  and  make 
an  experiment  on  a  dozen  or  more  bullocks, 
through  a  full  course  of  fattening  on  steamed 
food,  both  gram  and  hay,  Avith  an  equal  number 
fed  in  the  ordinary  way. 

If  grain  is  not  to  be  cooked,  we  still  contend, 
as  we  ever  have,  that  it  should  be  well  ground, 
whether  fed  to  hogs,  cattle  or  horses,  and  to  cat- 
tle and  horses  it  should  always  be  given  in  com- 
bination Avith  the  coarser  food. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
WORCESTEK  COUNTS. 

TKANSACT10N3   OF    THE   AVORCESTER   AOraCULIURAL   SOCIETY  FOR 

THE  Year  1S58. 

By  the  kindness  of  a  friend,  I  have  the  favor 
of  this  interesting  annual.  Accustomed  as  I  have 
been  for  forty  years  to  look  to  the  heart  of  the 
Commonwealth  for  instruction  in  agriculture.  I 
ahvays  glance  my  eye  over  the  pages  of  their 
Transactions  Avith  deep  interest.  The  present 
pamphlet  contains  much  that  is  instructive  and 
interesting.  Several  reports  are  elaborate  and 
sensible,  particularly  on  Milch  Cows  and  AVork- 
ing  Cattle — objects  for  which  the  county  has 
long  been  famous.  The  number  of  fine  milch 
coAvs  exhibited  at  the  shoAv  was  much  less  than  I 
ahould  have  expected.     There  Avas  aAvarded  for 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


71 


cows,  $46  ;  oxen  and  steers,  $108  ;  horses,  $285. 
What  could  have  induced  the  discerning  farmers 
of  Worcester  to  apply  so  large  a  portion  of  their 
funds  to  the  horse,  is  beyond  my  power  to  con- 
jecture. I  admire  a  good  horse,  but  I  can  see  no! 
reason  why  he  should  be  entitled  to  a  larger, 
award  than  a  fine  pair  of  working  oxen,  or  a  fine; 
herd  of  milch  cov.-s.  This  horse  mania  is  running' 
away  with  our  judgments  and  our  money  also.  I 
am  sorry  that  it  is  spreading  so  wide  and  so  deep 
among  the  substantial  yeomanry  of  Massachu- 
setts. It  should  be  corrected.  Essex. 
December  13,  1858. 


Well  might  as  well  expect  the  body  to  grow  and 
flourish  without  its  vitalizing  breath ;  theory  and 
practice  must  go  together,  and  it  is  well  if  the 
practice  is  quite  thorough  before  we  pause  to 
theorize  much.  That  proper  schools  for  instruc- 
tion will  afford  the  young  farmer  important  aid 
in  the  pursuit  of  his  business,  will  not  admit  of  a 
I  doubt,  it  seems  to  us,  in  any  unprejudiced  mind. 
What  such  schools  shall  embrace,  and  how  they 
shall  be  managed,  are  questions  not  yet  settled 
amons  us. 


SPIRIT  OP  THE  AGRICULTURAL  PRESS 

Long  White  French  Turnip. — A  writer  in  | 
the  Germantoicn  Telegraph  has  given  this  turnip  | 
a  fair  trial,  and  concludes  that  the  common  yel-j 
low  ruta-baga  is  far  preferable  to  grow,  either  for 
stock  or  for  culinary  purposes.  | 

Fall  Manuring  for  Corn. — Another  writer 
in  the  Telegraph  states  that  he  has  long  been  in 
the  practice  of  hauling  out  manure  early  in  the 
spring  for  corn,  directly  from  the  barn-yard,  andi 
in  its  unfermented  state,  and  plowing  it  under  j 
deeply  and  thoroughly.  He  calls  ten  inches  deep 
plowing.  He  says — "I  have  tried  hauling  out  and 
spreading  manure  in  the  fall  for  corn  ;  but  if  I 
can  trust  my  own  observation,  never  with  the; 
beneficial  results  as  to  the  crop  or  to  the  land 
■which  were  obtained  by  the  former  practice."  It; 
is  his  opinion  that  decomposed  manure  2)lacedj 
near  the  surface  will  give  an  early  growth  to  coi'w 
by  ii,s  more  immediate  action,  but  that  unfermen- 
ted manure  properly  plowed  under,  icill finish  a 
crop  with  a  heavier  yield,  and  leave  the  land  in 
higher  fertility,  than  the  former  method. 

This  is  an  important  matter,  and  ought  to  be 
settled  by  numerous  well-attested  experiments  in 
in  various  localities. 

Agricultural  Education. —  The  Neio  Jer- 
sey Farmer,  published  at  Trenton,  in  introducing 
to  its  readers  a  recent  letter  of  Gov.  Wright,  of 
Indiana,  describing  an  agricultural  school  in  Ger- 
many, says — "Every  profession  has  its  school — 
why  agriculture  should  be  left  to  glean  its  learn- 
ing as  best  it  may,  we  cannot  understand.  If 
schools  are  necessary  to  train  the  clergyman,  the 
lawyer,  the  doctor,  the  merchant  and  the  artist, 
is  it  not  eminently  proper  that  agriculture,  which 
depends  so  entirely  foi-  its  complete  success  upon 
a  knowledge  of  the  natural  sciences,  should  also 
have  its  schools  ?" 

Certainly  it  is,  and  it  passes  our  comprehen- 
sion to  know  why,  among  farmers  themselves, 
such  prejudices  exist  against  everything  that  is  to 
qualify  the  young  farmer  for  his  profession,  ex- 
cept the  mere  act  of  his  working  upon  the  land 
with  his  own  hands.  It  is  breath  spent  in  vain  to 
talk  about  managing  a  farm  well  theoretically. 


Cows  for  Milk.  —  Mr.  C.  N.  Bement,  in 
speaking  of  Devonshire  cows,  in  Emery^s  Jour- 
nal of  Agriculture  and  Prairie  Farmer,  published 
at  Chicago,  says,  incidentally,  that  he  "has  found 
great  difference  existing  in  all  breeds  of  cattlo ; 
some  cows  run  to  fat  and  are  spare  milkers  ;  the 
lean  and  -well-formed  are  apt  to  be  good  ones. 
Some  digest  their  food  better  than  others,  and 
these  do  better  on  the  same  pasture  or  quantity 
of  food  ;  some  feed  faster  and  more  constantly, 
and  these  are  apt  to  be  the  best  milkers.  *  *  * 
There  appears  to  be  as  much  diversity  among 
cattle  in  these  particulars  as  among  men  and 
women  who  may  daily  sit  together  around  the 
same  table.  No  error  can  be  greater  than  that 
of  believing  a  cow  can  give  rich  milk  upon  poor, 
lean,  spare  diet.  There  must  be  in  the  food  that 
which  will  supply  the  materials  of  which  milk  is 
composed,  or  else  it  must  be  impossible  for  the 
cow  to  produce  it.  The  better  the  food,  the  bet- 
ter and  the  richer  the  milk." 

That  is  the  true  doctrine,  plainly  expressed. 
It  is  just  as  impossible  to  get  large  quantities  of 
rich  milk  from  a  cow  that  is  meanly  fed,  upon  in- 
nutritious  food,  as  to  "make  a  good  whistle  from 
a  pig's  tail." 

South  Devon  Sheep. — Col.  L.  F.  Allen, 
editor  of  the  American  Herd  Book,  of  Black 
Rock,  N.  Y.,  writes  as  follows  to  Mr.  Went- 
worth,  of  Chicago  : — "I  hope  your  Illinois  people 
will  appreciate  the  magnificent  South  Doicns  you 
have  introduced  among  them.  It  is  the  only 
kind  of  mutton  for  a  good  table.  *  *  Half 
and  three-quarter  sheep  revolutionize  the  article 
altogether  in  quality  and  flavor.  I  speak  from 
}  ears  of  trial.  A  really  good  saddle  of  mutton 
is  scarcely  excelled  by  any  other  meat." 

The  Apple  Crop  in  Waltha:\i,  j\Iass. — The 
Waltham  Sentinel  gives  an  account  of  the  apple 
crop  in  that  town  this  season,  but  only  speaks  of 
winter  apples  of  the  first  and  second  quality.  The 
cider  apples  and  others  not  marketable  must  con- 
siderably swell  the  amount.  The  name  of  the 
person,  and  quantity  raised  by  each,  is  given. 
We  find  that  one  person  had  850  barrels,  and 
two  others  700  and  upwards.  The  total  number 
of  barrels  of  winter  apples  is  put  down  at  tweclc 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


thousand,  the  average  wholesale  price  of  which 
has  been  $2,00  making  the  round  sum  of  $24,000, 
for  this  town,  for  one  item,  of  agricultural  pro- 
ducts in  a  single  season. 

The  population  of  Waltham  is,  to  a  considera- 
ble extent,  engaged  in  manufactures  of  one  kind 
or  another  ;  yet  we  doubt  whether,  among  them 
all,  any  investment  of  capital  of  an  equal 
amount  has  produced  results  so  fovorable  as  the 
investment  in  the  apple  trees. 


drowned  by  the  eagle's  scream  of  success  which 
was  ansv/ered  by  his  mate ;  then  rising  with  him, 
still  struggling  in  his  grasp,  he  carried  him  to 
some  convenient  place,  where  both  he  and  his 
mate  might  devour  him  at  their  leisure. 

Banvers,  3fass.,  Dec.  1,  1858.     A.  Fo^YLEE. 


Remarks. — We  are  obliged  to  our  correspon- 
dent for  the  brief  and  graphic  descriptions  which 
he  has  occasionally  sent  us  of  our  native  birds, 
and  hope  he  will  find  leisure  and  inclination  to 
continue  them.  We  wish  we  could  lay  before  all 
lovers  of  natural  history  the  splendid  paintings 
For  the  New  England  Farmer,  ^f  hudiS,  their  nests  and  eggs,  which  have  been 
GOLDEN  EAGIiB.  produced  by  his  own  hands,  scarcely  equalled,  in 

AQuiLA  cnRTs.«:oTos  quj.  opiniou,  by  any  thing  yet  done  by  the  most 

The  most  hiliy  and  mountainous  parts  of  the  accomplished  artists  of  this  or  the  old  countries, 
country  are  chosen  by  this  bird  for  his  residence, 
particularly  where  there  are  over-hanging  preci- 
pices ;  there,  in  the  dizzy  height,  on  some  bold 
rock,  he  takes  his  stand,  motionless  and  erect, 
with  his  stern,  penetrating  eye  glancing  over  the 
boundless  expanse  of  forests  and  fields;  upon 
such  high  precipices,  or  on  some  blighted  tree  of 
the  wooded-mountain,  a  pair  of  these  birds  will 
sit  for  hours,  and  not  unfrequently  the  whole 
day,  especially  whs-n  they  have  gorged  themselves 
with  fond.  After  such  times  of  inactivity,  they 
will  launch  into  the  air,  and  rise  in  a  spiral  flight 
above  these  stupendous  heights,  until  they  ap- 
pear like  mere  specks,  or  are  wholly  lost  to  sight ; 

having  attained  to  the  desired  height,  they  sail  y^,^^  correspondent  "Essex,"  recently,  after  a 
in  an  obliquely  downward  course  with  the  veloci-  ^^^^j^^  j^^  j.^^.^^  ^^  leaving  the  stalks  on  the 
ty  of  the  wind,  until  within  one  or  two  hundred  I  ^^^^^^  ^^j.^  ^j^^  question,  "Has  there  b^en  any  well 
feet  of  the  earth,  when  they  again  change  their j^^j^^^^^.^^  experiments  to  determine  the  fact?" 
mode  of  ilight  and  sweep  in  circles  over  hills  and  j  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^.j^^^  j^g  ^^^-^di  consider  a  well- 


CHAHITISS  THAT  SWEETEN  LIFE. 

'•It  i3  not  much  the  worU  can  give, 

With  all  its  subtle  art, 
And  gold  and  gems  are  not  the  things 

To  satisfy  the  heart. 
But  O,  if  those  who  cluster  round 

The  altar  and  the  hearth, 
Have  gentle  words  and  loving  smiles, 

How  beautiful  is  earth  !" 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CUTTING  COKN  STALKS. 


valleys  in  search  of  food. 

These  eagles  usually  hunt  in  pairs.  There  is 
a  peculiarity  in  their  mode  of  hunting  which  is 
not  resorted  to  by  other  birds  of  prey.  Like  the 
lion,  who  lies  in  ambush  for  his  coming  victim, 
so  he  hovers  over  the  form  of  the  hare,  or  the 
bed  of  other  animals,  waiting  for  their  appearance. 
I  once  saw  a  pair  hunting  in  company,  and  while 
sailing  over  a  hill,  one  of  them,  on  discovering  a 
burrow  of  the  common  grey  rabbit,  immediately 
suspended  himself  in  the  air  without  the  least 
perceivable  motion  of  his  body  or  vibration  of 
his  wings,  which  he  kept  widely  extended,  and 
on  which  he  floated  with  the  same  ease  that  he 
would  rest  upon  his  perch  ;  in  this  position  he 
remained  a  great  length  of  time  until  the  animal, 
unconscious  of  any  harm,  ventured  from  his 
cover ;  at  first,  but  a  part  of  him  appeared  ;  the 
eagle,  still  poised,  would  stretch  down  his  claws, 
then  draw  them  up  again,  still  floating  silently  ; 
the  animal  now  hopped  quite  out  of  his  hole, 
stood  upon  his  hind  legs,  scanning  every  object 
with  his  large  eyes,  and  moving  in  every  direc- 
tion his  large  ears,  to  detect  an  enemy  if  one  was 
around  him  ;  at  last,  feeling  assured,  none  lurked 
about  him,  he  hopped  again  which  brought  him 
to  full  view,  and  farther  from  his  burrow.  Hark  !i 
WJiush-usJi-usJt,  down  from  his  height,  like  the 
whizzing  sound  of  a  rocket,  shot  the  eagle  upon 
the  unwary  victim,  pressing  him  down  with  his 
strong  feet  and  driving  his  talons  deep  in  his 
quivering  flesh.  The  scream  of  despair,  as  the 
blood  oozed   through    his    soft   fur,  was    soen 


conducted  experiment.  I  have  tried  it  several 
times.  I  cut  the  stalks  on  eight  rows  through 
the  field  as  soon  as  the  tassel  was  dry,  and  the 
next  eight  rows  I  left  with  the  stalks  on.  I 
gathered  each  separately,  and  husked  it  out.  In 
both  cases  I  hr.l  the  most  good  sound  corn — 
both  by  measure  and  weight — on  the  rows  vjliere 
tlie  stalks  icere  cut,  and  the  most  soft  corn  on  the 
rows  that  were  not  cut ! 

This  year  I  had  one  field  of  about  four  acres 
of  corn.  I  had  cut  the  stalks  on  about  one  acre 
before  the  storm  which  beat  the  corn  down  so 
badly.  On  the  other  three  acres  the  stalks  were 
not  cut.  The  part  where  the  stalks  were  cut  was 
not  injured,  while  that  part  of  the  field  where 
the  stalks  were  not  cut,  was  laid  almost  as  flat  as 
though  it  had  been  rolled  down.  I  think  the  loss 
on  the  part  blown  down,  of  good  sound  corn,  was 
at  least  ten  per  cent. 

I  would  cut  the  stalks  from  heavy  corn  to  save 
it  from  being  blown  about  and  broken  down  by 
the  wind,  if  for  nothing  else. 

Eollis,  Oct.  13,  1858.  E.  Emerson. 


School  of  Veterinary  Medicine  and  Sur- 
gery. George  H.  Dadd,  Principal. — This  school 
was  established  in  Boston,  in  1849,  and  is  at- 
tracting more  and  more  of  the  public  attention, 
as  its  objects  are  better  understood.  The  tick- 
ets for  a  course  arc  $100.  Th«  sohool  is  estab- 
lished at  No.  55  Salem  Street,  Boston','' Mass. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


73 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SYSTEM  TN  FARM   MANAGEMENT. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — Ordei-  is  a  necessary  ele- 
ment in  the  success  of  every  man,  but  with  no 
class  is  its  strict  observance  more  requisite  than 
with  the  farmer.  The  profits  of  farming,  like 
other  business,  depend  almost  entirely  upon  the 
system  that  is  pursued,  and  the  order  maintained. 
No  business  will  ordinarily  prosper  under  bad 
management.  If  a  merchant  persist,  for  any 
length  of  time,  in  a  poor  system  of  management, 
he  is  almost  sure  of  a  failure.  If  a  mechanic 
pursues  the  business  of  his  trade  without  taking 
the  care  necessary  to  perform  every  thing  in  a 
systematic  manner,  success  will  never  crown  his 
efforts,  and  in  fact,  in  whatever  business  a  man 
may  be  engaged,  unless  he  is  governed  by  some 
system  in  the  labor  he  performs,  he  may  as  well 
conclude  that  his  business  will  not  be  a  paying 
one,  however  prosperous  it  might  be  under  good 
management.  But  as  I  have  said  before,  with  no 
class  of  persons  is  the  strict  observance  of  sys- 
tem more  requisite  than  with  the  farmer.  If  he 
be  an  idle  and  shiftless  man,  or  if  he  does  every 
thing  in  a  wrong  time  and  in  an  improper  man- 
ner, if  he  allows  his  buildings  to  go  without  the  re- 
pairs necessary,  and  decay  for  want  of  a  few  dol- 
lars expended  by  way  of  repairs,  if  his  walls  are 
left  to  tumble  down  and  his  fences  are  neglected 
until  his  cattle  easily  gain  access  to  and  destroy 
his  crops,  or  if  he  suffers  the  weeds  to  overrun 
his  farm,  and  in  this  allows  his  soils  to  be  ex- 
hausted without  himself  receiving  any  remuner- 
tion  for  the  same,  or  if  he  pursues  the  skinning 
system,  and  suffers  his  farm  to  deteriorate,  he 
will  undoubtedly  have  to  complain  that  farming 
is  a  dull  and  profitless  business.  But  if  he  has 
a  system  about  all  his  labor,  seeing  that  it  is 
done  when  required,  and  in  an  unexceptionable 
manner,  you  will  find  him  undoubtedly  an  intel- 
ligent, su^'-cssful,  prosperous  and  happy  man. 

A  sysii  iiiatic  farmer  will  look  through  all  the 
operations  of  the  year  from  the  beginning ;  his 
calculations  are  made  before  hand ;  hence  he  can 
take  advantage  of  the  labor  to  be  performed  ;  he 
can  tell  you  how  much  labor  it  will  be  necessary 
for  him  to  expend  in  order  to  raise  and  secure  a 
crop,  and  the  probable  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  raising  the  same. 

No  systematic  farmer  will  allow  his  manure  to 
be  wasted  by  allowing  his  cattle  to  roam  about  the 
street,  and  leave  the  very  main-spring  of  the  farm 
to  waste  its  strength  without  receiving  any  benefit 
from  it, — but  on  the  contrary,  he  will  conduct 
his  business  with  direct  reference  to  the  manure- 
making  advantages  connected  therewith,  and  his 
compost  heap  will  compose  a  prominent  place 
among  his  farming  operations. 

Lebanon,  Ct.,  1858.  H.  G.  Palmer. 


cemeteries,  and  grounds  for  country  residences. 
They  also  make  surveys  and  maps  of  farms, 
house-lots  and  land  in  any  form.  They  have  had 
large  experience  in  underdraining,  including  lay- 
ing out  and  constructing.  Drafting  of  all  de- 
scriptions they  do  with  great  accuracy  and  facili- 
ty, and  also  prepare  plans  for  the  Patemt  Office. 


Civil  I^-GiNEERiNG,  by  Messrs.  Siiedd&  Ed- 
son,  Iron  Buildings  42  Court  Street,  Boston. — 
These  gentlemen  are  well  qualified  to  discharge 
the  various  duties  of  their  profession,  and  are 
prompt  in  their  execution.  They  are  ready  to  at- 
tend to  the  laying  out  and  to  superintend  the 
construction  of  railroads,  common  roads,  bridges, 
v/harves,  &c.,  or  to  the  de«igmng  and  laying  out 


HEADWOBK  IN  FARMING. 

It  is  surprising  how  much  muscular  labor  is 
wasted  every  year,  which  might  be  saved,  or  bet- 
ter directed.  This  is  true  of  all  kinds  of  busi- 
ness, and  not  the  least  in  farming.  For  instance  : 
how  many  farmers  toil  on,  year  after  year,  with 
scanty  or  imperfect  implements  of  husbandry. 
The  modern  improvements,  which  save  much  la- 
bor and  do  the  work  cheaper  and  better,  they  will 
have  nothing  to  do  with.  Improved  varieties  of 
seed,  they  hold  to  be,  almost  without  exception, 
humbugs.  Draining  and  subsoil  plowing  are 
ranked  in  the  same  catalogue :  they  are  labor 
lost ;  but  manuring  cold,  wet  lands,  and  plowing 
them  late  in  summer  a  few  inches  deep,  and 
gathering  scanty  ci-ops — this  is  not  labor  lost! 
Rotation  of  crops,  and  manuring  lands  with  ref- 
erence to  the  grains  or  roots  to  be  grown  on 
them,  they  consider  something  like  book-farm- 
ing— a  very  dangerous  thing  ! 

We  never  could  see  why  farmers  should  not 
think  for  themselves,  and  bo  able  to  give  a  satis- 
factory reason  for  every  process  they  undertake. 
We  never  could  see  why  they  should  not  en- 
deavor to  improve  in  all  farming  operations,  to 
learn  the  very  best  way  of  doing  everything,  and 
then  do  it  so.  It  is  told  of  a  certain  backwood's 
farmer,  who  had  not  yet  found  time  to  clear  the 
stumps  from  his  fields,  that  his  boys  complained 
bitterly  of  their  troubles  in  plowing  and  harrow- 
ing— the  old-fashioned  "drag"  especially  troubled 
them  by  its  frequent  overturnings  v/hile  plunging 
among  the  stumps,  and  needing  to  be  set  right 
side  up  at  every  few  rods.  "Boys  !"  said  the  en- 
raged farmer,  one  day,  "take  that  harrow  over  to 
the  blacksmith,  and  tell  him  to  m.ake  all  the  teeth 
twice  their  present  length,  and  sharp  at  both 
ends,  and  we'll  see  what  that'll  do  !"  The  thing 
was  done  :  the  teeth  now  pointed  both  ways,  like 
those  of  a  revolving  rake.  "Gee  up.  Bill;  now 
go  along."  "But,  father,  it  has  upset  again,  as 
bad  as  before."  "Never  mind,  boy  ;  go  right 
ahead ;  it  will  work  well  either  side  up.  See, 
now,  what  comes  from  a  little  thinking !"  And 
sure  enough,  it  did  work,  and  the  field  was  har- 
rowed in  spite  of  the  stumps.  We  might  have 
selected  a  more  dignified  example  of  the  use  of 
head-work,  but  this  homely  story  will  answer  our 
purpose. 

In  the  matter  of  rotation  of  crops,  there  is  need 
of  forethought  and  management.  Some  farmers 
neglect  to  manure  largely,  because  of  its  expen- 
siveness ;  they  would  like  to  underdrain  more 
extensively,  and  to  subsoil  plow  their  lands,  if 
these  things  did  not  cost  more  time,  labor  and 
money  than  they  think  they  can  spare.  But  it 
costs  no  more  to  follow  a  good  system  of  rotation 
of  crops,  than  it  does  to  carry  on  a  farm  without 
any  such  plan.  Yet  such  a  system  may  bring  the 
farmer  three-fold  greater  and  better  crops.     Nor 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


in  devising  such  a  plan,  has  he  got  to  depend  en- 1  country,  for  years,  steadily  opposed  theintroduc- 
tirely  on  his  own  experience  or  sagacity.  Books'  tion  of  farm  machinery  of  all  sorts,  notwithstand- 
and  agricultural  journals  are  at  hand,  containing  ing  their  wages  and  their  comforts  were  as  stead- 
the  results  of  other  men's  experience,  and  all  hejily  increasing. 

has  to  do  is  to  adapt  such  information  to  the  Now  that  along  experience  has  proved  that 
wants  of  his  own  case.  A  very  little  head-work  all  this  croaking  about  the  injury  done  to  the  la- 
of  this  sort  would  pay  well.  It  would  pay  in  clean'  borer  and  the  small  proprietor,  by  machinery,  is 
cultivation.  Chess,  red-root,  quack-grass,  Cana-  without  any  foundation,  I  was  surprised  that  a 
da  thistles,  butter-cups,  daisies,  and  what  not,  man  of  the  intelligence  of  your  correspondent 
would  hide  their  heads  ;  and  grubs,  wire-worms,  should  lift  his  warning  voice  against  the  applica- 
and  all  manner  of  insects,  would  rapidly  diminish,:  tion  of  steam  to  agriculture.  AVhy  does  he  not 
if  not  wholly  disappear.  It  would  pay  in  the  in- j  object  to  its  use  in  driving  the  printing  press, 
creased  and  prolonged  fertility  of  the  land,  and  \  and  in  manufacturing  paper  ?     It  would  take 


in  more  bountiful  crops. — Am.  Agriculturist, 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

"AGHICULTURAL  PSOGBESS." 

Mr.  Editor  : — Where  can  your  correspondent 
have  been  the  last  fifty  years — asleep  with  Dr, 
Franklin's  fly?  I  should  suppose  he  had  just 
waked  out  of  a  half-century  nap,  from  the  argu- 
ments he  uses  against  the  application  of  steam  to 
agriculture.  They  are  precisely  the  same  argu- 
ments made  use  of  fifty  years  ago,  against  the 
use  of  steam  and  water  power  in  the  manufacture 
of  cotton  and  wool,  and  subsequently,  to  the  ap- 
plication of  steam  to  locomotion. 

It  was  said,  "people  would  be  collected  into 
manufacturing  villages,  and  become  slaves  to 
the  loom-lords.  Our  daughters,  not  finding  em- 
ployment at  home,  would  assemble  in  these  villa- 
ges', and  would  lose  their  health  and  innocence. 
That  those  who  now  live  by  spinning  and  weav- 
ing, wouTd  be  thrown  out  of  employment,  and  be- 
come beggars."  When  it  was  proposed  to  apply 
steam  to  the  moving  of  rail-cars,  it  was  said  that 
"stage-coaches  and  baggage  wagons  were  to  be 
thrown  out  of  business,  and  there  would  be  no 
demand  for  horses,  and  the  farmers  would  have 
to  give  up  the  raising  of  them,  and  that  the  ten- 
dency of  the  use  of  steam  was  to  lower  the  rate 
of  wages."  But  have  the  results  confirmed  the 
forebodings  of  the  fogies  of  those  days  ?  Have 
our  daughters  lost  then-  innocence  in  the  cotton 
mills,  and  become  slaves  to  their  proprietors  ? 
Have  the  spinners  v.inl  weavers  in  the  family 
found  any  want  of  employment?  Has  the  rate 
of  wages  been  reduced  ?  The  truth  is,  there  are 
more  horses  em.ployed  in  transporting  passengers 
and  freight  to  and  from  the  railroads,  than  were 
formerly  employed  in  running  stage  coaches  and 
baggage  wagons,  and  horses  are  worth  much 
:i.  .If,  itnd  pay  much  better  for  raising,  than  they 
did  before  the  iron  horse  was  invented. 

The  population  of  Massachusetts  has  more 
than  doubled  in  forty  years,  and  yet  the  rate  of 
wages  has  more  than  doubled  in  that  time.  So 
far  from  people  having  been  thrown  out  of  em- 
ployment, they  have  imported  thousands  of  male 
and  female  laborers,  and  pay  them,  especially  fe- 
males, more  than  twice  as  much  as  they  did  forty 
years  ago,  and  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of 
life  enjoyed  by  the  laboring  classes  have  increased 
in  at  least  an  equal  ratio. 

Almost  every  labor-saving  machine  has  had  to 
encounter  the  same  objections.  The  first  saw- 
mill erected  in  England  was  burned  down,  be- 
cause, it  was  said,  it  would  deprive  the  hand-saw- 
yers of  employment.     The  farm-laborers  in  that 


twenty  men  to  turn  the  cranks  of  the  presses 
that  are  moved  by  one  small  engine.  Twenty 
families  are  thus  deprived  of  bread  !  The  gentle- 
man need  not  borrow  trouble  lest  the  hills  and 
valleys  of  New  England  should  be  swept  of  their 
varied  beauty,  and  reduced  to  broad  levels,  for 
the  manufacture  of  corn  and  potatoes  by  steam. 

If  capitalists,  associated  or  single,  can  profita- 
bly cultivate  the  earth  by  steam,  it  must  be  where 
the  surface  is  adapted  to  such  culture.  If  it  can 
succeed  on  such  portions  of  the  earth's  surface, 
M'hy,  let  it.  I  have  only  to  say,  "God  speed  the 
plow,"  whether  moved  by  the  power  of  steam  or 
muscles.  In  either  case,  bread  will  be  increased, 
and  food  for  the  laborer  and  his  family  will  be 
cheaper.  If  steam  can  be  made  to  work  the  soil, 
and  gather  the  crops,  and  turn  the  mills  and  the 
presses,  on  the  broad  plantations  of  the  South, 
more  economically  than  negro  power,  why,  I  say 
again,  "God  speed"  the  plow,"  even  if  it  be  a  steam 
plow ;  and  who  knows,  Mr.  Editor,  but  this  is  to 
be  the  great  engine  by  which  slavery  is  to  be 
ended  ?  When  the  steam  plow  is  perfected,  will 
not  some  Yankee  capitalists  fire  it  up  on  the 
pampas  of  Texas,  and  raise  sugar  at  a  cheaper 
rate  than  it  can  be  done  by  human  muscles  ? 
Who  can  tell  but  we  shall  yet  do  our  abolition  by 
steam?  Seriously,  I  think  the  sugar-growers  of 
Louisiana  have  quite  as  much  to  apprehend  from 
the  steam  plow,  as  have  the  small  farmers  of 
New  England.  Steamer. 

Dec.  18,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
UNDERDRAINING™"IT   -WIIiI.   PAY!" 

Mr.  Editor  : — Last  fall  I  wrote  you  under 
the  title,  "Underdraining — will  it  pay  ?" — that  I 
intended  to  underdrain  a  piece  of  wet,  cold,  un- 
productive land,  and  asked  your  advice  in  the 
matter.  It  was  kindly  given,  for  which  I  would 
return  many  thanks. 

At  that  time  I  had  a  presentiment  that  it  would 
not  be  a  paying  operation,  but  as  the  land  was 
nearly  worthless,  as  it  was,  I  resolved  to  under- 
drain it ;  which  I  did  with  stone,  sinking  the 
ditches  about  three  and  one-half  feet  deep.  The 
bottom  of  the  drains  was  constructsd  like  an 
ordinary  culvert,  then  filled  with  cobole  stones 
to  one  foot  of  the  surface ;  upon  these  stones, 
shavings  or  evergreen  boughs  were  placed,  to 
prevent  the  dirt  from  filling  the  interstices,  then 
covered  with  dirt,  reserving  the  sod  for  the  barn- 
yard. 

The  result,  I  will  briefly  state.  The  piece 
drained  contained  a  little  less  than  four  acres. 
Last  year  it  was  mowed,  and  produced  but  two 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


loads  of  poor,  sour  hay  and  brakes,  hardly  worth 
cutting,  but  it  was  an  average  crop  for  the  land. 
This  spring  the  land  was  dry,  and  we  were  ena- 
bled to  work  it  early  in  the  season.  We  plowed 
under  about  twenty-five  ox-cart  loads  of  barn- 
yard manure  to  the  acre,  and  planted  with  corn 
the  15th  day  of  May.  The  ground  was  dry  and 
in  good  condition  for  receiving  the  seed,  while 
many  pieces  considered  "dry  land"  were  much 
too  wet.  The  corn  was  planted  three  and  a  half 
feet  apart  each  way,  hoed  twice,  and  received  a 
top-dressing  of  plaster  and  ashes.  It  was  cut 
up  the  10th  and  11th  of  September,  when  it  was 
found  ripe  and  sound.  We  husked  from  the 
piece  440  bushels  of  ears,  all  merchantable  corn. 

My  neighbors  concur  with  me  in  opinion  that 
this  crop  is  worth  more  than  the  aggregate  crops 
that  the  land  has  produced  for  the  last  fifteen 
years.  It  is  now  in  a  condition  to  produce  abun- 
dantly for  a  series  of  years  vrithout  any  extra 
outlay.  This  crop  has  paid  me  the  whole  ex- 
pense of  underdraimng,  and  I  am  so  well  pleased 
with  the  experiment,  that  I  have  had  a  number 
of  ditches  dug  upon  another  piece  adjoining,  and 
intend  to  use  drain  tile  instead  of  stone.  The 
tile  drain  is  cheaper,  and  from  what  information 
I  can  obtain,  I  think  it  much  more  durable. 

Drain  tile  of  a  superior  quality  are  now  man- 
ufactured by  Lucius  G.  Spencer,  of  ihis  town, 
and  sold  at  Albany  prices.  The  farmers  of  Wind- 
sor county  are  waking  up  en  the  subject.  I  am 
informed  of  one  man  who  intends  to  lay  four 
hundred  rods  from  the  first  kiln. 

James  R.  Walker. 

Springfield,  Vt.,  Nov.  5,  1858. 


THE  REASON  WHY. 


t  was  a  perplexing  and  infelicitous  circum- 
stance which  happened  to  discomfort  and  discom- 
fit the  good  housewife,  who  had  fattened  a  fine 
young  turkey  for  her  husband's  delectation, 
boiled,  as  was  his  "weakness,"  with  the  accompa- 
niment of  a  savory  sauce.  Two  or  tkree  days 
before  his  death,  (the  turkey's,)  a  box  of 
household  pills  fell  by  accident  into  the  yard, 
where  the  bird  perforned  his  daily  perambula- 
tions and  gobbling.  He  picked  up  the  kernels 
of  anti-bilious  corn  and  survived  their  effects  un- 
til his  decease,  when  he  was  committed  to  the  pot 
as  the  piece  de  resistance  of  a  sumptuous  dinner. 
But  he  would  not  boil  tender  :  hour  after  hour 
the  hot  bubbles  burst  around  him,  but  all  to  no 
purpose  ;  the  harder  and  the  longer  he  was  boiled, 
the  tougher  and  more  uncarvable  he  became.  At 
length,  however,  he  was  served  up,  and  a  doctor, 
a  next  door  neighbor,  who  was  a  guest,  was  re- 
quested to  solve  the  mystery.  "We  b'iled  that 
turkey  six  long  hours,  doctor,  by  the  clock,"  said 
the  down-east  hostess,  "and  yeou  see  how  awful- 
ly tough  he  is  neow.  Could  it  be  the  pills,  d' 
yeou  think,  doctor,  that  I  was  tellin'  you  about 
his  eatin'  ?"  "Undoubtedly,  madam,"  replied  the 
doctor ;  "it  would  not  have  made  the  slightest  dif- 
ference if  you  had  biled  him  two  days  ;  there  was 
no  'bile'  in  him,  madam !"  An  explanation  equal- 
ly professional  and  satisfactory. — Knickerbocker. 


New  H.\MPsinRE  Journal  of  Agriculture. 
— We  have  before  us  the  second   number  of  a 


new  paper  with  the  above  title,  published  at  Man- 
chester, N.  H.,  by  Messrs.  Gil:.ioke  &  Martin, 
It  is  issued  weekly,  in  folio  form,  the  agricultu- 
ral department  edited  by  E.  Breed,  and  the  ed- 
ucational and  miscellaneous  by  Moses  A.  Cart- 
lands.  We  have  looked  over  the  two  numbers 
published  with  some  care,  and  find  them  filled 
with  useful  and  substantial  articles  on  a  great 
variety  of  subjects.  The  editors  seem  to  have 
ability,  industry  and  energy,  and  if  their  efforts 
are  encouraged,  the  Journal  of  Agriculture  will 
not  fail  to  exert  a  salutary  influence  both  upon 
the  Soil  and  the  Mind. 


A  CURIOUS  QUESTION. 

It  is  a  singular  illustration  of  the  inexactness 
of  agricultural  knowledge,  that  the  question  how 
many  seeds  there  are  in  the  pound  of  our  com- 
monly cultivated  field  plants,  should  still  remain 
to  be  answered.  It  is  plain  that  the  answer  will 
not  necessarily  affect  farm  practice — for  the  quan- 
tity of  seed  which  it  is  proper  to  sow  per  acre,  is 
a  matter  to  be  determined  by  experience,  not  by 
argument  apart  from  trial ;  and  yet  surely  it  is 
most  desirable  to  compare  the  number  of  the 
seeds  we  ordinarily  sow  with  that  of  the  plants 
we  raise.  If  in  ordinary  practice,  1,200,000  seeds 
of  wheat  are  sown  on  every  40,000  superficial 
feet,  or  what  is  more  extraordinary,  fifteen  to 
eighteen  million  seeds  are  scattered  on  the  same 
extent,  about  three  to  every  inch  of  land,  it  is 
surely  well  to  let  the  farmer  know  it.  He  knows 
very  well  he  does  not  raise  so  many  plants  as 
this — and  struck,  as  hemust  be,by  the  enormous 
disproportiorr  between  the  means  he  uses  and  the 
result  he  gets,  he  will  inquire  into  its  causes. 

The  turnip  seed  employed  per  acre,  numbers 
from  000,000  to  1,000,000,  according  to  the  kind 
and  quantity  adopted  ;  this,  if  the  rows  are  two 
feet  apart,  is  two  or  three  dozen  seeds  per  foot 
of  row,  where  a  single  plant  alone  is  to  be  grown. 
No  doubt  nothing  like  so  many  generally  come 
up,  but  then  there  is  a  great  destruction  by  the 
hoe,  which  will  explain  much  of  the  discrepancy 
in  this  case.  What,  however,  becomes  of  the 
18,000,000  seeds  of  flax  which  are  commonly — 
of  the  6,000,000  seeds  of  oats  which  are  some- 
times sown  per  acre  ?  There  is  no  destruc- 
tion by  the  hoe  in  either  instance  here.  A  sin- 
gle ear  of  oats  may  contain  100  grains — a  single 
plant  will  generally  include  half  a  dozen  ears, 
but  if  6,000,000  plants  should  yield  as  much  as 
this  implies,  they  would  produce  100  loads  of 
grain.  Instead  of  600  seeds  apiece,  they  yield 
but  half  a  dozen  each  to  produce  an  ordinary 
crop  of  oats.  It  is  plain  that  five-sixths  of  the 
seed,  or  of  the  plants  that  they  produce,  are 
killed  in  the  cultivation  of  the  crop ;  and  the 
proportion  is  vastly  greater  than  this  in  the  case 
of  other  plants.  What  is  the  ordinary  seeding 
of  the  clover  crop  ?  Eight  pounds  of  red  clover, 
four  of  white  clover,  and  four  of  trefoil  may  be 
sown — that  is  at  least  6,000,000  seeds  per  acre — 
a  seed  on  every  inch  of  land — but  instead  of  144 
are  there  generally  half  a  dozen  plants  on  every 
square  foot  of  the  clover  field? 

There  are  about  25,000  seeds  of  sainfoin  in  a 


76 


NEW  ENGLAND    FARMEK. 


Feb, 


pound  of  "rough"  seed,  as  it  is  called,  and  it 
weighs  some  20  lbs.  per  bushel ;  four  bushels  is 
an  ordinary  seeding,  and  they  contain  2,000,000 
seeds,  or  50  per  square  foot  of  land.  This  is  the 
number,  too,  of  seeds  in  an  ordinary  seeding  of 
vetches.  It  is  manifest  that  in  both  these  cases 
there  is  an  enormous  destruction  either  of  young 
plants  or  seed ;  and  these  are  the  two  great  di- 
visions under  which  the  causes  of  this  anomaly 
must  be  classed :  faults  of  seed  and  sowing,  and 
faults  of  cultivation.  We  are  enabled,  by  the  as- 
sistance of  Messrs.  Rendle,  of  Plymouth,  to  lay 
before  them  the  following  answers  to  the  ques- 
tion— how  many  seeds  to  the  pound  ? 

No.  of  seeds  No.  of  !bs. 

Name.                        per  lb.  per  bush. 

Wheat 10,500  58  to  64 

Barley 15,400  48  to  56 

Oats 20,000  38  to  42 

Kye 23,000  50  to  60 

Canary  Grass 54,000 

Buckwheat 25,000  48  to  £0 

Turnip  (Rendle'3  Swede) 155,000  60  to  56 

Turnip  (Cornish  Holdfast) 239,000  " 

Turnip  (Orange  Jelley) 233,000  " 

Cabbage  (Scotch  Drumhead) 128,000  56 

Cabbage  (Drumhead  Savoy) 117,000  50  to  56 

Clover  (Red) 249  600  60 

Clover  (White) 686,400  59  to  62 

Rye  Grass  (Perennial) 314,000  20  to  28 

Rye  Grass  (Italian) 272,000  13  to  18 

Sweet  Vernal  Grass 923,200  8 

Scotch  Paper. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BEE  HIVES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  a  suggestion  to  make 
respecting  bee  hives  on  Mr.  Quinby's  plan.  I 
like  the  leading  idea  of  his  plan,  but  not  the  ap- 
plication of  it.  In  his  hives,  the  bees  are  obliged 
to  store  all  their  surplus  honey  in  boxes  placed 
on  the  top  of  the  hive,  and  they  must  climb  up 
through  the  hive,  when  heavily  laden  with  honey, 
to  get  to  the  boxes.  This  must  involve  an  im- 
mense amount  of  labor  for  them  ;  at  any  rate,  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  must  be  as  difficult  for  them 
to  climb,  as  it  is  for  a  man  who  is  carrying  a 
heavy  load,  and  I  think  it  is  rather  worse  for 
them  to  have  to  store  honey  on  the  top  of  the 
hive,  than  it  M'ould  be  for  us  to  have  to  store  the 
products  of  our  land  on  the  tops  of  our  houses, 
for  they  are  collecting  and  storing  all  the  season, 
■whereas  we  are  only  a  part  of  it. 

Instead  of  placing  boxes  on  the  top,  why  not 
have  a  small  hive,  or  large  box,  to  set  by  the  side 
of  the  hive,  and  when  it  is  full,  open  a  communi- 
cation between  the  two,  and  allow  the  bees  to 
store  their  surplus  honey  in  it  just  as  Mr.  Quin- 
by  has  his  stored  in  boxes  on  the  top  ? 

In  an  article  published  in  the  Farmer  not  long 
since  by  "Amicus,"  he  remarks  that  he  has  a  very 
simple  contrivance  to  aid  the  bees  in  supporting 
themselves  in  the  hive  until  they  can  commence 
building  their  comb.  Will  not  "Amicus"  please 
to  let  the  readers  of  the  Farmer  know  what  this 
contrivance  is  ?  Progress. 

Leominster,  Dec,  1858. 


The  Virginia  Farmers'  Journal.  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  M.  S.  Crockett,  Editor  and  Propri- 
&tor. — This  is  anew  journal,  handsomely  printed, 
on  fine  paper,  issued  once  a  week,  and  is  devoted 
lo  agriculture,  news  and  miscellaneous  reading. 


We  like  the  editor's  "Salutatory,"  as  he  seems 
to  appreciate  the  responsibilities  of  the  position 
he  assumes,  and  also  the  wants  cf  the  people  of 
his  State.  From  the  ability  manifested  in  the 
articles  in  this  first  number,  we  cannot  doubt  but 
the  Farmer's  Journal  will  become  an  important 
help  in  the  Homes  of  the  Old  Dominion. 


THE  MEADOW  LANDS  OF  THE  CON- 
CORD BIVEB  VALLEY. 

MEETING  OF  THE  PROPRIETORS  AT  CONCORD. 

It  is  not  generally  known  throughout  the  State 
that  thousands  of  acres  of  meadoAv  land  on  the 
Concord  river,  from  Billerica  to  Framingham, 
have  been  flooded  by  means  of  a  dam  at  the  for- 
mer place,  so  as  to  seriously  damage  those  lands. 
The  law  granting  the  right  of  the  water  power  at 
Billerica  was  such  that  the  proprietors  have  ever 
been  unable  to  obtain  redress  through  the  courts. 
Several  cases,  growing  out  of  this  state  of  things, 
have  been  in  litigation  for  years.  The  amount - 
of  land  damaged  by  these  overflows  is  from  ten 
to  fifteen  thousand  acres,  all  the  way  up  the  river 
as  far  as  Framingham.  The  mill  proprietors 
brought  a  suit  against  the  city  of  Boston  for  di- 
verting a  part  of  the  Concord  river  from  its  nat- 
ural course,  and  reservoirs  were  built  above  from 
which  water  was  sent  down  when  needed.  This 
usually  happens  in  the  haying  season,  and  is 
another  great  source  of  damage  to  the  owners  of 
the  meadows. 

Recently  an  attempt  to  unite  all  the  interests 
upon  some  plan  for  redress  has  been  made.  A 
preliminary  meeting  was  held  some  weeks  ago, 
and  a  committee  was  then  appointed  to  consider 
the  matter  and  report  something  definite. 

A  meeting  was  held  December  27th,  at  the 
Town  Hall,  in  Concord.  About  two  hundred 
farmers  were  present,  though  this  is  but  a  small 
part  of  the  number  interested  in  the  lands.  The 
mill  privilege  at  Billerica  is  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Talbot,  and  he  was  present,  accompanied  by  his 
counsel,  but  took  no  part  in  the  meeting. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  one  o'clock 
by  Simon  Brown,  Esq.,  of  Concord,  and,  on  mo- 
tion of  Samuel  H.  Rhoades,  Esq.,  of  Concord,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  report  a  list  of  of- 
ficers for  permanent  organization.  Simon  Brown 
was  chosen  President,  Col.  David  Heard,  of  Way- 
land,  and  seven  others,  Vice-Presidents,  and  Mr. 
R.  F.  Fuller,  of  Wayland,  and  Dr.  Joseph  Rey- 
nolds, of  Concord,  Secretaries. 

Mr.  Brown  opened  the  question  with  a  clear 
statement  of  the  position  of  the  proprietors  of 
those  meadow  lands.  He  said  the  first  settlers 
in  this  town  and  vicinity  had  been  attracted  by 
its  beautiful  river  and  the  fine  meadows  skirting 
it,  which  were  a  yearly  source  of  wealth  to  the 
inhabitants.  He  said  they  came  here  to  devise 
some  means  of  obtaining  redress.  All  they  wanted 
was  justice,  and  they  came  together  with  the 
kindliest  feelings  towards  every  man.  He  urged 
those  who  had  an  interest  in  this  matter  to  or- 
ganize— to  take  a  stand,  and  raise  their  colors 
and  nail  them  to  the  mast.     (Applause.) 

Col.  David  Heard,  of  Wayland,  said  he  was 
glad  to  see  so  many  interested  in  a  question  in 
which  he  had  been  Vi'orking  for  forty  years.  Some 


1359. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


77 


young  men,  he  said,  had  run  into  the  idea  that 
these  meadow  lands  were  never  valuable,  but  he 
knew  better.  He  found  in  an  old  Assessors'  book 
of  the  town  of  Wayland  that  that  town  assessed 
taxes  on  1200  acres  of  meadow.  Some  of  these 
lands  had  come  into  Ids  posi5ession  at  the  rate  of 
$75  an  acre.  These  lands,  he  said,  had  been 
stolen  inch  by  inch,  under  the  law,  if  it  could  be 
called  law,  which  had  kept  them  out  of  their  just 
dues.  He  said  he  had  been  entrusted  with  much 
responsibility  in  the  law  suits  that  had  been  car- 
ried on,  and  he  had  no  doubt  but  he  might  have 
raised  a  company  at  any  time  to  have  torn  down 
the  dam,  and  allowed  the  owner  to  sue  for  dam- 
ages. But  the  people  had  forborne  continually 
through  their  defeat.  He  said  he  was  determined 
to  continue  the  suit  as  long  as  he  had  the  means. 
Besides  this,  the  Cochituate  reservoirs  were  let 
loose  in  haj'ing  time,  when  the  water  was  low, 
and  this  did  serious  damage.  In  fact,  he  said, 
they  had  a  dam  at  both  ends,  and  a  curse  between 
them. 

Mr.  Brown,  the  chairman,  added  a  few  remarks, 
in  regard  to  the  damage  done  to  lands  owned  by 
him.  Rich  and  fertile  bottom  lands  were  ren- 
dered nearly  valueless. 

The  committee,  appointed  at  a  previous  meet- 
ing, reported  the  following  series  of  resolutions, 
upon  which  remarks  v^ere  invited  : 

Whereas,  it  is  believed  by  many  owners  of  land  upon  the 
Concord  River  and  its  tributaries,  tliat  their  lands  have  been 
of  late  much  more  injured  than  formerly  by  inundations  caused 
by  obstructions,  by  dams  or  otherwise,  and  by  retaining  the 
waters  ih  resc/coiVs  and  suddenly  releasing  them  in  the  warm 
season  ; 

And,  whereas,  in  various  other  parts  of  the  Commonwealth, 
as  well  as  in  this  county,  great  destruction  of  crops,  and  great 
injury  to  health,  is  produced  by  interference  with  the  natural 
flow  of  our  streams  and  rivers,  whereby  the  drainage  and  culti- 1 
vation  of  vast  tracks  of  most  valuable  lands  are  prevented  ; 

And,  whereas,  the  maintenance  of  dams  and  other  obstruc- 
tions is  a  fruitful  source  of  litigation,  and  so  an  occasion  of 
great  expense,  both  to  land-owners  and  mill-owners ; 

And,  whereas,  it  is  believed  that  the  peace  of  the  community, ! 
and  the  security  of  land  and  mill  owners,  and  the  interests  of 
agriculture,  would  !je  promoted  by  carefully  ascertaining  and 
defiDing,  and  by  publishing  by  record  or  otherwise,  the  legal 
height  of  all  dams,  or  other  obstructions,  on  all  our  streams  and 
rivers,  and  of  all  privileges,  limitations  and  restrictions  incident 
thereto  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  raised  to  investigate  and  re- 
port at  a  future  meeting  wliat  dams  or  other  obstructions  are 
maintained  on  tie  Concord  River  or  its  tributaries,  and  wheth- 
er any  of  said  obstructions  are  illegal,  giving  such  information 
as  may  be  obtained  of  the  claims,  legal  and  illegal,  of  mill  own- 
ers and  others  who  maintain  them. 

2.  That  it  is  expeditnt  that  an  act  of  the  Legislature  be 
passed,  to  provide  for  defining  and  recording  the  height  of  all 
dams  and  other  obstructions  on  all  streams  and  rivers  in  the 
Commonwealth,  and  of  all  privileges,  limitations  and  restric- 
tions incident  thereto. 

3.  That  the  interests  of  agriculture  require  that  provision  he 
made  by  law,  so  that  in  proper  cases  dams  and  other  obstruc- 
tions to  the  natural  flow  of  the  water  may  be  removed  or  low- 
ered, or  restricted  in  their  use  as  to  the  season  of  the  year  or 
otherwise,  upon  justcompensation  to  be  paid  by  the  parties  ben- 
efited to  those  injured  by  such  proceedings. 

4.  That  this  meeting  are  determined  fully  to  investigate  the 
complaints  of  land-owners  on  the  Concord  River  and  its  tribu 
taries,  and  to  perseveie  by  all  lawful  mear  s  to  protect  the  rights 
of  land  owners,  the  health  of  the  community,  and  the  interests 
of  agriculture,  against  all  illegal  encroachmetts  of  those  who 
control  the  dams  and  other  obstructions  thereon  ;  and  further, 
to  procure  such  legislation  as  may  be  necessary  to  relieve  our 
most  valuable  lands  of  the  curse  of  a  second  deluge,  whether 
caused  by  legal  or  illegal  obstructions. 

The  following  resolution  was  afterwards  added, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  R.  F.  Fuller,  of  Wayland  : 

Whereas,  The  special  remedy  prescribed  by  the  statute  for 
the  fiowage  of  lands  on  the  Concord  River  by  the  proprietors  of 
the  Middlesex  Canal  has  been  in  such  a  form  and  so  limited  in 
point  of  lime,  under  the  construction  which  has  been  given  to 
it  by  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  as  practically  to  furnish  no 
remedy  whatever ;  therefore, 

Ucsolred,  That  adeqiute  remedies  should  be  provided  by  the 


Legislature  for  injuries  to  land-owner  on  the  Concord  River  and 
its  tributaries  for  the  damage  annually  done  by  the  flowage  of 
their  lands,  and  furnishing,  as  the  general  mill  acts  do,  compen 
sation  year  by  year  for  the  annual  injury  to  the  land  and  the 
crops. 

]Mr.  R.  F.  Fuller,  of  Wajland,  said  he  was  one 
of  the  meadow  proprietors,  and  he  sympathized 
entirely  in  the  spirit  of  the  resolutions,  as  he  pre- 
sumed every  man  who  owned  any  of  the  meadow 
land  would.  He  believed  that  the  only  redress 
to  be  had  was  from  the  General  Court.  The 
courts  could  not  award  justice  unless  the  law  al- 
lowed it,  and  in  this  case  the  law-makers  had 
been  at  fault.  The  act  giving  leave  to  build  the 
canal  provided  that  any  one  receiving  damage 
thereby  should  sue  within  one  year  and  in  the 
Court  of  Sessions.  That  court  was  abolished 
about  the  time  the  act  was  passed,  and  the  Su- 
preme Court  had  held  that  in  the  above  provision 
the  damage  referred  to  the  "source  of  the  dam- 
age," which  in  this  case  was  the  building  of  the 
dam.  Under  the  present  laws  no  redress  could 
be  had. 

Dr.  Joseph  Reynolds,  of  Concord,  read  from  a 
work  descriptive  of  Middlesex  county,  as  it  was 
when  first  settled,  and  for  years  afterwards,  show- 
ing the  wealth  of  meadow  land  then  existing. 
He  presumed  that  the  meadows  on  the  river  now 
were  not  worth  more  than  half  as  much  as  they 
were  forty  years  ago,  or  possibly  twenty-five 
years  ago.  He  said  thousands  M'ere  suffering 
from  this  evil,  which  was  continually  increasing, 
and  it  was  only  to  favor  a  very  few. 

Coi.  Heard  said  there  was  one  consideration 
not  yet  touched  upon.  The  stagnant  waters  had 
already  shown  their  pernicious  effects  upon  the 
atmosphere ;  and  farms  finely  situated  in  Way- 
land  had  been  sold  at  one-third  their  former 
price,  on  this  account.  These,  he  declared,  were 
by  no  means  rare  cases. 

Mr.  Barker,  of  Weston,  corroborated  the  re- 
marks of  preceding  speakers.  He  owned  a  mead- 
ow which  was  uncommonly  high,  and  he  had 
thought  that  it  could  never  be  damaged  by  water. 
But  for  the  last  few  years  his  meadow  had  been 
worse  than  worthless.  He  had  paid  taxes  and 
received  no  income. 

Mr.  Heard,  of  Wayland,  said  he  did  not  own 
an  acre  of  meadow  land,  but  he  was  interested, 
and  so  was  every  person  who  lived  on  the  banks 
of  the  Concord  river.  If  the  evil  should  be  al- 
lowed to  continue,  the  inhabitants  would  be  driv- 
en back  from  the  river  banks.  The  stench  from 
the  river  was  sometimes  very  bad.  He  looked 
upon  it  as  a  nuisance ;  and  he  hoped  it  would 
be  removed  one  way  or  another.  He  would  ad- 
vocate the  manner  sanctioned  by  Judge  Shaw  of 
removing  a  nuisance.     (Applause.) 

The  Chairman  said  if  this  was  anything  but  a 
meeting  of  farmers,  there  would  be  fifty  present 
charged  full  to  bursting  with  speeches.  Here 
were  men  who  had  suffered  damages  for  half  a 
century,  and  they  would  not  be  heard  from.  He 
would  introduce  a  gentleman  and  a  lawyer,  from 
another  State,  who,  he  said,  had  probably  tried 
more  cases  of  flowage  than  any  other  man  in 
New  England.  He  introduced  Judge  French, 
of  New  Hampshire. 

Judge  French  said  he  was  not  present  to  take 
any  part  in  this  local  question,  but  he  stated 
some  valualile  facts  from  his  experience.  He 
said  he  believed,  and  he  had  said  so  manv  times 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


before,  that  the  amount  of  meadow  land  over- 
flo';ved  by  the  dams  of  manufacturing  companies 
would  raise  wood  enough  ten  times  over  to  carry 
those  mills  by  steam.  He  advised  the  proprie- 
tors of  these  meadow  lands  to  ask  the  Legisla- 
ture to  give  them  a  law,  if  they  had  none  ade- 
quate, under  which  this  dam  may  be  lowered,  or, 
if  necessary,  entirely  removed,  and  a  compensa- 
tion made  to  the  proprietors  of  the  dam.  He 
had  no  doubt  that  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court  would  give  such  a  law,  when  the  circum- 
stances were  known.  Massachusetts  had,  in  1855, 
passed  the  best  drainage  law  in  the  world  ;  by 
which  a  man  was  given  power  to  drain  through 
any  adjacent  lands.  He  believed  this  was,  in 
spirit,  fully  up  to  such  an  act  as  was  wanted. 
In  England,  where  a  large  territory  had  been 
overflowed,  the  evil  had  been  removed  by  an  act 
of  Parliament,  by  which  the  proprietors  had  been 
compensated  in  a  degree  sufficient  to  support  a 
steam  power  equal  to  the  water  power  taken 
from  them,  and  the  streams  were  allowed  to  go 
free  as  God  had  intended  they  should. 

Mr.  Abel  Gleason,  of  Wayland,  made  some 
remarks,  mostly  corroborative  of  the  other  speak- 
ers. He  spoke  of  the  inconvenience  and  dam- 
age from  the  waters  sent  down  from  the  Cochit- 
uate  reservoirs  above,  during  the  haying  season. 

Col.  Heard  said  he  knew  that  the  Avhole  fall  of 
the  river  from  Wayland  to  Billerica,  twenty-two 
miles,  was  only  two  feet ;  but  he  believed,  in 
common  with  several  other  speakers,  that  the 
water  in  the  river  at  tkis  point  was  several  feet 
higher  than  it  was  at  the  dam  in  Billerica. 

Deacon  Heard,  from  Wayland,  made  some  re- 
marks upon  the  effects  of  the  dam. 

Judge  French,  being  requested,  explained  that, 
by  the  law  that  made  water  run  down  hill,  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  must  be  somewhat  descending  ; 
and  that  it  was  very  natural  that  the  water  should 
be  piled  up  higher  twenty  miles  back  than  at  the 
dam. 

The  resolutions  were  then  passed  without  any 
opposition. 

Mr.  Samuel  H.  Rhoades  moved  that  the  offi- 
cers of  this  meeting,  and  such  persons  as  the 
meeting  might  add,  be  appointed  an  Executive 
Committee  to  strengthen,  perfect  and  continue 
this  organization,  and  to  raise  such  funds  as  may 
be  necessary  to  secure  its  objects.  The  commit- 
tee was  raised  as  follows : 

Simon  Brown,  of  Concord,  President ;  Col. 
David  Heard,  of  AVayland,  Elijah  Wood,  Jr.,  of 
Concord,  John  Eaton,  of  Sudbury,  Jonas  Smith, 
of  Lincoln,  Jonathan  Hill,  of  Billerica,  Nathan 
O.  Reed,  of  Bedford,  Thomas  Page,  of  Carlisle, 
Charles  Fisk,  of  Framingham,  Vice  Presidents; 
R.  F.  Fuller,  of  Wayland,  Dr.  Joseph  Reynolds, 
of  Concord,  Secretaries,  and  Samuel  IL  Rhoades, 
of  Concord,  Treasurer.  To  whom  were  added 
Nathan  Barker,  of  Weston,  and  Thomas  J.  Da- 
mon, of  Wayland. 

After  some  further  remarks,  in  which  no  new 
facts  were  elicited,  the  meeting  dissolved. 

It  was  estimated  by  several  of  the  speakers 
that  the  amount  of  property  damaged — much  of 
it  rendered  valueless — was  as  much  as  a  million 
dollars. — Boston  Journal. 


The  Comparative  Distance  of  the  Near- 
est Fixed  Star. — A  correspondent  of  one  of 


the  London  papers  says — As  the  comet  is  part- 
ing company  with  us,  I  think  the  following  state- 
ment will  afford  the  public  whose  minds  are  not 
familiar  with  astronomical  distances,  a  pretty 
good  idea  thereof.  If  the  earth's  distance  from 
the  sun,  95  millions  of  miles,  is  represented  by  a 
space  of  1  inch  ;  Jupiter's,  490  millions  of  miles, 
by  5  inches ;  Saturn's,  706  millions  of  miles,  by 
9  inches ;  Uranus's,  1800  millions  of  miles,  by 
81  inches;  and  Neptune's,  2900  million  of  miles 
by  29  inches ;  the  diameter  of  the  longest  ellipse 
of  the  orbit  of  Donati's  comet,  whose  period  is 
said  to  be  2495  years,  and  distant  35,100  millions 
of  miles,  will  be  represented  by  a  space  of  368 
inches.  Then  the  distance  of  the  nearest  fixed 
star,  which  is  at  least  35  billions  of  miles  distant, 
will  be  represented  by  a  space  of  348,000  inches, 
or  5  7-9th  miles  ;  which  is  1000  times  that  of  the 
comet  when  farthest  off,  or  12,689  times  the  dis- 
tance of  the  planet  Neptune  from  the  sun,  the 
most  distant  yet  discovered  belonging  to  the  so- 
lar system,  and  which  occupies  164^  years  in  its 
orbit. 

For  the  Neta  England  Farmer. 
GBADUAL  IMPROVEMENT  OF  LAND. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  a  recent  number  of  the 
Farmer  there  is  an  article  upon  thorough  drain- 
ing, in  which  the  writer  says  that  the  thorough 
draining  of  our  old  farms  in  New  England  is 
simply  an  impossibility.  I  do  not  write  because 
I  think  I  have  done  more  than  hundreds  of  others 
who  are  too  modest  to  tell  what  they  have  done, 
but  for  the  encouragement  of  young  men  of 
small  means  and  poor  prospects,  to  stay  on  the 
old  farm.  I  think  it  is  the  duty  of  all  of  us  who 
have  remained  with  our  parents,  and  have  ob- 
tained sufficient  property  to  support  us  in  our 
old  age,  to  give  our  experience  to  the  public. 

I  will  give  you  some  of  mine,  which  you  may 
lay  before  your  readers,  if  you  think  proper,  f 
was  the  youngest  of  seven  boys ;  the  others  all 
vrent  off  as  soon  as  they  were  large  enough.  I 
felt  it  to  be  a  duty  which  I  owed  to  my  parents 
to  stay  upon  the  farm,  which  was  poor  and  had 
but  little  income.  I  made  up  my  mind  to  make  it 
better,  if  labor,  patience  and  perseverance  would 
accomplish  it.  There  was  a  swamp  upon  the 
farm  containing  about  seven  acres,  covered  with 
bushes  and  brambles,  except  about  one  acre, 
which  Vr-as  too  wet  to  bear  them.  My  first  labor 
was  to  dig  a  ditch  through  the  centre,  and  then 
I  began  to  cut  bushes  and  plow  a  small  piece  at 
a  time  as  fast  as  I  could  attend  to  it,  and  lay  it 
into  beds  about  two  rods  wide,  to  take  off  the 
surface  water.  I  followed  this  process  until  it 
was  all  plowed.  I  found  it  necessary  to  plow  as 
often  as  once  in  four  or  five  years,  to  keep  out  the 
swamp  grasses.  I  also  found  it  very  difficult  to 
keep  the  beds  in  their  right  form  and  the  drains 
clear.  I  knew  nothing  about  underdraining,  but 
thought  I  would  try  the  experiment  of  using  up 
the  small  stones  that  plowed  out  of  the  other 
fields,  and  found  them  to  improve  the  land  so 
much,  I  made  use  of  all  my  small  stones,  and  then 
commenced  draining  with  slabs,  which  I  expect 
will  fail  in  a  few  years. 

I  did  not  know  that  drain  tile  was  manufac- 
tered  so  near  me  until  I  saw  the  advertisement 
in  your  paper.     I  purchased  a  few  of  them  thi!? 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


(9 


fall,  and  am  so  well  jileased  with  them  that  I 
think  if  I  should  live  another  year,  I  shall  make 
use  of  more  of  them ;  for  I  think  them  to  be 
much  cheaper  and  better  than  stone  or  slabs. 
I  now  have  this  piece  about  one-fourth  under- 
drained,  and  if  those  who  succeed  me  for  fifty 
years  will  do  as  much  as  I  have  done,  I  think  it 
will  be  thoroughly  drained  and  in  a  high  state 
of  cultivation.  I  hope  no  persons  will  think  it 
impossible  to  improve  their  lands  till  they  have 
made  more  than  one  experiment. 

I  think  it  quite  possible  for  most  of  the  land 
in  New  England  to  be  improved,  if  every  one 
who  owns  it  will  labor  with  his  own  hands,  and 
spend  all  of  his  surplus  money  in  improvements, 
rather  than  to  buy  more,  till  he  has  got  it  all  un- 
der a  high  state  of  cultivation. 

Thomas  Haskell. 

Oloucester,  Nov.  25,  1858. 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 

KOOT3  ¥o:e.  stock— crops—adulter- 
ated MILK. 

I  have  read  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  the 
discussion  in  your  paper  relative  to  the  value  of 
turnips  for  feeding  to  cattle  and  hogs.  I  have 
raised  rutabaga  and  English  turnips,  and  fed  them 
to  cows,  and  my  opinion  is,  if  a  man  keeps  cows 
to  make  butter  from,  that  turnips  are  poor  prov- 
ender, except  to  give  perhaps  two  messes  per 
week  for  a  change.  If  he  sells  the  milk,  and  his 
customers  do  not  know  the  difference  between 
good  milk  and  thin,  he  might,  instead  of  adding 
Mater  to  thin  the  milk,  feed  with  turnips.  Last 
year  I  wintered  ten  swine.  I  sold  one-half  of 
my  turnips  and  bought  corn.  I  fed  part  with  the 
corn,  and  they  fatted  well ;  those  that  were  fed 
on  cooked  turnips  lived,  and  this  fall,  after  hav- 
ing been  fed  on  corn,  are  no  larger  than  the  oth- 
ers were  last  spring. 

I  have  found  beets  the  best  root  for  cattle  and 
swine,  but  those  I  think  should  be  given  in  mod- 
erate quantities.  Corn  meal  suits  me  better,  with 
beets  enough  to  give  a  relish,  and  with  this  feed 
the  cattle  come  out  in  the  spring  in  a  thriving 
condition. 

On  a  lot  of  land,  50  by  100  feet,  (ten  feet 
square  being  deducted  for  a  hog  pen,)  I  planted 
a  new  kind  of  beans  to  me,  and  between  the  hills, 
eight  feet  asunder,  squash  seeds.  The  yield  was 
250  squashes  which  average  six  pounds  each ; 
1,500  pounds.  I  sold  ten  dollars  worth  of  green 
beans,  and  this  same  kind  of  squashes  I  sold  in 
April  this  year  for  three  cents  per  pound,  the 
purchaser  saving  the  seed  for  me.  At  this  time, 
JJec.  11,  there  is  but  one  specked  squash  in  the  lot. 

Is  there  an  instrument  to  detect  the  adultera- 
tionof  milk  in  this  country?  S.  C. 

Cape  Elizabeth,  Dec.  11,  1858. 


Remarks.— J.  S.  F.  Huddleston,  96  Wash- 
ington Street,  Boston,  will  furnish  you  with  an 
article  for  detecting  adulterated  milk. 


1^=  The  Oliio  Valley  Farmer,  published  at  Cin- 
cinnati, B.  F.  Sandford,  Editor  and  Proprietor, 
is  one  of  the  neatest  and  best  conducted  agricul- 
tural papers  that  we  SEE. 


"ISrOTHING  TO  DO." 

What  a  swelling  chorus  of  that  constant  cry 
comes  on  every  gale,  reaches  our  ear  at  every 
turn,  whether  on  the  public  highway  or  in  pri- 
vate conversation.  Such  a  young  man  has  noth- 
ing to  do.  Poor  soul,  we  pity  him.  In  this 
great,  bustling,  active  world,  he  stands  for  a  cy- 
pher ;  has  no  aims,  no  ambition,  no  desires.  He 
has  nothing  to  do.  The  town  has  been  hastily 
looked  over,  no  work  presents  itself,  and  so  one 
able-bodied  man  sinks  into  the  slough  of  idle- 
ness, convinced  that  the  world  is  all  money. — 
How  many  such  pictures  we  have,  and  yet  "how 
!  needless  that  we  have  any.  There  is  work  enough 
[for  the  whole  creation.  While  one  young  man 
I  is  spending  his  days  in  idleness,  the  merchant  is 
looking  for  a  clerk,  the  lawyer  for  somebody  to 
assist  him  in  his  writing,  and  if  nothing  else 
turns  up,  there  is  at  least  an  opportunity  every- 
where to  saw  wood.  There  is  no  necessity  for 
an  idle  man  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Industry 
is  one  of  heaven's  best  blessings.  It  endows  a 
man  with  his  manhood,  and  calls  into  action  his 
tact,  reason  and  judgment.  We  say  to  young 
men,  never  be  idle.  If  nothing  better  turns  up, 
saw  wood.  Anything  is  better  than  spending 
your  days  in  idleness.  A  youth  so  wasted  be- 
gets habits  that  a  life  will  not  cure.  Crime,  the 
twin  sister  of  idleness,  will  next  be  on  hand  and 
claim  you  for  her  own.  The  sparkling  bowl  will 
present  its  allurements,  and  then  down,  down 
you  go  into  degradation,  and  one  mind  is  lost  to 
the  world,  one  star  in  the  great  human  constel- 
lation is  gone. 

Habits  of  industry  in  early  life  follow  a  man 
to  the  grave,  and  whatever  one's  occupation  may 
be  now,  such  habits  are  a  mine  of  wealth  when 
one  is  engaged  in  business  on  his  own  account. 
Success,  says  Gov.  Banks,  is  a  duty,  and  howev- 
er exacting  or  sweeping  the  remark  may  seem  at 
first  glance,  an  examination  proves  its  truthful- 
ness in  every  particular.  Success  is  the  result  of 
industry,  attention  to  business  and  steady  habits, 
all  of  which  are  duties  society  imposes  upon 
man,  and  the  result  of  such  causes  is  a  duty  equal 
with  each  of  them.  Let  us  have  no  more  talk 
about  young  men  who  have  nothing  to  do.  If 
nothing  comes,  make  or  find  something.  How 
many  bi'ight  names  in  the  pages  of  our  country's 
history  left  home  for  their  journey  through  the 
world  with  their  raiment  tied  in  a  handkerchief 
and  their  capital  comprised  in  a  few  dollars. 
Yet  there  was  determination,  perseverance  and 
energy  there,  which  were  worth  more  than  the 
wardrobe  of  clothing  or  mines  of  wealth,  and 
those  names  now  fill  honored  places,  and  live  and 
will  live  in  beating  hearts  to  the  end  of  time. 
With  such  examples  before  us  why  should  young 
men  be  idle.  What  has  been  done,  can  be  done 
again,  and  any  young  man  can  do  it,  if  he  will. 
At  all  events,  go  to  v,'ork,  be  a  man  among  men  ; 
you  are  then  on  the  road  to  wealth,  distinction 
and  honor,  and  how  far  you  get  depends  entirely 
on  how  hard  you  work.  Depend  upon  it,  noth- 
ing ever  came  of  idleness,  nor  never  will.  An 
idle  man  is  a  cypher  in  the  world,  and  one  of  the 
most  unhappy,  miserable  beings  in  existence. — 
Hunterdon  Republican. 

Common  salt  adds  to  the  weight  of  grain. 
Bones  tend  to  fill  the  ear. 


RO 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


TABLE  OF  MEASURES  OF  LAND. 


1st. 

10 

16.5 

20 

30 

33 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

120 

130 

140 

150 

10 

.3t;?3 

.0023 

.6001 
.0038 

.7340 
.0040 

1.101 
.0009 

1.212 
.0070 

1.409 
.0092 

1.830 
.0115 

2.204 
.0138 

2.571 
.0101 

2.938 
.0184 

3.306 
.0207 

3.673 
.0230 

4.040 
.0253 

4.408 
.0276 

4.775 
.0299 

5.142 
.0321 

5.509 
.0344 

16.5 

1.000 
.0003 

1.212 

.0070 

1.818 
.0114 

2.0UO 
.0125 

2.309 
.0152 

3.030 
.0189 

3.030 
.0227 

4.242 
.0205 

4.848 
.0303 

5.455 
.0341 

6.060 
.0378 

6.600 
.0416 

7.272 
.0454 

8.815 
.0551 

7.878 
.0492 

8.484 
.0530 

9.090 
.0568 

11.02 

.0689 

20 

1.469 

.0092 

2.203 
.0138 

2.424 

.0152 

2.938 
.0184 

3.673 
.0230 

4.407 
.0275 

5.142 
.0321 

5.879 
.0307 

6.611 
.0413 

7.340 
.0459 

8.080 
.0505 

9.550 
.0597 

10.28 
.0643 

2d. 

150 

30 

3.300 
.0207 

3.036 

.0227 

4.047 
.0270 

5.510 
.0344 

6.012 
.0413 

7.713 
.0482 

8.815 
.0551 

9.911 
.0619 

11.02 

.0089 

12.12 

.0758 

13.22 

.0626 

14.33 

.0895 

15.43 

0964 

16.53 
.1031 

150 

82.(34 
.5105 

160 

33 

4.000 
.0250 

4.848 
.0303 

C.061 
.0379 

7.273 
.0455 

8.485 
.0530 

9.097 
.0600 

10.91 

.0082 

12.12 
.0758 

13.33 
.0833 

14.55 
.0909 

15.76 

.0985 

19.10 
.1194 

10.97 
.1061 

18.18 
.1130 

22.04 
.1377 

160 

88.15 
..550'J 

94.03 

.5876 

99.91 
.6244 

170 

40 

5.877 
.0367 

7.346 
.0459 

8.815 
.0551 

10.28 
.0643 

11.75 
.0734 

13.22 

.0826 

14.09 

.0918 

16.16 
.1010 

17.63 
.1102 

20.57 
.1286 

170 

.5854 

106.15 
.0634 

180 

50 

9.182 
.0574 

11.02 

.0089 

12.85 
.0803 

14.09 
.0918 

16.53 
.1033 

18.37 

.1148 

20.20 
.1263 

22.04 
.1377 

23.88 
.1492 

28.05 
.1791 

25.77 
.1606 

27.55 
.1722 

33.06 
.2066 

180 

99.17 

.6198 

105.78 
.6011 

111.60 

.0979 

112.39 

.7025 

119.01 

.7438 

190 

60 

13.22 

.0826 

15.45 
.0964 

17.03 

.1102 

19.83 
.1210 

22.04 
.1377 

24.34 
.1515 

26.45 
.1653 

30.85 
.1928 

190 

104.08 
.0512 

118.64 
.7415 

125.01 

.7851 

132.59 

.8287 

200 

70 

18.00 
.112.1 

20.57 
.1286 

23.14 

.1446 

25.71 
.1607 

28.28 
.1768 

32.32 

.2020 

30.93 

.1928 

33.43 

.2089 

36.00 
.2250 

38.57 
.2410 

44.08 
.2755 

200 

110.19 

.0887 

117..54 

.7340 

121.88 
.7805 

132.23 

.8204 

139.57 

.8724 

146.92 
.9182 

210 

80 

23.51 
.1469 

26.45 
.1653- 

29.38 
.18.37 

35.20 
.2204 

38.20 
.2388 

41.14 
.2571 

210 

115.70 
.7231 

123.41 
.7713 

131.12 

.8195 

138.64 

.8678 

140..55 
.9159 

154.20 
.9641 

161.98 
1.012 

109.09 
1.060 

220 

230 

90 

29.75 
.1800 

33.06 
.2060 

30.30 
.2273 

39.07 
.2479 

42  98 
.2085 

40.28 
.2893 

51.42 
.3214 

oGSu 
.3535 

61.71 
.3857 

49.59 
.3099 

220 

121.21 

.7575 

129.29 

.8081 

137.37 

.8580 

145.45 

.9091 

153.53 
.9595 

161.01 
1.010 

177.77 
1.111 

100 

36.73 

.2290 

110 

40.40 
.2525 

44.08 
.2755 

48.93 
.3058 

47.75 
.2984 

55.10 
.3444 

230 
240 

126.72 
.7920 

135.17 

.8448 

143.61 

.8976 

152.00 
.9503 

100.51 
1.003 

168.90 
1.055 

177.41 
1.109 

185.85 
1.162 

194.30 
1.214 

202.75 
1.267 

240 

44.44 
.2777 

52.53 
.3283 

"57^ 
.3581 

60.61 
.3785 

C6.12 
.4132 

132.22 

.8255 

141.04 
.8800 

149.86 
.9306 

158.67 
.9917 

107.49 
1.047 

170.30 
1.102 

165.12 
1.157 

193.93 
1.212 

211.56 
1.322 

250 

120 

52.89 
.3306 

250 

137.04 

.8609 

146.92 
.9182 

152.80 
.9545 

156.10 
.9756 

162.35 
1.015 

165.29 
1.033 

174.47 
1.090 

182.*2 
1.143 

183.05 
1.148 

192.83 
1.205 

202.01 
1.263 

210.09 
1.313 

211.20 
1.320 

221).3S 
1.377 

229.56 
1.434 

260 

248.29 
1.551 

130 

62.08 
.3880 

66.85 
.4178 

71.63 
.4476 

260 

113.25 

.8953 

171.00 
1.074 

190.99 
1.194 

200.54 
1.253 

219.64 
1.373 

229.2(1 
1.432 

238.74 
1.492 

270 

140 

71.99 

.44.99 

77.14 
.4821 

270 

148.70 
.9297 

1.58.08 
.9917 

108.59 
1.054 

178.51 
1.116 

188.42 
1.178 

198.34 
1.240 

208.26 
1.302 

218.17 
1.364 

228.09 
1.426 

238.01 

1.488 

247.93 
1.549 

257.84 
1.611 

207.76 
1.673 

280 

150 

82.04 
.5165 

280 

154.27 
.9041 

1.59.78 
.9985 

104.55 

1.02S 

170.43 
1.005 

174.84 
1.093 

185.12 
1.157 

195.40 
1.221 

205.69 
1.280 

215.97 
1.350 

226.26 
1.414 

230.,55 

1.478 

246.83 
1.543 

2.55.05 

1.598 

257.12 

1.607 

267.40 
1.671 

276.95 
1.731 

277.68 
1.736 

287.97 
1.800 

290 

290 

181.08 
1.132 

191.73 

1.198 

202.3- 
1.265 

213.03 
1.331 

223.69 
1.398 

234.34 
1.465 

244.99 
1.531 

266.30 
1.604 

287. t;o 

1.797 

298.25 
1.864 

308.91 
1.931 

300 

l300 

105.29 
1.033 

170.31 
1.102 

187.32 
1.171 

198.34 
1.240 

209.36 
1.308 

220.39 
1.377 

231.40 
1.440 

242.42 
1.515 

253.44 
1.584 

264.46 
1.653 

275. 4.« 
1.722 

284.66 
1.779 

286.50 
1.791 

296.05 
1.850 

297.52 
1.859 

307.44 
1.921 

308..54 
1.928 

319.50 
1.997 

330.21 
2.0C4 

330.58 
2.066 

310 

352.98 
2.206     1 

1  310 

170.80 
1.067 

182  18 
1.139 

193.50 
1.210 

204.95 
1.281 

210.34 
1.352 

227  73 
1.423 

239.12 
1.494 

250.50 
1.566 

201.89 
1.637 

273.28 

1.708 

318.82 
1.993 

.341.00 
2.135 

For  the  New  EngJand  Farmer. 
TABLE  OF  MEASURES  OP  LAND. 

The  rapid  advances  now  being  made  in  the  sci- 
ence of  agriculture,  are  very  much  aided  by  the 
spirit  of  ex])eriment,  and  by  the  rivalry  induced 
by  competition  for  the  premiums  offered  at  our 
yearly  shows.  The  results  of  different  experi- 
ments cannot  be  compared  without  a  knowledge 
of  the  area  of  the  land  on  which  each  crop  was 
grown,  and  as  it  is  not  always  convenient  to 
plant  just  an  acre,  or  half  or  quarter  of  an  acre, 
it  becomes  desirable  to  have  at  hand  such  a  ta- 
ble as  is  given  above,  for  reference.  It  will  en- 
able a  person  to  use  such  a  piece  of  land  as  he 
may  happen  to  have,  fit  for  the  purpose,  of  any 
width  or  length  given  in  the  table,  with  the 
means  to  readily  ascertain  the  area  in  square 
rods  or  square  acres,  in  whole  numbers  and  deci- 
mals. 

The  table  is  used  in  about  the  same  manner  as 
an  ordinary  multiplication  table,  and  though  it 
occupies  but  about  half  the  space  usually  given 


to  those  tables,  yet  it  contains  as  much  informa- 
tion as  though  made  up  in  the  square  form.  The 
multiplication  of  any  number  in  the  diagonal 
rows,  into  another  number  less  than  itself,  is  a 
mere  repetition  of  work  that  has  been  done  be- 
fore, and  therefore  this  table  is  made  up  so  that 
the  square  of  a  number  in  the  diagonal  rows,  is 
the  first  result  given  in  the  table  opposite  or  be- 
low that  number.  The  darker  figures  represent 
the  measurements  in  feet  as  taken  on  the  ground. 
The  area  given  in  lighter  figures  is  expressed  in 
square  rods  by  the  upper  number,  and  in  square 
acres  by  the  lower  number. 

i  There  are  two  tables  given  above,  having  no 
connection  with  each  other,  except  that  the 
darker  figures  in  the  lower  are  in  continuation  of 
those  in  the  upper  at  corresponding  intervals. 
In  the  first  table,  the  width  of  the  piece  of  land, 
expressed  in  feet,  must  be  looked  for  in  the  di- 
agonal row  of  darker  figures,  the  length  in  the 
horizontal  row  of  darker  figures  at  the  top.  In 
the  second  table  the  icidtk  must  be  looked  for  in 
the  diagonal  row  of  darker  figures,  and  the  length 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


81 


in  the  vertical  column  of  darker  figures  at  the 
left.  The  area  will  be  found  below  the  one  and 
opposite  the  other. 

Having  ascertained  the  area  of  the  piece  of 
ground,  and  the  quantity  of  the  crop  grown,  the 
quantity  per  acre  may  be  found  as  follows  :  Sup- 
pose the  piece  to  measure  80  feet  in  width  by 
140  feet  in  length,  the  crop  to  be  barley,  and  the 
quantity  grown  288  quarts, — annex  as  many  cy- 
phers to  the  number  of  quarts  as  there  are 
decimal  numbers  in  the  area  as  given,  and  divide 
by  the  area.  The  result  will  be  the  number  of 
quarts  per  acre  ;  divide  by  32  and  the  result  will 
be  bushels.  In  this  case  the  quantity  being  ex- 
pressed by  288,  annexing  four  cyphers  we  have 
2,880,000  ;  dividing  by  2571,  we  have  1120  quarts 
per  acre ;  divide  by  32  and  the  result  is  35  bush- 
els per  acre.     As  by  example  : 

Area  of  a  piece  80x140=:  .2571,  as  taken  from  the  taMe. 
Quantity  288  quarts.    Annex  four  cyphers,  and  divide  by 

.2571^2880000/1120  quarts. 
y2571      \. 

3090 
2571 

5190 
5142 


Divide  that  result  by  32  \1120./35.  bushels. 
)^{ 

160 

1G3 

The  process  would  be  the  same  if  the  quantity 
of  the  crop  were  expressed  in  bushels,  pounds  or 
tuns.  If  the  quantity  per  square  rod  is  sought, 
the  same  figures  must  be  used,  except  that  the 
quantity  must  be  divided  by  the  area  in  rods  as 
expressed  by  the  upper  number  in  the  table,  in- 
stead of  the  area  in  acres,  as  expressed  by  the 
lower  number. 

The  quantity  of  the  experimental  crop  should 
be  measured  in  the  smallest  denomination  that  is 
practicable,  to  insure  accuracy  in  the  result  per 
acre.  If  by  dry  measure,  the  crop  may  be  meas- 
ured in  quarts,  if  by  weight,  in  pounds. 

The  calculations  required  iu  making  up  this 
table  have  been  performed  by  our  assistant,  Mr. 
Wm.  H.  Foss,  and  to  facilitate  the  work,  he  con- 
structed a  small  table,  which  can  be  used  to  re- 
duce any  number  of  squai-e  feet,  small  or  large, 
to  a  corresponding  value  in  rods  or  acres,  with 
but  little  labor. 

The  table  will  be  given  in  a  future  number  of 
the  Farmer,  and  cannot  fail  to  be  of  value  to  any 
one  who  is  in  the  habit  of  making  such  reduc- 
tions. J.  Herbert  Suedd. 

Boston,  Bee,  1858. 


The  Horticulturist. — The  number  before 
us  for  Becember  is  an  attractive  one.  Editor, 
contributors  and  publisher,  have  served  up  a 
good  dish  in  good  taste.  The  Editor's  "Chat, 
Country  Life,  Men  in  Cold  and  Tropical  Cli- 
mates," we  found  exceedingly  interesting,  per- 
haps because  we  have  given  considerable  thought 
and  investigation  to  the  influences  of  climate 
upon  cliaracter.  The  article  upon  "Manure  for 
Fruit  Trees— Where  to  Feed   Fruit  Trees,"  by 


our  citizen,  Wm.  Bacon,  of  Richmond,  is  of  that 
practical  and  valuable  character  which  always 
give  his  articles  interest.  The  one  that  follows, 
by  E.  NoRTOX,  Farmington,  Conn.,  upon  the 
subject  of  "Pears  on  the  Quince  Stock,"  gives  a 
pretty  accurate  history  of  a  good  many  experi- 
ences that  did  not  take  place  in  the  good  old 
State  of  Connecticut.  While  the  fact  that  a  great 
many  have  been  abundantly  successful  in  the 
culture  of  the  pear  on  quince  stocks,  it  cannot  be 
controverted  that  a  still  larger  number  have 
failed  to  meet  with  that  success  which  their  ex- 
pense and  care  would  seem  to  justify.  The  article 
will  unquestionably  turn  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  lead  to  a  more  careful  investigation  of 
its  merits. 

The  whole  number  is  a  valuable  one. 


EXTSACTS  AND  BEPLIBS. 
MILK    BEFORE   THE    CALF. 

Mr.  J.  S.  Marston,  of  North  Hampton,  N.  H., 
has  a  heifer  that,  after  giving  a  fair  quantity  of 
milk  for  five  and  a  half  months,  has  calved  for 
the  first  time,  the  calf  being  fat  and  rugged.  Is 
not  this  a  rare  circumstance  ?  s.  D.  B. 

Portsmouth,  N.  U.,  Bee,  1858- 

Remarks. — It  is  a  rare  circumstance.  We 
have  a  fine  three-year  old  heifer  that  we  turned 
to  pasture  early  in  May  last.  She  had  never  had 
a  calf  or  given  milk,  to  our  knowledge,  and  we 
had  owned  her  from  the  time  she  was  six  months 
old.  On  visiting  her  in  one  week  from  the  time 
she  was  turned  to  pasture,  we  found  her  bag  much 
distended,  and  milked  upon  the  ground  what 
we  supposed  to  be  four  quarts  of  milk.  There 
was  no  appearance  in  the  animal,  or  in  the  milk, 
of  her  having  dropt  a  calf.  She  was  returned  to 
the  home  pasture,  and  milked  regularly  until  the 
middle  of  September,  when  she  dropt  a  spright- 
ly, but  small  calf,  at  noon,  having  given  her  usual 
quantity  of  milk,  on  the  morning  of  the  same 
day! 

We  have  heard  of  such  cases,  but  this  is  the 
only  one  that  ever  came  under  our  own  observa- 
tion. 

COUNTY   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETIES   AND   THE 
STATE  BOUNTY. 

If  I  am  correctly  informed,  there  are  now  four 
agricultural  societies  within  the  limits  of  what  was 
the  original  Worcester  County  Society,  and  three 
within  the  limits  of  the  original  Middlesex  Soci- 
ety, each  of  which  receives  from  the  treasury  of 
the  commonwealth  8000  annually,  being  $2400  in 
Worcester  and  $1800  in  Middlesex — while  die 
county  of  Essex  pays  as  much  as  either  of  these 
counties,  and  receives  only  $600.  This  is  unequal 
and  unjust — and  if  this  plan  of  subdividing  soci- 
eties is  continued,  it  will  undermine  and  overturn 
the  whole.  I  have  been  astonished  that  close  cal- 
culating legislators  have-not  noticed  the  bearing 


82 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAE:MEII. 


Feb. 


of  these  discrepancies.  I  am  friendly  to  the  present 
agricultural  organizations — and  hope  they  wiH  be 
sustained  fairly  and  honorably — but  no   such  in- 
equalities should  exist. 
Dec.  15,  1858.  _ 

FOUR    years'    observation    OF   MOWING     MA- 
CHINES  IN   THE    OLD  COUNTY   OF   ESSEX. 

Mr.  Humphrey,  of  Lancaster,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  towns  of  the  county  of  Worcester,  has 
given  us  his  experience  in  the  use  of  mowing 
machines,  chiefly  of  the  Ketchum  stamp.  He  be- 
gins by  saying  that  it  took  him  one  hour  and  a 
half  to  cut  an  acre  of  grass.  Such  has  not  been 
the  experience  of  good  laborers  in  the  county  of 
Essex.  I  can  show  you  several,  who  with  a  me- 
dium-sized span  of  horses,  weighing  only  1000 
lbs.  each — have  cut  their  acre  an  hour,  yielding 
one  ton  and  a  half  to  the  acre.  This  has  l)een 
only  their  ordinary  operation.  If  Mr.  H.  uses 
up  an  hour  and  a  half  in  doing  the  same  work, 
he  is  not  fit  to  be  a  file  leader  in  the  use  of  mow- 
ing machines.  I  am  too  old  and  clumsy  to  do 
much  myself,  but  I  will  name  Levi  A.  Merrill,  of 
Salem,  and  Horace  Ware,  of  Marblehead, — and 
guarantee  that  either  of  them  will  do  with  their 
machines  and  their  horses,  twice  as  much  as  he 
has  done,  I  have  repeatedly  seen  them  operate, 
and  know  whereof  I  speak.  r. 

Essex  Co.,  Dec.  20,  1858. 

Remarks. — If  our  correspondent  will  look  at 
Dea.  Humphrey's  letter  again,  he  will  find  that 
when  it  required  an  hour  and  a  half  to  cut  an 
acre  of  grass,  it  was  in  his  first  essay  with  the 
machine.  Of  the  last  season  he  says — "With  one 
Irishman  to  trim  out  the  borders  after  the  ma- 
chine Avas  done,  occupying  perhaps  about  one- 
fourth  as  much  time  as  the  machine,  we  have  cut 
sixty-eight  acres,  and  I  think  he  has  not  worked 
more  hours  than  he  has  cut  acres."  Indeed,  Dea, 
Humphrey  informed  us  that  he  had  frequently 
cut  an  acre,  and  cut  it  well,  in  forty  minutes. 

ELECTRICITY  AND  VENTILATION, 
I  noticed  some  few  weeks  since,  in  your  paper, 
a,  communication  signed  by  "Electricity,"  in  re- 
gard to  "Lightning  not  striking  buildings  that 
were  M'ell  ventilated."  Will  "Electricity,"  or  any 
one  else,  explain  through  the  Farmer  why  it  is? 
What  difierence  is  there  on  the  outside  of  a 
building  that  is  well  ventilated,  and  one  that  is 
not,  or  why  the  building  that  is  ventilated  will 
not  be  struck  by  the  bolt. 
Pdchmond,  Me.,  1858.      Non-Electricity. 

AFRICAN   BALD   BARLEY. 

The  sample  of  Bald  Barley  I  send  you  is  said 
to  have  come  from  seed  brought  from  the  gulches 
in  the  Himmaleh  mountains,  by  a  gentleman  in 
"Virginia  engaged  in  the  African  trade,  I  pro- 
cured three  heads  of  him,  which  gave  me  72  ker- 
nels ;  these  I  planted  10  inches  apart,  and  ob- 
tained 1300  heads.  The  grain  grows  rapidly,  has 
a  broad  leaf,  and  beautiful  blossom,  and  ripens 
early,  I  have  never  known  the  fly,  rust  or  smut 
to  trouble  it.  I  think  there  will  be  no  difliculty  in 
raising  40,  50,  or  even  60  bushels  per  acre,  on 


land  that  will  produce  20  bushels  of  wheat  or  40 
of  oats.     When   the  wheat    crop  fails,  the  next 
best  thing  is  good  barley,  and  this,  I  feel  confi- 
dent, must  make  flour  nearly  equal  to  wheat. 
Henry  R.  Hosford. 
Fawlet,  Paitland  Co.,  Vt.,  1858. 

Remarks. — A  warm  barley  cake,  of  rather» 
coarse  meal,  in  a  June  m.orning,  with  butter  only 
an  hour  out  of  the  churn,  is  not  bad  to  take. 

THE  state  house. 
As  there  are  no  strictly  tvinter  trees,  or  ever- 
greens, upon  Boston  Common,  and  probably  will 
not  be,  through  fear  of  their  mutilation,  I  think 
that  many  persons  would  agree  with  me  that  two 
Norway  Spruce,  planted  in  the  enclosures  front 
of  the  State  House,  would  add  much  to  the  beau- 
ty of  its  grounds  in  the  summer,  and  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  winter,  when  nothing  green  in 
inanimate  nature  is  to  be  seen.  D.  w,  L. 


FINE    HOGS. 

Mr.  F.  Keith,  of  this  place,  slaughtered  two 
pigs  on  the  od  inst.  aged  13  mos.  20  days,  whose 
weight  was  as  follows  : — male,  GIO  l!)s.  (includ- 
ing loose  fat:)  female,  494  lbs.  (including  loose 
fat.)  Mrs.  K.  has  had  entire  charge  of  the  ani- 
mals, and  we  think  that  they  reflect  great  credit 
upon  her  management.  F.  G. 

North  Easton,  Afs.,  Dec.  13,  1858, 

BEAR   TREE    SEEDS. 

Can  you  give  me  information  where  the  seeds 
of  pear  trees  can  be  obtained  ? 
Middleton,  Vt.,  1858,    Elbridge  Scholar. 

Remarks. — Nourse  &  Co.,  13  Commercial 
Street,  Boston,  will  supply  you  with  pear  tree 
seeds.  

SALT   LEY. 

Will  some  of  your  correspondents  inform  me 
what  is  the  value  and  the  best  mode  of  using  salt 
ley,  so  called  by  the  soap  manufacturers? 

' Harwich,  1858.  N.  u. 


V7ILIi  SaiiPHUBIC  ACID  DISSOLVE 
BONE? 

In  view  of  the  many  thousands  of  tons  of  su- 
perphosphate of  lime  manufactured  and  rendered 
soluble  through  the  agency  of  sulphuric  acid,  and 
of  the  deserved  honors  conferred  on  the  distin- 
guished Giessen  Professor  of  Chemistry,  who 
first  suggested  the  use  of  oil  of  vitriol  for  dis- 
solving bones,  it  is  almost  startling  to  see  the 
value  of  this  acid  for  such  purposes  called  in 
question  from  a  chemical  "laboratory,"  and  by  a 
teacher  of  the  science.  Prof.  Gilham  deserves 
the  thanks  of  the  public  for  giving  his  experience 
in  this  matter,  for  it  is  evident  that  the  prepara- 
tion of  bone  manure  is  not  so  well  understood 
as  it  ought  to  be,  A  practical  Scotch  farmer  of 
large  experience,  Mr.  Tenant,  thus  describes  his 
process : 

"1  put  25  bushels  of  bones  into  three  old  boil- 
ers, and  next  pour  in  two  bottles  of  acid  of  about 
170  pounds  each,  and  3G  Scotch  pints  (IS  impe- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAIl]\IER. 


83 


rial  gallons)  of  boiling  water  into  each,  boiler. 
It  boils  away  at  a  great  rate  for  some  time,  and 
in  a  day  or  two  we  empty  the  boilers  into  two 
cart  loads  of  light  mould,  and  turn  the  mixture 
over.  At  this  stage  the  bones  are  only  partial- 
ly dissolved,  but  they  heat  and  decompose  in  the 
heap  after  being  turned  over  three  or  four  times  ; 
and  in  the  course  of  seven  or  eight  weeks  the 
compost  becomes  dry  and  breaks  down  with  a 
shovel." 

Doubtless  Prof.  Norton  saw  many  operations 
of  this  kind  while  a  chemical^  student  with  Prof. 
Johnston. 

That  the  grinding  of  bones  promotes  the  ready 
action  of  sulphuric  acid  in  abstracting  lime  from 
phosphoric  acid,  no  one  doubts;  but  the  strong- 
er affinity  of  sulphuric  acid  for  lime  than  phos- 
phoric acid  has,  is  dependent  in  no  degree  on  the 
crushing  of  bones.  The  oil  of  vitriol,  used  by 
Prof.  Gilham,  may  have  been  a  weak  and  a  poor 
article.  The  writer  has  often  seen  the  common 
sulphuric  acid  of  the  shops  behave  precisely  as  is 
described  by  him  under  similar  circumstances. 
He  appears  to  have  omitted  the  use  of  boiling 
water,  as  recommended  by  Prof.  J.  F.  W.  Johns- 
ton, an  excellent  practical  chemist.  His  recipe 
is,  to  100  pounds  of  bones,  add  an  equal  weight 
of  boiling  water,  and  immediately  thereafter,  100 
pounds  of  strong  acid.  The  high  heat  evolved 
from  the  union  of  the  acid  and  hot  water,  so  ex- 
pands the  fatty  matter  that  surrounds  the  parti- 
cles of  lime  in  the  l)ones,  as  to  permit  the  acid  to 
reach  them  and  effect  new  chemical  combinations. 
The  elevated  temperature  of  an  acidified  bone 
compost  for  days  and  weeks,  was  entirely  want- 
ing in  the  small  laboratory  experiments  of  Prof. 
G.  They  disprove  nothing  as  against  the  chemi- 
cal action  of  the  oil  of  vitriol  under  widely  differ- 
ent circumstances. 

The  error  of  Mr.  Browne  was  hardly  v/orth 
correcting,  unless  other  greater  misstatements  of 
his  relating  to  phosphates  are  also  set  right  be- 
fore the  public. 

As  phosphates  are  important  constituents  in 
all  home-made  manures,  and  enter  largely  into 
the  composition  of  most  commercial  fertilizers, 
I  will  say  a  few  words  more  on  the  subject. — 
Country  Oentlenian. 

DEEP  TILIiAQB, 
A  deep  and  thorough  tillage  is  conducive  to 
fruitfulness  in  crops ;  yet  it  is  never  safe  to  turn 
up  too  large  a  portion  of  the  subsoil  at  once. 
The  work  of  deepening  the  vegetable  stratum  of 
soils  should  be  consummated  gradually  ;  a  little 
of  the  substratum  only  being  brought  up  at  a 
time, — say  from  half  to  a  third  of  an  inch  at  each 
successive  plowing,  and  so  on  till  the  soil  has 
been  stirred  and  improved  to  the  depth  required. 
Manure  should  be  applied  liberally,  and  lim.e 
sowed  every  time  a  fresh  layer  is  brought  to  the 
surface.  The  fall  is,  perhaps,  the  most  favorable 
season  for  this  operation,  as  the  soil  will  then 
experience  the  greatest  benefit  from  the  neutral- 
izing effect  of  the  calcareous  matter  applied,  and 
from  the  pulverulent  and  disintegrating  influ- 
ence of  the  winter's  frost. 


The  quantity  of  lime  required  in  this  proces-s 
of  amelioration  will  be  best  determined  by  a 
chemical  examination  of  the  subsoil  in  connec- 
tion with  that  of  the  surface  earth.  If  of  a  cal- 
careous nature,  very  little  lime  will  be  required, 
and  perhaps  none ;  but  if  this  principle  (lime) 
be  present  in  only  small  quantities,  it  should  be 
supplied,  and  caustic  lime  is  the  best  article  that 
can  be  used,  though  wood-ashes,  in  liberal  quan- 
tities, produce  very  salutary  effects. 


Fur  the  New  England  Fanner. 
EXHAUSTED  SASTDY  LANDS. 

Much  has  been  said  on  the  subject  of  improv- 
ing worn-out  sandy  land,  or  old  fields.  Much  of 
that  land  was  originally  good  rich  soil,  and  the 
v*'ood  was  cut  off  by  the  first  owners,  and  for 
one  hundred  years  or  more  it  has  been  con- 
stantly under  cultivation,  and  being  warm  and 
fine  land,  it  has  been  totally  exhausted  by  abuse. 
The  custom  has  been  to  plow  it  about  four  inch- 
es deep,  and  not  manure  it  at  all,  take  off  such  a 
crop  of  corn  as  they  can  get,  and  sow  it  down 
with  rye,  and  perhaps,  if  convenient,  throw  in 
some  hay  chaft',  and  the  surface  is  left  to  blow 
away  during  the  winter  and  spring.  After  the 
rye  is  harvested  it  is  suffered  to  lay  three  or  fcur 
years,  and  then  to  go  through  the  same  process, 
and  so  on.  Now,  any  one  may  see,  that  in  time 
all  of  the  alkaline  and  vegetable  substances  are 
taken  up  in  the  stalks  of  corn  and  rye,  and  noth- 
ing is  left  to  reproduce  them,  and,  of  course, 
nothing  will  grow  in  such  exhausted  land,  not 
even  weeds.  The  only  thing  than  can  now  be 
done,  is,  either  to  put  on  muck  and  manure,  and 
plow  deep  to  restore  it  to  its  primitive  state,  or 
to  suffer  it  to  grow  up  into  a  pine  forest. 

The  first  can  easily  be  done  ;  for  in  most  places 
where  sandy  lands  abound,  peat  swamps  are  at 
hand,  and  in  the  fall,  large  quantities  of  muck 
could  easily  be  carted  out,  and  in  most  cases  it 
would  benefit  the  swamp  meadows  to  make  w'd- 
er  drains  through  them,  and  in  such  case  obtcs-a 
two  objects  at  once.  ,  If  this  course  of  manuring 
and  deep  plowing  is  pursued,  in  a  short  time  any 
kind  of  a  crop  could  be  obtained  from  the  old 
fields ;  large  crops  of  grass,  corn,  rye,  potatoes, 
turnips,  melons,  &c.,  could  be  produced — also  a 
good  orchard  of  apples,  pears,  peaches  and  cher- 
ries. I  have  seen  such  land  as  the  above-named 
perfectly  restored,  and  at  the  same  time,  more 
than  doubly  pay  the  expense  while  undergoing 
this  renovating  process. 

If  it  is  desirable  to  let  it  go  to  wood,  the  best 
way  is  to  plow  the  ground,  and  in  the  fall  collect 
leaves  and  acorns  or  elm  seed,  and  scatter  them 
in  the  field  and  brush  them  over.  If  it  is  desira- 
ble, walnuts,  chestnuts,  beech  or  maple  seeds 
could  be  sown.  The  ash,  maple,  or  English  syc- 
amore, and  lime  trees,  make  wood  fast  on  low 
grounds  ;  the  Scotch  larch  makes  trees  rapidly. 
I  have  trees  of  most  of  the  above-named  varieties 
only  fifteen  years  old,  that  are  from  twenty  to 
fifty  feet  high. 

To  prevent  the  sand  and  soil  from  blowing  off, 
it  would  be  advisable  to  cut  and  put  on  brush 
over  the  surface,  and  by  doing  this,  matter  will 
collect  instead  of  being  blown  away.     When  I 


64 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


came  to  Brookline  I  purchased  a  gravel  hill  that 
produced  neither  grass  nor  weeds  ;  I  put  on  mud 
all  over  it  and  plowed  it  in  about  a  foot  deep,  and 
then  cross-plowed  it,  and  put  on  manure,  about 
two  cords  to  an  acre,  and  plowed  it  again,  and 
then  harrovv'ed  it,  and  then  planted  it  with  corn 
and  potatoes  and  obtained  good  crops,  more  than 
enough  to  pay  all  the  expense  and  trouble,  and 
laid  it  down  to  grass,  and  have  had  a  good  crop 
of  hay  every  year  since.  It  does  not  dry  up,  as  it 
formerly  did  ;  the  deep  plowing  prevented  that 
trouble.  Fifteen  years  since  it  was  broken  up, 
and  it  produces  good  crops  now.  It  does  not  get 
heavy  and  cold  as  land  does  where  muck  has  not 
been  plowed  in  ;  the  value  of  muck  is  much  great- 
er in  gravelly  or  sandy  land,  than  it  is  on  clayey 
land.  Sand  and  gravel  are  worth  more  than 
manure  on  clayey  ground  and  meadows,  espe- 
cially if  it  is  intended  to  cultivate  cranberries. 
S.  A.  Shurtleff. 
Spring  Orove,  Dec,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

CLIMATE  AND  SOIL  OP  OBLEANS 
COUNTY,   VT. 

Mr.  Brown  : — Though  you  have  a  considera- 
ble number  of  readers  in  this  (Orleans  county, 
Vt.,)  I  perceivi  there  are  not  a  large  number  of 
writers  for  your  pages.  Having  resided  in  this 
county  nearly  twenty  years,  and  having,  during 
that  period,  been  several  years  engaged  in  the 
geological  survey  of  the  State,  I  have  had  a  bet- 
ter opportunity  to  compare  the  soil  in  this  with 
other  portions  of  New  England,  and  especially, 
other  portions  of  Vermont,  than,  perhaps,  any 
other  person.  I  think  it  is  of  some  importance, 
that  the  readers  of  the  Farmer  should  be  made 
acquainted  with  some  facts  in  regard  to  our  cli- 
mate and  soil,  of  which  many  are  probably  igno- 
rant. 

This  entire  county  lies  north  of  forty-four 
degrees  of  latitude,  but  we  are  not,  on  that  ac- 
count, so  "buried  up  in  snow"  as  the  citizens 
of  Massachusetts  and  southern  New  England 
might  suppose.  It  is,  indeed,  a  very  rare  thing, 
that  we  are  incommoded  with  snow  or  drifts,  so 
as  to  impede  travel  or  prevent  business  during 
any  part  of  the  winter.  Frosts  have  been  later, 
usually,  in  autumn  than  they  have  in  Worcester 
county.  .  You  mention  frost  that  injured  cran- 
berries, &c.,  last  fall,  a  month  earlier,  near  Bos- 
ton, than  we  had  in  this  county.  Tomatoes  were 
green  in  my  garden,  both  last  year  and  the  year: 
before,  till  about  the  first  of  October.  This  isi 
not  uncommon. 

The  soil  of  a  large  portion  of  Orleans  and' 
Caledonia  counties  is  made  by  the  decomposition 
of  the  calcareous  mica  slates  which  constitute 
the  rock  in  place.  These  slates  are  an  inter- 1 
stratification  of  clay-slate,  lime-slate  and  horn- 
blend.  The  rock  is  very  friable,  and  decomposes 
so  rapidly  that  there  is  a  good  deep  soil  now, 
where  the  ledges  appeared  on  the  surface  twenty 
years  ago.  The  lime,  clay,  silex  and  mica  are  so 
well  mixed  that  they  furnish  in  great  abundance 
the  elements  required  by  vegetation,  especially 
wheat,  barley,  grass,  corn  and  oats.  Should  the 
soil  ever  deteriorate,  we  have  immense  quanti- 
ties of  the  richest  variety  sphagnous  muck,  much 
of  which  lies  above  shell  marl,  in  the  beds  of  an- 


cient ponds  and  beaver  meadows.  This  marl, 
when  converted  to  lime  and  mixed  with  the  muck, 
makes  a  manure  worth  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
per  cent,  more  than  cow-dung.  I  have  taken 
pains  to  survey  most  of  the  muck-beds  in  one 
town,  and  ascertained  that  there  were  more  than 
730  cords  for  every  acre  of  land  in  the  town. 
Many  other  towns  are  equally  well  supplied. 
This  will,  in  future  ages,  therefore,  be  a  rich 
farming  territory,  when  the  "German  Flats"  and 
Western  prairies  have  become  impoverished. 
There  are  found  few  resources  for  supplying  what 
is  transported  from  those  regions  by  the  export 
of  wheat,  beef,  pork,  &c.  There  is  a  f'onstant 
drain  of  the  richest  elements  of  the  soil,  which 
in  time  must  produce  the  same  effect  now  ex- 
perienced in  Virginia  and  some  portions  of  New 
England.  In  this  portion  of  Vermont  are  re- 
sources adequate  to  prevent  any  impoverishing 
of  the  soil  for  scores  of  centuries. 

If  you  foot  up  the  number  of  cattle  and  sheep 
from  Vermont,  taken  to  Brighton  and  Cambridge, 
as  reported  in  the  Farmer,  for  a  year,  you  will 
find  that  the  little  State  of  Vermont  furnishes 
more  at  those  markets  than  all  the  rest  of  New 
England.  This,  to  many,  has  been  surprising. 
The  question  is  often  asked,  "How  is  this  possi- 
ble ?"  Perhaps  a  few  facts  obtained  from  the 
president  of  the  County  Agricultural  Society,  a 
few  years  since,  may  aid  in  answering  that  ques- 
tion, and  also  show  the  productiveness  of  our 
soil. 

"I  have  in  grass  thirty-five  acres,  from  which 
I  wintered  last  winter  four  large  oxen,  ten  cows 
and  ten  two-year  olds,  two  horses,  three  colts,  one, 
two  and  three  year  olds  and  twelve  sheep,  and 
sold  two  or  three  tons  of  hay.  I  raised  300 
bushels  of  oats,  125  bushels  of  corn  and  eigh- 
teen bushels  of  wheat."  The  stock  was  fully 
equal  to  forty  cows !  The  amount  of  straw,  Sec, 
fed  out,  was  only  what  is  common  on  a  farm  of 
100  acres.  S.  R.  Hall. 

Brownington,  Vt.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

APPLICATION  OF  MANUKE. 

Mr.  Editor: — In  the  first  place,  should  not 
every  farmer  consider  what  the  crop  is  to  which 
he  can  apply  his  manure  to  the  best  profit,  wheth- 
er it  will  be  to  increase  his  hay,  or  corn,  or  the 
small  grains.  If  his  farm  is  one  better  adapted 
to  hay  than  grain,  that  is,  if  he  has  a  large  pro- 
portion of  low  land  or  swale  hay,  then  it  would 
seem  best  for  him  to  apply  his  manure  for  rais- 
ing grain ;  but  if  otherwise,  he  should  have  a 
greater  proportion  of  upland  hay,  which  needs 
the  manure  to  keep  that  crop  good,  then  it  ap- 
pears that  here  is  the  crop  needing  the  most  stim- 
ulant. Now  let  us  consider  what  per  cent,  each 
crop  gets,  in  the  common  way  of  applying  our 
manures.  If  we  spread  and  plow  in  all  our  ma- 
nure for  the  first  crop,  say  for  corn,  which  is  gen- 
erally allowed  to  take  fifty  per  cent,  the  first  year, 
and  then  sow  down  to  grain  and  grass  the  sec- 
ond year,  which  is  allowed  to  take  twen*y-five 
per  cent,  of  the  remainder  of  the  strength  of  the 
manure, — then  we  have  only  twenty-five  per 
cent,  left  of  all  our  manures  for  the  succeeding 
grass   crops,  which,  if  there   be   four   of  those 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


85 


crops,  as  is  commonly  the  case,  then  we  have  only 
six  and  a  quarter  per  cent,  yearly,  of  all  our  ma- 
nures, for  four  crops  of  hay. 

According  to  these  calculations,  is  it  any  won- 
der that  we  have  light  crops  of  hay,  when  we 
consider  that  some  of  our  old  fields  have  thus 
been  managed  for  the  last  half-century  or  more? 

If  this  theory  be  correct,  it  is  certain  that  we 
are  spending  a  larger  portion  of  our  manures  on 
the  grain  than  on  the  grass  crops.  This  may 
be  the  best  course  to  pursue,  but  will  depend  on 
circumstances  ;  if  the  amount  of  grain  we  pro- 
duce can  be  converted  by  the  least  expense  into 
that  which  will  re-produce  the  most  from  the 
farm,  then  it  is  best  to  cultivate  the  land  for 
those  crops ;  but  for  some  farmers,  no  doubt 
hay  will  be  the  crop  for  them  in  preference  to 
any  other.  T.  G.  Holbrook. 

Bedford,  N.  II.,  Dec,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
*  THE  COBN  HARVEST. 

0,  saw  you  the  golden-earej  corn, 

As  the  tusbandman  gathered  it  in, 
When  he  rose  in  the  purpling  morn 
To  garner  his  treasures  of  grain .' 

The  seed  which  his  generous  hand 
Had  strown  in  the  spring  o'er  the  plain, 

Had  grown  ujjon  his  furrowed  land, 
'Hid  the  sun  and  the  dew  and  the  rain  ; 

'Til'  the  autumn  had  chilled  with  its  cold, 

The  insect  that  bathed  in  sun-light, 
And  robed  in  gay  beauties  untold, 

The  wind-waved  forests  so  bi'ight 

O,  heard  you  that  mellow-toned  song, 
Gushing  up  from  the  husbandman's  breast, 

As  it  echoed  the  hill-side  along. 
And  waked  them  all  smiling  from  rest .' 

The  West  may  boast  her  rich  gold, 

And  the  East  her  wines  and  her  oil. 
But  the  husbandman's  treasures  unfold 
When  he  coaxes  his  corn  from  the  soil. 
Nef  Ipficich,  Dec.  21, 1858.  w.  D.  l. 


For  the  New  England  Fanner. 
TH3IJ  MASCOMMA  VALLEY. 

Mr.  Editor  : — It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
a  portion  of  your  readers  to  hear  something  of 
this  beautiful  valley,  situated,  as  it  is,  in  the 
mountainous  region  of  Grafton  county,  N.  H., 
and  lying  in  the  towns  of  Lebanon  and  Enfield  ; 
it  is  only  some  14  miles  in  length,  not  very  wide 
at  any  point ;  but  it  is  rich  and  productive,  and 
the  farmers  in  this  valley  are  independent ;  they 
stand  upon  their  own  acres,  and  can  boast  of  as 
good  farms,  as  good  crops  and  as  good  stock  as 
the  farmers  of  any  other  valley  in  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire.  In  the  month  of  August  last,  I 
passed  through  that  portion  of  this  beautiful  re- 
gion lying  between  Lebanon  Centre  and  George 
Hill  in  Enfield,  and  was  filled  with  admiration  at 
the  rich  gifts  of  Nature  which  were  displayed  to 
the  traveller.  Beautifully  undulating  lands,  clad 
with  all  the  varieties  of  majestic  trees,  shooting 
into  the  air,  while  here  and  there  meandering 
crystal  streams  were  seen  gliding  onward  to  the 
bosom  of  Lake  Mascomma  and  the  Connecticut 
river:  T  ♦v.nnrrVit  {t  the   mnsf,  beautiful   inland! 


country  I  ever  beheld.  At  some  points  on  either 
side  of  the  valley,  mountains  throw  up  their  gran- 
ite peaks  high  into  the  air,  descending  abruptly 
or  gracefully  towards  the  Little  Mascomma  river. 
At  other  points,  the  land  rises  in  long  undula- 
tions, affording  occasional  and  delightful  views  of 
the  scenery — the  bright  river  runs  like  a  natural 
mirror,  now  meandering  through  the  plain,  and 
now  peeping  forth  from  the  delightful  shade  of  a 
thick  grove — the  white  farm-houses  with  the  neat- 
looking  out-houses,  the  sheep  basking  on  the  dis- 
tant hills,  the  lowing  of  the  herd  in  the  adjacent 
field,  the  merry  song  of  the  farmer  as  he  gaily 
plied  the  rake  or  bound  in  sheaves  the  rich  re- 
ward of  the  husbandman's  toil,  formed  a  view, 
which,  to  my  eye,  was  truly  delightful. 

There  are  thriving  and  beautiful  little  villages 
in  this  valley  that  are  deserving  of  note;  the 
first  in  order,  as  we  pass  from  the  Connecticut 
eastward,  is  Lebanon  Centre.  This  is  a  business 
place,  traversed  by  the  Northern  Railroad,  sui-- 
rounded  with  a  good  farming  country,  pleasantly 
situated,  tastefully  laid  out,  and  has  become  a 
place  of  considerable  wealth. 

About  three  and  a  half  miles  from  this  place, 
at  the  north-western  extremity  of  Lake  Mascom- 
ma, is  situated  the  village  of  East  Lebanon,  a 
brisk  little  place  of  business,  with  its  complement 
of  farmers,  merchants  and  mechanics  requisite  to 
make  it  what  it  really  is,  a  smart  New  England 
village. 

The  next  place  worthy  of  note,  as  I  parsed 
along  the  western  shore  of  this  beautiful  lake, 
(after  passing  the  submerged  bridge  which 
crosses  the  lake  at  a  point  near  its  centre,)  is 
the  village  of  the  Enfield  Shakers  ;  here  are  ele- 
gance, neatness  and  convenience  combined.  I 
certainly  never  saw  a  place  where  such  perfect 
order  and  neatness  prevailed.  The  grounds  are 
laid  out  M'ith  the  utmost  exactness,  the  build- 
ings and  fences  of  the  best  materials,  built  in 
the  most  thorough  manner,  and  kept  in  the  best 
repair.  The  whole  appearance  manifests  the 
watchful  care  of  the  prudent  and  experienced 
managers. 

Next  in  order  come  the  three  little  villages  o. 
Enfield,  called  North-End,  Centre  and  Fish  Mar- 
ket. These  three  villages  united,  would  make 
one  large  village.  The  centre  village  presents 
quite  a  lively  appearance,  containing  one  meet- 
jing-house,  two  stores,  and  all  the  various  me- 
chanical trades  necessary  to  make  a  flourishing 
place. 

The  view  from  the  south-eastern  extremity  of 
the  valley  is  magnificent,  and  especially  from  the 
residence  of  T.  J.  Colby,  Esq.,  on  George  Hill, 
an  elevation  of  several  hundred  feet,  and  over- 
looking the  valley  on  the  north-west,  presenting 
a  scene  of  wood-land  and  meadow,  lofty  summits, 
gentle  slopes,  cottage  and  farm-houses,  church 
spires,  with  the  lofty  old  elms,  and  the  more 
symmetrical  sugar  maple,  groves  of  hemlock  and 
small  pines,  spruce  and  fir,  shading  the  distant 
and  nearer  landscapes,  and  forming  a  scene  fit 
for  the  hand  of  an  experienced  writer.  In  the 
distance  stretches  the  beautiful  Mascomma  Lake, 
elevated  more  than  one  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  in  the  towns  of  Lebanon  and 
Enfield,  and  is  one  of  the  loveliest  and  most  ro- 
mantic lakes  in  New  England,  for  the  beauty  of 
its  situation,  its  irregular  shores,  indented  Avith 


86 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Eeb. 


numerous  coves,  creeks  and  inlets,  and  imbedded 
in  the  midst  of  magnificent  hills  and  lofty  moun- 
tains. It  may  justly  vie  in  beauty  and  grandeur 
with  Winnipissiogee  or  Lake  George,  or  with  the 
more  celebrated  and  far  famed  Scottish  lakes 
Katrine  and  Lomond. 

There  is    much    more   that   might  be  written 
about  this  region,  and  its  industrious  inhabitants. 
Perhaps  at  some  future  time  I  may  have  some- 
thing to  say  about  my  own  Suijar  River  Valley. 
W.tj.  A.  Clinton. 

Claremonf,  N.  IL,  Dec,  18oS. 


AMMONIA. 

This  substance,  which  performs  a  very  impor- 
tant part  in  the  economy  of  vegetable  devel- 
opment and  growth,  is  always  found  in  rain- 
water, dew  and  snow,  particularly  in  the  vicin- 
age of  cities  and  densely  populated  districts, 
where  ammonia  is  profusely  generated  by  decom- 
posing matters.  It  is  a  volatile  substance,  and 
unless  absorbed  and  fixed  by  some  article  capa- 
ble of  attracting  and  retaining  it,  passes  into  the 
atmosphere,  and  is  lost.  That  it  actually  abounds 
in  rain  water  as  it  descends  from  the  heavens, 
and  in  no  inconsiderable  quantity,  may  be  de- 
monstrated by  simply  distilling  a  few  gallons, 
and  mixing  the  first  two  or  three  pounds  distilled 
with  a  little  muriatic  acid.  A  very  distinct  and 
beautiful  crystallization  of  muriate  of  ammonia, 
or  sal  ammonia,  v!i\\  thus  be  formed,  the  crystals 
having  a  dark  or  brownish  color. 

If  a  small  quantity  of  muriatic  acid  be  added 
to  a  quantity  of  rain  water,  and  the  mixture 
evaporated  to  dryness  over  a  hot  fire,  the  am- 
monia will  remain  as  a  residuum,  in  combination 
with  the  sulphuric  acid.  It  may  be  detected  by 
adding  a  little  pulverized  limi*,  which  will  com- 
bine with  the  acid,  and  the  ammonia  will  be  set 
free.  In  this  state,  it  is  easily  detected  by  its 
pungent  smell. 

As  to  fixers,  a  recent  writer  on  agricultural 
chemistry  remarks : — "For  this  purpose  charcoal 
is  probably  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  valuable 
articles  known,  as  it  is  capable,  under  ordinary 
circumstance,  of  absorbing  ninety  limes  its  weight 
of  ammoniacal  gas,  which  it  retains  until  it  is 
freed  and  washed  into  the  soil  by  rain.  Here, 
partly,  no  doubt,  by  the  voltaic  action  of  the 
spongioles,  it  is  conveyed  into  the  vegetable  sys- 
tem and  circulation,  and  becomes  the  principal 
source  of  nitrogen,  so  indispensable  to  vegetable 
health  and  growth.  Gypsum,  another  valuable 
article,  is  also  a  powerful  fixer,  and  is  highly  val- 
uable a?  an  application,  on  all  soils,  especially 
those  that  are  dressed  with  animal  substances, 
which  in  the  process  of  decomposition  evolve 
considerable  quantities  of  ammonia,  and  which, 
like  charcoal,  it  serves  to  fix  and  retain  for  the 
benefit  of  the  growing  crop." 


Urate  is  evolved  or  given  out  by  putrid 
urine,  and  by  stable  dung  in  a  state  of  fermenta- 
tion. It  is  always  a  colorless  product,  and  dis- 
tinguished by  a  peculiarly  pungent  odor.  When 
dissolved  in  water,  it  is  known  as  "harisJiorn.' 
It  is  volatile  in  a  very  remarkable  degree,  pos- 
sesses the  common  properties  of  soda  and  pot- 
ash, and  combines  read.ly,  as  we  have  already 
shown,  with  acids.  Its  eilects  upon  vegetation, 
are  very  marked.  For  fixing  and  economizing 
this  volatile  and  highly  important  product  of  de- 
composition, gypsum,  or  plaster  of  paris,  as  it  is 
more  commonly  denominated,  possesses  n  very 
high  degree  of  value.  It  was  formerly  supposed 
that  gypsum  operated  merely  as  a  stimulant 
when  applied  to  vegetables  ;  but  in  his  very  ele- 
gant and  elaborate  work.  Professor  Liebig  has 
presented  a  solution  of  its  action,  which  experi- 
ence, we  have  no  doubt,  will  demonstrate  to  We 
correct. 

According  to  his  views,  carbonate  of  ammonia, 
which  is  known  to  be  present  in  rain-water,  and 
in  itself  a  most  energetic  and  salutary  agent  in 
the  production  of  vegetable  phenomena,  is  at- 
tracted and  decomposed  by  gypsum,  and  soluble 
sulphate  of  ammonia  and  carbonate  of  lime 
formed.  As  this  salt  of  ammonia  possesses  no 
volatility,  it  is,  of  course,  retained  in  the  soil, 
and  eff'ectually  economized  for  the  use  of  plants. 
Both  the  above  salts,  however,  have  a  decidedly 
beneficial  influence  upon  the  humus  of  the  soil, 
and,  by  a  specific  action,  tend  to  advance  its 
preparation  as  a  soluble  food  of  plants. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MANUBES— COMPOSTING  AND  EX- 
POSING. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  was  pleased  with  the  commu- 
nication from  Mr.  Collamore,  in  the  Farmer  of 
December  18th.  He  quotes  from  my  communi- 
cation of  November  27,  as  follows  :"forty  years 
among  the  corn  crops."  I  wrote  it  as  follows, 
"forty  years'  labor  among  corn  crops." 

There  is  a  great  difference  in  spending  forty 
years  among  crops  of  corn,  and  laboring  forty 
years  among  corn  crops.  The  laborer  has  greatly 
the  advantage  over  a  mere  proprietor,  in  noticing 
failures  among  the  diflferent  crops. 

Mr.  C.  asks  some  eight  questions,  two  or  more 
of  them  being  double  ones.  These  questions  par- 
take somewhat  of  the  process  of  dodging'respon- 
sibility.  When  Mr.  C.  says  I  am  "mistaken," 
and  "blind,"  he  should  produce  some  experimen- 
tal argument  to  convince  me  that  I  was  in  error, 
and  could  not  see.  I  had  not  the  most  distant 
thought  about  "converts,"  when  I  wrote  my  ex- 
perience, and  I  venture  to  prophecy  that  in  less 
than  twenty  years  very  many  farmers  will  be 
ready  to  give  just  such  "advice,"  and  "give  their 
manure  the  benefit  of  both  sun  and  rain." 

Mr.  C.  asks,  "has  it  never  occurred  to  him,  that 
he  could  compost  his  manure?"  I  wrote  about 
composted  manure,  and  supposed  it  was  so  un- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


87 


(lerstood  all  through  my  communication ;  and 
this  I  fully  believe  can  be  done  better  out  of  the 
cellar  than  in.  Mr.  C.  is  informed  in  this,  as  well 
asmyformer  communication,  that  I  have  "learned 
that  the  caustic  qualities  of  powerful  manures 
v.'ill  prevent  the  germination  of  seeds."  He  in- 
quires if  I  am  in  earnest  in  recommending  this 
theory  ;  if  he  will  take  away  the  word  "ruinous," 
I  answer  I  am  in  earnest,  and  have  practiced  it 
for  forty  years.  I  think  my  labor  has  not  been 
wholly  vain  in  the  corn-field  ,  and  should  I  be 
permitted  to  slumber,  as  did  Van  Winkle,  I  fully 
believe  that  when  I  awake,  I  shall  find  the  barn 
cellars  occupied  for  a  diflTerent  purpose  than  the 
composting  of  manures. 

What  surprises  me  the  most,  is  his  first  paren- 
thesis, "And  I  think  you,  Mr.  Editor,  must  have 
a  large  share  of  moral  courage  to  publish  it." 
Was  Mr.  C.  serious,  when  he  penned  that  ?  Did 
he  think  an  editor  had  no  other  attribute  than 
courage  ?  and  if  he  has  other  attributes,  does  he 
think  that  the  reason  of  his  publishing  my  arti- 
cle was  to  try  his  courage  ?  If  farmers  acted 
from  a  sense  of  duty,  I  believe  we  should  often 
record  our  failures,  for  the  benefit  of  others.  I 
hope  we  shall  have  both  sides  of  this  subject  dis 
cussed  in  the  Farmer,  as  the  sooner  we  know  the 
truth,  the  better.  Robert  Mansfield. 

West  Needliam,  Mass.,  Dec,  1858. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CUTTING  STALKS  OF  CORN. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  am  pleased  to  have  my  re- 
marks on  the  "cutting  of  corn-stalks"  noticed  by 
a  man  so  sensible  as  Mr.  Emerson,  of  Hollis, 
appears  to  be.  Without  the  honor  of  his  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  I  judge  him  to  be  a  man  of 
good  sense,  fi'om  his  style  of  writing.  In  years 
gone  by  I  have  known  many  reliable  men  of  Hol- 
lis, and  among  others  I  presume  I  knew  the  fa- 
ther of  Mr.  Emerson,  when  he  attended  market 
at  Salem,  as  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  that 
town  were  accustomed  to,  with  their  loads  of 
barrels ;  and  when  these  loads  came  together, 
we  were  accustomed  to  look  upon  it  as  a  sign  of 
rain. 

His  experiment  of  cutting  eight  rows  of  stalks, 
and  leaving  other  eight  rows  similarly  situated 
uncut,  is  a  perfectly  fair  one.  And  if  he  found, 
as  he  says  he  did,  more  soft,  unripe  corn  where 
the  stalks  were  not  cut  than  where  they  were 
cut,  this  would  go  far  to  show  that  it  is  best  to 
cut  them.  Another  reason  why  it  is  better  to 
cut  them  than  not,  is,  the  stalks  themselves  are 
more  valuable.  But  the  chief  reason  is,  that 
the  corn  ripens  better;  the  ear  being  the  object 
for  which  it  is  grown,  and  not  the  stalk.  I  have 
heard  it  said  if  the  stalks  were  left  on,  the  juice 
of  it  would  settle  into  the  kernel  and  increase 
the  weight  of  it ;  but  this  is  theory  only  ;  I  have 
no  confidence  in  the  fact.  Essex. 

December  25,  1858. 


Grinding  Feed. — "If  a  machine  was  invented 
to  grind  hay,"  says  the  London  Farmers^  Maga- 
zine, "the  ground  article  would  approximate  in 
value  to  ungro^ind  oats  in  producing  fat  and 
muscle."  Chopping  hay  and  stalks  is  the  pro- 
cess that  comes  nearest  to  grinding,  and  relieves 
the  animal  of  just  so  much  labor  as  it  takes  to  do 


it.  Twenty-five  pounds  of  dry  hay  a  day  is  a 
good  deal  of  work  for  the  muscles  of  one  pair  of 
jaws,  if  they  have  the  whole  burden  of  its  reduc- 
tion to  small  bits  and  powder  ;  this  labor  afl'ects 
the  whole  system,  like  other  labor,  retarding  the 
animal's  growth  and  rendering  more  food  neces- 
sary to  supply  the  waste  of  its  tissues.  The  same 
reasoning  applies  to  grinding  other  food  for 
stock. — Country  Gentleman. 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 

AGHICULTUKAIj  pkogeess—mam- 
MOTH  FARM  COMPANY. 

Messrs.  Editors  :— In  the  N.  E.  Farmer  of 
the  18th  Dec.  is  a  communication  with  the  above 
caption  by  Wilson  Flagg.  Notwithstanding  Mr. 
Flagg's  able  and  well-written  article,  he  does  not 
convince  me  that  there  is  danger  to  the  small, 
independent  farmer,  growing  from  the  formation 
of  the  "Mammoth  Farm  Company,"  in  V/estern 
New  York.  How  that  operating  with  steam  im- 
plements on  the  prairies  at  the  West,  can  prove 
"destructive  to  the  prosperity  of  individual  farm- 
ers" at  the  East,  or  any  where  else,  I  have  not 
the  sagacity  to  see.  The  productions  of  the 
West  are  generally  the  very  articles  which  New 
England  does  not  produce  in  sufficient  quanti- 
ties for  her  own  consumption.  From  the  West 
and  South  very  few  articles  are  transported  to 
New  England  which  are  produced  in  it  as  sur- 
plus. The  more  grain,  pork,  cotton,  sugar,  mo- 
lasses, rice,  sweet  potatoes  and  other  articles  of 
warm  climates,  and  the  cheaper  they  come  to  us, 
the  better,  if  the  raisers  are  remunerated.  And 
for  me,  I  am  under  the  least  apprehension  that 
this  "Mammoth  Company"  can  monopolize  the 
farming  business,  in  the  least  degree  to  the  in- 
jury of  the  small,  independent  farming  interest 
in  the  Eastern  and  Northern  States,  however  it 
may  operate  upon  them  on  the  prairies  at  the 
West. 

The  plov/  is  the  only  "mammoth  implement" 
to  which  steam  could  be  advantageously  applied  ; 
that  being  the  case,  other  farm  operations  must 
be  conducted  in  the  usual  way,  as  on  small  farnvs, 
with  horses,  oxen  and  hand  laborers.  I  hope, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  farmers  at  the  West,  and 
all  the  consumers  at  the  East,  West,  North  and 
South,  that  the  steam  plow  will  prove  successful 
in  capsizing  the  surface  of  the  indurated  prairies, 
and  fully  realize  the  expectation  and  confirm  the 
hopes  of  the  "Mammoth  Farm  Company,"  in 
plowing  those  stubborn  prairies  which  require 
so  much  animal  power  to  perform.  The  fear  of 
injury  to  the  small,  independent  farmer  in  the 
Eastern  and  Northern  States,  that  creates  such 
apprehensions  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Flagg,  I  think 
must  subside,  when  he  takes  into  consideration 
the  difficulty  and  expense  of  purchasing  the  small 
farms,  leveling  the  ground,  clearing  away  the 
rocks,  straightening  the  brooks,  draining  the 
swamps,  and  above  all,  of  procuring  manure  to 
enrich  this  chaos  of  gravel,  clay,  sand,  mud  and 
other  mineral  matter,  to  make  it  productive. 
For  one,  I  would  as  soon  invest  my  capital  in 
Vermont  Central  Railroad  bonds,  or  go  into  a 
South  Sea  speculation,  as  invest  money  as  a  stock- 
holder in  a  "mammoth  farm"  in  any  part  of  the 
Union.  Silas  Browk. 

North  Wilmington,  Dec,  1858. 


88 


NEW  ENGLAND    FARMER. 


Feb. 


For  the  Ncic  England  Farmer. 
MATSEIALS  FOB  HOOFING. 

I  notice  in  the  Farmer  of  Oct.  16th  a  •well- 
written  article  on  this  subject;  also,  another  in 
the  number  dated  Dec.  Uth,  in  which  are  set 
forth  some  facts,  and  in  my  opinion  some  errors  ; 
and  as  but  few,  comparatively,  are  well  acquaint- 
ed with  the  article  of  roofing  slate,  the  public 
mind  might  be  led  astray,  from  some  remarks 
that  have  been  made  in  previous  articles  on  this 
subject,  and  more  especially  those  in  the  October 
number,  from  the  pen  of  llusticus.  I  deem  it 
my  duty  to  at  least  give  my  opinion,  and  the 
reasons  for  the  same,  and  let  the  people  judge 
for  themselves. 

That  slate  is  the  best  material  for  roofing, 
there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind,  reasons  for  which 
were  given  by  my  brother  llusticus. 

In  regard  to  the  strength  of  slates,  Rusticus 
sets  forth  that  a  slate  to  have  strength  must  ne- 
cessarily be  composed  of  such  properties  as  will 
fade,  which  theory  must  be  carried  out,  if  we  ad- 
mit that  the  Glen  Lake  and  the  Eagle  slate  are 
the  best.  I  admit,  as  Rusticus  says,  that  there 
are  slate  that  are  soft,  brittle,  and  do  not  fade, 
which  cannot  be  split  thin  on  account  of  their 
tenderness.  I  mean  more  particularly  those  he 
mentions,  or  the  Western  Vermont.  There  are 
also  hard  slate,  so  brittle  that  they  cannot  be 
split  thin,  A  slate  need  not  necessarily  be  hard 
or  soft  to  split  well.  I  am  more  or  less  acquaint- 
ed with  the  slate  from  more  than  twenty  quar- 
ries in  the  vicinity  of  Hydeville  and  Fairhavenj 
and  this  fact  I  have  observed  among  these  slate, 
that  both  the  hard  and  soft  have  their  good  and 
bad  qualities  for  splitting.  Slate,  to  split  well, 
must  not  be  soft,  like  clay,  or  chalk,  nor  hard 
and  brittle,  like  cast  iron,  or  glass,  but  be 
of  pure,  fine  quality,  solid  and  elastic.  Good 
splitting  slate,  both  hard  and  soft,  will  bend 
apart  in  splitting  some  of  the  largest  sizes,  some 
six  inches  or  more. 

As  to  the  question  whether  the  color  has  any 
thing  to  do  with  the  strength  of  slate,  I  am  will- 
ing to  take  Rusticus  on  his  own  ground.  He 
says  the  Welsh  slates  are  a  standard,  and  the 
Glen  Lake  are  equal  to  them  except  in  color. 
Why  must  the  Vermont  slates  fade  in  order  to 
give  them  strength,  any  more  than  the  standard 
Welsh  slates  ?  Slates  fade  in  consequence  of  the 
metallic  properties  of  which  they  are  composed. 
Those  composed  of  iron  will  fade  and  rust,  while 
those  composed  of  lead  or  copper  will  remain  for 
ages  unchanged. 

A  good  splitting  slate  that  fades  is  better  than 
a  tender  slate  that  will  not  fade,  but  a  slate  that 
is  both  strong  and  never  fades  is  better  than 
either.  Such  as  these  are  made  at  a  quarry 
within  two  miles  of  Hydeville  and  Fairhaven  de- 
pots, and  within  one  mile  of  the  quarries  of  the 
Eagle  and  Forest  Slate  Co.,  owned  by  William 
L.  Farnam  ct  Son.  This  quarry  yields  a  variety 
of  colors,  the  t^^p  layers  are  beautiful,  light  varie- 
gated colors,  while  those  below  are  dark  variega- 
ted or  clouded  purple,  and  still  farther  down  are 
a  fine  purple,  capable  of  being  split  sixty  or  sev- 
enty to  the  foot. 

As  another  instance  of  the  splitting  properties 
of  this  stone,  blocks  from  six  to  ten  feet  long  by 
two  or  more  in  width,  can  easily  be   split  the 


thickness  of  one-fourth  of  an  inch  or  less.  These 
are  softer  than  those  of  Glen  Lake,  the  Eagle  or 
the  Forest  Slate  Co.'s,  equal  in  strength  and  su- 
perior in  fineness  of  texture,  evenness  of  surface 
and  duration  of  color,  and  in  no  respect  inferior 
to  any  Welsh  slate.  Another  Subscriber. 
December,  1858. 


MILK  STAND  AND  BUTTER-WOKKEE. 

We  are  permitted  again  to  copy  from  Flint's 
admirable  work  on  "Milch  Cows  and  Dairy 
Farming,"  and  place  before  the  dairyman  or  wo- 
man a  representation  of  an  excellent  mode  of 
setting  away  milk,  and  also  a  convenient  form 
of  a  butter  worker. 

Milk  should  never  be  set  on  the  bottom  of  a 
cellar,  if  the  object  is  to  raise  the  cream.  The 
cream  will  rise  in  time,  but  rarely  or  never  so 
quickly  as  on  shelves  from  five  to  eight  feet  from 
the  bottom  around  which  a  free  circulation  of 
pure  air  can  be  had  from  the  latticed  windows. 
It  is,  perhaps,  safe  to  say  that  as  great  an  amount 
of  better  cream  will  rise  from  the  same  milk  in 
tweleve  hours  on  suitable  shelves,  six  feet  from 
the  bottom,  as  would  be  obtained  directly  on  the 
bottom  of  the  same  cellar  in  twenty-four  hours. 


Fio.  I. — Milk  Stand. 


One  of  the  most  convenient  forms  for  shelves 
in  a  dairy-room  designed  for  butter-making  is 
represented  in  Fig.  1,  made  of  light  and  seasoned 
wood,  in  an  octagonal  form,  and  capable  d  hold- 
ing one  hundred  and  seventy-six  pans  of  the  or- 
dinary form  and  size.  It  is  so  simple  and  easily 
constructed,  and  so  economizes  space,  tfeat  it 
may  readily  be  adapted  to  other  and  smaller 
rooms  for  a  similar  purpose.  If  the  dairy-house 
is  near  a  spring  of  pure  and  running  water,  a 
small  stream  can  be  led  in  by  one  channel  and 
taken  out  by  another,  and  thus  keep  a  constant 
circulation  under  the  milk-stand,  which  may  be 
so  constructed  as  to  turn  easily  on  the  central 
post,  so  as  often  to  save  many  footsteps. 

The  pans  designed  for  milk  are  generally  made 


18.59. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


89 


be,  on  the  whole,  the  best  and  most  economical, 
and  subject  to  fewer  objections  than  most  other 
materials.  'Jlazed  earthen  ware  is  often  used, 
the  chief  objection  to  it  being  its  liability  to 
ureak,  and  its  weight.  It  is  easily  kept  clean, 
however,  and  is  next  in  value  to  tin,  if  not,  in- 
deed, equal  to  it.  A  tin  skimmer  is  commonly 
used,  somewhat  in  the  form  of  the  bowl  of  a 
spoon,  and  pierced  with  holes,  to  remove  the 
cream.  In  some  sections  of  the  country,  a  large 
white  clam-shell  is  very  commonly  used  instead! 
of  a  skimmer  made  for  the  purpose,  the  chief  ob-j 
jection  to  it  being  that  the  cream  is  not  quite  so] 
carefully  separated  from  the  milk.  I 


-BcTi^E  Worker 


The  butter-worker  with  a  marble  top,  is  an  im- 
portant addition  to  the  implements  of  the  dairy. 
It  effects  the  complete  removal  of  the  butter- 
milk, without  the  necessity  of  bringing  the  hands 
in  contact  with  it. 


Applf.  Grove  Family  School,  Sandwich, 
Mass. — We  feel  quite  confident  that  parents  who 
place  their  children  under  the  charge  of  Mrs.  E. 
Gould  Wing,  the  Principal  of  this  School,  will 
find  every  advantage  for  them  in  the  way  of  ac- 
quiring an  education  for  them  that  they  desire. 


EXTRACTS  AND  HEPLIES. 

BAKNS — CLAPBOARDS  OR  BATTENS — TIE-UPS. 

I  am  about  building  a  barn,  and  am  puzzled 
to  know  whether  to  clapboard  it,  to  have  my 
boards  matched  or  baitened  with  strips  some  three 
or  four  inches  wide.  Those  who  have  buildings 
covered  with  matched  boards  complain  that  the 
tongues  shrink  from  the  grooves.  I  am  inclined 
to  try  the  battens,  but  am  assured  that,  being  ap- 
plii-d  to  the  sappy  edges  of  the  boards,  they  pre- 
vent them  from  drying  when  wet,  and  thus  cause 
them  to  rot.  What  advice  have  you,  or  any  of 
your  corresjjondents,  for  me  ? 

Furthermore,  shall  I  locate  my  cattle  tie-up 
upon  the  north  side  of  my  barn,  from  whence  the 
manure  will  fall  into  the  back  part  of  the  cellar, 
or  shall  I  place  it  in  the  south  side,  where  the  an- 
imals it  would  seem  might  l)e  more  comfortable, 
but  the  manure  more  exposed  to  the  weather  ? 

Upon  examining  several  barns  in  a  part  of  the 


country  where  greater  care  is  manifested  in  the 
selection  of  good  models  than  in  this  vicinity,  I 
find  that  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  prevails  up- 
on these  points. 

I  notice,  however,  that  when  any  pnrticular 
plan  is  adopted,  it  having  cost  the  projector  no 
little  head  work,  he  is  very  reluctant  to  admit 
that  the  child  of  his  adoption  is  not  pretty  near 
perfection,  at  least  as  good  as  any  of  his  neigh- 
bors. A  Subscriber. 

JDanvers,  Bee.  28,  1858. 

Remarks. — We  should  use  the  battens,  but 
not  upon  "wany-edged"  boards.  We  have  never 
known  the  edges  of  boards  to  decay  under  the 

batten  to  make  such  a  course  objectionable. 
Tie  the  cattle  on  the  north  side,  by  all  means ; 

otherwise  you  so  obstruct  the  barn  cellar  as 

to  make  it  almost  valueless  for  any  purpose 

but  that  of  keeping  the  manure. 

There  is  no  settled   opinion  yet,  as  to  what 

the  best  arrangement  for  a  barn  is. 

INJURED   HORSES. 

Will  you  or  any  of  your  subscribers  Inform 
me  whether  a  horse  receiving  a  cut  by  a  dull 
instrument,  like  the  step  of  a  wagon,  one  of 
the  cords  being  cut  oft',  will  recover  so  as  to 
be  fit  for  future  use  ;  and  also,  whether  a  horse, 
with  sprung  forward  ankles,  will  recover  and 
if  any  of  you  know  of  any  thing  to  assist  na- 
ture in  the  recovery  of  each. 
Taunton,  1859. 

R,EMARKS. — We  do  not  think  a  horse  so  in- 
jured will  recover  so  as  to  be  of  any  service.  A 
horse  with  "sprung  ankles"  or  knees,  is  able  to 
perform  a  good  deal  of  slow  work. 

SULPHUR   FOR   CATTLE. 

I  was  gratified  to  see  an  article  in  your  paper 
of  Nov.  13th,  on  the  use  of  stdpliur  for  stock,  ta- 
ken from  the  Ohio  Valley  Farmer,  which  I  con- 
sider worth  to  a  common  farmer  what  he  pays 
for  the  paper,  (if  properly  used.)  There  are  many 
things  rendered  valueless  by  misapplication.  I 
use  quite  a  quantity  of  sulphur  every  season 
among  my  stock.  My  way  of  using  sulphur 
among  my  cattle  is  as  follows  :  I  melt  lard  with 
a  little  sulphur,  double  a  piece  of  candle  wicking 
a  few  times,  draw  it  through  the  melted  lard  and 
tie  it  round  my  calves'  necks,  and  let  them  wear  it. 
I  give  my  cattle  sulphur  once  a  day  for  three 
days,  then  omit  three  days,  so  continue  to  do  un- 
til I  give  it  nine  days,  then  omit  two  weeks.  One 
teaspoonful  a  dose  for  a  calf,  a  large  spoonful  for 
a  full-grown  animal.  I  give  it  at  night  on  their 
provender,  and  keep  my  stock  housed,  that  it 
may  better  operate  on  the  surface  of  the  animal. 
I  find  by  giving  it  a  little  more  freely  for  a  few 
weeks,  before  turning  to  pasture,  it  supersedes 
the  necessity  of  bleeding,  and  makes  the  ca'tle 
more  healthy  during  the  season. 

Deerfield,  Mass.,  1858.        Apollos  Clary. 

Remarks. — The  reference  which  our  corres- 
pondent makes  to  the  old  practice  of  bleeding 
cattle  in  the  spring,  and  of  cidting  offtlieir  tails, 


90 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


at  any  time  when  fancy  suggests  it,  affords  us  the 
opportunity  of  asking  again,  what  this  blood-let- 
ting and  mutilation  are  for  ?  It  is  said  the  end 
of  the  animals'  tail  is  soft,  and  therefore,  un- 
healthy. Is  it  so  ?  We  are  inclined  to  think  it 
will  be  found  diseased  when  it  it  is  as  hard  as  a 
rake  tail  and  as  unbending  as  a  hoe  handle.  It 
was  made  soft  and  flexible,  or  it  would  not  have 
answered  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended 
It  is  just  as  sensible  to  cut  off  a  teat,  or  an  ear, 
as  the  tail.  If  the  animal  is  sick,  administer  prop- 
er remedies,  but  do  not  deprive  it  of  those  parts 
of  its  body  which  its  Creator  intended  should  be 
used  as  one  of  its  means  of  protection,  as  well  as 
give  it  those  fair  proportions  which  make  it  pleas- 
ant to  the  eye  of  man. 

So  of  the  barbarous  custom  of  bleeding  cattle 
in  the  spring.  What  is  it  for  ?  Cattle  are  not 
usuflly  sick  in  the  spring,  that  have  been  well 
fed  and  tended  during  the  winter,  and  if  they 
have  not  received  this  treatment,  and  are  thin 
and  lousy  and  weak,  do  not  deprive  them  of  what 
little  vitality  they  have  by  bleeding  them  '.  but 
rather  administer  in  liberal  doses,  good  red-top 
hay,  a  few  sliced  roots  daily  sprinkled  with  a 
quart  of  sweet  corn  meal,  and  let  the  patient  par- 
take freely  of  good  cold  water,  and  bathe  fre- 
quently in  the  warm  beams  of  the  sun,  and  out 
of  the  wind.  Then  apply  gentle  friction  frequent- 
ly with  a  soft  card  and  brush,  and  you  Mill  soon 
become  sensible  of  a  rapid  improvement.  That 
gallon  of  blood  ivhich  you  did  not  take  away,  has 
been  stimulated  to  action  by  your  generous  diet, 
so  that  the  hair  has  become  sleek,  the  skin  soft 
and  eyes  bright,  and  every  part  of  the  animal 
would  say  to  you  if  it  had  a  tongue — "I  thank 
you,  sir  ;  I  thank  you,  sir  ;  I  had  no  blood  to 
spare,  I  merely  wanted  something  to  eat." 

BUCKWHEAT   AND   CLOVER   ON    SANDY   LAND. 

I  have  a  piece  of  plain  land  that  I  wish  to 
break  up  next  spring,  as  it  is  infested  with  that 
plague,  the  ox  eye  daisy.  I  should  like  to  sow 
buckwheat.  Will  it  do  to  sow  clover  with  the 
buckwheat,  harvest  the  buckwheat,  and  plow  the 
clover  in  another  year,  and  repeat  ?  AVill  it  ex- 
terminate the  daisy  ?  R.  Butler. 
Spencer,  Mass.,  1858. 

Remarks. — The  operation  you  describe  will 
probably  keep  the  daisy  down,  so  long  as  you 
continue  to  cultivate — but  would  not  exterminate 
the  seed.  If  you  get  a  good  crop  of  clover,  it 
will  be  much  better  to  cut  it  and  let  it  wilt  be- 
fore plowing  it  under.  The  principal  value  which 
the  clover  contains,  is  in  its  sugar  and  starch. 
When  it  is  plowed  under  in  its  green  state,  it 
•goes  into  rapid  fermentation  and  decomposition, 
and  the  sugar  and  starch  are  thrown  off  in  the 
form  of  gas.  But  if  wilted,  the  process  will  be 
slow,  and  all  that  is  valuable  in  it  secured  to  the 


fatal  disease  among  cattle. 

As  I  have  a  disease  amongst  my  stock,  I  would 
like  some  information,  what  it  is,  and  the  cure  for 
it.  I  have  lost  four  cows  since  they  came  up  to 
hay ;  the  ones  that  have  died  all  ran  together  in 
the  fall  feed,  in  which  there  was  some  swamp. 
Those  that  did  not  run  in  the  same  mowing,  are 
now  well.  In  the  first  place,  their  bags  are  hot 
and  their  milk  dries  up  ;  they  are  dumpish,  run 
at  the  eyes  and  nose  a  corrupted  matter  of  a  yel- 
lowish color  ;  their  eyes  turn  white  when  they 
are  first  taken,  but  before  they  die  they  are  blood- 
shotten.  They  live  three  or  four  days,  and  some- 
times a  week,  from  the  time  they  are  taken,  and 
then  die.  The  same  disease  is  amongst  other 
stock  in  the  neighborhood.;  there  has  been  fif- 
teen head  of  cattle  that  have  died  near  by  me 
within  a  short  time  of  this  disease. 

Windham,  Dec,  1858.    Benjamin  S.Bemis. 

Remarks. — We  cannot  tell  from  the  symp- 
toms described,  what  the  disease  is  that  is  tak- 
ing off  the  cattle  at  such  a  rate.  Perhaps  some 
of  our  readers  may  recognize  it,  and  be  able  to 
recommend  a  remedy. 

SOUTH   DOWN   SHEEP. 

Mr.  E.  K.  Danfortii,  of  South  Newberry, 
Vt.,  wants  to  purchase  some  pure  South  Down 
Sheep. 

floors  of  horse  stables. 

Will  you,  Mr.  Editor,  or  some  of  your  corres- 
pondents, inform  me  whether  the  floor  of  a  horse 
stable  should  be  level  or  incline  ?  If  incline,  how 
much  ?  w.  D.  L. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT. 

The  intelligence  of  man,  which  forms  his 
crowning  excellence,  is  an  emanation  from  the 
Divine  JNlind,  and  thus  of  characteristic  cl'^vnents 
and  always  active.  Ever  during  his  conscious 
existence  are  its  powers  employed  in  thought ; 
thought  succeeding  thought  without  perceivable 
connection,  yet  each  suggested  by  its  relation  to 
the  one  preceding.  The  ti  ains  of  ideas  or  thought 
depend  much  on  the  culture  and  development 
of  mind,  with  its  habits  and  peculiarities,  and 
circumstances  in  life.  'The  thoughts  of  the  ig- 
norant man  are  grovelling  ;  tending  to  animal- 
ism. Nature,  in  all  her  glorious  forms,  he  ad- 
mires only  as  ministering  to  sensual  wants. 
Thought  is  limited  to  the  narrow  circuit  which 
forms  his  sphere  in  life.  But  the  educated  mind, 
on  thought's  airy  wings,  finds  throughout  Na- 
ture's limitless  domain,  beauty  and  happiness. 

No  two  minds  are  alike  constituted,  nor  there- 
fore of  the  same  thoughts.  But  this  difference, 
with  the  degrees  of  mental  culture,  the  influence 
of  various  occupations  and  circumstances  in  life, 
forms  a  world-wide  diversity.  A  case  of  murder 
presented  to  a  lawyer,  physician,  and  clergyman, 
would  suggest  to  each  a  train  of  thought  in  har- 
mony with  his  profession.  And  any  subject,  pre- 
sented to  a  number  of  persons,  will  be  viewed  by 
each  from  his  own  stand-point,  appearing  in  differ- 
ent form  and  arrayed  in  different  colors.    To  this 


1859, 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


91 


fact  may  be  traced  the  cause  of  many  conten- 
tions. 

The  mind  being  ever  occupied,  considers  an 
infinite  number  of  subjects,  flowing  incessantly 
through  its  avenues  of  communication  with  the 
external  world.  It  may  detain,  and  concentrate 
its  powers  on  one,  or  allow  all  to  float  on,  find- 
ing its  pleasures  in  novelty.  Looking  inward 
it  may  gaze  on  memory's  stores,  or  on  wings  of 
imagination  soar  out  in  the  boundless  future. 
Youth  lives  in  the  future,  old  age  in  the  past, 
and  all  in  both. 

Turning  our  eyes  toward  that  untried  world, 
we  are  dazzled  by  visions  of  beauty  and  happi- 
ness. The  gentle  breeze  wafts  to  us  pleasing 
odors.  The  star  of  hope  sheds  kindly  beams  on 
our  pathway,  and  we  fondly  dream  it  winds  only 
through  flowery  meads,  shady  gro%-€s,  and  by 
murmuring  rivuiets.  Perchance  memory  comes, 
gently  takes  us  by  the  hand  and  leads  us  along 
down  the  past.  We  review  the  scenes  of  child- 
hood, visit  our  early  home,  the  favorite  haunts 
of  youth,  and  gaze  once  more  on  the  happy  faces 
of  those  we  loved.  Our  first  great  grief  comes 
fresh  before  us,  as  she  leads  us  to  the  silent 
room,  and  we  gaze  on  a  loved  one  struggling  in 
death.  We  again  see  the  cold  form  shrouded  for 
the  grave — take  the  last  fond  look — and  follow 
with  breaking  heart  to  its  last  resting-place. 

Though  the  mind  meditates  on  the  past  and 
present ;  speculates  on  the  future  ;  considers  the 
evil  and  the  good ;  things  earthly  and  things 
heavenly  ;  is  absorbed  in  its  own  passions  or 
emotions ;  or  dwells  much  in  the  world  without ; 
yet  man  has  the  power  of  subjecting  his  thoughts 
to  his  will.  Let  him,  then,  beware!  For,  "as  a 
man  thinketh,  so  (s  he." 

Vi/'ayland,  Dec.  20.  L.  H.  Sherman. 


TO  MAKE  GOOD  "WINTEK  BUTTEK. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  JefiFerson  Coun- 
ty Agricultural  Society,  at  Watertown,  on  the 
14th  of  January,  a  tub  of  superior  winter-made 
butter  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  Daniel  Parker,  of 
that  town,  for  which  a  premium  was  awarded  by 
the  discretionary  committee.  "The  butter,"  says 
the  Nortliern  Journal,  "was  quite  as  yellow  as 
much  of  the  fall-made  sent  to  market,  and  the 
flavor  so  fine  that  we  obtained  of  Mr.  Parker  the 
mode  of  manufacture.  He  states  that  as  soon  as 
he  has  finished  milking,  the  pails  of  milk  are  set 
into  kettles  of  boiling  water,  where  they  are  al- 
lowed to  remain  thirty  minutes,  then  the  milk  is 
strained  into  pans  and  allowed  to  stand  until  the 
cream  is  ready  to  be  taken  off,  which  will  depend 
upou  the  temperature  of  the  room  in  which  it  is 
set.  Before  churning,  the  cream  must  be  kept  in 
a  warm  room  at  least  twelve  hours  ;  then  it  will 
require  churning  less  than  an  hour.  He  washes 
his  butter  immediately  after  taking  it  out  of  the 
churn,  and  at  the  same  time  salts  it.  His  cows 
had  been  fed  on  clover  hay,  without  grain  or 
roots,  for  six  weeks  previous  to  the  time  of  mak- 
ing this  sample.  Butter  made  in  this  way  is  per- 
fectly sweet,  of  a  good  color,  and  will  bring  from 
two  to  four  cents  per  pound  more  in  market,  than 
that  manufactured  in  the  ordinary  way.  It  is 
worthy  the  attention  of  farmers." 


NET  T/WEIGHT  OF  HOGS. 

At  this  season  the  following  table  for  deter- 
mining the  net  by  the  gross  weight  of  bogs,  mav 
be  useful  to  dealers  in  pork.  It  is  based  upon 
the  Kentucky  rule,  that  is,  for  200  lbs.  gross  nett 
deduct  26  lbs. ;  for  the  second  100  lbs.  subtract 
12.^  lbs.,  and  for  the  third  100  lbs.  deduct  Qh  lbs. 
All  over  300  lbs.  is  calculated  as  net : 

100  gross  will  net 75 


105 

79 

110 

83 

115 

88 

120 

92 

125 

96 

130 

101 

135 

105 

140 

110 

145 

114 

150 

118 

155 

122 

160 

127 

165 

131 

170 

136 

175 

140 

180 

143 

185 

149 

190 

153 

195 

158 

200 

162 

205 

167 

210 

174 

215 

178 

220 

181 

9->T 

184 

200...  . 

IBO 

235... 

195 

240 

%  0 

245 

209 

250 

214 

255 

2l8 

260 

223 

265 

228 

270 

232 

277 

237 

280 

212 

285 

2-16 

290 

251 

295 

2  0 

l^"  Dr.  E.  Holmes,  Editor  of  the  Maine  Far- 
mer, has  been  elected  President  of  the  Maine 
Pomological  and  Horticultural  Society,  and  D. 
A.  Fairbanks,  Augusta,  Secretary  ;  and  Russell 
Eaton,  Publisher  of  the  Farmer,  Augusta,  Treas- 
urer and  Librarian. 


COMPARA.TIVE  VALUE  OF  ROOTS. 

Mr.  Editor: — Will  you,  or  some  of  your 
readers,  inform  me  what  is  the  comparative  value 
of  roots  for  cattle  and  hogs  ? 

There  are  many  farmers  that  practice  feeding 
roots  that  have  never  made  any  accurate  esti- 
mate of  their  value,  compared  with  different  kinds 
of  grain,  hay,  &c. 

In  conversation  with  a  gentleman  upon  this 
subject  he  said,  that  he  had  practiced  feeding  his 
horse  with  eight  quarts  of  oats  and  eight  quarts 
of  carrots  a  day,  and  that  he  performed  more 
labor  and  was  in  better  condition  than  when  fed 
sixteen  quarts  of  oats  a  daj\  In  this  case  a 
bushel  of  carrots  is  equal  in  value  to  a  bushel 
of  oats. 

What  is  the  value  of  ruta  bagas,  carrots,  beets, 
parsnips  and  potatoes,  compared  with  rye,  oats, 
peas,  barley,  buckwheat,  corn  and  hay,  when  fed 
to  cattle  and  hogs  ? 

I  want  to  investigate  this  subject,  and  take 
this  course,  hoping  to  receive  information  from 
those  who  have  made  accurate  experiments ;  and 
any  such  information  will  be  gratefully  received 
by  a  Subscriber. 

Fort  Fairfield,  June  23,  1858. 


Note. — We  have  several  times  given  state- 
ments of  chemists  and  others,  of  their  experi- 
ments to  ascertain  the  comparative  value  of  the 
diflPerent  roots  and  other  substances  used  for  fod- 
der— good  hay  being  the  standard. 

In  No.  21,  Vol.  24,  we  published  the  following 
editorial  upon  this  subject,  which  may  give  some 
light  to  our  friend  by  way  of  an  answer  to  his 
queries  : 

It  is  a  great  object  to  the  farmers  of  Maine  to 
raise  a  supply  of  the  best  kinds  of  fodder  for 
their  stock  during  the  winter.  Hay,  we  all  know, 


92 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


is  the  great  dependence — the  staple  material  for 
this  purpose,  but  there  are  many  other  crops 
^vhich  can  be  raised  to  advantage  among  us,  and 
^vhich  are  very  valuable  for  furnishing  food  to 
stock,  and  thereby  saving  hay. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  real  value  of  these 
crops  for  the  purpose  above  named,  it  wul  be 
necessary  to  compare  the  nutritive  properties  of 
the  several  articles  with  good  hay  as  the  stand- 
prd. 

Experiments,  and  close  and  careful  comparison 
of  the  results  of  many  trials,  have  given  the  fol- 
lowing as  the  comparative  difference  between  the 
articles  mentioned  and  good  hay.  We  have  pub- 
lished these  results  before,  but  we  now  put  them 
in  tabular  form,  so  as  to  give  the  reader  an  easier 
mode  of  comparing  them. 

100  pounds  of  hay  are  equal  to 
270  pounds  of  green  Indian  corn, 
442  pounds  of  rye  straw, 
184  pounds  of  oat  straw, 
153  pounds  of  pea  straw, 
201  pounds  of  raw  potatoes, 
175  pounds  of  boiled  potatoes, 
330  pounds  of  mangol  wurt3el, 
504  pounds  of  turnips, 

54  pounds  of  rye, 

46  pounds  of  wheat, 

59  pounds  of  oats, 

45  pounds  of  peas  or  beaDS, 

64  pounds  of  buckwheat, 

67  pounds  of  Indian  coro, 

68  pounds  of  acorns, 

105  pounds  of  wheat  bran, 

100  pounds  of  rye  bran, 

167  pounds  of  wheat,  pea,  and  oat  chaff, 

179  pounds  of  rye  and  barley. 

From  this  "bird's-eye  view,"  it  will  be  easy  to 
calculate  the  fodder  value  of  any  of  the  above 
articles  which  you  may  raise.  For  instance,  if  you 
have  50-1  lbs.  of  turnips,  they  will  give  as  much 
nutrition  to  your  cattle  as  100  lbs.  of  good  hay, 
or  in  other  words,  it  will  take  5  lbs.  of  turnips  to 
be  equal  to  1  lb.  of  hay. 

An  ox,  it  is  said,  requires  2  per  cent,  of  hay 
per  day  if  he  does  not  work,  and  2h  per  cent,  if 
lie  works.  Suppose,  therefore,  you  have  an  ox 
that  weighs  1500  lbs.,  he  will  require  oO  lbs.  of 
hay  per  day  if  he  does  not  work.  But  you  wish 
to  feed  him  in  part  with  turnips.  If  you  give 
him  15  lbs.  of  hay,  how  many  pounds  of  turnips 
must  you  give  him  to  make  up  the  supply? 
Ans.  75  lbs.,  which,  at  60  lbs.  to  the  bushel,  will 
be  5  pecks. 

Again,  according  to  the  table,  a  little  more  than 
half  a  pound  of  Indian  corn  is  equal  to  a  pound 
of  hay.  If,  therefore,  you  give  the  same  ox  but 
15  lbs.  of  hay,  how  much  Indian  corn  must  he 
have  to  supply  the  15  lbs.?  Ans.  A  little  over 
8-^  lbs.  Allowing  corn  to  weigli  50  Ib-s.  per 
bushel,  it  will  take  5  quarts  and  a  third. 

Allowing  the  estimates  in  the  table  to  be  cor- 
rect, they  will  be  a  convenient  guide  to  farmers 
in  feeding  cattle,  Szc  ,  on  other  articles,  in  order 
to  save  their  hay. 

A  milch  cow  is  said  to  require  3  per  cent,  of 
her  weight  per  day.  A  sheep,  full  grown,  3^  -pex 
cent. — Maine  Farmer. 


A  Luxury  fok  Animals. — It  is  related  of 
Rev.  Sidney  Smith,  that  when  on  his  farm,  each 
cow  and  calf,  and  horse  and  pig,  were  in  turn 
visite<l,  and  fed  and  patted,  and  all  seemed  to 
w^jcome  him  ;  he  cared  for  the  comforts  of  ev- 
•srv  living  being  around  him.     Ho  used  to  say, 


"I  am  all  for  cheap  luxuries,  even  for  animals  ; 
now  all  animals  have  a  passion  for  scratch- 
ing their  back  bones ;  they  break  down  your 
gates  and  palings  to  effect  this.  Look  !  there  is 
my  universal  scratching,  a  sharp-edged  pole,  rest- 
ing on  a  high  and  low  post,  adapted  to  every 
height,  from  a  horse  to  a  lamb.  Even  the  Edin- 
burgh Reviewer  can  take  his  turn ;  you  have  no 
idea  how  popular  it  is.  I  have  not  had  a  gate 
broken  since  I  put  it  up.  I  have  it  in  all  my 
fields."  ______      

LEGISLATIOKT—LAN  D  DEAUfAGS 

COMPANIES. 

BY  HENRY  F.  FRENCH. 

[There  are  few  subjects  in  which  a  large  number  of  farmers 
can  be  more  interested,  in  all  parts  of  New  England,  at  least, 
than  in  that  of  Drainage.  There  are  comparatirely  few  farms 
but  need  it  in  one  place  or  another,  and  there  are  few  other 
things  that  have  led  to  so  much  misunderstanding  and  litigation, 
and  that  have  destroyed  the  pleasant  social  relations  in  meigb- 
borlioods,  as  fluwages  and  drains. 

We  have  been  permitted  to  read  some  chapters  of  a  work  o-n 
the  subject  designated  in  the  title  of  this  article,  in  advance  of 
its  publication,  and  do  not  believe  we  can  better  meet  the  wants 
of  the  general  reader,  than  by  transferring  some  portions  of  the 
chapter  on  "Legislation" in  relation  to  drainage  and  flowages, 
and  of"Lind  Draining  Companies,"  to  our  columns. 

We  understand  the  work  is  to  be  published  in  the  course  of 
two  or  three  months,  by  the  enterprising  Agricultural  book  pub- 
lishers, A.  O.  JIooKE  &  Co.,  of  New  York  ] 

Nothing  more  clearly  shows  the  universal  in- 
terest and  confidence  of  the  people  of  Great  Brit- 
ain in  the  operation  of  land  drainage,  than  the 
Acts  of  Parliament  in  relation  to  the  subject. 
The  conservatism  of  England,  in  the  view  of  an 
American,  is  striking.  She  never  takes  a  step 
till  she  is  sure  she  is  right.  Justly  proud  of  her 
position  among  the  nations,  she  deems  charge  an 
unsafe  experiment,  and  what  has  been,  much  safer 
than  what  might  be.  Vested  rights  are  sacred  in 
England,  and  especially  rights  in  lands,  which 
are  emphatically  real  estate  there. 

Such  are  the  sentiments  of  the  people,  and 
such  the  sentiments  of  their  representatives  and 
exponents,  the  Lords  and  Commons.  Yet  Eng- 
land has  been  so  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  improving  the  condition  of  the  people,  of  in- 
creasing the  wealth  of  the  nation,  of  enriching 
both  tenant  and  landlord  by  draining  the  land, 
that  the  history  of  her  legislation  in  aid  of  such 
operations,  affords  a  lesson  of  progress  even  to 
fast  young  America.  Powers  have  been  granted, 
by  which  encumbered  estates  may  be  charged 
with  the  expenses  of  drainage,  so  that  remain- 
der-men and  reversioners,  without  their  consent, 
shall  be  compelled  to  contribute  to  present  im- 
provements, so  that  careless  or  obstinate  adja- 
cent proprietors  shall  be  compelled  to  keep  open 
their  ditches,  for  outfalls  to  their  neighbors' 
drains,  so  that  mill-dams  and  other  obstructions 
to  the  natural  flow  of  the  water,  may  be  removed 
for  the  benefit  of  agriculture,  and  finally,  the 
Government  has  itself  furnished  funds,  by  way 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


of  loans,  of  millions  of  pounds  sterling,  in  aid  of 
improvements  of  this  character. 

In  America,  where  private  individual  right  is 
usually  compelled  to  yield  to  the  good  of  the 
whole,  and  where  selfishness  and  obstinacy  do 
not  long  stand  in  the  pathway  of  progress,  ob- 
structing manifest  improvement  in  the  condition 
of  the  people,  we  are  yet  far  behind  England,  in 
legal  facilities  for  promoting  the  improvement 
of  land-culture.  This  is  because  the  attention  of 
the  public  has  not  been  particularly  called  to  the 
subject. 

Manufacturing  corporations  are  created  by 
special  acts  of  legislation.  In  many  States,  rights 
to  flow  and  ruin  by  inundation  most  valuable 
lands  along  the  course  of  rivers,  and  by  the 
banks  of  ponds  and  lakes,  to  aid  tlie  water-power 
of  mills,  are  granted  to  companies,  and  the  land- 


vert  the  rich  and  slimy  sediment  of  the  pond, 
into  pestilential  vapors.  These  waters,  too,  con- 
trolled by  the  mill-owners,  are  thus  let  down  in 
floods  in  midsummer,  to  overflow  the  meadows 
and  corn-fields  of  the  farmer  on  the  intervales 
and  bottom  lands  below. 

Now  while  we  would  never  advocate  any  at- 
tack upon  the  rights  of  mill-owners,  or  ask  them 
to  sacrifice  their  interests  to  those  of  agriculture, 
it  surely  is  proper  to  call  attention  to  the  injury 
which  the  productive  capacity  of  the  soil  is  suf- 
fering, by  the  flooding  of  our  best  tracts  in  sec- 
tions of  country  where  land  is  most  valuable. 
Could  not  mill-owners,  in  many  instances,  adopt 
steam  instead  of  water-power,  and  becoming 
land-draining  companies  instead  of  land-drown- 
ing companies,  at  least  let  Nature  have  free  course 
with  her  gently  flowing  rivers,  and  allow  the 


owner  is  compelled  to  part  with  his  meadows  for  i  promise  to  be  fulfilled,  that  the   earth  should  be 
such  compensation  as  a  committee  or  jury  shall 'no  more  cursed  with  a  flood  ? 


assess. 

In  almost  every  town  in  New  England,  there 
are  hundreds  and  often  thousands  of  acres  of 
lands,  that  might  be  most  productive  to  the  far- 
mer, overflowed  half  the  year  with  water,  to  drive 
some  old  saw-mill  or  grist-mill,  or  cotton-mill, 
which  has  not  made  a  dividend  or  paid  expenses 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  whole  water- 
power,  which  perhaps  ruins  for  cultivation  a 
thousand  acres  of  fertile  land,  and  divides  and 
breaks  up  farms  by  creating  little  creeks  and 
swamps  throughout  all  the  neighboring  valleys, 
is  not  worth,  and  would  not  be  assessed  by  im- 
partial men,  at  one  thousand  dollars.  Yet,  though 
there  is  power  to  take  the  farmer's  land  for  the 
benefit  of  manufacturers,  there  is  no  power  to 
take  down  the  company's  dam  for  the  benefit,  of 
agriculture.  An  old  saw-mill  which  can  only  run 
a  few  days  in  a  spring  freshet,  often  swamps  a 
half-township  of  land,  because  somebody's  great 
grandfather  had  a  prescriptive  right  to  flow,  when 
lands  were  of  no  value,  and  saw-mills  were  a 
public  blessing. 

There  are  numerous  cases  within  our  own 
knowledge,  where  the  very  land  overflowed  and 
ruined  by  some  incorporated  company,  would,  if 
allowed  to  produce  its  natural  growth  of  timber 
and  wood,  furnish  ten  times  the  fuel  necessary 
to  supply  steam-engines  to  propel  the  machinery 
carried  by  the  water-power. 

Not  satisfied  with  obstructing  the  streams  in 
their  course,  the  larger  companies  are  of  late 
making  use  of  the  interior  lakes,  fifty  or  a  hun- 
dred miles  inland,  as  reservoirs,  to  keep  back 
water  for  the  use  of  the  mills  in  the  summer 
droughts.  There  are  thousands  of  acres  of  land 
drowned  and  rendered  worse  than  useless,  for 
the  water  is  kept  up  till  midsummer,  and  drav.n 


We  would  ask  for  the  land-owner,  simply  equal- 
ity of  rights  with  the  mill-owner.  If  a  legisla- 
ture may  grant  the  right  to  flow  lands  against 
the  will  of  the  owner,  to  promote  manufactures, 
the  same  legislature  may  surely  grant  the  right, 
upon  proper  occasions,  to  remove  dams  and  oth- 
er obstructions  to  our  streams,  to  promote  agri- 
culture. The  rights  of  mill-owners  are  no  more 
sacred  than  those  of  land-owners,  and  the  inter- 
ests of  manufactures  are,  surely,  no  more  impor- 
tant than  those  of  agriculture. 

We  would  not  advocate  much  interference  with 
private  rights.  In  some  of  the  States  no  special 
privileges  have  been  conferred  upon  water-power 
companies.  They  have  been  left  to  procure  their 
rights  of  flowage,  by  private  contract  with  the 
land-ov/ners,  and  in  such  States,  probably  the 
legislatures  would  be  as  slow  to  interfere  with 
rights  of  flowage,  as  with  other  rights.  Yet 
there  are  cases  where  for  the  preservation  of  the 
health  of  the  community  and  for  general  con- 
venience, governments  have  every  where  exer- 
cised the  power  of  interfering  Avith  private  prop- 
erty, and  limiting  the  control  of  the  owners. 
To  preserve  the  public  health,  we  abate  as  nuis- 
ances, by  process  of  law,  slaughter-houses  and 
other  establishments  offensive  to  health  and  com- 
fort, and  we  provide  by  compulsory  assessments 
upon  land-owners,  for  sewerage,  for  sidewalks 
and  the  like,  in  our  cities. 

Everywhere  for  the  public  good,  Ave  take  pri- 
vate property  for  highways,  upon  just  compen- 
sation, and  the  property  of  corporations  is  thus 
taken  like  that  of  individuals. 

Again,  we  compel  adjacent  owners  to  fence 
their  lands  and  maintain  their  proportion  of  di- 
vision fences  of  the  legal  height,  and  we  elect 
fence-viewers  with  power  to  adjust  equitably  the 


off  when  a  dog-day  climate  is  just  ready  to  con- 1  expenses  of  such  fences.    We  assess  bachelors 


94 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMEK. 


Feb. 


and  maidens,  in  most  States,  for  the  construction 
of  school-houses  and  the  education  of  the  chil- 
dren of  others,  and  in  various  ways  compel  each 
member  of  society  to  contribute  to  the  common 
welfare. 

"THE  SALT,  IP  YOU  PJLEASE." 

Everybody  has  a  partiality  for  dinner,  and  one 
of 'the  most  frequent  expressions  at  a  dinner-table 
is  the  one  which  forms  our  caption  ;  and  in  or- 
der that  our  readers  may  know  something  of  the 
substance  they  are  using,  we  v;ill  tell  them  a  few 
facts  about  salt.  Salt  is  a  chemical  compound  of 
twenty-three  parts  by  weight  of  a  beautifully  sil- 
ver white  but  soft  metal,  called  sodium,  discov- 
ered by  Sir  H.  Davy,  in  1807,  and  thirty-five 
parts  of  a  pungent,  yellowish  green  gas,  called 
chlorine,  discovered  by  Scheele,  in  1774 — these 
two  combined  form  this,  the  most  widely  diffused 
and  useful  of  any  compound  in  the  world.  It  is 
found  in  the  sea,  and  in  the  rocks,  from  which 
our  principal  supply  comes.  The  most  wonder- 
ful deposits  are  in  Poland  and  Hungary,  where 
it  is  quarried  like  a  rock,  one  of  the  Polish  mines 
having  been  worked  since  1251.  These  Polish 
salt  mines  have  heard  the  groan  of  many  a  poor 
captive,  and  have  seen  the  last  agonies  of  many 
a  brave  man,  for  until  lately,  they  M'ere  worked 
entirely  by  the  State  prisoners  of  Austria,  Rus- 
sia or  Poland,  whichever  happened  to  be  in  pow- 
er at  the  time  ;  and  once  the  offender,  or  fancied 
hindrance  to  some  other  person's  advancement, 
was  let  down  into  this  subterranean  prison,  he 
never  saw  the  light  of  day  again.  So  salt  has 
its  history  as  well  as  science.  Other  large  de- 
posits are  found  in  Cheshire,  England,  where 
the  water  is  forced  down  by  pipes  into  the  salt, 
and  is  again  pumped  up  as  brine,  which  is  evap- 
orated and  the  salt  obtained.  To  such  an  extent 
has  this  been  carried  that  one  town  in  the  "salt 
country,"  as  it  is  called,  has  scarcely  an  upright 
nouse  in  it,  all  the  foundations  having  sunk  M'ith 
the  ground,  to  fill  up  the  cavity  left  by  the  extri- 
cated salt. 

In  Virginia  there  are  beds  of  salt,  and  the 
Salmon  Mountains,  in  Oregon,  are  capable  of  af- 
fording large  quantities  of  the  same  material. 
The  brine  springs  of  Salina  and  Syracuse  are 
well  known,  and  from  about  forty  gallons  of  their 
brine,  one  bushel  of  salt  is  obtained.  There  are 
also  extensive  salt  springs  in  Ohio.  The  brine 
is  pumped  up  from  wells  made  in  the  rock,  and 
into  which  it  flows  and  runs  into  boilers.  These 
boilers  are  large  iron  kettles  set  in  brickwork, 
and  when  fires  are  lighted  under  them,  the  brine 
is  quickly  evaporated.  The  moment  the  brine 
begins  to  boil,  it  becomes  turbid,  from  the  com- 
pounds of  lime  that  it  contains,  and  which  are 
soluble  in  cold,  but  not  in  hot  water  ;  these  first 
sediments  are  taken  out  with  ladles  called  "bit- 
turn  ladles,"  and  the  salt  being  next  deposited 
from  the  brine,  is  carried  away  to  drain  and  dry. 
The  remaining  liquid  contains  a  great  quantity 
of  magnesia  in  vai-ious  forms,  and  gives  it  the 
name  of  "bittern,"  from  the  taste  peculiar  to  mag- 
nesia in  every  form. 

"But  how  did  this  salt  come  into  the  rock  ?" 
is  the  natural  query,  and  the  wonder  seems  great- 
er when  we  recollect  that  salt-beds  are  found  in 


nearly  every  one  of  the  strata  composing  the 
earth's  crust.  This  fact  proves  another,  that  as 
the  majority  of  these  salt-beds  have  come  from 
lakes  left  in  the  hollows  of  the  rocks  by  the  re- 
cedence  of  the  sea,  the  sea  has  through  all  the 
geologic  ages  been  as  salt  as  it  is  to-day.  Let 
us  take  the  Great  Salt  Lake  as  an  illustration,  it 
being  the  largest  salt  lake  in  the  world,  but  by 
no  means  the  only  one,  as  such  inland  masses  of 
saline  water  are  found  over  the  whole  earth,  but 
as  ours  is  the  greatest  in  extent,  it  will  form  the 
best  example.  It  is  situated  at  an  elevation  of 
4,200  feet  above  the  sea,  on  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  has  an  area  of  2,000  square  miles  ; 
yet,  high  as  it  is,  "once  upon  a  time,"  as  the  story 
books  of  our  juvenality  used  to  say,  it  was  part  of 
the  sea,  which  retired,  by  the  upheaval  of  the 
rocks,  and  that  great  basin  took  its  salt  water  up 
with  it.  Should  this  in  time  evaporate,  and  its 
salt  water  become  covered  with  mud  and  sand, 
and  the  .and  again  be  depressed,  then,  at  some 
distant  future  age,  the  people  would  be  wonder- 
ing how  the  salt  got  there,  little  thinking  that 
the  Mormons  had  ever  built  a  city  on  its  shores 
when  it  was  a  great  salt  lake.  There  are,  also, 
however,  salt  rocks  taking  their  place  in  regular 
geologic  series  with  other  rocks,  interspersed  be- 
tween red  sandstone,  magnesian  and  carbonifer- 
ous strata  ;  these  we  can  only  account  for,  as  we 
do  for  other  stratified  rocks,  viz.,  that  they  were 
deposited  from  their  solution  in  water,  or  carried 
mechanically  to  the  spot  where  now  foand  hy 
that  ever  mobile  liquid.  We  fear  we  should  be 
accused  of  an  attempt  to  put  our  readers  in 
pickle,  so  we  will  stay  our  pen,  hoping  they  wilJ 
remember  these  bits  of  information  when  next 
they  say,  "The  salt,  if  you  please." — Scientific: 
American. 

THE  iJEW  YORK  BANK  TELLEKS. 

There  is  nothing  in  bank  history  inore  remark- 
able than  the  unfiequent  and  comparatively  tri- 
fling loss  by  forged  signatures.  It  would  seem 
almost  miraculous  to  a  spectator  standing  by  the 
counter  of  one  of  our  active  city  banks,  to  wit- 
ness the  rapidity  with  which  the  Teller  pays 
checks  (often  at  the  rate  of  three  in  a  minute,) 
wliilst  at  the  sam.e  time  he  is  subjected  to  per- 
petual interruptions  from  within  and  without. 
At  the  end  of  the  day,  he  has  paid  from  four  to 
six  hundred  checks,  amounting  to  more  than  a 
million  of  dollars — a  large  proportion  to  strang- 
ers. In  the  fifty- three  city  banks,  during  the 
same  six  hours,  there  have  been  paid  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  thousand  cheeks,  covering  thirty  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  and  not  one  forged  signature  \ 
The  records  of  the  Clearing  House  show  that 
the  amount  of  payments  for  a  year  through  that 
channel  has  reached  the  prodigious  aggregate  of 
seven  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  Another 
large  amount,  not  represented  in  the  exchanges, 
is  paid  over  the  counters,  making  a  grand  total 
of  probably  eight  thousand  millions  in  three  hun- 
dred days,  and  yet  it  is  seldom  that  the  commu- 
nity is  startled  by  an  announcement  that  a  forged 
check  of  any  importance  has  slipped  through  the 
hands  of  the  Paying  Teller  in  our  city  banks ! 

It  is  doubtless  to  the  terrors  of  the  law,  partly, 
that  banks  are  indebted  for  this  fortunate  immu- 
nity.   But  these  are  operations  mostly  at  a  sin- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


95 


gle  instance  of  time — when  the  check  is  present- 
ed. That  passed,  the  forger  is  comparatively 
safe.  He  may  set  rewards  and  telegraphs  at  de- 
fiance. It  is,  therefore,  the  skill  and  discernment 
of  the  Teller,  first  and  last,  that  keeps  the  forger  j 
at  a  respectful  distance — skill  not  only  in  detect- 
ing false  signatures,  but  in  reading  men  at  sight 
by  the  most  obscure  of  all  characters,  written 
upon  the  manner,  and  covered  by  practiced  dis- 
semblance, more  quickly  than  you  would  Roman 
capitals.  The  value  to  the  bank  of  this  detec- 
tive faculty  can  hardly  be  exaggerated. 

The  Paying  Tellers  of  New  York  disburse 
daily  near  twenty-five  millions,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  year  eight  or  ten  thousand  millions  of  dol- 
lars ;  and  the  aggregate  of  all  losses  incurred 
through  them  by  mistake  or  by  abuse  of  trust, 
is  not,  at  the  highest,  as  much  perhaps,  as  the 
one-ten-thousandth  part  of  one  per  cent. !  This 
is  strong  testimony  in  favor  of  their  general 
fidelity  as  a  class,  in  view  of  the  extensive  pow- 
ers with  which  they  are  entrusted,  and  especially, 
in  view  of  the  power  of  certification,  which  in 
the  manner  of  its  use  up  to  the  present  day,  has 
been  without  any  other  protection  than  their  own 
sense  of  propriety  and  honor. — Gibbou^s  "Banks 
of  New  York." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ANIMAL  MAWUBES,  &c. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Being  one  of  your  less  scien- 
tific, but  inquiring  readers,  I  am  disposed  to  in- 
quire further  of  your  correspondent,  who  gives 
us  "Corn  Again,"  in  your  weekly  of  Nov.  27. 

I  have  fallen  into  the  eri-or,  which  I  apprehend 
is  quite  a  common  one,  of  believing  that  animal 
manures  do,  in  New  England  especially,  form  an 
important  basis  of  all  farm  improvement. 

The  two  first  gardeners  were  placed,  no  doubt, 
in  far  different  circumstances,  than  any  of  your 
"inquiring"  farmers  find  themselves,  as  regards 
Sertility  of  soil,  and  other  agricultural  requisites. 

Even  in  those  days,  best  suited  to  your  cor- 
respondent's theory,  animals  were  by  no  means 
overlooked ;  being  created  prior  to  man,  and 
consequently,  considered  necessary  to  complete 
the  harmony  of  a  perfect  world. 

As  to  the  Chinese  and  Japanese,  I  have  no  de- 
sire to  pattern  especially  after  their  mode  of  ag- 
riculture, but  think  your  correspondent  will  find 
them  placing  a  higher  value  on  animal  manures 
than  he  would  have  us  infer. 

Spade  husbandry,  at  the  pr(!sent  ratio  of  labor, 
for  farmers  who  have  notes  to  meet,  and  families 
to  maintain  and  educate,  as  a  general  method, 
would  be  more  expensive  than  profitable. 

I  have  found  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  an  Eagle 
plow,  or  two  yokes  and  the  Universal  sod  and 
subsoil,  equal  in  amount  and  thoroughness  of 
labor  to  as  many  Irishmen  with  spades,  as  would 
have  eaten  the  oxen  at  one  day's  meals,  and  con- 
siderable corn  bread  beside. 

Instead  of  animal  manures  being  to  the  soil  as 
the  condiments  to  our  food,  I  have  been  educa- 
ted to  believe  them  the  food  of  the  plant.  In- 
deed, every  corn  or  oat  or  grass  crop  I  raise  so 
proclaims  them,  and  I  believe  the  plant  as  good 
an  analyst  of  the  condition  of  soil  necessary  to  its 
growth,  as  many  of  your  more  scientific,  but  less 


inquiring  readers.     I  agree  with  your  correspon- 
dent, upon  the  evanescent  properties  of  guano. 

I  presume  the  gentleman's  dinner  or  supper 
becomes  evanescent  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours ; 
at  least,  should  think  it  might,  unless  he  should 
consume  a  little  beef,  or  the  Yankee  dish  of 
pork  and  beans  there  »'-ith. 

The  general  practice  of  farmers  in  this  section 
is  to  raise  corn,  small  grains  and  grass,  in  rota- 
tion ;  and  land  well  manured  after  corn,  and  the 
crop  of  grain  at  seeding,  generally  produces  two 
good  crops  of  grass,  and  then  is  manured  and 
put  in  corn,  &c. 

To  grow  good  corn,  without  animal  manures, 
would  be  like  making  water  run  up  hill  ;  one 
could  grow  the  stalk,  but  the  rounded  and  well- 
filled  ear  of  golden  corn,  would  come  up  missing 
like  Paddy's  flea. 

It  is  considered,  by  many  farmers,  the  surest 
way  to  put  money  in  pocket,  to  consume  on  the 
farm  all  the  hay  and  coarse  fodder,  and  much  of 
the  grain,  making  the  marketable  products  of  the 
farm  consist  for  the  most  part,  of  beef,  pork  and 
dairy  products. 

This  system,  with  care  in  providing  cellars  in 
which  to  secure  the  manures,  and  muck,  and 
loam  to  absorb  the  liquids,  with  now  and  then  a 
load  of  muck  in  the  hog-yard,  "for  the  scavenger 
of  the  family,"  gives  more  corn,  more  rye  or 
grass,  and  more  money,  with  which  to  keep  the 
wheels  greased,  and  pay  for  the  N.  E.  Farmer, 
than  the  opposite. 

With  most  of  us,  inquiring  farmers,  a  full  bel- 
ly makes  a  strong  back,  even  if  the  food  be  some- 
what of  such  matters  as  corned  beef  and  pork 
and  beans. 

I  venture  to  assert  that  many  of  the  most  po- 
tent charms  of  farm  life  are  found  in  good  crops, 
well  filled  barns,  plenty  of  cattle,  horses,  sheep 
and  swine,  sleek  and  contented,  to  devour  the 
contents  of  the  same. 

I  may  add,  that  many  farmers,  possessors  of 
such  charms,  and  taking  pleasures  from  these  fer- 
tile sources — advocates  of  thorough  culture,  lib- 
eral application  of  manures,  a  generous  but 
thrifty  policy  everywhere  upon  the  farm,  pay 
for  and  highly  appreciate  the  Farmer,  and  are 
known,  by  force  of  introduction,  as  your  less 
scientific  but  inquiring  readers.       A  Farmer. 

Vermont,  Jan.  1,  1859. 


Gigantic  Harvest  Home. — The  Irish  papers 
contain  an  account  of  the  gigantic  harvest  home 
on  the  estate  of  Mr.  Pollock,  in  the  county  of 
Galway.  About  1,400  persons  (only  one-half  of 
his  servants,)  were  liberally  entertained  in  the 
Home  Farm  Stead  at  Lismay.  The  roof  covers 
nearly  two  acres  of  land,  and  the  building  was 
lighted  with  gas.  The  extent  of  this  gentleman's 
operations  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  he  has 
1,800  acres  in  green  crops,  and  4,000  in  grain, 
with  about  4,000  head  of  cattle. 


House  Committee  on  Agriculture. — Messrs. 
William  G.  Whiteley,  of  Delaware,  Lawrence  W. 
Hall,  of  Ohio,  Wm.  H.  Kelsey,  of  New  York, 
John  Huyler,  of  New  Jersey,  Richard  INIott,  of 
Ohio,  James  B.  Foley,  of  Indiana,  James  L.  Gil- 
lis,  of  Pennsylvania,  R.  P.  Tripp,  of  Georgia,  W. 
H.  Keim,  of  Pennsylvania. 


96 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb, 


THE  GRA"i  DOYENNE  PEAK. 


This  fine  pear  is  known  in  different  localities 
by  several  different  names,  such  as  the  Gray 
Butter  Pear,  the  Doyenne  Boussonck,  Gray  Deans 
and  Bt.  Michael  Dore. 

Downing  says,  "The  Gray  Doyenne  strongly 
resembles  the  White  Doyenne  in  flavor  and  gen- 
eral appearance,  except  that  its  skin  is  covered 
all  over  with  a  fine,  lively  cinnamon  russet.  It 
is  a  beautiful  pear,  usually  keeps  a  little  longer, 
and  is  considered  by  many  rather  the  finer  of 
the  two,  but  in  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  where 
both  are  remarkably  fine,  we  do  not  perceive  its 
superiority.  It  richly  deserves  more  general  at- 
tention.    Shoots  uiDright,  grayish  brown. 

Fruit  of  medium  size,  obovate,  but  usually  a  lit- 
tle rounder  than  the  White  Doyenne.  Skin  whol- 
ly covered  with  smooth  cinnamon  russet,  (rarely 


a  little  ruddy  next  the  sun.)  Stalk  half  to  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  long,  curved,  set  in  a  narrow* 
rather  deep  and  abrupt  cavity.  Caylx  small, 
closed,  and  plac  ed  in  a  smooth,  shallow  basin. 
Flesh  white,  fine-grained,  very  buttery,  melting, 
rich,  and  delicious.  Middle  of  October,  and  will 
keep  many  weeks." 


Brickmaking  by  Elephants.  —  The  Ceylon 
Observer  contains  an  account  of  some  brickmak- 
ing  works  recently  visited  by  Sir  Henry  Ward. 
The  works,  which  turn  out  about  20,000  bricks  a 
day,  are  ouly  six  miles  from  Colombo.  The  clay 
for  brickmaking  is  prepared  by  elephants.  The 
wild  and  tame  work  together,  and  laoth  attempt 
to  shirk  their  work  by  endeavoring  to  put  their 
feet  in  old  footprints,  instead  of  in  the  soft,  tena- 
cious, untrodden  mud. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


97 


A  KBW  MOVEMENT. 
OLD   CHESHIRE   COUNTY    AWAKE. 

The  Cheshire  Count ij  Agricultural  Society  of 
New  Hampshire,  at  its  last  annual  meeting,  some 
months  since,  then  instituted,  and  has  already 
partially  carried  into  effect,  a  movement  which 
is  destined  in  our  opinion  to  have  an  important 
influence  upon  our  agricultural  interests.  In- 
stead of  continuing  to  exhaust  its  treasury,  an- 
nually, in  paying  premiums,  and  in  the  other  ex- 
penses incident  to  an  autumnal  show,  they  voted 
to  hold  meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  county, 
and  to  discuss  some  of  the  topics  supposed  to  be 
of  paramount  importance  in  exciting  better  sys- 
tems in  practical  agriculture,  and  to  bring  more 
profitable  results  from  its  labor. 

In  accordance  with  this  plan,  the  first  of  the 
series  of  these  meetings  took  place  at  the  beau- 
tiful town  of  Winchester,  on  Wednesday,  the 
29th  of  December.  The  day  was  a  severe  one, 
Lhe  wind  and  snow  blowing  furiously,  and  the 
cold  intense.  But  this  did  not  deter  the  zealous 
from  gathering,  and  the  afternoon  was  spent  in 
an  earnest  discussion  upon  the  subject  of  Soils, 
their  reclamation,  and  adaptation  to  particular 
crops.  The  meeting  was  addressed  for  an  hour 
by  the  editor  of  the  Farmer,  then  by  Benjamin 
Read,  Esq.,  of  Swanzey,  the  presiding  officer  of 
the  meeting,  by  Dea.  Buffum,  of  Winchester, 
by  Capt.  Adams,  of  Fitzwilliam,  and  others.  Af- 
ter an  adjournment  of  two  hours  for  tea,  a  nu- 
merous audience  of  both  sexes  assembled  and 
listened  to  a  lecture  upon  Agriculture  as  an  Av- 
ocation. After  the  lecture,  the  President  called 
upon  several  persons  to  speak,  and  an  interest- 
ing discussion  was  continued  until  nine  o'clock. 
A  vote  was  passed  to  form  a  Farmers'  Club  in 
Winchester,  and  the  initiatory  steps  taken  to  es- 
tablish it. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  series  was  holden 
at  Troy  on  Friday,  Jan.  7th,  and  was  organized 
by  choosing  Benjamin  Reed,  Esq.,  of  Swanzey, 
President,  and  Dr.  Caverly,  of  Troy,  Secretary, 
The  weather  was  again  unpropitious  ;  it  being 
rainy  through  the  day,  the  snow  soft  and  sloppy, 
and  a  dense  fog  coverhig  the  face  of  the  earth 
in  the  evening.  But  notwithstanding  this,  a 
goodly  number  was  present,  and  the  exercises 
commenced  at  a  little  past  two,  P.  M.,  and  con- 
tinued until  five.  The  subject.  Manures,  was 
discussed  with  energy,  and  with  an  eminently 
practical  bearing,  by  Messrs.  Brown  and  Rey- 
nolds, of  Concord,  Mass.,  Parker,  Kendall 
and  Adams,  of  Fitzwilliam,  and  Wright  and 
BoYCE,  of.  Troy.  In  the  early  part  of  the  even- 
ing, a  spirited  discussion  took  place  upon  the 
Culture  of  Indian  Corn — its  value  as  a  crop,  and 
the  best  modes  of  cultivating  it.  A  variety  of  top- 
ics were  incidentally  introduced  iu  this  discus- 


sion. At  eight  o'clock,  a  practical,  sound  in  doc- 
trine, and  finely  written  lecture  upon  Farm  Man- 
agement, was  delivered  by  Dr.  Joseph  Reynolds, 
of  Concord,  Mass. 

By  this  time,  a  new  spirit  of  inquiry  had  been 
awakened,  and  a  succession  of  questions  elicited 
replies  until  nearly  ten  o'clock.  It  is  only  pos- 
sible that  any  person  attending  that  meeting, 
left  it  without  resolving  to  seek  new  information 
to  aid  him  in  the  pursuit  of  hia  calling,  and  to 
conduct  his  agricultural  labors  in  a  more  intelli- 
gent and  systematic  manner. 

This  movement,  projected  with  admirable  fore- 
sight and  wisdom  by  the  Cheshire  Society,  has 
already  excited  an  interest  and  made  an  impres- 
sion that  will  pervade  the  county  in  producing 
more  profitable  practices,  in  increasing  the  amount 
of  their  crops,  and  in  swelling  the  aggregate 
sums  of  value  on  the  assessor's  books. 

The  next  meeting  is  to  be  holden  at  one  of 
the  villages  in  Marlborough,  near  Keene,  on 
Friday,  Jan.  21st,  at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.  The  sub- 
jects to  be  discussed  are.  The  Grasses,  Grains 
and  Stock.  The  meeting  will  undoubtedly  be 
one  of  much  interest. 


"PBUIT  TREES  ON  THE  HOADSIDE." 

Writing  of  trees  reminds  me  of  another  pecu- 
liarity of  this  country,  from  v/hich  "Young  Amei'- 
ica"  might  learn  an  important  lesson.  Along 
the  public  roads,  for  hundreds  of  miles,  are  rows 
of  fruit  trees,  unprotected  by  ditch,  hedge  or 
fence ;  yet  the  ripe  fruit  may  hang  in  profusion 
on  their  boughs,  or  cover  the  very  roadside,  and 
not  an  apple  or  pear  will  be  purloined,  not  a 
cherry  twig  will  be  broken.  Frequently  some 
poor  man  buys  the  fruit  of  one  or  more  trees  for 
a  season.  All  he  must  do  to  have  it  sacredly 
respected  is  to  bind  a  withe  of  straw  about  the 
trunk,  in  token  of  ownership. 

It  is  not  enough  that  we  have  plenty  to  eat 
and  drink,  fine  clothing,  comfortable  houses,  and 
productive  farms.  Every  man  owes  it  to  him- 
self, his  family,  his  country,  to  cultivate  all  those 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  which  delight  in  beau- 
tiful objects,  which  are  susceptible  of  moral  and 
religious  growth.  And  as  home  is  the  cradle  of 
all  virtues,  and  as  external  adornments,  espe- 
cially those  natural  ones  which  lie  within  the 
reach  of  every  citizen  of  our  favored  land,  such 
as  trees,  shrubs,  fiowers,  tasteful  lawns,  arbors, 
and  trellises,  are  among  the  strongest  means  of 
making  home  attractive,  it  should  be  the  desire 
and  the  labor  of  all  good  men  to  diffuse  through- 
out the  community  a  sentiment  of  regard  for  ru- 
ral works  and  pastimes.  To  do  this,  lies  within 
the  power  of  no  one  man  or  woman  ;  all  should 
make  it  their  object,  and  he  who  labors  most  v/ill 
have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he  has 
faithfully  done  his  part  towards  accomplishing 
the  great  work  of  the  age. 

Man  must  work,  he  must  labor.  But  he  may 
work  willingly,  or  as  a  machine ;  he  may  work 
cheerfully,  or  as  a  slave.  Labor,  undirected  by 
knowledge  of  the  great  principles  which  govern 


98 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


the  development  of  the  soil,  is  always  slavish. 
Is  there  the  grand  design  of  agricultural  schools, 
to  lead  the  tiller  of  the  soil  to  take  an  intelligent 
interest  in  all  the  wonderful  processes  of  nature 
which  continually  pass  before  his  eyes,  in  order 
that,  v.-ith  his  powers  of  observation  thus  quick- 
ened, all  the  better  faculties  of  his  mind  aroused 
and  exercised,  he  may  make  every  hour  of  labor 
attractive,  and  add  new  grace,  refinement  and 
happiness  to  his  home? 

The  nation  must  look  for  true  wisdom  and 
strength  to  the  education  whicli  controls  and 
shapes  the  home  policy  of  the  family  circle.  Let 
us  then  define  patriotism,  true  patriotism,  to  con- 
sist in  love  of  home.  There  can  be  no  love  of 
home  ;  and  on  the  contrary,  show  me  a  man  who 
loves  to  adorn  his  home  with  those  peaceful  and 
refined  charms  which  God  designed  it  should 
possess,  and  I  can  show  you  a  good  citizen,  an 
honest  patriot,  and  a  true  man." — Gov.  Wright's 
Letter  from  Germany  to  Ohio  Farmer. 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  KAIN. 

To  understand  the  philosophy  of  this  beautiful 
and  often  sublime  phenomenon,  so  often  witnessed 
since  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  essential  to 
the  very  existence  of  plants  and  animals,  a  few 
facts  derived  from  observation  and  a  long  train 
of  experiments  must  be  remembered  : 

L  Were  the  atmosphere  everywhere,  at  all 
times,  at  a  uniform  temperature,  we  should  nev- 
er have  rain,  or  hail,  or  snow.  The  water  ab- 
sorbed by  it  in  evaporation  from  the  sea  and  the 
earth's  surface  would  descend  in  an  impercepti- 
ble vapor,  or  cease  to  be  absorbed  by  the  air  when 
it  was  once  fully  saturated. 

2.  The  absorbing  power  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
consequently  its  capability  to  retain  humidity  is 
proportionably  greater  in  warm  than  in  cold  air 

3.  The  air  near  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  warm-' 
er  than  it  is  in  the  region  of  the  clouds.  The 
higher  we  ascend  from  the  earth,  the  colder  do 
we  find  the  atmosphere.  Hence  the  perpetual 
snow  on  very  high  mountains  in  the  hotest  cli- 
mate. Now  when  from  continued  evaporation, 
the  air  is  highly  saturated  with  vapor,  though  it 
be  invisible  and  the  sky  cloudless,  if  its  temper- 
ature is  suddenly  reduced  by  cold  currents  de- 
scending ^vom  above,  or  rushing  from  a  higher  to 
a  lower  latitude,  its  capacity  to  retain  moisture  is 
diminished,  clouds  are  formed,  and  the  result  is 
rain.  Air  condenses  as  it  cools,  and  like  a  sponge 
filled  with  water  and  compressed,  pours  out  the 
water  which  its  diminished  capacity  cannot  hold. 
How  singular  yet  how  simple,  the  philosophy  of 
rain  !  What  but  Omniscence  could  have  devised 
such  an  admirable  arrangement  for  watering  the 
earth  ? — Scientific  Journal. 


Steam  Sleigh. — A  Polish  exile  in  Siberia  has 
invented  a  means  of  applying  steam  povrer  to  the 
traction  of  sleighs,  by  which  journeys  can  be  made 
with  rapidity  over  the  frozen  snows  and  the 
steppes  covered  with  ice,  which  abound  in  the 
Russian  dominions.  Such  an  invention,  it  seems 
to  us,  might  be  valuable  in  this  country  for  win- 
ter traveling  over  our  broad  prairies  and  ice- 
bound lakes. — Scientific  American. 


THERE'S  WORK  ENOUGH  TO  DO. 

The  black-bird  early  leaves  its  rest 

To  meet  the  smiling  morn, 
And  gather  fragments  for  its  nest 

From  upland,  wood  and  lawo. 
The  busy  bee  that  wings  its  way 

'ilid  sweets  of  varied  hue, 
And  every  flower  would  seem  to  say — 

"There's  work  enough  to  do." 

The  cowslip  and  the  spreading  vine, 

The  daisy  in  the  grass, 
The  snowdrop  and  the  eglantine, 

Preach  sermons  as  we  pass  ; 
The  ant,  within  its  cavern  deep. 

Would  bid  us  labor  too. 
And  writes  upon  his  tiny  heap — 

"There's  work  enough  to  do." 

The  planets,  a,t  their  Maker's  will, 

Move  onward  iu  their  cars. 
For  Nature's  wheel  is  never  still — 

Progressive  as  the  stars  ! 
The  leaves  that  flutter  in  the  air, 

And  summer's  breezes  woo. 
One  solemn  truth  to  man  declare — 

"There's  work  enough  to  do." 

Who  then  can  sleep  when  all  around 

Is  active,  fresh  and  free  I 
Shall  man — creation's  lord — be  found 

Less  busy  than  the  bee  .' 
Our  courts  and  alleys  are  the  field, 

If  men  would  search  them  through, 
That  best  the  sweets  of  labor  yield. 

And  "work  enough  to  do." 

To  have  a  heart  for  those  who  weep, 

The  fcottish  drunkard  win  ; 
To  rescue  all  the  children,  deep 

In  ignorance  and  sin"; 
To  help  the  poor,  the  hungry  feed, 

To  give  him  coat  and  shoe  ; 
To  see  that  all  can  write  and  read — 

"Is  work  enough  to  do." 

The  time  is  short — the  world  is  wide. 

And  much  has  to  be  done  ; 
This  wond'rous  earth,  aid  all  its  pride. 

Will  vanish  with  the  sun  ! 
The  moments  fly  on  lightning's  wings, 

And  life's  uncertain  too  ; 
We've  none  to  waste  on  foolish  things — 

"There's  work  enough  to  do." 

Christian  Jf'itness. 


For  the  New  En^'land  Farmer. 
INVERTED  POSTS. 

Having  noticed  an  article  on  this  subject  writ- 
ten bv  Zina  Round,  of  Nevada,  Wis.,  and  insert- 
ed in  the  N.  E.  Farmer,  Aug.  21st,  1858,  and 
being  of  the  same  opinion  in  regard  to  the  mat- 
ter, 1  would  give  a  few  reasons  why  inverted  posts 
and  stakes  will  last  longer  than  those  set  in  an 
upright  manner,  and  why  wood  w^ill  season  bet- 
ter set  up  top  end  down,  than  in  any  other  way. 

In  order  to  come  at  this,  we  must  understand 
a  little  of  the  nature  of  the  growth  of  plants, 
trees,  &c.  The  plant  or  tree  consists  of  roots, 
which  are  located  in  the  soil,  leaves  which  are 
spread  in  the  air,  and  a  stem  or  trunk  and  limbs 
which  connects  the  roots  and  leaves.  •  This  stem 
is  intercepted  with  sap  vessels  or  tubes  which 
extend  from  the  end  of  the  roots  to  the  surface 
of  the  leaves,  thus  affording  a  passage  for  the 
sap,  a  circulation  of  the  moisture  taken  in  by  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


99 


roots  from  the  soil  to  sustain  the  growth  of  the 
plant,  and  from  various  causes  it  is  drawn  up 
towards  the  leaves,  where  it  is  evaporated.  Nov/ 
one  of  these  causes  is  the  action  of  these  sap  ves- 
sels or  fibres  of  wood  which  serve  as  \alves  to 
force  the  sap  upward  similar  to  those  in  animals 
in  the  blood  vessels,  (as  the  vegetable  and  animal 
kingdom  are  similar.)  This  being  the  case,  which 
is,  undoubtedly,  in  my  mind,  and  which  can  be 
proved  by  experimenting  on  trees  in  the  sap-run- 
ning season,  it  accounts  for  posts  and  stakes  last- 
ing longer  set  in  an  inverted  matter,  than  those  set 
in  an  upright  manner,  and  also  for  wood  seasoning 
better  set  up,  top  end  down  ;  for  the  action  of  the 
sap  vessels  (while  set  in  this  manner)  aided  by 
the  attraction  of  gravitation,  drains  the  timber  of 
all  its  moisture,  it  becomes  seasoned,  and  will  not 
decay,  while  those  set  in  an  upright  manner  will 
retain  their  moisture,  fermentation  takes  place, 
hence  decay.  R.  A.  Damon. 

Bipton,  Vt. 

THE  FARM  OF  ELIJAH  \iC'OOD,  JH. 

IN  CONCORD,  MASS. 

He  who  manages  a  farm  prqfitabh/,  setting  a 
good  example  to  his  neighl)ors,  and  to  the  stran- 
ger who  passes  by  his  gates,  is  a  public  benefac- 
tor. He  may  make  two  blades  of  grass  grow 
where  only  one  grew  before,  but  if  it  is  done  at 
a  loss,  he  must  eventually  starve,  and  he  is  not 
a  public  benefactor,  nor  his  example  a  good  one. 

He  does  not  manage  a  farm  projitahhj  who  in- 
creases the  fertility  of  his  acres,  enlarges  his 
bars?,  multiplies  his  kine,  and  makes  his  trees 
drop  fatness,  if  in  so  doing  he  starves  his  soul, 
breaks  down  his  health,  and  brings  up  his  family 
about  him  in  a  state  of  servitude  that  is  only  one 
degree  from  intolerable. 

Such  a  course  is  extravagant,  unreasonable, 
and  will  be  ruinous  in  the  end,  no  matter  how 
many  shares  may  be  accumulated  in  the  bank, 
mill  or  railroad,  how  many  fair  acres  teem  with 
fertility,  or  how  many  scores  of  cattle  and  sheep 
may  graze  upon  the  hills  which  the  owner  calls 
his  own.     There  is  no  real  profit  in  it  all. 

The  farm  of  which  we  are  speaking  has  not 
been  managed  in  this  way, — for  while  the  stock 
has  increased,  and  the  rough  places  become 
smooth,  and  while  luxuriant  grain  and  corn,  and 
grass  fielis,  have  yielded  to  him  their  rich  and 
varied  crops,  and  rivers  of  milk  have  been  flow- 
ing from  his  healthy  and  well-tended  cows,  his 
own  soul  has  expanded  and  kept  progress  with 
the  material  things  about  him.  The  farmers'' 
club,  the  lyceum,  the  cliurcli,  the  school,  all  the 
social  relations  of  life,  have  been  cherished  and 
cultivated  as  well  as  the  farm, — and  this  is  what 
we  call  profitable  cultivation.  For  what  profiteth 
it  a  man  if  he  gain  a  whole  farm,  and  lose  liim- 
selfl 

Mr.  Wood  manages  two  distinct  farms  ;  his  own, 
which  he  has  brought  to  a  high  state  of  fertility, 
principally  from  its  own  resources,  and  an  adjoin- 


ing farm  owned  by  a  non-resident.  His  crops  on 
these,  last  season,  were  20  acres  in  potatoes,  13 
acres  of  which  were  planted  in  swamp  land,  in 
process  of  reclamation,  20  acres  in  corn,  4  in 
southern  corn  for  fodder,  11  acres  in  oats,  11  in 
rye,  and  cut  160  tons  of  hay  !  He  is  wintering 
90  head  of  cattle,  principally  milch  cows,  and 
sold,  between  the  first  of  October  and  the  first  of 
April  of  last  year,  one  thousand,  nine  hundred 
and  sementy  five  dollars  wor,th  of  milk,  and  for  the 
then  ensuing  six  months,  expected  to  sell  some- 
thing over  one  thonsand  dollars  worth  more.  He 
thinks  the  two  farms  capable  of  supplying  $5,000 
worth  of  milk  annuallj'.  But  he  sells  the  milk  as 
a  matter  of  convenience,  and  not  because  he 
thinks  that  the  most  pnfitable  way  of  disposing 
of  it. 

Within  a  year  he  has  built  more  than  150  rods 
of  balance  and  bank  wall,  bogged  and  partially 
reclaimed  fourteen  acres  of  swamp  land,  and  has 
arranged  to  build  not  less  than  400  rods  more  of 
wall,  and  to  reclaim  20  acres  more  of  swamp  land, 
where  young  trees  and  bushes  are  now  standing. 

On  finding  that  the  aggregate  of  his  cultivated 
land  was  66  acres,  exclusive  of  mowing  land,  the 
inquiry  was  a  natural  one,  whether  he  could  give 
so  many  acres  sufficient  manuring  to  make  it 
profitable  to  have  so  many  at  once  under  the 
plow  ?  The  reply  was,  that  no  acre  had  been 
planted  without  its  complement  of  thirty  ox -loads 
of  manure,  except  the  swamp  land,  which  had 
been  planted  without  any.  In  the  summer  pre- 
ceding the  crops  of  which  we  are  speaking,  he 
had  tied  up  about  fifty  head  of  cattle,  and  to  their 
droppings  he  had  added  muck,  and  whatever 
other  valuable  materials  he  could  command,  in 
order  to  swell  the  heaps  and  add  to  their  value. 

Mr.  Wood  long  ago  learned  that  his  low,  moist 
lands  were  those  which  he  must  depend  upon 
for  his  grass  crops,  and  by  a  judicious  manage- 
ment of  them,  by  a  thorough  working  of  them 
when  plowed,  by  liberal  manuring  and  seeding, 
followed  by  a  top-dressing  of  rich,  well  pulver- 
ized compost  every  other  year,  he  can  keep  them 
sufficiently  active  to  produce  an  average  of  two 
tons  per  acre  for  ten  or  twelve  years  in  succes- 
sion. This  is  one  of  the  causes  of  his  success  in 
farming  ;  for  from  land  valued  at  $100  per  acre, 
he  gets  an  annual  crop  worth  $30  for  the  two 
tons  of  hay,  and  a  crop  of  rowen  which  is  either 
cut  and  cured  or  fed  by  the  stock,  and  worth  at 
least  $8  per  acre,  making  an  aggregate  of  $38  an 
acre.  The  cost  of  getting  this  hay  is  not  more 
than  $5  an  acre ;  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  the 
land  $6,  leaving  a  net  gain  of  $27  per  acre, 
without  any  palpitations  of  heart  as  it  regards 
the  solvency  of  these  acres  !  What  investments  in 
mills,  banks,  railroads,  or  even  commerce  or  trade, 
are  so  safe  and  lucrative  as  these  ? 


100 


NEW  ENGLAiSTD  FARMER. 


Feb. 


At  one  of  the  barns  where  the  stock  is  kept, 
water  is  brought  by  a  hydraulic  ram,  to  the  yard, 
and  thus  an  otherwise  heavy  and  constant  labor 
is  averted.  Arrangements  are  being  made  to  in- 
troduce water  to  the  other  barn  by  the  same 
means.  Just  as  we  were  leaving  the  premises,  we 
noticed  eight  fine  shoats,  and  about  100  fowls. 
Mr.  W.  informed  us  that  he  had  made  careful 
experiments  in  feeding  the  fowls,  and  had  ascer- 
tained that  he  cou)d  feed  them  liberally  on  a  va- 
riety of  food,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  one-third 
of  a  cent  per  day,  and  that  the  results  -were  so 
favorable  that  he  intends  to  increase  the  number 
to  five  hundred,  the  coming  summer. 

In  managing  these  farms,  Mr.  Wood  introdu- 
ces the  best  implements  he  can  find,  whether  his 
great  grandfather  ever  used  them  or  not.  His 
grass  is  mostly  cut  with  mowing  machines,  and 
raked  by  horse-power,  while  his  plows,  harrows, 
seed-sowers  and  weeders,  are  all  of  the  latest  con- 
struction, if  he  finds  they  work  better  and  quick- 
er than  older  ones.  He  is  a  man  of  progress. 
His  farm-work  is  all  twice  performed  ;  first  by 
Head- Work,  and  then  by  Hand- Work, — so  that 
his  men  are  moved  by  a  system,  and  are  never 
vexed  by  delays  and  contrary  directions.  He 
makes  his  '-brief,"  as  well  as  the  lawyer,  and  a 
glance  at  it  shows  him  precisely  where  he  stands, 
or  in  other  words,  where  he  stuck  up  his  hoe  ! 
When  he  is  appointed  to  lead  in  a  discussion  at 
the  Farmers'  Club,  he  devotes  an  evening  to  an 
investigation  of  the  subject,  and  is  thus  prepared 
to  speak  upon  it  with  profit  to  others,  and  credit 
to  himself. 

Last  summer  he  had  some  dozen  acres  of  rye 
to  harvest,  very  little  of  which  stood  less  than 
six  feet  high.  It  occurred  to  him  that  reaping 
rye  was  a  slow  and  laborious  process,  so  he  in- 
troduced scythes  into  his  fields,  and  before  three 
acres  had  been  gone  over,  skill  had  been  acquir- 
ed to  cut  it,  and  lay  it  out  in  rows  quite  as  well 
as  the  reapers  did,  and  at  least  five  times  as  fast. 


The  first  year  I  obtained  about  a  quart  of  tu- 
bers from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a  walnut — 
the  second  season  some  of  them  increased  to  a 
moderate  size  for  the  table — the  third  many  of 
them  were  full  size — and  the  last  year  they  av- 
erage as  well  as  potatoes  generally  for  size. 

Though  the  seed  was  from  an  early  dark  pur- 
ple roundish  potato,  the  produce  is  nearly  all  of 
a  yellow  cast — many  of  the  Carter  shape — some 
ripened  with  early  potatoes,  some  are  late. 

Now  as  to  quality.  I  have  never  found  one 
decidedly  good.  Some  few,  not  many,  have  rot- 
ted. They  are  generally  pretty  smooth,  the  eye 
less  sunken  than  most  potatoes — most  of  them 
are  hard  and  require  thorough  boiling,  and  then 
appear  more  like  a  natural  than  a  cultivated 
plant.  What  may  be  the  result  of  further  cul- 
ture, remains  to  be  seen. 

We  are  more  inclined  to  speak  of  success  than 
of  a  failure,  and  while  it  would  have  been  grati- 
fying to  me,  I  prefer  to  state  facts,  and  the  re- 
sult of  experience  and  observation,  believing  it 
to  be  the  true  way  to  promote  the  cause  of  agri- 
culture in  its  various  departments. 

Truly  yours,  S.  s. 

Amlierst,  Jan.  3,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BAKN  CELLAK  VS.  OUT-DOOK  MANUBE. 

Friend  Brown  : — I  have  read  lately  an  article 
in  the  Farmer  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Mansfield,  of 
Needham,  on  the  subject  of  manure  ;  and  as  I  do 
not  believe  in  the  doctrine  therein  advanced,  I 
propose  to  say  a  few  words  about  it. 

If  his  doctrine  is  true,  it  must  be  that  I  live  in 
a  very  benighted  neighborhood,  so  far  as  manure 
and  barn  cellars  are  concerned,  at  least.  There  are 
in  this  neighborhood  twenty-three  farms  adjoin- 
ing each  other  ;  seven  in  iJracut  and  sixteen  in 
Pelham,  with  cellars  under  the  barns  where  ma- 
nure is  kept  and  composted,  and  I  will  venture  the 
assertion  that  there  cannot  be  found  that  number 
of  adjoining  farms  in  New  England  where  better 
corn,  in  quantity  and  quality,  is  raised  than  we 
have  raised  since  those  cellars  were  built,  taking 
the  quality  of  land  into  the  account — and  more 
than  that,  we  have  no  trouble  about  our  corn 
coming  up,  so  far  as  I  have  learned. 

It  is  well  known  to  every  good  farmer  that 
manure  may  be,  and  often  is,  strong  enough  to 
kill  corn  and  other  tender  plants,  when  the  seed 
is  put  directly  upon  it,  and  the  man  who  does 
not  compost  and  reduce  this  cellar  manure,  or 
use  it  in  some  other  way  than  putting  it  in  the 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
POTATOES  PBOM  SEED. 

"Reader,  will  you  write  for ?" 

This  question,  which  I  find  in  a  leading  agri- 
cultural journal,    awakened   a   desire   to    make  I  hill,  has  scarcely  taken  his  first  lesson  in  farming, 
some  small  return  for  the  valuable  information  1 1  and  ought  to  lose'  his  crop  a  few  times,  until  he 


obtain  through  agricultural  journals,  none  of 
which  do  I  prize  more  highly  than  the  New  Eng- 
land Farmer.     I  have  no  theory  to  maintain,  but 


can  learn  better.  Your  correspondent  says  not 
one  word  about  the  way  he  uses  his  manure,  so 
that  wc  mav  infer  that  it  kills,  let  him  use  it  as 


in  what  I  have  to  say,  and  with  full  leave  for  the  he  will.     He  had  better  take  100  pounds  of  clear 
free  use  of   scissoi's  or   fire,  I  will  give  you  my  ! manure,    dried   in   the    cellar,  and   another  100 


experience  in 

RAISING   POTATOES   FROH   SEED. 
Five  years  ago,  finding  on  some  early  purple 
potatoes  an  abundance  of  very  large  balls,  it  oc-,.  ^  .  , 

curred  to  me  that   it  must  be  a  healthy  variety,  j^  »  cellar  under  cattle,  as  th^y  do  out  in  good 
and  a  good  one  to  test  the  experiment  of  invigor-P^ns  or  on  horse  manure         ^^.  1.  CUTTER, 
ating  the  tuber,  and  producing  new  varieties.       I     Felham,  N.  H.,  Dec.  2J,  lbo». 


from  under  the  eaves  of  the  barn,  and  make  them 
separately  into  a  liquid  and  give  them  a  fair  trial, 
before  he  gives  up  his  cellar. 

I  am  well  aware  that  hogs  do  not  do  as  well 


1859, 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


101 


For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 
INTBIiliECT  OW  THE   FARM. 

Mr.  Editor  : — There  is  at  the  present  day  a 
very  general  effort  among  those  who  are  consid- 
ered leaders  of  agricultural  improvement,  to  in- 
fuse more  mind  into  the  various  operations  of 
the  farm.  Your  correspondent  has  often  referred 
to  this  subject.  There  is  no  danger  whatever  of 
a  man  being  too  learned  to  carry  on  a  farm  ;  he 
may  possibly  make  brains  pay  better  in  some 
other  calling,  but  there  is  no  other  which  will 
make  a  greater  demand  upon  it,  if  he  takes  hold 
of  the  business  in  earnest,  and  as  it  is  capable  of 
receiving.  My  desire  is  to  see  our  New  England 
farmers  put  more  of  this  material  into  farm  busi- 
ness than  they  have  done  heretofore.  I  feel  con- 
fident if  they  will  do  so,  they  will  find  an  increase 
of  profits.  True,  muscle  and  mind  or  brain 
must  go  together.  Our  people,  both  men  and 
women,  particularly  the  latter,  work  too  hard. 
I  do  not  take  into  the  account  loafers  and  the 
lazy  ;  it  makes  little  odds  what  becomes  of  these. 
They  do  not  give  themselves  that  leisure  for  in- 
tellectual improvement  which  they  ought  to  have. 
A  farm,  of  all  the  places  in  the  wide  world,  of- 
fers the  greatest  field  for  mental  culture,  and  I 
am  happy  to  know  that  our  New  England  farm- 
ers, their  wives  and  daughters,  as  well  as  the 
sons,  are  beginning  to  appreciate  their  calling  in 
this  light;  depend  upon  it,  farmers,  you  are  in 
the  right  road  ;  it  v/ill  lead  you  safely  and  hap- 
pily to  glorious  results. 

Permit  me  to  call  your  attention  to  a  delight- 
ful source  of  entertainment  as  well  as  instruction. 
How  few  farmers,  or  of  those  not  such,  know 
much  about  the  habits,  offices  and  structure  of 
the  hosts  of  insects  found  on  the  farm  ;  many  of 
them  great  helpers,  accomplishing  more  in  a  day 
for  the  benefit  of  the  farm,  than  all  the  hands  of 
the  farm  could  muster ;  while  others  are  equally 
desti'uctive.  Do  you  know  which  are  your  friends 
and  which  your  foes  ?  Do  you  know  the  vari- 
ous transformations  many  of  these  insects  pass 
through  ?  Do  you  understand  the  general  char- 
acters by  which  the  different  species  are  known, 
and  v/henever  seen,  easily  recognized  ?  Here 
is  a  study  for  you,  full  of  interest,  and  easily 
understood.  One  that  nine-tenths  of  our  New 
England  farmers  can  comprehend,  if  they  will 
only  take  the  little  trouble  required  to  do  so.  I 
know  that  in  order  to  obtain  the  information, 
and  make  insect  study  interesting,  you  will  need 
a  microscope,  and  my  object  in  writing  this  ar- 
ticle is  to  tell  you  where  you  can  obtain  just  the 
instrument  you  need,  and  its  cost.  If  you  will 
send  to  J.  &  W.  Grunew,  of  New  Haven,  Ct., 
inclosing  twelve  dollars,  they  will  send  you  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  little  microscopes  in  this 
or  any  other  country,  every  way  complete  and 
ready  for  use.  With  this  little  instrument  you 
can  devote  an  hour  at  the  close  of  the  day's  work 
to  the  study  of  such  insects,  or  any  thing  else 
suitable,  which  you  may  have  collected  through 
the  day.  My  word  for  it,  you  would  soon  have 
wife  and  children  and  hired  men  about  you,  all 
eager  to  behold  the  wonders  and  the  wisdom  of 
God  as  manifested  in  the  minutest  of  His  works, 
and  you  would  soon  learn  that  there  is  one  gen- 
eral law  or  type  peculiar  to  each  and  every  spe- 
cies,    Tbpn.  tor>.  Rs  von  •n'jss   nvmir-d  in  the  or- 


chard, you  might  see  some  particular  favorite 
tree,  its  leaves  looking  sickly  and  its  limbs  and 
trunk  covered  with  moss  or  fungi.  You  guess 
something  is  the  matter  with  it,  but  what,  that's 
the  question  ;  you  take  a  leaf  or  two,  a  bit  or  so 
of  moss,  place  them  under  your  glass,  and  you 
need  not  doubt  longer ;  a  great  and  interesting 
truth  finds  its  lodgment  in  your  brain,  to  be 
brought  out  on  some  future  time  for  a  useful 
purpose,  and  many  dollars  saved  thereby. 

What  I  wish  is  that  you  farmers  should  know 
the  whys  and  wherefores  of  those  thousands  of 
operations  which  are  every  day  going  on  about 
that  glorious  farm  of  yours,  and  be  able  to  ex- 
plain those  operations,  so  far  as  it  is  in  the  pow- 
er for  human  intellect  to  do.  This  privilege  is 
yours,  and  a  little  effort  on  your  part  will  accom- 
plish the  business ;  though  you  may  not  be  a 
Harris  or  an  Agassiz,  still,  you  may  be  an  intel- 
ligent, go-ahead,  thinking  farmer,  and  this  is 
honor  enough,  and  what  Norfolk  wishes  to  see 
you.  Norfolk. 

King  Oak  Hill,  1859. 


CULTIVATIOKT   OF   THE  YEIiLOW 
LOCUST. 

For  the  information  of  D.  P.  Powers,  of  Mad- 
ison, Wis.,  I  will  undertake  to  answer  his  inquir- 
ies respecting  the  growing  of  locust  timber.  I 
believe  I  "really  know  something  about  it,"  hav- 
ing sown  the  seed  in  three  different  localities, 
and  brought  them  to  a  profitable  maturity  in  each 
case.  And  permit  me  to  say,  that  I  look  upon 
the  locust  as  the  most  profitable  timl)er  for  cul- 
tivation in  our  country;  and  have  often,  in  my 
visits  to  the  prairies  of  AVisconsin  and  other 
Western  States,  wondered  why  it  was  not  more 
generally  cultivated,  both  for  timber  and  shelter 
from  the  wind. 

The  yellow  is  the  kind  used  here,  and  proba- 
bly the  best  for  timber  or  fuel.  The  seed  can  be 
procured  at  any  of  the  large  seed  stores  of  Alba- 
ny, llochester  or  Buffalo,  and  probably  at  Chica- 
go. If  the  trees  can  be  found  of  sufficient  age 
in  Illinois  or  Wisconsin,  seed  can  be  obtained 
from  them  at  this  time,  as  it  remains  on  the  trees 
all  winter,  and  is  not  injured  by  the  storms.  I 
have  seen  trees  bearing  seed,  on  the  prairie  a  few 
miles  west  of  Racine.  Probably  plenty  can  be 
procured  in  that  region  merely  for  the  gathering. 
Plant  the  seed  about  the  15th  of  May,  or  when 
the  ground  is  in  good  condition  to  plant  corn. 

Prepare  the  seed  for  planting,  by  pouring  on 
it  rain  water,  nearly  boiling  hot.  Let  it  stand 
in  a  warm  place,  say  under  the  stove,  or  near  the 
chimney  corner,  until  the  seeds  have  most  of  them 
swelled  to  about  double  their  usual  size ;  and 
are  so  soft  as  to  be  easily  cut  in  two,  by  pressure 
between  the  finger  and  thumb  nail.  This  re- 
quires twenty-four  to  forty-eight  hours'  soaking, 
and  if  all  are  not  swollen,  sow  those  that  are  so, 
and  repeat  the  soaking,  but  with  water  not  quite 
so  warm  as  at  first. 

Prepare  the  ground  in  the  most  thorough  man- 
ner. It  should  be  rich,  dry  and  mellow,  and  free 
from  the  seeds  of  weeds.  I  have  succeeded  well, 
on  a  green  sward,  freshly  plowed,  and  the  sur- 
face well  mellowed  with  the  rake.  The  ground 
should  be  in  fit  order  for  sowing  onions,  as  the 
Tilant  when  it  first  shoots  is  verv  tender  and  smalL 


102 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


Plant  shallow,  not  over  one  inch  deep,  and  tread 
the  ground  or  roll  it  after  the  seed  is  in.  Rows 
about  four  feet  apart,  and  seeds  three  or  four 
inches  apart  in  the  row ;  so  as  to  insure  plants 
enough  for  one  to  each  space  of  twelve  to  eigh- 
teen inches.  Hoe  them  as  soon  as  they  are  fairly 
up,  which  will  bo  in  fifteen  to  twenty  days  after 
planting.  With  these,  as  with  every  other  young 
plant,  careful  attention  is  necessary,  to  insure 
the  best  success.  If  well  attended  to,  an  aver- 
age growth  of  four  feet  each  may  be  expected 
the  first  season.  After  the  first  year,  but  little 
attention  is  needed.  Do  not  undertake  to  im- 
prove them  by  trimming,  except  to  prevent 
crotches,  which  are  objectionable  if  timber  is  the 
object. 

They  will  withstand  the  winds,  as  well  proba- 
bly as  any  other  tree.  The  only  enemy  we  dread 
is  the  borer,  which  is  sometimes  troublesome, 
but  not  seriously  so.  The  general  advantages 
are,  rapid  growth,  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  pro- 
ducing trees  large  enough  for  posts,  great  dura- 
bility and  weight,  with  strength  and  toughness, 
fitting  them  for  wagon-hubs,  railroad-ties,  &c. 
No  other  timber,  I  think,  equals  it  for  the  pur- 
poses desired,  and  certainly  none  in  the  facilities 
with  which  it  can  be  produced. — Levi  J.  Hop- 
kins, in  the  Country  Gentleman. 


FIRST  LEGISLATIVK  AGRICULTURAIi 
MEETING. 

It  v*'as  ordered  by  the  Legislature  on  Monday, 
Jan.  10th,  that  the  use  of  the  hall  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  be  granted  for  the  purpose 
of  holding  the  usual  Legislative  Agricultural 
meetings  during  each  Monday  evening  of  the 
session. 

The  first  of  the  series  was  accordingly  held  on 
last  Monday  evening.  The  meeting  was  called 
to  order  by  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture,  who  stated  the  objects  for  which  the 
meetings  were  held,  with  a  sketch  of  what  they 
had  hitherto  been,  and  what  they  had  accom- 
plished, and  suggested  by  way  of  organization, 
that  a  chairman  be  appointed  for  the  evening, 
when  Mr.  Miller,  of  Coleraine,  was  called  to 
the  chair,  and  Mr.  G.  P.  Sargent,  of  Newbury, 
to  whom  our  reporter  is  indebted,  was  chosen 
Secretary. 

The  Chairman  stated  what  had  been  done  in 
his  own  town  by  way  of  forming  a  farmers'  club, 
how  it  had  been  conducted,  and  what  its  influence 
had  been. 

Mr.  Flint  suggested  the  propriety  of  appoint- 
ing a  committee  to  nominate  a  permanent  com- 
mittee of  arrangements  to  have  the  general  su- 
pervision of  the  meetings,  when  Messrs.  Peck, 
of  Sterling,  Paige,  of  Brimfield,  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  were  appointed. 

Interesting  remarks  were  made  by  Messrs. 
Martin,  of  Warren,  Haynes,  of  Sturbridge, 
Paige,  of  Brimfield,  and  several  others. 

Mr.  Flint  gave  a  general  account  of  the  origin 


and  condition  of  the  agricultural  societies  of  the 
State,  and  what  they  had  done  and  were  doing, 
and  of  the  origin  and  manner  in  which  the  Board 
of  Agriculture  was  constituted,  and  a  succinct 
statement  of  the  connection  of  the  Board  with 
the  management  of  the  State  Farm  at  Westboro'. 
Questions  being  asked  with  regard  to  the  State 
Society,  he  answered,  by  giving  an  account  of  its 
operations  and  management,  in  the  impoi-tation 
of  stock,  in  offering  premiums,  &c.     It  was 

Voted,  That  the  subject  of  the  next  evening's 
discussion  be,  The  interest  and  the  duty  of  the 
Oovernment  to  develop  and  encourage  the  devel- 
opment of  industrial  resources  of  the  State,  and 
that  His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  be  invited  to 
preside. 

Adjourned  to  Monday,  Jan.  17th,  at  7  o'clock, 
P.M. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
COUNTY  AGKICUIiTUKAL  SOCIETIES. 

Mr.  Editor: — Sir,—1  like  the  plain  talk  in 
your  columns  of  this  morning,  about  our  County 
Agricultural  Societies,  and  the  support  they  re- 
ceive from  the  State.  The  original  design,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  organization,  (for  I  re- 
member it  well,)  was,  that  there  should  be  one 
State  society,  and  one  Society  in  each  of  the 
counties  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  no  more, 
and  that  each  of  these  should  receive  $600  a  year 
from  the  Treasury  of  the  State.  This,  if  my  es- 
timate is  right,  would  amount  to  a  sum  not  ex- 
ceeding $9000 — a  moderate  contribution  for  the 
benefit  of  the  farmer.  But  since  then,  there  have 
grown  up  some  eight  or  ten  other  excrescencies, 
receiving  four  or  five  thousand  dollars  annually, 
together  with  the  State  Farm  at  Westboro',  three 
to  six  thousand  more,  all  of  which  in  my  judg- 
ment are  misappropriations  of  the  funds  of  the 
State,  that  demand  immediate  correction,  inas- 
much as  they  endanger  the  entire  fabric. 

A  Massachusetts  Farmer. 

JDcc.  25,  1858. 

A  SINGING  MOUSE. 

One  of  these  little  animals  inhabits  our  office. 
For  several  years  past  he  has  made  his  home  in 
it.  He  has  become  very  familiar  with  all  hands, 
and  in  broad  daylight  he  can  be  seen  playing 
around  the  feet  of  the  compositors,  or  dancing 
about  the  cases,  seemingly  as  little  apprehensive 
of  danger  as  if  snugly  away  in  his  nest.  The 
paste-cup  is  his  delight,  but  he  never  objects  to  a 
bit  of  cake,  or  fruit,  with  which  his  admirers  oc- 
casionally supply  him.  He  is  a  most  remarkable 
little  animal.  A  piece  of  cake  puts  him  in  high 
glee,  and  when  he  has  devoured  it,  he  gets  in  a 
corner  and  sings  like  a  canary  bird,  his  notes  be- 
ing sweet  and  melodious.  Sometimes  he  will 
sing  for  an  hour  without  intermission.  He  is  a 
general  favorite — does  what  he  pleases  with  im- 
punity— and  is  regarded  as  a  sort  of  fixture  in 
the  office.  Even  while  we  are  writing  he  is  play- 
ing on  the  table,  and  is  so  tame  that  he  suffers 
himself  to  be  handled  without  any  show  of  fear. 
— Cumberland  Telegraph. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


103 


TKANSACTIOWS  OF    THE     ESSEX   AGKI- 
CtJ-LTUBALi  SOCIETY  FOR  1858. 

By  the  kind  attention  of  the  indefatigable 
Secretary  of  this  society,  we  ai"e  favored  with  a 
copy  of  this  annual.  It  is  a  handsomely  printed 
pamphlet  of  224  pages,  and  contains,  beside  the 
ordinary  papers  showing  the  operations  of  the 
year,  100  pages  at  least  of  permanently  valua- 
ble matter,  that  will  often  be  resorted  to  for 
guidance  and  instruction. 

First  among  these  are  the  papers  relating  to 
the  Treadwell  farm.  By  the  persevering  efforts 
of  the  late  President  of  the  society,  this  farm  is 
now  in  condition  to  be  creditable  and  useful.  I 
trust  it  will,  ere  long,  become  a  model  farm. 
True,  it  is  not  one  of  the  best  of  farms — but  if  it 
can  become  best  improved  comparatively,  this 
will  be  enough. 

This  society  was  most  fortunate  in  having 
such  orators  as  Everett  and  Loring  to  address 
them  at  their  annual  show.  Their  speeches  are 
given  in  full,  and  will  well  reward  perusal.  There 
are  other  finely  written  papers  in  the  volume, 
■which  will  be  read  with  interest.  I  am  pleased 
to  see  such  respectful  notice,  as  appears  in  this 
pamphlet,  of  that  model  of  Massachusetts  farm- 
ing, the  late  Moses  Newell,  of  West  Newbury. 
He  was  worthy  all  that  is  said  of  him.  I  have 
ong  looked  upon  the  publications  of  this  society 
as  models  for  imitation — and  the  present,  if  I 
mistake  not,  will  be  found  equal  to  any  that  has 
preceded  it. 

Thorough  Tillage. — At  one  of  the  Irish  ag- 
ricultural meetings,  one  of  the  speakers  remarked 
— and  the  truth  may  be  well  applied  in  this  coun- 
try : 

"What  brought  out  the  immense  agricultural 
wealth  of  Scotland  ?  and  what  enabled  the  small 
farmer  in  Belgium,  who,  on  seven  or  eight  acres 
of  light,  sandy  land,  was  able  to  do  better  for 
himself  and  his  family  than  we  can  do  on  twenty 
or  thirty  acres  of  land  in  this  country  ?  It  was 
not  by  allowing  three-fourths  of  a  light  tillage 
farm  to  remain  in  poor  herbage,  and  making  the 
other  quarter  pay  the  rent.  It  was  because  the 
farmers  in  those  countries  he  alluded  to,  made 
agriculture  a  study,  a  duty,  and  a  pleasure,  and 
because  the  farmers  till  their  land  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage, and  because  no  man  there  would  keep 
one  single  acre  of  land  more  in  his  possession, 
ban  his  capital  and  his  means  would  enable  him 
to  cultivate." 


To  Measure  Hay-Stacks.  — "More  than 
twenty  years  since,"  says  an  old  farmer,  "I  cop- 
ied the  following  method  for  measuring  hay  from 
an  old  publication,  and  having  verified  its  gen- 
eral accuracy,  I  have  both  bought  and  sold  by  it, 
and  I  believe  it  may  be  useful  to  many  farmers 
Avhere  the  means  of  weighing  are  not  at  hand. 
'Multiply  the  length,  breadth  and  heighth  into 
each  other,  and  if  the  hay  is  somewhat  settled, 
ten  solid  yards  make  a  ton.  Clover  will  take 
from  ten  to  twelve  solid  yards  per  ton.'  " 


BOYS'  DEPARTMENT. 


THE  SLAVE  BOY'S  WISH. 

BY   ELIZA  lEE   POLLEN. 

I  wish  I  was  that  birtl, 

Up  ia  the  bright  blue  sky; 
That  sings  and  flies  just  where  he  will, 

And  no  one  asks  him  why. 

I  wish  I  was  that  little  brook, 

That  runs  so  swift  along  ; 
Through  pretty  flowers  and  shining  stones, 

Singing  a  merry  song. 

I  wish  I  wag  that  butterfly, 

Without  a  thought  or  care ; 
Sporting  my  pretty,  brilliant  wings, 
Like  a  flower  in  the  air. 

I  wish  I  was  that  wild,  wild  deer, 

I  saw  the  other  day ; 
Who  swifter  than  an  arrow  flew. 

Through  the  forest  far  away. 

I  wish  I  was  that  little  cloud, 
By  the  gentle  south  wind  driven ; 

FloatiDg  along  eo  free  and  bright, 
Far,  far  up  into  heaven. 

I'd  rather  be  a  canning  fos, 

And  hide  me  in  a  cave  ; 
I'd  rather  be  a  savage  wolf, 

Than  what  I  am — a  slave. 

My  mother  calls  me  her  good  boy, 

My  father  calls  me  brave  ; 
What  wicked  action  have  I  done, 

That  I  should  be  a  slave .' 

I  saw  my  little  sister  sold, 

So  will  they  do  to  me  ; 
My  Heavenly  Father,  let  me  die, 

For  then  I  shall  be  free. 


THE  PINK. 

"O,  dear  mother,  give  each  of  us  a  flower-bed  ; 
me  one,  and  Gustavus  one,  and  Alvinaone, — and 
each  will  take  care  of  his  own."  Thus  said  little 
Frederick  to  his  mother,  who  granted  his  request, 
and  gave  each  child  a  flower-bed  planted  with 
fine  pinks. 

The  children  were  overjoyed,  and  said,  "How 
splendidly  it  will  look  when  the  pinks  are  in 
bloom  !"  For  it  was  not  yet  the  season  for  pinks; 
they  had  only  put  forth  their  little  buds. 

Little  Frederick,  however,  was  too  impatient 
to  await  the  time  of  their  blooming,  and  he  wished 
that  his  flower-bed  might  be  in  blossom  before 
all  others.  He  took  the  buds  in  his  hand,  look- 
ing at  their  green  covers,  and  rejoicing  when  he 
saw  a  yellov/  or  red  petal  peeping  forth  here  or 
there.  But  he  could  r',t  wait  patiently:  Freder- 
ick opened  the  buds  and  unfolded  the  petals  al- 
together ;  thf  n  he  exclaimed  with  a  loud  voice, 
"Look,  my  pinks  are  in  bloom !" 

But  when  the  sun  shone  on  them,  the  flowers 
drooped  their  heads,  and  before  noon  they  all 
looked  mournful,  faded  and  torn.  Then  the  boy 
cried  about  his  flowers  ;  but  his  mother  said, 
"Impatient  child  !  may  this  be  the  last  pleasure 
of  your  life  that  you  mar  by  your  own  fault,  then 
you  will  not  have  bought  too  dearly  the  great 
and  difficult  art  of  waiting  patiently." 


104 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Feb. 


Tattooed  Skin. — Our  valued  friend  and  con- 
tributor, Septimus  Piesse,  of  London,  informs 
us  that  the  marks  or  devices  which  some  young 
people,  and  sailor  boys  in  particular,  make  on 
the  skin  by  pricking  it  with  iieedles,  and  then  rub- 
bing the  punctures  with  Indian  ink,  vermilion 
and  indigo  gunpowder,  are  so  firmly  fixed  that 
to  remove  them  severe  means  must  be  resorted 
to.  The  following  treatment  will  be  found  effi- 
cacious : — Blister  the  part  with  a  plaster  a  little 
larger  than  the  mark  or  "ornament,"  then  keep 
the  place  open  with  a  green  ointment  for  a  week; 
finally,  dress  it  to  get  well.  As  the  new  skin 
grows,  the  old  tattooes  will  disappear. —  Scientific 
American. 


1^^  The  most  remarkable  instance  of  indeci- 
sion we  ever  heard  of  was  that  of  the  man  who 
sat  up  all  night  because  he  could  not  decide 
which  to  take  off  first,  his  coat  or  his  boots. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


SCHOOL  GIRIiS  IW  ■WINTER. 

We  wish  to  put  in  a  special  plea  for  the  girls. 
Make  their  dresses  short  enough  to  swing  clear 
of  the  snow  and  mud,  and  give  them  good  water- 
proof boots,  to  wear  to  school.  Yes,  we  insist 
ypon  it — they  should  have  boots.  Women's 
shoes  of  the  present  fashion  arc  no  more  fit  to 
be  put  upon  country  roads  in  winter,  than  an  In- 
dian's birch-bark  canoe  is  fit  to  cross  the  Atlantic. 
Boots  will  not  look  quite  so  trim  about  the  an- 
kle, or  step  so  lightly  upon  the  floor,  but  they 
will  do  what  is  of  more  consequence — preserve 
the  health  to  show  oft'  these  graces  in  after  life, 
and  to  take  a  great  many  elastic  steps  that  other- 
wise might  be  fewer,  and  those  leading  directly 
down  to  the  grave. 

Another  thing  we  are  glad  to  see  coming  in 
fashion :  the  ladies  are  learning  to  skate,  and  for 
this  they  must  have  boots.  Now,  girls,  get  each 
of  you  a  pair  of  neat  winter  boots,  and  a  pair  of 
skates  to  fit,  and  the  first  ice  that  forms  in  your 
neighborhood,  large  enough,  go  out  with  your 
brothers,  or  somebody  else's  brothers,  and  learn 
to  skate.  Be  prudent  about  it,  and  not  overdo 
the  exercise,  and  you  will  find  it  a  capital  medi- 
cine— next  to  horseback  riding. 

The  only  way  to  bring  about  a  race  of  healthy 
women,  is  to  attend  to  the  physical  development 
of  the  girls  before  they  are  diluted  in  the  false 
system  of  fashionable  accomplishment,  that  fits 
them  for  nothing  but  elegant  imbeciles. — Ohio 
Cultivator. 


HOUSBHOIiD  CAKES. 

Mrs.  Kirkland  has  very  truly  said  that  woman 
is  never  really  and  healthily  happy,  without 
household  cares.  But  to  perform  house-work  is 
too  frequently  considered  degrading.  Even  where 
the  mother,  in  obedience  to  the  traditions  of  her 
youth,  condescends  to  labor  occasionally,  the 
daughters  are  frequently  brougiit  up  in  perfect 
idleness,  take  no  bodily  exercise  except  that  of 
walking  in  fine  weather,  or  riding  in  cushioned 
carriages,  or  dancing  at  a  party.  Those,  in  short, 
who  can  aff'ord  servants,  cannot  demean  them- 
selves, as!  they  think,  by  donie';tic  labors.     The 


result  is,  too  frequently,  that  ladies  of  this  class 
lose  what  little  health  they  started  life  with,  be- 
coming feeble  in  just  about  the  proportion  as 
they  become  fashionable.  In  this  neglect  of 
household  cares,  American  ladies  stand  alone.  A 
German  lady,  no  matter  how  elevated  her  rank, 
never  forgets  that  domestic  labors  conduce  to  the 
health  of  mind  and  body  alike.  An  English  la- 
dy, whatever  may  be  her  position  in  society, 
does  not  neglect  the  affairs  of  her  household,  and, 
even  though  she  has  a  house-keeper,  devotes  a 
portion  of  time  to  this,  her  true  and  happiest 
sphere.  A  contrary  course  to  this,  results  in  a 
lassitude  of  mind  often  as  fatal  to  health,  as  the 
neglect  of  bodily  exercise.  The  wife  who  leaves 
her  household  cares  to  her  domestics,  generally 
pays  the  penalty  which  has  been  affixed  to  idle- 
ness since  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  eith- 
er wilts  away  from  sheer  ennui,  or  is  driven  into 
all  sorts  of  fashionable  follies  to  find  employment 
for  her  mind.  If  household  cares  were  more  gen- 
erally attended  to  by  ladies  of  the  family,  there 
would  be  comparatively  little  backbiting,  gossip- 
ing, enviousness,  and  other  kindred  sins,  and 
women  in  good  society  would  be  much  happier 
and  much  more  truly  lovable. — Springfield  Re- 
publican. 

DOMESTIC  RECEIPTS. 

Fruit  Pudding. — Ih  lb.  each  of  flour,  grated 
potatoes  and  grated  carrots,  and  i  lb.  of  suet. 
Salt  and  spice  to  taste.  Boil  3  hours.  To  be 
eaten  with  wine-sauce. 

Boiled  Bread  Pudding. — Half  a  loaf  of  stale 
bread  soaked  in  a  quart  of  milk  ;  4  eggs  ;  4  ta- 
ble-spoonfuls of  flour.  Boil  %  of  an  hour;  serve 
with  wine-sauce.  A  little  green  or  dried  fruit 
mixed  in  is  a  good  addition, 

"Wine-sauce"  without  Wine. — Butter  and 
sugar  thickened  with  corn-starch,  and  flavored 
with  the  rind  and  part  of  the  juice  of  a  lemon. 

Pop-overs. — One  cup  of  flour ;  1  egg  ;  butter 
the  size  of  a  nutmeg.  Bake  in  small  tin  rounds. 
The  same  rule  is  good  for  nice  drop-cakes,  baked 
in  cups ;  or  boiled  batter  pudding. 

Grandjia's  Batter  Pudding. —  One  quart 
of  milk  ;  9  eggs,  (if  you  have  got  'em  ;)  9  table- 
spoonfuls  of  flour,  and  a  little  salt.  Steam  lA 
hours — if  steamed  just  enough,  the  pudding  will 
retain  its  form,  and  it  cannot  be  excelled  for  del- 
icacy. 

Grandma's  Marlborough  Pie. — 12  spoon- 
fuls each  of  sifted  (stewed)  apple,  beaten  egg, 
and  melted  butter — all  thoroughly  mixed,  and 
flavored  with  lemon  and  sweetened  to  the  taste. 
Bake  without  upper-crust.  Less  butter  than  the 
above  will  do. 

Apple  Custard. — Take  fine  apple-sauce,  fla- 
vor with  lemon  or  rose,  and  fill  the  pie-plates 
with  it.  Pour  over  a  nice  custard  flavored  with 
nutmeg  or  vanilla,  and  bake. 

A  Turkey  Boiled  and  then  Baked. — Pre- 
pare the  turkey  just  as  if  for  baking  ;  then  put 
in  a  kettle,  covering  it  with  water,  and  closing  it 
with  a  lid.  Boil  until  quite  tender.  Then  take 
it  out  and  brown  it  in  an  oven  for  a  few  minutes. 
When  put  upon  the  table  it  will  be   found  very 


DEVOTED   TO  AGRICULTURE   AND   ITS  KIWDRED   ARTS  AND    SOIEKCES. 


VOL.  XL 


BOSTON,  MARCH,  1859. 


NO.  3. 


JOEL  NOrKSE,  Proprietor. 
Office. ..34  Merchants  Row. 


SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR. 


FRED'K  HOLBROOK,  )  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRE.NXH,  (  Ehitobs. 


CALENDAR  FOB  MARCH. 

Spring  is  but  the  child 
Of  churlish  Winter,  in  her  froward  moods 
Discovering  much  the  temper  of  her  sire  ; 
For  oft,  as  if  in  her  the  etream  of  mikl 
Maternal  nature  had  reversed  its  course, 
She  brings  her  infants  forth  with  many  smiles, 
But  once  delivered,  kills  them  with  a  frown. 

COWPEB. 

(f^^_  m  ARCH   is  the   first 
'' k"  ri  1   spring  month,  ac- 
cording to  the  us- 
,^  ual      division      of 
^1  time,  although  one 
'  sees  very  little  of 
that     "ethereal 
mildness,"     which 
Thomson    so     pa- 


-=.^% 


y  until  April  or  even 
May. 

Yet  long  before 
the   "merry    song- 
^'  »^.r.--- ""*■  sters"    and    "bud- 

--^^~  ding  flowers"  which 

^>        .   _-TiO      warble    and  blossom    so 
^y!^j/^^^^  deliciously      in      poetry, 

~"^^A^-^  make  their  appearance  in 
^^^^^P"-  "^  point  of  fact,  there  are  "sweet 
ig.--  "^        influences"    which    make   them- 

selves felt  by  all.  Those  patches  of 
bare  ground  which  we  have  not  seen  before  since 
the  snow  came  and  covered  everything  last  No- 
vember— the  "softer  airs"  which  breathe  upon 
us  in  the  intervals  of  east  winds  and  driving 
storms — the  more  jubilant  crov/ing  of  our  roos- 
ter, who  rejoices  to  tread  "his  own  native  heath- 
er" once  more,  and  who  holds  long  conversa- 
tions on  the  subject  with  all  his  neighbors — yes, 
even  the  muddy  highway,  which  affords  us  neith- 
er sleighing  nor  wheeling — and  the  overflowing 
rivers,  which  in  some  vicinities  suggest  a  second 
deluge — all  these  things  tell  us  of  returning  life, 
and  we  cannot  help  sympathizing  in  the  general 


rejuvenation  which  is  taking  place  in  the  worl'i- 
Why !  we  almost  expect  to  see  our  own  white 
hair  growing  brown  again,  or  our  wig  giving 
place  to  a  new  "native  growth." 

Now  is  the  time,  in  this  flush  of  hope,  to  get 
all  things  in~order  for  spring  work.  See  that 
the  farming  implements  are  ready  for  use — get 
the  seeds  together,  so  that  when  the  frozen 
ground  becomes  softened,  you  may  not  have  that 
duty  to  perform — a  duty  requiring  much  care 
and  the  exercise  of  a  sound  judgment. 

Make  your  plans  for  the  whole  season's  oper- 
ations with  deliberation,  and  with  reference  to 
the  whole  of  your  crops.  Decide  what  field  shall 
receive  the  corn,  the  oats,  wheat,  barley,  pota- 
toes, roots,  &c.,  so  that  when  the  sun  has  evap- 
orated the  rebundant  moisture,  and  the  condition 
of  the  soil  invites  you  to  plow  and  deposite  your 
seed,  you  will  not  be  delayed  by  any  doubts  as 
to  icliere,  and  to  wliat  extent,  your  various  crop« 
are  to  be  placed.  This  is  the  head-work  of  the 
farm,  and  can  better  be  done  by  the  evening  fire, 
with  pencil  and  paper  in  hand,  than  in  the  hurry 
and  responsibilities  of  the  field.  A  rude  map  of 
your  plans,  one  that  any  hand  can  sketch  in  a 
few  minutes,  would  greatly  aid  the  memory  and 
facilitate  your  labor. 

There  is  an  old  saying,  "Time  and  tide  waitfor 
no  man."  We  may  procrastinate,  if  we  will,  but 
seed-time  will  come  and  go  all  the  same,  and  if 
we  neglect  it,  we  shall  have  no  harvest. 

There  is  also  a  moral  seed-time,  which  if  we 
fail  to  improve,  will  pass  by  us  to  return  no 
more — but  in  this  case  we  shall  find  not  alone  no 
harvest,  for  while  the  husbandman  tlumbers,  the 
enemy  sows  tares ! 

And  yet,  while  the  young  cannot  be  too  much 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  starting  right, 
we  must  hazard  one  suggestion  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  have  neglected  past  opportunities, — 
namely,  there  are  some  seeds  which  it  is  much 
better  to  sow  late,  than  not  at  all. 


106 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER, 


March 


The  first  spring  flower  which  blossoms,  so  far 
as  we  know,  throughout  New  England,  is  the 
May-flower,  [trailing  arbutus.)  It  is  commonly 
supposed  to  have  received  its  name  merely  from 
the  fact  of  its  being  found  in  May,  but  as  it  is 
found  still  more  abundantly  in  April,  we  are  in- 
clined to  receive  the  tradition  that  it  was  so  called 
by  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  in  honor  of  the  vessel  in 
■which  they  came  over — it  being  the  first  flower 
they  discovered  in  their  new  home.  This,  certain- 
ly, is  the  more  interesting,  and  as  we  think,  the 
more  probable  theory.  We  have  found  its  buds 
late  in  the  fall,  thus  showing  that  it  makes  its 
preparations  for  blossoming  some  months  be- 
forehand. We  have  tried  the  experiment  of  plac- 
ing these  buds  in  a  tumbler  of  water  in  a  sunny 
window,  hoping  to  produce  the  novelty  of 

"A  May-flower  in  December," 

but  have  never  yet  succeeded,  although  they  may 
be  hastened  in  spring  by  a  similar  process. 

Then  there  are  violets,  snow-drops,  anemones, 
— all  lifting  up  their  heads  in  the  most  out-of- 
the-way  places — many  of  them  "born  to  blush 
unseen,"  and  each  one  the  very  synonym  for  pu- 
rity and  modesty.  Did  it  never  occur  to  you,  as 
you  have  come  suddenly  upon  one  of  these  wild 
gardens  of  nature,  "Why  are  so  many  beautiful 
things  placed  v/here  man  seldom  or  ever  sees 
them  ?"  And  did  not  the  answer  suggest  itself, 
"It  must  be  that  God  loves  to  see  them  !"  With 
this  thought,  the  solitary  places  of  the  earth  are 
no  longer  solitary.  If  we  indulge  our  thoughts 
a  little  further,  is  it  not  easy  to  suppose  these 
places  filled  with  the  spirits,  minds,  or  intelligen- 
ces of  those  made  holy,  not  subject  to  the  condi- 
tions of  animated  matter,  and  all  progressing  and 
rejoicing  in  the  love  and  wonderful  works  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  !  All  these  flowers  and  trees  of 
of  the  forest,  the  springs  that  run  among  the  hills, 
the  insects  that  spoft  in  the  sunbeams,  and  the 
whirlwind  that  scatters  the  flocks  or  strips  the 
hills,  are  just  as  much  the  work  of  His  hands, 
and  the  objects  of  His  care,  as  that  far-ott"  Heav- 
en that  is  so  indefinite,  and  undefinable  in  the 
popular  mind  !  The  field  for  reflection  in  this 
matter  is  infinite. 

There  are  people  in  the  world — but  we  hope 
yozi  are  not  one  of  them — who  look  at  everything 
through  the  medium  oi  "What  is  it  good  for?" 
"What  did  it  cost?"  and  perhaps  still  more  to 
the  purpose,  "What  will  it  bring?"  Now  it  is  a 
good  thing  to  be  practical, — but  we  have  little 
sympathy  with  those  intensely  practical  people 
who  ignore  the  refinements  of  taste,  who  labor 
all  their  lives  to  feed  and  clothe  the  body,  but 
leave  the  soul  entirely  out  of  the  account. 

Let  us  have  our  vegetable  garden,  with  its  beets 
and  cabbages  and  turnips,  and  take  good  care  of 


it  too, — but  then  there  shall  be  a  spot  set  apart 
to  be  made  beautiful  with  flowers,  "God's  mes- 
sengers," as  some  one  has  called  them,  and  there 
shall  be  a  trellis  for  a  vine  and  a  climbing  rose 
over  our  portico.  We  will  have  an  orchard  with 
apples,  pears  and  peaches  somewhere  in  the  rear 
of  our  dwelling,  but  it  need  not  interfere  with 
the  shade  trees  and  shrubbery  in  front. 

Burns  turns  up  a  "Mountain  Daisy"  with  his 
plow,  and  while  he  goes  on  with  his  labor,  com- 
poses one  of  his  sweetest  poems  : 

"Wee,  modest,  crimson-tipped  flower, 
Thou'st  met  me  in  an  evil  hour, 
For  I  maun  crush  amang  the  stoure 

Thy  sleniier  stem  ; 
To  spare  thee  now  is  past  my  power, 

Thou  bonnie  gem." 

A  less  delicate  nature  would  have  passed  it 
carelessly  by,  or,  if  he  noticed  it  at  all,  would, 
perhaps,  have  wondered  why  it  could  not  just  as 
well  have  been  a  potato  ! 

Nature  has  many  lessons  for  us,  if  we  will  only 
learn  them  ;  and  who  has  a  better  opportunity 
to  note  them  than  the  farmer,  whose  life  is  passed 
in  watching  the  processes  of  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble life  ?  What  a  world  of  information  he  ought 
to  collect,  and  does,  if  he  keeps  his  eyes  open. 

"Scarcely  a  branch  of  natural  science,"  says  a 
writer,  "but  has  an  intimate  relation  to  the  bus- 
iness of  agriculture,  and  peculiar  claims  upon  the 
farmer."  And  he  goes  on  to  say — "Nor  can  any 
good  reason  be  assigned  why  he  should  not  have 
the  benefit  of  full  instruction  in  all  the  branches 
of  useful  learning." 

It  is  not,  however,  the  study  of  books,  so  much 
as  the  study  of  the  book  of  Nature  herself,  to 
which  we  now  refer,  and  for  which  the  just  qual- 
ification is  a  habit  of  observation.  Creation  is 
full  of  wonders  and  mysteries,  and  perhaps,  you 
feel  this  as  much  in  looking  at  a  grasshopper's 
leg  through  a  microscope,  as  at  the  most  distant 
planet  through  a  telescope.  Perhaps  there  is  as 
much  mystery  in  the  fact  that  an  apple  falls 
down  instead  of  up,  and  that  grass  grows  up  in- 
stead of  down,  as  in  the  revolution  of  the  sun, 
moon  and  stars  ! 


FARM  -WOKK  FOR  MARCH, 
The  duties  that  devolve  on  the  farmer  in  the 
month  of  March,  though  not  so  instant  and  press- 
ing as  at  some  other  seasons,  can  no  more  be  dis- 
pensed with  and  have  the  farm  managed  well, 
than  can  a  field  be  well  plowed  with  the  off  ox 
half  the  time  out  of  his  bow.  There  is  so  inti- 
mate a  connection  and  interweaving  of  the  busi- 
ness of  all  the  seasons,  that  the  omission  of  the 
cares  of  one  must  sadly  impair  the  whole.  In 
order,  then,  that  MarcJt  shall  discharge  its  spe- 
cial duty  to  the  other  months,  let  us  glance  at 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


107 


some  of  the  things  that  she  must  not  shift  oflF 
upon  April  oi*  May — and  first,  because  of  the 
first  importance — 

i»Ianures. — There  should  be  as  much  pride 
with  the  farmer  to  keep  everything  systematic  and 
neat,  as  with  the  merchant  to  keep  his  store  so, 
or  the  captain  the  deck  of  his  ship,  or  the  me- 
chanic his  shop  and  tools  ;  for  thrift  usually  fol- 
lows neatness  and  systematic  industry. 

In  order  to  preserve  these  appearances  upon 
the  farm,  we  think  as  much  of  the  manure  should 
be  hauled  to  the  fields  in  the  month  of  March, 
as  can  conveniently  be  done.  There  will  be  lit- 
tle or  no  loss  while  it  freezes  and  remains  so,  and 
as  soon  as  the  ground  thaws  it  may  be  slightly 
covered.  Here  it  is,  on  the  field  where  it  is  to 
be  used,  and  where  twice  or  three  times  as  much 
can  be  applied  to  the  soil  in  a  day,  as  could  be 
done  if  it  were  to  be  taken  from  the  barn-yard 
or  cellar.  The  finer  it  can  be  reduced,  the  morej 
prompt  will  belts  action,  and  larger  the  crop,i 
other  things  being  equal.  In  order  to  effect  this, 
as  soon  as  the  frost  will  permit,  work  over,  pul- 
verize and  mingle  the  mass,  returning  it  into  a 
well-rounded  compact  pile.  Leave  two  or  three 
small,  long  stakes  inserted  in  it,  and  occasionally 
draw  these  up  and  notice  by  their  warmth  how 
far  fermentation  has  gone  on, — as  nothing  more 
than  a  gentle  heat  should  be  allowed  to  take 
place.  A  manure  heap  in  this  condition,  mingled 
two  to  four  inches  deep  in  moist,  porous  soil, 
cannot  fail  to  produce  favorable  results. 

The  Stock. — Milch  cows  will  need  especial 
care,  as  if  they  become  thin  and  weak,  it  will 
take  until  near  midsummer  to  get  them  into  vig- 
orous condition  for  the  dairy. 

Calves  should  be  generously  treated.  It  is 
thought  by  some  that  an  early  stunt  is  a  stunt 
for  life;  however  that  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  if 
a  calf  once  loses  its  healthy  and  vigorous  habit  j 
of  growth,  it  requires  much  time  and  high  feed-| 
ing  to  restore  it  to  its  oi'iginal  condition. 

Sheep. — Bring  to  their  yard,  pine,  hemlock, 
black  birch  and  other  branches  from  the  woods,] 
and  they  will  be  "much  obliged  to  ye."  A  lit-j 
tie  better  feed  than  usual  will  strengthen  them,! 
and  be  of  much  service  to  the  lambs.  Liberal  | 
feed  to  them  of  the  best  kinds  of  fodder,  will 
afford  the  highest  profit. 

Flax. — We  have  not  forgotten  the  sunny  days 
in  the  open  barn  floor  in  February  and  March, 
when  the  eaves  were  dripping,  the  bundles  of 
flax  drying  in  the  sun,  and  when  the  clatter  of  the 
"brake"  and  the  "swingling  knife"  merrily  wore 
away  the  day.  In  this  region,  the  terms  used 
in  speaking  of  the  processes  of  getting  out  flax, 
would  scarcely  be  understood,  so  much  has  the 
cultivation  of  this  article  fallen  into  decay.  But 
among  some  of  our  readers,  the  scene  to  which 


we  have  alluded  must  still  be  a  familiar  and 
pleasant  and  profitable  one.  Let  the  flax  be 
broken,  swingled  and  hatcheled  or  combed,  be- 
fore April,  or  it  may  become  an  unwelcome  task. 

Wood. — A  calm  contentment  is  the  crowning 
glory  of  the  family.  What  will  more  directly 
tend  to  this  than  a  wood-house  filled  with  sea- 
soned oak,  maple,  beech  or  birch,  fitted  for  the 
hearth  or  stove  where  it  is  intended  to  use  it? 
Not  anything.  It  needs  no  suggestion  of  ours 
to  convince  you  that  a  good  husband  will  pro- 
vide this  before  planting  time,  if  he  can,  and  so 
we  will  not  suggest  it.  But  we  urge  the  pres- 
ervation of  peace  in  the  family,  if  it  does  require 
dry  wood ! 

Watek. — As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water- 
brook,  so  does  a  neat,  systematic  housewife  for 
an  abundance  of  pure,  soft  water.  This  is  not 
always  to  be  found  in  wells,  or  to  be  brought  by 
aqueducts  ;  but  every  person  who  has  a  roof,  may 
have  soft  water.  Make  a  cistern  in  the  cellar, 
either  above  or  below  ground,  and  conduct  the 
water  from  the  roofs  into  it.  This  will  be  found 
cheaper  than  lugging  water  from  the  brook,  or 
wasting  soap  to  bring  hard  water  into  a  condi- 
tion fit  for  use.  A  plenty  of  pure,  soft  water  in 
the  family,  is  a  wonderful  promoter  of  the  vir- 
tues and  graces  too  ! 

All  these  things,  and  many  more,  are  the  prop- 
er work  for  March — how  can  they  be  omitted, 
without  detriment  to  the  business  of  the  other 
months  ? 

F'>r  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BOARDS  OF  AGRICULTURE  FOB  STATE, 
TOWJSr  OR  COUNTY. 

What  have  they  done,  or  what  are  they  now 
doing  ?  This  is  a  fair  inquiry,  suggested  by  Lhe 
perusal  of  his  Excellency's  address  to  the  Legi- 
lature.  Among  the  expenses  of  the  State,  he  er.a- 
merates  $12,000  annual  payment  to  sustain  the-e 
boards.  What  is  the  benefit  of  this?  To  i^e 
sure,  certain  gentlemen  are  prominent  in  oflUce,  by 
these  organizations  ;  some  are  Presidents,  some 
Treasurers,  some  Trustees,  &c.  &c.,  all  gratuitous- 
ly, of  course,  except  the  consequence  attached  to 
the  title.  But  if  no  other  benefit  accrues,  it  is 
hardly  expedient  to  dravr  upon  the  hard  earnings 
of  the  people  for  this.  Can  it  be  shown  that  the 
grounds  of  the  State  are  better  cultivated  ?  that 
the  products  are  increased?  that  the  condition 
of  the  farmer  is  improved  thereby  ?  that  the  well- 
being  of  the  community  is  improved  thereby  ?  if 
so,  then  we  say,  God  speed  the  enterprise.  Man 
is  a  social  being,  and  will  often  do  in  connection 
wi;^  others  what  he  would  not  presume  to  at- 
tempt alone.  This  is  illustrated  in  every  benev- 
olent eff'ort  ;  and  why  may  it  not  be,  when  our 
own  good  is  the  ol)ject  of  this  effort  ?  We  have 
recently  read  with  interest  tlie  doings  of  the  B'  ard 
of  Agriculture  in  the  State  of  Maine  ;  and  should 
be  pleased  to  see  our  own  Boards  giving  as  gooji 
an  account  of  themselves. 

Januanj,  1859.       A  Massachusetts  Man. 


108 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


SECOND  LEGISLATIVE  AGRICULTUBAL 
MEETING. 

[Report:>d  by  John  C.  Moore,  for  the  N.  E.  Farmer.] 

Subject  for  Discussion — The  duty  of  the 
Oovernment  to  encourage  the  development  of  its 
industrial  resources,  especially  the  improvement 
of  its  Agriculture,  as  being  the  foundation,  of  the 
jirosperily  and  security  of  its  people. 

The  members  of  this  Society  met  in  the  Rep- 
resentatives'Hall  on  Monday  evening  at  7  o'clock. 
The  attendance  vfas  respectable,  and  included 
many  gentlemen  whose  practical  opinions  have 
been  fortified  by  sage  experience  in  the  art  and 
science  of  farming.  His  Excellency,  Gov.  Banks, 
presided. 

Mr.  Flint,  the  Secretary,  reported  the  names 
of  the  following  gentlemen  as  a  Committee  of 
Arrangements  for  the  meetings  of  the  Society, 
and  the  report  was  accepted : — Messrs,  Bagg  and 
Peck,  of  the  Senate,  and  Messrs.  Miller,  of 
Coleraine,  Page,  of  Brimfield,  Sargent,  of 
Newbury,  Barrett,  of  Auburn,  and  Nash,  of 
Granby. 

Mr.  Flint,  the  Secretary,  then  read  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  as  the  basis  of  the  evening's 
discussion : — 

liesolrcd.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  civilized  government  to 
encourape  the  development  of  its  industrial  re:!ources,  and  es 
pecially  the  improvement  of  its  Agriculture,  as  being  the  true 
foundation  of  the  prosperity  and  security  of  its  people. 

liesolri'fl,  That  the  formation  of  Fanners''  Clubs  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  Agricultural  topics,  the  promotion  of  A ^rictdtural 
Libraries  for  the  use  of  the  people,  the  holding  of  local  or  town 
fairs  as  auxiliary  to  the  county  and  State  exhibitions,  and  the 
collection  of  Agricultural  products  and  objects  illustrating  the 
various  departments  of  the  A^aiiual  History  ot  the  country,  are 
among  the  most  practical  modes  ol  developing  the  Agricultural 
intelligence  of  the  community. 

Gov.  Banks,  although  he  said  he  was  unpre- 
pared for  the  task,  spoke  to  the  resolutions  at 
length,  and  with  great  ability.  We  can  only  fur- 
nish a  brief  epitome  of  his  speech,  and  those 
which  succeeded  it.  He  argued  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  national  government  to  give  its  pro- 
tection to  the  interests  of  Agriculture,  although 
the  extent  of  that  protection  was  a  subject  con- 
cerning which  there  was  much  division  of  opin- 
ion. The  substance  of  his  observations  on  this 
particular  included  the  assertion  that,  in  respect 
to  all  our  material  industrial  interests,  the  duty 
of  the  government  was  to  protect  them  to  the 
extent  of  exacting  as  much  revenue  as  sufficed 
for  its  support,  and  no  more.  Regarding  the 
duty  of  the  local  government  in  encouraging  the 
industrial  interests  of  the  people.  His  Excellency 
thought  there  could  be  no  question,  generally  ; 
but  the  query  arose — Wliat  is  the  best  method  for 
their  development'}  The  people  of  the  CommoiV- 
wealth,  he  believed,  to  be  willing  to  sustain  and 
♦encourage  that  of  Agriculture,  as  it  was  with  us, 
as  with  the  States  at  large,  the  original  universal 
interest  from  which  all  others  had  to  draw  re- 
cruits to  fill  the  avenues  made  in  the  profes- 
sional and  mechanical  occupations  by  retirement| 


and  death.  What  did  we  see  in  State  Street  ev- 
ery day?  Men  born  in  Boston,  building  high 
the  professional  and  commercial  fame  of  the  city  ? 
No !  but  men  from  the  country,  who  came  here, 
not  with  jaded  look  and  weakened  minds — men 
with  the  strong,  solid  frames,  of  such  as  breathed 
the  mountain  air,  and  lived  by  healthy,  invigorat- 
ing employment.  And  as  it  was  here,  so  was  it 
everywhere  else.  In  this  respect  the  encourage- 
ment of  agriculture  was  important.  But,  in 
another  point  of  view,  a  more  liberal  attention 
to  agriculture  was  necessary  as  tending  to  show 
what  the  true  wealth  of  the  State  really  was. 
We  required  from  time  to  time  to  realize  what 
we  could  do.  We  ought  to  know,  and  how  should 
we  manage  to  inform  ourselves  ?  Only  by  the 
accumulation  of  the  products  of  the  State — 
their  aggregation  precisely  in  the  way  followed 
by  commercial  men  in  regard  to  the  products  in 
which  they  had  a  peculiar  interest.  If  the  pro- 
cess showed  that  we  have  wants,  it  also  told  the 
manner  of  their  supply,  and  was  useful  in  this 
special  degree ;  if  it  exhibited  the  power  on  our 
part  to  export,  it  showed  our  strength — that  we 
had  the  whole  world  to  trade  with,  and  to  draw 
upon  for  whatever  our  requirements  suggested. 
If  such  accretion  of  products  was  not  also  made 
for  the  purpose  of  example,  even,  improvement 
would  lag  behind.  Community  of  example  and 
opinion  have  ever  been  the  best  incentive  to  the 
advancement  and  improvements ;  for  it  had  al- 
ways been  found  to  be  the  best  way  to  inter- 
change visits  where  the  results  of  each  year's 
exchange  and  labor  were  brought  together,  where 
comparisons  could  be  instituted  and  valuable  sug- 
gestions taught.  No  better  mode  of  proceeding 
could  be  adopted  than  that  specified  in  the  sec- 
ond resolution.  Bring  on,  then,  our  products, 
and  show  us  what  has  and  what  can  be  done; 
and,  although  we  may  not  attain  to  a  perfect  or- 
ganization and  superior  merit  in  a  day,  or  even 
a  series  of  years,  we  may  ultimately  reach  a  posi- 
tion which,  without  incentives,  we  would  never 
have  reached. 

His  Excellency  proceeded  to  say  that  he  had  no 
idea  until  last  summer  of  the  extent  of  the  agri- 
cultural interest  in  the  Commonwealth,  but  he 
determined  that  he  should  place  himself  in  the 
best  position  to  know.  Placing  himself  at  the 
direction  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Secretary  Flint,  his 
first  inquiry  was  relating  to  the  places  and  peri- 
ods where  the  required  information  was  best  at- 
tainable. But  almost  every  portion  of  the  State 
had  its  agricultural  exhibition  about  the  same 
time,  and  but  a  few  of  the  whole  could  be  seen  by 
one  individual.  This  certainly  was  not  right, 
and  nothing  but  failure  could  proceed  from  such 
malarrangements.  People  must  go  beyond  the 
limits  of  their  own  town,  or   district,  or  county. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


109 


to  see  what  they  have  not  been  accustomed  to  see 
at  home.  They  ought  to  have  opportunity  to  see 
the  best  products  of  the  State  aggregated,  and 
then  they  would  be  ready  to  exclaim — "Why  is 
this  ?  What  cattle  and  products  I  see  here ! 
Why  is  it  that  I  have  never  heard  of  such  be- 
fore ?"  Of  course  men  thus  surprised  would  be 
very  apt  to  inquire  how  these  superior  animals 
and  products  were  cultivated  and  perfected — 
glean  lessons  of  value  in  the  answers — and  hence 
the  value  of  the  example,  which  never  could  have 
been  had  through  a  merely  local  exhibition.  As 
exhibitions  of  what  we  have  in  Massachusetts, 
they  are  insufficient,  for  they  furnish  no  idea 
of  what  we  can  or  may  do  ;  and  as  this  defect 
constituted  a  great  evil,  its  correction  should 
be  kept  for  a  moment  out  of  sight.  No  oppor- 
tunity was  furnished  at  meetings  for  discus- 
sion— although  there  were  very  fine  speeches 
made — excellent  anecdotes  related,  and  small  talk 
plentiful.  The  least  instruction  in  respect  to  any- 
thing is  found  in  an  after-dinner  speech,  for  in 
them  there  is  just  a  glimpse  at  practical  matters. 
And  so  one  might  go  from  table  to  table — from 
pen  to  pen — and  solid  information  invariably 
keeps  well  aloof.  But  by  the  very  nature  of 
their  gatherings,  farmers  require  instruction. — 
They  have  a  previous  knowledge  of  whatever  is 
worthy  in  their  own  localities,  and  they  do  not 
require  to  have  it  repeated.  But  example  and 
discussion  are  both ;  therefore,  let  useless  prac- 
tices be  abandoned,  and  clubs  be  formed  and  dis- 
cussions take  place  all  the  year  through,  and  the 
result  would  turn  out  good.  To  spend  one  day 
or  two  per  annum  in  sober  trifling,  never  would 
be  of  any  value.  The  interest  of  the  State  de- 
manded that  a  better  system  should  be  inaug- 
urated— a  more  advanced  and  profitable  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil — and  to  efFtct  this  end,  discus- 
sions such  as  were  recommended  in  the  resolu- 
tion would  be  highly  beneficial.  The  State  al- 
ready gave  some  §13,000  per  annum  for  the  en- 
couragement of  Agriculture,  and  was  probably 
ready  to  be  more  liberal,  in  the  shape,  it  might 
be,  of  employing  agents  conversant  with  rural 
affairs,  to  visit  the  several  localities,  and  teach 
farmers  the  most  improved  manner  of  enlarging 
their  products  ;  and  in  this  connection  it  would 
be  well  to  institute  such  clubs  as  the  second  reso- 
lution specified,  that  these  teachings  could  be  dis- 
cussed and  their  value  applied  in  practice.  It 
would  ultimate  in  a  much  greater  benefit  to  the 
farming  interests  than  the  present  system  of  lo- 
cal shows,  and  at  the  same,  or  very  little  more 
expense.  County  exhibitions  might  be  retained 
with  some  degree  of  profit  if  their  meetings  could 
be  distributed  over  the  districts  ;  but,  periodical- 
ly, the  people  should  be  called  together  to  see 
what  the  State  could  do ;  for  the  farmer's  pros- 


perity was  emphatically  bound  to  that  of  the 
Commonwealth,  and  whatever  he  did  to  improve 
his  own  interests,  in  similar  degree  did  he  con- 
tribute to  those  pertaining  to  the  general  wel- 
fare. These  observations.  His  Excellency  said, 
in  conclusion,  were  thrown  out  without  any  pre- 
paration, and  he  hoped  the  discussion  would  have 
such  attention  from  the  meeting  as  to  elicit  the 
most  reliable  and  safe  opinions. 

Simon  Brown,  editor  of  the  N.  E.  Farmer, 
was  called  on  by  His  Excellency  to  speak. 

He  said  the  question  before  the  meeting  was 
one  which  had  occupied  his  thoughts  for  many 
years,  although  he  doubted  his  competency  to  lay 
his  views  respecting  it  before  the  audience  in  so 
clear  a  manner  as  he  could  wish.  He  proposed 
to  confine  his  observations  to  the  subject  of  the 
second  resolution,  which  related  to  the  State. 
Massachusetts  stood  high  among  her  sister  States 
in  point  of  education,  morals,  arts,  sciences  and 
agriculture.  Her  institutions  were  of  the  most 
liberal  and  enlightened  character,  and  were 
everywhere  copied  because  of  their  perfection  ; 
her  laws  were  approved  on  the  same  grounds, 
and  no  section  of  the  union  was  oftener  looked 
up  to  and  copied  as  an  example,  than  Massachu- 
setts. It  would  be  strange,  then,  if  she  should 
be  found  to  have  neglected  any  one  of  the  promi- 
nent interests  of  the  people  ;  but  it  was  other- 
wise with  her,  for  she  had  done  everything  to 
promote  their  welfare.  Glance  over  her  territory, 
and  it  would  be  found  that  her  charities  recog- 
nized every  citizen  within  her  limits — that  those 
who  were  lowest,  and  who  had  the  least  care  from 
those  who  ought  to  provide  for  them,  are  never 
forgotten  or  neglected.  She  had  made  ample 
provision  for  the  alleviation  of  the  unfortunate 
and  the  suffering.  Look  at  her  alms-houses  !  How 
many  are  there  ?  Not  only  her  own  citizens,  but 
people  from  almost  every  nation  in  the  earth. 
Could  such  a  State  neglect  any  one  of  her  inter- 
ests? Decidedly  not!  Bounties  have  been  in 
turn  offered  by  her  to  everything  which  needed 
protection.  The  County  Agricultural  Societies 
receive  $12,000  from  her  per  annum,  and  in  past 
times  she  has  spent  much  money  in  their  behalf. 
Buth^d  her  generosity  always  been  properly  ap- 
preciated, and  her  kindness  acknowledged  ?  They 
were  not?  Some  of  the  counties  were  endowed 
with  as  many  as  four  societies,  receiving,  several- 
ly, bounties  amounting  to  $400  and  $G00  annual- 
ly, and  what  had  been  the  conduct  of  some  to- 
ward this  liberality  ?  If  a  farmer  raised  a  pair  of 
fine  oxen  to  which  a  county  prize  was  assigned, 
the  State  required  of  him  a  specific  statement 
how  he  had  accomplished  it,  so  that  his  skill  and 
mode  of  practice  should  be  imparted  to  every 
other  citizen  of  the  State.  And  this  ought  to 
end  the  whole  matter  between  them — the  farmer 


110 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


having  received  the ^rs^j^remiwrn,  and  the  State, 
as  an  equivalent  for  its  bounty,  a  specific  state- 
ment of  the  manner  of  producing  the  article. 
But  it  is  quite  often  otherwise  ;  the  information 
given  is  frequently  incomplete,  and  the  stock,  or 
article  receiving  the  premium,  is  talcen  to  other 
slioics,  and  premiums  again  awarded,  thus  per- 
petrating a  fraud  upon  the  bounty  of  the  State, 
and  cutting  off  others  from  the  privileges  of  a 
fair  competition  !  These  facts  are  well  known — 
that  the  same  plowman,  the  same  stock,  the  same 
old  rug,  vegetables,  grains  and  implements,  after 
having  once  received  the  highest  premium  at  one 
exhibition,  are  entered  at  another  and  again  paid 
the  highest  prize  !  This  is  evidently  contrary  to 
the  intention  of  the  Legislature,  a  misapplication 
of  its  bounty,  and  certainly  not  the  spirit  in  which 
the  generosity  of  the  State  should  be  met ;  in  or- 
der to  prevent  such  practices  in  future,  the  Legis- 
lature should  enact  a  law  that  there  shotild  he  only 
one  agricultural  society  receiving  bounty  from  the 
puMic  funds  IN  EACH  COUNTY  in  the  State.  She 
long  ago  employed  Mr.  Colman  to  make  agri- 
cultural surveys  of  the  counties,  and  to  whose 
valuable  reports  we  were  so  much  indebted — for 
sending  Prof.  Hitchcock  abroad  at  her  expense 
to  inspect  the  agricultural  schools  there,  and 
show  us  what  we  could  do  at  home,  if  we  had  the 
will ;  for  publishing  works  on  the  Fishes,  Quad- 
rupeds, Insects  and  Geology  of  the  State,  each  be 
ing  a  monument  of  her  liberality  and  high  pur- 
pose, and  for  establishing  a  Board  of  Agriculture 
which  she  still  generously  sustains.  Had  she 
ever  been  parsimonious  ?  By  no  means  ;  she  had 
done  all  she  ought  to  do ;  we  ought  to  be  satis- 
fied with  her  liberality,  and  if  we  had  not  made  a 
progress  in  propotion  to  its  extent,  it  was  our 
fault,  not  hers. 

What,  then,  ought  to  be  done,  as  things  now 
stood  ?  Massachusetts  should  legislate  for  the 
farmer  as  faithfully  as  she  has  done  for  the  man- 
ufacturer. Scope  for  that  duty  was  ample.  Let 
her,  among  other  things,  fix  on  a  mode  for  the 
measurement  of  milk.  What  is  a  can  of  milk  ? 
a  myth,  a  fabulous  hydra,  w'hich  nobody  knows 
or  can  reasonably  pretend  to  understand.  So 
far  as  it  could  be  practically  described,  it  was  9^ 
quarts  when  the  producer  was  concerned,  and  7 
■when  the  buyer  became  interested,  and  10  quarts 
when  resold  to  city  customers  !  !  Let  us  know 
what  a  can  is,  so  that  those  who  furnish  large 
quantities  of  milk  per  diem  for  use  in  the  city, 
may  know  hotvto  sell.  In  this  connection,  proper 
officers  should  be  employed  to  investigate  the 
quality  of  milk,  and  detect  its  adulteration.  One- 
fourth  of  it  v/ould  be  found  to  be  Cochituate  wa- 
ter after  it  came  through  the  hands  of  the  sellers, 
as  could  be  proved  if  pains  were  properly  taken. 
So  much  for  law ;  and  as  for  money,  none  was 


needed  from  the  State  beyond  the  bounties  al- 
ready awarded  for  agricultural  encouragement. 
If  the  treasury  was  wide  open,  Mr.  Brown  said, 
he  would  not  take  a  dollar  to  add  to  that  boun- 
ty. Farmers  did  not  want  it  in  order  to  obtain  the 
information  they  need.  In  respect  to  agricultu- 
ral information  the  best  way  was  to  commence  at 
the  soil,  and  educate  the  farmer  thence  upwards, 
so  that  he  might  be  proud  of  his  products  as  the 
mechanic  was  of  his  invention,  or  the  sculptor  of 
bis  finished  marble.  Make  a  man  proud  of  his 
vocation,  and  much  to  ennoble  it  would  be  ac- 
complished. Why  was  the  hall  not  filled  to- 
night? Because  the  people  do  not  care  for 
farming,  although  they  all  acknowledge  it  the 
organic  element  in  the  general  prosperity.  Ir 
this  were  a  discussion  of  some  political  party, 
these  seats  would  be  crowded,  and  the  speakers 
cheered  with  audible  approbation.  These  vacant 
seats  are  so  many  records  of  the  indifference  of 
the  community  with  regard  to  agriculture  as  an 
occupation,  and  of  the  importance  of  instituting 
a  series  of  meetings  and  discussions  among  the 
people  themselves,  to  aid  them  in  obtaining  a  bet- 
ter knowledge  of  the  practical  operations  of  the 
farm,  and  of  the  elementary  principles  that  are 
indispensable  in  its  profitable  pursuits.  The  per- 
son who  wrote  the  article  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
which  has  created  so  much  comment,  was  right 
in  his  estimate  of  some  farmers ;  but  he  made  a 
mistake  in  constituting  a  general  rule  for  the 
exceptions  he  had  too  truly  before  him.  The 
fault  lies  mainly  with  the  farmer  that  his  calling 
is  thought  ungenteel ;  he  is  content  to  hear  and 
profit  not — to  listen  perpetually  to  others  and 
produce  nothing  mental  himself. 

Now  what  is  wanted,  is  simply  that  the  farmer 
should  understand  his  business — that  he  should 
know  how  to  do  what  he  undo  takes — and  that  he 
should  endeavor  to  make  his  son  understand  it 
as  well.  He  had  no  objection  to  Colleges  for  in- 
struction in  the  scientific  principles  of  agriculture, 
for  the  investigation  of  theories,  or  for  any  good 
purposes  which  they  may  subserve,  but  our  first 
effort,  the  efFoit  of  the  present  moment,  must  be, 
to  begin  wi'h  the  simplest  elements,  and  teach 
them  in  various  portions  of  each  county  in  con- 
nection with  the  true  principles  of  the  practical 
operations  of  the  farm.  If  a  college  were  already 
in  operation,  he  knew  of  no  young  men  ready  to 
enter  it,  merely  because  they  had  enjoyed  no  op- 
portunity to  qualify  themselves  for  such  a  posi- 
tion. Who  had  taught  them,  and  where?  On 
the  contrary,  we  should  begin  at  the  lower  round 
of  the  ladder,  and  climb  progressively  and  surely 
to  the  top.  This  object  would  be  effected  if  far- 
mers only  loved  their  occupation.  They  would 
cherish  it,  and  talk  of  it  earnestly,  and  men  would 
listen  to  them  and  be  taught  to  profit  by  their 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Ill 


words.  Prompted  by  this  love  of  their  occupa- 
tion, individual  effort  among  farmers  would  soon 
work  wonders,  and  on  individual  effort  every- 
thing, almost,  depended.  In  conjunction  with 
Farmers'  Clubs  no  limit  could  be  placed  to  the 
good  it  would  accomplish ;  and  if  gentlemen 
would  go  home  determined  to  institute  them,  if 
in  five  years  hence  they  failed  to  pay  for  them- 
selves, Mr.  Brown  said  he  would,  if  able,  be  re- 
sponsible for  the  intermediate  outlay.  Besides 
the  credit  of  aiding  the  noblest  of  all  human  in- 
terest up  to  the  mark  of  its  highest  improvement, 
it  should  be  understood  that  the  benefits  of  such 
associations,  intellectually  considered,  would  be 
important  and  useful  to  individuals  in  teaching 
them  to  condense  and  express  the  promptings  of 
their  minds.  Mr.  Brown  concluded  by  advising 
that  no  society  should  be  allowed  to  duplicate  its 
premiums  year  and  year  again,  in  favor  of  the 
same  article  or  animal ;  that  counties  spend  a  por- 
tion of  their  bounty  money  in  the  encouragement 
of  meetings  and  discussions  among  the  people, 
as  where  this  had  been  done  in  New  Hampshire 
and  elsewhere,  the  very  best  results  had  followed, 
and  the  meeting  might  rely  on  it  that  such  good 
would  follow  as  they  had  never  known  to  proceed 
from  any  hitherto  tried  means. 

Sanford  Howard,  Esq.,  of  the  Cultivator, 
was  the  next  speaker.  He  endorsed  the  senti- 
ments of  the  previous  speakers  ;  advocated  an  ex- 
tended area  of  comparison  in  connection  with  the 
products  6f  the  State,  and  illustrated  its  benefits 
by  relating  sundry  appropriate  anecdotes ;  re- 
commended but  one  society  in  counties,  which 
should  have  its  exhibitions  distributed  over  the 
territory  ;  approved  of  Farmers'  Clubs,  and  stated 
his  belief  that  a  due  attention  to  their  interests 
would  enable  farmers  to  add  a  very  large  per  cent- 
tage  to  their  products  at  a  very  trifling  expense 
of  labor  as  contrasted  with  the  unscientific  man- 
ner in  which  many  of  them  operated  at  present. 

John  Brooks,  of  Princeton,  spoke  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  importing  of  foreign  scientific  agricul- 
ture to  American  farmers,  as  it  had  always  proved 
unreliable,  and  in  favor  of  our  constituting  a 
science  from  what  our  experience  taught  us.  He 
approved  of  State  exhibitions  if  conducted  by  the 
Board  of  Agriculture. 

Mr.  Sheldon,  of  Wilmington,  put  in  a  plea 
for  the  right  of  every  man  to  have  a  portion  of 
the  public  territory  to  till — in  other  words,  that 
it  was  the  burden  and  duty  of  Uncle  Sam,  seeing 
he  had  the  means,  to  "give  every  man  a  farm." 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Concord,  then  offered  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  for  the  acceptance  of  the  meet- 
ing: 

liesolved,  That  the  Legislature  be  requested  to  pass  an  act 
requiring  each  county  society  receivinp  a  portion  of  its  bounty 
to  devote  one-third  of  the  whole  amount  received  to  the  sui)poi't 
of  Agricultural  meetings  and  discussions  in  various  parts  of  the 
county. 


After  being  discussed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Babbidge, 
of  Pepperell,  W.  J.  BucKMiNSTER,  Esq.,  and 
others,  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Brown  was  laid  on 
the  table,  with  the  view  that  time  should  be 
granted  the  society  to  consider  and  act  upon  it 
deliberately. 

The  meeting  occupied  over  two  hours  ;  and  at 
its  close  Mr.  Flint  announced  the  subject  for 
discussion  Monday  evening  to  be,  "What  breeds 
of  stock  are  best  adapted  to  mixed  farming  f 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CONGRATULATORY— THE    FRENCHES- 
NEW  ENGLAND. 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  monthly  Farmer  for  Jan- 
uary, 1859,  has  come  to  hand,  and  "looks  like  a 
picture,"  as  fond  mothers  and  nursery-maids  say. 
As  "the  apparel  oft  proclaims  the  man,"  so  also 
does  it  the  periodical.  Its  type  and  paper  are 
excellent ;  worthy  the  matter  it  presents  and  the 
price  charged.  Good,  substantial,  white  paper 
gives  good  typography,  as  good  land  good  crops. 

Your  associate,  Judge  French,  I  perceive,  has 
given  you  and  your  rural  home  a  regular  "set 
to  !"  But  it  is  what  you  might  have  expected 
from  a  lawyer ;  and  there  is  no  doubt,  from  his 
own  admission  on  the  stand,  that  he  smuggled 
the  article  in,  in  utter  violation  of  the  lex  scripta, 
the  lex  noil  scripfa,  and  all  the  other  recognized 
lexes  of  the  land  !  With  such  a  man  you  prob- 
ably claim  no  "kith  or  kin  ;"  and  undoubtedly, 
on  the  first  opportunity,  you  will  make  him  feel 
the  lex  taUnnis. 

But,  "Know  all  men  by  these  presents,"  nev- 
ertheless, however,  notwithstanding  —  Judge 
French  is  a  man  after  my  own  heart.  Probably 
he  is  regarded  as  a  "good  lawyer,"  (if  the  phrase 
is  not  a  contradiction  !)  and  an  unimpeachable 
judge;  and  the  readers  of  your  journal  know  he 
has  some  critical  knowledge  of  agriculture — neat 
cattle,  swine,  and  particularly  horses — so  that  he 
of  course,  must  be 

"Great  on  the  bench,  great  in  the  saddle  " 

Besides,  he  possesses  a  fine  vein  of  wit  and 
humor.  It  crops  out  in  all  his  topics,  or  rushes 
melting  into  all  their  chasms.  In  other  words, 
he  overjloics  with  mirth ;  and  no  system  of  un- 
derdraining  has  sufficed  to  abate  it !  Whether 
in  charging  a  grave  jm-y  or  "teaching  the  young 
idea  how  to  lioe,"  I  apprehend  it  must  be  forever 
welling  up.  This  agreeable  humor,  often  com- 
ing in  contact — perhaps  through  the  Farmer — 
with  that  of  a  sourer  and  graver  nature,  forms  a 
kind  of  neutral  salt,  which  may  be  of  some  ben- 
efit to  agriculturists,  if  not  to  agriculture  !  A  dis- 
position like  Mr.  French's,  capable  of  diffusing  so 
much  happiness  among  others,  surely  need  not 
go  abroad  for  its  own. 

But  there  is  another  French  who  writes  for 
your  paper.  If  I  read  understandingly,  he  was 
raised  in  New  Hampshire,  but  was  taken  up  and 
transplanted  into  the  polyglot  city  of  Washing- 
ton,where  the  sword  of  the  nation  officially  hangs, 
and  where  he  has  been  spreading  his  branches, 
perhaps  in  more  than  native  luxuriance,  for  there 
exists  a  peculiarly  rich  alluvion,  (formed  from 


112 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


the  occidental  Pactolus.  in  ■which  exotics  are  usu- 
ally planted,)  not  readily  found  in  any  other  ge- 
ological district !  His  botanical  initials  are  B. 
B.  When  he  first  began  to  write  for  the  Fanner 
I  supposed  him  to  be  a  spurious  French — an  in- 
ferior species  of  the  genus  that  had  been  falsely 
labelled — but  I  am  now  convinced  of  my  error, 
and  feel  satisfied  that  he  is  a  regular — "Yankee 
doodle  dandy." 

New  England  is  not  so  grave  as  formerly.  The 
bustle  and  business  of  her  great  cities  and  ex- 
panding villages,  together  with  more  wisdom, 
have  dissipated  her  "physiognomy  of  grace."  She 
now  looks  with  a  smiling  face  upon  her  embel- 
lished farms  and  industrious  workshops,  rather 
than  with  a  sad  one  into  her  churches.  She  has 
become  as  independent,  if  not  more  so,  than  any 
other  section  of  the  Union,  and  her  stability  is 
not  likely  to  be  disturbed.  Read  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  speech  of  Hon.  Tristam  Burgess,  de- 
livered in  Congress  in  the  times  of  southern  nul- 
lification, when  much  sectional  feeling  was  exhib- 
ited against  the  north  respecting  a  protective  tar- 
iff. Read  it.  New  England  men,  and  if  you 
eannot  heartily  respond  to  it,  search  for  some- 
thing more  sublime  elsewhere  in  the  English 
language. 

"O  no — place  New  England  in  a  region  of 
rock,  without  earth  or  water,  our  labor  shall  drill 
the  solid  stone,  and  like  the  staff  of  the  Prophet, 
let  out  the  gushing  stream.  Our  perseverance 
shall  beat  the  flint  into  small  dust,  and  cover  the 
whole  surface  with  soil  The  dews  and  the  rain, 
and  the  sunshine  of  Heaven,  the  only  creatures 
of  God  left  by  you  in  amity  with  us,  shall  give  to 
our  new  earth  moisture  and  fertility  ;  and  time, 
and  labor,  and  God's  blessing,  shall  cover  the 
whole  region  with  verdure."  D.  "W.  L. 

W.  Medford,  Jan.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

DISEASED  HENS—IiOW  ROOSTS, 

Mk.  Editor  : — I  notice  a  communication  in 
your  January  number,  from  C.  T.  Paine,  respect- 
ing diseased  hens,  and  with  your  permission,  I 
will  give  what  I  think  the  main  cause  of  it  is  // 
is  in  the  constnidion  of  the  roost.  I  was  former- 
ly troubled  in  the  same  way,  and  it  was  some- 
time before  I  discovered  a  remedy.  My  roosting 
room  is  12  feet  square,  and  8  feet  high  in  the 
clear.  My  roosts  were  formerly  constructed  like 
ladders,  two  of  them,  say  7  feet  wide,  placed  lean- 
ing against  each  other,  at  an  angle  of  45°,  the 
rounds  or  roosts  2  feet  apart,  the  top  one  being 
7  feet  from  the  floor.  I  noticed  that  the  hen  was 
never  satisfied  unless  she  could  place  herself  on 
the  topmost  round,  this  being  the  height  of  her 
ambition.  In  the  morning,  instead  of  jumping 
to  the  next  roost  below,  and  so  on,  in  order  to 
get  down,  she  would  almost  invariably  jump  the 
whole  7  feet,  hitting  herself  against  the  building, 
or  striking  hard  upon  the  floor.  Some  of  the 
oldest  and  fattest  hens  would  at  times  not  come 
down  all  day,  for  fear  of  hurting  themselves,  and 
occasionally  I  found  eggs  broken,  and  soft  eggs 
under  the  roost  dropt  from  these  fowls.  I  some 
times  took  them  down  from  the  roost  by  hand 
that  they  might  eat,  or  I  believe  they  would  have 
remained  on  the  roost  until  compelled  by  hunger 


to  come  down.  I  accordingly  had  the  roost  al- 
tered, the  top  one  not  over  4  feet  from  the  floor, 
and  the  hens  then  came  down  in  the  morning 
without  diflSculty.  Since  that  time,  I  have  not 
been  troubled  with  diseased  fowls,  or  eggs  brok- 
en under  the  roost. 

Should  a  hen  lay  soft  shelled  eggs,  put  chalk, 
refuse  lime,  pounded  bones  or  shells  within  her 
reach,  and  you  will  have  no  more  of  it. 

I  also  find  another  bad  feature  among  persons 
who  keep  fowls,  which  I  think  brings  on  disease. 
It  is  in  allowing  too  many  cocks  to  run  with  the 
hens.  Many  cocks  are  large  and  heavy,  and  they 
not  only  worry  the  hens  badly,  but  frequently 
break  them  down,  and  cripple  them.  I  have  seen 
them  with  their  spines  so  badly  hurt,  as  to  lose 
the  entire  use  of  their  legs  from  this  cause.  In 
no  case  should  there  be  m.ore  than  one  cock  to 
eight  hens.  I  have  at  this  time  but  one  to  twenty 
hens,  and  I  find  an  increased  supply  of  eggs  in 
consequence  of  it,  but  in  the  breeding  season, 
keep  more.  My  rule  for  some  years  being,  to 
purchase  the  best  cock  I  can  find  in  the  spring, 
never  using  one  raised  by  myself  as  a  breeder, 
and  never  keep  a  hen  over  one,  or  at  most,  two 
winters.  By  adopting  this  plan,  and  giving  them 
plenty,  and  a  variety  to  eat,  with  care  and  clean- 
liness, I  am  never  without  good  poultry,  ana 
plenty  of  eggs,  and  the  case  is  rare  with  a  dis- 
eased hen,  and  a  soft-shelled  egg. 

Canton,  Jan.,  1859.  Low  Roost. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SHAPE  OP  SLEIGH  BUNNERS. 

Nearly  all  our  sleighs  are  made  with  one  de- 
fect. The  hind  part  of  the  runner  should  slant 
upward  to  correspond  to  the  forward  part.  The 
cast  iron  sled  shoes  used  on  the  heavy  Boston 
sleds  are  shaped  right  in  this  respect.  They  are 
alike  at  each  end. 

Whenever  a  sleigh,  whose  runners  are  straight 
clear  out,  goes  over  a  hollow  place  in  the  road, 
the  runner  at  the  extremity  ads  in,  sometimes 
into  the  hardest  road ;  because,  perhaps,  nearly 
the  whole  load  presses  down  upon  an  abrupt  cor- 
ner. Now,  if  the  runner  were  bent  up,  instead 
of  cutting  in,  as  so  often  noticed,  thereby  greatly 
increasing  the  draft,  as  well  as  jarring  unpleas- 
antly the  occupants  of  the  vehicle,  it  would  glide 
smoothly  along,  and  go  through  the  cradle  holes 
without  cutting  them  deeper.  w.  D.  B. 

Concord,  Mass. 


Every  Inch  of  rain  falling  in  the  course  of  a 
year,  is  equal  to  a  weight  of  rather  more  than 
100  tons  of  water  per  each  imperial  acre.  The 
mean  annual  quantity  of  rain  in  Detroit,  is 
28.300  inches  ;  equal  to  nearly  2,900  tons  of  wa- 
ter falling  annually  on  each  acre  of  land.  At 
Dearbornville  Arsenal,  Mich.,  the  mean  annual 
rain  is  only  21.610,  the  smallest  quantity,  or  the 
dryest  place,  given  in  the  Army  Meteorological 
Register,  for  the  whole  United  States.  The  high- 
est mean  or  wettest  place  is  West  Point,  N.  Y., 
where  64.670  inches  of  rain  is  the  annual  mean 
quantity,  equal  to  6,467  tons  of  water  on  each 
acre. — Farmer's  Companion. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


113 


THE  HUBBARD  SQUASH. 


This  squash  is  an  important  acquisition  to  our 
list  of  vegetables,  as  nothing  of  the  kind  ever 
served  upon  our  table  equals  it  in  quality  either 
for  boiling  or  for  pies.  It  has  one  property  not 
mentioned  in  the  extract  which  follows  from  Mr. 
Gregory's  circular,  and  that  is,  that  the  Hub- 
bard squash,  in  the  early  stage  of  its  growth,  is 
far  better  for  boiling  than  any  summer  squash 
we  have  ever  tasted.     Mr.  G.  says : — 

With  the  single  error  of  the  absence  of  a  con- 
cave ring  in  the  stem  where  it  unites  with  the 
squash,  the  engraving  conveys  to  the  eye  all  that 
is  possible  without  the  aid  of  color.  The  color 
of  one  variety  is  a  dark,  dull  green,  about  an  ol- 
ive green,  usually  accompanied  with  lines  of  a 
dirty  white  color,  which  begin  at  the  calyx  and 
extend,  in  the  depressions  of  the  sutures,  about 
two-thirds  the  length  of  the  squash;  that  por-' 
tion  of  the  surface  exposed  to  the  direct  action' 
of  the  sun's  rays  is  often  of  a  brownish  hue.| 
The  other  variety  is  of  a  light  clay  blue  color.  I 
Each  of  the  varieties  have  usually  a  dense,  hard 
shell,  somewhat  thicker  than  a  cent,  and  often 
abounding  with  rough,  knotty  protuberances. 
The  flesh  is  usually  vi'  a  very  deep  orange  color, 
usually  thicker  than  the  Marrow,  and  remarkably 
fine-grained  and  compact  in  its  structure.  In 
quality  this  squash  is  universally  conceded,  as  far 
as  opinions  of  its  merits  have  been  expressed,  to 
rank  at  the  head  of  the  numerous  varieties  of  the 
squash  family  cultivated  in  the  United  States. 
Its  characteristics  are  an  exceeding  dryness  of 
the  grain  from  the  time  of  harvesting  until  the 
middle  or  close  of  November,  after  which  it  be- 
comes less  dry,  but  very  sweet  and  fine-flavored, 
tasting  sometimes  like  a  sweet  potato,  at  others 
like  a  boiled  chestnut.  In  keeping  properties  it 
excels  the  Marrow  and  its  varieties,  keeping  its 


qualities  unimpaired  about  three  months  later 
than  these,  until  late  in  the  spring.  The  true 
measure  of  the  keeping  properties  of  any  variety 
of  squash,  is,  not  how  long  it  will  keep  from  de- 
caying, but  how  long  it  will  preserve  its  good 
qualities.  In  weight  the  Hubbard  averages  the 
same  as  the  pure  Marrow  squash,  though  speci- 
mens have  been  raised  under  circumstances  pe- 
culiarly favorable,  weighing  upwards  of  twenty 
pounds. 

While  making  up  this  account,  we  received  by 
mail  the  following  note  : — 

The  Hubbard  Squash — seeds  of  which  are  now 
furnished  by  J.  J.  H.  Gregory,  of  Marblehead, 
I  have  raised  and  tested  repeatedly,  and  find  it 
superior  to  any  other  variety  I  have  ever  met. 
It  is  as  superior  in  the  quality  of  its  meat,  as  it  is 
inferior  in  its  external  appearance.  The  speci- 
mens I  have  seen,  have  ranged  in  weight,  from 
three  to  eight  pounds,  generally  not  more  than 
six  pounds.  It  is  worth  trying  by  all  who  have  a 
taste  for  the  delicious.  J.  W.  Proctor. 

South  Danvers,  Jan.,  1859. 


A  New  Kind  of  Ape. — Prof.  Owen,  the  cele- 
brated naturalist,  delivered  a  lecture  with  dia- 
grams, on  man-like  apes,  and  described  a  new 
species  recently  discovered  on  the  western  coast 
of  Africa,  named  the  Gorrilla  species,  the  adults 
of  which  attain  the  hight  of  five  feet  five  inches, 
and  are  three  feet  broad  across  the  chest.  Its 
head  is  double  the  size  of  a  man's,  and  its  ex- 
tremities are  enormously  developed.  They  ex- 
isted in  some  numbers  in  the  interminable  for- 
ests of  the  Grambia  river.  The  negroes  of  the 
country,  in  their  excursions  into  the  forest  in 
search  of  ivory,  exhibited  little  fear  of  the  lion . 
as  it  slunk  away  from  man,  but  they  dreaded  the 


114 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


gorrilla,  for  when  he  saw  men  advancing,  he 
came  clown  out  of  the  trees  to  the  attack,  and 
could  strangle  a  man  with  the  greatest  ease.  The 
strength  of  this  man-ape  is  enormous  ;  his  jaw 
is  as  powerful  as  that  of  a  lion,  and  his  canine 
teeth  equally  formidable. 


For  the  New  Enf>land  Farmer. 
HUJSTGAEIAN"  GRASS  SSBD. 

Will  you  please  inform  me  through  your  pa- 
per where  I  can  obtain  some  of  the  Hungarian 
grass  seed  ?  s.  E.  t. 

Warren,  Mass.,  Jan.,  1859. 


Remarks. —  Among  the  new  forage  plants 
■which  from  time  to  time  have  been  introduced 
to  the  farmer,  the  Hungarian  Grass  is  one  which 
has  met  with  much  favor,  and  promises  to  be- 
come one  of  the  staple  grasses  of  New  England. 
We  suppose  it  receives  its  name  from  the  coun- 
try, Hungary,  where  it  is  probably  indigenous, 
and  supports  vast  herds  of  cattle  on  its  fertile 
and  widely  extended  plains.  If  such  be  the  case, 
it  must  be  adapted  to  our  Western  prairies,  and 
become  invaluable  there  both  for  pasture  and 
hay  crops. 

If  this  grass  is  to  prove  a  valuable  acquisition, 
as  we  believe  it  will,  the  pure  seed  ought  to  be 
afforded  to  the  farmer  at  a  fair  profit,  so  that  he 
may  avail  himself  of  it  at  once. 

Side  by  side  with  the  inquiry  of  our  Warren 
correspondent,  we  have  a  little  pamphlet  entitled, 
^^Honey  Blade  Hungarian  Grass  Seed,"  emblaz- 
oned with  the  Coat  of  Arms  of  Hungary,  and 
giving  a  history  of  the  grass,  with  numerous  ex- 
tracts from  newspapers,  by  one  Felix  H.  Benton. 
The  pamphlet  bears  upon  its  title  the  imprint, 
"J.  M.  Emerson  &  Co.,  No.  406  Broadway,  N. 
Y."  Of  all  this  we  make  no  complaint — it  is  one 
of  those  amiable  weaknesses  often  resorted  to, 
to  catch  the  popular  eye  and  ear.  But  when  we 
come  to  the  git  of  the  thing,  the  point  that  is  to 
draw  upon  the  pocket  of  the  purchaser,  we  find  a 
duty  resting  upon  us  which  we  embrace  the  ear- 
liest opportunity  to  discharge.  The  pamphlet 
before  us  reads  thus  : — 

It  will  be  put  up  in  uniform  bags  of  about 
sixteen  pounds  each,  the  amount  in  each  bag  be- 
ing sufficient  to  seed  an  acre. 

The  prices  will  be  as  follows : — 

One  bag  for  one  acre $3.00 

Club  for  eleven  bags 25,00 

Now  we  beg  leave  to  say  to  our  friends  that 
the  pure  Hungarian  Grass  Seed  will  be  for  sale 
in  this  city,  at  the  Agricultural  Warehouse  of 
Nourse,  Mason  &f  Co.,  Quincy  Hall,  or  oi  2^ourse 
&  Co.,  34  Merchants  Row,  for  $4,00  per  bushel 
at  retail,  and  $3,00  in  large  quantities,  thus  sav- 
ing about  the  sum  of  $5,00  on  each  bushel  pur- 
chased, for  it  takes,  as  we  learn,  three  bags  of 
about  sixteen  pounds  each,  to  make  a  bushel  I 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
A  COMPAKATIVE  STATEMENT 
Of  the  Pkoduct  and  Value  of  Milk  and  Buttek. 
BY   GEORGE   S.   BOUTWELL. 

I  commenced  saving  milk  for  butter  on  the  10th 
of  May  last,  and  continued  until  October  1st. 
The  milk  was  weighed  once  a  week,  and  twenty 
pounds  were  considered  equal  to  one  can  of  eight 
quarts.  The  milk  would  have  sold  for  eighteen 
cents  a  can,  and  the  butter  was  sold  for  twenty- 
four  cents  a  pound.  I  give  the  result  of  each 
month's  operations : 

MILK. 

May,  163  cars $29,34 

.June,  2411  cans 43,47 

July,  188i  cans 33,93 

Aug.,21U  cans 38,07 

Sept.,  202'^  cans 36,45 


Cost  of  making  914J  lbs. 

butter  at  6^0 $50,28 

$231,54 


BUTTER. 

177Jlbs $42,60 

201.Ub3 48,36 

166.1  lbs 40.02 

193}  lbs 46,50 

1743  lbs 41,94 

$219,42 
Value  of  residue  of  1007 

cans  at  8c $80,56 

$299,98 
231,54 


Difference  in  favor  of  butter $68,44 

It  is  thus  seen  that  during  the  entire  season  22 
pounds  of  milk  produced  a  pound  of  butter  ;  but 
in  the  month  of  May  only  18.3  pounds  were  re- 
quired. 

Groton,  January  10,  1859. 


HENS  LAYING  ALL  THE  YEAB. 

Some  people  think  that  if  they  keep  their  hens 
warm  in  the  winter,  that  they  will  lay  eggs  freely 
all  the  year,  but  that  is  a  mistake,  as  fowls  can 
be  made  to  lay  but  about  10  dozen  eggs  each  in 
the  year,  if  ever  so  great  pains  are  taken  Avith 
them  in  the  winter  ;  and  when  they  lay  a  good 
deal  in  the  winter  they  lay  enough  less  in  the 
spring,  so  that  not  over  the  average  of  10  dozen 
eggs  are  obtained  usually.  The  Prairie  Farmer 
has  the  following  statement,  which  leads  one  to 
infer  that  his  hens  may  be  made  to  lay  100  or 
300  eggs  in  a  year — according  to  the  manage- 
ment of  them.  Still  the  better  treatment  spoken 
of  is  advisable,  as  more  eggs  will  be  laid  in  the 
winter,  by  adopting  it,  when  they  command  a 
better  price,  but  it  will  be  at  the  expense  of  the 
regular  spring  laying  : 

Treatment  of  Hens. — Two  flocks  of  hens 
were  compared.  One  laid  eggs  almost  all  the 
time  ;  the  other  laid  scarcely  any.  On  examining 
their  treatment,  the  following  differences  were 
found  to  exist :  the  former  had  a  warm  cellar  to 
roost  in  during  the  winter;  the  latter  roosted  in 
a  stable  where  the  wind  blew  in.  The  former 
had  a  fine  place  in  an  open  cellar  for  scratching 
among  ashes,  lime,  and  earth  ;  the  latter  scratched 
in  the  manure  heap,  or  in  the  stable  when  the 
cows  were  put  out.  The  forner  had  plenty  of 
of  good  water,  with  milk,  &:c.,  the  others  had  no 
drink  except  what  they  could  find. — Pairal  Amer- 
ican. 

Large  Hogs. — Mr.  Benjamin  Derby,  of  this 
town,  has  slaughtered  this  week  two  hogs  which 
weighed  thirteen  hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds. 
The  weight  of  the  larger  was  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  pounds.  W.  D.  B. 

Concord,  Mass.,  Jan.  7,  1859. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


115 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
COKN  AND  CORN  STALKS. 

Among  my  earliest  recollections  of  the  corn 
crop  is  seeingthe  then  universal  practice  pursued 
of  cutting  the  stalks.  This  was  generally  done 
early  in  September.  They  were  bound  and  stooked 
the  same  day,  and  in  two  or  three  weeks,  as  the  con- 
■venience  of  the  farmer  directed,  they  were  housed 
for  winter  fodder.  It  was  an  animating  sight, 
to  see  the  ripe  and  ripening  corn  crops,  the  husks 
falling  from  the  long  golden  ears,  reflective  of 
rich  maturity  as  the  sunbeams  fell  upon  them. 
But  innovation  was  in  due  time  to  spoil  these 
beautiful  features  in  the  autumnal  landscape. 
Somebody  tried  the  experiment  in  a  cold  season 
of  cutting  up  corn  when  half  matured  and  stack- 
ing it  an  indefinite  period.  Circumstances  favored 
the  experiment.  Perhaps  an  early  frost  cut  off 
the  standing  corn  and  prevented  its  attaining  the 
same  degree  of  maturity  with  that  which  was  cut 
up.  At  any  rate,  the  thing  took,  and  for  a  few 
years  every  farmer,  nearly,  adopted  the  practice 
of  cutting  up  his  corn  early,  to  ripen  in  stacks. 
]?or  a  year  or  two,  I  was  among  the  popular 
number  that  adopted  this  course,  but  my  experi- 
ence was  so  bitter  that  the  "old  fogy"  arose  with- 
in me,  and  I  returned  to  the  old  way,  which  I 
have  persistently  followed. 

The  objections  that  I  found  to  the  "new  way," 
were  that  it  made  a  heavy  work  of  harvesting  ; 
that  in  order  to  have  the  corn  get  sufficiently  dry 
for  husking  and  housing,  a  length  of  time  was 
required  that  materially  injured  the  stalks  for 
fodder,  and,  what  was  worse  than  all,  the  corn 
was  not  so  bright  and  heavy,  while  the  good, 
rich,  old-fashioned  golden  puddings  were  out  of 
question.  There  was  not  the  life  or  nutriment 
in  the  meal,  I  find  in  that  where  the  grain  ripens 
"the  natural  way."  Such  were  my  impressions, 
at  least,  and  in  order  to  convince  myself  whether 
it  was  a  whim,  1  inquired  of  several  millers,  of 
the  relative  value  of  corn  harvested  in  the  two 
ways,  and  found  them  unanimous  in  declaring  in 
favor  of  grain  ripened  on  the  hills. 

Farmers,  too,  are  beginning  to  see  the  diff"er- 
ence  as  every  year's  observations  go  to  show, 
■while  some  who  still  cut  up  their  corn  admit  the 
inferiority  of  their  mode  of  harvesting,  but  plead 
the  saving  of  labor  at  the  cost  of  the  ultimite 
value  of  the  crop.  Then  others  have  taken  the 
other  extreme,  and  question  the  propriety  of  dis- 
turbing the  stalks  at  all  until  the  crop  has  ri- 
pened. After  the  pollen  has  fallen  fiom  the  tas- 
sels, one  service  of  the  stalk  is  performed.  Yet 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  the  stalk  and  leaves 
above  the  ear  are  of  service  in  elaborating  sap, 
and  in  absorptions  from  the  atmosphere  long  af- 
ter the  foUen  has  ceased  to  fall,  and  when  the 
tassel  is  becoming  dry,  and  the  greater  the 
amount  of  elaborated  sap  that  is  thrown  into  the 
ear,  the  more  rapidly  it  will  mature,  and  the  more 
perfect  its  maturity.  But  when  the  leaves  begin 
to  dry  upon  their  edges,  and  exhibit  around  the 
border  a  torn  appearance,  it  matters  but  little 
how  soon  the  stalks  are  taken  off,  which  should 
always  be  done  in  fin-  weather,  and  they  put  in 
a  condition  to  hay  as  fast  as  possible.  A  few  fine 
days  will  hay  them  thoroughly,  and  if  they  are 
well  secured,  all  kinds  of  stock  will  thrive  upon 
them. 


After  the  tops  reach  the  condition  above  allud- 
ed to,  and  are  taken  oft",  the  point  of  sepai-ation 
soon  dries  over,  so  as  to  prevent  the  evaporation 
of  sap  through  the  wound,  and  it  is  turned  into 
the  ear  to  give  the  kernel  maturity,  while  an  in- 
creased exposure  to  the  sun  urges  forward  the 
ripening  of  the  grain,  which,  matured  in  this  way, 
unless  the  stalk  falls  to  let  it  on  the  ground, 
will  long  remain  uninjured  by  storms. 

Then  the  amount  of  fodder  saved  by  cutting 
up  the  butts  at  harvesting  v.'ith  the  stalks  already 
properly  secured,  will  not  lose  in  comparison  of 
the  fodder  saved  by  cutting  up  the  whole  at  once. 
Stock  will  do  well  on  the  leaves  of  the  butts  if 
fed  to  them  in  early  winter,  to  the  exclusion  of 
other  fodder,  which  may,  probably,  if  given  out, 
create  a  distaste  for  them  ;  for  animals,  like  men, 
will  leave  the  less  v.duable  food  for  the  best 
when  both  are  set  before  them. 

The  idea  of  raising  corn,  is,  first  for  the  crop 
of  grain,  the  fodder  coming  in  as  an  extra.  Then, 
the  next  thing  is  to  get  the  largest  amount  of 
sound,  bright  corn.  This,  in  my  experience,  is 
gained  by  cutting  the  stalks  as  soon  as  they  be- 
gin to  show  full  maturity.  If  corn  stalk  fodder 
is  the  thing  sought,  the  better  way  is,  to  sow 
broadcast,  and  harvest  when  the  stalks  have  at- 
tained their  growth.  W.  Bacon. 

Bichmond,  Jan.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
WHEN  AND  HOW  TO  USB  MANURES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Being  a  reader  of  the  N'.  E. 
Farmer  (monthly,)  I  notice  that  there  are  various 
theories  about  the  use  of  green  vianures,  especial- 
ly that  taken  out  of  "barn  cellars."  More  par- 
ticularly a  communication  from  A.  Ward,  in  the 
December  number  of  1858,  and  one  from  R. 
Maxsfield,  in  the  January  number  of  1859.  Mr. 
W.  seems  to  be  at  a  loss  how  to  apply  his  ma- 
nure, and  Mr.  M.  seems  to  suggest  the  idea  that 
the  south  side  of,  and  under  the  eaves  of  the  barn, 
is  the  most  suitable  place  for  manure  to  be  kept, 
and  as  my  experience  and  practice  is  rather  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  Mr.  M.,  I  venture  to  give  my 
experience  in  corn  raising  for  the  last  three  years. 

Four  years  ago  a  cellar  was  made  under  my 
barn  8  feet  deep,  for  a  shed  for  cattle  and  deposit 
for  manure,  the  cattle  being  kept  in  the  stable 
above,  the  manure  falling  directly  underneath, 
and  thus  receiving  the  urine  of  the  cattle.  I  cut 
all  kinds  of  fodder  except  haj',  and  what  is  left, 
if  any,  is  used  for  litter ;  thus  my  manure  in  the 
spring  is  ail  fine,  and  I  am  not  troubled  with  what 
is  called  "long  manure." 

My  practice  has  been,  generally,  to  break  up 
my  green  sward,  which  is  a  sandy  loam  from  8 
to  10  inches  deep,  late  in  the  fall;  in  the  spring 
roll  my  ground,  cart  out  my  manure  in  its  green 
and  crude  state,  from  15  to  18  cords  to  the  acre. 
Spread  upon  the  ground  and  immediately  give  it 
a  thorough  harrowing,  or  cultivating  so  as  to 
thoroughly  mix  the  manure  with  the  soil ;  then, 
just  before  planting,  plow  the  ground  from  3  to 
5  inches,  and  harrow  again.  For  the  last  three 
years  I  have  raised  from  GO  to  70  bushels  of  corn 
per  acre.  My  success  I  attribute  to  the  strength 
and  thorough  mixture  of  the  manure  with  the  soil 
I     All   the  manure  from  my  cattle,  horses   and 


116 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


hogs,  is  kept  under  cover  until  carted  out  in  the 
spring,  and  as  long  as  my  crops  of  corn,  oats, 
potatoes  and  hay  are  about  double  what  they 
used  to  be  under  the  old  system  of  having  the 
manure  scattered  about  the  yard,  and  the  heaps 
at  the  windows  "under  the  eaves  on  the  south 
side  of  the  barn,"  I  think  I  shall  continue  the 
practice  of  keeping  it  from  sun  and  rains  until 
wanted  for  use,  or  until  I  am  convinced  that  I 
am  in  an  error.  W.  C.  White. 

Barre,  Vt.,  Jan.  9,  1859. 

Remarks. — Statements  of  such  practical  oper- 
ations as  the  above  are  valuable,  and  will  help 
to  settle  the  question  under  discussion.  We 
shall  be  glad  to  have  Mr.  WHITE  still  further 
aid  us  in  settling  it. 


THE  OLD  MASSACHUSETTS  SOCIETY. 

The  Transactions  of  the  Massachusetts  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Agriculture  have  been  laid 
on  our  table. 

This  time-honored  Society  has  now  been  stead- 
ily and  diligently  pursuing  the  #>ject  for  which 
it  w-as  established,  for  sixty-six  years.  Associated 
in  its  labors,  have  been  from  the  beginning,  some 
of  the  most  talented,  philanthropic  and  patriotic 
men  in  our  Commonwealth.  This  society  is  be- 
lieved to  be  the  third  in  order  of  time,  formed, 
established  and  endorsed,  (in  any  part  of  the 
•world)  to  promote  the  cause  of  agriculture,  and 
has  never  lost  sight  of  its  object.  It  has  been 
chiefly  sustained,  and  its  funds  furnished  by  the 
"merchant  princes  and  solid  men"  of  Boston, 
•who  have  been  as  fully  awake  to  the  importance 
of  agriculture  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Common- 
wealth, as  any  other  class  of  its  citizens.  They 
were  the  first  to  take  into  consideration  the  low 
state  of  agriculture  in  the  State,  and  to  associ- 
ate themselves  and  procure  from  the  Legislature 
an  act  of  incorporation  for  its  promotion.  They 
have  held  monthly  meetings  and  devoted  unstint- 
ed labor  to  the  object.  They  have  initiated  a 
large  proportion  of  the  improvements  and  insti- 
tutions to  which  the  State  is  now  indebted  for 
the  advanced  condition  of  its  agriculture.  We 
will  now  enumerate  a  few  of  them. 

In  1801,  Fairs  for  the  sale  of  stock  were  pro- 
posed by  them,  ■which  were  the  origin  of  the 
present  fairs  held  at  Cambridge  and  Brighton. 

In  1802,  Merino  sheep  were  introduced  into 
the  State,  under  their  auspices. 

In  180-1,  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Cambridge 
owned  its  establishment  to  their  efforts,  and  was 
sustained  in  part  by  their  funds  for  several  years. 

In  1808,  they  offered  $1000  in  premiums  for 
■various  agricultural  and  mechanical  improve- 
ments. 

In  1809,  they  imported  a  plow,  which,  with 
the  premiums  they  subsequently  oflfered,  awak- 


ened an  interest  in  the  improvement  of  this  the 
most  important  implement  in  agriculture. 

In  1813,  an  agricultural  journal  was  issued 
under  their  supervision,  which  was  continued  sev- 
eral years,  and  contained  a  large  number  of  val- 
uable papers,  and  was  not  discontinued  till  agri- 
cultural newspapers  were  ready  to  supply  its 
place. 

In  1814,  they  gave  the  first  premium  to  a  straw- 
cutter  and  threshing-machine. 

In  1816,  the  Society  held  its  first  Cattle  Show 
at  Brighton.  In  the  same  year  they  gave  vari- 
ous premiums  for  agricultural  machines,  and  im- 
ported two  Alderney  bulls  and  two  cows. 

In  1817,  they  established  the  first  plowing- 
match  ever  held  in  the  State,  and  which  led  to 
their  establishment  throughout  the  State. 

In  1819,  they  imported  wheat  and  turnip  seed 
from  France  and  millet  from  Russia. 

In  1821,  they  offered  $2000  in  premiums  for 
stock,  farms,  farm  products  and  implements. 

In  1823,  they  offered  large  premiums  for  farms, 
and  introduced  the  mangold-wurtzel  and  ruta- 
baga. 

In  1824,  they  procured  a  Hereford  bull  and 
heifer. 

In  1825,  a  Yorkshire  stallion  and  mare. 

In  1835,  they  imported  at  large  expense,  an 
Ayrshire  bull  and  three  cows. 

In  1845,  they  imported  specimens  of  Devon 
stock. 

In  1850,  they  imported  more  Alderney  stock. 

For  the  present  year  they  have  offered  $1000 
for  the  best  plantation  of  forest  trees  suitable 
for  ship  timber,  of  five  acres,  and  $500  for  the 
best  conducted  farm. 

During  this  long  period,  they  have  aided  by 
their  funds  and  influence  the  several  county  so- 
cieties, all  w^hich  may  be  considered  the  legiti- 
mate oflfspring  of  this  venerable  parent.  The  Mid- 
dlesex Society,  the  oldest  of  the  flourishing  fami- 
ly, owes  its  origin  to  a  circular  addressed  to  sever- 
al gentlemen  in  the  interior  of  that  county  by  this 
Society,  and  the  rest  have  been  born  in  regular 
succession.  Since  the  county  societies  have  es- 
tablished annual  fairs  all  over  the  State,  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Society  has  ceased  its  annual  exhibi- 
tions, and  approi^riated  its  funds  to  the  difl"usion 
of  information,  the  importation  of  stock  and 
other  measures  designed  to  promote  agriculture 
throughout  the  State,  and  especially  such  mea- 
sures as  would  not  be  likely  to  be  undertaken 
by  the  county  societies.  Its  action  for  the  few 
years  last  past  has  not  brought  its  officers  so  di- 
rectly into  personal  contact  with  the  farming  pop- 
ulation of  the  State,  as  formerly.  As  its  move- 
ments occupy  a  smaller  space  in  public,  and  make 
less  show  and  parade,  some  have  been  led  to  in- 
fer that  it  is  falling  into  its  dotage.     But  '«'e  are 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


117 


not  at  all  disposed  to  make  this  inference.  It 
is  aiding  the  good  cause,  by  means,  which,  though 
quiet  and  unostentatious,  are  yet  powerful,  and 
■will  be  felt  for  good,  long  after  the  more  noisy 
displays  of  those  who  are  good  farmers  period- 
ically, have  been  forgotten. 

The  present  volume  is  highly  creditable  to  the 
Recording  Secretary,  and  suggests  the  value  and 
interest  of  a  more  extended  selection  from  the 
records  of  the  Society.  A  history  of  the  agri- 
culture of  the  State  would  show  who  have  ever 
been  the  true  friends  of  the  farmer,  and  if  pre- 
pared as  it  would  be  by  the  Secretary,  would  be 
a  noble  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  noble 
men  who  founded  this  Societj'. 

A  brief  statement  of  what  the  Society  Jias  done, 
scattered  among  the  people,  would  not  only  be  a 
matter  of  justice  to  the  Society  itself,  but  would 
correct  that  spirit  of  complaint  which  has  been 
manifested  within  two  or  three  years  past.  Those 
who  conduct  its  affairs  are  men  of  the  world,  of 
integrity,  and  of  sound  judgment,  and  are  un- 
questionably desirous  of  promoting  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  the  State  in  every  way,  so  far 
as  their  personal  labors  and  the  funds  placed  in 
their  control  will  permit. 

For  our  part,  the  Society  has  our  respect  and 
gratitude,  and  we  wish  it  a  long  life  of  useful- 
ness and  high  character,  such  as  it  has  always 
sustained. 

We  were  honored  with  an  election  to  this  So- 
ciety several  years  ago,  but  have  never  attended 
any  of  its  meetings,  or  known  of  one  having  ta- 
ken place.  While  there  is  probably  no  rule  of 
exclusion  to  any,  we  cannot  doubt  but  its  affairs 
are  better  managed  by  a  few  than  they  would  be 
by  a  large  number.  It  has  done  well  in  the  past, 
and  we  have  entire  confidence  in  it  for  the  fu- 
ture. 

I^'or  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  GOVBENOR'S  NOTIONS  OF  AGBI- 
CULTURE. 

Very  properly,  (as  I  think.)  does  the  Governor 
place  the  interests  of  agriculture  in  the  front 
rank  in  his  message,  not  to  be  cut  down  by  the 
enemy,  but  to  be  greeted  by  friends  ;  for  credit 
is  given  to  the  exertions  of  those  who  have  so 
disinterestedly  and  effectively  sustained  our  ag- 
ricultural associations.  All  praise  be  to  him,  who 
by  precept  and  example  does  justice  to  the  in- 
dustrious tiller  of  the  soil,  by  whose  efforts  (next 
to  the  smiles  of  Heaven,)  we  "live,  move  and 
have  our  being."  No  complaint  is  made  of  the 
annual  appropriation  of  $12,000  for  the  sustain- 
ing of  these  institutions — a  mere  pittance  com- 
pared with  the  benefits  to  accrue. 

His  Excellency  appears  to  have  a  just  sense  of 
the  irregularities,  in  the  present  distribution  of 
this  bounty,  but  doubts  whether  the  present  or- 
ganizations should  be  disturbed,  at  the  same 
time  clearly  indicating  that  these    inequalities 


should  not  be  increased.  What  he  means  in 
speaking  of  town  societies  is  not  readily  seen ; 
but  I  presume  he  would  not  recommend  an  ap- 
propriation by  the  State,  for  the  support  of 
such  societies.  That  they  can  be  advantageously 
organized,  we  have  no  doubt ;  that  they  may  be 
made  useful  auxiliaries  to  county  societies,  I  be- 
lieve is  equally  clear ;  but  that  it  is  not  expedi- 
ent to  increase  the  number  of  societies  (favored 
by  bounty)  beyond  the  number  of  counties,  has 
ever  been  my  deliberate  opinion.  Essex. 

Ja7i.  12,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

FLOWAGE  OF  Lfl.ND  ON  CONCORD 
RIVER. 

The  injuries  sustained  by  meadow-owners  on 
Concord  River  and  its  tributaries,  together  with 
the  gross  outrages  perpetrated  on  them  under 
forms  of  law  in  seeking  redress,  is  a  subject  once 
more  before  the  public  mind.  The  report  of  the 
mass  meeting  of  meadow-owners  in  Concord,  De- 
cember 27th,  in  the  Boston  Journal,  also  copied  in 
the  Farmer,  presents  something  of  a  view  of  the 
nature  of  the  case. 

These  meadow-owners  have  too  patiently  born 
their  wrongs,  as  honest  farmers  not  accustomed 
to  litigation,  and  allowed  one  or  two  individuals 
to  pursue  the  subject  alone.  But  their  growing 
injuries  are  awakening  them  to  the  necessity  of 
action,  and  they  are  now  banding  together  for  a 
thorough  investigation  in  view  of  an  ultimate 
remedy.  It  is  not  a  question  of  trifling  moment. 
Not  even  an  uninterested  mind  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  facts  can  call  it  such.  It  has  sufficient  lo- 
cal interest  to  entitle  it  to  public  consideration, 
regardless  of  the  general  principles  involved,  and 
the  welfare  of  a  large  community.  It  is  even 
connected  with  matters  concerning  every  inhab- 
itant of  the  State.  Thousands  of  acres,  much  of 
which  is  more  valuable  than  upland,  rendered 
worthless  to  swell  the  coffers  of  a  very  few.  This 
meadow  land,  owned  by  farmers,  from  five  to 
thirty  and  forty  acres  each,  is  the  main  depen- 
dence of  their  profit  in  farming.  It  demands  no 
expenses  for  cultivating  or  fertilizing,  but  yields 
its  annual  crop  with  only  the  cost  of  harvesting. 
And  farmers  have  depended  on  it  for  their  win- 
ter's supply  of  hay;  its  loss  subjecting  them  to 
the  necessity  of  buying  hay,  or  keeping  a  less 
number  of  cattle ;  either  of  which  methods  de- 
tracts from  their  income. 

But  aside  from  pecuniary  loss  to  farmers  thus 
interested,  another  important  and  more  general 
view  of  the  subject  regards  it  as  the  cause  of  de- 
terioration of  health.  The  miasma  from  stand- 
ing water  on  the  meadows,  and  the  decomposi- 
tion of  so  much  vegetable  matter,  is  a  fruitfu. 
source  of  disease.  It  has  been  given  to  the 
world  as  grave  advice,  and  I  think  through  the 
Farmer,  not  to  suffer  vpgetable  matter  to  lie 
about,  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  to  absorb  its 
noxious  qualities,  because  injurious  to  health. 
But  if  this  advice  should  be  deemed  necessary  on 
account  of  a  few  small  quantities,  how  much 
more  so  when  the  air  is  tainted  by  thousands  of 
tons  of  decaying  matter  lying  on  the  banks  of  a 
river  for  miles,  with  dwellings  within  a  short 
distance. 

But  it  is  argued  by  some  in  opposition  that 


118 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


those  situations  on  the  plains  near  the  river  are 
healthiest.  This  may  be  a  fact ;  but  it  determines 
nothing  against  the  principle.  If  they  are  health- 
iest, it  is  because  the  miasma  rising  into  the  air 
passes  over  the  plains.  But  somebody  gets  it — 
those  v.'ho  live  on  the  hills  and  highlands.  Fogs 
will  be  seen  settling  on  the  hills.  This  may  be 
the  reason  why  some  situations  on  the  hills  are 
so  unhealthy,  as  some  in  this  town  are  more  so 
than  other  places  ;  and  thus  by  the  miasma  rising 
higher  into  the  air,  the  injurious  effects  are  more 
widely  spread.  For  even  a  light  wind,  moving 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles  an  hour, 
will  carry  the  noxious  effluvia  over  a  broad  ex- 
tent of  territory.  Therefore  the  question  is  not 
altogether  local,  but  concerns  the  inhabitants  of 
distant  parts  of  the  State.  The  flowage  of  so 
much  land  in  various  parts  of  New  England  may 
be  one  cause  of  a  decrease  of  health  ;  for  few 
things  are  more  injurious  than  impure  air — 
whether  in  doors  or  out. 

Then,  as  flowage  of  land,  not  only  in  this  case, 
but  in  others,  is  for  the  advantage  of  a  few  indi- 
viduals to  the  injury  of  many,  is  it  not  the  duty 
of  every  advocate  of  equality  of  rights  to  define 
the  privileges  of  all  according  to  strict  justice  ? 
Will  future  legislators  show  the  blindness  of 
their  predecessors  to  common  rights  and  privi- 
leges, by  further  enactments,  or  remain  silent 
regarding  the  present,  favoring  incorporated 
companies  at  the  expense  of  general  loss  ?  Can 
an  individual  man,  without  money  and  without 
influence,  boast  of  an  independent  government 
and  equality  of  rights,  if  money  and  influence  are 
weights  in  the  scale  of  justice  ? 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  agitation  of  this 
question  will  not  cease,  until  justice  shall  have 
asserted  its  power  in  determining  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  incorporated  companies,  and  in  sus- 
taining the  common  rights  of  all. 

L.  H.  Sherman. 

Wat/land,  Mass.,  Jan.,  1859. 


For  the  equestrian  spirit  manifested  by  this 
society  I  cannot  say  as  much.  Premiums  for 
horsQS,  in  every  possible  form,  and  twice  as  much 
as  for  neat  stock,  are  still  proposed.  This  seems 
to  indicate,  a  sort  of  bravado  interest,  as  much 
as  to  say,  we  know  what  we  are  about,  and  will 
do  as  we  please,  let  others  say  what  they  may 
against  it.  I  do  not  run  to  horse,  so  much  as  do 
our  fri'-nds  at  Plymouth,  at  Springfield,  and  at 
Worcester,  and  I  think  the  time  will  come,  when 
they  will  see  the  error  of  their  ways.  If  they  do 
not,  I  think  their  practices  will  be  a  great  dam- 
per upon  healthy  agricultural  improvement  in 
the  Commonwealth.  Essex. 

January,  1859. 


For  the  Aeto  England  Farmer. 

AGRICULTUBAL  TKAWSACTIOJSTS  AT 
PLYMOUTH  COUNTY. 

I  always  look  at  these  with  great  interest,  know- 
ing the  wisdom  and  experience  that  has  directed 
them.  I  was  particularly  pleased  to  see  in  the 
publication  for  1850,  a  compendious  digest  of 
the  mode  of  growing  Indian  corn,  in  that  region 
by  r  gentleman  who  has  probably  given  more  at- 
tention to  this  matter  ihan  any  other  in  the 
State.  On  looking  it  over,  I  do  not  find  any  es- 
sential difference  in  his  rules,  from  what  I  had 
been  taught  from  my  youth.  He  would  have 
the  ground  plowed  six  or  seven  inches  deep,  and 
dressed  with  about  eight  cords  of  manure  to  the 
acre.  He  would  have  the  seed  selected  in  the 
field — well-formed  ears,  that  ripen  the  earliest ; 
hills  about  three  feet  apart,  and  four  stalks,  the 
most  vigorous,  ultimately  left  in  the  hill.  These 
will  give  a  sufficiency  of  stalks  to  yield  an  abun- 
dant harvest — say  eighty  bushels  to  the  acre. 
More  than  this  may  not  be  expected,  without 
extra  hoeing  and  manuring.  For  the  manures 
about  our  barns  and  pig-sties  he  gives  a  prefer- 
ence, not  rejecting  entirely  the  new-fangled  pre- 
parations, far-fetched  and  dear-bought.  Such 
sound  advice  as  this  I  respect,  wherever  found. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ROOT  CHOPS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — As  I  am  the  only  one  of  your 
correspondents,  who  does  not  think  much  of  tur- 
nips as  a  crop  to  raise  for  stock  and  hogs,  you 
will  allow  me  to  be  heard  oftener  than  you  would 
if  others  took  the  same  side.  Your  correspond- 
ents give  me  all  sorts  of  advice,  and  recommend 
turnips  for  all  kinds  of  stock.  Gentlemen,  I  am 
much  obliged  to  you,  but  I  have  tried  chem  to 
my  entire  satisfaction,  and  reject  them. 

They  raise  them  much  cheaper  than  I  ever  did, 
but  even  at  their  tables  of  cost,  I  do  not  Avish 
to  buy.  I  would  like  to  see  a  statement  of  the 
exact  cost  of  raising  a  field,  from  the  time  the 
ground  was  plowed  in  the  spring,  till  the  last 
bushel  was  fed  out,  either  in  hours  or  dollars,  not 
estimated,  but  kept  from  day  to  day.  Your  cor- 
respondent, Mr.  Bassett,  gives  his  statement,  but 
I  presume  he  will  not  say  that  $7  was  the  exact 
cost  of  raising  his  103  bushels  of  turnips,  but 
only  the  estimated  cost,  in  his  opinion. 

He  took  sixteen  rods,  or  one-tenth  of  an  acre, 
and  calls  the  manure  81,00.  I  do  not  know  the 
worth  of  manure  with  him,  but  here  at  85  a 
cord,  and  to  those  who  buy  it  costs  more,  it  would 
be  about  one-half  an  ox-cart  full,  or  allowing 
that  but  half  the  goodness  of  the  manure  was 
spent,  one  cart  full,  or  ten  loads  to  the  acre.  To 
use  his  own  language,  "Would  any  sane  man  ven- 
ture to  put  ten  loads  of  manure  to  an  acre  of 
land  for  a  root  crop  ?" 

He  recommends  me  to  read  a  communication 
signed  "The  Desponding  Farmer."  I  do  not 
think  that  v/ould  apply  to  me,  as  I  both  like 
farming,  and  think  I  find  it  profitable.  I  love 
the  farm,  the  stock,  the  barn,  the  produce,  and 
all  that  a  good  farm  produces.  I  have  had  quite 
a  number  of  farms  thrown  upon  my  hands,  as 
guardian,  executor  and  administrator,  and  in  ev- 
ery instance,  I  have  been  able  to  show  an  income 
in  dollars  and  cents,  more  than  the  interest  of 
what  the  farm  brought,  over  and  above  the  carry- 
ing on,  taxes,  &c.,  and  that  without  cutting  wood 
or  timber. 

I  agree  with  Mr.  Bassett  that  the  hog,  proper- 
ly cared  for,  is  a  very  important  consideration 
with  regard  to  the  corn  crop,  and  all  other  crops. 
I  believe  that  a  hog,  well  cared  for,  will  make 
extra  corn  on  an  acre  enough  to  fat  him. 

But  his  last  conclusion  I  do  not  believe  in  : — 
"That  no  turnips,  no  hogs."  I  have  thirty  of 
the  hog  kind,  large  and  small,  and  I  do  not  find 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


119 


the  least  difficulty  in  making  them  grow  without 
turnips  or  milk.  I  have  killed  three  within  a  few 
weeks,  from  twelve  to  fifteen  months  old,  that 
averaged  over  350  pounds  each,  and  I  do  not 
think  they  ever  tasted  milk,  except  from  their 
mother,  or  turnips,  and  yet  they  cost  me  eight 
cents  a  pound.  I  admit  that  hogs,  and  all  other 
stock,  will  do  better  on  a  variety  of  foad.  I  use 
corn,  rye,  shorts,  rice-meal,  and  such  refuse  po- 
tatoes, apples  and  other  stuff  I  have,  that  will  not 
sell  or  do  to  use  in  the  family. 

We  have  as  good  a  set  of  farmers  in  Hollis 
as  you  can  find  in  the  State.  They  have  drawn 
premiums  for  their  farms,  their  nurseries,  their 
crops,  their  teams,  almost  always  where  they  have 
tried.  They  have  almost  all  of  them  tried  roots, 
and  after  a  few  years  given  them,  up,  and  I  ven- 
ture to  say,  that  the  gentleman  that  raised  2500 
bushels  this  year  will  not  raise  2500  bushels  a 
year  ten  years  from  this  time,  or  in  1868. 

Our  late  townsman,  William  P.  Saunderson, 
Esq.,  was  as  good  a  farmer  as  there  was  in  the 
State,  and  for  the  last  fifteen  years  has  been  in 
the  milk  business,  where  roots  will  tell,  if  any 
wnere.  He  went  into  the  root  crops  largely, 
raising  English  turnips,  ruta  bagas,  sugar  beets, 
carrots,  &c. ;  but  after  a  careful  trial  of  at  least 
twelve  years,  he  gave  them  all  up.  In  apprais- 
ing his  estate,  last  week,  not  three  bushels  of 
roots,  potatoes  excepted,  of  all  kinds,  were  found 
in  his  cellars.  He  has  taken  premiums  for  his 
farm,  his  nursery,  and  various  kinds  of  produce, 
yet  he  gave  up  the  root  culture,  and  spent  his  la- 
bor, his  manure  and  his  best  land  to  increase  his 
corn,  oats,  wheat,  apple  and  hay  crops. 

I  do  not  believe  that  it  will  pay  to  boil  potatoes, 
turnips,  apples  or  any  of  the  roots  for  stock  or 
hogs,  when  wood  is  worth  $4  or  So  per  cord  ;  but 
■when  it  is  not  more  than  $1  or  $2  a  cord  it  may 
do.  Nor  will  it  do  to  compare  our  farming,  where 
labor  is  so  high,  with  the  farming  of  England, 
Ireland  or  Scotland,  where  labor  costs  compara- 
tively nothing,  and  where  they  cannot  raise  corn. 
If  they  could  raise  from  30  to  100  bushels  of  corn, 
in  England,  to  the  acre,  you  would  not  hear  much 
of  their  turnip  crop.  People  should  raise  what 
their  climate  is  best  calculated  to  raise  to  profit, 
as  their  great  crops. 

One  man  tells  me  he  kept  some  young  cattle 
through,  on  corn  fodder,  straw  and  turnips,  and 
they  came  out  well.  I  have  kept  my  young  cat- 
tle "through,  on  corn  fodder  and  meadow  hay,  for 
years,  without  the  turnips,  and  they  came  out 
well.  I  prefer  to  use  a  part  corn  fodder  for  my 
oxen  and  cows,  to  all  English  hay,  and  they  do 
better  on  it,  and  the  cows  give  more  milk. 

Eollis,  Dec.  25,  1858.  E.  Emerson. 


comparatively  in  minute  quantities,  on  some  soils, 
produce  a  remarkable  effect,  on  other  soils  but 
little. 

While  one  substance,  applied  alone,  produces 
little  or  no  eff'ect,  a  mixture  of  two  or  more  may 
give  rise  to  striking  differences. 

Phosphoric  acid,  lime,  and  some  form  of  or- 
ganic matter,  are  essential  constituents  of  such 
a  mixture  as  shall  everywhere  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances produce  a  marked,  beneficial  effect 
on  old,  worn-out  land. 

Sulphuric  acid  has  a  beneficial  effect  on  legu- 
minous plants. 


SCIENTIFIC    CONCIiUSIONS. 

Scientific  experiments,  as  well  as  theoretical 
hypothesis,  have  established  the  following  posi- 
tions. We  believe  they  may  be  set  down  as  ag- 
ricultural truths : 

Substances,  rich  in  nitrogen,  increase  the  ver- 
dure, lengthen  the  straw,  and  promote  and  pro- 
long the  growth  of  plants. 

Lime  generally  shortens  the  period  of  growth, 
strengthens  the  stem  and  hastens  the  time  of  ri- 
pening of  both  corn  and  root  crops. 

Saline    substances,  applied   alone,  and   even, 


PSIZE  ESSAY  ON  MANUBES. 

We  have  before  us,  and  have  perused  with  a 
lively  interest,  an  Essay  on  the  Preparation  and 
Application  of  Manures,  by  Doct.  Joseph  Rey- 
nolds, of  Concord,  Mass.  This  essay  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Agriculture,  and  received  their  highest 
prize  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

The  essay  commences  by  stating  that  Salts, 
Gases,  Acids  and  Water  are  all  essentials,  and 
then  proposes  the  inquiry,  IJoio  many  of  these  el- 
ements are  necessary  to  constitute  a  manure  ?  The 
subject  oi  Liquid  Manureis  also  introduced,  and 
ably  treated.     The  author  says — 

The  saving  and  use  of  liquid  manures  is  deserv- 
ing of  more  attention  than  it  has  yet  received 
in  this  country.  It  is  easy  so  to  arrange  the  stalls 
of  cattle,  as  to  receive  their  urine  into  troughs 
under  the  floor,  and  to  convey  it  into  a  cistern  in 
the  cellar,  or  outside  of  the  barn.  This  may  be 
pumped  into  a  water-cart,  to  which  a  sprinkler  is 
attached,  similar  to  those  used  in  watering  the 
streets.  If  it  is  pumped  in  through  a  strainer,  the 
sprinkler  does  not  become  clogged,  and  it  may 
be  rapidly  conveyed  to  the  field,  and  distributed 
as  a  top-dressing,  upon  grass  or  grain,  with  im- 
mediate effect.  When  the  soil  is  not  deficient  in 
carljonaceous  elements,  there  can  probably  be  no 
better  top-dressing  applied.  It  is  not  as  perma- 
nent in  its  effects  as  the  solid  excrement,  but 
more  immediate,  and  it  may  be  applied  twice  a 
year  upon  grass,  with  less  expense  of  labor  than 
one  dressing  of  solid  manure.  The  cost  of  the 
necessary  apparatus  for  saving  and  distributing 
it,  is  small.  As  a  top-dressing  for  a  fieW  where 
turnips  are  to  be  grown,  it  is  very  excellent.  As 
a  top-dressing  in  the  spring,  or  during  the  sum- 
mer, for  pasture  lands,  it  is  perhaps  superior  to 
any  dressing  that  can  be  applied.  If  the  undilut- 
ed urine  is  thought  too  strong,  it  may  be  easily 
diluted  in  the  field,  if  water  is  at  hand. 

The  Application  of  Manures  has  received  con- 
siderable attention,  and  the  writer  has  given 
many  facts,  and  offered  suggestions  that  will 
prove  of  high  value  to  the  attentive  reader.     He 

says — 

One  great  necessity  for  applying  manure  in 
our  climate,  is,  that  plants  may  be  forced  more 
rapidly  through  all  the  stages  of  their  growth, 
since  if  left  to  themselves,  the  season  would  not 
be  long  enough  to  bring  them  to  perfection  ;  and 


120 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


that  system  of  culture  which  pushes  them  for- 
ward early,  that  they  may  gtt  well  rooted,  and 
therefore  be  the  better  able  to  endure  the  droughts 
of  July  and  August,  and  thus  arrive  at  early  ma- 
turity, before  the  frosts  of  Sej)tember,  we  think 
must  be  the  best  system.  Could  v;e  add  another 
month  to  the  summer  of  our  climate,  we  could 
cultivate  many  crops,  with  a  much  less  amount 
of  stimulants  than  Ave  require  at  present.  Now 
we  have  to  guard  against  the  droughts  of  sum- 
mer, and  the  early  frosts  of  autumn,  and  I  do 
not  esteem  it  safe  practice,  to  deposit  the  manure 
for  the  corn  so  deep  in  the  soil  that  the  growing 
crops  cannot  reach  it  till  late  in  the  season. 
When  stable  manure  or  compost  is  plowed  in 
deep,  we  would  recommend  the  application  of 
well  diluted  guano,  ashes  or  fine  compost  in  the 
hill.  In  this  v/ay,  with  a  season  at  all  favorable, 
the  crop  will  rarely  fail. 

This  essay  is  valuable,  because  in  preparing  it, 
the  writer  has  had  the  advantage  of  a  practical 
experience  on  the  soil  to  blend  with  his  chemical 
acquirements  in  the  laboratory  ;  and  this  varied 
knowledge  has  so  tempered  both  as  to  give  them 
a  value  which  a  mere  theorist  cannot  impart  to 
his  productions. 


TH^  DESTRUCTION  OF  FOHESTS. 

By  Robert  Demcker.  Landscape  Gardiner  in  Cincinnati. 
Translated  for  ttie  Ohio  Farmer,  by  Dr.  C.  A.  Hartman,  from 
the  German  of  the  Cincinnati  llochwcechter. 

The  social  life  of  the  plants  has  recently  given 
rise  to  many  contemplations  and  experiments, 
the  results  of  which  are  of  the  highest  importance 
to  the  tiller  of  the  soil,  as  well  as  to  th"  horti- 
culturist. We  have  learned,  that  the  existence 
of  a  great  many  plants  depends  on  their  associa- 
tion in  large  masses,  while  others,  small  herbs 
and  even  shrubs,  need  the  protection  of  their  tall- 
er relation,  the  trees,  under  the  shade  of  which 
the  carbonic  acid  finds  the  necessary  temperature 
for  its  decomposition,  and  proper  assimilation  by 
the  smaller  plants ;  for  these  the  trees  also  pre- 
pare the  humus  wanted  for  their  further  nour- 
ishment, in  the  leaves  and  other  parts  fdlling  ofi" 
every  year.  Many  social  plants  deprive  the 
ground  of  certain  inorganic  ingredients,  which 
are  absorbed  p.gain  and  given  back  by  other 
plants  partly  in  their  decomposition,  partly  in  the 
secretions  of  their  roots.  All  these  plants  live 
harmoniously  together,  supplying  each  other; 
the  life  o*f  the  one  kind  wholly  depends  upon  the 
existence  of  the  other.  These  facts  have  led  to 
the  alternation  of  crops,  and  have  made  agricul- 
tural chemistry  one  of  the  most  important  assis- 
tants on  the  farm  and  in  the  garden. 

The  large  associations  of  high-grov/ing  woody 
plants,  commonly  called  forests,  are  the  genera- 
tors and  regulators  of  the  vital  air  needed  by  the 
animals  ;  they  are  also  the  fathers  of  the  springs, 
attracting  the  rain  and  spreading  it  successively 
as  well  as  proportionately  over  the  ground  where 
mosses,  and  other  herbs,  with  densely  arranged 
roots,  detain  the  water  so  received  for  quite  a 
long  time,  and  retard  its  evaporation.  The  dis- 
appearing of  the  forest  causes  not  only  want  of 
wood  and  v^'ater,  a  dry  and  poor  vegetation,  but 
usually  promotes  inundations.  The  falling  rain 
then  washes  down  unhindered  the  soil  from  hill 


and  mountain.  Moss,  turf,  shrubbery,  and  trees 
formerly  took  hold  of  the  moisture,  forming  it 
into  lively  springs,  and  quiet  brooks  ;  now  the 
water  runs  down  unimpeded,  breaking  loose  and 
carrying  oft"  the  ground,  spreading  sands  and 
stones  all  over  the  fields  and  meadows,  swelling 
the  rivers  and  inundating  the  surrounding  coun- 
try. In  ilat  regions  and  closed  valleys,  where 
the  forests  are  destroyed,  the  waters  accumulate 
and  form  unhealthy  swamps.  Formerly  the  trees 
consumed,  in  these  places,  all  superfluous  fluidi- 
ty, and  the  obnoxious  gases  arising  from  the 
stagnant  waters.  The  lluman  Campagna,  for  in- 
stance, once  the  well  cultivated  home  of  whole  na- 
tions, where  nov/  the  most  pernicious  fevers  are 
raging,  the  dreaded  malaria  drives  off  in  summer 
time  the  few  inhabitants  to  the  neighboring 
mountains,  where  in  ancient  times  was  the  cele- 
brated granary  of  Rome.  This,  and  the  present 
condition  of  Spain,  Greece,  a  part  of  upper  Italy 
and  of  the  southern  part  of  France,  shov/  in  the 
most  evident  manner,  the  productiveness  of  soil 
and  men  is  diminished  by  the  destruction  of  the 
forest ;  islands  like  England  may  overcome  to  a 
certain  degree  the  fatal  consequences  of  such  des- 
truction. 

The  forest  is  the  greatest  benefactor  of  man- 
kind; it  is  a  necessity  everywhere,  and  still  it  is 
everywhere  more  and  more  destroyed.  Room  is 
wanted  for  the  fields  and  meadows ;  wood  is 
wanted  in  great  quantities  ;  the  forest  has  to  fur- 
nish both,  without  regard  to  its  own  preserva- 
tion ;  human  wickedness  and  foolishness,  political 
storms,  and  other  causes,  destroy  inexorably 
those  great  means  oi  national  welfare  and  gen- 
eral blessing.  All  wise  governments  have  com- 
prehended long  ago  the  utility  of  the  forest,  and 
have  provided  a  regular  protection  and  care  for 
it.  This  regular  management  of  the  forest  is,  at 
present,  preserving  and  culturing  the  few  re- 
maining mountain-forests  in  Germany,  France, 
and  Belgium,  is  producing  new  forests  in  desert- 
ed and  swampy  districts.  Such  a  scientific  and 
general  care  of  the  forest  in  this  country  is  rath- 
er difficult,  not  to  say  impossible.  The  farmer 
destroys  unconditionally,  unscrupulously,  not 
considering  that  he  destroys  with  it  the  well-se- 
cured future  welfare  and  the  riches  of  the  coun- 
try. "Fields  as  well  as  lungs,"  says  Bettzieck- 
Beta,  (a  German  author,)  "are  here  destroyed  by 
consumption,  produced  by  the  reckless  endeav- 
oring to  get  rich  in  the  shortest  time  possible  " 

Now  we  do  not  want  to  quarrel  with  ihe  far- 
mer for  cutting  down  his  trees,  be  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  money  out  of  them,  or  to  get 
more  room  for  his  agricultural  propensities  ;  we 
deem  it  his  duty,  however,  to  repair  the  damages 
inflicted  by  it  as  far  as  possible,  and  the  much 
more  so,  as  this  can  be  done  in  a  manner  the 
most  useful  to  himself.  We  will  show  how  it 
may  be  accomplished,  supposing  a  man  is  willing 
and  perseviu-ing  enough  to  try  it. 

Wherever  the  soil  is  easily  washed  away  by 
rains,  and  the  plow  cannot  be  employed,  exten- 
sive orchards  with  high-growing  trees  ought  to 
be  planted,  and  the  ground  covered  with  mixed 
grasses,  adapted  to  its  special  character.  In  a 
few  years  the  fruit  trees  will  protect  the  soil 
against  drying  up  too  quickly,  the  grass  also  re- 
taining the  humidity  for  the  trees.  All  expenses 
will  be  paid  a  hundredfold  in  a  short  time.  These 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


121 


orchards  can  never  replace  the  forest  completely; 
they  are,  however,  important  and  profitable 
means  to  diminish  the  fatal  consequences  of  the 
disappearing  forest.  A])ples,  pears,  cherries, 
peaches,  peccan-nuts,  Italian  or  Spanish  chest- 
nuts, are  particularly  adapted  to  such  a  planta- 
tion. Ditches,  swampy  fiats,  and  similar  locali- 
ties, may  be  covered  with  Lombardian  hazle- 
nuts,  and  all  places  not  accessible  to  cattle  can 
be  surrounded  by  fences  of  quince  trees. 

All  farmers  are  respectfully  requested  to  ex- 
amine these  propositions,  and  to  act  in  accord 
ance  with  them.  "Whoever  feels  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  his  contemporaries  and  their  de 
scendants,  will  do  well  in  setting  an  example  to 
his  neighbors. 


A  SCOTCH  LOVE  SONG. 

fFEOM   THE    GREENTVICn   AND    WICKFOED    PESCULUM.] 

They  told  me  thou  wert  fahe,  Jamie, 

And  did  na  care  for  me  ; 
I  heeded  not  their  voice,  Jamie, 

I  thought  it  could  not  be, 
So  loving  were  thy  words,  Jamie, 

So  winsome  was  thy  smile  ; 
I  did  na  think  that  it,  Jamie, 

Could  veil  one  thought  of  guile. 

Dost  thou  recall  the  hawthorn  glade 

Where  we  sat  side  by  side. 
When,  on  a  summer's  night,  Jamie, 

Thou  sued  me  for  thy  bride  .' 
My  heart  was  very  full,  Jamie, 

As  in  the  pale  moonshine, 
I  promised  to  be  thine,  Jamie, 

To  be  forever  thine. 

Together  there  we  knelt,  Jamie, 

The  bent  and  reverent  knee, 
And  prayed  our  Heavenly  Father's  love 

Might  reft  on  thee  and  me. 
So  radiant  seemed  my  path,  Jamie, 

My  cup  so  full  of  bliss. 
How  could  I  e'er  dream,  Jamie, 

That  it  would  come  to  this  ? 

I  never  see  thee  now,  Jamie — 

Thou  comest  not  to  me  : 
'Tis  said  thou  seek's  another's  love 

Ah,  .Jamie,  can  it  be  ? 
They  tell  me  she  is  rich,  Jamie, 

And  of  a  lordly  line, 
Not  thrice  her  wealth  and  rank,  Jamie, 

Could  buy  a  love  like  mine. 

My  cheek  that  erst  was  red,  Jamie, 

Is  palin'  day  by  day  ; 
I  felt  it  in  my  heart,  Jamie, 

I'm  wearin'  fast  away. 
Then,  Jamie,  when  the  Summer  comes, 

And  blossoms  clothe  the  tree. 
Bestow  one  loving  thought  on  her 

Who  died  for  love  of  thee.  H. 


Rose  Insects. — If  our  lady  readers  are  desir- 
ous of  keeping  their  rose-bushes  free  from  the 
small  green  vermin  that  so  frequently  infest 
them,  the  following  remedy  will  be  found  a  most 
effectual  one  :  To  three  gallons  of  water,  add 
one  peck  of  soot  and  one  quart  of  unslacked 
lime.  Stir  it  well — let  it  stand  for  twenty-four 
hours,  and  when  the  soot  rises  to  the  surface, 
skim  it  off.     Use  a  syringe  for  applying  it. 


EXTKACTS  AND  BBPLIES. 

APPROPRIATIONS  FOR  THE  SUPPORT  OF  AGRICUL- 
TURAL   SOCIETIES   BY   THE   STATE. 

About  $12,000  is  annually  drawn  from  the 
Treasury  for  this  purpose,  and  distributed  to 
about  twenty  societies — no  single  society  receiv- 
ing more  than  $600.  So  far  this  is  well,  and  as 
it  should  be,  I  have  noticed  some  complaint  of 
there  being  more  societies  in  some  counties  than 
in  others.  If  this  be  an  error,  it  was  an  over- 
sight in  the  Legislature  in  making  the  grants, 
more  than  in  the  societies  who  received  them. 
Such  irregularities  will  hereafter  be  guarded 
against.  It  was  a  condition  of  such  grants  from 
the  State,  that  the  society  should  have  raised 
their  funds  and  invested  them  on  interest  before 
they  would  be  entitled  to  favor  from  the  Stte. 
How  those  societies  who  have  laid  out  all  their 
money  in  land  and  buildings — from  which  no  in- 
terest or  income  accrues,  or  can  be  expected  to 
accrue, — can  entitle  themselves  to  a  share  of  the 
bounty  of  the  State,  is  beyond  my  power  to  im- 
agine. I  think  it  must  be  by  a  hocus-pocus  such 
as  is  said  to  be  in  use  occasionally  at  Uncle 
Sam's  custom-houses.  I  think  if  gentlemen  so 
upright  as  the  Governor  and  Treasurer  should 
chance  to  run  upon  any  such  management,  they 
would  hesitate  a  while  before  they  would  suffer 
the  money  to  be  drawn.  If  they  do  not,  they  will 
ere  long  find  the  stool  on  which  they  themselves 
stand  to  be  in  a  tottling  condition.      INQUIRER. 

Jan.  1,  1859.  _ 

COTTON    SEED   MEAL. 

I  notice  in  the  April  number  of  the  Fanner 
that  you  speak  favorably  of  cotton  seed  meal  for 
milch  cows.  Does  your  experience  since  that  time 
confirm  the  opinion  you  then  expressed  ?  I  have 
fed  it  to  cows  and  calves  to  a  limited  extent,  and 
have  not  noticed  any  injurious  effects.  But  I  have 
recently  heard  opinions  expressed  unfavorable 
to  its  use,  by  those  who  have  fed  it  to  a  large 
number  of  cows.  Indeed,  the  objections  to  it 
were  very  strong,  principally,  I  believe,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  effects  upon  the  physical  condition 
of  the  cows. 

I  should  like  to  hear  from  yourself  and  others 
who  have  made  trial  of  this  meal.  Analysis  shows 
it  to  be  richer  than  linseed  meal,  and  I  suppose 
it  can  be  bought  for  a  less  price.  b. 

Remarks. — We  have  used  a  ton  (5r  two  of 
cotton  seed  meal,  and  we  have  thought  with  good 
results — though  we  were  not  able  to  make  a 
comparison  of  it  with  other  grains,  in  feeding 
it  out,  in  consequence  of  frequent  absence  from 
home.  But  from  what  observation  we  were  able 
to  make,  and  the  report  of  the  man  who  tended 
the  stock,  we  were  favorably  impressed  with  it  as 
a  feed  for  milch  cows. 

We  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  others  on  the 
subject. 

A  new  discovery. 

It  is  stated  that   a   gentleman  of  Fitchburg, 

Mass.,  has  discovered   the  cause  of  the    ;u)tato 

rot  to  be  a  "general  poisoning  or  corrupiion  of 

the  surface  soil."     As  a  rem,i.'cy,  h?  proposes  to 


122 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


ARCH 


bring  the  enbsoil  to  the  surface,  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  avoid  the  use  of  the  surface  soil,  in 
the  growing  of  tlie  plants  ;  just  as  though  the 
same  causes  that  diffused  the  poison  over  the  sur- 
face, had  not  spread  it  in  the  subsoil  also.  I 
should  as  soon  think  of  prescribing  "the  taking 
off  the  skin  of  a  man"  for  the  cure  of  the  itch, 
or  any  eruption  apparent  on  the  surface.  So 
prone  are  men,  when  they  get  hold  of  an  idea,  to 
run  it  until  it  merges  in  absurdity.  *. 

BUTTER   IN   WINTER. 

I  often  see  directions  how  to  make  good  but- 
ter in  your  valuable  journal.  In  making  butter, 
I  find  many  obstacles  ;  my  cow  has  been  fed  on 
carrots  for  several  weeks  ;  since  that  time  we 
have  churned  several  hours  (with  the  cream  at 
62)  without  making  the  butter  come.  Do  you 
suppose  the  carrots  have  a  tendency  to  prevent 
it  ?  If  so,  is  there  any  way  to  avoid  it  ?  Can  the 
cream  be  churned  again  by  any  process  ? 

Jan.  11,  1859.  A  SusCRlBER. 

Remarks. — We  believe  the  carrots  would  have 
a  tendency  to  produce  good  butter,  and  not  to 
retard  in  any  way  its  coming.  If  you  have  churned 
&day  or  two  on  your  cream,  you  had  better  ap- 
propriate it  to  some  other  purpose  than  the 
making  of  butter. 

The  first  thing  essential  in  making  good  but- 
ter in  winter,  is  to  get  good  milk,  and  then  if  the 
milk  is  set  in  some  place,  cellar  or  closet,  where 
the  temperature  will  remain  at  60°  Fahrenheit, 
cream  will  rise  abundantly,  and  the  butter  will 
come  in  ten  minutes  after  commencing  churning 
the  eream.  Some  persons  scald  the  milk  when 
it  comes  to  the  house — but  that  is  not  so  essen- 
tial as  an  even  temperature  at  60°  for  the  milk 
to  stand  in.  We  are  making  20  lbs.  per  week 
without  the  slightest  difficulty. 

MASSACHUSETTS  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 
With  the  mercury  8*^  below  zero,  I  have  just) 
examined  the  pages  of  Mr.  Secretary  Fay's  pub-! 
lication  in  explanation  of  the  doings  of  the  Mas-i 
sachusetts  Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture.  I 
Although  the  predominating  influence  of  wealth] 
is  apparent  on  every  page  of  this  Society's  histo-i 
ry,  still  there  is  sufficient  of  good  developed  to, 
make  the  whole  worthy  of  commendation.  For, 
myself,  I  do  not  think  a  man  any  the  better  or 
worse,  for  being  born  a  milUonare,  or  chancing 
to  have  married  a  wife  that  is  one  ;  still  it  must 
be  admitted,  that  there  are  some  things  that  such 
persons  can  do,  that  others  cannot  do.  I  rejoice 
that  this  publication  is  made,  because  I  think  it 
will  put  down  that  ambitious  spirit,  that  appear- 
ed in  1S57,  and  is  again  beginning  to  show  itself 
on  the  banks  of  the  Connect;icut.  Every  person 
■who  reads  this  handsome  volume  of  150  pages, 
■will  be  satisfied  that  those  who  have  managed 
the  concerns  of  this  society  have  had  a  high  and 
honorable  purpose,  of  doing  the  best  they  could 
to  advance  the  best  interests  of  the  farmers  of 
the  State.  If  other  associations  would  proceed 
with  a  single  eye  to  the  general  good  as  they 
have,  and   not  allow  themselves  to  be  swerved. 


from  the  path  of  propriety,  they  would  leave  a 
record  that  would  shine  brighter  and  brighter, 
unto  the  perfect  day. 

January,  10,  1859.  EsSEX. 

FRUIT   TREES — EFFECT    OF    GRAFTING. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Fruit  trees,  and  their  cultiva- 
tion, is  a  subject  which  I  feel  particularly  inter- 
ested in,  and  though  my  observations  of  these 
are  home  observations,  and  consequently  quite 
limited,  yet  if  they  can  be  of  use  to  any  one,  I 
am  willing  they  should  be  further  published  in 
your  valuable  paper. 

That  each  tree  has  a  condition  of  life  peculiar 
to  itself,  long,  short,  or  intermediate,  few  per- 
sons, if  any,  will  deny,  but  that  there  is  a  trans- 
fer of  such  condition  by  grafting,  old  age  not  ex- 
cepted, few  realize,  and  yet  this  is  true,  I  believe, 
entirely  true,  and  that  I  can  substantiate  it. 
But,  says  one,  "If  this  be  true,  why  then  a  large 
proportion  of  our  fruit  tree  interests  are  of  no 
account,  for  they  have  been  grafted  from  old 
trees  !"  Well,  this  is  even  so,  and  were  I  to  make 
a  comparison  of  the  thing,  I  should  say  that  ani- 
mal life  can  as  well  be  re-instated  by  the  suste- 
nance which  has  established  and  perfected  it, 
manhood,  if  you  please,  as  that  a  fruit  tree  can 
flourish  any  considerable  length  of  time,  when 
grafted  from  an  old  one,  and  the  reasons  are  just 
as  obvious.  The  truth  is,  that  the  life  principle, 
the  tree  life  principle  has  been  shortened  in,  and 
in,  until  no'  hing  comparatively  remains  of  it,  and 
now  we  are  suffering  from  such  practices. 

Walpole,  N.  II.,  1859.      W.  T.  Blanchard. 

CLAPBOARD  OR  BATTEN  BARNS. 

A  "Subscriber"  wishes  to  know  if  he  shall  use 
clapboards  or  battens.  My  experience  for  quite 
a  number  of  years  is,  to  use  neither  for  ordinary 
barns.  My  practice  is,  to  use  half-inch  lining 
boards,  and  then  board  with  straight-edged 
boards  one  inch  thick,  taking  care  to  make  them 
break  joints  with  the  lining.  It  has  this  advan- 
tage over  battens,  that,  with  a  less  number  of 
girts  to  nail  to,  wind  and  storm  is  perfectly  ex- 
cluded, it  being  understood  that  the  boards  and 
linings  are  well-seasoned  before  they  are  used. 
I  find  by  experience,  that  hay  can  be  put  into  a 
tight  barn  much  greener,  and  it  v,-ill  keep  much 
better,  than  it  will  in  a  loose  boarded  barn  ;  the 
stock  will  eat  less  hay,  and  look  better,  and  do 
better,  and  they  are  better  everyway,  if  it  be 
properly  ventilated,  than  they  possibly  can  be  in 
the  old-fashioned  loose  boarded  barn.  If  you  do 
not  believe,  come  and  see.         I).  D.  Powers. 

Pittsfield,  Mass.,  Jan.  10,  1859. 

WEATHER  AND  CROPS  IN  MAINE. 
We  are  having  pleasant  weather  and  fine  sleigh- 
ing. December  was  a  pleasant  month.  The 
ground  froze  up  rather  early,  so  that  most  farm- 
ers did  not  do  up  their  plowing.  Corn  and  oth- 
er grain  did  well,  excepting  wheat,  of  which  there 
is  not  much  sown  about  here.  Potatoes  turned 
out  well,  and  not  so  many  rotted  as  usual.  Hay 
is  rather  high,  twelve  dollars  a  ton,  and  stock 
cheap.  As  a  general  thing,  farmers  here  keep 
more  stock  than  hay,  so  hay  is  kept  high,  and 
cattle  poor — a  poor  policy,  1  think.     There  are 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


123 


a  good  many  such  farmers  that  will  sell  their  hay, 
and  cheat  their  cattle,  and  soil,  for  the  sake  of  a 
few  dollars,  for  the  present  time,  G.  D.  s. 

West  Danville,  Me.,  1859. 

INJURED   HORSES. 

To  "Taunton" — I  have  known  a  horse  to  re- 
ceive a  very  severe  cut  from  kicking  against  the 
plate  that  attaches  the  whiffletree  to  the  crossbar, 
severing  the  cord  so  that  it  protruded  from  the 
wound,  to  recover,  so  as  to  perform  carriage  and 
farm  work  without  inconvenience.  Three-fourths 
of  an  inch  was  cut  off,  and  it  was  then  placed 
back,  and,  as  is  well  known  in  surgery,  the  inter- 
stice filled  and  restored  the  ankle  to  nearly  its 
former  strength  and  flexibility.  V.  C.  G. 

NafJiua,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  are  glad  to  hear  it.  The  one 
or  two  horses  we  have  seen  thus  injured,  were 
utterly  ruined.  

FLOORS  IN  HORSE  STALLS. 

"W.  D.  L."  is  informed  that  it  is  customary  to 
build  horse  stalls  with  inclined  floors,  but  they 
are  usually  inclined  more  than  is  necessary  to  se- 
cure the  object — cleanliness,  particularly  in  sale- 
stables,  as  it  makes  a  horse  look  larger  to  have 
his  forward  feet  elevated  three  or  four  inches, 
but  it  is  very  objectionable  for  a  horse  that  stands 
much  in  the  stall.  One-half  inch  to  the  yard  is 
amply  sufficient. 

It  is  a  very  good  way  to  construct  the  floor  of 
two  thicknesses  of  inch  boards  instead  of  one  of 
plank,  matching  the  under  layer,  and  placing  the 
upper  boards  about  three-eighths  of  an  inch 
apart,  using  boards  about  six  inches  wide,  It 
economises  the  bedding  twenty-five  per  cent. 

Nashua,  N.  II.,  1859.  v.  c.  G. 

DANVERS   RED   POTATOES. 

Mr.  William  Hanson,  of  Barre,  Vt.,  raised  the 
past  season,  505  bushels  of  Danvers  red  potatoes 
on  1^  acres  ;  also  725  bushels  of  oats  on  13  acres 
(10  acres  greensward.)  L.  H.  Thurber. 

Washington,  Vt.,  1859. 

DUCHESSE   D'aNGOULEME   PEARS. 

J.  H.  Jones,  Esq.,  Clinton,  Illinois,  writes  us 
that  he  raised  the  above  named  variety  of  pear 
last  season  that  weighed  from  12  to  17  ounces 
each. 

Should  like  the  volume  mentioned,  if  it  can  be 
sent  free  of  cost. 

BUNCH   ON   A    horse's   LEG. 

Can  you  or  your  readers  tell  me  the  cause  of 
a  bunch  on  a  horse's  forward  leg,  bt-low  the  knee 
on  the  inside  ;  I  think  it  is  called  a  splint  ;  and 
if  it  can  he  taken  off',  or  if  it  bur's  a  horse  ?  The 
bunch  is  as  hard  as  bone.  A  SUBSCRIBER. 

Millbury,  Mass.,  Jan.,  1859. 

A   MORRILL    COLT. 
Mr.  Perley   Roberts,  of   Washington,  Vt., 
has  a  Morrill  colt,  foaled  June  loth,  1857,  which 
weighed,  Dec.  29Lh,  1858,  947^  pounds.    He  had 
no  extra  keeping. 


for  the  New  England  Farmer. 
KOOFING  MATERIALS. 

Dear  Sir  : — When  I  answered  your  questions 
about  roofing  materials  through  your  paper,  I 
did  not  expect  to  arouse  the  wrath  of  all  the  pro- 
prietors of  unmentioned  small  quarries  in  Ver- 
mont, nor  did  I  wish  to  involvemyself  in  a  news- 
paper controversy,  nor  did  I  suppose  I  should  be 
purposely  misrepresented. 

I  did  not  say  that  slates  must  fade  to  be  as 
good  as  the  Welsh,  but  that  all  the  strong  and  best 
Vermont  slates  do  fade  upon  continued  exposure 
to  the  weather,  whilst  all  which  do  not  fade 
are  soft  and  of  little  value  for  roofing,  however 
well  they  maybe  adapted  to  slabs,  &c.  The  fact 
is  unquestionable,  and  may  be  proved  by  any  one 
who  will  trouble  himself  to  try  the  experiment  of 
wetting  a  slate  which  soaks  water,  and  exposing 
it  to  the  action  of  frost.  The  same  power  which 
will  break  your  pitcher  when  full  of  water,  by 
freezing  the  water,  will  in  a  few  seasons'  expos- 
ure, disintegrate  the  slate. 

My  object  in  writing  you  was  to  convey  desi- 
rable information  to  those  of  your  readers  who 
may  have  buildings  to  cover,  and  to  facilitate 
their  researches  ;  after  giving  the  merits  of  slate 
for  a  roof,  I  gave  tests  of  value.  These  tests  are 
admitted  by  the  best  authorities  to  be  of  absolute 
importance,  and  properly  applied,  will  satisfy  any 
experimenter. 

For  power  of  resistance  to  frost  and  consequent 
power  to  resist  disintegration,  the  quantity  of 
water  a  slate  will  absorb  in  a  given  time,  the  one 
absorbing  the  most  is  the  poorest. 

For  strength,  elasticity,  toughness  and  long 
resistance  to  strain  when  laid  on  the  roof,  or  to 
concussion  of  hail,  of  falling  stones,  bricks,  or  the 
tread  of  persons  moving  over  the  roof,  the  weight 
a  given  slate  will  bear  without  breaking  when 
supported  by  its  extremeties  and  loaded  in  the 
middle. 

These  two  points  settled  for  or  against  any  dif- 
ferent specimens  of  slate,  that  one  will  be  best 
for  general  use  which  is  equal  to  or  better  than 
all  others  in  strength,  8cc.,  and  in  inability  to 
soak  water,  and  which  splits  with  the  greatest 
uniformity  and  smoothness,  and  yields  the  larg- 
ests  number  of  squares  to  the  ton. 

I  am  aware  that  slates  according  to  their  size 
should  be  thicker  or  thinner,  and  that  some  ab- 
solute thickness  is  proper  for  each  size,  but  the 
least  increase  over  this  pi'oper  thickness,  is  a  loss 
to  the  purchaser,  in  the  strain  of  unnecessary 
weight  upon  the  roof,  in  the  extra  freight  paid 
for  that  increased  and  useless  weijrht ;  and  is  a 
loss  to  the  producer  in  waste  of  stock.  I  mf^n- 
tioned  the  Glen  Lake  and  Eagle  as  the  best  Ver- 
mont slates,  because  the  Glen  Lake  first  and  Eagle 
next,  are  uniformly  best  in  all  these  three  qual- 
ities. The  Eagle  is  necessarily  thickest  for  the 
character  of  the  stone,  and  is  thicker  than  use  re- 
quires. 

The  Forest  slate  I  know  very  well ;  it  is  an  ex- 
cellent slate,  as  are  many  others,  l)ut  when  sul)mit- 
ted  to  the  water  test,  it  will  be  found  to  soak  more 
water  than  they.  I  have  seen  the  exp'-riment  care- 
fully tried  by  disinterested  persons,  and  it  always 
soaked  most  water  of  the  three. 

The  Farnham  quarries  of  mottled  slate  I  know 
very  well.     The  writer  who  describes  them  says, 


124 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


nt  start,  that  they  are  soft.  Soft  slates,  unless 
;j;reasy  and  naturally  rotten,  always  soak  more 
iimter  than  harder  varieties,  and  fail  in  the  first 
test.  The  soft  slate  is  like  soft  wood  or  any 
other  soft  material,  unless  pliable,  like  wrought 
iron  or  copper,  or  other  metals,  is  less  able  to 
bear  a  strain  and  weight  than  hard  kinds  of  the 
same  material ;  and  in  the  case  of  this  slate  the 
following  fact  bears  me  out. 

A  large  number  of  squares  of  the  mottled  slate 
were  piled  last  spring  at  the  Fairhaven  depot, 
and  were  sold  this  summer  to  some  slaters,  who 
before  they  could  use  their  purchase,  were  obliged 
to  pick  them  all  over,  and  in  many  cases  recut 
(or  dress)  the  slates  ;  and  there  was,  two  months 
ago,  at  that  depot,  at  least  one-eighth  of  the 
whole  quantity  culled  and  thrown  aside  as  waste. 
The  mottled  color  bespeaks  of  so  enthusiastical- 
ly is  the  worst  feature  about  them.  It  is  bad 
enough  for  all  our  slates  that  they  change  a  little 
in  color  when  exposed  to  the  sun  for  a  time,  but 
when  laid  they  are  uniform  in  color,  and  become 
nearly  uniform  after  the  fading  is  over ;  but  these 
mottled  slate  look  like  a  pie-bald  horse,  at  first ; 
a  roof  laid  with  them  is  a  real  curiosity  for  one 
accustomed  to  observe  color,  its  effect  is  like  a 
face  spotted  with  small-pox  or  mottled  with  the 
eruptions  of  scarlet  fever ;  it  is  neither  one  thing 
nor  another.  This  slate,  like  many  others,  will  find 
its  largest  and  true  use  as  slabs  for  marbleizing, 
for  tiles,  &c. 

But  to  close  all  I  have  to  say  upon  the  subject 
of  slate,  I  would  propose  that  all  the  slate  manu- 
facturers hold  a  meeting  at  a  convenient  place, 
and  select  a  committee  of  three  careful  and  scienti- 
fic chemists  and  engineers,  who  shall  visit  the  va- 
rious quarries,  obtain  fair  samples  of  the  slate, 
both  slabs  and  slate  ready  for  the  roof,  which  they 
shall  submit  to  the  most  severe  tests  in  order  to 
establish  their  value  for  the  various  uses  to  which 
slate  may  be  put ;  let  this  committee  report  pro- 
gress through  your  paper  from  time  to  time,  and 
finally  publish  in  it  the  result  of  their  labor. 

If  a  careful  investigation  were  made  at  once,  a 
conclusion  satisfactory  to  all  parties  could  be  ar- 
rived at  before  the  spring  sales  commence,  and 
all  might  purchase  intelligently. 

This  is  the  practice  in  England.  Every  new 
slate  is  tested  by  competent  persons,  and  their 
opinions  published,  so  that  no  one  n=eed  buy  a 
poor  article  for  a  good  one.  The  uses  for  slate 
are  many,  and  some  kinds  not  good  for  one  pur- 
pose are  pre-eminently  good  for  others  ;  let  this 
be  known  to  the  public. 

I  have  proposed  this  plan  to  the  proprietors  of 
the  Glen  Lake  quarries,  and  they  express  great 
readiness  to  enter  into  such  an  inquiry,  and  are 
ready  to  subscribe  liberally  towards  it,  or  to  pay 
their  share  of  the  cost ;  this  seems  to  me  very 
fair,  and  I  hope  the  plan  may  be  adopted  by  all 
quarry  owners.  RusTICUs. 


A  Fat  Fish. — The  siskawit,  a  fish  of  Lake 
Superior,  is  reported  to  be  the  fattest  fish  that 
swims,  either  in  fresh  or  salt  water.  The  fisher- 
wen  say  that  one  of  these  fish,  when  hung  by 
the  tail  in  the  hot  sun  of  a  summer's  day,  will 
melt,  and  entirely  disappear,  except  the  bones. 
In  packing  about  fifty  barrels,  a  few  seasons  ago 
t  Isle   Royale,  one  of  the   fishermen  made  two 


and  a  half  barrels  of  oil  from  the  heads  and  leaf 
fat  alone,  without  the  least  injury  to  the  market- 
ableness  of  the  fish.  Besides  this  leaf  fat,  the 
fat  or  oil  is  disseminated  in  a  layer  of  fat  and  a 
layer  of  lean  throughout  the  fish.  They  are  too 
fat  to  be  eaten  fresh,  and  f  re  put  up  for  market 
like  the  lake  white  fish  and  Mackinaw  trout. 


STATE  BOABD  OF  AGBICULTUBB. 

A  quarterly  meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Ag- 
ricidture  was  held  at  the  State  House  on  Tues- 
day, Jan.  18,  Gov.  Banks,  Lt.  Gov.  Trask,  and 
nearly  every  member  of  the  Board,  were  present. 
His  Honor  the  Lieut.  Governor  in  the  chair. 

The  management  of  the  State  Farm  at  West- 
boro',  during  the  last  year,  has  been  in  the  care 
of  a  Superintending  Committee  of  eight  persons, 
and  the  report  of  this  committee,  and  its  consid- 
eration, was  the  first  business  in  order. 

The  report  gives  in  detail  the  operations  of  the 
committee  in  regard  to  the  stock,  crops,  methods 
of  seeding  and  cultivating,  reclaiming,  trenching, 
laying  down  lands,  draining,  and  all  other  mat- 
ters that  have  engaged  their  attention.  As  an  il- 
lustration of  their  mode  of  proceeding  we  cite  an 
experiment  in  seeding  land  to  oats.  They  had 
six  acres  to  seed  with  oats — they  were  all  sown 
broadcast,  April  27  and  28,  and  harrowed  in  as  fol- 
lows. No.  1  received^ue  bushels  per  acre  ;  No.  2 
received  four  bushels  ;  No.  3  three  bushels ;  and 
No.  4  at  the  rate  of  two  bushels.  The  lots  were 
manured  with  100  lbs.  of  plaster  per  acre,  spread 
broadcast  and  harrowed  in,  with  the  exception  of 
a  strip  of  one  acre  running  across  the  several  lots, 
which  received  no  plaster.  The  oats  were  har- 
vested July  28,  and  threshed  Sept.  2d  and  3d. 
The  yield  of  lot  No.  1  was  42  bushels  ;  that  of 
No.  2,  was  30.^  ;  that  of  No  3.  was  40,  and  that 
of  No.  4  was  26i  bushels.  The  acre  that  received 
no  plaster  yielded  20A  bushels,  the  grain  weigh- 
ing 28  lbs.  to  the  bushel,  and  being  much  the 
same  on  all  the  lots  except  on  No.  1,  on  which 
both  the  grain  and  straw  were  much  the  lightest. 

The  results  of  this  carefully  conducted  experi- 
ment would  seem  to  settle  the  question  pretty 
conclusively,  that  three  bushels  of  oats  is  the 
amount  most  profitable  to  be  used  for  seeding  an 
acre  of  land  that  is  in  fair  condition.  This  com- 
mittee reported  as  much  in  detail  upon  all  the 
other  crops  of  the  farm. 

The  committee  close  their  report  by  saying,  that 
the  aggregate  amount  for  permanent  improve- 
ments during  the  past  five  years  has  been  no  less 
than  $13,727  58,  while  the  aggregate  amount  for 
boys'  labor  was  $9,437  75.  Ihe  value  of  person- 
al property  is  $4,804  36  greater  than  when  the 
Board  first  took  charge  of  the  farm ;  or,  in  other 
words,  the  Board  leave  that  amount  of  personal 
property  belonging  to  the  State  over  and  above 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


125 


the  aggregate  amount  received  from  the  Trustees 
in  1854. 

The  sum  spent  for  permanent  improvements, 
for  the  labor  of  the  boys — for  implements,  stock, 
&c.,  amounts,  during  the  five  years,  to  $32,423- 
17.  The  aggregate  amount  received  from  the 
Commonwealth  during  the  same  period,  inclu- 
ding the  value  of  the  inventory  received  from  the 
Trustees  in  1854,  was  $29,081,00,  showing  a  bal- 
ance of  $3,342  17,  which  the  farm  returns  to  the 
State  more  than  the  whole  amount  received. 

SECOND    DAY. 

Wednesday,  Jan.  19,  1859. 

The  Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder  was  called 
to  the  chair. 

In  consequence  of  the  Board  having  decided 
at  a  previous  meeting  no  longer  to  conduct  the 
affairs  of  the  farm,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
report  a  plan  of  business  for  the  year,  and  they 
reported  that  the  Board  be  subdivided  into  com- 
mittees, each  of  whom  should  investigate  a  spe- 
cial subject,  and  report  to  the  full  Board,  annual- 
ly, in  January,  the  result  of  their  investigations. 
This  report  was  adopted. 

Under  a  resolve  of  the  legislature  of  1857,  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  was  authorized  to  ^^investi- 
gate the  various  methods  of  arresting  the  disease 
of  theipotoio"  proposed  by  certain  applicants  for 
the  premium  of  ten  thousand  dollars  offered  by 
the  legislature  of  1851.  The  Board  committed 
this  subject  to  a  committee  of  three  persons,  who 
reported  that  some  fifty  applications  had  been 
presented  to  the  Executive  from  time  to  time, 
but  that  only  about  twenty  out  of  this  number 
could  be  found  and  placed  in  their  hands.  These 
w^ere  carefully  considered,  and  so  far  as  was  prac- 
ticable, the  methods  proposed  of  arresting  the 
disease  were  tried  at  the  State  Farm,  and  all 
failed — they,  therefore,  reported,  that  in  their 
judgment  no  person  is  entitled  to  receive  the  pre- 
mium. This  report  was  accepted  by  the  Board, 
and  its  Secretary  was  directed  to  communicate 
these  facts  to  the  legislature  now  in  session. 

Reports  were  next  made  by  delegates  who  vis- 
ited the  various  county  societies,  and  judging 
from  these  alone,  the  conclusion  must  be,  that 
they  have  all  reached  a  remarkable  degree  of  per- 
fection. We  cannot  believe  that  the  management 
of  these  Societies  has  been  such  that  they  are 
susceptible  of  no  improvement,  or  that  there 
have  not  been  innovations  introduced  not  con- 
templated by  the  legislature,  or  justified  by  a 
sound  discrimination,  and  we  regret  that  these 
reports  have  not  spoken  plainly  and  forcibly  up- 
on any  departure  by  any  society  from  the  plain 
intentions  of  the  legislature. 

IJefore  the  sitting  closed,  these  reports  were 
pretty  thoroughly  discussed  and   criticised,  and 


some  of  the  innovations  introduced  into  the  coun- 
ty societies  plainly  pointed  out, — especially  that 
of  occupying  so  much  time  in  racing,  trotting,  or 
pacing  horses  for  money,  in  direct  contradiction 
to  both  letter  and  spirit  of  the  statute  of  the 
Commonwealth,  It  was  stated  that  no  society 
could  plead  that  it  did  not  offer  money  itself,  for 
it  was  liable  for  whatever  was  done  by  its  consent 
on  its  grounds.  Other  violations  of  the  statute 
were  also  pointed  out. 

THIRD    DAY. 

Thursday,  Jan.  20,  1859. 

The  report  of  the  special  committee  to  propose 
a  plan  of  operations  for  the  ensuing  year  was 
considered  in  committee  of  the  whole,  and  a  wide 
range  of  subjects  was  proposed  from  which  to 
select  such  as  should  be  referred  to  sub-commit- 
tees for  their  investigation. 

The  Board  probably  continued  its  settings 
through  one  or  two  more  days,  but  an  engage- 
ment out  of  the  State  deprived  us  of  the  pleas- 
ure of  remaining  with  it.  Its  concluding  business 
we  must  give  at  another  time. 


THE  "WIND. 

A  truly  mysterious  agent  is  the  wind,  viewless 
itself,  yet  having  an  eye  withal  toward  which  if 
one  finds  himself  moving  he  will  be  sure  to  feel 
its  force  if  he  does  not  see  its  form.  It  is  strong- 
armed  also,  beating  down  opposition  with  relent- 
less strength.  Its  voice  is  terrible  sometimes, 
and  sometimes  softer  than  a  flute.  Now  it  has 
the  plaint  of  an  fuolian  harp  ;  th'-n  life-like  whis- 
tles loud  and  clear.  It  sobs  among  the  pine  cones, 
rustles  in  chestnut's  summer  leaves,  and  rattles 
in  the  bare  branches  and  falling  foliage  of  the 
autumn.  Almost  noiselessly  does  this  invisible 
tenant  of  the  space  above  us  seem  to  creep, 
though  in  fact  unseen,  along  the  waving  grass 
and  corn,  which  bend  in  reverence  as  it  passes. 

The  wind  has  been  said  already  to  have  an 
eye.  It  has  breath,  too,  now  smiling  in  the  siroc- 
co or  simoon,  now  cutting  down  men  with  the 
norther  and  prostrating  in  the  hurricane.  Gen- 
erally it  may  be  inferred  that  it  possesses  a  good 
character.  The  common  saying  that  it  is  an  il. 
wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good,  implies  that 
usually  it  is  a  good  creature  enough.  It  blows 
our  vessels  to  pieces  sometimes,  indeed,  but 
then,  how  many  more  does  it  blow,  with  their 
rich  freight  of  men  and  merchandise,  across  the 
oceans?  Winds  derive  their  character,  as  men 
do,  from  the  country  of  their  origin.  Those 
from  the  land  of  boreas  are  apt  to  be  savage  in 
their  attacks  as  the  white  bears  of  the  pole,  while 
those  from  the  tropics  softly  kiss  our  cheeks  and 
woo  us  to  repose. 

It  makes  itself  useful  in  a  thousand  ways,  one 
of  which  is  turning  mills  and  powerfully  helping 
all  sorts  of  manufacture.  As  an  entertainer  it 
is  unrivalled.  How  sublimely  it  brings  up  the 
thunder-shower ;  how  beautifully  it  floats  along 
the  sky,  the  billowy  cloud.  It  causes  the  hail  or 
rain  drop  to  patter  against  the  window  ;  and,  if 


126 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


you  are  a  good-for-nothing  sloven  or  slattern  in  farmers'  daughters,  in  Massachusetts,  have  gen- 
your  house-lieeping,  it  will  drive  the  snow  or  wa-erally  received  a  better  literary  education  than 
ter  through  the  broken  pane  or  dilapidated  roof,  farmers'   sons;    and   some   of  them   are    accom- 


While  fi-hing  in  the  lake  or  lying  under  a  shady 
tree  upon  its  banks,  the  wind  is  ever  ready  to 
amuse  one.  Noav  it  stirs  to  myriads  of  iip])les, 
running  after  one  another  over  its  surface,  and 
now  it  fans  the  lounger  with  the  big  branches  of 
the  chestnut  above  his  head. 

It  is  not  always,  however,  that  it  appears  as 
master  of  the  revels.  In  the  character  of  aven- 
ger it  now  and  then  rushes  upon  the  stage  and 
makes  its  audience  tremble.  Wide  forests  are 
instantly  laid  low  by  its  irresistible  yet  viewless 
arm  ;  dwellings  torn  asunder  and  crushed  be- 
neath its  weight ;  men  and  animals  are  lifted  up 
and  whirled  about  like  snow-flakes  in  a  winter's 
storm.     So  it  is  on  the  land. 

At  sea  its  power  is  terrific.  The  ocean  is  lashed 
into  rolling  mountains.  Earth  and  the  heavens 
meet  and  mingle  together  in  night  and  chaos. 
The  elementa  put  forth  their  voices,  but  above 
all  their  horrible  thunder  the  wind  rides  trium- 
phant, and  utters  its  trumpet  summons  to  the 
universal  uproar  of  battle.  It  rages,  it  screams, 
it  shrieks.  Over  all  other  sounds  the  blast  of 
the  invisible  is  heard  ;  and  that  power  which  is 
the  cause  of  the  boiling  of  the  deep,  the  agony 
of  the  cracking  ship,  yet  is  itself  forever  unseen. 
— Neicark  Daily  Advertiser. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
FEMALE  EDUCATION.* 
BY   WILSON   FLAGG. 

Thus  far  the  education  of  ycung  men  has  been 
the  principal  theme  of  discouise,  but  the  intel- 
lectual improvement  of  the  other  sex  must  not 
be  disregarded.  The  interest  and  happiness  of 
the  female  sex  are  not  to  be  overlooked  in  our 
schemes  for  advancing  any  department  of  busi- 
ness. Welfare  must  not  be  sacrificed  to  wealth, 
if  the  two  are  incompatible;  and  it  is  better  that 
the  farmer's  crops  should  suffer,  than  the  mem- 
bers of  his  household.  But  the  two  things  are 
aids  to  one  another,  and  the  generality  of  pleas- 
ant, rural  homes  are  connected  with  well- culti- 
vated farms,  and  he  who  pursues  a  liberal  and 
progressive  system  of  agriculture  is  commonly 
the  generous  father  of  a  happy  family.  No  man, 
however,  is  likely  to  be  a  successful  farmer,  if  his 
wife  or  housekeeper  be  not  well- instructed  in  all 
that  concerns  domestic  economy.  Yet  the  aim 
of  our  endeavors  is  not  the  training  of  young 
women  to  be  patient  drudges,  who  are  desti^  ed 
to  be  farmers'  wives.  It  is  sufficient  for  their 
practical  education,  that  they  gain,  with  habits  of 
neatness  and  industry,  a  good  knowledge  of  house- 
wifery and  the  arts  of  the  dairy.  But  something 
must  be  added  to  these  qualifications,  to  make 
them  intelligent  mothers  and  valuable  members 
of  society,  as  something  must  be  added  to  the 
farmer's  practical  knowledge,  to  render  him 
useful  and  respectable  citizen. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common   observation   that 


*  This  Essay  on  Female  Education  is  the  Supplement  to  the 
author's  "Prize  Essay  on  Agricultural  Education,"  but  wa: 
omiifed  by  the  Trustees  in  theiv  publications.  It  is  now  pub 
lished  far  the  first  time. 


plished  female  scholars,  whose  brothers  are  very 
deficient  in  knowledge.  The  daughters,  perceiv- 
ing the  necessity  of  preparing  themselves  for 
some  em])loyment  away  from  home,  have  chosen, 
in  numerous  instances,  to  be  educa'ed  for  teach- 
ing a  school,  while  their  brothers  have  let  them- 
selves as  journeymen,  to  other  farmers,  or  have 
learned  a  mechanical  art.  We  have  never  yet 
observed,  however,  that  these  youi  g  women  were 
unfitted,  by  their  literary  acquirements,  to  be  good 
housekeepers  ;  but  we  have  known  many  of  the 
young  men,  who,  on  account  of  their  ignorance, 
were  miserable  farmers. 

Useful  knowledge  does  not  foster  a  silly  pride; 
and  though  studious  habits  may  partially  inca- 
pacitate one  for  labor,  they  do  not  beget  idleness 
or  negligence.  These  are  often  the  afli'ectations 
of  one  who  has  the  vanity  to  imitate  the  sup- 
posed eccentricities  of  genius;  and  they  are  com- 
monly oi)served  in  those  who  are  wanting  in  na- 
tive good  sense — that  intellectual  jewel,  which  is 
as  rare  as  genius,  and  infinitely  more  valuable. 
Some  of  the  best  housekeepers  we  have  ever 
known,  surpassed  all  their  neighbors  in  mental 
cultivation,  and  compensated  for  their  want  of 
physical  strength  by  their  superior  management. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  farmer's  daughter  is  often 
disqualified  for  the  performance  of  duties  devolv- 
ing upon  a  farmer's  wife,  by  practising  some 
manual  art  that  leads  her  into  the  city,  or  by  em- 
ployment in  a  factory.  We  are  also  persuaded 
that  a  young  man  is  more  likely  to  acquire  a  dis- 
taste for  farming,  by  servir;g  four  years  in  a  dry 
goods  store,  than  by  studying  four  years  at  col- 
lege. It  is  at  the  footstool  of  science  that  one 
learns  to  venerate  the  pi  w,  while  trade  too  of- 
ten generates  a  taste  only  for  the  frivolities  of 
town  life. 

No  evil,  we  think,  is  likely  to  arise  from  educat- 
ing farm.ers'  girls  to  the  highest  point  that  is 
compatible  with  their  attainment  of  practical  in- 
formation. And  it  may  be  n  marked,  that  as  the 
employments  of  women  in  this  country  are  chiefly 
within  doors,  there  is  less  necessity  that  they 
should  possess  that  robust  vigor,  which  is  re- 
quired by  the  labors  of  the  other  sex.  The  evil 
that  arises  from  the  influence  of  study  and  other 
sedentary  occupations  upon  the  jjhysical  constitu- 
tion, is  more  compatil)le  with  feminine  than  with 
masculine  occupations.  It  is  also  well  known  that 
the  strongest  women  are  not  the  best  housewives, 
nor  the  strongest  men  the  best  farmers.  Good 
health  and  a  symmetrical  development  of  the 
form,  are  of  more  value,  in  the  present  state  of 
society,  than  mere  muscular  strength.  The  pub- 
lic are  prone  to  consider  these  two  qualities  as 
identical ;  nothing  is  more  common,  however, 
than  to  find  stout,  muscular  people  who  are  pre- 
disposed to  certain  diseases,  from  which  those  of 
a  more  slender  habit  are  free.  Even  pulmonary 
consumption  is  not  confined  to  persons  of  infe- 
rior muscular  power;  though  it  will  not  be  de- 
nied, that  health  and  strength  are  to  a  certain 
extent  mutually  dependent,  and  that  the  physical 
powers  must  be  cultivated  by  exercise,  or  the 
health  will  decline.  It  is  more  important,  how- 
ever, to  preserve  the  soundness  of  the  brain  and 
the  vital   organs,  by  good  air,  generous  living, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


127 


temperance  and  cheerfulness,  than  to  strengthen 
the  muscles  by  labor  or  gymnastics. 

A  certain  amount  of  physical  delicacy  in  a  wo- 
man is  pleasing  to  the  other  sex,  especially  to 
those  who  are  educated  and  refined.  Hence,  in 
proportion  as  farmers  are  intellectually  informed, 
will  ihey  demand  in  their  wives  an  amount  of 
delicacy  of  person,  which  may  be  incompatible 
■with  their  abilty  to  perform  the  laborious  tasks 
which  have  usually  devolved  upon  the  mistress 
of  a  working-man's  family.  This  is  a  matter  for 
serious  consideration.  If  our  farmers'  wives 
were  to  become,  on  the  average,  as  feeble  as  those 
individuals  of  the  sex  who  have  never  been  ac- 
customed to  any  kind  of  labor,  we  should  be  ex- 
posed to  national  degeneracy.  Yet  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  direct  tendency  of  improving  the 
social  condit'on  of  any  class  is  to  diminish  their 
physical  power,  though  they  may  be  improved 
in  health  and  symmetrical  development.  It  is 
important,  therefore,  to  determine  whether  the 
amount  of  general  health  may  not  be  increased, 
by  certain  improvements  in  our  social  habits,  so 
as  to  compensate  for  this  infirmity  in  animal 
strength.  I 

We  are  disposed  to  look  upon  the  subject  with 
favorable  hopes,  when  we  consider  that  as  society 
relinquishes  the  laborious  habits  which  were  ne- 
cessary at  an  earlier  period,  it  adopts  the  more 
prudent  and  healthful  customs  of  a  better  civili-  j 
zation.  For  centuries  past  the  grand  causes  of 
disease  have  been  excessive  hardship  and  imper- 
fect sustenance  among  the  lower  classes,  causing 
the  destruction  of  the  individual ;  and  indolence 
and  luxury  among  the  higher  classes,  causing  a 
degeneracy  of  the  race.  Intemperate  drinking, 
at  the  same  time,  has  prevailed  among  all  class- 
es, and  produced  more  disease  than  all  other 
causes.  As  civilization  advances,  these  sources 
of  disease  are  diminished,  because  the  most  of 
our  vices,  especially  that  of  drunkenness,  origi- 1 
nated  in  the  customs  of  a  barbarous  age,  and  are 
lessened  as  we  improve  in  knowledge.  At  the 
present  time,  intemperance  is  most  prevalent 
among  the  rude  and  ignorant,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  higher  classes  are  not  entirely 
free  from  it.  The  tendency  of  a  higher  civiliza-  \ 
tion,  therefore,  is  to  ameliorate  disease,  no  less| 
than  to  improve  the  muscular  strength.  As  the 
refinements  of  life  are  multiplied,  the  injurious 
vices  are  diminished,  and  man  improves  in  health, 
in  symmetry  of  development,  in  intellectual  pow- 
er, and  as  the  best  statistical  tables  show,  in  Ion-; 
gevity,  while  he  degenerates  from  the  hardy  vigor 
of  his  ancestors. 

We  speak  of  these  matters  in  this  connection, 
because  women  are  more  liable  than  men,  to  suf-J 
fer  from  the  want  of  those  exercises  that  strength-  i 
en  and  invigorate  the  frame.  If  the  sex,  how-' 
ever,  are  led  to  the  adoption  of  habits,  by  which 
they  avoid  the  causes  of  disease;  if  they  strength- j 
en  the  vital  organs  by  exercises  which  are  yet  in- 
sufficient to  produce  great  muscular  power,  we 
need  not  be  fearful  of  the  general  consequences. 
The  farmer,  with  the  aid  of  improved  agricultu- 
ral machinery,  is  not  obliged  to  toil  so  severely 
as  his  more  hardy  predecessors,  to  obtain  an 
equal  amount  of  profit.  The  female  members  of 
the  farmer's  house  enjoy  similar  advantages,  com- 
pared with  those  of  earlier  times  ;  and  with  less 
animal  power,  are  able  to  accomplish  superior  re- 


sults. While  we  would  carefully  guard  every 
class  of  the  community,  especially  the  rural  class, 
from  all  eff'eminating  habits,  we  are  willing  to 
admit  that  there  is  no  danger  of  real  degeneracy, 
while  the  general  health  of  a  class  is  improving  ; 
especially,  if  there  be  a  gradual  gain  of  intellec- 
tual power  and  longevity. 

Volumes  of  cant  have  been  written  and  spoken 
on  almost  every  suliject,  and  cant  has  been  freely 
used  in  discussing  up  in  female  education.  Too 
much  praise  has  been  bestowed  upon  mere  "smart 
women,"  as  if  women  were  horses,  and  were  to 
be  esteemed  in  proportion  as  they  are  able  to 
perform  an  extraordinary  amount  of  brute  labor. 
A  young  farmer  who  marries  one  of  these  smart 
women,  is  regarded  as  peculiarly  fortunate,  be- 
cause he  is  thereby  saved  the  expense  of  some 
hired  help.  Her  intellect  is  not  taken  into  the 
account.  We  might,  with  equal  reason,  congrat- 
ulate the  wife  of  a  man  who  can  perform  the  la- 
bor of  an  ox,  because  the  family  is  thereby  saved 
the  expense  of  an  additional  farm-laborer,  though 
all  his  neighbors,  by  expending  more  intellect  on 
their  farms,  are  more  thrifty  than  he.  We  can- 
not set  too  high  a  value  on  capacity  for  labor, 
when  it  is  united  with  intellect ;  but  we  do  not 
always  consider  that  unintelligent  labor  cannot 
avail  much,  except  in  a  menial  or  subordinate 
situation. 

In  reviewing  the  housekeeping  qualifications 
of  our  female  acquaintances,  several  instances 
will  probably  occur  to  almost  every  one's  recol- 
lection, of  women  of  feeble  frame,  who  have  per- 
formed the  duties  of  a  farmer's  household  with 
admirable  success.  She  who  perfectly  under- 
stands the  way  in  which  every  thing  ought  to  be 
done,  can  always  find  hands  for  the  work.  There 
is  light  work  enough  in  the  house  to  keep  one's 
feeble  hands  always  diligently  employed,  while 
the  head  is  directing  the  tasks  of  others. 

Our  aim  in  making  these  remarks  is  not  to 
discourage  any  rational  attempts  to  preserve  that 
hardy  vigor,  which,  if  not  absolutely  essential  to 
health,  is  still  a  great  blessing  to  either  sex.  But 
we  would  discourage  that  vulgar  contempt  for 
the  refinements  of  life,  which  we  observe  in  many 
places,  and  the  notion  that  if  a  young  woman  is 
well-educated  and  refined  in  her  taste,  she  can- 
not be  fit  for  a  farmer's  wife.  It  is  true,  that 
such  a  woman  would  demand  more  intellect  than 
one  with  less  culture  would  require  in  a  husband; 
and  this  very  circumstance  is  calculated  to  ele- 
vate the  farmer's  occupation,  by  imposing  upon 
those  who  follow  it  the  necessity  of  more  intel- 
lectual culture,  to  be  acceptable  to  the  fair  sex. 
Such  a  woman  would  also  demand  more  educa- 
tion for  her  children,  and  thus  in  a  great  variety 
of  ways  would  her  influence  tend  to  advance  the 
respectability  of  farming  and  of  farmers.  The 
refinements  of  life  are  too  commonly  classed  in 
the  same  category  with  the  vanities  of  fashion  ; 
but  there  is  this  remarkable  difference  between 
them,  that  while  fashion  is  idolized  by  all  the  vul- 
gar, the  refinements  of  life  are  found  only  in  fam- 
ilies of  superior  cultivation. 

Let  our  farmers'  daughters,  therefore,  be  well- 
educated,  to  save  them  from  the  love  of  vulgar 
amusements  and  extravagance,  from  bigotry  and 
frivolity,  and  to  make  them  effectual  aids  in  ad- 
vancing the  interests  of  agriculture,  by  their  in- 
fluence over  the  other  sex.     Let  us  endeavor  to 


128 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


dispel  those  barbarous  notions,  that  all  the  edu- 
cation a  farmer's  wife  should  possess,  must  be 
confined  to  the  dairy  and  the  kitchen  ;  that  wo- 
man was  created  but  to  be  a  servant  to  man,  and 
to  administer  to  the  physical  wants  of  his  family. 
When  we  meet  with  a  woman  of  superior  educa- 
tion, we  find  one  who  is  attached  to  rural  life, 
and  who,  if  she  were  married  to  a  farmer,  would 
administer  his  affairs  in  the  most  acceptable  man- 
ner. She  would  also  render  his  house  agreeable 
by  her  conversation  and  her  good  sense,  and  by 
enlisting  his  sympathy  with  her  own  love  of  na- 
ture, make  him  more  contented  and  happy,  when 
employed  at  home  or  in  the  field. 

Another  important  consideration  is  the  power 
that  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  moth- 
er, to  afford  her  children  a  superior  domestic  ed- 
ucation. A  mother  enjoys  more  o[)portunities 
than  the  father  for  exercising  influence  upon  the 
children.  It  might  be  allowed,  therefore,  that 
we  should  first  educate  the  daughters,  rather  than 
the  sons  of  farmers,  even  if  the  interest  of  the 
latter  were  the  only  object  of  our  concern.  A 
mother,  who  is  capable  of  instructing  her  chil- 
dren, seldom  fails  to  exercise  her  capacity  for 
their  benefit ;  but  the  same  cannot  be  so  gener- 
ally said  of  fathers.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the 
talents  of  the  father  as  often  descend  to  the  off- 
spring as  those  of  the  mother,  though  a  contrary 
notion  prevails ;  but  it  will  be  admitted  by  all, 
that  the  mother's  ignorance  and  the  mother's  ed- 
ucation are  more  generally  transmitted  to  the  off- 
spring than  those  of  the  father. 

But  it  is  not  the  literary  education  of  young 
women  of  the  rural  classes  that  should  be  only 
regarded.  Inducements  should  be  offered  to  them 
to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  theory 
of  agriculture.  The  knowledge  of  the  intelli- 
gent and  believing  wife  might  often  convert  the 
ignorant  and  unbelieving  husband  to  faith  in  new 
improvements,  and  induce  him  to  learn  and  to 
be  progressive.  Her  instructions  to  the  children, 
if  she  could  not  influence  her  husband,  might  re- 
deem them  from  the  bondage  of  ignorance,  and 
lead  them  to  improve  upon  their  father's  prac- 
tice. The  farmer's  wife  should  be  well  acquaint- 
ed with  the  farm  and  its  wants ;  she  should  have 
sufficient  practical  knowledge  of  agriculture,  to 
be  able,  if  it  were  necessary,  to  superintend  the 
exercises  of  the  farm.  A  woman  does  not  unsex 
herself  by  extraordinary  acquisitions  of  knowl- 
edge; but  rather  by  assuming  the  masculine  man- 
ners and  habits  of  the  other  sex. 

In  the  preparation  and  distribution  of  tracts, 
the  educational  wants  of  the  female  sex  must  not 
be  overlooked.  There  are  some  studies  and  ex- 
ercises that  are  supposed  to  be  peculiarly  adapted 
to  female  taste  and  genius.  This  is  said  of  bot- 
any, which  certainly  enjoys  more  favor  among 
young  women ;  and  perhaps  it  is  only  through 
their  influence,  that  young  men  could  be  induced 
to  give  any  general  attention  to  it.  But  it  is 
needless  to  dwell  any  longer  upon  the  share  which 
woman  may  have  in  imparting  a  taste  for  the 
study  of  nature,  and  for  the  refinements  of  life, 
to  the  other  sex.  We  may  remark,  in  conclu- 
sion, that  if  we  would  improve  farmers  and  farm- 
ers' sons,  in  taste  and  in  the  amenities  of  socie- 
ty, they  must  receive  their  culture  through  the 
female  sex  ;  but  all  practical  knowledge  and  tact 
must  proceed  from  their  formal  experience  and 
o'->servat.'  ^n. 


For  the  New  England  Fdrmer. 

FARMEHS,  LOVS  YOUR  CALLING,  AND 
MAKE  YOUR  HOME3  PLBASAiVT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Probably  mine  is  a  hackneyed 
subject,  but  as  it  seems  important,  it  may  be  well 
to  "keep  it  before  the  people." 

When  we  look  around  over  many  farms  of  our 
land,  and  observe  the  absence  of  improvements, 
the  indift'erence  paid  to  making  things  convenient 
about  them,  and  'he  absence  of  shrubbery,  and 
shade  trees,  and  sundry  fixings  about  the  house 
to  beautify  and  give  an  idea  of  a  "pleasant  home," 
we  see  that  some  do  not  appreciate  the  beauties 
of  landscapes,  trees  and  flowers,  or  are  disposed 
to  make  the  most  of  the  things  around  them  in 
life,  so  far  as  rural  enjoyment  is  concerned.  But 
some  may  say  that  c>immon  farmers  having  noth- 
ing but  their  farms,  which  may  be  small,  cannot 
afford  to  spend  large  sums  of  money  like  the  rich, 
in  beautifying  their  grounds  ;  true,  yet  it  costs 
but  little  to  set  out  a  few  shade  trees,  and  shrub- 
bery, in  a  tasty  manner,  and  to  have  the  rose, 
the  dahlia  and  the  peony  to  blossom  in  the  yard. 
I  am  aware  that  many  live  on  farms  not  their  own, 
and  so  cannot  be  expected  to  make  those  im- 
provements that  they  would  on  farms  of  their 
own.  But  some  hire  farms  when  they  may  be 
the  proprietors  of  small  estates,  merely  because 
they  may  get  better  returns  from  the  banks  than 
they  could  from  farms,  perhaps,  and  so  live  on, 
farming  for  gain  without  being  in  love  with  their 
calling,  and  ignorant  of  the  superior  enjoyments 
of  those  intelligent  farmers  who  live  on  their  own 
acres,  and  take  pleasure  in  endeavoring  to  im- 
prove their  farms,  and  in  rendering  their  homes 
pleasant  and  happy  places,  and  fit  abodes  of  pro- 
gressive farmers.  E.  T.  C. 

Portsmouth,  R.  I. 

Remarks. — Excellent.  Indoctrinate  the  peo- 
ple with  these  ideas,  and  the  price  of  good  land 
in  New  England  will  advance  twenty  per  cent, 
in  less  than  five  years. 


For  the  Nair  England  Farmer. 
POTATO  CULTURE. 

I  have  always  noticed  in  this  section  that  po- 
tatoes planted  on  old  pasture  or  mowing  land, 
newly  broken  up,  and  planted  without  manure, 
were  nearly  or  quite  exempt  from  the  rot,  and 
that  some  particular  varieties  have  never  rotted 
in  the  field,  though  heavily  manured.  These  facts 
I  cannot  exactly  harmonize  with  Mr,  Reed's 
theory.  I  read  with  hope  the  plan  your  Concord 
correpondent  was  so  fortunate  to  peruse,  and 
practice  with  success.  I  inserted  peas  in  the  po- 
tato according  to  directions,  and  waited  patiently 
the  result,  which  I  am  sorry  to  say  was  not  very 
favorable.  Several  varieties  which  I  tried,  rot- 
ted just  as  bad  as  those  planted  without  peas.  I 
cut  the  tops  from  some  soon  after  they  commenced 
drying,  and  covered  the  stubs  with  earth.  I  dug 
part  of  them,  and  found  only  one  affected,  and 
that  but  slightly.  My  hired  man  dug  the  rest, 
but  said  there  were  no  rotten  ones  among  them. 
The  same  varieties  in  other  hills  and  rows,  were 
one  fourth  perhaps  affected.      W.  I.  SiMONDS. 

Boxhury,  Vt.,  Dec.  22,  1858. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


129 


^f-^-.'n      ^%'%^!^ 


DESIQIT   rOK  A   FAKM-HOUSB  OF   THE   BUBAL  GOTHIC  STYLE. 


The  accompanying  drawings  are  a  design  and 
plans  for  a  farm-house  of  the  Rural  Gothic  style, 
with  convenienceci  for  an  estate  of  considerable 
size.  The  designs  were  furnished  expressly  for 
our  columns,  by  Geo.  E.  Harney,  Esq.,  Archi- 
tect, Lynn,  Mass. 

The  accommodation  is  as  follows :  The  first 
floor  contains  No.  1,  a  porch,  open  on  three  sides, 
and  communicating  on  the  fourth  with  the  hall 
No.  2,  8  feet  wide,  and  extending  through  the 
house,  with  a  door  at  each  end.  This  hall  con- 
tains stairs  to  the  chambers,  and  opens  into  the 
principal  rooms  of  the  house.  No.  3,  parlor  15 
ft.  square;  No.  4,  living  room  15  by  IG;  No.  5, 
bedroom  13  ft.  by  15;  No.  6,  bedroom  10  ft.  by 
15.     This  room,  if  desired,  may  be  used  for  a  li- 


brary. No.  7  is  a  back  entry  containing  the  ser- 
vants' stairs  to  chamber  and  cellar,  and  opening 
into  the  kitchen.  No.  8,  18  ft.  by  18.  Connecting 
with  the  kitchen  are  two  large  china  closets 
Nos.  9  and  10,  and  a  store-room,  No.  11 ;  No  12 
is  a  pantry,  7  ft.  by  8,  opening  upon  the  small 
veranda,  No.  13 ;  No.  14  is  a  dairy  or  milk-room 
8  ft.  square,  and  No.  15  is  a  wash-room  or  scul- 
lery of  the  same  size. 

The  second  story  contains  seven  good-sized 
bed-rooms  with  their  necessary  closets.  Those 
in  the  L  being  entirely  distinct  from  the  main 
body,  and  reached  by  a  different  flight  of  stairs, 
may  be  used  for  servants  and  hired  men.  The 
attics,  if  not  needed  at  present,  may  be  left  un- 
finished, and  used  for  drying  purposes.     The  cel- 


GEOUKD  FLOOE  PLAN. 


130 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


lar  occupying  the  whole  of  the  space  under  the 
house  should  be  divided  into  several  apartments 
corresponding  to  those  on  the  first  floor,  to  be 
used  for  storage,  fuel,  &c. 

Construction. — Although  we  greatly  prefer 
stone  or  brick  for  the  construction  of  such  build- 
ings, yet  as  there  seems  to  be  such  a  prejudice  in 
favor  of  wood,  (especially  in  New  England,)  we 
nave  designed  the  above  to  be  built  of  that  ma- 
terial. For  outside  finish,  we  should  prefer  plank 
stout  inch-and-a-quarter  plank — put  on  in  the 
vertical  manner,  and  the  joints  covered  with  two 
and  a  half  inch  battens.  The  ornamental  por- 
tions, window-hoods,  verge-boards,  Szc,  should 
also  be  made  from  inch-and-a-quarter  plank. 

We  have  designed  the  windows  to  be  filled  with 
lozenge  or  diamond  panes,  but  these,  although 
more  in  accordance  with  the  style  of  the  house 
may  be  omitted,  and  rectangular  squares  inserted 
in  their  place. 

Cost. — Built  in  the  above  manner,  the  interior 
finish  of  a  plain,  inexpensive  character,  this 
house  would  cost,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston, 
from  $3800  to  $4000.  G.  E.  H. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
VARIETIES  OF  PEAHS. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
sending  to  you  a  list  of  those  varieties  of  pear 
which  have  fruited  well  the  past  season  in  our 
locality.  There  is  probably  no  fruit  tree  which 
varies  so  much  upon  different  soils  ;  each  variety, 
we  may  almost  say,  has  a  peculiarity  of  its  own  ; 
hence  the  Bartlett  will  assimilate  to  itself  mate- 
rials for  an  abundant  crop  in  almost  all  good 
soils,  while  the  Beurre  d'Aremberg,  Diel,  Wil- 
kinson and  Lewis  require  a  strong  and  deep  soil. 
It  is  hardly  possible  for  any  single  individual  to 
decide  upon  this  desideratum,  hence  the  neces- 
sity for  an  interchange  of  opinion  among  the 
most  experienced  of  our  cultivators.  There  are 
some  varieties  which  bear  the  largest  and  best 
fruit  upon  young  trees,  the  Flemish  Beauty,  for 
example,  while  the  Glout  Morceau  require  years 
of  bearing  before  they  will  develop  good  fruit ; 
there  are  others  which  produce  the  best  specimens 
when  worked  upon  our  largest  standard  trees ; 
the  Seckle,  for  instance.  A  want  of  knowledge 
of  these  peculiarities  accounts  in  a  measure  for 
the  various  and  conflicting  statements  made  at 
Pomological  Conventions.  At  a  recent  meeting 
two  cultivators  living  within  20  miles  of  each 
other,  their  grounds  being  exposed  to  the  sea, 
with  similar  aspects,  were  diametrically  opposite 
m  their  statements  of  the  Napoleon  pear ;  with 
one  it  was  "very  poor  in  quality  and  withal,  a  shy 
bearer  ;"  with  the  other  its  "peculiarly  fine  qual- 
ity was  never  surpassed,  as  well  as  its  abundant 
bearing." 

From  my  own  experience  of  the  Napoleon,  I 
have  always  found  it  poor  and  astringent  when 
grown  upon  a  warm  and  sandy  loam,  while  upon 
a  strong  and  retentive  soil  I  have  seen  it  juicy 
and  fine.  The  Belle  Lucrative  as  a  fall  pear,  and 
the  Bloodgood  as  a  summer  fruit,  when  grown 


upon  our  warm  and  light  soil,  we  have  found  to 
be  the  two  best  of  their  season.  There  are  but 
few  varieties  which  are  equally  good  in  all  soils, 
where  the  tree  will  grow,  the  diversity  of  soil 
and  culture  necessary  for  some  varieties  must 
influence  cultivators  in  forming  a  list,  and  this 
diversity  of  soil  and  culture  should  be  given,  to 
enable  them  to  make  a  selection  for  their  locali- 
ty. "I  have  known,"  says  one,  "fruits  which  were 
very  fine  immediately  around  the  spot  where  they 
originated  ;  but  worthless  when  planted  a  few 
miles  away  in  another  exposure."  Now  this  word 
exposure,  as  well  as  the  often  misapijlied  word 
acclimation,  have  little  to  do  with  facts ;  the 
want  of  a  congenial  soil  has  more  to  do  with  the 
matter  than  exposure. 

The  following  pears  have  generally  fruited  well 
in  my  vicii.ity,  particularly  in  the  season  of  1858  : 


Summer. 
Blcodgood. 
Rostiezer. 

Early  Fall. 
Bartlett. 
Anrirews. 
Golden  Beurre  of  Bilboa. 

Fall. 
Beurre  Bosc. 
Urbaniste. 
Belle  Lucrative. 
Louise  Bonne  of  Jersey. 
Thompson. 
Seckel. 

Salem,  Dec.  21th,  1858. 


Native  Fall,  very  Hardy 
Trees. 
Bleeker's  Meadow. 
Buffum. 
Fulton. 

Bost  Eating  Winter. 
Winter  Nelis. 
Lawrence. 

Winter  Baking. 
Pound 
Black  Pear  of  Worcester. 

Fall  Baking. 
Rushmore's  Bon  (Jhrelien. 

J.  M.  Ives. 


For  the  New  England  Fame. 
EIjECTIIICITY". 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  notice  in  your  paper  of  Dec. 
25th  some  inquiries  made  by  Non-Electricity,  in 
reference  to  ventilation  and  electricity,  and  has- 
ten to  answer  him  at  my  earliest  opportunity. 

His  several  questions,  in  substance,  are,  "Why 
is  it  that  a  building  well  ventilated  will  not  be 
struck  by  lightning?"  I  answer,  simply  because 
the  cause  is  removed,  and  where  there  is  no  cause 
there  can  be  no  eff'ect. 

The  atmosphere  on  the  outside  of  the  building 
is  not  changed  by  ventilaung  the  building  any 
more  than  the  waters  of  the  ocean  would  be 
changed  by  turning  into  it  a  tub  of  fresh  water, 
but  by  ventilating  you  do  change  the  air  inside 
of  the  building  and  make  it  in  the  same  condition 
of  that  outside,  thus  taking  advantage  of  one  of 
the  laws  that  govern  electricity,  viz.,  "Likes 
have  no  affinity  for  each  other,"  thus  avoiding 
the  disastrous  eff'ect  of  natural  equilibration  when 
one  of  the  bodies  is  confined. 

Groton,  Jan.  12,  1859.  ELECTRICITY. 


Cement  tor  Broken  China. — Take  a  very 
thick  solution  of  gum  arable  dissolved  in  water, 
and  stir  into  it  plaster  of  Paris  until  the  mixture 
becomes  a  viscuous  paste.  Apply  it  with  a  brush 
to  the  fractured  edges,  and  stick  them  together. 
In  three  days  the  article  cannot  be  broken  in  the 
same  place.  The  whiteness  of  the  cement  renders 
it  doubly  valuable. 

^ff'  Our  very  manner  is  a  thing  of  importance. 
A  kind  no  is  often  more  agreeable  than  a  rough 
yes. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


131 


CKB3HIBE  AGRICULTUEAL  SOCIETY. 

On  Friday,  the  21st  inst.,  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  attending  another  meeting  of  the  Cheshire 
County,  N.  H.,  Agricultural  Society,  in  pursuance 
of  their  plan  to  ''have  gatherings  and  discussions 
in  various  portions  of  the  county,  instead  of  ex- 
pending all  their  funds  in  paying  premiums." 
We  look  upon  this  as  an  important  movement — 
a  movement  better  calculated  to  promote  the  in- 
terests of  the  cause  than  any  other  within  our 
knowledge.  It  is  an  example  for  Massachusetts, 
which  we  hope  all  her  agricultural  associations 
will  not  be  slow  to  adopt 

The  meeting  was  held  in  one  of  the  churches 
of  the  beautiful  town  of  Marlborough,  N.  H., 
about  five  miles  from  Keene.  The  exercises 
commenced  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  with  ad- 
journments for  dinner  and  tea,  were  continued 
until  after  9  in  the  evening,  and  notwithstanding 
the  rain  and  extremely  bad  travelling,  there  were 
good  audiences  during  the  whole  time  of  highly 
interested  men  and  women. 

The  subjects  under  discussion  were,  "The 
Grasses,  Grains  and  Stock" — but  most  of  the  af- 
ternoon was  devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  Grass- 
es. The  President  of  the  Society,  Gen.  Nelson 
Converse,  occupied  the  chair,  and  with  happy 
facility  called  up  those  to  whom  no  special  duty 
had  been  assigned.  All  the  other  officers  of  the 
Society  were  present,  and  the  time  between  the 
regular  addresses  was  occupied  in  inquiries,  and 
in  the  expression  of  numerous  valuable  facts  and 
suggestions  by  practical  men.  In  these  discus- 
sions Messrs.  Leverett,  May  and  Elliot,  of 
Keene,  Dr.  Richardson,  Messrs.  Harvey,  Hol- 
MAN  and  Wiswell,  of  Marlborough,  Col.  Reed, 
of  Swanzey,  and  others  whose  names  we  did  not 
learn,  took  an  active  part, — the  President  occa- 
sionally eliciting  experiences  too  good  to  be  lost, 
by  his  happy  manner  of  getting  intelligent,  but 
too  modest  farmers,  upon  their  feet. 

There  is  no  doubt  on  our  mind  but  this  is  the 
true  mode  of  expending  a  considerable  portion 
of  their  funds,  as  a  hundred  dollars  will  go  far 
towards  holding  a  meeting  in  every  portion  of 
the  county.  Like  the  morning  paper,  it  brings 
the  intelligence  desired  to  the  vo^y  homes  of  the 
people,  and  lays  it  before  them  in  an  informal 
and  agreeable  manner.  But  more  than  all  else, 
it  leads  them  to  express  their  own  views,  public- 
ly, upon  matters  of  vital  importance  to  their  in- 
terests, and  introduces  a  spirit  for  discussion  and 
investigation  which  will  not  fail  to  work  out  the 
happiest  results. 

We  look  with  impatience  for  the  projection 
of  similar  plans  in  our  own  Commonwealth. 

The  village  of  Marlborough  is  a  beautiful  one, 
romantically  nestling  among  the  hills,  with  the 
Grand   Monadnock    ever   keeping   "watch   and 


ward"  over  it,  and  breaking  the  progress  of  the 
fierce  northeasters  that  would  otherwise  pour 
themselves  into  its  bosom.  A  busy  little  stream, 
called  "The  Branch,"  a  tributary  of  the  Ashuelot, 
babbles  through  the  valley,  urging  the  machinery 
by  which  is  wrought  out  all  manner  of  children's 
toys,  and  wooden  ware.  The  village  is  remarka- 
able  for  the  uniformly  neat  appearance  of  its 
buildings,  for  the  air  of  thrift  and  comfort  which 
pervades  them  all,  and  for  the  number  of  young 
shade  trees  which  line  the  roadside,  and  give 
taste  and  refinement  to  the  dwellings.  It  has, 
also,  one  of  the  best  hotels  in  New  England,  kept 
by  Asa  MAYNARD,Esq.,  where  the  traveller  will 
not  only  find  tha  utmost  neatness  and  order  in 
every  department,  but  his  wants  anticipated  by 
the  kind  attentions  common  at  his  own  fireside. 
Sancho  Panza  would  have  said,  perhaps,  "Bless- 
ings on  the  man  who  invented  taverns !"  We 
have  great  affection  for  a  good  old-fashioned 
country  hostlerie,  away  from  railroads  and  the 
gongs  and  other  pestering  particulars  of  cities, 
where  we  can  eat  and  chat  and  pass  the  other- 
wise lonely  hours  with  the  family,  and  be  cared 
for  and  feel  that  we  are  at  home !  Come  you 
here,  who  travel  and  climb  mountains,  and  desire 
to  get  above  the  clouds.  This  is  your  starting 
point  fv)r  the  Grand  Monadnock,  and  the  home 
of  good  cheer  while  you  ramble. 

At  9  A.  M.,  we  left  this  pleasant  spot  for  the 
station,  three  miles  distant.  There  had  been  a 
slight  fall  of  snow  the  previous  night,  and  now  the 
graceful  branches  of  the  hemlocks,  loaded  with 
pure  white  snow,  contrasting  beautifully  with  the 
lively  green  upon  which  it  rested,  bowed  them- 
selves on  either  side,  reminding  us  of  the  Eastern 
custom  of  partial  prostration,  when  those  whom 
it  is  wished  to  honor  pass  out  or  in.  Graceful 
silver  birches,  rock  maples  of  exquisite  symme- 
try, and  noble  beeches,  skirted  the  way,  while 
the  mountain  streams,  swollen  by  the  January 
thaw,  were  dancing  cheerfully  on  their  way  to 
"The  Branch,"  to  turn  out  still  more  pails  and 
tubs  and  children's  toys !  What  a  pity,  that 
some  accomplished  artist  had  not  occupied  our 
place,  who  could  have  perpetuated  this  delight- 
ful mountain  forest  view,  to  please  and  instruct 
the  thousands  who  never  will  be  blessed  by  a 
personal  contemplation  of  a  Winter  scene  among 
these  Crystal  Hills. 


Hillsborough  Society. — The  Hillsborough 
County  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Society  has 
elected  the  following  named  persons  as  its  offi- 
cers for  the  ensuing  year : 

President— P.  M.  Rossiter,  Milford. 
Kec.  *ec.— Oilman  Wheeler,  iKlford. 

Cor.  Sec H   A.  Daniels,  Milloril. 

Treasurer— Da-vit)  Stuart,  Amherst. 

Fice  Pre.-idenU — John  Dodce,  Bennington  ;  Isaac  Kimball, 
Temple;  Thos.  G.  Holbrook,  Bedford;  David  Clement,  Hadson 


132 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Makch 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SOIL  AND  CLIMATE  IN  VERMONT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  noticed  with  interest  a  com- 
munication in  your  late  issue  from  S.  R.  Hall, 
on  the  climate  and  soil  of  Orleans  County,  Vt.  It 
is  certainly  of  importance  that  the  climate  and 
soil  of  our  State,  especially  its  northern  portions, 
should  become  more  generally  known  by  your 
readers ;  and  facts,  communicated  from  such  a 
source  as  the  one  referred  to,  will  naturally  com- 
mand attention.  But  one  or  two  points  claimed 
by  Mr.  Hall  need  farther  attention.  He  says, 
"Should  the  soil  ever  deteriorate,  we  have  im- 
mense quantities  of  the  richest  variety  of  sphag- 
nous  muck,  much  of  which  lies  above  shell-marl, 
in  the  beds  of  ancient  ponds  and  barren  mead- 
ows. This  marl,  when  converted  into  lime,  and 
mixed  with  muck,  makes  a  manure  worth  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent,  more  than  cow  dung." 
Now  the  point  is  this,  if  it  be  true  that  lime 
mixed  with  muck,  which  is  found  in  great  quan- 
tities throughout  our  State,  and  even  New  Eng- 
land, forms  a  fertilizer  of  one-fifth  greater  value 
than  common  stable  manure,  it  ought  to  be  more 
generally  known.  Such  a  fertilizer,  the  materi- 
als of  which  are  so  abundant,  would  soon  bring 
about  a  new  era  in  our  agricultural  operations. 
But  in  this  matter  we  want  something  definite, 
and  fully  established  on  scientific  principles. 
We  do  not  wish  to  rely  on  hasty  conjectures 
based  on  mere  theories.  We  must  have  some- 
thing practical  and  substantial.  It  is  an  undis- 
puted fact,  that  lime  and  muck  form  a  valuable 
manure,  but  that  it  is  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent. 
more  valuable  than  stable  manure,  is  not  gener- 
ally believed.  A  matter  of  such  importance  to 
the  agriculturist  should  be  thoroughly  investi- 
gated and  fully  understood. 

Again,  your  correspondent  has  manifestly  fallen 
into  error,  where  he  quotes  from  "the  President 
of  the  County  Agricultural  Society,"  and  states 
that  the  stock  therein  mentioned,  viz.,  four  oxen, 
ten  cows  and  two  year  olds,  two  horses,  three 
colts  and  twelve  sheep,  is  "fully  equal  to  forty 
cows."  This  statement  seems  absurd,  for  where 
is  the  farm  in  Northern  Vermont,  of  one  hundred 
acres,  which  produces  sufficient  in  one  season  to 
winter  forty  cows  ?  The  amount  of  the  stock 
mentioned,  is  only  thirty-one  head,  while  a  great 
part  of  it  would  require  much  less  than  an  equal 
number  of  cows.  But  let  us  investigate  the  mat- 
ter more  closely,  taking  the  data  published  in  the 
same  number  of  the  Farmer  which  contains  Mr. 
H.'s  letter.  Four  large  oxen,  supposing  their 
weight  to  be  6000  lbs.,  (probably  a  high  estimate) 
will  require  in  six  months,  (from  1st  Nov.  to  1st 
May,)  nearly  eleven  tons  of  hay ;  ten  cows 
and  [ten — Ed.]  two  year  olds,  supposing  their 
weight  to  be  8500  lbs.,  will  need  about  twenty- 
three  tons  ;  two  horses  and  three  colts,  say  eleven 
tons ;  and  twelve  sheep,  if  their  average  weight 
be  eighty  lbs.,  about  three  tons  more.  The  whole 
foo's  up  in  round  numbers  forty-eight  tons.  Now 
forty  cows,  weighing  850  lbs.  each,  according  to 
the  same  data,  will  require  nearly  ninety-two 
tons,  sutficientto  winter  almost  double  theamount 
of  stock  mentioned  ;  or,  reckoning  them  at  an 
average  weight  of  700  lbs.,  they  must  have  sev- 
enty-five tons. 

Such  a  statement,  so  wide  of  the  truth,  ought 


not  to  pass  unnoticed,  though  it  come  from  a 
source  so  eminent.  We  should  suppose  that  Mr. 
H.,  who  has  resided  in  Orleans  County  nearly 
twenty  years,  and  who  has,  "during  that  period, 
been  several  years  engaged  in  the  geological  sur- 
vey of  the  State,"  and  who  has  "had  a  better  op- 
portunity to  compare  the  soil  in  this,  with  other 
portions  of  New  England,  and  especially  other 
poi'tlons  of  Vermont,  than,  perhaps,  any  other 
person,"  would  be  able  to  form  a  more  correct 
opinion  of  the  productiveness  of  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  acres,  and  also  a  more  correct  estimate 
of  the  comparative  quantity  of  fodder  required 
by  different  kinds  of  stock.  w. 

Brookjield,  Vt.,  Jan.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  suppose  Mr.  Hall  intended 
to  convey  the  idea  that  the  shell-marl  was  to 
make  a  component  part  of  the  fertilizer  he  speaks 
of. 

THIRD  LEGISLATIVE  AaRICULTURAI. 
MEETING. 

[Reported  by  John  C.  Moore,  for  the  N.  E.  Fariub.] 

Subject    for  Discussion — What   breed   q 
stock  is  best  adapted  for  the  purposes  of  general 
farming  ? 

The  Legislative  Agricultural  Society  met  in 
the  Representatives'  Hall,  last  Monday  evening, 
for  the  special  discussion  of  the  above  subject — 
Hon.  John  W.  Proctor,  of  Danvers,  in  the 
chair.    There  was  a  very  full  meeting. 

In  opening  the  business  of  the  meeting,  the 
Chairman  apologized  for  his  non-preparation  to 
speak  on  the  subject  for  debate,  which  was  one 
of  much  interest,  and  one  on  which  opinion  dif- 
fered. We  had  various  kinds  of  imported  cattle 
among  us,  besides  our  common  red  or  native 
stock.  Some  thought  they  had  better  cattle  from 
the  imported  descriptions  ;  but  it  was  notorious 
that  the  majority  of  our  best  cattle  were  from  this 
native  stock.  Some  upheld  that  there  were  no 
native  cattle,  as  all  came  from  imported  stock  at 
some  time.  As  well  might  it  be  said  that  there 
were  no  native  men.  As  he  understood  the  ques- 
tion, it  meant  what  class  of  cattle  would  be  best 
for  mixed  farming  ?  There  were  gentlemen  pres- 
ent who  had  had  more  enlarged  opportunity  to 
give  information  than  he  had,  consequently  he 
would  not  dilate  on  the  question,  but  call  on  Dr. 
LORING,  of  Salem,  who  had  given  much  atten- 
tion to  the  subject. 

Dr.  LoRiNG  responded.  He  had  come  to  learn 
and  not  to  teach,  for  he  was  only  a  tyro  himself 
in  the  branch  of  husbandry  under  discussion. 
Their  practical  experience  was  worth  a  world  of 
theorizings.  What  is  the  breed  of  cattle,  if  any, 
which  were  best  fitted  to  the  dairy  and  the  stall 
here  in  Massachusetts?  About  $15,000,000  in 
value  of  cattle  was  owned  in  this  State  ;  and  the 
question  might  arise  as  to  what  was  the  most 
profitable  description  to  cultivate.     The  statistics 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAR^MER. 


133 


of  the  commonwealth  showed  that  the  farmers 
aimed  at  the  perfection  of  a  dairy  stock,  and  they 
were  right ;  for  their  best  interests  lay  in  this 
feature  of  husbandry.  In  accordance  with  the 
rule  of  necessity,  farmers  designed  to  convert  their 
produce  into  butter,  cheese  and  milk.  Now  the 
question  was,  what  kind  of  cattle  was  best  for  the 
perfection  of  this  object.  We  had  heard  of  the 
old  red  cattle,  which,  in  the  ranks  of  lower  ani- 
mal life,  stood  in  the  same  rank  as  the  old  red 
man  did  compared  with  the  present  New  Eng- 
lander.  With  this  red  stock  there  was  no  rule 
by  which  like  would  produce  like.  Perfection 
amongst  that  class  of  animals  was  always  acci- 
dental, and  it  was  of  no  use  to  talk  of  scientific 
breeding  from  that  kind  of  animals,  either  for 
fattening  or  for  the  dairy.  What,  then,  could  we 
do  ?  In  Connecticut  we  might  be  told  that  the 
short-horn  cross  was  the  best ;  but  bring  it  here, 
and  it  would  soon  deteriorate.  We  had  not  fted 
for  them,  while  our  physical  circumstances  were 
adverse  to  their  profitable  rearing.  And  how 
was  it  with  the  Devons  ?  Could  any  one  ever 
say  that,  at  home,  they  were  favored  as  dairy 
stock  ?  No  !  AVith  the  exception  of  the  Ayrshire 
stock,  we  had  none  worth  our  cultivation  here  in 
Mass.  We  would  find  them  fine  healthy  cattle, 
with  a  hardy  constitution,  and  a  lacteal  develop- 
ment showing  emphatically  their  value.  As  oxen, 
they  had  all  the  advantages  that  could  be  de- 
rived ;  and  the  farmers  of  Massachusetts  would 
find  it  so  if  they  deigned  to  try.  The  Alderneys 
were  not,  in  any  respect,  a  race  of  animals  that 
could  be  adapted  to  our  wants.  Finally,  Dr. 
LoRlNG  thought  the  question  one  of  the  most 
important  that  could  be  discussed,  and  advised 
his  audience  to  get  stocks  of  cattle  on  whom  they 
could  rely  in  producing  their  like  in  regard  to 
physical  and  productive  properties.  He  related 
his  experience  as  it  proved  that  it  was  foolishness , 
to  go  into  the  process  of  correct  breeding  without 
unquestionably  pure  stock,  as  they  never  would 
produce  herds  intended  by  nature  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  farmer,  and  the  interests  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

W.  J.  BUCKMINSTER,  of  the  Plovgliman,  spoke 
in  favor  of  the  Devon  cattle,  and  did  not  expect 
ever  to  see  better  for  all  general  purposes,  or  for 
size  and  adaptability  to  the  wants  of  the  farm. 
One  point  about  them  was  that  they  were  easily 
kept  and  throve  well  on  very  poor  feed,  and  even 
fatted  well  on  common  meadow  hay,  which  costs 
less  than  English  hay  by  nearly  one-half.  One 
cow,  he  saw,  which  weighed  nearly  1200  lbs., 
which  was  a  very  respectable  weight.  But  the 
size  interfered  with  the  milking  properties,  and 
it  was  not  assiduously  cultivated  by  farmers. 
There  were  no  ring-streakings  and  specklings 
among  the  produce  of  the  Devon  stock.     Mr.  B. 


had  information  from  a  party  of  experience  that 
the  half-breed  Devons  would  do  one-third  more 
work,  with  a  sixth  less  food  than  the  Durhams, 
and  not  be  fatigued  or  fagged  out,  as  the  latter 
would  be. 

Sanford  Howard,  of  the  Cultivator,  was  the 
next  speaker.  His  observations  substantially 
were,  that  he  had  recent  opportunity  while  in 
Scotland  of  seeing  Aryshire  cattle,  and  had  in- 
quired into  their  origin,  of  which  he  gave  a  suc- 
cinct history.  The  breed  had  assumed  a  charac- 
ter of  its  own  as  much  as  any  other  which  was 
held  to  be  artificial,  and  was  as  popular  as  any 
other  in  Britain  for  dairy  purposes.  Jerseys 
were  also  popular  ;  but  the  Ayrshires  were  pre- 
ferred above  all  others,  and  their  adoption  was 
extending  much  in  England  and  on  the  Conti- 
nent. No  other  breed  was  kept  in  Scotland  for 
dairy  purpose.  They  were  hardier  than  the  Short 
Horns  or  the  Channel  Is'and  cattle — neither  of 
which  could  be  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  west 
of  Scotland,  where  the  Ayrshires  had  their  ori- 
gin. Whether  or  no  the  Ayrshires  would  make 
superior  oxen,  as  compared  with  other  breeds, 
was  a  question  ;  but,  from  what  he  had  seen  he 
had  no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  would  compare 
well.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  find  cows  making 
2o0  lbs.  of  butter  or  500  to  600  lbs.  of  cheese, 
where  from  60  to  100  cows  were  kept  on  a  farm. 
In  England,  Devons  were  not  generally  kept  for 
dairy  purposes,  but  for  beef.  Herefords  were 
much  the  same — and  it  might  be  considered  that 
fattening  was  a  leading  characteristic  of  both 
kinds.  The  Short  Horns  were  the  most  profita- 
ble kind  for  beef  in  the  richer  lands  of  England, 
but  they  were  valuable  no  where  else,  and  seldom 
good  for  milking  purposes.  Generally,  in  Eng- 
land, they  were  very  unlike  the  improved  Dur- 
hams we  saw  here.  The  best  beef  cattle  in  Scot- 
land were  the  Galloways  and  the  Kylore  or  West 
Highland  cattle.  These  and  tlie  Galloways  would 
prove  profitable  for  beef  in  the  prairie  and  moun- 
tain districts  in  this  country  ;  but  if  their  milking 
qualities  were  cultivated  they  would  be  spoiled. 
Mr.  Howard  had  little  sympathy  with  the  idea 
that  one  kind  of  cattle  was  best  for  the  farmer. 

Leander  Wetiirrell  spoke  approvingly  of 
a  cross  of  the  Short  Horn,  if  the  farmer  wanted 
to  make  good  beef  at  three  years  old  ;  but  you 
must  have  good  blood  as  well  as  symmetry  of 
form.  This  cross  would  best  suit  the  Connecti- 
cut valley  for  both  fattening  and  working  pur- 
poses. Almost  all  the  cattle  there  had  Durham 
blood  in  them,  and  it  was  essential  for  success- 
ful breeding  for  working  purposes.  They  were 
strong,  enduring  and  patient,  and  when  they  be- 
came too  old  to  work,  were  generally  in  a  fine 
condition  to  make  beef.  But  the  quality  of  the 
beef  of  Durham  cattle  was  not  so  goo<l,  it  might 


134 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


be  confessed,  although  there  might  be  an  excep- 
tion in  favor  of  the  grades.  If  weight  was  of 
any  importance  to  the  farmer,  he  had  the  advan- 
tage in  cultivating  the  Durham  grades.  For 
raising  calves  the  adoption  of  the  Durham  grade 
was  the  best  that  the  speaker  knew.  He  men- 
tioned that  an  instance  was  within  his  knowledge 
where  this  grade  stock  had,  for  fifty  years,  in  one 
stock,  produced  five  milk  cattle,  very  similar  in 
productive  properties.  To  keep  the  best  cattle 
for  liret-ding  purposes  was  a  rule  that  no  family 
should  keep  out  of  sight. 

Asa  G.  Sheldon,  of  Wilmington,  spoke  brief- 
ly to  the  question,  throwing  out  hints  that  the 
disposition  of  premiums  at  shows  tons  not  the  best 
calculated  to  encourage  improvement.  There 
ought  to  be  no  distinction  made  between  the 
breeds, but  all  should  compete  on  the  same  level.' 
When  it  was  otherwise,  the  effects  were  profita- 
ble, and,  in  a  series  of  competitions  within  his 
knowledge,  the  native  stock,  for  three  years  suc- 
cessively, took  the  first  premiums.  This  was 
proof  that  the  native  stock  made  the  best  dairy 
stock  here,  and  it  would  be  again,  provided  op- 
portunity for  proof  were  given.  The  production 
of  milk  and  oxen  were  the  two  grand  objects 
with  the  Massachusetts  farmers  ;  and  it  was  Mr. 
S.'s  opinion  that  the  native  stock  were  the  most 
reliable  for  oxen.  Mr.  Sheldon  said  he  raised 
his  own  stock,  and  described  the  peculiar  marks 
which,  in  his  estimation,  denoted  perfection  in 
his  breeding  animals,  and  related  a  curious  anec- 
dote concerning  one  of  liis  cattle. 

Mr.  John  C.  Moore  made  a  few  observations, 
by  request,  relative  to  the  mode  of  breeding  and 
treatment  of  cattle  followed  in  Ayrshire,  amongst 
improving  farmers.  These  differed  essentially 
from  what  we  have  them  among  us.  He  thought 
attention  to  native  stock  would  perfect  them  to 
the  extent  of  production  of  imported  cattle. 

The  Chairman  was  in  favor  of  native  cattle, 
and  quoted  statistics  showing  that  they  were,  on 
the  average,  preferable  to  any  other  stock. 

Mr.  Davis,  of  Plymouth,  also  spoke  of  the  na- 
tive breed,  and  thought  that,  if  improvement  was 
to  take  place,  it  might  as  well  be  among  them  as 
by  the  means  of  other  cattle.  He  quoted  instances 
■which  tended  to  show  that  the  process  might  be 
a  profitable  one,  and  that  there  were  cases  of 
great  productive  ability  among  native  stock. 
Four  pounds  and  a  half  of  the  milk  from  a  cow 
of  a  friend  of  his  had  yielded  one  and  a  quarter 
pounds  of  butter.  If  this  could  be  done  in  one 
instance,  why  could  it  not  be  in  many  instances  ? 

Dr.  LoRiiNG  reviewed  the  arguments  of  the 
several  speakers,  and  drew  consolation  from 
those  of  his  opponents,  in  so  far  as  they  support- 
ed his  own  in  showing  that,  (as  stated  by  Mr. 
Sheldon.)  several  competitions  had  taken  place  at 


which  no  native  cattle  were  produced  worthy  of 
the  prizes.  He  further  urged  that  whenever  per- 
fection had  showed  itself  in  cattle,  it  had  been  the 
fruit  of  previous  importation  of  foreign  stock. 
It  was  his  opinion  that,  wherever  there  was  a 
really  valuable  herd  of  cattle,  it  had  its  origin 
from  foreign  importations. 

Mr.  Sheldon  retorted  that  when  the  imported 
cattle  were  shown  against  the  native  cattle,  in  the 
instances  he  had  quoted,  none  of  them  had  taken 
a  premium.  As  certain  evidences  of  the  superi- 
or merit  of  the  native  cattle,  he  had  spoken  of 
they  were  brought  down  from  Middlesex  County 
to  Boston,  and  took  the  premiums  when  pitted 
against  all  the  breeds  that  could  be  exhibited 
against  them.  If  we  had  taken  half  the  trouble 
in  improving  as  we  have  done  in  importing,  our 
improvement  would  have  been  much  greater  and 
more  reliable. 

The  subject  for  next  week's  discussion  will  be 
"Fruit  and  the  Cultivation  of  Fruit  Trees." 

A  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Sargent,  of  New- 
bury, that  the  Ayrshire  cattle  w^ere  the  best  stock 
for  general  purposes. 

Mr.  Page,  of  Brimfield,  spoke  briefly  concern- 
ing a  purchase  he  made  of  cattle  which  he 
deemed  to  be  native — and  which  possessed  ex- 
tra properties.  At  23  months  old  one  of  their 
produce  brought  $50,  and  when  4  years  old,  she 
gave  40  lbs.  of  milk  per  day  for  three  weeks  in 
succession,  and  could  not  be  bought  for  $100. 
But  it  turned  out  that  the  dam  of  this  cow  was 
an  Ayrshire  cow !  All  her  produce  was  thrifty 
and  easily  reared  ;  and  as  there  was  little  native 
stock  now  to  be  found,  the  fact  spoke  favorably 
for  the  opinion  laid  down  by  Dr.  Loring,  that  per- 
fecture  comes  from  imported  stock. 

Mr.  Sargent,  of  Newbury,  made  a  few  remarks 
in  support  of  his  resolution.  He  had  long  been 
in  favor  of  Durhams,  but  his  experience  had  told 
him  the  Ayrshires  were  preferable. 

Simon  Brown,  editor  N.  E.  Farmer,  was  not 
satisfied  that  the  Ayrshire  cattle  were  the  best 
for  all  purposes,  otherwise  he  would  vote  for  the 
resolution.  He  had  seldom  seen  Ayrshire  oxen, 
and  was  not  ready  to  give  an  opinion  of  their 
merits.  He  believed  Ayrshire  cows,  or  grade 
Ayrshires,  the  best  stock  for  the  dairy.  He  ap- 
proved of  systematic  breeding,  in  order  that  pure 
results  should  flow  from  its  practice.  He  would 
vote  for  the  resolution  if  the  words  "general  use" 
were  stricken,  out  and  the  words  "dairy  purposes" 
substituted. 

Dr.  Reynolds,  of  Concord,  spoke  briefly  to 
the  general  question,  arguing  that  cattle  were 
improving,  and  that  the  cause  was  judicious  cros- 
sing with  imported  blood.  He  doubted  the  ability 
of  any  gentleman  to  trace  the  pedigree  of  native 
cattle  in  such  manner  as  to  prove  them  uncros.'scd. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


135 


The  Chaiuman  said  that  all  cattle  were  native 
that  could  not  be  proved  to  belong  to  the  import- 
ed races. 

Mr.  Shelbon  thought  that  good  keep  had  as 
much  to  do  with  improvement  of  cattle  as  had 
foreign  importations. 

Several  other  gentlemen  spoke,  and  the  meet- 
ing broke  up  aftpr  10  o'clock — Mr.  Sargent's 
resolution  being  first  laid  on  the  table. 


Fur  the  New  Enr;land  Farmer. 

BOOK  KNOWLEDGE  VS.  E'XPEEIENCE-.. 
SAIiTING  PLUM  TB,E£.S. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  this  month's  number  of  the 
Farmer  an  article  appeared  with  the  above  cap- 
tion. The  writer  does  not  inform  us  of  the  mo- 
dus operandi  of  his  applying  this  article.  Hav- 
ing had  some  experience  in  this  matter  of  salt  on 
land,  I  can  only  say  that  in  February  of  1845, 
I  applied  to  one  acre  five  hogsheads,  and  for  the 
two  following  seasons  my  trees  produced  great- 
ly, particularly  the  Green  Gage  ;  I  had  at  that 
time  upwards  of  twenty-five  varieties  of  the 
plum.  Previous  to  this  my  fruit  was  badly  stung 
by  the  curculio.  I  could  not,  however,  perceive 
that  the  salt  had  any  effect  upon  the  black  wart, 
which  has  since  destroyed  nearly  all  the  plum 
trees  in  this  section  ;  my  fruit  was  most  satisfac- 
torily preserved  for  two  years  from  the  curculio. 
A  friend  from  a  neighboring  city  on  a  visit  to 
my  place  while  the  salt  lay  upon  the  surface,  on 
his  return  home  applied  brine  to  a  few  trees, 
•which  killed  them  outright;  salt  as  well  as  gua- 
no must  be  used  in  a  proper  manner  ;  crude  salt 
or  brine  must  not  come  in  close  proximity  to  the 
roots  ;  it  should  be  applied  to  the  surface  of  the 
ground  early  in  the  spring,  to  the  extent  or 
spread  of  the  branches,  and  remain  upon  the  sur- 
face some  two  or  three  weeks  before  spading  in. 
The  plum  is  naturally  a  marine  tree,  and  it  is 
surprising  how  much  salt  it  will  assimilate  and 
thrive  upon.  The  asi)aragus  is  also  a  marine 
plant,  hence  a  sprinkling  of  salt  over  the  bed  in 
early  spring  is  beneficial,  but  we  should  not  rea- 
son that  if  a  small  portion  would  be  good,  a  large 
quantity  would  be  better.  A  servant  of  Judge 
P.,  of  our  city,  reasoning  after  this  fashion,  de- 
sti'oyed  his  plants. 

Regarding  the  severe  experiment,  as  it  was 
then  called,  on  my  land,  Mr.  Downing,  who  vis- 
ited my  place  when  the  crop  cf  plums  was  upon 
the  trees,  remarked  in  his  IlortiatUurisf,  that  my 
garden  was  in  a  neighl)orhood  not  remarkable 
for  plums,  and  that  the  abundant  production  of 
this  fruit,  he  attributed  to  the  destructive  effect 
of  the  salt  on  the  curculio. 

Many  writers  in  our  agricultural  papers  are 
too  indefinite  ;  they  should  be  more  esi)licit,  not 
only  in  the  precise  article  recommended,  but  the 
season  and  mode  of  applying  it.  We  often  find 
lime  recommended,  but  whether  stone  or  shell 
lime  we  are  not  informed  ;  the  article  lime,  so 
highly  commended  by  Mr.  Pell,  the  great  apple- 
grower  in  New  York,  is  .'ihell,  and  n't  stone  lime, 
the  latter  having  frequently  magnesia  in  combi- 
nation, Avhich  is  deleterious  to  the  land. 

Salem,  Bee.  15,  1858.  J.  M.  Ives. 


CONVENTION"  OP  AGRICULTURISTS 

AT  V7ASHINGTON. 

The  delegates  invited  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  to  represent  the  agricultur:il  interests, 
from  the  several  sections  of  the  United  States, 
met  in  the  Patent  Office  in  Washington,  on  the 
3d  January. 

D.  J.  Browne,  Esq.,  who  has  charge  of  the  Ag- 
ricultural Division  of  the  Patent  Office  Bureau, 
was  present,  and  explained  to  the  members  of  the 
convention  the  objects  of  the  meeting  to  be  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  the  department  in  obtain- 
ing more  thorough  and  relialde  information  in 
regard  to  the  pr^-sent  condition  and  progress  of 
agriculture  throughout  the  Union,  both  as  it  re- 
gards statistical  facts,  and  as  to  the  results  of  im- 
provements instituted  and  practices  followed  in 
the  various  branches  of  farm  and  plantation  man- 
agement. This  information  to  be  published  in 
the  Reports,  with  a  view  to  the  "elevation  ofag- 
riculture,  so  essential  to  our  wealth  and  prosper- 
ity, as  a  nation,  at  least  to  an  equality  with  other 
pursuits." 

The  Convention  then  proceeded  to  organize. 
Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  of  Massachusetts,  was 
chosen  President,  and  Major  Ben.  Perley  Poore, 
of  the  same  State,  was  chosen  Secretary.  The 
roll  of  names  being  then  called,  it  was  found  that 
the  diflferent  States  and  Territories  were  repre- 
sented. 

The  Secretary  then  read  a  list  of  questions  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Browne. 

A  discussion  then  sprang  up  in  regard  to  the 
name  by  which  the  Convention  should  be  known, 
and  it  was  finally  voted  that  it  should  be  called 
the  "Agricultural  Advisory  Board  of  the  Patent 
Office." 

It  was  also  voted  to  divide  the  Board  into  five 
divisions,  as  follows : 

1st.  The  New  England  States,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania. 

2d.  Delaware,  Maryland,  District  of  Columbia, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia. 

3d.  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  Indian  Territory,  Arkansas,  Missouri, 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

4th.  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wis- 
consin, Iowa,  Minnesota,  Nebraska,  and  Kansas. 

5th.  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Nevada,  California, 
Oregon,  and  Washington. 

The  delegates  of  each  division  form  a  commit- 
tee to  examine  and  report  upon  the  interrogato- 
ries submitted  to  them,  with  power  to  change  and 
to  propose  others,  or  more,  as  they  might  think 
proper. 

It  was  then  voted  that  a  committee  of  five  be 
appointed  by  the  chair,  as  a  business  committee, 
to  bring  forward  sulijects  of  discussion  during 
evenings,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were  ap- 
pointed : 

Hon.  D.  J.  Browne,  of  Patent  Office,  (ex  offi- 
cio ;)  F.  G.  Cary,  of  Ohio  ;  Dr.  John  A.  Kenni- 
cutt,  of  Illinois  ;  James  G.  Holmes,  of  South  Car- 
olina ;  Frederick  Holbrook,  of  Vermont,  and 
Hon.  Delazon  Smith,  of  Oregon. 

It  was  then  voted  that  there  should  be  a  regu- 
lar meeting  of  the  Board,  each  morning  at  ten 
o'clock,  after  the  adjournment  of  which  the  sev- 
eral divisions  should  go  into  session  by  them- 


136 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMEE. 


March 


selves  in  committee  room  for  the  transaction  of 
such  special  business  as  devolved  upon  them. — 
Maine  Farmer. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

LBGISLATION-LAND  DKAINAGB 
COMPAKIES. 

BY  H.  F.  FRENCH,  EXETER,  N.  H. 

How  far  it  may  be  competent  for  a  State  Leg- 
islature to  provide  for  or  assist  in  the  drainage 
of  extensive  or  unhealthy  marshes,  or  how  far 
individual  owners  should  be  compelled  to  con- 
tribute to  a  common  improvement  of  their  lands, 
or  how  far,  and  in  what  cases  one  land-owner 
should  be  authorized  to  enter  upon  land  of  an- 
other, to  secure  or  maintain  the  best  use  of  his 
own  land,  these  are  questions  which  it  is  unnec- 
essary for  us  to  attempt  to  determine.  It  is  well 
that  they  should  be  suggested,  because  they  Avill, 
at  no  distant  day,  engage  much  attention.  It  is 
well,  too,  that  the  steps  which  conservative  Eng- 
land has  thought  it  proper  to  take  in  this  direc- 
tion, should  be  understood,  that  we  may  be  bet- 
ter determined  whether  any,  and  if  any,  what 
course  our  States  may  safely  take,  to  aid  the 
great  and  leading  interests  of  our  country. 

The  swamps  and  stagnant  meadows  along  our 
small  streams  and  our  rivers,  which  are  taken 
from  the  farmer  by  flowage,  for  the  benefit  of 
mills,  are  often,  in  New  England,  the  most  fertile 
part  of  the  townships,  equal  to  the  bottom  lands 
of  the  West ;  and  they  are  right  by  the  doors  of 
young  men  who  leave  their  home  with  regret,  be- 
cause the  rich  land  of  far-off  new  States  offers 
temptations  which  their  native  soil  cannot  pre- 
sent. 

It  is  certainly  of  great  importance  to  the  old 
States  to  inquire  into  these  matters,  and  set  pro- 
per bounds  to  the  use  of  streams  for  water  pow- 
er. The  associated  weahh  and  influence  of  man- 
ufacturers is  always  more  powerful  than  the  in- 
dividual efforts  of  the  land  owners. 

Reservoirs  are  always  growing  larger,  and 
dams  continually  grow  higher  and  tighter.  The 
water  by  little  and  little  creeps  insiduously  on  to 
and  into  the  meadows  far  above  the  obstruction, 
and  the  land-owner  must  often  elect  between  sub- 
mission to  this  aggress'.on,  or  a  tedious  law-suit 
with  a  powerful  adversary. 

The  evil  of  obstructions  to  streams  and  rivers, 
is  by  no  means  limited  to  the  land  visibly  flowed, 
nor  to  land  at  the  level  of  the  dam.  Running 
water  is  never  level,  or  it  could  not  flow,  and  in 
crooked  streams  which  flow  through  meadows  ob- 
structed  by  grass  and  bushes,  the  water  raised  by 
a  dam  often  stands  many  feet  higher  at  a  mile  or 
two  back,  than  at  the  dam.  It  is  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  set  limits  to  the  effect  of  such  a  flowage. 
Water  is  flowed  into  the  subsoil,  or  rather  is  pre- 


vented from  running  out.  The  natural  drainage 
of  the  country  is  obstructed,  and  land  which 
might  well  be  drained,  artificially,  were  the  stream 
not  obstructed,  is  found  to  lie  so  near  the  level, 
as  to  be  deprived  of  the  requisite  fall,  by  back- 
water, or  the  sluggish  current,  occasioned  by  the 
dam. 

These  obstructions  to  drainage  have  become 
subjects  of  much  attention,  and  of  legislative  in- 
tervention in  various  forms  in  England,  and  some 
of  the  facts  elicited  in  their  investigations  are 
very  instructive. 

In  a  discussion  before  the  Society  of  Arts,  in 
1855,  in  which  many  gentlemen  experienced  in 
drainage  took  a  part,  the  subject  of  obstruction 
by  mill-dams  came  up. 

Mr.  G.  Donaldson  said  he  had  been  much  en- 
gaged in  works  of  land-drainage  and  that  in 
many  instances  great  difficulties  were  experienced 
in  obtaining  outfalls,  owing  to  the  water-rights 
on  the  course  of  rivers  for  mill-power. 

Mr.  R.  Grantham  spoke  of  the  necessity  of 
further  legislation,  "so  as  to  give  power  to  lower 
bridges  and  culverts  under  public  roads,  straight- 
en and  deepen  rivers  and  streams  ;"  but  he  said 
authority  was  wanting,  above  all,  "for  the  remo- 
val of  mills,  dams  and  other  obstructions  in  riv- 
ers, which  in  many  cases  did  incalculable  injury, 
many  times  exceeding  the  value  of  the  mills,  by 
keeping  up  the  level  of  rivers,  and  rendering  it 
totally  impossible  to  drain  the  adjoining  lands." 

Mr.  R.  II.  Davis  said  if  they  were  to  go  into 
the  midland  districts,  they  would  see  great  injury 
done,  from  draining  the  water  for  mills. 

In  Scotland  the  same  difficulty  has  arisen. 
"In  many  parts  of  this  country,"  says  a  Scottish 
writer,  "small  lochs  (lakes)  and  dams  are  kept 
up  for  the  sake  of  mills,  under  old  terraces,  which 
if  drained,  the  land  gained  by  that  operation 
would,  in  many  instances,  be  worth  ten  times  the 
rent  of  such  mills." 

The  river  Nene,  running  a  sinuous  course  of 
sixty  miles  from  Northampton  to  Peterborough, 
possesses  a  natural  fall  of  3j  feet  per  mile.  This 
is  held  up  in  levels  throughout,  by  no  less  than 
thirty-three  water  mills  for  grinding  flour,  and 
thirty-four  lochs  and  el'^^en  staunches,  some  for 
the  mills  and  some  for  the  purposes  of  naviga- 
tion, the  natural  fall  being  177  feet  and  the  ag- 
gregate heads  of  the  lochs  and  staunches  163^ 
feet.  This  occasions  the  water  at  the  dry  weath- 
er level  to  be  higher  than  the  adjacent  meadows 
for  about  one-third  the  length  of  the  valley,  but 
the  full-water  level  stands  above  the  adjacent 
meadows  for  three  fourths  of  the  length  of  the 
valley. 

So  long  ago  as  1633,  a  commission  sat  to  in- 
quire into  the  best  mode  of  redressing  the  abuses 
causing  such  damage  to  the  lands  on  the  Nene, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


137 


and  they  ordered  the  dikes  to  be  scowed  and  ob- 
structions removed,  and  the  river  widened  to  its 
ancient  breadth.  They  fixed  the  number  and 
•width  and  guage  of  all  the  gates  at  the  mills. 
But  an  investigation  200  years  later  shows  that 
the  mill-owners  could  not  be  thus  restrained 
By  raising  their  dams,  by  putting  on  flush-boards, 
by  stopping  up  outlets  and  various  other  devices, 
they  had  greatly  enlarged  their  privileges,  so 
that  by  a  survey  made  in  1826,  and  another  sub- 
sequently, it  appears  that  only  five  mills  out  of 
twenty-one  inspected  had  their  wheels  and  waste- 
ways  according  to  the  prescribed  levels.  The 
excess  of  water  generally  amounted  to  from  eight 
inches  to  two  feet  of  water  at  each  mill,  and  of- 
ten to  three  feet.  It  was  found  that  the  land- 
owners could  not  even  enforce  the  well-known 
ordinances  of  the  Court  of  Sewers.  "It  was 
found  that  nothing  could  be  done  to  restrict  the 
millers,  but  by  plunging  into  endless  lawsuits." 

By  authority  of  various  old  acts  giving  pow- 
ers to  Sewers  Commissioners,  and  to  navigation 
companies  to  maintain  the  river  Nene  navigable 
for  boats,  &c.,  and  by  a  new  act  in  aid  of  a  grand 
enterprise  for  draining  the  whole  valley,  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  navigation  will  be  improved,  the 
•water-power  of  the  mills  increased  generally, 
though  one  at  least  must  be  removed,  the  health- 
fulness  of  the  district  be  much  increased,  and  im- 
mense tracts  of  land  thoroughly  drained  and 
made  productive  in  agriculture.  "The  district 
•will  also  possess  the  essential  conditions  needful 
for  irrigation,  a  fresh  water  stream  on  a  perma- 
nent level,  sufficiently  elevated  to  supply  a  flow 
over  the  surface  of  the  meadows,  combined  with 
a  competent  system  of  dams  for  carrying  off  the 
spent  floods." 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  Nene  Valley  Act 
are  divisions  of  6000  acres  of  the  lands  benefit- 
ed by  the  drainage,  and  subjected  to  an  annual 
*'outfall  tax"  of  about  one  shilling  per  acre,  and 
a  "district  tax"  for  their  own  interior  works  at 
the  rate  of  five  shillings  per  acre.  Both  thes« 
rates  are  to  be  apportioned  according  to  the  de- 
grees of  benefit  received  by  the  lands  from  the 
proposed  improvements,  the  graduation  to  be 
fixed  by  valuers  or  referees.  The  whole  cost  of 
the  improvements  will  be  about  £275,000. 

This  sketch  of  the  operations  in  the  Nene  Val- 
ley is  given  merely  as  an  illustration  of  the  mode 
of  operation  in  the  mother  country,  and  to  show 
how  the  rights  of  land-owners  are  constantly  and 
almost  inevitably  encroached  upon  by  those  who 
control  the  water-power. 

In  another  instance,  that  of  the  Rye  and  Der- 
•went  Drainage,  an  account  of  which  is  found  in 
the  14th  vol.  of  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Ag. 
Soc,  a  plan  of  compensation  was  adopted,  where 
it  became  necessary  to  remove  dams  and  other 


obstructions,  which  is  worthy  of  attention.  The 
Commissioners  under  the  Act  of  1846  removed 
the  mill-wheels  and  substituted  steam-engines 
corresponding  to  the  power  actually  used  by  the 
mills,  compensating,  also,  the  proprietors  for  in- 
convenience and  the  future  additional  expensive- 
ness  of  the  new  power. 

"The  claims  of  a  short  canal  navigation,  two 
fisheries  and  tenants'  damages  through  derange- 
ment of  business  during  the  alterations,  were  dis- 
posed of  without  much  outlay,  and  the  pecuniary 
advantages  of  the  work  are  apparent  from  the 
fact,  that  a  single  flood  such  as  frequently  over- 
flowed the  land,  has  been  known  to  do  more  dam- 
age, if  fairly  valued  in  money,  than  the  whole 
sum  expended  under  the  Act." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PBICB  AMD  MEASUREMENT  OF  MILK. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  wish  to  make  a  single  inqui- 
ry through  the  columns  of  your  paper  ;  that  while 
so  much  attention  is  being  given  by  the  milk- 
raisers  of  our  State  in  selecting  the  best  cows  for 
milk,  and  discussing  the  various  breeds  as  to 
their  milking  qualities,  and  paying  exorbitant 
prices  therefor,  and  of  raising  difl'erent  crops  of 
roots,  and  of  the  manner  of  feeding  the  same  so 
as  to  produce  the  greatest  quantity  of  milk,  they 
say  not  one  word  about  the  price  they  are  to  re- 
ceive for  their  milk,  or  give  it  the  slightest  atten- 
tion, but  submit  to  whatever  price  the  milkman 
chooses  to  pay  them,  be  it  ever  so  ruinous.  With 
the  exception  of  a  few  towns  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Boston,  milk  is  the  main  product  of 
the  farm,  and  to  which  the  farmer  gives  his  ex- 
clusive attention.  With  all  other  products  of  the 
farm,  the  farmer  generally  has  a  price,  but  with 
his  milk,  the  main  thing  he  has  to  depend  upon, 
he  has  no  price,  but  takes  whatever  the  milkman 
chooses  to  give  him ! 

Milkmen  are  different  in  some  respects  from 
dealers  generally — there  is  no  competition  with 
them — they  make  the  price  both  with  the  raiser 
and  consumer,  and  stick  to  t\iose  prices.  If  one 
of  their  party  happens  to  "bolt,"  he  is  kicked  out, 
and  if  possible,  his  customers  got  away  from  him. 
If  he  proves  too  able  for  them,  and  believes  in 
the  manly  art  of  self-defence,  they  despise  him, 
as  belonging  to  an  unhealthy  organization,  not 
fit  to  associate  with. 

Is  there  no  system  by  which  the  milk-raisers 
can  have  a  voice  in  the  price  of  milk,  or  are  they 
willing  to  remain  dormant,  and  take  whatever  the 
milkman  chooses  to  give  them  ? — a  system  by 
which  the  farmers  can  co-operate  together,  and 
break  up  this  infernal  practice  of  buying  by  one 
measure,  and  selling  by  another,  and  regulate 
the  price  of  their  milk  instead  of  submitting  every 
thing  to  the  milkman  ? 

The  milkman  adheres  strictly  to  beer  measure, 
and  will  buy  by  no  other.  Cannot  the  milk-raiser 
adhere  to  wine  measure,  and  sell  by  no  other*?  I 
read  with  pleasure  your  article  in  a  previous 
number  of  the  Farmer,  upon  forming  farmers' 
clubs  in  the  different  tiawns  of  the  State,  and 
liked  your  suggestions  very  much,  and  I  hope  it 


138 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


will  meet  with  the  favorable  consideration  of  the 
farmers  of  the   several   towns,  as  also  the  best 
method  of  raising  and  selling  milk. 
Lexington,  Jan.  24, 1859.      A  Subscriber. 


Remarks. — We  have  long  been  surprised  that 
this  subject  has  not  received  more  attention  by 
those  directly  interested  in  it.  If  the  milk-buy- 
ers of  Boston  and  the  surrounding  cities  were 
aware  of  the  impositions  practiced  upon  ihem, 
they  would  rise  in  their  might,  establish  milk  de- 
pots, employ  their  own  agents,  and  apply  at  once 
to  the  Legislature  for  proper  officers  to  inspect 
the  milk  brought  to  them. 

We  hope  our  correspondent — whose  name  is 
before  us — will  arouse  the  community  to  a  sense 
of  the  need  of  important  changes,  and  we  assure 
him  that  numerous  enterprising  and  intelligent 
men  are  ready  to  act,  and  are  only  waiting  for 
some  one  to  lead  oif  in  the  matter.  Under  a  prop- 
er system  of  buying  and  selling,  purchasers  in 
the  cities  would  get  better  milk,  and  jreore  of  it,  at 
a  less  price  than  they  now  do,  while  the  profits 
that  are  now  divided  among  the  go-betweens, 
would  partly  go  to  the  producers,  where  they  be- 
long. 

The  farmer  cannot  live  by  the  prices  he  now 
gets  for  his  milk  ;  it  would  be  worth  fifteen  to 
twenty  per  cent,  more  to  him  made  into  butter — 
while  such  a  system  of  corruption  has  crept  into 
the  trade,  and  milk  itself,  that  children  cannot 
live  upon  it,  nor  all  honest  men  thrive  upon  it, 
who  are  engaged  in  its  purchase  and  sale 

We  have  intelligent  and  active  committees  up- 
on agricultural  subjects  in  our  present  Legisla- 
ture, and  we  now  suggest  to  our  friends  to  make 
another  effort. 

First,  To  settle  the  law  beyond  all  question  and 
cavil,  as  to  what  a  legal  liquid  gallon  is  in 
this  Commonwealth.  Whether  it  is  a  wine 
gallon  of  231  cubic  inches,  or  a  beer  gallon 
of  282  cubic  inches.  The  people  do  not  un- 
derstand it. 

Secondly,  To  legalize  the  "can"  as  a  measure  of 
capacity,  because  the  necessities  of  the  trade 
demand  it  just  as  much  as  the  grain  trade 
demands  a  fixed  legal  capacity  for  the  half 
bushel. 

The  "can"  is  now  a  sort  of  hydra-bellied  mon- 
ster that  will  take  in  only  seven  quarts  in  the 
country,  but  conceives  so  rapidly  on  the  way  to 
the  city,  that  on  arriving  there,  it  will  disgorge 
ten  quarts  with  the  greatest  ease  ! 

TJiirdly,  To  ask  the  legislature  to  legalize  cer- 
tain persons  to  inspect  milk  offered  for  sale, 
and  affix  heavy  penalties  upon  those  who 
adulterate  it,  when  that  fact  shall  be  proved 
unor  tbom. 


Now  is  the  time  to  act.  Pour  in  your  petitions 
to  the  Legislature  in  the  course  of  next  week. 
We  subjoin  the  form  of  a  petition,  so  that  all 
may  have  it  to  act  upon  at  once. 

TO  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTA- 
TIVES, IN  GENERAL  COURT  ASSEMBLED. 

Your  Petitioners  respectfully  represent,  that 
the  Farmers  of  this  Commonwealth  are  deeply 
interested  in  the  production  and  sale  of  Milk  ; 
that  the  number  of  Cows  kept  within  our  borders 
is  about  150,000,  producing  annually  a  quantity 
of  Milk,  valued  at  the  low  rate  of  three  cents  per 
quart,  and  allowing  four  quarts  per  day  to  each 
I  Cow,  at  the  sum  of  six  millions  Jive  hundred  and 
\ seventy  thousand  dollars  a  year;  that  Milk  for 
jthe  Markets  is  generally  delivered  by  the  produ- 
cers in  Tin  Cans  furnished  by  the  purchasers, 
said  to  contain  a  specified  number  of  quarts; 
jthat  many  of  such  purchasers  still  continue  to 
juse  the  Ale  Quart,  which  is  not  recognized  by 
the  Statutes  now  in  force,  while  others  use  the 
j  Wi7ie  Quart,  which  is  the  measure  prescribed  by 
,  law  ;  and  that  great  inequality,  injustice,  and 
I  fraud,  both  to  the  jiroducers  and  consumers,  re- 
I  suit  from  such  confusion  of  the  standards  of 
measure,  the  Cans  varying  from  8^  to  8|  quarts. 

Wherefore,  they  pray  that  it  may  be  prescribed 
by  law,  under  adequate  penalties,  that  no  Cans 
shall  be  used  in  the  delivery  or  sale  of  Milk,  ex- 
cept such  as  shall  be  legally  sealed  by  the  town  or 
city  sealer  of  weights  and  measures,  and  marked 
with  a  figure  or  jigures  denoting  the  capacity  of 
such  Can  in  quarts  by  Wine  Measure,  with  a 
proper  allowance  to  be  by  law  prescribed,  for  the 
reduction  of  the  bulk  of  the  milk  in  cooling. 

And  your  Petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  will 
ever  pray. 

For  the  New  Enf.'land  Farmer. 
MAINE  BOARD  OP  AGBICULTUBB. 

The  Maine  Board  of  Agriculture  met  at  the 
State  Farm,  Jan.  19th.  Robert  Martin,  of  West 
Danville,  was  chosen  President,  N.  T.  True,  of 
Bethel,  Vice  President,  S.  L.  Goodale,  Secretary. 
The  Board,  representing  twenty-four  societies, 
held  two  sessions  a  day  and  a  public  discussion  ev- 
ery evening,  to  continue  for  ten  days.  The  Board 
is  an  able  body  of  men  made  up  of  practical  and 
intelligent  farmers  who  are  earnest  in  their  la- 
bors to  elevate  the  condition  of  agriculture. 
Reporters  are  constantly  present  who  spread 
broadcast  through  the  papers,  among  the  people, 
every  important  point  discussed,  so  that  the  whole 
agricultural  population  of  the  State  are  at  once, 
to  a  great  extent,  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
members  of  the  Board.  This  we  think  is  an  im- 
portant point.  Shut  up  the  doings  of  such  a 
Board  in  Reports  merely,  and  the  few  only  will 
be  the  wiser.  The  last  year,  topics  were  assigned 
to  each  meml)er  to  be  reported  and  incorporated 
into  the  Secretary's  Report  of  the  present  year, 
which  to  Maine  fai-mers  is  becoming  a  most  im- 
portant document. 

The  close  observer  of  our  history  will  be  struck 
with  the  marked  improvements  that  are  going 
on  in  many  parts  of  our  State,  in  agriculture. 
We  have  better  stock,  barns,  deeper  and  more 
careful  tillage,  more  reading,  thinking  men  every 
year.  Farmers'  Clubs  have  sprung  up  even  here. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


139 


In  looking  over  the  capital  of  our  State,  I  find 
that  the  most  elegant  building  in  the  city  is  the 
new  jail  just  erected.  Punishment  in  jail,  means 
now,  loss  of  personal  liberty  and  nothing  more, 
while  to  some  poor  fellow  it  may  be  a  comforta- 
ble refuge.  T. 

Augusta,  Me.,  Jan.  22,  1859. 


EXTKACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

MANURE    ON    SOWED   CROPS — LIxME,   ASHES    AND 
PLASTER   IN   THE   HILL. 

I  wish  to  inquire  whether  it  is  best  to  spread 
on  ail  manure  in  the  fall  for  a  sowed  crop,  or  let 
it  lay  in  the  heap  until  spring  ?  Whether  the 
strength  will  not  soak  down  in  the  spring  when 
the  ground  is  not  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
roots  ?  (a.) 

Also,  whether  lime  or  plaster  should  be  mixed 
with  wood  ashes,  or  whether  all  three  be  mixed 
together,  or  used  separately,  to  put  in  the  hill 
for  corn  or  potatoes  ?  (h.) 

A  portion  of  my  farm  work  for  a  number  of 
years  has  been,  raising  potatoes  for  the  market, 
and  I  have  read  everything  in  the  Farmer  with 
interest,  on  the  subject  of  the  potato  rot.  For  a 
number  of  years  I  have  noticed  that  a  portion  of 
the  vines  have  been  eaten  by  some  insect,  but  the 
insect  I  could  never  find.  On  reading  the  state- 
ments last  fall,  made,  I  think,  by  Mr.  Read,  of 
Baltimore,  I  was  satisfied  that  rot  was  caused 
by  the  bug  he  had  discovered.  But  when  I  be- 
gan to  dig  I  did  not  find  a  single  potato  in  those 
hills  where  the  vines  were  eaten  that  was  aff'ect- 
ed  with  rot,  while  in  the  hills  by  their  side,  where 
the  vines  had  not  been  eaten,  there  were  rotten 
potatoes.  W. 

New  London,  N.  H.,  Jan.  6,  1859. 

Remarks. — (a.)  If  you  mean  by  a  sowed  crop, 
rye  or  wheat  sowed  in  the  fall,  we  should  say 
spread  the  manure  and  plow  or  harrow  it  under 
before  sowing  the  grain.  If  you,  fortunately,  get 
manure  after  this  work  is  done,  and  you  wish  to 
give  the  crop  the  benefit  of  it,  make  it  as  fine 
as  possible  and  spread  it  on  in  the  fall. 

(b.)  Mix  your  lime,  ashes,  and  plaster,  and  ap- 
ply them  all  at  once.  No  harm  will  be  done  by 
the  mixing  that  we  know  of. 

POTATOES  IN   1858. 

Mr.  Secretary  Flint,  in  his  letter  to  Gov.  Banks, 
says  that  the  crop  of  potatoes  in  Massachusetts 
has  been  uncommonly  good,  and  that  the  yield 
amounted  to  six  million  bushels,  at  least,  of  the 
value  of  $;i,000,0()0.  If  this  be  so,  what  has  be- 
come of  the  bugs  that  threatened  to  poison  and 
destroy  all  the  potatoes  ?  I  believe  by  this  time, 
Mr.  Editor,  you,  like  myself,  have  become  satis- 
fied that  this  bug  or  insect  theory  of  potato-des- 
truction is  one  of  the  humbugs  of  the  day.  If 
you  think  otherwise  please  say  so,  that  we  may 
know  where  to  find  you,  before  we  plant  again. 

Remarks. — Well,  Mr.  Star,  we  are  not  entire- 
ly satisfied  that  the  hugs  do  not  have  something 
to  do  with  the  disease  in  potatoes,  after  all.     At 


any  rate,  we  have  a  good  deal  of  respect  for  the 
opinions  of  men  whom  we  know,  and  who  have 
bestowed  much  time  and  money  upon  their  inves- 
tigations. The  opinion  of  a  person  so  watchful 
and  observing  as  j'ourself,  checks  us  in  giving 
full  belief  to  the  hug  theory ;  so  that  while  our 
opinions  are  thus  balanced,  we  hope  they  will 
not  influence  your  planting,  or  that  of  any  other 
person,  the  coming  spring. 

A   DISCOVERY   OF   OLD     TIMBER   IN   THE     OCEAN. 

Not  long  since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  reading 
in  your  instructive  journal  an  article  on  the  value 
of  wood  and  the  2)laiiting  forest  trees.  It  makes 
me  avail  myself  of  the  present  opportunity  to 
send  you  a  short  reminiscence  for  your  monthly. 
The  accompanying  strip  of  bark,  from  an  Eng- 
lish oak,  was  taken  from  a  log  twenty  feet  long 
and  two  to  two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  at 
one  of  the  Liverpool,  England,  timl)er-j'ards,  vis- 
ited in  the  year  1845,  where  was  seen  a  vast 
number  of  logs,  say  a  ship  load,  brought  from 
the  coast  of  Scotland.  These  logs  having  been 
fished  up  at  a  distance  of  two  to  three  miles  from 
the  shore,  in  open  sea.  The  time  is  not  known 
when  the  ocean  had  so  invaded  the  earth  as  to 
make  these  desposites.  I 

This  timber  was  of  the  most  desirable  charac- 
ter to  a  people  who  so  much  admire  the  wood, 
and  indeed  we  are  assured  its  value  paid  largely 
to  the  fortunate  discoverers.  It  was  used  at  pri- 
ces of  rosewo'd  and  mahogany,  and  in  furniture, 
for  panel-work.  It  was  patronized  by  the  no- 
bility, speaking  well  for  both  the  enterprise  and 
patriotism  of  the  nation. 

A  Header  and  Subscriber. 

January,  1859. 

MOWING   MACHINES. 

"Facts  are  stubborn  things."  A  working  man 
informs  me,  that  he  has  cut  the  present  season, 
with  one  of  Allen's  mowers,  325  acres  of  grass, 
yielding  on  an  average,  at  least,  one  and  a  half 
tons  to  the  a'.re,  amounting  to  450  tons.  besic!?s 
many  acres  oi  second  crop,  yielding  one  ton  lo 
the  acre.  This  has  been  done  on  an  average  cf 
time  to  the  acre  not  exceeding  50  minutes.  The 
machine  has  been  moved  by  the  same  pair  of 
horses,  which  he  has  used  for  three  years,  for 
this  purpose.  He  has  driven  them  himself,  with 
no  assistant  near.  On  some  days  has  cut  ten 
acres  at  least,  with  no  re-sharpening  of  the 
knives. 

1  have  repeatedly  seen  the  grounds  on  which 
this  implement  has  operated,  and  know  no  rea- 
son to  question  the  correctness  of  the  statements. 
If  these  facts  do  not  prove  that  mowers  can  be 
advantageously  used,  where  there  is  grass  enough 
grown  to  justify  their  use — say  on  farms  where 
there  are  fifty  acres  or  more  to  be  mown  ;  or  in 
neighborhoods  where  several  can  produce  as 
much  as  this  by  combining  together — then  I  will 
admit  my  notions  of  the  labors  required  in  car- 
rying on  a  farm  are  erroneous.  I  do  not  say 
that  other  machines  may  not  be  used  to  equally 
good  advantage.  I  only  speak  of  what  1  have 
witnessed.  EsSEX. 

Dec,  1858. 


140 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


PEAS   IN     POTATOES   TO   PREVENT  ROT. 

May  11,  1  planted  in  the  garden  twenty  hills 
of  pogie  potatoes;  holes  were  made  in  the  pota-l 
toes  with  a  penknife,  and  from  four  to  six  peas  { 
were  thrust  into  each  potato.  The  soil  was  a 
black,  moist  loam  ;  no  manure  was  put  into  the 
hill.  September  4,  the  potatoes  were  dug.  Every  j 
hill  had  potatoes  in  it  affected  with  rot,  fully  as 
much  as  potatoes  in  the  same  garden,  planted  in 
the  ordinary  way ;  nor  was  there  any  difference 
in  yield  in  favor  of  the  experiment.  The  pea 
vines,  which  were  quite  scanty  produced  very  few 
and  inferior  pods.  D. 

Melrose,  Mass.,  January,  1859. 

DISEASE    AMONG    CATTLE. 

In  looking  over  your  paper  of  January  8th,  I 
noticed  an  article  headed  ^^ Fatal  Disease  among 
Cattle."  About  the  year  1850  I  lost  seven  head 
with  this  same  disorder,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  may  have  cattle  similarly  afflicted,  I 
send  the  following  receipt : 

Take  i  pint  of  vinegar,  1  teaspoonful  pepper, 
1  teaspoonful  salt,  and  mix  and  stir  well  togeth- 
er ;  turn  up  the  head  and  turn  this  into  the  ears. 
I  have  never  known  this  to  fail  if  applied  in  sea- 
son. I  have  had  several  taken  since  1  first  adopt- 
ed this  remedy,  and  have  found  it  a  sure  cure. 
Philip  Judkins. 

Carthage,  Me.,  Jan.  10,  1859. 

BUNCH  ON   A   horse's   LEG. 

To  a  Subscriber  in  Millbury, — I  had  a  bunch 
form  on  the  inside  of  the  leg  of  a  young  horse, 
caused  by  the  pole  striking  against  the  inside  of 
the  leg,  which  I  removed  by  using  the  Mexican 
Mustang  Liniment.  A.  \v.  P. 

Sutton,  Mass.,  Jan.,  1859. 

MILK  AND  BUTTER  AFFECTED  WITH  THE  FLAVOR 
OF   WILD   ONIONS  AND   LEEKS. 

,  Can  you  inform  me  if  there  is  any  way  to  take 
th'i  taste  out  of  milk  and  butter  where  the  cows 
have  eaten  ivild  onions  or  "leeJcs"?"  I  have  a 
pasture  which  is  connected  with  a  piece  of  wood- 
land, where  they  abound  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  and  the  milk  is  rendered  useless  only  for 
the  pigs.  Subscriber. 

Danville,  Vt.,  Jan.  8,  1859. 

A.  p«******k,  Saugus,  Mass.,  need  not  keep 
back  his  light  for  the  reasons  he  gives.  Let  it 
shine,  and  illuminate  our  columns. 


Scientific  Agriculture. — Mr.  Henry  C. 
Vail,  who  has  had  much  experience  as  an  agricul- 
tural instructor  and  lecturer,  is  now  located  at 
Springfield,  N.  Y.,  where  he  receives  pupils  for  a 
course  of  agricultural  instruction,  in  which  they 
are  indoctrinated  in  the  connexion  of  the  sciences 
■with  the  successful  cultivation  of  the  soil.  Mr. 
Vail  claims  for  his  system  of  instruction  that  it  is 
simple,  thorough  and  efficient,  and  that  it  has 
the  approval  of  the  best  cultivators  and  scientific 
men. 


STATE  BOABD  OF  AGBICULTUBE. 

FOURTH      DAY. 

Prof.  J.  W.  P.  Jenks,  of  Middleboro',  was  ap- 
pointed Zoologist  to  the  Board  for  one  year.  A 
committee  was  also  appointed  to  transfer  the 
State  Farm  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  In- 
stitution. 

The  following  resolutions  presented  by  Mr. 
Brown,  of  Middlesex,  were  pretty  fully  discussed, 
and  severally  laid  on  the  table. 

Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  be  requested 
to  pass  an  act  requiring  each  county  society  re- 
ceiving a  portion  of  its  bounty,  to  appropriate 
one-third  of  the  whole  amount  received,  to  the 
support  of  agricultural  meetings  and  discussions 
in  various  parts  of  each  county. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Board, 
whenever  any  article,  stock,  implement,  or  any- 
thing else,  has  once  received  the  highest  premium 
in  its  class,  of  any  society,  it  should  never  re- 
ceive another  premium  from  any  incorporated 
society  within  the  limits  of  the  State. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts State  Board  of  Agriculture,  that  the  es- 
tablishment of  more  than  one  agricultural  socie- 
ty in  each  county  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  re- 
ceiving its  bounty,  is  not  conducive  to  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  State. 

The  committee  on  the  Dog  Law  were  directed 
to  prepare  a  new  draft  of  that  law,  and  lay  it  be- 
fore the  joint  committees  on  agriculture,  and  ex- 
plain to  them  the  necessity  that  exists  for  its 
modification. 

A  committee  previously  appointed  to  consider 
the  subject  of  the  distribution  of  agricultural 
tracts,  made  a  majority  and  minointy  report.  The 
committee  was  charged  and  further  instructed  to 
carry  out  the  views  expressed  in  the  majority  re- 
port. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  petition  the  Leg- 
islature for  the  sum  of  $3000  to  aid  in  scientific 
and  practical  investigation,  and  to  promote  the 
general  interest  of  agriculture,  enlarging  the  mu- 
seum, &c.,  &c. 

Committees  were  appointed  to  inquire  whether 
anything  can  be  done  to  avoid  collision  in  the 
time  of  the  exhibitions  of  the  several  societies ; 
to  recommend  some  uniformity  of  action  on  the 
part  of  societies  in  awarding  premiums  ;  and  to 
consider  the  propriety  of  instituting  meetings 
and  discussions  to  be  continued  one  or  more  days 
and  evenings. 

Manures — Messrs.  Fisher,  White  and  Brooks. 

Renovation  of  Pasture  Lands — Messrs.  Felton, 
Lewis  and  Lathrop, 

Market  Fairs  —  Messrs.  Tracy,  Sutton  and 
Davis. 

Root  Crops — Messrs.  Brown,  Gardner  and  At- 
water. 

Fruits  and  Fruit  Cidture — Messrs.  Wilder 
Bull  and  Durfee. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


141 


Farm  Fences—Messrs.  Sewall  and  Davis.  ing  them.     The  pear  crop  in  this  State  was  val- 

C'a^/Ze//«i^6«?icZr«/— Messrs.  Lathrop,  Tracy  and  ued  at  $100,000  per  annum,  and  also  demanded 


-Messrs.  Grennell,  Bushnell 


-Messrs.  Bartlett  and 


Brooks. 

Sheep  Husbandry- 
and  Knox. 

Diseases  of  Vegetables- 
Lewis. 

Improvement  of  Horses — Messrs.  Atwater  and 
Marston. 

Grain  Crops — ]Messrs.  Bushnell  and  BulL 


FOURTH  LEGISLATIVE  AGRICULTURAL 

MEETING. 

■Reported  by  John  C.  Mooee,  for  the  N.  E.  Fakmeb.] 
The  meeting  of  this   Society  in  Representa- 
tives' Hall,  last  Monday  evening,  was  well  attend- 
ed.   Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder  was  called  to 
the  chair. 

The  subject  for  discussion  was, — "Fruits,  and 
ilie  Culture  of  Fruit  Trees." 

The  Chairman  said  it  gave  him  great  pleasure 
to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  subject  of  discus- 
sion, which  was  one  of  the  most  important  that 
could  be  debated.  Fruits,  as  articles  of  market 
value,  were  among  the  most  important  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  farm,  and  as  much  so  to  the  country 
as  to  the  Commonwealth.  Their  cultivation  had 
made  great  progress  among  us  within  the  past  fif- 
ty years.  The  crop  in  1835  was  valued  at  $700,- 
000.  In  1845  its  value  was  $1,300,000.  In  1860 
it  could  not  be  less  than  two  millions  of  dollars 
— more  than  the  value  of  the  wheat,  oats,  rye 
and  barley  in  the  State,  Such  had  been  the  re- 
sults of  pomological  science  in  Massachusetts 
that  her  exhibitions  sustained  the  highest  rank. 
One  gentleman  who  had  had  opportunity  of  judg- 
ing said  that  he  saw  more  choice  fruit  at  one  of 
our  exhibitions  here  than  he  saw  at  twenty  in  Eu 
rope,  where,  as  in  Germany,  the  greatest  encour- 
agement had  been  given  to  pomology  by  the  gov- 
ernment. But  great  as  was  our  credit  here,  it  was 
eclipsed  by  that  of  California  and  Oregon  Terri- 
tory, correspondence  from  which  regions  showed 


full  share  of  attention,  with  respect  to  kinds 
best  suited  to  our  soil,  and  to  the  most  approved 
manner  of  cultivation.  We  had  among  us  many 
varieties  of  pears  adapted  to  our  climate  and  soil, 
and  of  these  varieties  the  Bartlett,  Vicar  of 
Winkfield,  and  others  which  he  named, were  well 
adapted. 

The  following  were  recommended  as  the  six 
best  varieties  of  apples  : — The  Williams,  Early 
Bough,  Gravenstein,  Fameuse,  Hubbardston, 
Nonsuch  and  the  Baldwin ;  and  if  twelve  varie- 
ties were  desired,  the  Red  Astracan,  Rhode  Is- 
land Greening,  Ladies'  Sweet,  Porter  and  Tal- 
man  Sweet  might  be  added. 

For  pears  on  their  own  roots  the  following  were 
recommended  as  the  best  six : — The  Bartlett,  Ur- 
baniste,  Flemish  Beauty,  Belle  Lucrative,  Onon- 
daga and  Doyenne  Boussock ;  and  if  six  were 
desired  on  quince  stocks,  the  Chairman  recom- 
mended the  Louise  bonne  de  Jersey,  Urbaniste, 
Duchesse  d'  Angouleme,  Vicar  of  Winkfield, 
Beurre  d'  Anjou  and  Glout  Morceau. 

With  regard  to  the  conditions  of  proper  cul- 
tivation of  fruits,  no  great  success  could  ever  at- 
tend the  labor  of  producing  them  unless  it  was 
conducted  with  a  care  equal  or  superior  to  what 
was  spent  on  any  other  kind  of  production.  One 
of  the  primary  and  most  essential  conditions  had 
proved  itself  to  be  thorough  draining,  as  through 
its  operation  the  more  troublesome  diseases  and 
parasitical  affections  were  obviated.  This  thor- 
ough drainage,  Col.  Wilder  insisted,  was  an  ab- 
solute associate  of  success.  He  then  made  a  few 
remarks  on  the  great  necessity  of  keeping  the 
soils  of  orchards  in  a  rich  condition,  by  manur- 
ing, and  of  planting  the  various  descriptions  of 
trees  in  the  soils  best  suited  to  them.  He  repu- 
diated the  fashion  of  adopting  too  many  foreign 
trees  ;  for,  as  a  general  principle,  trees  and  plants 
flourished  better  on  the  soil  of  their  origin  than 
they  did  in  localities  foreign  to  them.  Col.  W. 
recommended  raising  seedlings,  as  on  them  \ye 
would  ultimately  have  our  surest  dependence  for 
We  had  doubtlessly  a 


that  they  were  blessed  with  wonderful  natural  fa 

cilities  for  the  growth  of  fruits  of  all  kinds.  Col.  IgQod^  reliable  fruit  trees 

Wilder  read  a   letter   from  a  correspondent   at  number  of  fine  fruits  already  native  to  the  soil — 


Munroe,  Oregon,  stating  that  he  had  forwarded  a 
box  containing  an  apple  forty  ounces  in  weight 
and  twelve  others  averaging  a  pound  and  a  half 
each  !  Another  correspondent  from  the  same  re- 
gion informed  him  that  ten  millions  of  nursery 
trees  had  been  sold  in  Willimet  Valley ;  and  Col. 
W.  added  that  at  Washington,  a  few  days  ago,  he 
saw  a  pear  from  that  place  which  weighed  four 
pounds !  Grapes,  when  their  value  was  considered, 
either  as  an  article  of  luxury  or  commerce,  had 
important  claims  on  attention  in  respect  to  the 
best  sorts  to  cultivate,  and  best  modes  of  cultivat- 


at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  Baldwin  apple 
of  which  50,000  barrels  were  last  fall  exported, 
from  this  city.  At  a  late  meeting  at  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  the  Baldwin  had  three  marks  of  merit  to 
one  for  any  other  kind,  and  the  others  which  re- 
ceived the  next  highest  commendations  were  the 
Rhode  Island  Greening,  the  Russet  and  the 
Tompkins'  County  King.  Col.  Wilder  went  on 
to  give  the  statistics  of  apple  and  peach  culture 
in  the  West  and  South,  showing  that  it  was  much 
more  extensive  than  was  generally  believed.  He 
concluded  by  saying  that  he  hailed  with  pleasure 


142 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARRIER. 


March 


the  wide-spread  interest  now  manifested  in  rela- 
tion to  the  cultivation  of  the  grape.  The  time, 
he  said,  was  within  the  recollection  of  some  pres- 
ent, when  the  Catawba  and  the  Isabella  were  first 
brought  into  notice.  Hundreds  of  cultivators 
were  now  raising  seedlings,  and  the  day  v/ould 
soon  come  when  our  markets  would  vie  with  those 
of  Italy,  Sicily,  and  other  grape-growing  coun- 
tries, where  this  luscious  fruit  is  not  only  a  lux- 
ury to  the  opulent,  but  the  food  of  the  humblest 
peasant.  Our  native  wines  were  attracting  at- 
tention in  Europe,  and  at  a  late  convention  in 
Belgium,  our  Catawba  was  pronounced  superior 
to  the  best  varieties  of  Rhine  wine.  Our  own 
Concord  grape,  also,  had  attained  great  estimation 
among  wine-growers,  as  had  been  testified  to  by 
Mr.  Longworth,  of  Cincinnati.  We  have  been 
compelled  to  give  merely  the  substance  of  Col. 
Wilder's  remarks. 

Hon,  B.  V.  French,  made  a  few  remarks  in 
favor  of  draining  the  soil  for  the  production  of 
the  finer  fruits,  as  the  higher  the  culture  the  more 
perfect  the  produce.  His  subsequent  remarks 
were  very  practical,  and  of  great  value. 

Mr.  Bull,  of  Concord,  had  spent  much  of  his 
time  in  cultivating  the  grape,  and  had  not  been 
rewarded  for  his  labor,  because  experience 
taught  him  that  our  imported  varieties  were  not 
to  be  depended  on,  and  suggested  that  our  na- 
tive varieties  would  have  to  be  resorted  to  in 
order  to  produce  a  grape  suited  to  the  circum- 
stances of  safe  cultivation.  The  carrying  out  this 
idea  produced  the  Concord  grape,  and  others  from 
it  which  he  thought  to  be  of  greater  value  ;  and  a 
continuation  of  the  same  process  would  result  in 
the  obtaining  of  a  great  variety  of  grapes,  each 
suited  to  the  soils  and  circumstances  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. As  to  the  field  culture  of  the  grape, 
if  wine-making  was  all  that  was  required,  it  was 
ready  for  adoption  ;  but  if  it  was  desired  that  the 
field  grape  should  be  a  good  table  grape  here, 
experience  and  research,  arid  time,  must  bring  it 
forward.  The  combination  of  delicacy  of  aroma 
and  hardiness  in  the  meantime  was  not  to 
be  found  in  openly  cultivated  grapes,  although 
the  day  was  close  at  hand  when  it  would  be  so. 
Speaking  practically  of  the  cultivation  of  the 
grape,  Mr.  Bull  commended  the  use  of  sulphur 
as  a  preventive  of  mildew  in  the  case  of  the  im- 
ported varieties,  as  the  absence  of  it  aggravated 
the  mildew ;  but  it  was  better  to  have  a  grape 
that  would  not  require  such  artificial  cultivation 
— that  would  be  hardy  under  any  common  cir- 
cumstances— such  a  grape  as  would  not  demand 
unusual  attention  on  the  average  of  soils,  one 
that  might  be  treated  in  the  commonest  manner. 
The  Concord  grape  had  proved  itself  of  this 
kind,  and  Mr.  Bull  hoped  that  he  might  be  in  a 
position  to  be  the  instrument   of  restoring  to 


many  places  the  healthy  grape,  in  place  of  the 
diseased  one.  Mr.  B.  was  not  in  favor  of  pruning 
close,  but  commended  what  is  called  the  spur  sys- 
tem, and  he  found  it  the  most  profitable  and  its 
results  the  most  productive.  Other  practical  re- 
marks were  made  which  were  too  elaborate  for 
our  space.  He  wished  that  all  grape  growers 
would  commence  to  grow  from  seed,  as  by  that 
process  they  would  best  arrive  at  their  main  pur- 
pose— improvement. 

Mr.  Sheldon,  of  Wilmington,  made  a  few  ob- 
servations on  the  evil  of  opening  apple  trees  too 
much  on  the  top  by  pruning,  which  he  thought 
was  too  much  talked  of  and  practiced  to  be  prof- 
itable or  prudent.  He  objected  to  planting  fruit 
trees  too  far  apart,  and  recommended  30  feet,  as 
that  distance  was  more  favorable  to  the  protec- 
tion of  an  orchard  from  heavy  winds  than  any 
other — always  providing  for  a  sufficient  ventila- 
tion. He  disapproved  of  all  croppings  of  orch- 
ards ;  but  thought  if  it  was  decided  on,  the 
squash  was  the  best  crop  that  could  be  adopted. 
The  best  apple  he  knew  was  the  Baldwin,  for  all 
purposes — shipping  included — and  he  suggested 
a  monument  to  be  erected  on  the  spot  where  the 
first  Baldwin  tree  grew  in  Wilmington.  The  spot 
was  well  defined,  and  he  hoped  the  suggestion 
would  be  carried  out,  as  nothing  had  proved 
more  profitable  to  Massachusetts  than  tlie  Bald- 
win apple.  Mr.  Sheldon  stated  that  the  original 
tree  had  been  destroyed  by  lightning. 

The  Chairman  confessed  that  he  had  been  lax 
in  his  duty  as  a  member  of  a  committee  appoint- 
ed to  attend  to  the  matter  of  this  monument ; 
but  Mr.  Sheldon  excused  the  presiding  officer, 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  always  over-worked 
himself  in  the  cause  of  agricultural  and  horticul- 
tural progress. 

Messrs.  Buckminster,  Wetherell,  Davis, 
and  Lake,  of  Topsfield,  severally  made  some 
valuable  practical  remarks.  The  latter  gentle- 
man went  in  for  thorough  draining  as  the  prima- 
ry condition  of  successful  fruit-raising.  He  com- 
mended the  Seckel  and  Winter  Nelis  and  Easter 
Beurre  as  being  among  the  best  pears  we  could 
grow,  and  gave  his  preference  to  the  Rebecca 
grape,  the  Delaware,  Diana,  Clinton  and  Con- 
cord. 

The  questions  of  hybridizing  and  pruning  were 
incidentally  touched  upon.  With  respect  to  the 
former  no  rule  of  management  was  decided  on  as 
the  best,  nor  was  the  system  apparently  ap- 
proved, as  the  fear  seemed  to  exist  that  the  im- 
portation to  a  hardy  rough  grape  of  the  qualities 
of  a  finer  one  would  give  it  also  a  proneness  to 
the  diseases  which  infested  our  finer  sorts.  As 
to  pruning,  the  general  idea  was  that  beginning 
in  time,  and  using  no  implement  more  formida- 
ble than  the  pocket-knife  was  the  best  mode  of 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


143 


proceeding  ;  but  that  when  it  was  necessary,  the 
best  time  to  prune  large  limbs  was  in  Septem- 
ber. 

The  subject  for  next  Monday's    discussion  is, 
"Sheep  Ilusbandri/." 


ECHOES. 

A  good  ear  cannot  distinguish  one  sound  from 
another,  unless  there  is  an  interval  of  one-ninth 
of  a  second  between  the  arrival  of  the  two  sounds. 
Sounds  must,  therefore,  succeed  each  other  at 
an  interval  of  one-ninth  of  a  second,  in  order  to 
be  heard  distinctly.  Now.  the  velocity  of  sound 
being  eleven  hundred  and  twenty  feet  a  second, 
in  one-ninth  of  a  second,  the  sound  would  travel 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet. 

Repeated  echoes  happen  when  two  obstacles 
are  placed  opposite  to  one  another,  as  parallel 
walls,  for  example,  which  reflect  the  sound  suc- 
cessively. 

At  Ademach,  in  Bohemia,  there  is  an  echo 
which  repeats  seven  syllables  three  times ;  at 
Woodstock,  in  England,  there  is  one  which  re- 
peats a  sound  seventeen  times  during  the  day, 
and  twenty  times  during  the  night.  An  echo  in 
the  villa  Smionetta,  near  Milan,  is  said  to  repeat 
a  (sharp  sound  thirty  times  audibly.  The  most 
celebrated  echo  among  the  ancients,  was  that  of 
the  Metelli,  at  Rome,  which,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, was  capable  of  repeating  the  first  line  of 
ffineid,  containing  fifteen  syllables,  eight  times 
distinctly. 

Dr.  Birch  describes  an  echo  at  Roseneath,  Ar- 
gyleshire,  which,  it  is  said,  does  not  now  exist. 
When  eight  or  ten  notes  were  played  upon  a 
trumpet,  they  were  returned  by  this  echo  upon  a 
key  a  third  lower  than  the  original  notes,  and 
shortly  after  upon  a  key  still  lower.  Dr.  Page 
describes  an  echo  in  Fairfax  county,  Virginia, 
which  possesses  a  similar  curious  property.  This 
echo  gives  three  distinct  reflections,  the  second 
echo  much  the  most  distinct.  Twenty  notes 
plaj'ed  upon  a  flute,  are  returned  with  perfect 
clearness.  But  the  most  singular  property  of  this 
echo  is,  that  some  notes  in  the  scale  are  not  re- 
turned in  their  places,  but  are  supplied  with 
notes  which  are  either  thirds,  fifths,  or  octaves. 

There  is  a  surprising  echo  between  two  barns 
at  Belvidere,  Alleghany  county,  N.  Y.  The  echo 
repeats  eleven  times  a  word  of  one,  two  or  three 
syllables  ;  it  has  been  heard  to  repeat  thirteen 
times.  By  placing  oneself  in  the  centre,  between 
the  two  barns,  there  will  be  a  double  echo,  one 
in  the  direction  of  each  barn,  and  a  monosylla- 
ble will  be  repeated  twenty-two  times. 

A  striking  and  beautiful  efi"ect  of  echo  is  pro- 
duced in  certain  localities  by  the  Swiss  moun- 
taineers, who  contrive  to  sing  their  Rans  de 
Vaches  in  such  time  that  the  reflected  notes  form 
an  agreeable  accompaniment  to  the  air  itself. — 
Prof.  Silliman. 

Injustice  in  Flowages. — In  another  column 
may  be  found  a  second  article  from  Judge 
French's  forthcoming  book  "On  Drainage,"  to 
•which  we  wish  to  call  the  especial  attention  of 
the  reader.  There  is  no  subject,  in  our  opinion, 
that  so  imperatively  calls  the  attention  of  the 


Legislature  of  this  Commonwealth,  as  that  of 
flowages.  All  the  mill  acts  ought  to  be  repealed, 
and  an  entirely  new  form  and  spirit  of  legislation 
enacted,  more  in  accordance  with  justice  and  the 
common  rights  which  every  where  exist  between 
man  and  man.  We  hope  that  some  enterprising 
and  fearless  champion  of  the  "Rights  of  Man" 
will  be  found  in  our  present  legislature  who  will 
devote  himself  to  this  work,  and  institute  such 
proceedings  as  will  call  public  attentfon  to  the 
outrageous  partialities  and  inequalities  that  now 
exist,  and  result  in  the  enactment  of  laws  on  the 
subject  more  in  accordance  with  common  sense 
and  common  justice,  and  the  spirit  of  the  age. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

"MILCH  coysrs,  and  dairy  FABMING."* 

I  have  just  completed  an  examination  of  Mr. 
Flint's  book  with  the  above  title,  and  cannot  for- 
bear to  say  a  word  in  its  praise. 

In  the  first  place,  its  size  and  style  both  com- 
mend it.  Very  few  agricultural  writers  exhibit 
so  much  literary  taste  as  is  to  be  seen  in  this 
work.  The  paper  and  print  are  also  superior. 
This  makes  one  feel  comfortable  in  reading  it, 
and  banishes  the  suspicion  of  its  being  like  "Pe- 
ter Pindar's  razor,"  made  only  to  sell.  He,  how- 
ever, who  gets  up  a  book  with  mean  type  and 
cheap  paper,  having  a  view  to  profit,  in  my  judg- 
ment commits  a  blunder. 

Many  of  the  cuts  are  very  good  and  some  are 
very  poor.  But  the  general  execution  of  the 
work  makes  ample  amends  for  trifling  imperfec- 
tions in  this  particular. 

It  has  come  at  a  time,  too,  when  such  a  work 
was  very  much  needed.  A  great  deal  has  been 
written  within  a  few  years,  in  relation  to  the  sub- 
jects of  which  it  treats,  and  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  what  has  been  written,  is  utterly  worth- 
less. To  find  the  valuable  part,  would  be  a  great- 
er labor  than  to  extract  a  "kernel  of  wheat"  from 
two  bushels  of  chaff".  In  the  ti'ansactions  of  hosts 
of  Agricultural  Societies  in  different  States,  in 
newspapers,  in  periodicals,  articles  upon  the  sub- 
ject are  everywhere  scattered,  which  have  accom- 
plished their  purpose,  and  will  never  be  worth 
bringing  again  to  the  light.  Many  writers  have 
a  particular  object  in  view,  and  their  statements 
are  neither  valuable  nor  trustworthy.  Cattle 
breeders  are  able  to  find  no  defects  in  the  breed 
which  they  favor,  and  no  merits  in  any  other. 
Stock  speculators  praise  those  only,  which  for 
the  moment  will  yield  the  largest  profit.  Men, 
therefore,  who  were  really  desirous  to  get  cor- 
rect information  on  this  branch  of  farm  economy, 
were  at  a  loss  where  to  find  it. 

This  work  of  Mr.  Flint  supplies  the  deficiency. 
It  may  be  regarded  not  only  as  comprising  the 
opinions  of  the  author,  which  years  of  experience 
as  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  have 
made  valuable,  but  also  as  a  compendium  of  well 
digested  and  reliable  public  opinion.  By  this  is 
meant,  the  opinion  of  a  very  large  majority  of 
those,  who  have  given  so  much  attention  to  the 


*  Milch  Cows  and  Dairi  Fabmiuq.    By  C.  L.  Flint,  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Agriculture. 


144 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


subject  as  to  be  competent  to  judge,  and  whose 
judgment  is  of  value,  because  it  is  unprejudiced 
and  honest.  The  man  who  has  devoted  a  good 
deal  of  study  and  thought  to  the  subject,  will  de- 
tect nothing  new  in  it.  but  he  will  find  the  results 
of  his  own  investigations  and  convictions  much 
better  expressed,  probably,  than  he  could  express 
them  himself. 

The  cli  pter  on  the  "Dairy  Husbandry  of  Hol- 
land," which  is  an  elegant  and  finished  translation 
from  the  German,  and  Mr.  Horsfall's  statement 
in  the  appendix,  give  increased  value  to  the  work. 
No  farmer  whose  money  does  not  yield  him  more 
than  100  per  cent,  interest,  can  invest  the  amount 
of  its  cost  half  so  well,  as  in  the  purchase  of  this 
little  book.  Unus. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
WHAT  SHA.LL  WE  EAT? 

Truly  this  is  a  question  which  deeply  concerns 
every  individual,  notwithstanding  a  person  may 
subsist  for  a  time,  at  least,  on  a  meagre  diet  to 
all  appearances,  as  well  as  on  the  most  sumptu- 
ous living.  Physiologists  and  reformers,  from 
time  immemorial,  have  expended  much  brain  and 
eloquence  to  prove  that  one  article  of  food  is 
wholesome,  another  pernicious,  until  even  at  this! 
late  day  and  generation,  the  question.  What  shall  j 
we  eat?  is  as  perplexing  and  difficult  to  answer  j 
as  it  would  have  been  to  the  sons  of  Noah,  the 
day  when  the  Ark  first  rested  on  Mount  Ararat. 
In  view  of  these  facts  the  celebrated  Dr.  Graham 
labored  with  a  zeal  worthy  a  reformer,  to  prove 
that  mankind  were  not  carnivorous,  and  there- 
fore animal  food  was  the  slow  poison  that  brought 
on  our  infirmities,  and  consequently  shortened 
human  life.  Many  were  his  proselytes,  who  ab- 
stained from  animal  food,  at  his  suggestion,  be- 
lieving that  they  might  attain  to  the  age  of  Me- 
thuselah, by  adhering  to  his  physiology,  when, 
lo  !  the  Doctor  died  in  early  manhood,  perhaps 
a  victim  to  his  own  delusion,  not  having  arrived 
at  the  scriptural  age  of  three  score  years  and 
ten. 

Other  reformers  have  advocated  different  views. 
Vegetarians  have  not  been  wanting,  who  main- 
tained that  a  vegetable  diet  was  the  proper  food 
for  man,  or  that  he  was  graminivei'ous,  and  should 
subsist  on  roots  and  herbs  ;  in  fine,  that  man, 
like  the  ox,  should  eat  grass  and  ruminate.  So 
even  at  this  day  we  may  use  the  language  of  the 
poet : 

"Who  shall  decide  when  doctors  disagree?" 

Now  it  is  evident  that  mankind  are  so  differ- 
ently constituted,  that  no  rule  on  dietetics  will 
apply  in  all  cases ;  what  is  poison  for  one,  is  an 
antidote  for  another,  and  vice  versa.  The  truth 
's,  people  of  limited  means  should  consult  econ- 
omy, and  if  upon  trial  it  is  found  that  six  dol- 
lars in  flour  will  support  life  as  long  as  ten  dol- 
lars in  meats,  and  with  it  good  health  besides, 
then,  certainly,  animal  food  is  not  economical. 
Nevertheless,  it  may  be  that  the  staff  of  life 
would  not  be  sufficient  nutriment  in  all  exposures 
and  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The  Esquimaux 
Indian  of  Northern  Greenland,  throughout  the 
long,  dark  winter,  subsists  chiefly  on  walrus  beef 
and  seal  ;  Dr.  ICane,  in  the  same  inhospitable 
region,  found  the  greasy  Esquimaux's  diet  far 
preferable  to  the  variety  usually  carried  on  ship- 


board, which  goes  far  to  prove  the  assertion  of 
physiologists,  that  the  fat  of  animals  when  taken 
into  the  stomach  becomes  fuel  for  the  body,  and 
shows  conclusively,  why  the  Esquimaux  is  so  in- 
different to  the  cold,  and  M'hy  Dr.  Kane  and  his 
party  could  endure  an  Arctic  winter  in  latitude 
eighty  degrees.  Now  it  is  almost  certain  that 
such  a  diet  in  the  tropics  Avould  be  fatal  in  a 
short  time.  In  this  latitude,  we,  in  a  measure, 
experience  the  Arctic  winters,  and  reasoning  from 
analogy,  should  in  some  degree  adopt  an  Arctic 
diet.  Fat  meat  to  warm  the  body  when  the  ther- 
mometer is  at  zero,  will  not  be  amiss  ;  but  in  sum- 
mer, when  the  south  winds  blow  and  the  tropical 
season  comes,  and  with  it  ti'opical  diseases,  the 
diet  should  be  very  diff"erent. 

In  summer  we  plant  shade  trees  around  our 
dwellings,  open  the  windows,  dress  in  cottons 
and  muslins,  and  fan  ourselves,  in  order  if  possi- 
ble to  keep  cool ;  now  patronizing  the  butcher 
at  this  season  of  the  year  is  like  dressing  in  furs 
in  dog-days.  Am  I  wrong  then  ?  Why  has  Na- 
ture so  abundantly  supplied  our  wants,  and  scat- 
tered her  blessings  in  such  profusion  ?  Why  has 
she  so  generously  supplied  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Arctic  Circle  with  the  whale,  the  seal  and  the 
walrus,  whereby  he  may  obtain  that  fuel  for  the 
body,  so  essential  to  enable  him  to  endure  the  se- 
verity of  that  climate  ?  Or  why  in  more'  genial 
climes  has  she  planted  the  date,  the  cocoa-nut,  the 
banana  and  the  plantain?  Is  it  not  evident  that 
whatever  food  is  necessary  to  give  health  to  the 
body  taay  be  found  in  our  very  midst,  planted 
and  nurtured  by  the  hand  of  Nature,  ever  wise 
in  its  dispensations,  ever  beneficent  in  its  designs? 

Stow,  Jan.  1,  1859.  H.  Fowler. 


Remarks. — A  sensible,  practical  view  of  the 
case.  The  reader  will  please  remember  that  we 
have  admitted  into  these  columns  several  articles 
commenting  with  considerable  severity  upon  our 
habits  of  eating  and  drinking — not  because  we 
adopted  as  truths  all  that  was  said,  but  because 
we  thought  such  articles  would  not  fail  to  attract 
attention,  and  prepare  the  way  for  investigation, 
and  perhaps,  reformation,  in  some  particulars. 


Farmers'  Clubs. — We  gladly  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  valuable  suggestions  with  regard  to  the 
best  modes  of  bringing  the  subject  of  agriculture 
more  directly  home  to  the  people,  and  shall  consid- 
er it  a  favor  to  receive  the  opinions  of  our  friends 
in  this  matter,  in  and  out  of  the  State.  There  is 
evidently  a  new  desire  awakened  in  New  England 
to  conduct  the  business  of  farming  with  more 
system  and  intelligence,  and  this  desire  should 
be  met  with  a  corresponding  interest  on  the  part 
of  the  agricultural  press,  and  by  the  active  men 
of  agricultural  associations.  The  Massachuseits 
State  Board  of  Agricidture  has  taken  an  impor- 
tant step  in  this  direction,  which  they  will  soon 
place  before  the  public.  The  views  of  others, 
communicated  to  us,  may  aid  in  this  new  move- 
ment. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


145 


THE  CRAWPOBD  EARLY  PEACH. 


This  is  one  of  the  most  splendid,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  most  excellent,  of  all  early  yellow- 
fleshed  peaches,  and  is  scarcely  surpassed  by  any 
other  variety  in  size  and  beauty  of  appearance. 
We  have  raised  them  so  that  three  would  weigh 
a  pound.  "As  a  market  fruit,"  Downing  says, 
"it  is  perhaps  the  most  popular  of  the  day,  and 
it  is  deserving  of  the  high  favor  in  which  it  is 
held  by  all  growers  of  the  peach.  It  was  origi- 
nated by  William  Crawford,  Esq.,  of  Middle- 
town,  N.  J.  The  tree  is  vigorous,  very  fruitful 
and  hardy."  The  fruit  from  which  our  engrav- 
ing was  taken,  was  grown  by  Charles  D.  Swain, 
Esq.,  of  Roxbury,  Mass. 

The  leaves  of  the  tree  have  globose  glands. 
Fruit  very  large,  oblong,  the  swollen  point  at  the 
top  prominent,  the  suture  shallow.  Skin  yellow, 
with  a  fine  red  cheek.  Flesh  yellow,  melting, 
sweet,  rich  and  very  excellent.  Ripens  about 
the  last  of  August.     Flowers  small. 


To  Correspondents.— We  are  under  obliga- 
tions to  our  correspondents  for  many  articles  that 
•we  have  not  yet  published,  but  for  most  of  which 
•we  shall  find  space  soon.  The  circle  of  corres- 
pondence is  still  widening,  and  if  we  had  dou- 


ble the  space  to  fill,  we  should  scarcely  find  any 
difficulty  in  doing  it.  The  writing  and  publish- 
ing a  good  article,  is  like  that  charity  that  blesses 
twice ;  it  is  of  more  benefit  to  the  writer  than 
would  be  the  reading  of  a  dozen  articles,  and 
then  the  article  goes  forth  to  benfit  thousands  of 
others. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

EXPERIMENTS  IN  RAISING  CORN. 

In  the  spring  of  18.37,  I  had  but  five  acres  of 
ground  to  plant  to  corn,  and,  not  being  very  badly 
hurried  with  work,  I  concluded  to  try  an  experi- 
ment, in  order  to  test  the  diff'erent  ways  of  apply- 
ing manure.  My  field  was  an  oblong,  forty  rods 
by  twenty,  and  I  divided  it  into  five  plots,  each 
four  rods  wide.  On  the  first  I  put  twenty  loads  of 
long  manure,  and  plowed  under  to  the  depth  of 
eight  inches.  On  the  second  plot,  ten  loads  of 
fine  barn-yard  manure,  on  top  of  the  ground  after 
plowing,  and  then  thoroughly  dragging  before 
marking.  Plot  third,  manured  in  the  hill,  with 
two  quarts  of  very  fine  stable  manure.  Plot  fourth, 
manured  in  the  hill  with  one  quart  compost, 
made  of  two  parts  muck,  two  parts  hog  manure 
and  one  part  each  of  lime  and  ashes.  Plot  fi-fth, 
without  any  manure.  The  kind  of  corn  planted 
was  the  yellow  smut,  or  red  blaze,  the  kernel  of 
which  is  large  and  flat,  and  ear  good  size.    It  was 


146 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


March 


planted  on  the  twenty-fifth  or  twenty-seventh  of 
May,  dropped  dry,  and  plaster  dropped  on  it  be- 
fore covering,  and  then  plastered  again  as  soon 
as  up. 

When  I  could  see  the  rows,  it  was  cultivated 
both  ways,  and  in  a  few  days  cultivated  again  and 
hoed,  which  was  all  that  was  done  for  it  until  it 
■was  large  enough  to  hill,  when  it  was  plowed  both 
•ways,  two  furrows  in  a  row,  and  hilled  up  a  very 
little.  It  was  furrowed  three  feet  apart,  making 
just  22  rows  on  each  plot  or  acre.  As  soon  as  it 
was  ripe  it  was  cut  up  at  the  hill,  and  well  set  up 
in  small  shocks,  so  that  the  corn  might  dry  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  the  latter  part  of  October 
it  was  husked,  each  plot  by  itself,  and  accurately 
measured  in  the  ear  as  it  was  put  in  the  bin.  The 
poor  corn  I  made  no  account  of.  The  following 
18  the  result : 


Plot  1,  84  bushels  of  ears. 
Plot  2, 90        "        " 
Plot  3, 99        "        " 


Plot  4,  95  bushels  of  ears. 
Plot  6, 68        "        " 


From  this  I  conclude,  that,  for  present  profit, 
manuring  in  the  hill  is  the  best,  as  the  plot  ma- 
nured with  barn-yard  manure  in  the  hill  gave  15 
bushels  more  than  the  long  manure  plowed  in, 
and  31  over  the  one  without  manure. 

The  result  is  also  in  favor  of  spreading  the  ma- 
nure on  top  of  the  ground  instead  of  plowing 
under  for  the  first  crop  ;  but  how  this  will  affect 
the  succeeding  crops  remains  to  be  seen.  This 
year  it  was  sowed  to  oats  and  I  have  kept  them 
in  separate  parcels,  and  as  soon  as  I  get  them  all 
thrashed,  I  can  tell  how  much  each  plot  produces 
and  their  weight  per  bushel.  It  is  now  sown  to 
rye,  and  this  crop  will  in  a  measure  determine 
which  method  will  give  the  most  permanent  ben- 
efit. James  Baker. 

Oah  mil,  Jan.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  accept  the  proposition  made 
in  your  private  note. 

tkamsactions  of  the  norfolk  ag- 
biouijTUBaij  society. 

This  handsome  pamphlet  of  120  pages  pre- 
sents one  feature,  such  as  we  have  never  before 
■witnessed,  capable  of  being  imitated  in  every  so- 
ciety of  the  Commonwealth.  The  supervisory 
committee  framed  a  series  of  questions,  embrac- 
ing the  essentials  of  farm  management,  and  ad- 
dressed them  to  intelligent  cultivators.  In  this 
way  they  elicited  the  actual  experience  of  the 
best  cultivators  of  the  county.  Several  of  these 
papers  contain  the  essence  of  good  farming. 
There  is  one  gentleman,  page  38,  who  states  how 
he  has  grown,  year  after  year,  crops  of  Indian 
corn,  amounting  to  one  hundred  bushels  to  the 
acre,  no  mistake,  and  no  fictitious  measui'e.  This 
is  good  doings,  better  by  one-half  than  most  far- 
mers do.  We  venture  the  assertion,  that  the  crop 
usually  raised  throughout  the  State  does  not  ex- 
ceed forty  bushels,  fair  measure.  We  think  there 
is  great  need  of  some  uniform  rule  of  harvesting, 
curing  and  measuring  this  crop,  so  that  the  crops 
in  different  sections  can  be  compared  one  with 


another.  We  hold  that  corn  is  not  fit  to  be  meas- 
ured, until  it  is  dry  enough  to  be  ground,  and 
that  the  statute  should  define  the  number  of 
pounds  to  constitute  a  bushel  at  this  time. 

One  gentleman  (p.  35)  speaks  of  growing  three 
or  four  hundred  bushels  of  currants  to  the  acre, 
in  his  orchard,  in  addition  to  the  fruit  of  the 
trees.  This  is  a  valuable  crop  indeed,  for  we  pre- 
sume such  currants  will  readily  command  half  a 
dollar  a  bushel.  They  are  a  palatable  and 
wholesome  berry. 

We  are  pleased  to  see  that  these  Norfolk  far- 
mers stir  their  soil  from  seven  to  ten  inches  deep, 
and  that  they  are  not  sparing  of  their  manure, 
applying  from  eight  to  twelve  cords  to  the  acre. 
No  man  can  expect  a  full  crop,  who  feeds  skrim- 
pingly.  The  liberal  donor  shall  be  rewarded  ac- 
cordingly. We  think  we  should  prefer  Mr.  Rob- 
inson's instructions  about  draining  and  seeding 
land,  to  those  of  old  Father  Elliot,  who  lived 
more  than  one  hundred  years  ago.  We  think 
we  trace  on  many  of  the  pages  of  this  volume, 
the  industry  and  good  sense  of  our  old  friend 
SewcU — and  have  no  doubt  he  will  do  as  much 
good  in  his  day  and  generation,  by  his  labors  on 
the  farm,  and  among  farmers,  as  he  ever  did  in 
the  pulpit. 

AN  EXPERIMENT  IN  DRAINING. 

When  we  witness  the  change  of  a  sterile  soil 
into  a  fertile  one  through  the  influence  of  drain- 
ing, it  is  conclusive  evidence  of  the  value  of  la- 
bor so  applied.  Such  has  recently  come  to  our 
notice,  and  we  shall  recall  it  for  our  readers. 

It  not  unfrequently  happens  in  hilly  or  gently 
undulating  districts,  that  intervals  and  damp, 
springy  soils  abound,  requiring  draining  before 
it  can  be  brought  into  profitable  cultivation.  The 
instance  in  question,  was  a  field  of  fair  surface, 
quite  free  from  stone,  but  receiving  from  more 
elevated  land  a  continual  supply  of  clear,  cold, 
soft  spring  water,  which  ran  over  nearly  the 
whole  surface.  The  owner,  faithless  of  reclaim- 
ing the  lot,  was  yet  desirous  of  collecting  the 
water  to  supply  a  reservoir  for  cattle.  This  was 
mainly  accomplished  by  cutting  a  drain  across 
the  slope  of  land  near  the  upper  side  of  the  field, 
for  about  a  hundred  rods  in  length,  which  did  so 
much  for  draining  the  surface  that  other  ditches 
were  cut  completing  the  work.  The  drains  were 
finished  with  the  flat  stone  usual  in  such  districts, 
carefully  laid  and  covered  with  a  good  coat  of 
straw,  before  replacing  the  dirt.  Now  of  the 
change  produced. 

A  crop  never  grew  upon  this  lot  from  the 
time  it  was  cleared  until  after  it  was  drained. 
Water  grasses  and  weeds  were  the  only  product ; 
but  since  draining,  it  has  produced  annually  over 
two  tons  of  good  hay  per  acre,  without  any  ma- 
nure. The  appearance  of  the  soil  is  wholly 
changed,  from  a  tenacious  blue  clay,  adhering  to 
one's  boots  like  tar — it  has  become  a  clear,  black, 
clay  loam — ^just  such  a  soil  as  always  produces 
remunerative  crops  to  the  farmer. — Country  Gen- 
tleman. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


147 


FIFTH  LEQISIiATIVa  AGRICULTURAIj 
MEETING. 

[Reported  by  John  C.  Moore,  for  the  N.  E.  Faemer.J 

The  meeting  on  Monday  night  was  very  re- 
spectable in  point  of  number,  and  included  many 
of  our  most  enterprising  farmers  throughout  the 
State.  The  subject  for  discussion  was,  "Sheep 
and  Sheep  Husbandry.'" 

Hon.  RiCHAKD  S.  Fay,  of  Boston,  occupied 
the  Chair.  He  apologized,  because  of  ill  health 
and  engrossing  avocations,  for  want  of  prepara- 
tion in  introuucing  the  subject.  Sheep  husbandry 
was  a  most  important  item  in  the  husbandry  of 
the  State.  Referring  to  the  system  of  stock 
keeping,  and  the  proposition  laid  down  at  a  for- 
mer meeting — that  no  farm  could  be  properly 
managed  unless  it  kept  a  stock  capable  of  con- 
suming its  produce — he  took  up  the  question  of 
what  was  the  best  kind  of  stock  to  keep,  espe- 
cially with  reference  to  the  progressive  improve- 
ment of  the  farm.  The  prominent  question  is 
— What  shall  we  do  to  renovate  our  worn-out 
pastures  ?  Cattle  had  been  tried,  and  the  conse- 
quence had  been  failure  ;  for  in  connection  with 
cattle  culture,  the  true  American  system  was  to 
take  all  out  of  the  farm  and  return  nothing  to  it. 
In  the  mind  of  the  speaker,  sheep  husbandry 
was  the  best  means  of  renovating  the  soil.  Top 
dressing  was  out  of  the  question  ;  for  the  pas- 
tures would  have  to  be  brought  to  a  reasonable 
state  of  fertility  before  this  could  be  done  with 
effect.  The  proneness  of  cultivated  grass  lands 
to  go  back  to  a  natural  state  was  also  a  consider- 
tion  to  be  thought  of,  and  the  means  of  keeping 
them  in  good  condition  another.  Sheep  grazing 
would  do  this  more  effectually  than  any  other, 
as  the  excrement  of  sheep,  in  its  nature,  and  in 
the  manner  it  was  distributed  over  the  soil,  re- 
stored to  pastures  what  they  had  lost  from  feed- 
ing, kept  down  the  natural  and  coarser  grasses, 
and  retained  the  fertility  of  the  lands  in  a  great- 
er measure  than  by  the  use  of  any  other  descrip- 
tion of  grazing  stock.  Mr.  Fay  said  he  possessed 
200  acres,  which,  ten  years  ago,  would  have 
starved  ten  cows  to  death.  It  was  a  matter  of 
too  much  expense  to  cultivate  it — in  fact,  it  was 
no  more  in  his  estimation  than  a  piece  of  waste 
land.  It  was  of  no  use,  only  as  it  was  liable  to 
call  for  a  tax.  On  100  acres  he  put  150  sheep, 
four  years  ago,  and  now,  on  the  same  pasture, 
there  are  fifteen  to  twenty  cattle  grazed  six 
months  in  every  year.  This  was  through  pastur- 
ing with  sheep.  The  land  was  rocky,  and  could 
not  be  brought  into  cultivation  through  any  other 
means. 

As  to  winter-keep  of  sheep,  it  was  an  advan- 
tage to  the  farmer,  although  it  was  thought  to 
be  different.  They  required  less  care,  did  not 
demand  housing  so  much  as  other  stock — they 


requiring  only  a  yard,  hay-rack,  and  a  shed  dur- 
ing storms  ;  they  were  less  liable  to  disease  than 
any  other  stock  ;  in  fact,  all  they  demanded  was 
the  simple  attention  of  feeding,  and  they  im- 
prove in  condition  in  the  same  ratio  as  cattle 
feeding  for  the  shambles.  Sheep  consume  two 
pounds  of  hay,  per  day,  or  its  equivalent.  Eight 
pounds  of  roots  would  be  an  equivalent.  As 
compared  with  cattle,  sheep  produce  much  more 
fertilizing  manure  than  any  other  kind  of  stock. 
Spengel,  a  German  chemist,  said  that  1000  sheep 
would  produce  as  much  manure  in  twenty-four 
hours  as  would  put  an  acre  of  land  in  the  best 
condition.  This  looked  rather  strange  to  Mr.  Fay 
when  he  first  saw  it,  and  he  determined  to  look 
into  it.  This  would  give  fifteen  well-manured 
acres  out  of  as  many  tons  of  hay — a  rather  start- 
ling statement.  Professor  Johnston,  in  an  arti- 
cle on  the  comparative  value  of  manures,  rati- 
fied it  by  stating  that  sheep  droppings  were  as 
12  to  7  in  fertilizing  qualities,  compared  with 
the  excrements  of  cows — nearly  one-h;df  more. 
In  conjunction  with  other  stocks,  and  not  at  all 
to  displace  them,  all  farmers  ought  to  keep 
sheep.  Their  droppings  are  as  good  as  guano, 
and  few  farms  were  independent  of  the  use  of 
such  manures — for  few  were  without  spots  where 
it  could  be  top-dressed  by  the  use  of  sheep, 
when  any  other  means  would  not  prove  half  so 
effectual.  Sheep,  also,  had  always  a  ready  mar- 
ket, which  was  another  advantage  they  had  over 
hay,  grain  or  other  produce. 

As  to  the  objection  against  sheep  on  account 
of  dogs — their  number  in  this  State  had  dwin- 
dled from  550,000  to  120,000!  It  was  a  matter 
of  shame  to  think  that  dogs  were  so  allowed  to 
mar  such  a  useful  branch  of  rural  economy.  In 
old  times,  a  premium  was  offered  for  the  heads 
of  wolves,  for  the  reason  that  they  destroyed  the 
domestic  cattle  and  sheep  ;  and  now  when  dogs 
were  so  much  worse,  and  the  fact  was  made  plain 
to  the  Legislature,  it  was  as  good  as  laughed  at — 
for  the  law  passed  last  session  was  of  no  conse- 
quence. Had  it  passed  as  originally  presented, 
the  bill  would  have  added  to  the  value  of  the 
sheep  stock,  in  a  few  years,  $1,000,000.  Every- 
body was  protected  in  their  rights  but  the  far- 
mer. If  a  man  established  a  nuisance  alongside 
his  neighbor's  property,  he  was  liable  to  punish- 
ment ;  but  a  man  who  was  not  worth  a  cent,  but 
who  owned  an  untaxed  dog,  was  suffered  to  keep 
his  sheep-killing  nuisance  with  impunity.  The 
option  of  cities  and  towns  to  adopt  the  existing 
laws  was  fatal  to  any  idea  of  its  ever  being  use- 
ful. Mr.  Fay  hoped  that  means  would  soon  be 
taken  to  cure  this  evil. 

As  to  wool,  New  England  manufactured 
40,000,000  of  pounds,  when  Massachusetts,  with 
lands  adapted  to  the  support  of  half  a  million  of 


148 


XEW  ENGLAND  FAMIER. 


March 


sheep,  only  produced  the  paltry  quantity  of 
400,000  pounds.  In  England  there  were  about 
44,000,000  sheep ;  while  in  the  United  States, 
where  cheap  land  and  other  facilities  were  superi- 
or, we  had  only  15,000,000.  The  fact  appealed  to 
our  patriotism.  Gentlemen  here  wore  broad- 
cloth coats  and  pants,  and  not  a  thread  of  them 
were  grown  within  three  thousand  miles  of 
where  they  were.  Mr.  Fay  concluded  by  appeal- 
ing to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Legislature  to  furnish 
farmers  such  protection  as  would  protect  their 
interests,  and,  as  he  had  endeavored  to  show, 
those  of  the  common  country. 

Mr.  Marsh,  of  Danvers,  spoke  experimentally 
of  the  improvement  mude  by  sheep-grazing  on 
lands  that  were  not  otherwise  capable  of  being 
well  treated,  and  recommended  that  farmers 
ghould  give  at  least  some  attention  to  sheep- 
keeping,  if  the  dogs  would  let  them.  Li  fifteen 
months  he  had  sixty  head  nearly  destroyed  by 
dogs.  He  concurred  in  what  had  been  said  by 
the  president  on  this  subject,  and  also  regarded 
the  superiority  of  sheep-droppings  over  all  other 
kinds  of  manure — even  although  they  were  fed 
on  the  coarsest  of  hay.  In  answer  to  a  question 
put,  Mr.  Marsh  said  that  in  winter,  sheep  re- 
quired more  water,  according  to  iheir  bulk,  than 
neat  stock.  A  disease  had  appeared  among  his 
flock  which  had  induced  him  to  change  them  en- 
tirely, and  it  had  not  since  made  its  appearance, 
and  this  step  he  would  recommend.  He  said  that 
emulation  was  rapidly  inducing  farmers  in  his 
neighborhood  to  procure  sheep  ;  and  if  facilities 
were  favorable,  their  culture  would  be  much  more 
general. 

Mr.  John  D.  G.  Williams,  of  Bristol  coun- 
ty, said  that  he  had  experience  of  the  value  of 
sheep  in  improving  land  ;  and  held  them  to  be  a 
profitable  article  to  keep.  From  12  sheep  he 
had  in  value  in  lambs,  wool  and  premiums 
$116,80.  He  had  received  for  a  cross  of  the 
South  Down  $6  a  head  for  three  months'  lambs, 
which  he  held  to  be  a  fair  price.  Dogs  were  a  great 
nuisance,  and  it  was  time  that  the  Legislature 
should  put  about  as  much  value  on  sheep  as  they 
did  on  dogs.  One  of  his  neighbors  had  lost  his 
whole  flock,  thirteen,  in  one  night,  and  instances 
were  numerous  of  similar  depredation.  This 
evil  must  be  cured. 

The  President  here  read  a  humorous  account 
of  what  the  author  called  the  Disease  of  Dogs, 
as  it  afflicted  sheep — which  recommended  as  a 
cure  good  wholesome  laws,  strictly  and  properly 
executed. 

Mr.  John  W.  Proctor,  of  Danvers,  spoke 
next.  His  observations  were  confined  to  sheep 
as  improvers  of  wild  pasture  land,  and  described 
an  experiment  by  Mr.  Marsh,  who  had  previously 
spoken,  on  land  which,  ten  years  ago,  would  not 


support  one  cow,  whereas,  five  years  after  being 
fed  by  sheep,  it  could  support  five  cows,  and  re- 
ceived the  best  premium  the  Essex  county  could 
give.  Several  other  gentlemen  had  tried  the 
same  description  of  experiment,  and  all  had  been 
similarly  successful. 

Mr.  Sanford  Howard,  of  the  Cultivator, 
agreed  in  the  opinion  that  sheep  formed  a  most 
important  feature  of  our  agricultural  prosperity. 
j  As  to  dogs,  they  were  kept  as  numerously  in  Eu- 
jrope,  in  sheep  countries,  as  they  were  here  ;  but 
probably  the  greater  safety  of  the  "wooly  people" 
I  was  owing  to  farmers  keeping  dogs  whose  nature 
Iwas  to  protect,  not  to  destroy  sheep.  Mr.  How- 
ard coincided  with  the  several  speakers  with  re- 
gard to  the  fertilizing  qualities  of  sheep,  and 
their  value  as  stock,  on  poor  lands.  He  then 
briefly  alluded  to  the  question  of  what  kinds  of 
sheep  should  be  kept  in  the  difl"erent  sections  of 
the  country.  In  the  neighborhood  of  cities, 
where  mutton  was  high  priced,  the  kind  easiest 
fed  would  of  course  be  chosen  ;  where  the  object 
was  to  improve  hilly  pasture,  the  production  of 
wool  would  be  an  important  consideration.    The 

!  character  of  the  soil,  and  circumstances,  would 

.  .  . 

regulate  choice;  but,  if  he  should  give  an  opin- 
ion in  the  matter  of  sheep  for  mountainous  dis- 
trict, he  should  speak  in  favor  of  the  black-faced 
I  mountain  sheep  of  Holland  and  Wales. 

Mr.  Howard  continued  to  make  some  valuable 
practical  observations  on  stall-feeding  sheep — 
1  urging,  however,  the  importance  of  proper  feed- 
ing, even  although  they  were  capable  of  being 
sustained  on  the  coarsest  kinds  of  food.  He  al- 
I  so  spoke  of  the  property  sheep  had  of  improving 
the  grasses  of  meadows  on  which  they  were  fed 
in  course  of  a  rotation  system  of  husbandry. 

Mr.  Wetherell  made  some  very  pointed  re- 
marks on  the  great  evils  arising  to  sheep  culture 
from  dogs,  and  urged  a  determined  eff'ort  to  pro- 
cure a  law  that  would  operate  as  a  sufficient  pro- 
itection.  Mr.  W.  referred  to  an  instance  within 
'  his  knowledge,  wherein  a  few  sheep  had  caused 
a  great  improvement  on  a  farm. 
1  Mr.  Marsh  also  joined  in  the  demand  for  a 
:more  stringent  law  against  dogs  ;  for  it  was  no- 
torious, that,  when  a  dog  once  tasted  the  blood  of 
a  sheep,  there  was  no  limit  to  the  extent  of  his 
depredations.  It  was  of  little  use  to  hunt  after 
these  depredators ;  the  better  way  would  be  to 
find  means  to  prevent  their  existence,  which  a 
heavy  tax  would  be  most  likely  to  do,  were  it 
made  imperative  on  all  dog-keepers. 

The  President  spoke  of  the  fertilizing  prop- 
erties of  sheep  manure  in  the  matter  of  grasses, 
which  showed  a  large  per  centage  over  other  ma-- 
nures.  He  also  said  that  the  profit  of  sheep, 
per  annum,  as  represented  to  him  by  a  compe- 
tent authority,  was  equivalent  to  the  annual  value 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


of  the  flock,  independently  of  the  other  advanta- 
ges which  had  been  specified. 

Mr.  Williams  gave  evidence  much  to  the 
same  effect ;  approved  of  raising  sheep  for  lambs  ; 
held  a  cross  of  the  native  and  South  Down  to  be 
the  best  for  this  region  ;  and  said  that  the  aver- 
age price  of  lambs  in  Bristol  county,  in  June, 
was  about  $4.  In  the  richer  valley  lands  the 
price  of  lambs  might  reach  $5  per  head. 

The  subject  for  next  Monday  evening's  discus- 
sion is,  "Fruit,  and  Hoio  to  Raise  it"  when  Hon. 
Simon  Brown,  of  Concord,  will  preside. 


there  would  be  a  similar  meeti. 
Thursday,  the  17th  inst.,  and  on  the 
Friday,  at   Marlow,  at   which   meetings 
Brown,  editor  of  the  J\l'eio  England  Farmer, 
expected  to  be  present  and  address  the  meetir 
Yours  truly,  J.  REYNOLDS. 

Concord,  Feb.  7. 


Remarks. — Our  correspondent  sent  us  a  full 
and  interesting  account  of  this  meeting,  but  it 
came  ofter  our  paper  was  nearly  made  up,  so 
that  we  have  been  obliged  to  sadly  abridge  it. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
EXPERIMENTS    IN  FATTENING  SWINE. 

Mr.  Editor  : — 1  send  you  herein  the  result  of 
a  few  experiments  in  pork-raising  in  our  village. 
It  is  not  pretended  that  there  is  anything  very 
unusual  in  the  cases  mentioned.  If  it  should  ap- 
jpear,  however,  that  frequent  feeding  &n^  full- 


[Note. — By  an  unfortunate  transposition  of  the  reporter, 
the  list  of  Peaes  recommended  by  Col.  Wilder  at  the  meeting 
when  the  subject  of  •■^  Fruit  and  Fruit  Trees"  was  discussed, 
was  not  properly  printed  in  last  week's  N.  E.  Farmer.  The 
following  is  a  correction  : 

Best  six  pears  on  their  own  roots — Bartlett,  Urbaniste,  Vicar  | 
of  Winkfield,  Buffum,  Beurre  d'Anjou  and  Lawrence. 

For  the  best  toeZre,  add— Rostiezer,Merriam,  Doyenne  Bous-j  feeding  of  spring  pigs  is  the  surest  and   readiest 
BOck,  Belle  Lucrative,  Flemish  Beauty  and  Onondago.  j  ^ay  to  turn  a  penny  in  raising  pork,  I    shall  not 

Best  six  on  quince  roots— honise  bonne  de  Jersey,  Urbaniste,   \^q  disappointed.      Nothing,  I  apprehend,  is  more 
Duchess  d'Angouleme,  Vicar  of  Winkfield,  Beurre  d'Anjou  and   common  or  more  unprofitable  than  tO  buy  shoats 


Glout  Morceau.] 


in  the  fall,  weighing  in  the  neighborhood  of  one 
hundred  pounds,  and  in  a  year  to  turn  out  three 
hundred  and  fifty  pound  hogs,  and  not  much 
more. 

Last  June,  Mr.  Daniel  Norton,  Jr.,  of  this 


For  the  Neiv  England  Farmer. 
CHESHIRE  COUNTY  MASS  MEETING. 
Mr.  Editor:  — I  attended  another  of  the 
Cheshire  Co.  Agricultural  Meetings  on  Friday, 'town,  purchased  two  spring  pigs  for  $4  each,  said 
the  4th.  The  meeting  was  appointed  at  one  j  to  be  of  the  Chester  county  breed.  They  were 
o'clock.  Col.  Read,  of  Swanzey,  joined  me  at!  taken  from  the  sow  about  the  last  of  June,  being 
Marlboro',  where  he  had  been  waiting  for  the  then  two  months  old.  They  were  slaughtered 
train  three  hours.  The  colonel  is  a  man  of  en- [December  2nd,  when  one  of  them  weighed  320, 
ergy,  and  has  done  his  duty  in  this  matter  faith- 1  the  other  310  pounds.  These  pigs  had  the  skim 
fully.  At  Keene  we  were  joined  by  SamuelJ  milk  of  one  cow  about  three  months,  and  of  two 
Woodward,  Esq  ,  Editor  of  the  Sentinel.  We |  the  remainder  of  the  time.  But  they  had  as 
reached  the  hotel  of  mine  host  of  the  Walpole'much  Indian  meal  as  they  would  eat.  They  were 
House,  a  little  after  4  o'clock,  where  we  found  i  never  fed  less  than  three  times  a  day,  often  four 
about  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  citizens  awaiting  and  sometimes  five.  Pigs  recently  from  the 
our  advent.  The  people  assembled  in  the  after- j  mother,  may  safely  and  profitably  be  fed  fre- 
noon,  and  organized  for  the  evening  by  the  quently.  The  digestive  powers  are  most  active 
choice  of  1.  Howland,  Esq.,  as  President,  and  in  the  j/oh^.c/ animal,  as  matter  of  theory  even  ;  in 
Mr.  Stearns,  Secretary,  and  adjourned  to  six  practice  it  is  found  emphatically  so;  and  if  the 
o'clock.  Just  before  the  meeting,  Mr.  T.  Breed,  animal  is  fed  always,  the  growth  is  never  stunted 
editor  of  the  New  Hampshire  Journal  of  Agricul-land  the  animal  does  about  all  it  was  made  to  do, 
turc,  came  in.  He  is  an  energetic,  intelligent] in  a  short  time.  These  pigs  M-ere  seven  months 
man,  full  of  life  and  animation,  and  added  an- land  four  days  old  when  butchered,  and  weighed, 
other  good  fellow  to  our  party.  Soon  after  six! as  above  stated,  630  pounds, 
the  President  opened  the  meeting  by  appropri-j  Mr.  Abel  Goodhue  bought  a  pig  on  the  14th 
ate  remarks,  and  then  Col.  Read  made  one  of  his  of  June  last,  then  weighing  30  pounds.  He  was 
straight-forward,  business-like  speeches.  Then  killed  Dec.  12th,  and  dressed  off  250  pounds.  It 
your    humble    servant   occupied   the   floor   for; was  a  cross   of  the    Suflblk   and  Essex  breed. 


about  an  hour,  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Breed. 
He  spoke  with  special  reference  to  the  impor- 
tance and  advantage  of  sustaining  an  agricultu- 
ral paper  in  New  Hampshire,  adapted  to  the 
wants  and  circumstances  of  their  State.  They 
were  more  engaged  in  stock  and  sheep  raising 
than  were  the  people  in  some  other  States,  and 
they  wanted  to  discuss  these  subjects,  and  other 
matters  of  local  importance,  which  they  could 
not  expect  to  find  in  papers  of  other  States. 
They  should  have  a  paper  which  was  in  some 
cort  common  property,  upon  whose  pages  they 
could  meet.  He  did  not  wish  them  to  drop  the 
New  England  Farmer,  or  any  other  paper,  but  to 
take  the  Journal  of  Agricidture  in  addition.  At 
the  close  it  was  announced  that  in  two  weeks 


This  pig  had  the  skim  milk  of  one  cow  only,  and 
twelve  and  one-half  bushels  of  meal.  This  was 
his  entire  keeping,  with  the  exception  of  from 
two  to  three  bushels  of  potatoes,  in  addition  to 
slop  from  the  house.  Here  was  a  gain  of  just 
about  one  and  a  quarter  pounds  a  day  :  another 
proof  of  the  advantage  of  the  fast-feeding  of 
young  animals — and  none  probably  doubt  that 
the  meat  is  sweeter  through  all  its  stages. 

I  add  the  following,  not  as  an  example  of  rap- 
id growth,  for  it  goes  to  show,  like  the  cases  be- 
fore cited,  that  the  gain  is  less  rapid  as  well  as 
more  expensive,  as  the  animal  advances  in  age ; 
but  on  account  of  the  accuracy  with  which  the 
experiment  was  conducted.  It  is  really  to  be 
wished   that   all    engaged  in   the  fattening   of 


150 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Makch 


swine   or   neat  cattle,  would  keep   accurate  ac- 
counts for  the  benefit  of  others. 

Mr.  Samuel  Proctor  purchased  from  a  drover 
a  shoat,  in  April  last,  I  think  on  the  3d,  then 
weighing  120  pounds.  The  cost  was  $10,20: 
He  was   butchered  Dec.  29th,  and  weighed  353 


we  found  the  manure  all  on  fire  and  put  it  out, 
as  we  supposed ;  the  second  day  we  found  it  on 
fire  again  ;  tlie  third  day  it  was  still  burning.  I 
went  with  my  hired  man  and  dug  down  some 
two  feet  and  found  at  the  bottom  a  large  bed  of 
fire.     Now  the  question  is,  is  it  probable  or  is  it 


pounds;  this  was  eight  months  and   twenty-six  j  possible,  that  the  barn  took  fire  from  spontaneous 
days  from  the  time  when  his  live  weight  was  120!  combustion  ?     If  so,  my  advice   is  for  every  one 


pounds,  as  before  stated.  Mr.  P.  fed  out  24  bush- 
els of  Indian  meal  and  one-half  bushel  of  rye 
meal,  which  was  his  entire  living,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  slops  from  the  house,  (no  milk  at  all,)  and 
a  few  potatoes,  not  exceeding  three  bushels  in  all. 
The  entire  cost  of  the  animal  and  his  keeping, 


to  see  that  their  manure  is  shoveled  over  often, 
or  otherwise  keep  hogs  in  the  cellar,  although 
in  my  opinion  they  will  not  do  quite  as  well  as 
when  kept  out  in  a  good  dry  place. 

One  more  question  : — Can  any  man  take  one 
or  any  number  of  swallows,  and  put  them  in  the 


(not  reckoning  the  potatoes,)  and  allowing  for  j  mud,  a  hollow  tree  or  log,  or  in  a  sand-bank,  or 
the  butchering,  was  $34,73,  and  is  made  up  as  in  any  other  condition  whatever,  and  keep  them 
follows,  viz  :  alive  through   the  winter  ?     My  opinion  is  that 

,„  „„     it  can't  be  done  without  food.  G.  v. 

Cost  of  the  shoat,  April  3 $10,20 

One  bushel  meal  bought  same  day 84 

One  bushel  meal 90 

Apiil  28,  one  bushel  meal 90 


May  6. 

do. 

do. 

May  1.5, 

do. 

do. 

May  24, 

do. 

do. 

June  2, 

do. 

do. 

June  9, 

do. 

do. 

June  17, 

do. 

do. 

88 

, 90 

86 

June  25,6  bushels,  at  90c 5,40 

Aug.  4,  one  bushel 1,06 

Aug.  11,  one-half  bush,  rye  meal,  given  in  small  quan- 
tities, mixed  with  Indian 54 

Aug.  14,  one  bushel  Intlian  meal 1,10 


Aug.  25, 

do. 

do. 

Sept  17, 

do. 

do. 

Sept  30, 

do. 

do. 

Oct.  11, 

do. 

do. 

Oct.  23, 

do. 

do. 

Nov.  6, 

do. 

do. 

Nov.  8, 

do. 

do. 

1,08 
1,C6 
1,06 
1,06 
1,06 
1,00 
1,00 
Add  for  butchering 1,25 

Total $34,73 

The  meal  was  purchased  as  often  as  wanted, 
and  the  date  of  the  purchase  of  each  bushel  shows 
pretty  nearly  the  amount  in  the  difierent  stages 
of  the  animal's  growth. 

Mr.  P.,  as  the  result  of  his  carefully  conducted 
experiment,  knows  that  his  pork  has  cost  him 
just  about  ten  cents  per  pound,  not  reckoning 
anything  for  time  spent  in  feeding — or  rather, 
perhaps,  offsetting  this  against  the  manure, 
■which  should  certainly  be  done. 

Essex,  Dec.  21,  1859.  David  CnoATE. 

Remarks. — We  are  greatly  obliged  to  Mr. 
Choate  for  the  above ;  such  precise  statements 
are  always  valuable. 


For  the  New  England  Fanner 

SPOTTTANEOUS  COMBUSTIOK  IN 
MANUKE. 


Remarks. — We  do  not  think  the  barn  took 
fire  by  spontaneous  combustion,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances mentioned. 


For  the  A>ir  England  Farmer. 
THE  ■WEATHER  OF  1858. 

FROM   MT  WEATHER  JOURNAL. 

The  most  noticeable  feature  of  the  weather  of 
1858,  was  the  remarkable  mildness  of  the  winter 
season.  During  a  large  portion  of  January,  at 
least  two-thirds  of  the  month,  the  ground  was 
entirely  bare  in  this  part  of  the  Connecticut  val- 
ley, and  for  seventeen  days  in  succession  no  snow 
fell.  Towards  the  close  of  the  month  of  Janua- 
ry, the  frost  left  the  ground,  the  roads  generally 
became  settled,  and  the  ponds  were  free  from  ice. 
Farmers  might  have  plowed,  and  to  my  knowl- 
edge, did  plow,  without  difficulty  from  frost,  there 
being  four  days,  commencing  with  the  25th,  in 
which  the  temperature  ranged  from  four  to  eigh- 
teen degrees  above  the  freezing  point.  Violets 
in  blossom  in  the  gardens,  fully  exposed  to  the 
weather,  were  not  uncommon  ;  and  other  plants 
were  reported  in  flower  by  the  newspapers,  in- 
cluding the  strawberry  ;  but  the  violets  I  saw 
myself  in  full,  bright  bloom. 

The  first  ten  days  of  February  were  as  mild  as 
any  consecutive  ten  in  January,  the  temperature 
sometimes  rising  to  50°  in  the  shade,  in  the  open 
air  ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  month,  though 
considerably  colder,  deserves  to  rank  only  as 
quite  mild  winter  weather. 

The  first  two  weeks  of  March  were  more  win- 
ter-like than  the  same  length  of  time  in  either  of 
the  preceding  winter  months,  producing  a  tem- 
perature of  12°  below  zero — 6°  lower  than  any  in 
the  winter  months— and  about  a  week  or  ten 
days  of  poor  sleighing.  This  was  nearly  all  the 
sleighing  of  the  season,  and  the  greatest  depth 
of  snow  on  the  ground  at  one  time  was  not  more 
than  five  inches.  In  short,  the  weather  of  March 
was  about  as  ordinarily  for  this  month,  and  be- 


Will  you  or  some  of  your  readers  of  the  Farmer 
inform  me  on  a  few  things?  The  last  of  October 
my  large  and  nearly  new  barn  and  sheds,  with  all 
their  contents,  were  consumed  by  fire.  We  have 
and  do  now  think  it  was  the  work  of  an  incendiary. 
There  was  a  cellar  to  said  barn  ;  fifteen  feet  on 

the  west  side  was  partitioned  off"  by  a  stone  wall,  i  fore  the  close  of  the  month  the  frost  generally 
which  made  a  pit  for  manure,  fifteen  by  forty  j  left  the  ground.  During  the  last  days  of  the 
feet,  and  every  year  till  the  last  I  kept  hogs  and  month,  farmers  began  to  plow,  and  only  now  and 
let  them  run  under  my  stable  in  the  cellar.  I  [then  a  mud-hole  could  be  found  in  the  roads.  No 
have  used  common  brakes  for  bedding,  (as  they  j  snow  fell  here  after  the  20th  of  the  month, 
grow  among  us  plentifully;)  we  put  into  the  pit  land  at  the  end  of  the  month  none  couM  be  seen, 
all  the  leaves,  old  shoes,  boots,  (S:c.,that  we  have,  not  even  on  the  most  elevated  points  of  Ilamp- 
and  cover  them  up  in  the  manure.   After  ths  fire; den  and  Hampshire  counties. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


151 


April  continued  mild,  even  more  than  usually 
warm,  and  marked  by  no  very  severe  changes. 
At  the  close  of  the  month  the  buds  on  the  trees 
were  very  forward  in  their  incipient  stages  of  de- 
velopment ;  but  May  was  cold  and  advanced  the 
season  but  little  from  where  April  left  it.  Apple 
trees  were  not  in  full  bloom  till  the  25th,  and 
vegetation  in  general  wrs  proportionally  back- 
ward. Cloudy  weather  was  the  predominant  fea- 
ture of  the  month. 

June  strove  hard  to  make  amends  for  the  fail- 
ings of  May,  and  at  its  close  had  brought  vege- 
tation up  to  rather  more  than  its  usual  stage  of 
development  at  this  season.  The  month  was 
rather  too  dry,  but  otherwise  exceedingly  fine 
for  the  farmer,  though  towards  its  close  the  heat 
was  extreme.  Thermometer  in  this  vicinity  ranged 
from  90°  to  near  100°,  in  the  shade.  At  the 
West,  and  paticularly  along  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  month  will  be  long  remembered 
on  account  of  its  disastrous  freshets. 

July  was  mild  in  respect  to  heat,  and  although 
there  was  a  scanty  supply  of  rain,  growing  crops 
suffered  but  little  in  lack  of  it. 

Attgiist  was  cool,  with  a  large  proportion  of 
northeast  wind,  equal  to  one  day  in  three  through- 
out the  month. 

September  and  October  were  go'den  months ; 
and,  besides  bringing  in  an  abundant  harvest, 
brought  a  remarkably  large  share  of  sunshine 
and  clear  weather.  Indeed,  I  think  that  it  is  a 
rare  occurrence  to  have  two  as  fine  months  in 
succession,  as  were  September  and  October  of 
1858. 

November  was  cold,  cloudy,  and  gloomy,  with 
much  wind  ;  and  squalls,  snow  flurries  and  severe 
frosts  were  noticeable  and  characteristic  features 
of  the  month. 

December  was  a  moderately  cold  winter  month, 
but  in  connection  with  the  other  two  winter 
months  of  this  year,  January  and  February,  does 
not  alter  the  general  character  of  the  winter.  An 
absence  of  snow  was  also  noticeable  in  this  month, 
only  about  four  inches  falling  in  all.  The  great- 
est fall  at  one  time  was  between  two  and  three 
inches ;  consequently  there  was  comparatively  no 
sleighing  during  the  month. 

Jan.  4,  1859.  J.  A.  Allen. 

Remarks. — The  above  is  a  literal  extract  from 
the  ^'Journal  of  a  Farmer^s  Boy,"  Mho  has  al- 
ways v/orked  on  the  farm,  and  enjoyed  no  spec- 
ial advantages  whatever.  It  is  succinct  and  ex- 
pressive, and  is  pretty  good  evidence  that  he 
will  soon  become  one  of  our  best  agricultural 
writers. 


mingled  with  muck  gathered  from  m.eadows  and 
swamps,  and  worked  over  by  swine.  In  this  way 
the  quantity  of  manure  is  increased  three-fold, 
and  although  it  smells  a  little  when  handled,  this 
smell  soon  ceases  to  be  oppressive,  because  it  is 
believed  to  be  a  valuable  ingredient  of  the  ma- 
nure. I  think  it  is  called  in  my  children's  school- 
books,  ammonia;  but  whatever  it  may  be,  I  think 
the  manure  none  the  worse  for  it.  Whoever  by 
the  farm  would  thrive,  must  not  be  afraid  of  soil- 
ing his  hands  or  his  trousers.  I  should  just  as 
soon  think  of  meeting  a  sweet-scented  currier 
who  worked  daily  in  his  shop,  as  a  clean  farmer. 
No  man  should  be  above  his  business,  and  that 
business  which  emits  the  strongest  stink  is  likely 
to  produce  the  cleanest  chink  of  dollars  in  the 
end.  An  Old  School  Farmer. 

January  22,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PRESERVATION  OF  MANURES. 
When  I  was  a  boy,  my  father  and  several  of 
nis  neighbors  who  were  regarded  as  good  farm- 
ers, used  to  keep  the  droppings  of  their  cattle 
as  thrown  out  of  the  barn  windows,  where  the 
rain  fell  upon  them  from  the  eaves,  and  worked 
and  soaked  them  so  completely  as  to  remove 
nearly  all  the  stink.  But  a  different  practice  has 
grown  up  on  these  farms  within  the  last  twenty 
years;  and  nearly  all  of  these  owners  let  these 
droppings  fall  inio  ccltiirs,  where  they  are  inter- 


EXTRACTS  AND  KEPIiISB. 

farmers'  clubs. 

In  accordance  with  a  suggestion  in  the  Farmer 
of  Dec.  11th,  a  few  friends  of  agriculture  met  and 
organized  a  farmers'  club  in  Calais.  The  con- 
stitution published  in  your  paper  was  adopted 
with  slight  amendments. 

The  organization  being  a  new  one  in  this  sec- 
tion, a  question  arose  as  to  the  duties  of  the 
standing  committee.  Will  you  inform  us,  through 
the  Farmer,  whether  the  secretary  should  re- 
port the  substance  of  the  discussion,  or  whether 
that  duty  belongs  to  the  standing  committees, 
and  oblige  a  subscriber.  A.  M.  F. 

Calais,  Me.,  Jan.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  most  difficult  post  of  duty  in 
the  Farmers''  Club  is  that  of  Secretary,  as  he 
ought  to  be  a  pretty  good  reporter.  The  discus- 
sions and  essays  should  be  reported  and  entered 
in  a  substantial  record  book,  and  become  a  part 
of  the  annals  of  the  town. 

MAKING  BUTTER  IN  WINTER. 

Having  noticed  an  article  by  a  subscriber  un- 
der date  Jan.  11,  1859,  in  regard  to  making  win- 
ter butter,  I  would  say  in  reply,  that  the  reason 
why  butter  does  not  come  quick  in  winter,  is 
that  the  milk  is  set  in  a  cold  place  where  it  at- 
tains to  nearly  or  quite  a  freezing  point.  To 
remedy  this,  the  only  way  that  I  know  of  is  to 
take  the  cream  when  it  is  found  it  will  not  come, 
and  scald  it,  and  set  it  away  till  cool,  when  it  will 
be  found  that  the  cream  part  of  it  will  rise,  which 
skim  off  and  churn  in  the  usual  way,  and  you 
will  find  no  difficulty  in  fetching  your  butter. 

Middlthury,  Vt,  Jan.,  1859.  w.  D.  n. 

Remarks. — If  milk  can  be  set  where  the  tem- 
perature is  55°  to  60°  the  cream  will  rise  readi- 
ly, and  if  kept  in  that  temperature,  may  be 
churned  into  bjitter  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes. 

AYRSHIRE  stock. 
I  listened  attentively  to  the  recent  discussion 
at  the  State  House,  of  the  question,  "What  breed 
of  anim.als  is  best  adapted  to  general  farming 
purposes  in  New  England  9"  And  although  I 
was  strongly  inclined  to  the  belief  that  the  advo- 


-.52 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


March 


cates  of  the  Ayrshire  had  the  strongest  side  of 
the  argument,  T  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  it 
•was  not  expedient  to  pass  any  vote  to  this  effect, 
as  was  proposed.  I  was  therefore  gratified  when 
tiiis  proposition  was  laid  upon  the  table.  I 
chink  that  the  best  hopes  of  stock  are  to  be 
found  in  the  association  of  first  class,  pure-blood- 
ed Ayrshire  males,  with  the  best  Yankee  fe- 
males. The  primary  object  of  keeping  stock  be- 
ing for  the  milk  they  give,  I  think  the  prospect 
for  quantity  and  quality  is  from  Yankee  cows. 
I  use  this  term  as  expressing  my  views  more 
elearly  than  any  other.  I  was  somewhat  aston- 
ished that  so  little  was  said  in  favor  of  the  milk- 
ing qualities  of  the  Devons.  I  had  supposed 
that  the  venerable  farmer  of  Framingham  had 
sounded  his  trumpet  so  often  and  so  loud,  that 
the  reverberation  of  the  sound  thereof  would  not 
cease  while  he  lived.  So  true  is  it,  that  "the  fash- 
ion of  this  world  passeth  away,  and  the  memory 
thereof  shall  be  no  more  forever."  Essex. 

Jan.  25,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  aoove  was  not  received  until 
several  days  after  its  date,  or  it  would  have  been 
given  in  our  last.  

HAMPDEN   COUNTY   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY. 

On  looking  at  the  constitution  of  this  society, 
(p.  113,)  it  appears  that  five  of  the  officers  con- 
stitute a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business, 
to  wit :  President,  Vice  President,  Treasurer, 
Secretary  and  a  Director,  all  of  whom  can  be 
found  in  the  city  of  Springfield — so  that  although 
it  is  a  county  society,  having  officers  in  every 
town,  it  can  be  governed  and  controlled  by  a 
single  town.  This  strikes  me  as  a  singular  and 
questionable  provision.  It  becomes  the  more 
worthy  of  notice,  as  there  seems  to  be  a  disposi- 
tion to  make  this  society  the  controlling  centre 
of  a  State  Society.  I  admire  the  energy  and 
efl[iciency  of  a  concentrated  government ;  but  do 
not  believe  the  yeomanry  of  Massachusetts  are 
ready  to  go  for  it,  to  this  extent,  be  it  never  so 
good.  My  views  are  republican,  and  I  do  not 
like  aristocracy  in  any  form — and  least  of  all,  in 
the  government  of  farmers.  *. 

Feb.  1,  1859.  _ 

WHAT   AILS   MY   COW? 

Nov.  12,  1857,  she  dropped  a  seven  months' 
calf ;  her  milk  came,  and  s^he  did  as  well  as  ever 
When  seven  months  in  calf  again,  she  did  not 
appear  well  for  several  days,  and  I  thought  she 
would  do  as  she  did  the  year  previous,  but  she 
did  not — she  got  better,  and  was  hearty  and  well 
to  all  appearance.  It  is  now  some  days  past 
the  time  for  her  to  calve,  and  there  is  nothing 
that  any  way  indicates  it.  She  discharges  large 
quantities  of  matter  but  still  appears  in  good 
health.     What  can  be  done  for  her  ? 

Constant  Reader, 

West  Boxhury,  Jan.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  have  not  the  skill  to  recom- 
mend anything  but  a  warm  and  convenient  sta- 
ble, plenty  of  nourishing  food  and  kind  treat- 
ment, all  of  which  she  probably  has  now.  Per- 
haps some  of  our  friends  can. 


A   CORDIAL   INVITATION. 

If  you  should  make  New  Jersey  in  the  way  of 
some  of  your  agricultural  tours,  I  should  be  most 
happy  to  receive  a  visit.  I  think  I  can  show  you 
some  good  farms  as  well  as  farmers  (to  say  noth- 
ing about  the  bad.)  I.  W.  Black. 

Sijkesville,  N.  J.,  Jan.,  1859. 

Remarks. — It  certainly  would  give  us  pleas- 
ure and  profit  to  make  some  rural  rambles  with 
you  through  a  portion  of  your  State,  and  we  shall 
bear  you  kind  invitation  in  remembrance. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


LADIES'  "WEARING  APPABEL. 

Flannel  is  the  proper  clothing  for  the  skin, 
preserving  the  natural  heat  of  the  body  from  be- 
ing a  non-conductor,  in  winter,  and  protecting 
the  skin  from  the  danger  of  a  chill  after  perspi- 
ration in  summer.  However  fine  and  thin  the 
material  for  this  under-garment  may  be  in  sum- 
mer, still  it  should  be  woollen — in  colder  weath- 
er to  be  exchanged  for  one  of  a  thicker  and 
warmer  quality.  Beyond  this,  there  should  also 
be  a  sufficiency  of  upper  garments  proportioned 
to  the  season  ;  it  is  not  desirable  that,  even  in 
winter,  they  should  be  heavy,  but  always  warm. 
There  is  still  existing  a  pernicious  practice  of 
wearing  thin-soled  boots  and  shoes.  If  intended 
for  walking  out,  all  boots  should  have  soles  of 
tolerable  thickness ;  in  damp  weather,  the  soles 
should  be  very  thick,  or  overshoes  of  some  des- 
cription should  be  worn  with  them.  The  foun- 
dation of  many  a  consumption  has  been  laid  by 
a  young  lady  walking  or  standing  in  the  damp, 
with  her  feet  ill-protected  by  mere  gauze-like 
stockings  and  thin  summer  boots  or  shoes.  Even 
in  the  house,  this  important  part  of  a  lady's  dress 
appointments  is  by  no  means,  as  a  general  fact, 
sufficiently  attended  to.  In  cold  weather,  thin- 
soled  slippers  are  not  at  all  a  sufficient  protec- 
tion for  the  feet  in  walking  on  uncarpeted  pas- 
sages ;  and  the  "unaccountable"  colds  that  so  of- 
ten attack  ladies  in  winter  are  often  attributable 
to  this  cause.  The  covering  for  the  head  should 
be  light,  cool,  and  open,  to  admit  the  air.  Close 
night-caps  are  an  evil,  and  have  long  been  dis- 
carded by  persons  of  sense  ;  but  if  ladies  are  dis- 
posed to  wear  them  to  keep  the  hair  tidy,  they 
should  be  loose  and  transparent. — Springfield 
Republican. 

To  Clean  Gloves. — Lay  them  on  a  clean 
board,  and  first  rub  the  surface  gently  with  a 
clean  sponge  and  some  camphene,  or  a  mixture 
of  camphene  and  alcohol.  Now  dip  each  glove 
into  a  cup  containing  the  camphene,  lift  it  out, 
squeeze  it  in  the  hand,  and  again  rub  it  gently 
with  the  sponge,  to  take  out  all  the  wrinkles. 
After  this  gather  up  the  cuff  in  the  hand,  and 
blow  into  it  to  puff  out  the  fingers,  when  it 
may  be  hung  up  with  a  thread  to  dry.  This  op- 
eration should  not  be  conducted  near  a  fire,  ow- 
ing to  the  inflammable  nature  of  the  camphene 
vapor.  The  receipts  given  in  all  the  books  we 
have  consulted  for  cleaning  gloves  are  barbarous. 
Scientific  American. 


DEVOTED  TO  AGRICULTURE    AND    ITS  KINDKED   ARTS  AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XL 


BOSTON,  APRIL,  1859. 


NO.  4. 


JOEL  NOURSE,  Proprietor. 
Office. ..34  Merchants  Row. 


SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR. 


FRED'K  HOLBROOK,  >  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  \  Editors, 


CALENDAR  FOR  APRIL. 

'Tis  the  glorious  Spring,  as  she  passes  along, 

With  her  eye  of  light  and  her  lip  of  song, 

While  she  steals  in  peace  o'er  the  green  earth's  breast; 

While  the  streams  spring  out  from  their  icy  rest, 

The  buds  bend  low  to  the  breezes'  sigh. 

And  their  breath  goes  forth  to  the  scented  sky  ; 

Where  the  fields  look  fresh  in  their  sweet  repose, 

And  the  young  dews  sleep  on  the  new-born  rose. 

RIL  ushers  in  the 
round  of  Months 
in  which  the  farmer 
finds  the  duties  of 
'his  occupation  the 
most  pressing.  — 
The  ice  and  snow 
has  mainly  disap- 
peared, cold  winds 
are  tempered  by 
blowing  in  to  us 
from  milder  regions,  and 
the  earth,  warmed  and  sof- 
tened by  longer  visits  from 
the  sun,  unlocks  itself  and 
grows  light,  and  porous  and  ge- 
nial, inviting  the  husbandman  to 
scatter  his  seed  in  generous  hope, 
and  wait  in  the  same  spirit  for 
the  fruition  of  the  Harvest, — cultivating 
in  the  meantime  with  diligent  and  assid- 
uous care. 
In  sunny  and  sheltered  places,  the  earth  as- 
sumes her  wonted  green,  and  fresh  flowers  un- 
fold themselves,  look  out  into  the  peaceful  glen 
where  they  were  born,  bathe  in  the  warm  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  shed  their  rich  fragrance  all 
around  the  place  of  their  nativity.  And  though 
all  alone,  they  bud  and  bloom,  and  exhale  their 
sweet  odors,  and  perform  all  their  duty,  just  as 
precisely  as  though  cultivated  and  tended  with 
unremitting  care,  in  a  well  designed  and  expen- 
sive garden. 

As  the  sun  takes  a  broader  sweep  over  the 
earth,  its  rays  penetrate  the  soil,  impart  unusual 


warmth  and  cause  free  evaporation ;  the  cold  sur- 
face water  is  thus  taken  up  and  scattered  abroad, 
returning  in  gentle  rains  filled  with  the  elements 
of  fertility  which  they  have  sifted  from  the  at- 
mosphere, and  which  now  find  their  way  down 
the  light  and  porous  soil  to  supply  the  roots  of 
plants  which  are  about  ready  to  commence  their 
new  work  for  the  year.  Vegetable  life  is  re- 
animated, and  shows  returning  signs  of  vigor 
and  activity  everywhere.  The  buds  are  swollen, 
and  the  tree  tops  thickened  up  long  before  leaves 
or  blossoms  have  shown  themselves. 

And  so  it  is  in  the  animal  kingdom.  The  birds, 
our  last  summer  friends,  begin  to  return  ;  the 
Warbling  Sparrow  began  his  cheerful  songs  in 
March,  singing  all  through  the  middle  of  the 
day  in  the  piles  of  brush,  and  gathering  its  in- 
sect food  from  the  rough  bark  of  the  wood.  The 
Blue  Jay  screams  from  the  tall  elm,  while  the 
Crow,  poised  on  the  topmost  shoot  of  a  hundred 
foot  pine,  calls  to  his  fellows  in  the  distant  wood, 
to  come  and  partake  with  him  of  a  breakfast 
which  he  has  just  discovered.  The  Bluebird, 
every  morning,  looks  into  the  boxes  in  the  gar- 
den, and  seems  to  take  into  grave  consideration 
the  expediency  of  domiciliating  herself  another 
summer  in  the  old  quarters, — while  the  Robin 
flits  from  tree  to  tree,  lifting  a  straw  from  this 
old  nest  and  a  twig  from  that,  and  then  pouncing 
upon  some  hapless  worm  that  shows  its  head 
above  the  surface  for  a  moment's  sun. 

Mr.  Beecher  has  been  a  close  observer  of  the 
varying  seasons,  and  makes  a  capital  application 
of  what  he  has  seen.     He  says : — 

"April  !  The  singing  month.  Many  voices 
of  many  birds  call  for  resurrection  over  the  graves 
of  flowers,  and  they  come  forth.  Go,  see  what 
they  have  lost.  What  have  ice  and  snow,  and 
storm  done  unto  them  ?  How  did  they  fall  into 
the  earth,  stripped  and  bare  ?  How  do  they  come 
forth  opening  and  glorified  ?  Is  it,  then,  so  fear- 
ful a  thing  to  be  in  the  grave  ? 

"In  its  wild  career,  shaking  and  scourged  of 


154 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


storms  through  its  orbit,  the  earth  has  scattered 
away  no  treasures.  The  Hand  that  governs  in 
April  governed  in  January.  You  have  not  lost 
what  God  has  only  hidden.  You  lose  nothing 
in  struggle,  in  trial,  in  bitter  distress.  If  called 
to  shed  thy  joys  as  trees  their  leaves;  if  the  af- 
fection be  driven  back  into  the  heart,  as  the  life 
of  flowers  to  their  roots,  yet  be  patient.  Thou 
shalt  lift  up  thy  leaf- colored  boughs  again.  Thou 
shalt  shoot  forth  from  thy  roots  new  flowers.  So 
be  patient.  Wait.  When  it  is  February,  April 
is  not  far  off.  Secretly  the  plants  love  each  other." 

April  is,  in  a  great  degree,  the  Month  of  prep- 
aration. Plans  not  entered  upon  and  started 
now,  will  rarely  come  to  maturity.  All  the  work 
of  the  planting  season  should  be  mapped  out 
and  kept  constantly  in  view,  for  working  by  a 
plan  is  as  important  to  the  farmer  as  to  the  man 
who  is  to  build  your  house.  The  work  may  be 
done  without  a  plan,  but  the  uncertainties,  changes 
and  alterations  incident  to  such  a  course,  are 
anything  but  comfortable  and  economical.  As 
a  general  rule  the  farmer  has  not  been  accus- 
tomed to  anything  like  a  rigid  plan,  and  it  may 
at  first  seem  an  irksome  and  unnecessary  restraint 
to  have  one  ;  but  when  he  enters  upon  his  field, 
and  finds  at  a  glance  just  how  much  land  he 
wishes  to  plow,  how  deep,  and  there  is  no  delay 
as  to  whether  he  shall  back  furrow  or  go  round 
it ;  or,  if  he  is  to  underdrain  a  piece,  and  he 
knows  just  where  to  strike  when  the  workmen 
enter  the  field,  he  will  realize  a  satisfaction  that 
he  could  not  without  a  plan,  and  his  work  will 
go  on  more  systematically  and  profitably. 

Give  the  Garden  especial  attention  in  April. 
Some  one  has  said  that  the  garden  is  an  index 
of  the  mind,  and  we  think  has   said   correctly, 
"that  if  you  desire  to  judge  of  the  character  of 
a  man's  mind,  5^0  into  his  garden.     Solomon  con 
sidered  a  slovenly  vineyard   or  garden  good  evi 
dence  of  a  slovenly  mind,  or  a  mind  void  of  un 
derstanding.     Depend   upon  it,  when  you  see  a 
man's  fields  and  gardens  laid  out  with  good  or 
der,  and  taste,  and  notice  the  neatness  of  their 
cultivation,  that   man's   mind  is  like  a  well  ar 
ranged  library.    A  man's  plans  will  appear  in  his 
operations.     His  theory  may  be  judged  by  his 
practice." 

But  the  farmer  cannot  afford  to  be  without  a 
garden  ;  he  should  draw  large  supplies  from  such 
a  source  for  his  table,  especially  during  the  sum 
mer  and  autumnal  months.     Fresh  vegetables, 
seasoned  with  the  corn-fed  pork  from  his  barrel, 
and  delicious  fruits,  of  varied  kinds,  with  sweet 
cream  from  the  dairy-room,  are  some  of  the  com 
pensations  to  the  farmer  for  his  isolated  condi- 
tion,— and  then  green  fields,  cerulean  skies,  bab 
bling  br-oks,  singing  birds,  lowing  herds   and 
flourishing   gardens,   surround  him   with  more 


charms  and  real  advantages  than  cities  can  pos- 
sibly confer. 

But  we  cannot  dwell  longer  on  the  attractions 
of  Spring.  It  calls  to  us  from  every  side — from 
soft  airs,  opening  buds  and  expanding  flowers — 
from  the  springing  vegetation,  the  new  life  of 
animals,  returning  birds,  and  the  new  mental 
charms  which  every  returning  spring  unfolds. 

I  come  !  I  come  !     Ye  have  called  me  long, 
I  come  o'er  the  mountains  with  light  and  song  ! 
Ye  may  trace  my  step  o'er  the  wakening  earth. 
By  the  winds  which  tell  of  the  violet's  birth, 
By  the  primrose  stars  in  the  shadowy  grass, 
By  the  green  leaves  opening  as  I  pass. 

Mrs.  Hemans. 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR  APBtL. 

Put  Fences  in  order. 

Head  in  Peach  trees. 

See  that  all  your  Drains  are  clear. 

Do  not  ruin  your  trees  hy  pruning  them  this 
month.     Wait  till  the  middle  of  June. 

Put  the  Door- Yard  in  perfect  order. 

Get  the  small  grains  in  early — but  do  not  plow 
until  the  soil  is  ready  for  it;  better  that  the  grain 
should  be  a  little  late. 

Transplant  fruit  trees  as  soon  as  the  frost  is 
out  and  the  ground  is  warm  and  mellow.  One 
dozen  good  trees,  well  set  and  well  tended,  will 
yield  more  profit  within  twenty  years,  than  one 
hundred  trees  badly  set  and  indiff'erently  tended. 

Set  an  Asparagus  bed  by  all  means. 

Do  not  let  the  cattle  run  upon  the  mowing 
lands  in  the  spring. 

In  some  sheltered  and  convenient  spot,  have  a 
good  Kitchen  Garden,  where  you  can  go  for  all 
sorts  of  vegetables,  and  some  of  the  small  fruits, 
nothing  will  be  more  economical,  and  few  things 
will  add  more  to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of 
the  family. 

In  a  selected  place  in  this  garden  sow  a  variety 
of  Floicer  Seeds,  and  allow  the  children  to  pluck 
the  flowers  to  carry  to  school,  or  to  look  at  as 
they  go  to  church  Sunday  morning.  Set  them 
in  a  dish  or  glass  filled  with  cold  water,  and  see 
how  pleasant  they  will  make  the  sitting-room  in 
a  hot  afternoon  !  Or  place  them  on  a  stand  in 
the  sick  chamber,  to  interest  and  refresh  the  suf- 
ferer. 

Purchase  a. ?7?or^^o^7(e(i  rake  to  use  in  the  gar- 
den, and  you  will  soon  see  how  easy  it  is  to  pre- 
pare a  bed  for  the  smallest  seeds  when  you  have 
the  right  implement  in  your  hands. 

Finally,  whenever  the  soil  is  ready  for  you,  be 
ready  to  strike  the  blow  that  is  needed,  and  have 
every  thing  done  decently  and  in  order. 


H^*  Informatiox  by  Letter. — We  are  con- 
stantly receiving  letters  requesting  us  to  give  in- 
formation upon  business  matters,  by  lette->'.     If 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


155 


the  reader  will  but  reflect  a  moment,  he  will  see 
how  impossible  it  is  for  us  to  answer  business 
letters  from  a  circle  of  friends  so  extended  as  is 
that  of  the  Farmer.  We  have  two  or  three  such 
before  us  now,  and  have  every  disposition  to  re- 
ply to  them,  but  it  would  require  some  hours  to 
collect  the  information  which  they  require. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
GRAFTING  THE  GRAPE  VINE. 

Mr.  Editor: — Dear  Sir — I  noticed  a  com- 
munication in  the  Farmer  signed  "L ,  Ban- 
gor," inquiring  the  best  mode  of  grafting  the 
grape  vine ;  and  as  I  have  not  noticed  any  reply 
to  it,  I  venture  to  state  my  experience,  although 
if  your  correspondent  be,  as  I  suppose  him  to  be. 
Col.  Henry  Little,  of  Bangor,  one  of  the  best 
horticulturists  in  New  England,  I  might  well  be 
doubtful  of  my  ability  to  give  him  anything  new 
on  the  subject. 

I  have  grafted  the  grape  in  the  usual  mode  of 
cleft  grafting,  and  by  boring  holes  in  the  stock 
into  which  the  scions  were  fitted,  and  succeeded 
with  both  modes — with  occasional  failures — if 
the  grafting  was  done  at  the  proper  season.  This 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  important  consideration, 
for  if  the  scions  are  set  too  early,  the  great  rush 
of  sap  will  drown  the  scions,  so  that  canker  and 
decay  ensues.  To  avoid  this,  wait  until  the  vine 
to  be  grafted  has  pushed  its  first  leaves  to  the 
size  of  a  dime,  or  a  little  more,  when  the  sap 
will  be  inspissated  enough  to  form  granulation 
essential  to  the  union  of  stock  and  graft.  To 
keep  the  graft  from  pushing  its  buds,  bury  it  in 
the  ground  in  a  cool  northern  exposure,  for  if 
the  graft  begins  to  grow  before  it  is  put  into  the 
stock,  it  is  pretty  sure  to  fail. 

I  have  found  the  best  mode  of  preparing  the 
stock  to  be  as  follows ;  clear  away  the  earth 
from  the  stem  of  the  vine,  and  with  a  sharp 
knife  make  a  sloping  cut,  as  in  splice  grafting, 
split  the  stock  across  the  cut  about  one-third  of 
the  distance  from  the  top  ;  pare  the  scion  as  in 
apple  grafting — but  not  too  thin — and  place  it  in 
the  stock,  so  that  the  bark  of  both  stock  and 
scion  correspond ;  cover  with  a  good  body  of 
grafting  clay,  pressed  close  to  the  wood,  and  press 
the  earth  carefully  but  firmly  around,  leaving  but 
one  eye  of  the  scion  above  the  soil.  It  will  still 
further  ensure  success  if  the  scion  is  split,  and 
one  part  inserted  into  the  stock,  while  the  other 
part  is  carried  down  over  the  scarped  stock  to 
the  bark  at  the  bottom  ;  there  should  always  be 
a  bud  at  the  base  of  the  scion  on  the  outside. 
This  mode  is  much  practiced  in  cherry  grafting, 
and  is  probably  familiar  to  your  correspondent. 
Scions  may  be  cut  at  any  time  before  the  sap  be- 
gins to  flow — they  should  have  three  or  four 
eyes  or  buds,  and  if  possible,  a  little  of  the  two 
years'  wood  at  the  base  of  the  cutting.  I  con- 
sider this  necessary  to  success. 

I  have  found  it  best,  when  it  is  practicable,  to 
take  up  the  vine  to  be  grafted  and  plant  again 
after  grafting.  If  this  is  done,  you  may  graft  as 
soon  as  you  can  get  your  vines  out  of  ground, 
and  not  one  in  a  hundred  will  fail. 

After  all,  I  do  not  consider  it  profitable  to 
graft  the    vine,  unless   you  wish  to   cultivate  a 


weak  growing,  but  good  grape,  or  a  tender  grape, 
which  you  cannot  succeed  with  upon  its  own  root. 
In  such  cases,  you  can  sometimes  succeed  by 
grafting  on  hardy  and  vigorous  vines,  but  the 
old  root  is  apt  to  throw  up  suckers,  and,  if  you  do 
not  happen  to  observe  them,  they  will  rob  the 
graft  of  its  nourishment,  and  before  you  are  aware 
of  it,  it  dies,  and  you  have  got  only  your  old  vine 
again. 

I  entertain  the  belief,  but  have  made  no  ex- 
periments to  demonstrate  it,  that  the  stock  of  a 
vine  which  ripens  its  fruit  early  will  quicken  the 
ripening  of  a  later  kind  grafted  upon  it.  If  this 
be  true,  it  would  be  a  resource  in  cold  latitudes 
where  fine  grapes  cannot  be  grown,  and  would 
repay  almost  any  trouble  in  grafting. 

I  have  only  to  add  that  if  what  I  have  written 
above  should  be  of  any  service  to  your  corres- 
pondent, it  will  give  much  pleasure  to 

Yours  truly,        E.  W.  Bull. 

Concord,  Mass.,  March,  1859. 


For  the  Neto  England  Farmer. 

PRESERVATION  OP  MANURES. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  my  father  and  several  of 
his  neighbors,  who  were  regarded  as  good  farm- 
ers, used  to  keep  the  droppings  of  their  cattle 
as  thrown  out  of  the  barn  windows,  where  the 
rain  fell  upon  them  from  the  eaves,  and  worked 
and  soaked  them  so  completely  as  to  remove 
nearly  all  the  stink.  But  a  different  practice  has 
grown  up  on  these  farms  within  the  last  twenty 
years ;  and  nearly  all  of  these  owners  let  these 
droppings  fall  into  cellars,  where  they  are  inter- 
mingled with  muck  gathered  from  meadows  an(? 
swamps,  and  worked  over  by  swine.  In  this  waj 
the  quantity  of  manure  is  increased  three-fold, 
and  although  it  smells  a  little  when  handled,  this 
smell  soon  ceases  to  be  oppressive,  because  it  is 
believed  to  be  a  valuable  ingredient  of  the  ma- 
nure. I  think  it  is  called  in  my  children's  school- 
books,  ammonia;  but  whatever  it  may  be,  I  think 
the  manure  none  the  worse  for  it.  Whoever  i  y 
the  farm  would  thrive,  must  not  be  afraid  of  so  1- 
ing  his  hands  or  his  trousers.  I  should  just  -s 
soon  think  of  meeting  a  sweet-scented  curri  r 
who  worked  daily  in  his  shop,  as  a  clean  farmer. 
No  man  should  be  above  his  business,  and  that 
business  which  emits  the  strongest  stink  is  likely 
to  produce  the  cleanest  chink  of  dollars  in  the 
end.  An  Old  School  Farmer. 


Farm  Agency. — The  Hon.  B.  V.  French  has 
opened  an  oflfice  at  51  and  52  North  Market 
Street,  Boston,  for  the  purchase  and  sale  of  Farms 
and  Farm  Stock,  either  of  Milch  Cows,  Grade  or 
Pure  Blood  Durhams,  Devons,  Herefords,  Ayr- 
shires,  or  Jerseys.  Oxen,  Sheep,  Swine,  Agricul- 
tural Implements,  Seeds,  and  all  that  is  required 
to  equip  a  farm  or  garden,  or  anything  in  rela- 
tion to  rural  affairs. 

Mr.  French  has  had  the  most  ample  experi- 
ence in  these  matters,  and  our  friends  may  find 
it  to  their  advantage  to  secure  his  aid  in  their 
operations. 


156 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  EDUCATION"  OF  FAEMERS— COUN- 
TY SOCIETIES— FABMEES'  CLUBS. 

My  Dear  Sir  : — I  am  much  gratified  with  the 
remarks  made  at  the  second  Legislative  Agricul- 
tural Meeting,  held  on  the  evening  of  17th  inst. 
inasmuch  as  it  appears  to  me  that  the  second  re- 
solve, introduced  in  that  meeting,  if  it  should  be 
carried  out,  will  do  more  than  any  former  move 
has  accomplished  towards  the  advancement  of 
terraculture  in  our  Commonwealth.  In  saying 
this,  however,  I  will  in  no  way  censure  or  con- 
demn any  previous  move  in  the  matter.  Our 
agricultural  societies  have  accomplished  much, 
introducing  better  animals  and  better  systems  of 
cultivation.  But  have  their  good  influences  been 
as  general  as  the  necessities  of  farmers  require  ? 
In  many  of  our  counties,  from  being  in  fixed  lo- 
calities, they  have  been  inconvenient  of  access  to 
those  residing  in  remote  parts.  There  are,  no 
doubt,  many  first-class  farmers  in  the  State  who 
are  deterred  from  exhibiting  the  objects  of  their 
successful  culture  from  this  cause.  In  the  pres- 
ent arrangement,  this  evil  cannot  be  obviated. 
Those  living  in  the  vicinity  of  fair  grounds  can 
well  afford  to  take  in  their  animals  and  products, 
and  in  this  way  the  rewards  and  credits  are,  to  a 
great  extent,  limited  to  a  comparatively  circum- 
scribed area  of  territory,  since  the  bounty  of  the 
State  is  scattered  over  a  small  territory.  And 
yet  we  don't  know  that  any  one  is  to  blame  in  the 
matter,  further  than  that  a  bad  management  was 
made  in  the  outset  of  the  matter. 

Now  will  not  the  people  at  large  be  more  ben- 
efited if  these  annual  fairs  are  made  emigratory, 
travelling  from  the  centre  to  remote  parts  of 
counties  ?  and  thus,  instead  of  letting  A,  B  and 
C  bear  off  the  prizes  and  honors,  place  them,  oc- 
casionally where  they  shall  have  the  journeying 
to  perform  to  find  competitors  in  D,  E  and  F. 
This  would  awaken  a  more  general  competition. 

Again,  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  farmers 
in  the  State  are  connected  with  the  agricultural 
societies  ?  Probably  not  one  in  ten,  and  each  of 
tht'se  has  no  doubt  some  good  reason  for  non- 
numbership.  Inconvenience  of  locality  maybeone 
cause.  Then  another  will  say,  that  so  much  un- 
f.iirness  is  used  in  distributing  prizes.  The  for- 
mer objection  is,  no  doubt,  a  serious  one.  The 
latter  should  be  met  and  controlled.  Committees 
should  be  selected  with  great  care,  and  then  they 
are  very  liable  to  be  deceived.  But  they  or  the 
society  should  watch  cirefully,  in  order  that  no 
deception  is  practised,  and  then,  they  cannot  al- 
ways detect  it.  We  have  heard  of  a  pair  of  worsted 
stockings,  a  piece  of  diaper,  another  of  flannel, 
being  stereotyped  articles  for  competition,  and 
successful,  too,  as  report  said.  Perhaps  they  were 
entered  in  the  names  of  different  individuals  in 
different  years  ;  but  would  that  alter  the  merits 
of  the  article  ?  Now  the  society  has  a  right  to 
make  a  by-law  allowing  them  to  put  a  mark  on 
such  articles  to  make  them  known,  if  offered  a 
second  time,  and  the  individual  who  offers  them 
should  be  forever  debarred  from  further  compe- 
tition. 

But  we  have  wandered  from  the  main  point — 
that  is,  that  the  bounty  of  the  State,  as  it  is  ap- 
plied to  our  agricultural  societies,  does  notequai- 
*v  reach  the  merits  or  demands  of  the  agricultu- 


ral population.  How  shall  the  want  be  supplied  ? 
We  have  always  been  a  warm  advocate  of  clubs 
or  town  associations.  We  have  known  them  to 
exist  where  they  have  been  magic  in  their  influ- 
ence, extending  it  from  the  valley  to  the  top  of 
the  mountains.  This  is  what  we  like,  and  would 
we  could  see  such  associations  in  every  town. 
Now  cannot  the  State,  in  her  acknowledged  mu- 
nificence, do  something  to  effect  this?  A  few 
years  ago,  she  gave,  on  proper  conditions  a  Web- 
ster or  a  Worcester  dictionary  to  every  school 
district  in  the  State — a  noble  munificence,  whose 
benefits  reach  all.  Suppose  she  make  one  more 
offer  to  the  people — from  the  people's  money  ; 
that  they  will  allow  to  each  town  in  the  Com- 
monwealth that  will  establish  and  maintain  an 
association  for  rural  improvement,  said  associa- 
tion to  hold  stated  meetings  for  discussions  and 
lectures  on  subjects  connected  with  its  objects 
once  in  —  weeks,  and  shall  report  its  progress 
annually  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agri- 
culture, the  amount  of  $ —  annually,  said  amount 
to  be  applied  to  the  establishing  and  maintaining 
an  agricultural  and  mechanical  library  and  muse- 
um for  the  benefit  of  said  associations.  When 
circumstances  will  permit,  let  a  portion  of  this 
fund  be  appropriated  to  the  introduction  of  seeds 
and  plants. 

Why  would  not  such  an  arrangement  come  di- 
rectly to  the  root  of  agricultural  improvement, 
and  prepare  the  way,  at  least,  for  a  higher  stand- 
ard of  agricultural  education,  which  has  received 
so  much  commendation  for  the  last  dozen  years? 
The  meetings  and  discussions  would  lead  to  deep- 
er thought,  closer  observation  and  more  profound 
research,  and  with  suitable  books  at  hand,  earn- 
est study  would  be  applied  to  master  their  con- 
tents. The  whole  public,  as  well  as  the  individ- 
ual mind,  would  be  brought  into  vigorous  action. 
Young  men  would  see  that  there  was  beauty  and 
science  in  the  old-fashioned  and  homely  profes- 
sion of  their  fathers,  and  no  longer  sigh  to  leave 
the  pure  air  and  ever-varying  scenery  of  pastoral 
life,  for  the  dependent,  uncertain  ties  of  other 
professions.  Agriculture,  as  a  profession,  aye, 
and  one  of  the  learned  professions,  too,  would 
begin  to  arise  in  its  native  dignity,  and  soon 
other  and  higher  means  of  intellectual  advance- 
ment would  be  demanded,  to  give  it  its  proper 
position  among  the  sciences  of  life. 

We  have  no  wish  to  detract  from  the  merits  or 
usefulness  of  any  of  our  agricultural  societies. 
But  they  have  been  the  recipients  of  State  boun- 
ty for  a  long  time  ;  so  long  that  it  seems  as 
though  they  are  old  enough  to  stand  and  go 
alone.  Cannot,  then,  a  portion  of  the  funds  they 
are  now  receiving  be  appropriated  to  this  new 
and  general  object,  without  seriously  injuring 
their  usefulness  ?  Suppose  the  number  of  soci- 
eties that  receive  funds  from  the  State  were  re- 
duced to  one  for  each  county,  and  this  made  mi- 
gratory to  the  principal  towns,  and  the  amount 
now  given  to  extra  societies  were  divided  on  the 
proposed  plan  among  towns  ?  Would  not  the 
whole  people  be  much  more  benefited  than  they 
now  are  ?  Or,  if  it  is  thought  sacrilegious  to  cut 
off  any  of  these  societies,  suppose  the  funds  to 
each  were  reduced  one-half,  and  the  other  half 
appropriated  in  the  way  suggested  would  not 
this  put  the  liberality  of  the  State  in  a  more 
philanthropic  and  appreciable  condition?     An- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


157 


swer,  ye  wise  men,  who  are  the  people's  legisla- 
tors, and  for  once  try  the  experiment,  and  see  if 
you  do  not  return  to  your  homes  in  a  full  con- 
sciousness of  a  duty  nobly  performed,  and  meet 
your  constituents  with  countenances  radiant  with 
joy,  uttering  from  the  heart  the  pure  salutation, 
"well  done,  ye  good  and  true  men." 

Richmond,  Jan.  24,  1859.  W.  Bacon. 


Remarks.  —  Capital  suggestions  —  we  hope 
they  will  be  put  in  practice.  Town  societies 
should  meet  for  discussion  as  often  as  once  a 
week,  from  the  first  of  November  to  the  first  of 
April,  five  months.  The  association  should  be 
as  thoroughly  organized  as  is  the  legislature  of  the 
State,  and  all  its  business  conducted  with  gravi- 
ty and  decorum.  We  feel  quite  confident  that 
•premium  paying  has  done  about  all  the  good  it 
is  capable  of  accomplishing  for  the  present. 


From  November  to  March,  inclusive,  the 
starch  remains  unchanged  ;  and  as  it  is  the  ger- 
mination or  change  into  sugar,  by  keeping  in  a 
moist  place,  that  renders  seeds  unfit  for  plant- 
ing, it  would  seem  that  the  most  proper  time  for 
spring  planting  of  potatoes  should  be  early  in 
April.  As  at  the  time  of  sprouting  of  the  tubers 
the  starch  becomes  changed  into  sugar,  it  may  be 
supposed  that  at  that  time  of  the  year,  that  is,  in 
May,  they  might  be  profitably  used  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  sugar.  We  know  not  that  any  ex- 
periments have  been  made  for  that  purpose. 


STARCH—SUGAR— POTATO. 

The  embryo  of  plants  receives  its  nourishment 
from  the  sugar  contained  in  the  seeds.  This  ar- 
ticle is  found  in  the  seeds  of  all  plants, — or  rath- 
er exists  in  them  in  the  form  of  starch,  and  is 
converted  into  sugar  by  the  process  of  germina 
tion,  and  serves  for  the  nourishment  of  the 
young  plant. 

Starch  and  sugar  are  composed  of  the  same 
elements  and  in  nearly  the  same  proportion, — 
starch  having  an  additional  quantity  of  carbon. 
By  the  application  of  heat  and  moisture  by  which 
oxygen  is  absorbed,  some  of  this  element  of 
starch  is  evolved,  and  it  becomes  sugar.  This  is 
the  process  in  germination,  and  in  the  malting 
of  barley.  The  skin  or  lower  part  of  flowers,  al- 
so contains  starch,  which  is  changed  into  sugar 
for  the  nourishment  of  the  seeds. 

Starch  is  very  abundant  in  the  potato ;  the 
tubers  of  this  plant  being  in  large  part  composed 
of  it.  The  practice  of  nipping  off  the  flower  buds 
of  potatoes  has  been  frequently  adopted  by  gar- 
deners, which  they  considered  had  a  tendency  to 
increase  the  product.  The  effect  of  this  practice 
is  to  check  the  demand  of  the  growing  flower  for 
starch,  and  by  thus  preventing  the  exhaustion  of 
the  store  of  this  ingredient,  it  will  be  accumula- 
ted in  other  parts,  and  principally  deposited  in 
the  tuber,  the  growth  of  which  will  be  increased 
proportionally. 

The  amount  of  starch  increases  regularly  with 
the  growth  of  the  plant,  and  is  in  greatest  abun- 
dance at  its  maturity.  It  remains  about  the  same 
till  the  period  when  the  seeds  are  beginning  to 
germinate,  or  the  young  parts  of  the  plant  to 
grow,  and  is  then  converted  into  sugar.  It  has 
been  found  that  100  parts  of  potatoes  contained 
in  August,  10  lbs.;  September,  14^  lbs.;  Novem- 
ber, 17  lbs.;  March,  17  lbs.;  April,  13|  lbs.;  May, 
10  lbs. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

ARE  TURNIPS  A  PROFITABLE  CROP? 

Mr.  Editor  : — Various  opinions  seem  to  pre- 
vail in  relation  to  the  turnip  crop,  and  as  I  have 
read  them  from  time  to  time,  I  am  at  last  tempt- 
ed to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  subject  of  rais- 
ing turnips.  I  have  raised,  of  the  various  kinds 
of  turnips,  for  forty-five  years.  I  raise  them  now, 
where  and  when  nothing  else  can  be  raised.  I 
do  not  lay  out  a  spot  or  patch  of  land  for  turnips 
where  I  can  raise  corn,  for  I  do  not  believe  they 
pay  ;  or  in  other  words,  I  do  not  believe  them 
a  profitable  crop.  I  have  never  been  able  to  get  a 
good  crop  of  anything  after  a  crop  of  rutabagas, 
and  I  should  like  to  add  to  the  many  questions 
already  put  to  "W.  F.  P.,"  by  Mr.  Emerson, 
whether  he  can  show  from  experience  or  observa- 
tion, that  a  crop  of  ruta  bagas,  on,  say  one  acre  of 
land,  and  three  succeeding  crops  of  corn  and 
grass,  is  worth  more  than  a  four  years  crop — of 
coi"n,  first,  and  three  years  of  barley  and  grass  ? 
I  do  not  care  to  confine  him  to  the  crops  named 
which  are  to  succeed  the  first  year.  But  set  acre 
by  the  side  of  acre  ;  set  down  the  expenses  of  la- 
bor and  of  manure,  and  show  how  much  is  gained 
by  raising  ruta  bagas.  I  have  raised  five  hundred 
bushels  of  Swedish  turnips  upon  one-half  acre, 
and  that  was  an  unprofitable  crop  to  me,  when 
compared  with  seventy-five  bushels  of  corn  to  the 
acre  by  the  side  of  it.  The  labor  of  feeding,  any 
one  can  settle.  I  think  there  are  great  mistakes 
made  in  the  estimations  of  the  value  of  turnips 
in  this  part  of  the  country.  I  admit,  however, 
that  when  raised  they  are  good  feed  for  stock. 
The  question  I  would  like  answered,  is,  when 
compared  with  other  crops,  are  they  worth  rais- 


ing; 


Otis  Brigham. 


Westboro\  Jan.  27,  1859. 


Drugging  Animals. — Continual  dosing  ani- 
mals is  just  as  useless  and  injurious  to  them,  as 
is  the  constant  swallowing  of  drugs  and  poison- 
ous compounds  to  the  human  system.  It  is  all 
folly  to  allow  your  stables  to  become  hospitals, 
and  to  smell  and  appear  like  an  apothecary's 
shop.  It  is  much  more  humane  to  shoot  a  horse, 
or  knock  an  animal  on  the  head  at  once,  than  to 
force  down  its  throat  doses  of  drugs  whose  qual- 
ity of  action  you  know  little  about,  having  the 
effect  to  create  disease  when  it  did  not  exist, 
and  prolong  suffering  much  beyond  the  time  in 
which  nature  would  herself  effect  a  cure. — Amer- 
ican Siock  Journal. 


loS 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

AlSr  AUTUMN"  LEAF. 

[I  was  not  intendeJ  by  the  writer  of  the  following  touching, 
truthful  and  expressive  lines,  that  his  name  should  appear  with 
them.  But  we  cannot  consent  to  any  separation.  His  little  in- 
troductory note  shows  how  the  verses  were  born,  and  how  they 
came  to  meet  ynur  eye.  We  envy  the  happiness  of  the  person 
possessed  of  such  a  sense  of  the  bountiful  and  beautiful  works 
of  the  Creator,  and  such  a  power  of  clothing  tliem  with  poetic 
language  atd  feeling.  Mr.  Canning  is  a  true  poet.  His  thoughts 
are  not  summoned  for  the  occasion,  but  the  occasion  itself  opens 
clearly  before  him,  and  presents  its  olten  minute,  hut  wonder- 
ful accompaniments,  which  fill  with  tenderness  and  love,  his 
glowing  verses.  His  descriptions  will  inspire  every  one  who 
has  huslfed  out  corn  in  the  open  air,  in  a  balmy  autumnal  day.] 


Gov.  Bkown, — Mij  Dear  Sir  .- — I  took  from  my  vest  pocket  to- 
day a  bit  of  paper  witli  the  following  lines  pencilled  thereon. 
They  occurred  to  me  while  husking  corn  out-of  doors,  on  one  of 
the  glcrious  ^Hatter  daijK,^''  last  autumn.  Thinking  they  may 
touch  an  answering  chord  in  the  minds  of  some  of  your  readers, 
I  take  the  liberty  to  write  them  out  for  the  Farmer. 

Yours  a-field,  J.  D.  Canning. 

Gill,  Ms.,  January,  1859. 

AN   AUTUMNAL   LEAF. 

BY   THE    "PEASANT    BARD." 

How  beautiful  the  picture  is  that  nature  spreads  to  day  ! 
For  autumn  clothes  her  second-born  in  fancilul  array ; 
And  through  the  hazy  lift  the  sun  a  softened  splendor  sends. 
That  wraps  the  scene  in  quietude, — a  sweet  enchantment  lends. 

How  like  to  elves  in  elfin  land  yon  troop  of  children  go. 
Turning  the  hill-side  leaves  to  find  the  bright  brown  nut  below  ! 
And  every  treasure  brings  a  shout,  and  brings  all  there  to  see, 
Just  as  the  gust  scuds,  eddying  round,  the  honors  of  the  tree. 

The  jay,  that  in  the  summer  days  was  scarcely  seen  at  all. 
Flits  frequent  through  the  pictured  bush,  and  startles  with  its 

call, 
And  seems  to  warn  its  feathered  males,  with  quick  and  earnest 

cries, 
Beware  of  Winter's  biting  breath,  and  bitter  brumal  skies  I 

The  squirrel  on  the  mossy  log,  within  the  hollow  wood, 
Clucks  loud  to  tell  that  he's  secured  a  store  of  winter  food; 
His  kinsman,  clad  in  "hoddin  gray,"  the  hunter  fain  would  see. 
With  tiny  claws  goes  scratching  up  the  rough,  nut-bearing  tree. 

The  duck,  within  the  dented   shore,  where   spreads  the  mimic 

bay, 
Sits  silent,  motionless,  save  when  a  ripple  rounds  away  ; 
And  seems  to  watch  the  colored  tints  reflected  from  below, 
Or  list  Dominion''s  coming  step,  so  stealthy,  snd  so  slow : 

I  see  the  waters  of  the  brook,  that  in  the  summer  time 

Went  singing  onward  down   the  vale,  a  kind  of  "catch-me" 

chime, — 
Now  seem  to  linger  by  the  bank,  and  linger  by  the  brae, 
As  if  all  loth,  from  such  a  scene,  to  run  in  haste  away. 

Can  fairy  land, — can  "land  of  dreams,"  such  scene  enchanting 

show .' 
So  soft  the  heavens  smile  above  !  so  glad  the  earth  below  ! 
As  if  millennial  angels  had  their  banners  bright  unfurled. 
And  Peace,  dear   Peace!  her  censer  swung  in  sweetness  o'er 

the  world ! 

Why  call   this  world  "a  wilderness" — a  mournful  "vale   ef 

tears."' 
I  think  it  beautifid ;  and  for  a  better  have  my  fears  ; 
My  heart  in  thankfulness  dissolves  that  I'm  alive  to  see 
The  beauties  autumn  shadows  forth,  that  by-and-by  may  be. 
October  19,  1858. 


skin,  and  all  the  grooming  he  could  get  'wouldn't 
do  it  no  good.'  My  friend,  who  is  a  great  horse- 
breeder  and  fancier,  made  me  try  giving  him  a 
few  raw  carrots  every  day  to  eat  out  of  my  hand, 
saying  that  he  would  have  a  good  smooth  coat  in 
three  weeks, — and  he  was  right,  for  in  that  time 
my  horse  had  a  beautiful,  sleek,  glossy  coat,  and 
all  from  eating  a  few  raw  carrots  daily.  He  tells 
me  it  is  infallible. — Cor.  Po7'ter's  Spirit  of  the 
Times. 


HoKSEs'  Coats. — Lately  going  to  the  coun- 
try to  spend  a  few  weeks  with  a  friend  of  mine, 
I  drove  a  very  handsome  horse,  and  a  good  one 
— but  he  was  always  annoyed  about  his  coat.  It 
was   more  like   bristles  than  a  horse's   smooth 


ADAMS'  PATENT  WIRE  SCREENS. 

We  were  pleased  this  morning  to  see  the  ope- 
ration of  Mr.  Banjord  Adams'  Wire  Screens  for 
separating  the  various  grains,  coffee,  rice,  beans, 
L^^c.  He  took  about  a  pint  each  of  three  sizes  of 
white  beans,  rye,  buckwheat,  coffee,  and  caraway 
seed,  mixed  them  thoroughly  in  a  peck  measure, 
turned  them  into  his  machine,  shook  them  rap- 
idly for  a  few  moments  and  handed  them  to  us, 
each  separated  from  the  others.  The  inventor 
states  that  these  screens  will  not  only  sort  and 
sprout  potatoes,  clean  and  "size  out"  beans  and 
peas,  but  will  separate  buckwheat  from  oats,  rye 
from  barley  or  wheat,  and  from  all  foul  seed. 

The  machine  works  on  eight-cornered  rollers 
or  cogs,  and  discharges  the  mixed  contents  into 
separate  barrels  at  the  same  time,  each  kind  find- 
ing its  respective  size.  A  person  acquainted  with 
the  business  will  sort  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  bushels  of  grain  per  day. 

The  machine  is  cheap,  small,  compact,  and  so 
light  that  a  man  may  carry  it  under  his  arm. 
Any  farmer  raising  much  of  this  kind  of  pro- 
duce, would  not  fail  to  save  all  its  cost  in  two  or 
three  years — indeed,  we  hear  of  one  person  who 
used  the  machine  in  the  city  last  year,  and  saved 
refuse  grain  and  small  seeds  enough  to  bring  him 
$25,00,  which  was  freighted  back  fifty  miles  into 
the  country,  and  used  for  fattening  mutton  ! 
When  this  foul  and  broken  seed  was  extracted 
from  the  good,  it  increased  the  value  of  the  lat- 
ter some  fifteen  per  cent.  Such  a  process  is 
worth  going  through.  " 

This  is  one  of  those  simple  and  efficient  con- 
trivances that  commend  themselves  to  all  upon 
once  witnessing  what  they  will  do — and  we  there- 
fore think  well  of  it. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  BARN. 

Let  the  utmost  neatness  be  observed  in  the 
management  of  the  barn.  No  more  hay  or  other 
fodder  should  be  thrown  on  the  floor  at  once  than 
is  requisite  to  supply  one  feed.  By  throwing 
large  quantities  from  the  mows  or  scaflbldings, 
there  is  an  unavoidable  loss  from  the  drying  of 
the  fibre,  which  renders  it  less  palatable  to  the 
animals,  as  well  as  less  nutritious.  Sweeping 
the  floor  daily  promotes  cleanliness,  and  conduces 
to  the  health  and  consequently  the  comfort  of 
animals.  The  sweeping  of  the  floors  should  be 
preserved,  as  this  is  the  easiest  way  to  save  some 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


159 


of  the  most  valuable  grass  seeds.  The  mangers 
and  cribs  should  be  daily  cleaned  out  and  fre- 
quentlj'  washed.  "What  is  the  use  of  being  so 
very  particular  ?  I  never  washed  my  cattle's 
manger,"  said  Solomon  Shiftless.  Very  well, 
Solomon,  your  cows  probably  have  as  keen  an  ap- 
petite for  their  fodder  as  you  would  have  if  your 
wife  gave  you  the  same  plate  unwashed  for  a 
month  from  which  to  take  your  meals. — Rural  In- 
telligencer. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

IiEGISIiATIO]Sr--LA.lSrD  DRAINAQB 
COMPANIES. 

BY  H.   F.   FRENCH,   EXETER,   N.   H. 

Under  this  Act,  (namely,  the  Rye  and  Derwent 
Drainage  Act,)  it  became  necessary  for  the  Com- 
missioners to  estimate  the  comparative  cost  of 
steam  and  water  power,  in  order  to  carry  out 
their  idea  of  giving  to  the  mill-owners  a  steam- 
power  equivalent  to  their  water-power. 

"As  the  greater  part  of  the  water-power  was 
employed  on  corn  and  flour-mills,  upon  those  the 
calculations  were  chiefly  based.  It  was  generally 
admitted  to  be  very  near  the  truth  that  to  turn 
a  pair  of  flour-mill-stones  properly,  requires  a 
power  equal  to  that  of  two  and  a  half  horses,  or 
on  an  average  twenty  horses'  power  to  turn  and 
•work  a  mill  of  eight  pairs  of  stones,"  and  "that 
the  total  cost  of  a  twenty-horse  steam-engine, 
"with  all  its  appliances,  would  be  1000^.,  or  50Z. 
per  horse-power." 

Calculations  for  the  maintenance  of  the  steam- 
power  are  also  given,  but  this  depends  so  much 
on  local  circumstances  that  English  estimates 
would  be  of  little  value. 

The  arrangements  in  this  case,  with  the  mill- 
owners,  were  made  by  contract  and  not  by  force 
of  any  arbitrary  power,  and  the  success  of  the 
enterprise,  in  the  drainage  of  the  lands,  the  pre- 
vention of  damage  by  floods  especially  in  hay 
and  harvest  time,  and  in  the  improvement  of  the 
health  of  vegetation  as  well  as  of  man  and  ani- 
mals, is  said  to  be  strikingly  manifest. 

This  Act  provides  for  a  "water-bailiS","  whose 
duty  it  is  to  inspect  the  rivers,  streams,  water- 
courses, &c.,  and  enforce  the  due  maintenance  of 
the  banks  and  the  uninterrupted  discharge  of  the 
waters  at  all  times. 

Compulsory  Outfalls. — It  often  happens,  espe- 
cially in  New  England,  where  farms  are  small 
and  the  country  is  broken,  that  an  owner  of  val- 
uable lands  overcharged  with  water,  perhaps  a 
swamp  or  low  meadow,  or  perhaps  a  field  of  up- 
land lying  nearly  level,  desires  to  drain  his  tract, 
but  cannot  find  sufficient  fall,  without  going  upon 
the  land  of  owners  below.  These  adjacent  own- 
ers may  not  appreciate  the  advantages  of  drain- 
age, or  their  lands  may  not  require  it,  or  what 
is  not  unusual,  they  may,  from  various  motives. 


good  and  evil,  refuse  to  allow  their  land  to  be 
meddled  with. 

Now,  without  desiring  to  be  understood  as 
speaking  judicially,  we  know  of  no  authority  of 
law,  by  which  a  land-owner  may  enter  upon  the 
territory  of  his  neighbor  for  the  purpose  of  drain- 
ing his  own  land,  and  perhaps  no  such  power 
should  ever  be  conferred.  All  owners  upon 
streams,  great  and  small,  have,  however,  the 
right  to  the  natural  flow  of  the  water  both  above 
and  below.  Their  neighbors  below  cannot  ob- 
struct a  stream  so  as  to  flow  back  the  water  on 
to  or  into  the  land  above,  and  where  artificial 
water-courses,  as  ditches  and  drains,  have  long 
been  opened,  the  presumption  would  be  that  all 
persons  benefited  by  them  have  the  right  to  have 
them  kept  open. 

Parliament  is  held  to  be  omnipotent,  and  in 
the  Act  of  1847,  known  as  Lord  Lincoln's  Act, 
its  power  is  well  illustrated,  as  is  also  the  deter- 
mination of  the  British  nation  that  no  trifling 
impediments  shall  hinder  the  progress  of  the 
great  work  of  draining  lands  for  agriculture. 
The  Act,  in  efl'ect,  authorizes  any  person  inter- 
ested in  draining  his  lands,  to  clear  a  passage 
through  all  obstructions,  wherever  it  would  be 
worth  the  expense  of  works  and  compensation. 

Another  provision  of  this  Act  authorizes  pro- 
prietors or  occupiers  of  land,  injured  through 
neglect  of  others,  to  maintain  the  banks,  scour 
and  cleanse  the  channels  of  existing  drains, 
streams  or  water-courses,  forming  boundaries  of 
such  lands,  or  leading  to  the  outfall,  to  enter  af- 
ter one  month's  notice  and  neglect,  and  "execute 
all  necessary  works  for  maintaining  or  repairing 
such  banks,  or  cleansing  or  scouring  such  chan- 
nels." The  Act  also  provides  that  the  neglectful 
neighbor  shall  contribute  his  share  of  the  expense 
of  such  repairs  and  labor. 

It  should  be  observed  that  this  provision  only 
applies  to  existing  water-courses  and  ditches,  and 
not  to  the  opening,  or  the  widening  or  straight- 
ening or  deepening  of  new  ones.  Its  remedies 
are  similar  to  those  in  most  of  the  States  for 
neglect  of  adjacent  owners  to  repair  the  division 
fences. 

It  is  not  the  province  of  the  author  to  decide 
what  may  properly  be  done  within  the  authority 
of  diff'erent  States,  in  aid  of  public  or  private 
drainage  enterprises.  The  State  Legislatures 
are  not,  like  Parliament,  omnipotent.  They  are 
limited  by  their  written  constitutions.  Perhaps 
no  better  criterion  of  power  with  respect  to  com- 
pelling contribution  by  persons  benefited,  to  the 
cost  of  drainage,  and  of  interfering  with  individ- 
ual rights  for  public  or  private  advantage,  can 
be  found  than  the  exercise  of  power  in  the  cases 
of  fences  and  of  flowage. 

If  we  may  lawfully  compel  a  person  to  fence 


160 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


his  land,  to  exclude  the  cattle  of  other  persons, 
or  if  he  neglect  to  fence,  subject  him  to  their 
depredations  without  indemnity,  as  is  done  in 
many  States,  or  if  we  may  compel  him  to  contrib- 
ute to  the  erection  of  division  fences,  of  a  given 
height,  though  he  has  no  animal  in  the  world  to 
be  shut  in  or  out  of  his  field,  there  would  seem 
to  be  equal  reason  in  compelling  him  to  dig  half 
of  a  division  ditch,  for  the  benefit  of  himself  and 
neighbor. 

If,  again,  as  we  have  already  hinted,  the  Leg- 
islature may  authorize  a  Corporation  to  flow  and 
inundate  the  land  of  an  unwilling  citizen,  to  raise 
a  water-power  for  a  cotton-mill,  it  must  be  a  nice 
discrimination  of  powers  that  prohibits  the  same 
Legislature  from  authorizing  the  entry  into  lands 
of  protesting  mill-owners,  or  of  an  unknown  or 
cross-grained  proprietor,  to  open  an  outlet  for  a 
valuable  health-giving  system  of  drainage. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
STEAM  PLOW. 

Mr.  Editor: — Your  able  and  pleasing  cor- 
respondent, Wilson  Flagg,  Esq.,  seems  alarmed 
at  the  introduction  of  the  "Steam  Plow,"  should 
such  a  discovery  be  made.  He  repudiates  the  no- 
tion that  the  "Illinois  State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture" should  encourage  the  use  of  such  a  ma- 
chine, which,  in  its  tendency,  would  "extirpate 
the  whole  class  of  small  farmers  in  the  State." 
In  support  of  this  theory,  he  compares  the  hand- 
spinners  and  weavers,  who  should  undertake  to 
compete  with  the  manufactories  of  Lowell  and 
Lawrence. 

His  article  {Farmer,  Dec.  18,)  in  its  length  and 
breadth,  I  think  is  at  variance  with  pul)lic  senti- 
ment, and  I  shall  venture  a  few  suggestions  in 
relation  to  it. 

If  the  steam  plow  should  be  introduced  by 
"mammoth  corporations"  (of  which  there  is  lit- 
tle to  fear,)  we  cannot  see  why  it  would  bear  un- 
equally on  "the  small  farmer."  He  has  given 
us  no  idea  of  the  cost  of  the  apparatus,  which 
may  not  be  very  expensive,  in  a  small  way,  but 
the  outlay  of  a  good  plowing  team,  and  the  ex- 
pense of  feeding,  is  by  no  means  a  small  item 
with  the  farmer.  Horse  power  has  greatly  re- 
lieved man,  as  applied  to  the  mowing,  reaping 
and  threshing  machines,  rake,  &c.,  but  how  vast- 
ly has  steam  annihilated  the  horse,  yet  the  horse 
retains  his  former  value  and  labor,  and  is  dearer 
than  formerly.  This  kind  of  "progress"  is  de- 
manded by  all  enterprising  people,  and  the 
growth  of  our  country  is  their  crowning  happi- 
ness.    I  should  regret  to  see  it  otherwise. 

When  the  sewing  machine  was  introduced,  the 
needle  women  were  in  danger.  Wailings  and  re- 
grets were  the  outpourings  of  humanity — but 
Providence  opens  new  sources  of  labor,  the  poor 
needle-woman  receives  her  "loaves  and  fishes," 
and  by  industry  and  frugality  I  think  she  earns 
full  wages,  as  I  do  not  learn  that  they  have  been 
reduced. 

Now  what  is  to  be  feared  from  "farm  associated 
capital  ?"  Surely,  the  argument  fails  when  "Low- 
ell  and  Lawrence"  are  made   prominent  objects 


of  comparison,  with  smaller  establishments  en- 
gaged in  like  manufactures.  It  is  only  necessa- 
ry to  refer  your  correspondent  to  the  supremacy 
of  individual  success  over  them  all  around  you. 
Stockholders  in  these  mammoth  corporations 
can  doubtless  give  a  negative  reply. 

But  let  us  take  a  family  of  Shakers  who  would 
seem  to  present  the  most  consolidated  form  of 
"association."  Their  thrift,  skill,  economy  and 
integrity  are  unsurpassed.  Does  this  mammoth 
corporation  threaten  destruction  to  the  "pleas- 
ant old  farm-house,"  the  "delightful  groups  of 
trees,"  a  state  of  "servitude"  of  families  in  the 
"grand  manufactory  of  corn  and  vegetables  ?"  Do 
those  outside  abutters  suffer  by  this  great  Shak- 
er corporation  ?  Not  at  all.  They  never  under- 
sell. No  form  of  corporation  need  frighten  the 
industrious  farmer,  neither  can  they  depreciate 
his  products. 

If  there  is  a  tedious  operation  in  farming,  it  is 
plowing.  Now  we  have  all  the  improvements  in 
agricultural  implements,  with  new  forces  and 
powers.  Shall  we  have  the  steam  plow  ?  If  it 
can  be  worked  on  a  hundred  acres,  it  can  be 
worked  on  twenty.  Would  it  not  revolutionize 
New  England?  Would  it  not  improve  the  pas- 
turing, enlarge  the  barns,  increase  cattle,  sheep, 
horses,  the  dairy,  the  corn  crop,  the  reheat  crop, 
the  most  expensive  and  the  most  needful  of  all? 
Give  them  a  '^steam  plow,"  a  bounty  of  12.1  cts.  on 
winter  wheat,  a  generous  bounty  on  a  hundred 
bushels  of  corn,  till  it  becomes  a  well  established 
fact  that  New  England  can  raise  her  bread,  and 
your  plowing  will  tell  at  home  in  your  own  pock- 
ets, and  the  coffers  of  your  States. 

Hang  no  clogs  upon  agricultural  enterprises. 
Give  them  Legislative  sanction  and  support  to 
the  utmost,  and  while  we  must  admit  the  jjlow  to 
be  the  pioneer  implement  of  all  farm  operations, 
the  basis  of  all  hope,  let  lis  add  any  power  that 
shall  "speed  the  plow."  Henry  Poor. 

New  York,  1859. 


Most  Profitable  Breed  of  Sheep. — A 
Canada  West  farmer,  writing  on  this  question  to 
the  Genesee  Farmer,  says  :  "As  far  as  my  expe- 
rience goes,  the  most  profitable  sheep  are  of  no 
breed.  Buy  poor  and  inferior  ewes  (of  the  na- 
tive stock,  if  possible,)  cross  them  with  the  best 
Leicester  or  Southdown  rams,  according  to  their 
roughness  and  other  qualities,  and  they  will  pay 
from  50  to  100  per  cent,  per  annum,  or  more. 
This  is  simply  taking  ad  vantage  of  the  established 
maxim  in  breeding,  that  the  first  cross  is  the 
best.  You  thus  obtain  an  increase  in  mutton  of 
from  20  to  30  pounds,  and  an  increase  in  wool  of 
from  50  to  100  per  cent.,  besides  a  great  improve- 
ment in  the  quality  of  both." — Country  Gentle- 
man. 

Atmospheric  Phenomena. — A  correspondent 
writing  to  us  from  Byson,  111.,  states  that  some 
peculiar  phenomena  were  witnessed  in  that  place 
on  the  morning  of  the  4;h  inst.,  at  9  A.  M.,  con- 
sisting of  several  rainbows  intersecting  one  anoth- 
er, and  at  every  intersecting  point  there  was  a 
bright  spot  resembling  a  miniature  sun.  These 
bows  displayed  all  the  prismatic  colors,  and  were 
exceedingly  beautiful.  They  continued  for  about 
three-quarters  of  an  hour,  and  then  disappeared. 
— Scientific  American. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


161 


CHESTBE  COUNTY,  PA.,  SOW^. 


The  above  is  a  fine  representation  of  the  Ches- 
ter County  Sow  Mazurka,  bred  by  Thomas 
Wood,  Esq.,  of  Penningtonville,  Pennsylvania, 
and  now  owned  by  William  A.  White,  of  Lan- 
caster, N.  H.  This  breed  is  distinguished  for 
large  size,  rapid  growth,  early  maturity  and  great 
propensity  to  fatten  ;  remarkable,  also,  for  beau- 
ty and  symmetry  of  form,  and  docile  disposition. 
No  part  of  the  farm  economy  better  deserves  at- 
tention than  that  of  swine,  as  they  are  manufac- 
turers as  well  as  producers.  More  attention 
ought  to  be  given  to  breeds,  so  as  to  secure  those 
that  are  symmetrical,  of  quiet  dispositions,  and 
that  will  gain  the  largest  weight  upon  the  small- 
est amount  of  food.  See  advertisement  in  an- 
other column. 


sufficiently  evident.  It  seems  to  be  the  inevita- 
ble result  of  civilization,  that  the  birds,  the  beau- 
tiful feathered  police  of  Nature,  decrease,  with 
the  march  of  its  improvements  ;  and  hence  in  pro- 
portion as  the  land  becomes  more  cultivated,  the 
insects,  freed  from  their  natural  devourers,  in- 
crease in  proportion,  and  the  fruit-grower,  obliged 
to  turn  from  one  remedy  to  another,  finds  too  of 
ten,  now  inadequate  the  contrivances  of  man  art 
to  effect  the  object. 

In  order  to  understand  how  to  apply  the  true 
remedy,  let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  habits 
of  the  canker  worm.  Though  the  greater  num- 
ber of  these  ascend  the  tree  about  the  middle  of 
March,  they  emerge  from  the  ground  during 
the  open  weather  of  every  month  of  winter,  and 
of  these  the  largest  proportion  are  females.  Hav- 
ing reached  some  suitable  crevice  or  twig  on  the 
tree,  each  female  lays  from  80  to  100  eggs,  and 
covering  them  with  a  glue  impervious  to  water, 
dies.  In  the  month  of  June  these  eggs  hatch, 
and  the  young  canker  worm  soon  destroy  every 
green  leaf  on  the  tree.  The  great  desideratum,  it 
Few  persons  are  aware,  perhaps,  of  the  extent  is  plain,  must  be  to  prevent  the  worm  from  get- 
of  the  ravages  made  by  the  canker  worm,   and  ting  up  the  tree. 

other  insects,  upon  the  orchards  of  New  England.  A  contrivance  of  Wm.  W.  Taylor,  Esq.,  of 
In  Massachusets  a'one,  there  are  estim  ited  to  be  South  Dartmouth,  meets  the  object  better,  in  my 
no  less  than  one  liui.lred  different  varieties  of  opinion,  than  any  contrivance  hitherto  devised  by 
the  class  Geometni',  (to  which  the  canker  worm  the  ingenuity  of  man.  It  consists  oi  a  simple 
belongs,)  according  to  T.  W.  Harris.  The  a])ple  circular  cup  of  iron,  cast  in  two  semi-circular  sec- 
tree  suffers  most  from  these  worms,  but  the  cher-  tions,  so  as  to  be  easily  screwed  tightly  together, 
ry,  the  plum,  lime  and  elm  trees,  are  often  the  Between  the  cup  and  the  tree,  a  packing  is  placed 
subjects  of  their  devastating  attacks.  The  nu-  of  sea-weed,  straw,  cotton  waste  or  any  other  suit- 
merous  pomological  societies  which  have  sprung  able  material  impervious  to  insects,  but  not  so 
up  within  a  short  time  are  proofs  of  the  increased  to  water  ;  over  the  cup  is  place*!,  ata  distance  of 
interest  which  the  culture  of  fruit  is  demanding  two  inches,  a  screen,  or  roof  projecting  a  little  be- 
from  the  farmers  of  New  England  ;  and  when  we  yond  the  outer  circumference.  The  cup  is  then 
consider  the  fact  that  50,000  bbls.  of  apples  were  filled  with  bitter  water,  which  will  not  freeze  in 
recently  shipped  from  Boston  in  a  single  month,  any  temperature,  and  is  delequescent,  (absorbing 
the  importance  of  staying  the  pest  which  more  moisture  from  the  atmosi)here.)  It  has  also  the 
than  any  other  has  hitherto  made  the  profits  of  advantage  of  being  far  cheaper  than  oil,  or  any  of 
fruit  p-rowing  insecure  and  hazardous,  becomes, the  substances  heretofore  used  in  contrivances 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CAWKEK  WORMS. 


162 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


having  the  same  object.  I  have  had  this  invention 
of  Captain  Taylor's  in  practical  operation  for  some 
time,  and  the  results  have  been  so  highly  satisfac- 
tory that  I  confidently  recommend  it  to  all  fruit- 
growers as  a  perfect  vade  mecuin. 

The  cups  of  bitter  water  are  half  filled  with 
dead  insects  v/hich  have  perished  in  attempting  to 
swim  across,  and  under  them  numerous  cocoons 
show  that  many  have  found  discretion  the  better 
part  of  valor,  having  been  foiled  in  their  attempts 
to  reach  a  more  elevated  state  of  existence.  Nu- 
merous orchards  and  trees  in  this  vicinity  have 
been  islanded  with  these  biiter  waters,  which  have 
proved,  thus  far,  better  than  the  sleepless  dragons 
which  guarded  the  famous  gardens  of  the  Hesper- 
ides,  and  I  am  of  opinion  that  if  this  impassable 
circle  of  Captain  Taylor  had  been  extended  around 
the  tree,  in  a  certain  garden  that  we  have  read  of, 
the  human  race  might  have  been  considerably 
better  ofi'than  it  now  is,  and  the  world  would  be 
something  better  than  a  home  for  the  fallen. 

Feb.,  1859.  r. 

Remarks. — We  have  examined  the  device  of 
Capt.  Taylor  to  prevent  the  ascent  of  canker 
worms,  and  should  think  it  might  prove  effectu- 
al. We  know  nothing  of  the  cost,  or  of  its  prac- 
tical operations,  excepting  what  is  stated  by  our 
correspondent  above. 


i'''or  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  WEATHER  OF  1858. 

[ConcludeJ.] 

The  whole  number  of  falls  of  snow  during  the 
year  was  twenty-one,  amounting  to  about  thirty- 
four  inches  on  a  level,  as  near  as  can  be  easily 
calculated,  or  two  feet  and  ten  inches,  as  follows  : 
In  January  there  were  three  falls,  amounting  to 
six  inches  ;  in  February  four  falls,  amounting  to 
five  inches  ;  in  March  four  falls,  equalling  nine 
and  one-half  inches  ;  in  November  four  falls, 
equal  to  nine  inches,  and  in  December  six  falls, 
equal  to  four  inches. 

The  last  fall  of  snow  in  the  spring  occurred  on 
the  14th  of  March,  and  the  first  in  the  fall,  on 
the  13th  of  November. 

The  number  of  falls  of  rain  in  the  year,  includ- 
ing thirteen  thunder  showers,  was  seventy,  oc- 
curring as  follows  :  In  Jan.  four,  in-Feb.  one,  in 
March  two,  in  April  six,  in  May  six,  in  June  five, 
including  three  thunder  showers,  in  July  eleven, 
including  five  thunder  showers,  in  August  twelve, 
including  two  thunder  showers,  in  September 
six,  including  three  thunder  showers,  in  "October 
eight,  including  one  thunder  shower,  in  Novem- 
ber two,  in  December  seven.  From  December, 
1857,  to  April,  1858,  but  very  little  water  fell, 
either  in  snow  or  rain,  and  had  such  a  drought 
occurred  in  any  other  season  of  the  year  it  must 
have  been  strikingly  noticeable. 

The  usual  amount  of  rain  fell  during  the  au- 
tumn months,  and  most  of  the  summer  months, 
but  in  October  the  springs,  and  consequently  the 
wells  and  streams,  were  remarkably  low ;  hence 
the  query,  how  is  this  to  be  accounted  for? 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  year,  based  upon 
an  average  of  all  the  sunrise,  noon  and  sunset 
temperature,  is  45.76*,  which  lam  led,  by  differ- j 
ent  methods  of  observation,  to  conclude  varies  I 


but  little  from  the  true  mean  of  the  year,  (I 
have  not  room  here  to  introduce  a  table  that  I 
have  made  out,  showing  the  mean  of  the  sunrise, 
noon,  and  sunset  temperature  for  each  month, 
and  the  mean  temperature  as  deduced  from 
these.) 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  winter  months, 
(according  to  my  method,)  is  25.99'',  of  the 
spring,  43.98'^,  of  the  summer  68.15°,  and  of  au- 
tumn 55.79'-\ 

January,  1858,  was  fully  IS''  warmer  than  Jan- 
uary, 1857. 

The  lowest  temperature  during  the  year  was 
12°  below  zero,  the  highest  92°  above,  and  the 
mean  of  these  two  extremes  is  40°. 

The  coldest  day  in  the  year  was  the  5th  of 
March,  with  a  temperature  of  2°  at  sunrise,  6° 
at  noon  and  7°  at  sunset ;  and  the  warmest  day 
was  the  26th  of  June,  with  the  thermometer  at 
71*^  at  sunrise,  92°  at  noon,  and  76°  at  sunset, 
and  the  difference  between  the  mean  tempera- 
ture is  not  far  from  80°. 

There  were  two  hundred  and  twenty  days  of 
wind  from  some  northerly  quarter,  during  the  year, 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  from  a  south- 
erly point.  From  the  northwest  ther^  were  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  days  of  wind,  from  the 
northeast  seventy-three,  and  from  the  north  twen- 
ty-one ;  from  the  southwest  sixty-four,  from  the 
south  forty-eight,  and  eleven  from  the  southeast. 
During  twenty-two  days  the  wind  was  either  im- 
perceptible, or  so  light  and  changeable  that  no 
regular  current  could  be  perceived.  Had  I  room 
I  would  introduce  a  table  showing  the  number 
of  days  of  wind  from  the  points  from  which  it 
blows  for  each  month.  It  also  appears  that  there 
were  one  hundred  ninety-three  days  of  wind  from 
the  west,  and  only  eighty-six  from  an  easterly 
quarter,  which  shows  that  the  wind  prevailed 
much  more  from  a  more  or  less  westerly  quarter, 
than  from  an  easterly  point,  and  accordingly 
goes  to  prove  a  theory  in  meteorology  that  the 
prevailing  wind  in  the  high  northern  latitudes 
must  be  a  westerly  wind,  (or  fiouthwesterly.) 

There  were  one  hundred  and  four  clear  days 
in  the  year  1858,  days  in  which  the  sun  shone 
almost  uninterruptedly  ;  onu  hundred  and  four 
tolerably  clear — days  in  which  the  sun  shone  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  though  clouds  were  abun- 
dant ;  ninety-three  cloudy  days — days  in  which 
the  sun  scarcely  shone  ;  and  sixty-four  designat- 
ed as  quite  cloudy — the  clouds  predomin  ting. 

Wilbraham,  Mass.,  1859.  J.  A.  Allen. 


Effects  of  Pedestrl\n  Exerclse. — A  cele- 
brated English  physician  says  that  pedestrian 
exercise  particularly  exhausts  the  spine  and  the 
brain,  and  is,  therefore,  the  kind  of  exercise  less 
suited  to  intellectually  hard-working  men.  And 
it  is  on  this  account  that  horseback  exercise  is 
the  medicine  it  is — the  horse  having  the  fatigue 
and  the  rider  the  exercise.  To  sufficiently  jar 
the  liver  and  other  internal  organs,  for  some  con- 
valescents, the  legs  and  loins  must  be  over- 
worked. The  thorough  shake-up  which  is  got  in 
the  saddle  is  without  effort,  or  with  the  effort  of 
only  such  muscles  as  can  best  afford  it  ;  and  the 
student-rider  comes  back  with  physical  forces  all 
refreshed,  besides  the  exhilaration  of  movement 
for  the  spirits  and  the  change  of  mind. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


163 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  USE   OF  LIME  AND  ITS   PKOPEK- 
TIES. 

Mr.  Editor: — Although  not  a  farmer  to  any 
great  extent,  having  most  of  the  time,  for  twenty- 
five  years  past,  been  grinding  grain  for  farmers, 
yet  1  have  had  the  opportunity  to  study  Nature  in 
the  development  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and 
have  assumed  as  a  motto,  Hhat  in  order  for  a  full 
development  of  vegetables,  there  must  he  a  com- 
plete association  of  mineral  principles  in  the  soil." 
As  most  of  our  soil,  in  the  S'ew  England  States, 
is  deiicient  in  the  principle  of  lime,  the  compo- 
nent parts  of  which  are,  '"o  mineral  ylnten,  and  a 
mineral  alkali,"  and,  as  it  is  necessary  for  the 
principle  of  alkali  to  be  present  in  the  sand  or 
silica  of  the  soil,  to  enable  the  spongioles  or 
rootlets  of  plants  to  decompose  so  much  thereof 
as  will  be  sufficient  to  give  its  body  the  necessary 
stifl'ness  to  support  the  head,  and  the  ripened 
seed,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  lime 
must  be  added  to  the  soil  as  one  of  those  princi- 
ples which  go  to  make  up  a  complete  association. 

I  am  very  much  gratified  that  the  Agricultural 
papers,  and  some  of  our  farmers,  are  advocating 
what  I  have  inculcated  for  twenty  years — the  use 
of  lime  as  manure  or  food  for  vegetables  ;  but 
yet  they  do  not  seem  to  understand  rvhi/  they 
should  do  so,  or  why  lime  is  valuable  as  a  ma- 
nure. They  say,  that  where  they  make  use  of  old 
plastering  made  of  lime  and  sand — no  matter  how 
old  it  is — as  a  manure,  they  receive  great  benefit 
tlierefrom.  Now, what  are  those  wonderful  virtues 
which  lie  concealed  in  the  old  plaster  ?  If  you 
should  taste  of  it,  you  v/ould  not  perceive  that  it 
contained  one  particle  of  alkali,  which,  when  it 
wa^  first  made,  was  so  strong  with  alkali  as  to 
corrode  one's  flesh.  I  have  asked  many  with 
whom  I  have  conversed  on  this  subject,  what  has 
become  of  the  alkaline  matter  that  was  at  first  so 
apparent  in  the  old  plaster  ?  Some  have  conjec- 
tured that  it  has  evaporated — gone  into  the  at- 
mosphere, while  others  could  not  tell,  yet  they 
thought  that  alkali  could  not  evaporate. 

They  rightly  thought.  The  most  intense  heat 
known  to  us  cannot  evaporate  it,  else  it  would 
have  escaped  with  the  carbonic  acid  gas  in 
the  process  of  calcination.  Then  where  has  it 
gone  to?  what  has  became  of  it ?  Answer — the 
sand  which  constitutes  a  large  portion  of  the 
plaster  had  an  affinity  for  the  alkali  of  the  lime. 
An  association  was  the  consequeiice.  The  alkali 
and  the  sand  have  united  in  one  compound,  and 
is  in  a  proper  state  for  decomposition  by  the  roots 
of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  This  is  why  the  old 
plaster  has  such  wonderful  virtues  in  it  to  make 
plants  grow — "the  silica  is  rendered  soluble  by 
associating  with  alkali."  The  lime  stone,  before 
calcination,  is  of  no  more  benefi*:  as  food  for 
plants,  than  granite  or  any  other  stone,  even  when 
comminuted.  The  gluten  of  lime  differs  from 
the  gluten  of  clay,  and  when  clay  and  lime  are 
mixed  together,  they  form  a  very  light  and  po- 
rous soil — the  tenacity  of  the  clay  being  destroyed 
by  the  lime;  showing  at  once  that  lime  is  of  as 
much  benefit  to  clay  soils  as  to  any  other  kind  of 
soils.  Should  the  farmer  see  fit  to  dress  his  land 
with  an  hundred  bushels  of  lime  to  the  acre,  the 
alkaline  part  thereof  would  soon  all  be  taken 
up  by  the  sand  in  the  soil,  and  would  be  there 


ready  for  the  use  of  plants,  until  the  whole  had 
passed  into  the  vegetable  form  ;  and  the  gluti- 
nous part  would  combine  with  other  ingredients 
of  the  soil,  together  with  such  other  manures 
as  the  farmer  does,  or  ought  to  apply  thereto. 
It  would  there  be  ready  to  impregnate  his  crops 
of  grain  and  grass  with  the  phosphate  of  lime, 
that  most  necessary  of  all  principles  to  the 
health,  strength  and  firmness  of  the  bone  and 
muscles  of  his  animals — increasing  their  size,  and 
of  course  their  value. 

Lime  ought  to,  and  will  yet  be  considered  in- 
dispensable by  the  farmer  in  growing  wheat  and 
the  several  grasses.  Nor  should  he  neglect  to 
apply  all  the  manure  he  can  command ;  for  the 
more  highly  he  enriches  land  by  animal  ma- 
nures, so  much  the  more  he  will  need  a  good  sup- 
ply of  lime.  If  he  makes  his  land  rich  enough 
to  produce  3.5  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  he 
must  put  in  lime  enough  to  produce  a  straw  stijf 
enough  to  support  the  heads  of  the  wheat,  and 
keep  it  from  lodging.  Then  th^  sap  vessels  will 
be  kept  from  bursting  at  a  certain  stage  of  its 
growth,  and  forming  a  rust  on  the  straw — having 
strength  and  firmness  enough  to  sustain  the  pres- 
sure of  the  sap  in  its  flow  to  the  head  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forming  the  grain  or  kernel. 

After  I  have  thus  far  shown  the  chemical  pro- 
pensities of  lime — its  nature  and  action  on  the 
soil  for  the  benefit  of  vegetables  and  plants — its 
use  in  saving  a  good  crop  of  wheat,  which,  icith- 
out  it,  would  be  a  failure,  by  being  spoiled  by  the 
)-ust,  or  by  lodging — must  1  appeal  to  the  inter- 
est of  the  farmer  to  induce  him  to  use  it?  Then, 
if  by  applying  10  bushels  of  stone  lime,  costing 
$2,00  at  the  kiln,  to  the  acre,  will  increase  the 
yield  to  30  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  which  oth- 
erwise would  have  yielded  only  20  bushels,  call- 
ing wheat  $1,00  per  bushel — allowing  $2,00  more 
for  going  after  the  lime  and  putting  it  on  the 
land,  you  will  receive  the  first  year  for  your 
money  1333  per  cent,  as  interest!  Is  not  that 
better  than  to  put  it  into  a  hank  that  may  fail  ? 
Then  consider  the  amount  of  hay  you  will  cut 
for  several  years  to  come,  more  than  you  would 
without  the  lime,  and  of  a  far  better  quality  for 
your  stock — rich  in  the  phosphate  of  lime. 

Farmers  of  New  England,  if  you  wish  to  com- 
pete with  the  fertile  lands  of  the  AVest — if  you 
wish  to  excel  in  your  wheat,  cattle,  horses,  sheep, 
in  the  staple  and  fineness  of  your  wool,  in  the  fla- 
vor of  your  butter,  and  in  the  quantity  and  qual- 
ity of  your  cheese,  sow  lime  on  your  lands,  on 
your  meadows,  on  your  pastures,  not  stingily,  but 
bountifully.  Sweeten  up  the  soil  as  your  mothers 
used  to  do  with  their  sour  butter-milk,  by  pour- 
ing into  it  an  alkaline  substance  to  nutralize  the 
sour  humus  located  therein,  which  now  has  only 
a  tendency  to  produce  sorrel,  raspberries,  straw- 
berries, moss  and  wild  cherries  ;  and  it  will  not 
be  long  before  your  farms  will  assume  a  more 
beautiful  aspect — a  richer  dress  of  wholesome 
life-giving  vegetation.  Instead  of  running  over 
100  acres  of  land  to  fill  a  30  by  40  feet  barn  with 
hay  and  grain,  you  will  not,  like  the  man  of  whom 
we  read,  "pull  down  your  barn  and  build  larger 
ones,"  but  will  be  necessiated  to  make  an  addi- 
tion of  two  or  three  more  to  hold  your  crops  and 
your  stock.  Instead  of  going  over  an  acre  and 
a  half  or  two  acres  to  get  a  ton  of  poor  hay  mixed 
with  sorrel  and  weeds,  you  will  be  cutting  from  a 


164 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMEK. 


April 


ton  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  tons  per  acre,  of 
good  timothy  and  clover,  well  filled  with  the  phos- 
phate of  lime,  of  which  the  bones  of  your  animals 
are  composed. 

If  what  I  have  said  appears  reasonable,  adopt 
it ;  if  not,  reject  it.  If  it  will  set  many  to  think- 
ing, it  is  what  the  farmers  ought  to  do — think — 
and  not  only  think,  but  speak  out  themselves. 

Bipton,  Vt,  1859.  Samuel  Damon. 


EXTEACTS  AND  BEPLIES. 
TOP-DRESSING — LEACHED   ASHES — GUANO. 

Which  will  be  the  best  for  a  spring  top-dress- 
ing for  grass  on  a  sandy  loam, — well-rotted  ma- 
nure, leached  ashes  or  guano — and  which  will  be 
the  most  economical — not  in  regard  to  first  cost 
— but  as  to  the  effect  ?  (a.) 

Would  plaster  sowed  in  the  spring  be  benefi- 
cial to  a  piece  of  lightish  soil  pasture,  which  was 
seeded  down  last  fall  with  a  manure  of  bone-dust 
and  leached  ashes  ?  (b.)         Young  Farmer. 

North  Billerica,  Jan.  30,  1859. 

Remarks. — (a.)  Nothing  compared  with  a  well 
rotted  compost — not  a  compost  that  has  been 
greatly  fermented,  but  one  well-balanced  in  all 
its  parts,  ripened,  mellow,  and  just  in  that  condi- 
tion to  become  soluble,  and  afford  abundant  nu- 
ti'ition  to  the  plants  as  soon  as  sufficient  heat  and 
moisture  reach  it  after  being  mingled  with  the 
soil.  Such  a  compost  will  aS"ord  all,  or  nearly 
all,  the  elements  that  the  plant  needs.  Leached 
ashes  will  not,  and  guano  is  so  volatile,  and  its 
successful  use  depends  so  much  upon  circumstan- 
ces, that  we  have  no  hesitation  whatever  in  rec- 
ommending the  compost  in  preference  to  those  or 
anything  else. 

(b.)  On  some  soils  the  plaster  would  be  decid- 
edly beneficial,  on  others  not.  You  can  only  tell 
by  an  experiment.  

SPLINTS    ON    HORSES. 

"A  Subscriber,"  who  inquires  about  "Splints" 
on  horses,  is  referred  to  an  article  in  the  Ameri- 
can Veterinary  Journal  for  January,  copied  from 
the  London  Field,  for  a  full  description,  cause 
and  treatment,  but  lest  that  excellent  journal  be 
not  at  hand,  I  will  make  a  few  extracts  : — 

"Some  animals  have  an  hereditary  predisposi- 
tion to  exostosis,  (splints,)  which  appear  before 
they  are  subjected  to  work  of  any  kind,  but  they 
are  generally  produced  by  the  animal  being  put 
too  early  to  work." 

"The  best  remedy  is  peristeotomy,"  ("Vets" 
have  some  jaw-breakers  as  well  as  the  doctors,) 
"which  consists  in  making  an  incision  above  and 
below  the  bony  tumor,  then  with  a  seton  needle 
raising  the  skin  from  the  tumor,  passing  in  a 
knife  with  a  guarded  blade,  cutting  deeply  into 
the  substance  of  the  splint,  and  finally  by  pass- 
ing a  seton  over  it,  i.  e.,  between  it  and  the 
skin." 

This  is  an  operation  that  belongs  to  the  veter- 
inarian, and  should  not  be  entrusted  to  the  vil- 
lage "blacksmith"  or  "butcher."  It  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  it  is  advisable  to  meddle  with  them 


at  all,  as  they  cause  lameness  but  a  short  time,  if 

at  all,  and  may,  and  often  do,  disappear  entirely. 

Nashua,  N.  II.  v.  C.  G. 

A  kicking  cow. 
I  have  a  cow,  five  years  old,  that  is   apt  to 
kick  in  the  stall.     AVill  you  be  so  kind  as  to  let 
me  know  how  I  can  break  her  of  that  habit  ? 

A  Subscriber. 
South  Weymouth,  Mass.,  1859. 

Remarks. — If  she  has  always  been  kindly 
treated,  she  certainly  shows  a  great  want  of  good 
manners  in  kicking  her  friends.  If  our  cow,  we 
should  approach  her  gently,  quit'^  often,  and  usu- 
ally with  a  lock  of  hay,  a  nub  of  corn,  or  a  pota- 
to or  an  apple  in  our  hand — speak  kind  words  to 
her,  scratch  her  neck  and  back,  and  convince  her, 
if  possible,  that  we  desired  to  be  on  the  most 
friendly  terms  with  her.  If  she  was  a  valuable 
cow  for  milk,  and  notwithstanding  all  these  evi- 
dences of  kindness,  persisted  in  kicking  our 
shins,  we  would,  perhaps,  try  what  virtue  there 
is  in  punishing — and  as  a  last  resort,  send  her 
to  the  butcher. 

diseases  in  fowls. 

Of  late  there  has  been  considerable  said  about 
diseases  of  fowls,  particularly  the  hen,  but  as  yet 
I  have  not  seen  anything  about  dropsy.  If  any 
of  your  readers  have  had  occasion  to  witness 
anything  similar  to  this  disease,  it  would  be  in- 
teresting to  hear  from  them,  and  if  they  can 
show  its  cause  and  a  remedy,  it  will  be  very  ac- 
ceptably received  by  the  breeders  of  fowls  gener- 
ally. I  have  lately  among  a  flock  of  more  than 
two  hundred  lost  several  by  this  disease.  The 
body  seems  to  be  filled  with  a  yellowish  wa- 
ter, in  which  the  bowels  are  completely  en- 
veloped, besides  which  there  are  clusters  of  wa- 
ter-sacks connected  together,  remote  from  and 
independent  of  the  ovaries.  Some  of  these  clus- 
ters contain  from  half-a-dozen  to  twenty  sacks, 
from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  large  grapes. 
These  are  also  filled  with  a  yellow  water,  and 
connected  by  ligaments  of  unnatural  growth. 
Will  some  one  who  is  acquainted  with  rearing 
and  doctoring  fowls  give  us  a  remedy,  if  they 
are  acquainted  with  the  like  disease. 

Peter  A.  Foster. 

Shaker  Village,  N.  II.,  1859. 

nash's  progressive  farmer. 

Should  not  this  liookbe  taught  in  our  common 
schools  ?  It  contains  much  useful  knowledge  that 
will  help  the  farmer  in  cultivatir  g  his  farm.  The 
author  has  written  it  in  so  plain,  easy  and  prac- 
tical a  way,  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  read  it. 

Take  the  analysis  of  a  tree,  commencing  at  the 
roots  and  tracing  it  up  through  the  bark,  sap, 
heart  and  pith  to  the  extremities  of  its  branches. 
How  many  are  there  that  know  the  use  of  the 
leaves  in  the  vegetable  world  around  them  ?  The 
tiny  leaf,  that  trembles  in  the  breeze,  is  so 
formed,  that  one  side  of  it  is  constantly  drawing 
in  the  unhealthy  and  impure  air  which  the  ani- 
mal world  is   throwing  off,  and  giving  vigor  and 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


165 


life  to  the  tree,  passing  through  its  laboratory, 
and  is  again  thrown  off,  from  the  opposite  side 
of  the  leaf,  changed  from  an  impure  to  a  healthy 
air. 

In  this  we  see  the  wisdom  of  the  Creator,  and 
it  ought  to  draw  the  mind  from  Nature's  works 
up  to  Nature's  God.  With  this  knowledge  the 
farmer,  as  he  walks  his  farm,  surrounded  with 
trees,  decked  with  leaves  and  flowei-s,  ought  to 
feel  happier  with  his  occupation  than  he  would 
•without  this  knowledge.  What  a  wide  field 
there  is  open  before  him  for  studying  the  habits 
of  the  animals,  the  fowls  and  insects  that  are 
around  him.  w.  A.  P. 

Barre,  Mass.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  little  volume  spoken  of  above 
ought  to  be  read  by  every  progressive  farmer. 
It  will  suggest  a  thousand  things  both  pleasant 
and  profitable.  

SEVERAL   THINGS. 

A  poor  farmer  in  Orleans  county,  Vt.,  wants 
to  know  if  he  shall  plow  in  manure  or  harrow  it, 
■when  he  seeds  to  grass  ?  (a.) 

Is  it  best  to  use  a  roller  on  dry  and  gravelly 
land?  (b.) 

Will  not  two  eyes  be  better  than  one  in  a  hill 
of  potatoes  ?  (c) 

Will  it  pay  to  spread  manure  on  dry,  gravelly 
land?  (d.) 

Would  it  not  be  better  for  farmers  if  the  mon- 
ey expended  on  fast  horses  were  laid  out  in  pre- 
miums on  fall  crops  ?  (e.)         A  Subscriber. 

Orleans  County,  Vt.,  1859. 

Remarks. — (a.)  Plow  in  three  or  four  inches 
deep,  and  level  with  harrow. 

(b.)  Certainly.  The  more  dry  and  light  the 
land,  the  more  necessity  for  the  roller.  Have 
you  not  observed  on  such  land,  that  where  the 
cattle  tread  in  harrowing  the  seed  in,  that  the 
seed  comes  up  earliest  in  their  tracks  ? 

(c.)  Seeding  for  potatoes  is  a  mooted  and  deli- 
cate question.  We  can  only  say,  that  we  seed 
lightly  with  small  potatoes,  or  large  ones  cut, 
and  that  we  find  no  depreciation  in  the  crop. 

(d.)  By  manuring  your  dry,  gravelly  land  lib- 
erally for  several  years,  you  will  bring  it  into  a 
moist,  rich,  gravelly  loam — but  you  must  man- 
ure freely  as  far  as  you  go.  If  it  is  in  grass  land, 
spread  the  manure  as  soon  as  you  get  off  the 
hay,  or,  late  in  autumn. 

(e.)  Yes.  Or  better  still,  in  supporting  far- 
mers' clubs  and  other  meetings  for  agricultural 
discussions.  

Vy^HAT   AILS   THE   HORSE. 

My  horse  is  five  years  old,  and  eighteen  months 
ago  it  had  the  appearance  of  having  rubbed  the 
skin  off  on  the  inside  of  the  right  gambril  joint, 
about  the  size  of  a  quarter  of  a  dollar.  Since 
that  it  has  been  gradually  growing  larger  in  cir- 
cumference, and  projecting  in  the  form  of  a  wart, 
and  a  roughness  similar  to  a  wart  around  its 
edges.  The  friction  caused  by  the  other  leg  from 
his  laying  down,  keeps  the  crown  of  it  raw.     It 


is  now  about  the  bigness  of  a  dollar  in  circum- 
ference, attended  with  very  little  soreness,  though 
I  perceive  on  working  him  hard  for  a  day  or  two 
in  succession  that  it  is  attended  with  swelling 
and  stiffness.  I  have  been  treatin  g  it  as  a  wart, 
but  have  not  been  able  to  find  anything  that  has 
been  of  use.  Merrimack,  N.  H. 

Jan.  20,  1859. 

Remarks. — Youatt  says  if  the  root  of  the  wart 
is  very  small,  it  may  be  cut  asunder,  close  to  the 
skin,  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  the  wound 
touched  with  lunar  caustic.  But  if  the  pediate 
or  stem  be  somewhat  large,  a  ligature  of  waxed 
silk  should  be  passed  firmly  round  it,  and  tight- 
ened every  da  

THREE   POTATOES. 

I  send  three  potatoes  ;  if  you  are  acquainted 
with  their  names  and  qualities,  I  wish  you  would 
inform  me  through  the  Farmer. 

So.  Strafford,  1859.  W.  B.  Hazeltine. 

Remarks. — The  three  potatoes  you  were  kind 
enough  to  send  us  are  the  most  perfect  in  form 
that  we  ever  saw.  The  eyes  are  nearly  level  with 
the  surrounding  surface.  Give  us  some  account 
of  them,  if  you  can.       

JAVA   spring  wheat. 

Do  you  know  anything  about  the  Java  Spring 
wheat  raised  in  your  section  ?  A.  B.  A. 

West  Georgia,  Vt.,  1859. 

Remarks. — This  wheat  was  introduced  into 
this  vicinity  by  Mr.  Stephen  Dillingham,  of 
Falmouth,  on  the  Cape,  we  believe,  in  1857.  It 
has  given  great  satisfaction  wherever  tried.  There 
will  be  a  limited  amount  for  sale  this  spring  by 
NouRSE  &  Co.,  34  Merchants  Row,  Boston. 

ESSEX   CO.   TRANSACTIONS. 

I  wish  to  procure  the  Essex   County  Transac- 
tions for  1858.  G.  S.  Johnson. 
Montpelier,   Vt.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Write  to  the  Secretary,  Allen 
W.  Dodge,  Esq.,  Salem,  Mass. 


MAINE  BOARD  OP  AQRICULTUHE. 
AVe  have  recently  read  the  discussions  of  the 
Board,  as  reported  in  the  Maine  Farmer,  with 
much  interest.  Its  meetings  were  held  for  sev- 
eral successive  days,  and  a  detailed  statement  of 
what  was  done,  and  doing,  in  their  respective 
districts,  was  given  by  each  member  of  the  Board. 
Such  statements  are  beneficial  to  those  who  give 
them,  and  to  those  to  whom  they  are  given.  If 
it  is  known  that  this  will  be  required,  none  but 
those  qualified  will  accept  the  appointment,  lest 
their  own  inferiority  should  be  made  apparent ; 
and  if  none  but  good  reports  are  made,  the  peo- 
ple will  have  the  benefit  of  sound  instruction. 


166 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

WILL  GBAIN  CHANGE  ITS  KIND  ? 

Harvard,  February  ith,  1859. 
Mr.  Editor  : — As  I  have  lately  seen  in  the  N. 
E.  Farmer  several  articles  on  the  change  of  one 
kind  of  grain  to  another,  I  send  you  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  '^Boston  Gazette  and  (Jountry 
Journal"  published  July  2.3d,  1759,  thinking  it 
may  be  interesting  to  some  of  the  numerous 
readers  of  your  valuable  journal. 

Jas.  I.  Wyer,  Jr. 

To  the  Author  of  the  Grand  Magazine. 

Sir  : — If  you  have  not  already  heard  of 
the  following  extraordinary  instance  of  the  pow- 
ers of  vegetation,  in  the  transmutation  of  one 
species  of  corn  into  another,  I  am  persuaded  I 
need  make  no  apology  to  trouble  you,  on  so  im- 
portant and  curious  a  subject. 

This  phoenomenon  was  first  observed  in  Swe- 
den, where  it  was  discovered  by  mere  accident. 
A  countryman  having  sown  some  oats  in  his  field, 
and  wanting  provision  for  his  horses,  mowed  the 
young  shoots  of  the  grain  soon  after  they  were 
come  up.  The  grain  shot  forth  again,  as  usual, 
and  the  farmer  mowed  it  as  before.  He  did  this, 
at  intervals,  three  times.  The  winter  coming  on, 
no  more  blades  appeared  till  the  following  spring, 
when  shooting  up  as  before,  they  were  permitted 
to  grow  to  perfection,  and  the  crop,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  the  poor  husbandman,  instead  of  proving 
oats,  turned  out  absolutely  good  rye.  This  fact 
coming  to  the  ear  of  a  very  ingenious  naturalist 
of  that  country,  Mr.  Jop  Bern  Vergin,  he  sus- 
pected there  might  be  some  deception,  and  ac- 
cordingly in  the  year  1750,  repeated  the  experi- 
ment, observing  exactly  the  same  measures  by 
design  as  the  countryman  had  takf-n  by  chance. 
The  result  of  this  experiment  was  the  same,  and 
his  oats  produced  good  rye,  as  that  of  the  peas- 
ant had  done  before.  A  circumstantial  relation 
of  this  extraordinary  discovery  was  soon  after- 
wards sent  to  their  High  Mightinesses,  the  States 
General,  by  Mr.  de  Marteville,  their  Envoy  at 
the  Court  of  Sweden. 

Curiosity,  and  the  desire  of  further  knowledge 
concerning  this  surprising  ph(Pnomenon,  induced 
some  of  the  naturalists  of  that  country  to  try  the 
experiment  again.  Among  the  rest  was  Mr.  Sy- 
perstein,  one  of  the  Magistrates  of  Harlem,  and 
the  President  of  the  society  lately  established 
there  for  the  improvement  of  arts  and  sciences. 
This  gentleman  sowed  a  handful  of  oats  on  the 
21st  of  June,  1757,  and  again  another  on  the  26th 
of  July  following.  The  first  he  cropt  at  three 
several  times,  viz.,  on  the  29th  of  July,  the  8th 
of  September  and  the  11th  of  November.  The 
last  he  cut  only  twice,  viz.,  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  the  18th  of  November.  The  succeed- 
ing winter  happening  to  prove  very  severe,  al- 
most all  the  grains  perished  in  the  earth,  through 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  Five  of  them, 
however,  remaining  alive,  shot  up  in  the  spring, 
and  produced  large  and  full  ears  of  good  rye, 
which  was  reaped  the  7th  of  last  August. 

As  the  utmost  care  was  taken  in  this  experi- 
ment to  avoid  any  mixture  in  the  grain,  as  well 
as  to  prevent  any  grains  of  rye  from  falling  acci- 
dentally, or  otherwise,  on  the  spot  of  ground 
sown;    this   transmutation,   however  strange  it 


may  appear  to  the  ignorant,  or  inconsistent  with 
the  systems  of  naturalists,  is  looked  upon  here 
as  an  indubitable  fact. 

AVith  a  view  of  prosecuting  this  discovery  still 
further,  Mr.  Syperstein  has  sown  a  fresh  parcel 
of  oats,  treating  them  as  before.  He  has  also 
sown  some  of  the  rye  produced  from  the  oats, 
which  he  has  cropped  in  the  same  manner  as  he 
did  the  oats  that  produced  it.  He  proposes  also 
to  make  several  experiments,  with  a  little  varia- 
tion, in  order  to  improve  on  this  discovery. 


SLEEPING  PLANTS. 


The  sleep  of  plants,  which  was  discovered  by 
Linnaeus,  is  caused  by  the  diflferent  influences  of 
light  and  darkness,  cold,  heat  and  moisture.  The 
common  chickweed  {Stellaria  medica,)  of  which 
birds  are  so  fond,  furnishes  a  beautiful  instance 
of  the  sleep  of  plants.  Every  night  the  leaves 
approach  each  other  in  pairs,  so  as  to  include 
within  their  upper  surfaces  the  tender  rudiments 
of  the  young  shoots  ;  and  the  uppermost  pair 
but  one  at  the  end  of  the  stalk,  are  furnished 
with  longer  leaf  stalks  than  the  others,  so  that 
they  can  close  upon  the  terminating  pair,  and 
protect  the  end  of  the  shoot. 

The  flowers  of  the  Marvel  of  Peru.  (Mirabilis 
jalapa,)  which  are  very  beautiful,  do  not  open  in 
hot  weather  until  the  evening;  but,  if  the  weath- 
er be  cool,  or  the  sun  is  obscured,  they  open  in 
the  day-time.  Another  variety  of  the  same 
plant  is  called  the  four-o'clock  flower,  from  open- 
ing at  that  hour  of  the  day. 

The  scarlet  pimpernel,  (AnagiUis  arvensis,) 
which  is  a  plentiful  weed  in  corn-fields,  is  called 
poor  man's  weather-glass,  and  shepherd's  barom- 
eter, from  the  flowers  always  closing  before  I'ain  ; 
and  should  the  weather  be  ever  so  bright,  they 
always  shut  up  at  noon. 

The  flowers  of  a  sort  of  convolvulus  {Bivea 
bona-nox)  are  large  and  white,  expanding  only 
at  sunset,  and  perfuming  the  air  to  a  great  dis- 
tance, with  a  fragrance  resembling  that  of  the 
finest  cloves.  It  is  a  native  of  Bengal,  where  it 
rambles  among  the  forests,  and  is  called  the 
Midnapore  creeper. 

The  common  goats-beard  {Tragopogon  pre- 
tense) grows  in  many  parts  of  Britain,  and  is 
called  go  to-bed-at-noon,  from  the  fact  of  its 
flowers  closing  about  that  time. — Household 
Words. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

TOWi'>r,  COUNTY,  AND  STA.TE 
SOCIETIES. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  am  glad  to  learn  from  the  pa- 
pers that  there  is  in  contemplation  a  re-orgoniza- 
tion  of  our  Agricultural  Societies,  which  shall 
render  them  more  efficient.  I  wish  to  suggest 
a  plan  for  this  purpose,  which  has  long  been  in 
my  mind.     It  is  briefly  the  following : 

1st.  Let  there  be  clubs  or  societies  in  every 
farming  town,  for  discussion,  the  support  of  lec- 
tures, the  formation  of  libraries,  and  the  exhibi- 
tion of  the  results  of  their  thought  and  labor. 

2d.  Let  there  be  county  societies,  which  should 
include  these  town  societies,  and  which  should 
hold  exhibiti(.'ns,  at  which  those  who  had  received 
certificates  of  excellence  at  the  town  exhibitions, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


167 


and  they  alone,  should  be  allowed  to  compete  for 
the  superiority. 

3d.  Let  there  be  a  State  Society,  -which  should 
consist  of  delegates  chosen  by  the  county  socie- 
ties, which  should  arrang»;the  whole  general  sys- 
tem for  the  management  of  the  town  and  county 
societies,  which  should  receive  the  entire  bounty 
of  the  State,  and  expend  it  for  premiums,  and  in 
other  ways,  for  the  advance  of  agriculture,  and 
which  should  admit  to  its  exhibitions  as  compe- 
titors for  premiums  only  those  who  had  received 
diplomas  or  certificates  of  excellence  from  the 
county  societies.  w.  C. 

Clinton,  Mass. 

SIXTH  LBGISLATIVE  AQRICULTUBAL 

MEETIJ^3G. 

'Reported  by  John  C.  Moore,  for  the  N.  E.  Farmer.] 

Subject  for  Discussion — Fruits,  and  Tiow 
to  raise  them. 

The  meeting  on  Monday  evening,  in  the  State 
House,  was  pretty  numerously  attended,  as  the 
series  has  heretofore  been  this  season.  This  may 
be  accounted  for  by  the  eminently  practical  man- 
ner in  which  the  discussions  are  conducted,  and 
the  coufinement  of  the  observations  to  the  sub- 
■ect  under  debate.  Hon.  SiMOK  Brown,  of  Con- 
cord, occupied  the  chair. 

The  President  stated  that  the  subject  of  grow- 
ing apples,  pears  and  grapes  had  been  heretofore 
discussed,  and  the  Committee  had  desired  that 
some  attention  should  be  given  to  the  smaller 
fruits.  The  Strawberry  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  these.  The  kinds  grown  were  nurrer- 
ous ;  but  not  above  a  dozen  were  desirable  to 
cultivate — in  fact,  not  so  many.  Among  the  bet- 
ter sorts  for  cultivation  here  were  the  Hovey's 
Seedling,  Early  Virginia,  Jenny  Lind,  Brigldon 
Pine,  Jenny's  Seedling,  Walker's  Seedling  and 
the  Wood.  The  last  of  the  varieties  mentioned 
was  one  which  ought  to  be  better  known;  for, 
■without  disparaging  any  of  the  others,  it  was 
among  the  best ;  a  free  grower,  produced  its 
fruit  on  long  stems,  and  continued  to  furnish  it 
during  five  or  six  weeks  after  the  first  supply  ri- 
pened. It  was  an  excellent  fruit  for  family  use, 
and  to  that  it  would  have  to  be  principally  con- 
fined, as  it  would  not  safely  carry  to  market,  it 
was  so  easily  damaged.  It  was  nearer  in  flavor 
to  the  wild  strawberry  than  any  he  knew — in- 
deed, no  more  palatable  table  fruit  could  be 
found.  It  was  easily  produced ;  as  much  so  as 
were  potatoes,  and  required  only  such  richness  of 
soil  as  would  be  required  to  raise  corn,  at  the 
rate  of  sixty  bushels  per  acre.  A  deep,  moist, 
black  loam,  in  the  experience  of  the  speaker,  was 
the  best  soil  for  the  culture  of  this  strawberry  ; 
but  some  said  a  yellow  loam  would  suit — a  fact 
he  had  no  practical  opportunity  of  knowing.  A 
general  condition  of  succ;-.--sful  cultivation  would 
be  found  in  having  the  laud  rich  and  moist.     As 


proving  this  question,  Mr.  Peabody,  of  Georgia, 
had  raised  the  strawberry  in  great  perfection, 
and  the  secret  thereof  was  the  plentiful  supply 
of  water  he  famished  the  vines.  The  Secretary 
of  the  Belmont  (Mass.)  Club  had  furnished  the 
Chairman  with  certain  statistics,  which  he  partly 
quoted.  These  showed,  in  one  instance,  that 
3000  boxes  had  been  raised  on  one  acre,  which, 
at  25  cents  per  box,  would  realize  $750.  The 
manure  per  acre,  cost  $150;  picking,  $150  ;  cul- 
tivation, 8150,  and  marketing,  $150 ;  leaving  a 
profit  of  $200.  But  even  this  was  held  to  be 
but  moderate  profit,  as  market-gardeners  in  that 
neighborhood  were  in  the  habit  of  realizing  a 
larger  acreable  return  for  their  laboi*.  Another 
party  estimated  the  number  of  boxes  of  straw- 
berries at  4000  from  aii  acre,  which,  at  25  cents 
a  box,  would  give  $1000.  His  estimate  was 
$400  for  cultivation  and  marketing,  and  the  con- 
sequent profit  would  be  $600 !  A  good  crop 
might  amount  to  4000  boxes  the  first  year,  and 
2000  the  second  one.  As  to  planting  the  straw- 
berry, the  best  time  to  do  it  was  the  spring — aa 
early  as  the  late  frosts  would  permit.  The  rows 
should  be  three  feet  apart,  and  the  plants  in  the 
rows  one  foot  separate.  Between  the  rows  beets 
might  be  planted,  the  cultivation  of  which  would 
keep  the  strawberries  clean  of  weeds.  After  the 
beets  were  harvested,  the  strawberry  vines  would 
run  and  cover  the  spaces  between  the  rovvs,  before 
winter  came  on.  Being  well  weeded  next  spring, 
they  would  produce  fruit  plentifully  next  sum- 
mer. Some  thought  it  questionable  management 
to  let  'the  strawberry  plants  remain  over  for 
another  year,  on  account  of  the  trouble  and  ex- 
pense of  weeding  and  the  diminished  produce, 
and  it  was  better  to  turn  them  under.  Mr.  Brown 
was  of  opinion  that  such  should  be  the  rule,  so 
far  as  mnrketing  purposes  were  included  ;  but 
where  family  wants  were  merely  to  be  supplied, 
he  believed  it  would  be  well  to  put  up  with  a  lit- 
tle extra  labor  in  weeding,  when  the  plants  could 
be  saved,  and  be  reasonably  productive,  even  for 
four  years.  Experience  had  shown  him  that  this 
could  be  done  and  the  vines  bear  moderately 
well.  For  his  own  part,  however,  he  would  re- 
commend that  the  vines  should  be  planted  in 
rows  two  feet  apart,  the  hills  a  foot  distant  in 
the  rows,  leaving  a  space  of  three  feet  between 
the  rows  to  allow  room  for  weeding.  When  the 
proper  time  came,  (the  close  of  the  second  year's 
be;ning,)  the  weeding  path  should  be  spaded,  the 
best  runners  planted  and  the  old  rows  turned 
under. 

Raspberries. — Mr.  Brown  next  made  reference 

to   raspberries,  the   varieties  of  which,  he  said, 

were  less  numerous  than  the  strawberry.     Wild 

description.*  might  be  cultivated  with  much  profit 

jin  gardens,  as  they  were  hardy  and  less  liable  to 


168 


newnengland  farmer. 


April 


■winter-killing  than  the  cultivated  kinds.  Among 
the  latter  was  the  Red  Antwerp,  commonly  cul- 
tivated in  New  England,  (which  was  a  little  ten- 
der in  winter ;)  also  the  Fastolff,  Knevetfs  Giant, 
and  a  more  recent,  and  in  his  estimation,  a  bet- 
ter one,  viz. :  Brinckle's  Orange.  This  was  a  val- 
uable acquisition  to  our  list  of  small  fruits.  It 
was  of  a  fine  orange  color,  semi-transparent,  clear 
and  juicy,  with  a  saccharine  quality  that  seemed 
to  satisfy  everybody,  and  it  was  an  excellent  pro- 
ducer, besides. 

Raspberries  should  be  planted  in  the  spring. 
In  preparing  the  vines  the  old  wood  ought  to  be 
cut  down  to  the  ground,  and  no  more  than  three 
canes  or  sprouts  left,  as  a  greater  number  would 
be  less  productive.  The  tops  of  the  canes  should 
be  cut  off,  also,  when  they  were  about  four  feet 
high,  at  which  time  they  should  be  tied  to  a  hor- 
izontal board,  fastened  to  standards,  to  keep 
them  from  damage  from  storms,  &c.  The  rows 
ought  to  be  planted  four  feet  asunder,  and  the 
hills  in  the  rows  three  feet  apart ;  and  under  rea- 
sonable conditions  of  soil  and  management  they 
would  produce  bountifully.  No  more  care  was 
demanded  by  them  than  that  requisite  to  grow  a 
fair  crop  of  potatoes.  The  soil  ought  to  be  what 
would  constitute  a  good  corn  soil ;  and  a  require- 
ment would  be  such  exposure  as  would  conduce 
to  natural  warmth,  without  any  undue  restriction. 

Blackberries.  —  The  blackberry,  Mr.  Brown 
said,  was  known  through  fewer  varieties  than  the 
raspberry;  and  the  most  common  descriptions 
yielded  liberally  to  cultivation.  He  had  grown 
the  common  high  blackberry,  taken  wild  from 
the  fields,  for  ten  years,  and  with  care  in  its  man- 
agement had  found  it  wonderfully  prolific.  It  had 
always  a  tendency  to  over-productiveness  ;  and 
unless  the  cultivator  was  careful  in  denuding  it  of 
two-thirds,  at  least,  of  the  fruit  it  would  strive  to 
set,  it  would  perfect  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
whole.  One-third  was  as  much  as  the  vine  could 
bring  to  maturity.  He  had  cultivated  the  New 
Rochelle  or  Lawton  blackberry,  but  had  not  suc- 
ceeded in  ripening  it.  In  extenuation  of  this,  it 
had  been  urged  that  the  unripe  berry  would  make 
the  best  of  wine  ;  but  in  that  respect,  Mr.  Brown 
said  he  had  no  experience.  The  Dorchester  variety 
he  had  not  cultivated,  but  report  spoke  well  of  it. 
The  common  black  or  M'hite  Thimhleberry  he  had 
tried,  and  found  it  prolific,  and  the  fruit  good — 
none  better  than  this  for  the  tea-ta'ile.  Its  cul- 
tivation would  well  repay  very  common  care,  and 
it  could  be  grown  profitably  on  any  good  corn 
ftoil. 

Cranberries. — The  great  demand  for  this  fine, 
healthy  fruit,  made  its  cultivation  a  matter  of 
much  importance.  There  were  several  varieties 
grown  ;  but  the  oblong  description,  which  fre- 
quently grew  an  inch  in  length,  in  size  and  fla- 


vor, was,  in  Mr.  Brown's  estimation,  the  best. 
The  other  most  prominent  variety  was  round. 
On  meadows  that  could  be  flooded  at  wilt,  the 
fruit  could  be  grown  profitably,  after  due  prepa- 
ration. By  irrigating  the  soil  the  bushes,  weeds 
and  aquatic  grasses  obnoxious  to  its  growth 
could  be  killed,  when  the  plants  could  be  put  in  by 
the  use  of  the  hoe.  Attempts  made  to  scarify  and 
burn  the  surface  of  a  meadow  had  not  proved  suc- 
cessful. But  the  most  desirable  thing  was  in  the 
first  place  to  find  out  on  what  kinds  of  soils  cran- 
berries could  be  most  profitably  grown.  Where 
white  sand  was  found  as  the  subsoil,  success- 
ful cultivation  was  the  most  certain — and  this 
fact  ought  to  bear  its  suggestive  value.  Mr. 
Brown  said  he  had  grown  the  cranberry  on  high 
grounds,  but  owing  to  the  trouble  arising  from 
weeds,  the  removal  of  which  fatally  disturbed 
the  tender  roots  of  the  plants,  they  dwindled  and 
died.  He  described  an  attempt  to  cultivate  the 
cranberry  along  the  edge  of  a  meadow,  through 
the  use  of  gravel,  sand  and  mud,  as  an  artificial 
soil,  and  as  far  as  he  had  gone,  with  very  good 
success  A  want  of  the  advantages  of  irrigation, 
and  a  too  liberal  use  of  it  in  some  instances,  had 
militated  against  the  production  of  a  sufiicient 
crop  to  meet  the  demand,  and  now  the  price  had 
increased  a  dollar  or  two  per  bushel  as  compared 
with  what  it  was  five  years  ago.  From  flowages 
by  reservoirs  and  dams,  which  destroyed  the  vi- 
tality of  the  plants,  he  spoke  of  a  single  town 
which  had  formerly  produced  $5000  worth  of 
cranberries  annually,  but  which  at  the  present 
time  did  not  produce  a  single  dollar's  worth  per 
acre. 

Apples  and  pruning. — Mr.  Brown  next  pro- 
ceeded to  speak  of  the  apprehension  of  some 
that  too  much  attention  was  given  to  the  culti- 
vation of  apples  ;  but  this  charge  he  thought 
wrong,  as,  through  carelessness  and  maltreat- 
ment not  more  than  twenty-five  out  of  every 
hundred  apple  trees  planted  ever  bore  fruit! 
One  great  cause  of  this  was  the  time  of  prun- 
ing as  recommended  and  followed  by  some. 
All  spring  pruning  was  imprudent — the  months 
of  March,  April  and  May  being  the  worst  for 
that  process.  The  physical  reasons  for  this  state- 
ment were  advanced,  but  want  of  room  hinders 
their  enumeration.  The  import  of  the  argu- 
ment was  that  when  the  sap  is  ascending,  the 
pores  of  the  sap  wood  are  enlarged  and  filled 
with  a  thin  watery  fluid,  ready  to  flow  out  at 
every  incision  made  into  them;  but  that  after 
the  sap  has  reached  the  leaves,  it  becomes, 
through  their  agency,  a  new  article — is  thicker, 
and  returns  down  the  tree  between  the  bark  and 
that  soft  whitish  substance  next  to  the  wood, 
and  is  called  the  laburnum.  This  retur!iing  sap 
is  what  is  laid  on  and  increases  the  size  of  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


169 


tree  from  year  to  year.  In  March,  April  and 
May,  the  sap  is  in  the  thin  condition ;  by  the 
middle  of  June  it  has  become  thicker,  is  a  differ- 
ent substance,  and  a  wound  judiciously  made 
during  a  month  from  that  time  will  rarely  bleed. 
After  a  very  happy  allusion  to  the  domestic,  so- 
cial, and  moral  advantages  of  a  taste  for  horti- 
culture, floriculture  and  pomology,  the  chair- 
man closed,  and  invited  other  gentlemen  to 
speak. 

Mr.  Lake,  of  Topsfield,  was  called  upon,  and 
made  some  practical  observations  on  the  culture 
of  cranberries,  strawberries  and  blackberries. 
They  generally  coincided  with  those  of  the  Pres- 
ident. In  relation  to  pruning  apple  trees,  Mr. 
Lake  thought  the  greatest  evil  was  priming  too 
much  by  the  knife,  and  through  suffering  cattle 
to  do  the  duty  without  any  rule,  which  was  too 
often  the  case.  Cutting  ofl"  of  heavy  limbs  was 
always  imprudent,  as  decay  and  disease  was  a 
general  consequence.  July  and  August  were  the 
best  times  for  pruning  apple  trees.  Mistakes 
had  been  grossly  made  in  the  way  by  pruning 
pear  trees ;  the  nearer  their  natural  condition 
tiiey  could  be  kept  the  better  and  more  liberal 
the  produce.  In  regard  to  dwarf  pears  espe- 
cially, this  rule  should  not  be  innovated,  Mr. 
Lake  went  on  to  demonstrate  that  fruit  grown 
beyond  a  certain  altitude  on  a  pear,  or  any  oth- 
er tree,  was  not  so  good  as  that  grown  lower. 
Fruit  too  much  exposed  to  the  sun,  which  was 
one  consequence  of  too  much  pruning,  was  never 
BO  good,  or  so  sound,  as  that  grown  under  con- 
ditions where  nature  had  her  own  way  in  pro- 
tecting it  from  undue  injury  from  storm  and  hot 
sunshine.  Mr.  Lake  wound  up  by  attacking  the 
rage  for  planting  what  he  called  fancy  sorts  of 
apple  and  pear  trees,  and  commended  only  such 
as  were  well  known  for  their  bearing  and  hardy 
properties. 

Senator  Metcalf,  of  Worcester,  spoke  of 
cranberry  culture — the  great  ease  with  which  it 
could  be  accomplished,  and  the  profitableness  of 
its  culture.  He  spoke  of  an  acre  of  ground  that 
produced  $500  in  value.  One  person  he  knew 
strove  to  sell  a  meadow  of  his  for  $500  an  acre  ; 
but  recently,  the  produce  of  the  same  meadow 
gave  him  $700  to  $800  yearly.  This  was  only  a 
small  portion  of  a  farm  that  cost  originally 
$1700.  Cranberry  lands  in  Worcester  county 
were  assessed  higher  than  any  other  lands,  on  ac- 
count of  their  productiveness.  Careful  cultiva- 
tion had  recently  greatly  improved  the  quality  of 
the  cranberry. 

Dr.  Carpenter,  of  Warren,  spoke  of  the 
peach,  which,  he  said,  was  a  native  of  Persia,  and 
in  its  native  state  was  very  poisonous,  on  ac- 
count of  its  containing  much  prussic  acid.  It 
was   also   bitter;    and    cultivation     alone    had 


brought  it  to  its  present  very  improved  state. 
What  had  been  done  for  it  could,  he  supposed, 
be  done  for  many  wild  fruits  of  native  character, 
which  were  more  permanent  in  their  existence 
than  the  peach,  which  was  short-lived. 

Mr.  Hinckley,  of  Barnstable,  made  a  few  obser- 
vations on  cranberry  culture  on  the  Cape.  The 
prevailing  idea  in  that  district  was,  that  the  lands 
on  which  it  was  grown  should  be  flowed  during 
winter,  and  until  June ;  and  wherever  facilities 
were  favorable,  this  had  been  the  practice.  So 
soon  as  the  vine  was  exposed  to  the  atmosphere, 
the  flower  was  subject  to  be  attacked  by  a  worm. 
As  soon  as  this  was  observed,  the  custom  was  to 
reflow  the  land,  when  the  worm  was  killed.  This 
was  the  secret  of  success  in  some  instances.  One 
gentleman  had  taken  $600  worth  off  a  small  lot 
whose  facilities  for  flowage  were  good.  Another 
had  six  acres,  for  the  crop  of  which  he  had  been 
offered  $1,000  ;  but  the  worms  came,  and  no  op- 
portunity having  existed  for  flowage,  they  des- 
troyed the  crop,  so  that  he  had  only  two  or  three 
bushels.  In  view  of  these  facts,  Mr.  Hinckley 
thought  that,  unless  facilities  for  flowage  were 
always  at  command,  the  propriety  of  growing  this 
crop  was  questionable. 

Messrs.  Hinckley,  Lake,  and  other  gentlemen, 
discussed  the  subject  of  raking  cranberries,  as  it 
related  to  the  injury  of  the  plants,  or  the  contrary. 
Opinions  were  in  direct  conflict ;  one  party  up- 
holding the  fact  that  damage  was  the  consequence 
of  raking,  and  another,  that  the  stirring  it  gave 
the  plants  conduced  to  their  healthier  growth. 

Mr.  Wetherell  spoke  in  favor  of  taking 
scions  for  grafting  from  young  trees,  and  quoted 
instances  in  favor  of  this  position.  He  also  allud- 
ed to  the  matter  of  pruning  ;  holding  that  it  ought 
to  be  done  intermediately,  between  the  time  of 
the  production  of  the  fruit  and  the  growth  of  the 
wood.  Further,  he  wished  it  to  be  noted  that 
the  rules  of  pruning  as  laid  down  in  England  were 
not  generally  applicable  in  this  country. 

Hon.  Richard  S.  Fay  commended  pruning  in 
the  months  of  September  (the  latter  portion  of 
it,)  and  October,  as  otherwise  disease  and  de- 
cay would  almost  certainly  ensue.  His  experi- 
ence extended  over  some  time,  and  included  the 
treatment  of  some  thousands  of  trees,  and  such 
had  been  its  teachings.  As  to  the  cranberry,  he 
thought  it  could  not  be  safely  cultivated  unless 
there  was  a  privilege  of  flowage  always  at  hand. 

There  will  be  no  meeting  until  a  week  from 
Monday,  when  Ex-Gov.  Boutwell  will  preside, 
and  the  subject  will  be — ^'Market  and  Agricultu- 
ral Fairs." 

Soap  for  Chapped  Hands,  &c. — Take  one 
bar  of  yellow  soap ;  cut  it  up  small ;  add  to  it 
the  gall  of  a  beef;  put  it  over  the  fire  until  ihe 
soap  is  entirely  melted ;  (a  farina  kettle  is  most 


170 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


convenient  to  melt  it  in ;)  then  add  one  ounce 
of  fine  pulverized  saltpetre  and  one  pint  of  alco- 
hol ;  pour  it  into  a  vessel  (previously  greased) 
of  a  size  to  make  the  soap  at  least  one  inch  thick. 
"When  firm  enough  to  cut,  before  it  hardens,  cut 
it  into  cakes  of  a  convenient  size.  This  soap 
will  be  found  excellent  for  taking  grease  spots 
out  of  woollens  and  silks. — Maine  Farmer. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PBUNING  APPLE  TREES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  noticed  in  the  December 
number  of  the  Farmer,  a  communication  from 
Mr.  Ellis,  of  Rochester,  upon  this  subject.  In 
your  remarks  upon  that  communication  you  con- 
demn the  practice  of  spring  pruning,  and  say  that 
we  ought  to  know  better  than  to  begin  to  destroy 
our  orchards  just  as  they  are  coming  to  maturity. 
I  have  been  taught  from  my  boyhood  to  prune 
in  the  spring,  but  if  I  can  find  a  better  time,  I  am 
ready  to  adopt  it. 

But  which  shall  I  follow, — my  own  reason  and 
observation,  or  the  instruction  of  the  Farmer'} 
If  we  cut  off  a  branch  in  the  spring,  before  the 
leaves  expand,  do  we  not  save  the  sap  for  that 
which  remains  ?  Can  the  tree  be  in  as  good  con- 
dition to  heal  the  wounds  made  by  pruning  just 
after  the  leaves  are  put  forth  as  before  ? 

I  am  aware  that  some  tell  us  that  plants  derive 
most  of  their  nourishment  from  the  atmosphere, 
inhaled  through  the  leaves ;  why  cut  them  off, 
then,  just  as  they  are  prepared  to  act? 

I  have  never  known  an  apple  tree  that  was 
pruned  in  March  or  April  to  bleed.  In  May,  we 
are  too  busy  to  prune,  so  that  I  cannot  speak 
from  my  own  experience  in  pruning,  in  that 
month  ;  but  I  recollect  that  one  of  my  neighbors 
gave  his  apple  trees  a  very  thorough  pruning  last 
May.  I  was  led  to  notice  these  trees  particular- 
ly, from  some  remarks  made  by  persons  who 
were  passing  by,  as  the  trees  wei-e  near  the  pub 
lie  road  ;  one  said  it  was  too  late  in  the  season  ; 
he  pruned  some  of  his  trees  last  year  about  that 
time,  and  they  bled  badly ;  another  said  it  was 
too  early ;  he  thought  the  middle  of  June  the 
right  time.  I  think  the  trees  are  doing  well ; 
they  did  not  bleed,  and  soon  began  to  heal. 

I  hope,  Mr.  Editor,  if  our  lives  and  health  are 
spared  until  spring,  you  will  come  to  Danvers 
and  I  shall  be  happy  to  wait  upon  you,  and  show 
you  the  trees  in  this  neighborhood,  which  have 
been  in'uned  in  the  spring  for  the  last  forty  years 
William  R.  Putnam. 

Danvers,  Mass.,  Jan.,  1859. 


Remarks. — We  do,  friend  Putnam,  condemn 
the  practice  of  spring  pruning,  most  emphatical- 
ly : — first,  from  repeated  experiments  through  a 
series  of  years, — secondly,  from  long  and  careful 
observation  of  the  hurtful  effects  of  such  prun- 
ing,— thirdly,  because  spring  pruning,  more  es- 
pecially, violates  the  laws  of  nature  that  govern 
the  tree,  and^/bwr^/iZ?/,  because  we  have  never  yet 
entered  an  orchard  with  an  opponent  of  our  the- 
ory, where  m'c  have  had  a  careful  examination  of 
the  trees  and  discussion  of  the  subject,  but  what 
the  reasonableness  of  the  theory  has  been  made 


apparent  before  leaving  it.  A  gentleman  having 
the  care  of  a  large  extent  of  orcharding,  and  who 
had  always  been  an  advocate  for  spring  pruning, 
recently  spent  an  hour  with  us  among  the  apple 
trees,  where  some  of  them  had  been  pruned  at 
all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  after  a  most  carefuj 
examination  of  a  large  orchard,  he  confessed  that 
he  had,  undoubtedly,  been  in  error,  and  should 
prune  no  more  trees  in  the  spring. 

You  ask,  "If  we  cut  off  a  hrancTi  in  the  spring, 
before  the  leaves  expand,  do  we  not  save  the  sap 
for  that  which  remains  ?  Certainly  not, — no 
more  than  you  would  save  a  man's  blood  to 
strengthen  the  rest  of  his  body  by  cutting  off  one 
of  his  arms.  It  ought  to  be  remembered  that 
all  grafted  or  budded  trees  are  in  an  unnatural 
or  artificial  condition,  and  that  pruning  is  only 
another  step  away  from  nature.  We  prune  be- 
cause branches  cross  and  chafe  each  other,  or  be- 
cause we  fancy  there  are  too  many  of  them,  or 
that  the  tree  may  be  made,  to  our  eye,  with  a  lit- 
tle exercise  of  art,  more  symmetrical  in  its  form. 
But  in  all  this  there  is  danger  to  the  tree,  so  that 
if  we  prefer  to  indulge  our  taste  as  to  the  beauty 
of  the  plant  and  quality  of  its  fruit,  we  ought  to 
study  the  nature  and  habits  of  the  tree  we  work 
upon,  and  learn,  not  only  how  our  art  shall  be 
exercised,  but  ivhe7i.  We  ought  to  learn  what 
the  condition  of  the  sap  is  at  various  seasons,  and 
what  office  the  leaves  perform  in  the  growth  of 
the  tree. 

Upon  cutting  into  a  vigorous  tree  any  time  af- 
ter the  frost  is  out  of  the  ground,  and  previous 
to  the  25th  of  May,  a  little  careful  observation 
will  convince  any  one  that  the  sap  during  that 
period  is  nearly  transparent  and  exceedingly  thin 
and.  limpid.  It  runs  freely  wherever  a  smooth, 
clean  cut  is  made  into  the  wood.  This  follows 
because  the  roots  have  taken  up  in  abundance 
this  watery  substance,  and  the  pores  of  the  tree 
are  open  to  allow  it  to  pass  freely  through  the 
stem  and  branches  on  its  way  to  the  leaves.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  there  may  be  a  temporary 
expansion  of  the  pores,  for  the  very  purpose  of 
aflbrding  a  quick  and  unmolested  passage  of  the 
sap. 

In  this  condition  of  the  tree,  what  would  be 
the  inevitable  consequence  of  cutting  off  a  thrifty 
limb  as  large  as  your  wrist  ?  What  is  there  to 
prevent  the  sap  from  gushing  out  at  every  one 
of  the  tubes  or  pores  which  you  have  cut  off? 
It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  the  sap  should 
flow  up  to  the  wound  and  there  stop,  with  all  the 
mouths  of  the  pores  wide  open  ! 

Having  traced  the  sap  along  to  the  leaf,  let  us 
see,  for  a  moment,  what  its  action  is  there.  Ac- 
cording to  Wood,  a  most  accurate  observer,  its 
functions  are  exhalation,  absorption,  respiration 
and  digestion,  and  the  result  of  their  combined 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


171 


action  is  the  conversion  of  the  crude  sap  ab- 
sorbed from  the  soil  by  the  roots,  into  the  proper 
juice,  for  the  nourishment  and  increase  of  the 
plant,  with  its  various  products.  This  crude  sap 
consists  of  water,  holding  in  solution  minute 
quantities  of  various  kinds  of  solid  and  gaseous 
matter  derived  from  the  soil.  In  its  passage 
from  the  root  to  the  leaves  its  composition  is 
somewhat  modified  by  dissolving  the  previously 
formed  secretions,  which  it  meets  with  on  the 
way. 

ExlialaUon  is  the  process  by  which  the  super- 
abundant waste  of  the  sap  is  given  off  to  the  at- 
mosphere, so  that  the  remaining  sap  is  reduced, 
as  it  were,  by  concentration,  and  contains  a  great- 
er portion  of  solid  matter.  It  is  much  like  the 
perspiration  in  animals.  It  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  evaporation ;  the  latter  depending  solely 
upon  heat  and  the  state  of  the  air,  and  being,  in 
plants,  almost  wholly  restrained  by  the  epider- 
mis or  skin  of  the  leaf. 

This  exhalation  takes  place  through  number- 
less little  mouths  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  leaf 
called  stomata,  similar  to  the  pores  of  our  skin ; 
these  mouths  are  opened  by  the  influence  of  the 
light,  and  closed  by  its  absence,  and,  therefore, 
exhalation  can  only  proceed  in  the  presence  of 
the  light.  A  sunflower  3i  feet  high,  was  ascer- 
tained by  Hales  to  transpire  or  send  off  from 
20  to  30  ounces  of  water  daily. 

Absorption  is  chiefly  performed  by  the  roots  of 
plants,  but  when  the  roots  are  imperfect,  it  is  ev- 
ident that  the  plant  must  derive  its  nourishment 
mostly  from  the  absorption  performed  by  the 
leaves.  Every  one  knows  how  plants,  when 
parched  and  withered  by  drought,  are  raised  by 
a  shower  which  does  not  reach  their  roots,  but 
only  moistens  their  leaves,  as  you  must  have  no- 
ticed in  your  corn-fields  many  times,  how  rapidly 
the  parched  and  rolled  blades  of  corn  will  unfold 
themselves  and  assume  a  lively  green,  even  un- 
der a  slight  shower  that  could  not  reach  the  roots. 
The  under  surface  of  the  leaf  absorbs,  and  the 
upper  exhales.     Wonderful  arrangement ! 

Respiration  in  plants  is  much  like  the  breath- 
ing in  animals.  It  is  equally  constant  and  equal- 
ly necessary.  It  is  performed  principally  by  the 
leaves,  and  consists  of  the  absorption  of  oxygen 
from  the  atmosphere,  accompanied  by  the  rejec- 
tion of  carbonic  acid.  It  appears  to  be  going  on 
constantly  during  the  life  of  the  plant,  and  the 
result  is  the  removal  of  a  certain  superfluous 
portion  of  carbon,  in  a  state  of  combustion  with 
oxygen,  from  the  nutritive  substance  of  the  plant, 
just  as  the  same  deleterious  acid  is  removed 
from  the  blood  of  animals  by  breathing. 

Digestion  in  plants  consists  properly  of  all 
those  changes  efl'ected  by  the  leaves  in  rendering 
the  crude  sap  fit  for  the  purposes  of  nidrition. 


This  consists  in  the  decomposition  of  carbonic 
acid  by  the  green  tissues  of  the  leaves,  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  light,  the  fixing  of  the  solid  car- 
bon and  the  evolution  of  the  pure  oxygen. 

Several  things  present  themselves  to  our  mind 
by  which  we  might  illustrate  these  points, — but 
it  seems  to  us  that  the  careful  reader  will  now 
see  some  of  the  physiological  operations  of  the 
tree  which  he  is  about  to  prune.  He  cannot 
have  failed  to  see  that  soon  after  the  middle  of 
March,  varying  a  little  with  varying  seasons — 
the  sap,  then  more  like  water  than  anything  else, 
ascends  the  stem  of  the  tree  and  reaches  the  ex- 
tremity of  every  twig  or  branch,  and  that  wher- 
ever any  cut  or  rupture  takes  place  in  the  pores, 
the  sap  will  naturally  run  out. 

But  when  the  sap  has  reached  the  leaves  it  un- 
dergoes a  material  change  there, — the  watery 
particles  being  evaporated,  and  leaving  it  more 
solid.  This  now  returns  down  the  tree,  not 
through  the  sap  vessels  where  it  went  up,  but 
flows  between  the  bark  and  the  soft,  woody  sub- 
stance under  it,  and  pausing  on  the  way  and  in- 
creasing the  size  of  the  tree.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, if  a  cut  is  made  into  the  sap  vessels 
sap  does  not  run  from  it,  because  there  is  little 
or  none  there.  The  wound  made  at  this  season, 
— say  from  the  15th  of  June  to  the  middle  of  Ju- 
ly,— should  be  covered  with  wax,  shellac  or  paint, 
and  the  returning  sap,  now  passing  down  directly 
under  the  bark,  will  push  oid  the  new,  green  bark 
around  and  over  it,  if  not  too  large,  and  entirely 
covers  it  the  first  season! 

If,  on  the  contrary,  the  wound  bleeds,  that  is, 
the  sap  runs  out,  it  flows  down  the  outside  of  the 
limbs  or  trunk  of  the  tree,  undergoes  a  chemical 
change  as  it  becomes  exposed  to  the  atmosphere, 
leaves  long,  black  lines  on  tlie  surface  which  so.jh 
kills  the  bark,  and  the  tree  eventually  dies  ! 

It  may  not  be  that  the  tree  perishes  from  t'  is 
poison  alone,  but  from  the  want  of  proper  actio. i, 
as  in  the  case,  sometimes,  of  the  amputation  ot 
an  arm,  the  muscles  on  that  side  contract,  the 
chest  falls  away,  and  in  some  instances  the  luDgs 
are  seriously  affected ;  and  this  results,  we  sup- 
pose, from  a  want  of  proper  action,  after  an  im- 
portant member  has  been  taken  away. 

It  seems  to  us  that  the  reasons  now  given  for 
June  and  July  pruning,  ought  to  have  weight, 
and  we  think  they  will,  if  carefully  considered. 

We  have  occupied  considerable  space  in  repiy 
to  our  correspondent,  because  the  subject  is  one 
of  importance  to  the  farming  interest.  We  give, 
below,  an  article  long  since  received  from  anoth- 
er correspondent  on  the  same  topic. 

BLACK  SPOTS  ON  APPLE  TREES. 

I  have  noticed  in  the  New  England  Farmer 
remarks  made  in  regard  to  a  blight,  or  large, 
black  spots  which  come  on  the  trunks  and  limbs 


172 


KEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


of  apple  trees.  I  have  observed  these  black  spoti 
.'or  some  years.  I  have  asked  many  farmers  the 
cause  of  them,  but  I  found  that  they  disagreed 
respecting  their  origin,  and  the  information  re- 
ceived from  them  did  not  satisfy  me. 

These  black  spots  on  the  trunk  and  limbs  of 
apple  trees,  where  the  bark  dies,  are  very  injuri- 
ous to  the  health  and  longevity  of  the  tree  ;  they 
form  blemishes  v/hich  are  exceedingly  disagreea- 
ble, and  are  often  ruinous. 

If  the  cause  of  these  blights  could  be  ascer- 
tained, possibly  a  remedy  might  be  applied  to 
prevent  their  occurrence.  I  acknowledge,  that  I 
have  not  been  able,  as  yet,  to  satisfy  myself  as 
to  their  origin,  but  am  desirous  of  information 
on  the  subject.  The  way  I  manage  them  is  thus  : 
I  pick  oft'  the  old,  dead  bark  clean,  then  if  the 
live  bark  has  rot  begun  to  grow  over  the  wood, 
I  take  my  knife  and  pare  off  the  bark  on  the 
edges  till  I  find  the  bark  alive  and  healthy.  As 
the  tree  or  limb  grows,  new  bark  will  continue 
to  form  on  the  edges,  and  increase  on  all  sides 
till  the  whole  space  is  covered.  If  the  old  bark 
is  not  removed  and  the  edges  of  that  bark  on 
the  blight  pared  off'  till  new  and  healthy  bark  is 
found,  it  takes  a  long  time  for  the  spot  to  be  cov- 
ered over  with  new  bark.  During  the  time  the 
new  bark  is  forming,  I  keep  the  wood  painted 
thoroughly,  being  careful  not  to  let  the  paint 
touch  the  bark.  If  the  wood  is  not  kept  painted, 
it  very  often  occurs  on  trees  not  in  a  thrifty  con- 
dition, that  the  wood  decays  so  much  where  these 
black  spots  are,  that  the  bark  never  grows  over 
the  spots  and  then  the  wood  continues  to  decay 
till  the  limb  breaks  off,  or  if  it  is  situated  on  the 
trunk  of  the  tree  a  bad  hole  is  made  which  event- 
ually destroys  the  tree.  So  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  observe  these  black  spots,  they  come  on 
the  upper  sides  of  the  limbs  and  on  the  trunks 
of  the  trees  on  the  southerly  side  generally. 

Apple  Tree. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
■WHY  IS  CHEESE  POROUS? 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  noticed  in  your  January  No. 
of  the  monthly  Farmer  a  request  of  a  "New  Sub- 
scriber," that  you,  or  some  of  your  readers  would 
ii.form  him  of  the  cause  of  porous  cheese.  1 
would  most  gladly  give  him  all  the  information 
in  my  power,  especially  as  he  hails  from  the 
Green  Mountain  State,  my  own  native  place.  I 
cannot  but  express  my  surprise,  if  he  urns  raised 
in  that  far-famed  cheese-making  Slate,  that  he 
should  not  have  learned  in  his  childhood,  from 
his  own  mother,  the  cause  of  porous  cheese.  But 
to  remedy  his  condition,  let  him  visit  some  go-a- 
head farm-house  wife,  who  is  in  the  habit  of  do- 
ing all  her  work  in  a  hurry,  with  a  slat  and  a 
slam  ;  who  frequently  does  her  washing,  ironing, 
baking  and  making  cheese  in  a  day,  and  gets  it 
all  done  in  season  to  go  a  visiting  in  the  after- 
noon,— and  when  he  sits  down  at  the  tea-table, 
if  he  does  not  see  a  plate  of  porous  cheese,  it  is 
because  there  is  no  cheese  of  any  kind  on  the  ta- 
ble. 

To  make  porous  cheese,  in  the  first  place, 
heat  the  milk  very  hot,  not  scald  it,  then  throM' 
in  the  rennet;  be  sure  to  get  in  enough,  and  if 
you  want  a  very  porous  cheese,  put  in  a  great 
deal  too  much,  so  that   it  will   come  in   a  very 


short  time,  but  don't  put  in  but  very  little  salt, 
(not  half  enough,)  and  then  don't  let  the  curd 
stand  long  enough  for  the  whey  to  drain  off,  but 
hurry  it  into  the  press  as  quick  as  you  possibly 
can  ;  then  let  it  stand  in  the  press  until  it  is 
pressed  enough,  or  until  you  can  conveniently  at- 
tend to  taking  it  out — and  my  word  for  it,  if  you 
don't  have  a  porous  cheese  to  your  satisfaction, 
a  slice  of  which  will  stretch  out  by  pulling  it  at 
each  end,  like  a  piece  of  India  rubber,  as  long  as 
your  arm,  and  on  letting  go  of  it,  will  contract 
into  its  original  dimensions.  The  world  was  not 
made  in  a  moment,  neither  can  good  cheese  be 
made  without  time  and  care.  L.  D. 

East  Plainfield,  Vt.,  1859. 


MB.  MORRILL'S  LAND  BILL. 

We  copy  in  another  column,  from  a  letter  of 
the  Washington  correspondent  of  the  Daily  Ad' 
vertiser,  the  leading  provisions  of  Mr.  Morrill's 
Land  Bill,  that  the  reader  may  see  for  himself 
what  the  bill  proposes  to  do,  and  what  are  some 
of  its  conditions.  He  will  observe,  we  trust,  that 
if  Massachusetts  accepts  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
she  must  erect  one  college,  at  least,  within  five 
years,  and  must  do  it  with  money yrom  her  otvn 
treasury  '  She  cannot  aid  any  existing  college, 
purchase  lands  for  sites  or  experimental  farms, 
beyond  the  sum  of  ten  per  cent,  of  the  interest 
accruing  on  the  money  she  obtains  from  her 
share  of  the  lands  sold!  She  must  also  incur 
"all  the  expenses  of  management  and  superin- 
tendence of  the  lands,  previous  to  their  sales," 
and  when  she  has  made  the  sales  and  got  the 
money,  she  must  invest  it  so  as  to  establish  a 
permanent  fund,  and  if  all,  or  any  portion  of  it, 
"by  any  action  or  contingency,  be  diminished  or 
lost,  it  shall  he  replaced  by  the  State  to  which  it 
belongs,"  so  that  the  annual  interest  only  can  be 
applied,  to  promote  the  interests  of  agriculture. 
The  amount  of  land  which  Massachusetts  could 
claim  if  she  should  accept  the  provisions  of  the 
bill,  would  be  260,000  acres, — and  this  immense 
tract  of  land  must  be  guarded  from  invasion  by 
squatters,  managed,  superintended,  sold,  and  the 
money  for  the  same  securely  invested  so  that  not 
a  shilling  of  it  shall  be  lost !  It  is  scarcely  prob- 
able that  all  this  land  could  be  sold  to  a  single 
party,  but  in  the  course  of  time,  to  actual  settlers, 
one  hundred  acres  at  a  time,  so  that  perhaps 
some  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  might  be  occu- 
pied in  getting  it  all  sold,  and  the  money  for  it 
invested  !  What  a  splendid  commission  would 
be  required  for  such  an  enterpri_se.  The  "Back 
Bay"  and  "North  Eastern  Boundary"  are  mere 
babies  compared  with  it.  Think  of  the  $5  per 
diem,  hotel  charges  and  travelling  expenses  from 
the  good  old  Bay  State  to  Dacotah,  Arizona,  Co- 
ahuila,  or  some  other  equally  enlightened  and 
promising  region,  that  would  pour  out  its  trcas- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


173 


ures  through  a  small  company  of  select  gentle- 
men, and  all  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  ! 

All  this  may  he  of  benefit  to  the  new  States, 
•where  a  college  has  never  yet  been  established, 
though  we  must  confess  that  we  cannot  clearly 
see  how.  But  in  our  judgment,  there  is  not  the 
slightest  probability  that  Massachusetts,  through 
any  legislature  she  may  convene  for  forty  years 
to  come,  will  avail  herself  of  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  and  place  herself  under  its  obligations. 
We  would  publish  the  whole  bill  if  we  had  room, 
but  beg  the  reader  to  read  attentively  those  por- 
tions of  it  that  we  now  arive. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MATTEKS  -WORTH  CONSIDSKING 
ABOUT  POTATOES. 

Mk.  Editoe,  : — If  your  patience  is  not  already 
threadbare,  I  should  like  to  be  heard  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  knotty  and  vexed  question  oithe  cause 
and  remedy  of  the  potato  rot.  And  I  promise  to 
adhere  strictly  to  Caleb's  rule  of  never  offering 
an  argument  that  "did  not  stand  to  reason." 
Neither  would  he  believe  one  that  did  not  have 
this  support  to  it — would  that  we  all  had  the 
gumption  of  simple  Caleb. 

If  history  be  true,  the  potato  was  brought  from 
Ireland  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  to  Virginia,  when 
it  was  first  colonized,  which  was  about  the  year 
1585  ;  and  subsequently  it  was  carried  to  Eng- 
land, where  it  met  with  no  great  favor  for  many 
years,  supposing  it  only  fit  for  the  poorer  classes 
of  the  Irish. 

In  the  "Body  of  Husbandry,"  printed  in  Lon- 
don, in  1758,  I  find  the  following  : — "The  potato 
may  very  properly  be  cultivated  in  fields.  It  is 
better  fitted  for  the  great  extent  and  plain  fash- 
ion of  a  field,  than  for  the  narrow  compass  and 
divided  beds  of  a  garden.  'Tis  but  lately  our 
people  have  informed  ourselves  properly  of  its 
culture  ;  and  the  more  we  know  of  that,  the  more 
reason  we  see  to  banish  it  the  garden.  It  is  har- 
dy enough  to  bear  the  exposure,  and  it  requires 
no  great  change  in  the  culture  ;  why  then  should 
we  limit  it  to  the  garden  ?  every  particular  speaks 
for  its  being  given  into  the  hands  of  the  farmer, 
especially  when  near  In-ge  towns,  though  every- 
where there  will  be  a  great  demand." 

"We  had  the  plant  originally  from  North 
America.  It  is  in  a  manner  the  food  of  the  com- 
mon people  of  Ireland,  and  is  cultivated  in  Lan- 
cashire and  some  other  parts  of  England,  in  vast 
quantities.  Our  interest  is  to  make  it  more  uni- 
versal. Ten  large  potatoes  is  but  a  moderate 
produce  from  each  small  root  that  was  planted  in 
spring ;  when  the  ground  is  more  favorable,  thir- 
teen or  fourteen  handsome  ones  ;  and  in  count- 
ting  with  the  best  possible  exactness,  in  a  field 
of  Mr.  Ryder's,  near  Thorpe,  where  every  need- 
ful caution  had  been  taken,  we  computed  this 
year,  1746,  that  there  were  in  general  eighteen 
large  and  fine  potatoes  for  every  small  root  that 
was  planted.  This  for  a  seven  months'  increase 
is  very  great;  but  nature  has  in  all  things  pro- 
vided, that  what  is  most  useful,  is  most  abun- 
dant." 

In  almost  every  subject  that  is  discussed,  we 


have  the  right  and  privilege,  where  self-evident 
facts  are  not  at  hand,  to  resort  to  analogy.  Now 
I  would  ask  with  all  humility,  what  farmer  is 
there,  from  Adam  down  to  the  present  day,  who 
would  be  considered  a  sane  man,  who  invai'iably 
chose  from  his  seed  the  very  poorest  and  most 
imperfect,  to  carry  on  his  operations  of  raising 
fruits,  vegetables  and  grain,  save  and  excepting 
the  potato  ? 

In  England,  while  the  question  was  under  dis- 
cussion, whether  the  potato  was  a  garden  or  field 
vegetable,  the  directions  for  propagation  were, 
to  choose  for  seed  the  very  poorest  and  smallest 
of  the  whole  family,  the  smallest  of  the  tubers. 
This  was  the  way  our  ancestors  treated  this  veg- 
etable, which  was  truly  a  great  gift  from  God  to 
man.  And  the  only  saving  item  in  the  direction 
was,  that  these  little  worthless  tubers  were  to  be 
planted  the  last  of  February,  and  by  the  last  of 
September,  they  were  as  reported  "on  Mr. 
Ryder's  farm  near  Thope."  An  increase  of  "eigh- 
teen large  potatoes  for  every  small  one  planted." 

And  what  was  the  first  eff'ect  of  this  damning 
practice  of  poor  seed  ?  the  curly  leaf  of  the  stalk, 
and  an  occasional  diseased  spot  on  the  potato. 
The  only  wonder  is,  that  disease  did  not  take 
them  sooner — seven  months'  growth  is  all  that 
has  continued  them  to  this  day. 

Now  let  us  look  a  little  at  the  question  in  our 
own  country.  'V^'e  have  obtained  seed  from  time 
to  time  from  England,  Ireland  and  South  Amer- 
ica, but  how  have  we  treated  it  ?  God  knows  we 
have  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  our  illustrious 
ancestors,  by  generally  selecting  the  very  small- 
est tubers  for  seed,  but  with  this  exception,  in- 
stead of  seven  months,  they  were  allowed  only 
four  or  five  months  to  give  their  increase.  The 
long,  red  potato  was  brought  originally  from  the 
La  Plata,  somewhere  about  the  year  1795.  I  think 
my  father  had  that  variety  from  the  importers, 
and  it  has  always  been  a  favorite  potato  among 
farmers.  But  who  ever  saw  them  ripen  !  It  is 
true,  they  never  had  a  season  long  enough  in  this 
country  ;  four  or  five  months  have  been  the  time 
allotted  them  to  do  all  their  work,  but  this  has 
been  impossible ;  they  occasionally  rot,  and  one 
end  is  always  watery. 

If  this  country  is  not  always  troubled  with  an 
occasional  disease  of  the  potato,  it  would  be 
strange,  as  our  seasons  are  so  short ;  but  much 
may  be  done  to  overcome  this  disease,  if  not  to 
entirely  eradicate  it.  In  the  first  place,  select  the 
first  growth  of  the  potato,  the  large  and  fair  ones, 
for  propagation,  and  plant  as  early  as  our  climate 
will  admit,  on  a  soil  plowed  not  less  than  twelve 
or  fourteen  inches  deep,  sixteen  would  be  better, 
and  well  manured.  This  practice,  followed  for 
years,  would,  in  some  degree,  restore  the  potato 
to  its  oi-iginal  growth  and  health.  To  eff'ect  the 
object  of  deepening  the  soil,  the  Canadian  horse 
must  be  put  before  a  pair  of  oxen  measuring  six 
feet,  nine  ;  with  a  plow  that  will  go  deep  enough, 
and  amongst  the  new  varieties,  there  are  some 
that  will  turn  the  soil  that  depth.  It  is  now  but 
a  few  years  since  I  witnessed  a  plowing-match 
of  a  county  society,  with  all  kinds  of  teams,  one 
horse,  small,  poor  oxen,  four  year  olds,  and  a 
committee  smaller  yet,  saying  that  if  any  man 
plowed  over  six  inches  deep,  he  should  lose  his 
chance  for  a  premium !  Well,  I  walked  over  this 
plowed  ground  with  something  of  the  feeling  a 


174 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


man  would  have  in  walking  over  a  battle-field, 
where  he  saw  nothing  but  waste  and  destruction. 

In  selecting  good  seed,  take  the  large  and  fair 
tubers  that  have  had  the  full  length  of  our  sea- 
son to  grow  in,  which  is  always  short  enough 
And  it  is  to  my  mind  a  self-evident  fact,  that  ripe 
and  mature  tubers  are  better  for  seed  than  those 
half-grown  and  half-ripe  ones,  that  are  common- 
ly used.  Is  it  strange  that  potatoes  raised  under 
such  circumstances,  should  not  discover  to  the 
microscopist  a  "mare's  nest  ?"  I  believe,  in  every 
thing  that  has  vitality,  there  can  be  discovered 
in  its  very  incipient  stage  of  decay,  myriads  of 
insects  so  small  that  the  microscope  only  could 
discover  them,  for  life  and  mortality  are  inti- 
mately blended  together. 

Let  any  man  turn  to  the  pages  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Farmer,  and  he  will  there  find  strong  argu- 
ments from  strong  men  that  small  potatoes  are 
just  as  good,  if  not  a  little  better,  for  propaga- 
tion, than  large  ones  ;  then,  carry  the  analogy 
through,  and  banish  the  whole  race  of  first-class 
animals,  and  say  that  "like  does  not  beget  like." 

What  would  you  say  of  a  man,  who,  in  select- 
ing his  seed-corn,  while  he  always  throws  the 
small  end,  the  imperfect  seed,  to  his  hogs,  and 
saves  the  remainder,  should  reverse  the  practice, 
and  throw  the  l)est  end  to  the  hogs,  and  save  the 
imperfect  to])-eiid  for  propagation  ?  How  long 
should  we  be  able  to  exhibit  our  nol)lc  "King 
Philip  corn  ;"  would  it  not  soon  grow  into  poor 
Indian?  When  I  hear  men  talk  of  propagating 
from  poor,  gr«-en  seed,  I  can"l  but  think,  and 
with  your  leave,  I  will  say  it,  there  are  more 
green  things  in  existence,  than  is  good  for  the 
progress  of  agriculture.  ALFRED  BaVLIES. 

Taunton,  Jan.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MANUKES.-PIja.NTING  SQUASH  SEEDS— 
APPLE  TKEES— HORSE  FLOORS. 

I  like  to  read  the  discussions  relative  to  ma- 
nures. My  experience  in  composting  is  this  : 
Mix  enough  muck  to  take  up  the  liquid ;  and 
that  under  cover  in  summer,  haul  out  in  the  fall. 
During  the  winter,  the  frost  working  amongst  it, 
I  think  adds  one-fourth  in  value.  If  more  earth 
is  added  to  the  green  manure  than  just  enough 
to  take  up  the  liquid,  I  consider  that  the  time 
employed  is  thrown  away,  for  when  put  on  the 
land  it  adds  nothing  to  the  fertility  more  than  if 
the  manure  and  muck  enough  to  absorb  the 
liquid  is  put  on.  The  freezing  and  thawing  pul- 
verizes, thereby  putting  it  in  condition  to  be  ta- 
ken up  by  the  roots  of  the  plants.  If  you  take 
green  hog  manure  and  plant  on  it,  ten  to  one 
the  seed  will  not  sprout;  but  freeze  and  thaw  it  a 
few  times  so  that  it  is  fine,  and  there  will  be  no 
trouble  about  germinating  the  seeds.  The  air, 
also,  has  a  beneficial  tendency  upon  it,  penetrat 
ing  and  driving  out  those  caustic  qualities  which 
are  deleterious. 

For  most  plants,  manure  ought  to  be  more 
than  one  year  old,  and  in  a  fine  state.  I  find 
that  in  those  places  where  old  manure  is  used, 
when  the  plants  begin  to  start,  they  grow  more 
evenly.  In  planting  squash  and  pumpkin  seed, 
the  last  seison,  those  laid  down  flat  in  the  hills 
did  better  than  those  planted  edgewise  ;  the  first 


threw  off  the  skin  of  the  seed  without  injury ; 
in  the  other  way,  almost  every  one  was  injured 
by  retaining  the  skin  upon  the  leaves. 

Those  of  my  apple  trees,  where  I  allowed  the 
limbs  to  come  near  the  ground,  I  find  stand  the 
cold  better,  and  are  not  scorched  by  the  sun 
around  the  body  of  the  tree.  I  also  notice  that 
the  lower  limbs  hear  the  largest  fruit. 

I  have  done  away  with  stalls  for  horses,  and  I 
find  that  pens  whei-e  a  horse  can  put  himself  into 
such  a  position  as  he  wishes  to,  are  more  condu- 
cive to  health.  The  floors  should  be  perfectly  lev- 
el, and  should  drain  themselves  by  having  her- 
ring-bone gutters  cut  in  them,  as  there  is  noth- 
ing more  fatal  to  the  eyes  of  the  horse  than  the 
ammonia  generated  under  them.  s.  P. 

Cape  Elizabeth,  Feb.,  1859. 


For  the  Neir  England  Farmer. 
PALL  TRANSPLANTING. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  notice  in  the  December  nun 
her  cf  the  Farmer  that  a  correspondent  at  Ware 
favors  Fall  Travcplnnting.  It  is  a  fact,  that  al- 
most all  my  asparagus  roots  which  were  trans- 
planted in  the  fall  of  1857  died;  and  that  50 
two-year  old  plants,  set  out  the  27th  of  las*  July 
in  the  same  bed,  grew  well.  I  do  not  mention 
this  supposing  it  the  l)est  time,  but  to  show  that 
they  may  be  transplanted  so  late,  in  favorable 
seasons. 

The  fate  of  the  grape  vines  transplanted  by  so 
many  different  persons,  I  thought  a  strong  argu- 
ment against  fall  transplanting,  for  prot)ably 
they  were  not  all  careless  in  setting  them  out ; 
and  the  vines,  I  think,  must  have  been  good,  or 
they  would  not  have  kept  green  so  long.  I  saw 
all  the  vines  ;  the  roots  had  a  great  many  small 
branches  to  them.  It  appears  to  me  reasonable 
to  suppose  they  would  recover  from  the  wounds, 
and  start  better  in  ihf  spring,  when  the  ground 
is  getting  warm  and  the  ])lants  waking  up  their 
energies  for  the  season's  growth.  I  had  the  list 
convenient,  and  have  just  been  to  the  people  who 
bought  the  vines  ;  and  I  send  you  a  copy  show- 
ing their  replies  in  answer  to  the  question,  "Did 
their  Hartford  Prolific  Grape-vine  live?" 

LIST    OF    VINES   AND    RESULTS. 

No.  of  Vines.  Iic/>/ie.i. 

No.  1 I . . .  .Started  late  and  grew  a  little. 

"     2 2.... Due  leaved  out  a  little  very  tkte,  and  the  other 

did  not  start,  but  the  vinf  is  still  green. 

No.  3.  ...1 Did  not  start,  but  stem  is  green. 

"     4.... 1.... Died. 

"     5 1.... Started  towards  fall  and  ?rew  a  little. 

"    6 2. . .  .One  died  and  the  other  started  late  and  grew 

about  two  inches. 

"     7....1 Died. 

"     8.... 1.... Died. 

"     9 1 Died. 

"  10.... 1.... Died. 

"  11 1 Died.  (Mr.  Chapin  bought  also  one  from  same 

nursery,  this  last  spring,  which  started  well 

and  made  a  fine  growth.) 

"  12.... 2 Ore  died,  the  other  grew  moderately  well. 

"  13 1 Died. 

"  14 1 Died. 

"  15 2 Both  died. 

"  16 l....Died. 

"  17 1 Died. 

"  18.... 2.... Both  started  late  and  grew  feebly. 

"  19 1 Died. 

"  20.... 1.... Died. 

"  21 2 Both  died. 

"  22 1 Started  and  did  pretty  well. 

Worcester  Co.,  Dec,  1858.  O. 


1859. 


XEW  ENGLAND  FARMER, 


175 


For  the  New  England  Fanner. 
THE  HUBBARD  SQUASH. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  received  last  spring  from  Mr. 
Gregory,  of  Marblehead,  who  I  believe  has  the 
honor  of  first  introducing  the  Hubl)ard  squash  to 
public  notice,  one  dozen  seeds,  which  I  planted 
in  the  usual  manner  of  planting  squashes,  in  a 
rich,  loamy  soil,  just  turned  from  the  green  sward. 

From  these  twelve  seeds,  after  the  usual  atten- 
tion to  weeds  and  bugs,  I  gathered  eighty  pounds 
of  squash,  which  I  suppose  is  quite  above  the  av- 
erage yield*  of  the  Marrowfat  or  Crookneck,  in 
similar  localities. 

It  is,  however,  for  another  purpose  that  I  write 
this.  I  wish  to  know  if  any  of  your  numerous 
experimenters  in  these  things  have  noticed  that 
the  Hubbard  is  less  subject  to  decay  than  either 
the  Marrowfat  or  Crookneck  ? 

Several  barrels  of  other  kinds  in  the  same  cel- 
lar have  become  rotten,  while  scarce  a  speck  is 
seen  on  the  rind  of  the  Hubbard. 

I  suppose  fifty  per  cent,  of  Marrowfat  squashes 
put  into  cellars  or  stalls  for  winter  consumption, 
decay  before  they  can  be  used  or  sold.  If  what 
has  been  true  with  me  in  this  respect,  is  a  gen- 
eral fact,  it  constitutes  an  important  considera- 
tion in  favor  of  this  kind,  making  really  fifty  lbs. 
of  the  one  worth  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  of 
the  other. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  those  who  have  cultivated 
more  extensively  than  myself,  and  thanking  Mr. 
G.  through  your  paper  for  his  favor,  I  remain, 

A'aiick,  Jan.,  1859.  Oliver  N.  Bacon. 


MB.  MOBHILL'S  LAND  BILL. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Feb.,  1859. 

The  Agricultural  College  bill,  introduced  by 
Mr.  Morrill,  of  Vermont,  which  passed  the  House 
by  a  large  majority  at  the  last  session,  has  run 
the  gauntlet  successfully  in  the  Senate,  and  to 
become  a  law  awaits  now  only  the  concurrence 
of  the  House  in  one  or  two  amendments,  and 
the  approval  of  the  President. 

In  its  original  shape  the  bill  provides  for  the 
donation  of  public  lands  to  the  several  States  for 
the  encouragement  of  agriculture  and  the  me- 
chanical arts,  in  the  proportion  of  20,000  acres 
to  each  Senator  and  Representative  to  which 
they  are  now  entitled.  All  States  which  contain 
within  their  own  boundaries  the  requisite  quan- 
tity of  public  lands,  of  the  value  of  81,25  per 
acre,  are  to  receive  them  for  the  purposes  of  the 
bill ;  those  States  which  do  not,  are  to  receive 
land  scrip  to  the  amount  of  their  respective  shares. 
The  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  these  lands  and  scrip 
are  to  be  invested  in  stocks  yielding  at  least  5  per 
cenk  annually,  and  constitute  a  perpetual  fund — 

"The  interest  of  which  shall  be  inviolably  ap- 
propriated, by  each  State  which  may  take  and 
claim  the  benefit  of  the  endowment,  to  the  sup- 
port and  maintenance  of  at  least  one  college, 
■where  the  leading  object  shall  be,  without  exclud- 
ing other  scientific  or  classical  studies,  to  teach 
such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts,  in  such  manner  as 
the  legislatures  of  the  States  may  respectively 
prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the  liberal  and 
practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in 
the  several  pursuits  and  professions  in  life." 


Certain  conditions  are  attached  to  these  grants, 
to  which  the  assent  of  the  several  States,  by  leg- 
islative enactments,  is  required.     They  are: — 

That  "all  the  expenses  of  management  and 
superintendence  of  the  lands,  previous  to  their 
sales,  and  all  expenses  incurred  in  the  manage- 
ment and  disbursement  of  the  moneys  which  may 
be  received  therefrom,  shall  be  paid  by  the  States 
to  which  they  may  belong,  out  of  the  treasury 
of  said  States,  so  that  the  entire  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  the  lands  shall  be  applied  without  any 
diminution  whatever  to  the  purposes  mentioned." 

That  "any  portion  of  the  fund  invested,  as  pro- 
vided, or  any  portion  of  the  interest  thereon, 
shall,  by  any  action  or  contingency,  be  dimin- 
ished or  lost,  it  shall  be  replaced  by  the  State  to 
which  it  belongs,  so  that  the  capital  of  the  fund 
shall  remain  forever  undiminished  ;  and  the  an- 
nual interest  shall  be  regularly  applied,  without 
diminution,  to  the  purposes  mentioned,  except 
that  a  sum,  not  exceeding  ten  per  cent,  upon  the 
amount  received  by  any  Stafe  under  the  provi- 
sions of  the  act,  may  be  expended  for  the  pur- 
chase of  lands  for  sites  or  experimental  farms, 
whenever  authorized  by  the  respective  legisla- 
tures of  the  States." 

That  "no  portion  of  the  fund,  nor  the  interest 
thereon,  shall  be  applied,  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  the  purchase,  erection,  preservation  or  repair, 
of  any  buildings." 

That  "every  State  which  may  claim  the  benefit 
of  the  provisions  of  the  act  shall  provide,  within 
five  years,  at  least  not  less  than  one  college,  as 
described,  or  the  grant  to  such  State  shall  cease; 
and  said  State  shall  be  bound  to  pay  the  United 
States  the  aix-ount  received  of  any  lands  previ- 
ously sold." 

And  that  "an  annual  report  shall  be  made  re- 
garding the  progress  of  each  college,  recording 
any  improvements  and  experiments  made,  with 
their  cost  and  results,  and  such  other  matters  as 
may  be  supposed  useful." 

Although  the  bill  has  been  so  long  before  Con- 
gress that  almost  everbody  is  acquainted  with  its 
general  purport,  I  have  thought  the  foregoing 
minute  recital  desirable  in  view  of  the  apparc-nt 
certainty  of  its  passeige.  The  amendments  adopt- 
ed by  the  Senate,  are  entirely  consistent  with  the 
intention  of  the  bill.  They  include  Minnesota 
among  its  beneficiaries,  that  State  not  having 
been  admitted  into  the  Union  at  the  time  the  bill 
originally  passed  the  House ;  they  make  an  ad- 
ditional grant  of  20,000  acres  for  each  Represen- 
tive  to  which  any  State  may  become  entitled  un- 
der the  census  of  1860  in  addition  to  its  present 
number,  but  they  do  not,  of  course,  make  any 
corresponding  deduction  for  any  diminution  in 
representation  which  any  State  may  sustain  ;  and 
they  except  mineral  lands  fiom  the  provisions  of 
the  bill. — Boston  Daily  Adoertiser. 

Lice  on  Calves. — A  number  of  years  ago,  I 
had  a  yearling  that  grew  poor,  and  I  ould  not 
help  it.  Its  breathing  became  so  loud  that  it 
could  be  heard  several  rods.  I  thought  it  would 
die.  One  of  my  neighbors  told  me  he  had  heard 
that  sour  buttermilk  was  good.  I  procured  some, 
and  washed  it  from  head  to  foot,  and  in  three 
days  his  breathing  was  very  regular,  and  he  was 
as  smart  as  need  be.  I  had  no  more  trouble  with 
him. — Bural  New-  Yorker. 


176 


^'EW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


A  PAIB  OF  WHITE  SHANGHAE  FOWLS. 


The  furor  which  passed  over  the  country  a  few 
years  ago,  and  touched  nearly  every  class  of  our 
people,  in  relation  to  the  profits  and  various 
breeds  of  poultry,  has  nov?  subsided  into  the 
"sober,  second  thought,"  and  all  are  in  a  posi- 
tion to  judge  more  considerately  of  what  is  pru- 
dent and  pleasant  to  be  done  in  this  part  of  our 
domestic  economy. 

The  farm,  certainly,  would  not  be  complete 
without  poultry,  as  there  would  be  considerable 
loss  in  some  of  its  products  without  it ;  and  the 
farmer's  family,  away  from  markets,  could  not 
be  accommodated  with  the  eggs  and  flesh  of 
poultry,  unless  they  are  produced  on  the  farm. 
The  convenience  of  these  things  is  frequently  of 
more  consequence  than  their  actual  value. 

There  will  be  no  doubt  about  the  profit  of  keep- 
ing poultry  on  the  mind  of  those  who  keep  strict 
accounts;  that  is,  if  they  manage  them  judiciously. 
They  do  not  need  a  palace,  and  will  not  lay  any 
more,  or  any  larger  eggs,  in  such  a  place  than  in 
a  pen,  provided  the  latter  is  light,  dry  and  warm. 
They  require  a  variety  of  food,  both  vegetable 
and  animal,  and  convenient  places  for  laying,  sit- 
ting and  roosting,  and  under  such  circumstances 


will  yield  twice  or  three  times  as  much  profit  as 
the  same  amount  of  capital  invested  in  any  other 
stock  on  ihe  farm. 

But  it  is  not  on  the  farm,  only,  where  poultry 
yields  the  most  pleasure  or  profit.  In  the  city, 
they  afford  the  most  agreeable  "rural  sights  and 
sounds,"  and  have  a  happy  influence  upon  the 
family,  especially  its  younger  portions,  beside 
the  convenience  and  profit  derived  from  their 
flesh  and  eggs. 

We  are  not  able  to  say  which,  of  all  the  va- 
ried breeds,  are  the  most  profitable,  and  shall 
therefore  introduce  to  the  reader  some  spirited 
engravings  of  several  varieties,  with  such  de- 
scriptions as  we  can  give  of  them  from  personal 
experiences  and  the  records  of  them  by  others. 

The  cut  now  introduced  illustrates  a  pair  of 
pure  White  Shanghae  Foiols.  They  are  entirely 
white,  legs  usually  feathered.  Their  eggs  are  o. 
a  nankeen  or  dull  yellow  color,  and  blunt  at  both 
ends.  Dr.  Eben  Wight,  of  Boston,  a  gentle- 
man eminently  qualified  as  a  judge  of  poultry, 
says  of  this  variety : — These  fowls  are  not  slug- 
gish or  stupid ;  on  the  contrary  they  are  intelli- 
gent and  confiding,  and  are  invaluable  for  the 


1S59. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Ill 


purpose  of  raising  chickens.     He  says  they  rank 

among  the  largest  coming  from  China,  and  as  a 

proof  that  they  thrive  well  in  this  climate,  he 

mentions  a  cock  that  at  eight  months  old,  weighed 

eight  pounds,  and  that  the  pullets  are  propor- 

tionably  large.     They  are  broad  on  the  back  and 

heart,  with  a  body  well  rounded  up;  the  plumage 

•white,  with  a  downy  softness  ;  the  tail  feathers 

short  and  full ;  the  head  small,  surmounted  by  a 

small,  single,  serrated  comb  ;  wattles  long  and 

ide,  overlaying  the  cheek-piece,  which  is  also 

ge  ajid  extending  back  on  the  n«ck  ;  the  legs 

e  of  a  yellow  hue,  approaching  a  flesh  color, 

ad  feathered  to  the  end  of  the  toes. 


PKBMIUMS  ON  FOREST  TREES  AND 
FARMS. 

The  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Promotion 
)f  Agriculture  has  offered  a  premium  of  one 
thousand  dollars  for  the  best  plantation  of  forest 
trees,  and  a  premium  of  five  hundred  dollars  for 
the  best  conducted  farm.  These  offers  are  in 
keeping  with  the  liberal  spirit  which  has  ever 
been  manifested  by  this  association  to  promote 
the  interests  of  the  farmer.  Its  work  is  in  the 
right  direction.  It  has  given  a  stimulus  to  every 
part  of  the  State  within  the  last  five  years,  by  its 
judicious  premiums  upon  dairy  stock,  and  the 
Essays  upon  Manures,  Agricultural  Education 
and  Market  Fairs,  and  its  aid  to  the  State  Board 
of  Agriculture. 

The  offer  of  these  premiums  upon  forest  trees 
Q.n^  farms,  will  probably  be  the  means  of  setting 
a  good  many  trees  growing,  and  brush  up  and 
improve  many  farms  that  are  now  excellent,  and 
improve  hundreds  more  by  the  examples  of  neat- 
ness, system  and  thrift  which  will  be  established 
by  these  inducements  to  excel.  We  hope  there 
will  be  an  active  competition  for  the  prizes.  They 
are  as  follows : 

1.  A  premium  of  $1,000  for  a  plantation  oj 
forest  trees. 

"The  above  sum  is  offered  for  the  best  planta- 
tion of  trees,  of  any  kind  commonly  used  for,  and 
adapted  to,  ship-building,  grown  from  seed  plant- 
ed for  the  purpose,  or  otherwise,  on  not  less  than 
five  acres  of  land,  une  white  oak  at  least  to  be 
planted  to  every  twi  nty  square  yards.  Notice  in 
writing  must  be  given  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Society,  on  or  before  January  1,  18G0,  of  the  in- 
tention to  compete  for  the  premium,  stating 
where  the  land  is  situated,  the  nature  of  the  soil, 
and  what  has  been  done  in  relation  to  the  plan- 
tation up  to  the  time  of  giving  notice.  The  pre- 
mium will  be  awarded  in  1870,  in  case  the  suc- 
cess of  any  competitor  has  been  such  as,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Trustees,  or  of  those  appointed  by 
them  to  adjudge  the  same,  or  give  a  reasonable 
probability  that  the  plantation  v;ill  produce  even- 
tually a  fair  supply  of  ship  timber,  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  acres  planted     The  Society 


likewise  claims  the  right,  after  awarding  the  pre- 
mium, to  designate  from  time  to  time  what  trees 
shall  be  reserved  for  timber,  and  the  successful 
competitor  shall  give  security  that  the  trees  so 
designated  shall  not  be  cut  for  any  other  pur- 
pose." 

2.  A  premium  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  the 
best  conducted  farm. 

"The  above  sum  is  offered,  in  one  premium, 
for  the  best  conducted  farm  in  Massachusetts,  oi 
not  less  than  forty  acres,  taking  into  considera- 
tion the  mode  of  cultivation,  farm  building,  breed- 
ing, selection  and  keeping  of  stock.  Farms,  de- 
voted to  market  gardening,  will  not  be  admitted 
to  competition.  The  Trustees  reserve  the  right  of 
withholding  the  premium,  in  case  r  o  farm  offered 
shall  be  considered  worthy  of  it,  and  also  of  di- 
viding it,  in  case  no  one  farm  shall  be  considered 
decidedly  the  best  conducted.  Notice  of  intention 
to  compete  for  the  premium  must  be  given  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Society,  on  or  before  the  first 
day  of  Ajyril,  1859,  accompanied  by  the  payment 
of  an  entrance  fee  of  ten  dollars.  A  written  state- 
ment, verified  by  the  oath  of  the  competitor,  will 
be  required,  containing  an  accurate  statement  as 
to  the  management  of  the  farm,  with  an  account 
in  figures  showing  the  results  of  the  year's  oper- 
ations. The  account  to  commence  on  the  first 
day  of  April,  1859,  and  to  terminate  on  the  thir- 
ty-first day  of  March  following.  All  farms  en- 
tered for  the  premium  shall  be  subject  to  the 
visits  and  inspection, of  the  Trustees,  or  by  others 
appointed  by  them  for  the  purpose.  No  Trustee 
or  officer  of  the  Society  will  be  allowed  to  com- 
pete." 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

WHEIf  AND  HCW  IS  IT  BEST  TO  TRIM 
APPLE  TREES  P 

So  many  and  such  varying  opinions  are  ex- 
pressed on  this  subject,  that  it  is  easy  to  find 
texts  for  any  theory.  But  the  question  still  re- 
curs, which  is  the  best  way  to  trim  them,  and 
what  is  the  best  time  to  do  it  ?  The  best  way  of 
trimming  is  to  clear  out  all  useless  and  cumber- 
some limbs,  all  decayed  branches  ;  a'l  such  as 
impair  the  form  of  the  tree;  always  having  re- 
gard to  the  peculiarity  of  its  growth.  Some 
kinds  of  fruit  trees  are  inclined  to  form  their 
tops  by  rising  in  a  conical  form,  as  the  Pickman 
Pippin,  for  instance  ;  while  the  Roxbury  Russet 
spreads  out  like  an  open  umbrella — its  branches, 
when  loaded  with  fruit,  bending  to  the  ground. 
Regard,  therefore,  should  be  had  to  the  kind  of 
fruit  expected  to  be  grown.  The  most  produc- 
tive orchard  I  have  witnessed  is  on  the  farm  of 
Mr.  E.  Ware,  of  Marblehead,  whose  trees  have 
been  growing  in  their  present  position  about 
thirty  years  ;  their  limbs  now  extend  twenty  feet 
or  more,  and  completely  cover  the  ground.  The 
earth  has  been  fertilized  and  pulverized  by  the 
running  of  sv.-ine  freely  in  the  orchard.  The 
fruit  is  large  and  fair,  and  the  trees  have  suffered 
very  little  from  insects  or  vermin  of  any  kind. 
How  these  trees  have  been  trimmed  I  have  not 
been  advised  ;  but  I  think  very  little  trimming 
has  been  done  upon  them.  They  have  always 
been  thrifty.  P. 

3Iarch  1,  1859. 


178 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aprii 


MASS  MEETING  AT  SUDBUHY. 

The  citizens  of  Sudbury  had  a  meeting  Feb.  3, 
in  the  Town  Hall,  regularly  called  by  warrant,  to 
devise  measures  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Leg- 
islature to  their  overflowed  lands,  at  which  the 
selectmen  were  authorized  to  petition,  com- 
mence suits,  or  do  whatever  seemed  desirable  to 
abate  the  evil.  On  Saturday,  the  citizens  again 
assembled,  and  were  joined  by  persons  from 
most  of  the  neighboring  towns.  The  meeting 
was  called  to  order  by  Capt.  Wm.  Rice,  and 
Samuel  Puffer  elected  Chairman,  and  J. 
Parker  Fairbanks,  Secretary.  After  a  brief 
reference  to  the  Town  Meeting  on  Thursday,  the 
chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Jtiver  Meadoio  Associcdion  was  called  upon  to 
report  what  progress  had  been  made  in  certain 
duties  with  which  it  had  been  charged.  He  sta- 
ted that  several  meetings  of  the  Committee  had 
taken  place,  that  a  large  sum  had  been  pledged 
to  defray  the  cost  of  suits,  printing,  counsel,  or 
whatever  other  expenses  might  accrue.  He  al- 
so stated  that  word  came  to  him  from  various 
portions  of  the  State,  encouraging  and  urging  on 
the  movement,  because  they  say  it  exposes  evils 
common  in  every  part  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Dr.  J.  Reynolds,  of  Concord,  spoke  of  the 
great  depreciation  of  the  lands  in  question,  and 
illustrated  his  point  by  reference  to  similar  dam- 
age on  Ipswich  River,  and  of  the  attempted  re- 
dress by  the  owners.  He  said  the  old  Middlesex 
Canal  Company  had  enjoyed  its  privileges  fifty 
years,  and  then  sold  them  out  to  another  party 
for  a  song,  and  sold  out  the  rights  of  our  citizens 
with  them. 

Col.  David  Heard,  of  Wayland,  then  gave  a 
detailed  and  clear  statement  of  the  rise  of  one  of 
the  dams  at  Billerica,  and  the  reservoirs  at  Hop- 
kinton  and  Marlboro',  and  the  immense  damage 
occasioned  by  them  in  the  depreciation  of  lands 
and  the  diseases  generated  by  their  miasma. 

Capt.  Wm.  Rice,  of  Sudbury,  said  he  had 
knoM'n  the  meadows  for  seventy  years — fifty  years 
ago  they  were  very  valuable ;  then  a  horse  could 
be  gallopped  across  them  from  shore  to  river 
bank.  People  often  came  from  Framingham  and 
paid  $10  a  ton  for  the  hay  that  grew  on  them. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  land  that  people  don't 
call  meadow  that  is  nearly  ruined. 

Mr.  Thomas  Battles,  of  Sudbury,  said  the 
best  meadows,  thirty  years  ago,  were  worth  $100 
an  acre,  and  that  some  of  them  cannot  be  sold  for 
a  single  dollar  an  acre  now ! 

Mr.  Horace  Heard,  of  Wayland,  said,  these 
lands,  in  1813,  were  worth  more  than  the  up- 
lands ;  that  at  the  death  of  his  father,  the  mead- 
ows were  appraised  at  as  high  a  price  as  the  best 
uplands  with  the  buildings  on  them !  He  said 
the  people  of  Wayland  petitioned  in  favor  of  the 


Boston  Water-works,  because  they  were  told  they 
would  divert  the  water  from  the  Sudbury  river 
that  flows  in  from  the  Cochituate  lake,  and  thus, 
in  some  degree,  relieve  their  lands. 

Mr.  E.  Stone  inquired  of  Mr.  Heard,  wheth- 
er the  water  from  the  reservoir  operates  as  inju- 
riously now  as  it  has  heretofore  ?  Mr.  H.,  in  re- 
ply, said  it  did.  There  is  no  diminution  of  dam- 
age. 

Mr.  J.  P.  Fairbanks  said  if  the  people  could 
believe  that  any  remedy  was  at  hand,  they 
would  pour  out  their  money  to  prosecute  any 
lawful  means  of  redress, — but  they  had  sufi'ered 
so  long,  and  the  laws  or  charters  were  so  unjust 
and  oppressive,  that  hope  had  become  nearly  ex- 
tinct. Still  they  were  ready  to  act.  Within  his 
recollection  he  had  known  these  meadows  rented 
at  the  rate  of  ten  acres  for  ten  successive  years 
for  $1000  !  Now  the  same  lands  are  a  curse  to 
the  owner,  and  to  those  who  live  near  them ! 
Three  years  ago,  he  had  great  promise  of  a  cran- 
berry crop,  but  the  floods  destroyed  so  many  that 
he  got  but  forty  out  of  two  hundred  bushels — 
and  this  evil  is  now  annual.  Floods  come  upon 
us  when  no  rain  falls,  and  the  drier  the  time 
the  larger  the  flood,  so  that  on  farms  where 
they  have  gathered  500  bushels  of  cranberries  a 
year,  they  do  not  get  enough  now  to  make  sauce 
for  a  Thanksgiving  dinner  !  Five  thousand  dol- 
lars' worth  of  this  healthful  and  valuable  fruit  is 
annually  destroyed  by  these  floods,  and  this 
source  of  income  cut  ofi"  from  our  people. 

Mr.  S.  Brown,  of  Concord,  said,  annual  losses, 
similar  to  those  mentioned  by  the  last  speaker, 
were  realized  by  most  of  the  towns  in  the  valley 
of  the  Sudbury  and  Concord  rivers.  He  believed 
that  neither  the  Legislature  nor  the  people  of 
the  county,  were  aware  of  their  extent.  He  was 
told  that  two  or  three  individuals  were  permit- 
ted to  cause  these  damages  through  the  potency 
of  certain  charters — charters  that  cannot  be  re- 
voked, though  they  swallow  up  your  lands  with 
floods,  and  scatter  disease  and  death  over  the  fair 
homesteads  of  our  people.  He  did  not  believe 
in  such  charters — they  appeared  to  him  more 
like  certain  things  that  had  been  done  "by  the 
divine  right  of  kings,"  or  the  monopolies  of 
Henry  VIH.  or  Elizabeth,  in  conferring  upon 
some  favorite  a  monopoly  of  wine  sales,  or  silks, 
or  salt.  If  some  blundering  Legislature  had  con- 
ferred privileges  upon  corporations  inconsistent 
with  the  rights  of  others,  a  wiser  one  should  take 
instant  steps  to  correct  the  error,  rather  than  by 
unfair  limitations  cut  oS"  the  people  from  every 
source  of  redress.  He  did  not  believe  a  single 
vote  could  be  obtained  in  the  present  Legislature 
to  grant  such  monstrous  powers  as  were  said  to 
be  conferred  in  the  charters  to  which  he  had  al- 
luded.    He  had  not  examined  the  charter  of  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


179 


old  Middlesex  Canal  Company,  but  was  told  by 
those  who  had,  that  it  restricted  the  company  to 
no  limits  except  those  of  the  State  itself,  and  that 
it  could  traverse  at  will  over  any  person's  do- 
main, wherever  it  saw  fit  to  go !  Mr.  B.  spoke 
at  considerable  length  on  other  points. 

Mr.  Fairbanks  was  glad  to  learn  that  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  was  active,  and  had  consulted 
counsel.  The  town  of  Sudbury  was  ready  to 
act — the  selectmen  had  been  authorized  to  em- 
ploy counsel  and  prosecute  whenever  they 
thought  proper. 

Rev.  Isaac  Jennison,  of  Natick,  said  a  mea- 
dow which  he  could  have  once  sold  to  a  gentle- 
man now  present  for  $90,  he  could  not  now  give 
away  to  the  same  person  !  He  wished  the  move- 
ment success,  and  was  ready  to  expend  time  and 
money  to  get  it. 

Several  other  persons  addressed  the  meeting 
with  great  enthusiasm,  and  after  the  passage  of 
the  following  votes  the  meeting  adjourned. 

Voted,  That  the  memorial  now  in  preparation  by  the  Com- 
mittee, be  signed  by  the  Selectmen  of  the  several  towns  on  the 
river,  and  presented  to  the  Legislature  iu  behalf  of  these  towns. 

Voted.,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  authorized  to  print 
any  matter  that  they  may  deem  important  to  promote  the 
cause. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

LEACHED  ASHES  ON  A  CLAY  SOIL. 

Will  leached  ashes  benefit  a  clay  soil  ?  I  make 
this  inquiry  because  large  quantities  of  ashes  are 
lying  in  several  places  in  this  vicinity,  and  might 
be  procured  at  a  very  low  price,  probably  for 
drawing.  Aquila. 

Fth.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Leached  wood-ashes  are  regarded 
as  the  most  beneficial  to  clayey  soils.  The  high 
temperature  at  which  wood  is  commonly  burned, 
causes  a  greater  or  less  portion  of  the  potash 
and  soda  to  combine  with  the  silica,  (sand.)  and 
form  insoluble  silicates,  which  remain  behind 
along  with  lime  and  other  earthy  matter  when 
the  ash  is  washed  with  water.  These  are  just 
what  the  clay  soil  needs. 

HUNGARIAN   GRASS. 

In  your  paper  of  the  5th  inst.,  1  noticed  an  ar- 
ticle on  "Hungarian  Grass  Seed  ;"'  will  you  please 
advise  me  at  what  season  of  the  year  it  should 
be  sowed ;  how  much  does  it  require  per  acre  ; 
is  once  sowing  sufficient  for  more  than  one  crop  ; 
what  particular  advantage  will  be  derived  from 
its  cultivation,  instead  of  other  grass  ;  in  short, 
tell  us  all  you  know  about  it. 

Charlotte,  Vt.,  Feb.,  1859.    T.  D.  Chapman. 

Remarks. — We  are  told  by  those  acquainted 
with  this  grass  that  the  same  rules  observed  in 
sowing  herdsgrass  seed  are  applicable  to  the 
Hungarian  grass,  as  to  soil  and  season.  From 
12  to  16  quarts  of  seed  are  used,  per  acre. — 
Good  land  for  herdsgrass  or  red  top,  is  suitable 
for  this.     If  the  grass  is  intended  to  be  used  for 


green  fodder,  sow  a  little  thicker  than  when  it  is 
to  be  made  into  hay — and  if  for  seed,  do  not 
crowd  it. 

"E.  P.  M 1,  of  Cambridge,  Vt.,"  will  please 

consider  this  in  reply  to  his  fnquiries. 

We  advise  our  friends  not  to  be  over  san- 
guine about  this  new  grass.  Test  it,  by  all 
means,  but  in  a  small  and  careful  manner.  There 
are  a  thousand  idlers  ever  standing  ready  to  get 
a  living  out  of  the  earnings  of  the  farmer,  and 
sing  such  syren  songs  as  are  apt  to  make  too 
many  persons  think  that  all  is  gold  that  glitters. 
Sow  a  quart  of  seed  this  year,  and  note  the  re- 
sults carefully.  If  it  does  well,  continue  it ;  if  not 
reject  it.  

MANGOLD   WURTZEL. 

In  a  former  number  of  the  i^rt/7?ier,  Inoticeda 
finely  written  article  from  Mr.  French  on  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  above  root  in  Europe  ;  from  his 
speaking  of  their  roots  "running  down  to  the 
bottom  of  a  drain  four  feet  deep,"  he,  of  course, 
refers  to  the  long,  fibrous  variety.  A  friend  of 
mine  informed  me,  that  in  his  tour  through  the 
sugar  districts  of  France,  a  few  years  since,  the 
Orange  Globe  variety  was  in  high  repute  for  the 
feeding  of  neat  cattle  ;  that  it  was  considered 
vastly  better  than  the  tap-rooted,  not  only  in  be- 
ing of  a  finer  grain,  but  that  it  was  harvested  so 
much  easier ;  from  his  recommendation,  I  ob- 
tained a  few  pounds  of  the  seed,  which  was  sown 
on  my  farm  at  Framingham  with  good  success  ; 
my  neighbor,  an  experienced  farmer,  was  so  much 
pleased  with  this  root,  that  he  now  cultivates  it 
in  preference  to  almost  any  other  root  for  his 
cattle.  I. 

MILK,   PRICE   AND   MEASURE. 

I  was  greatly  rejoiced  to  see  an  article  on  the 
price  and  measurement  of  milk,  in  your  last  pa- 
per. I  had  concluded  we  were  some  of  the  most 
duped  people  in  the  world,  for  we  are  so  fasci- 
nated with  this  milk  fever  that  we  believe  av,-ay 
up  in  New  Hampshire,  forty  miles  from  market, 
if  we  should  patronize  our  milkmen  faithfully, 
we  were  on  the  sure  road  to  fortune.  Many  of 
our  farmers  are  enlisted  in  the  enterprise  and  all 
are  losing  money,  every  day.  We  do  not  know 
what  quantity  we  are  selling  for  a  gallon,  nor 
the  consumer  in  Boston  what  he  is  using  that  he 
calls  milk  !  A  Subscriber. 

Berry,  N.  H.,  Feb.,  1859. 

equality  illustrated. 

$12,000  a  year  is  annually  paid  from  the  Treas- 
ury of  the  State  for  the  support  of  experiments 
in  culture,  whereby  the  people  of  the  State  are 
sustained ;  $00,000  a  year  is  annually  paid  for 
sustaining  the  military  of  the  Commonwealth, 
whereby  their  vanity  is  inflated,  their  morals  de- 
praved, and  their  lives  destroyed. 

It  is  respectfully  suggested  that  tliese  topics 
be  referred  to  the  joint  consideration  of  the 
House  Committees  on  Agriculture  and  on  the 
Militia — and  that  the  great  gun  of  the  House  be 
instructed  to  report  thereon.  ^W» 

Jan.,  1859. 


180 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


CULTURE   OF  THE   MANGOLD   WURTZEL. 

Was  Mr.  Leonard  Wray's  lecture  on  the  man- 
gold wurtzel,  delivered  before  the  Legislative | 
Agricultural  Meeting  in  Boston,  last  winter,  pub-! 
lished  in  full,  and  if  so,  where  can  I  obtain  it  ?     i 

On  a  farm  I  owned  in  Rhode  Island,  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  1000  bushels  and  upwards  to 
the  acre  ;  once  1  got  1500  bushels;  once  3,337 
bushels  from  three  acres,  58  pounds  to  the 
bushel.  Joseph  Coe".     ; 

Bochester,  Mass.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Mr.  Wray's  lecture  was  partially 
reported  for  our  columns — we  have  not  seen  it 
in  any  other  form.  We  have  sent  you,  per  mail, 
a  copy  of  our  May  number  for  1858,  containing 
some  things  that  may  be  useful  to  you. 

s  BREAD   AND   SALT. 

I  was  much  interested  in  an  article  in  your  pa- 
per some  time  since,  from  Dr.  Alcott,  on  the  sub-j 
iect  of  bread-making.  I  have  repeatedly  tried 
unleavened  bread  or  cake,  (mixing  rather  dryly 
with  cool  or  cold  water,  sometimes  adding  a  lit- 
tle dry  snow  for  leaven,)  and  marking  it  off  into 
narrow  strips.  I  like  it  much.  Think  the  mark- 
ing into  strips  before  baking  an  excellent  idea, 
and  am  much  obliged  to  the  doctor  for  his  arti- 
cle. 

Query. — Does  the  doctor  really  believe  that 
the  great  fondness  of  man,  and  some  other  ani- 
mals, for  salt,  is  no  evidence  that  it  is  a  suitable 
article  for  use  ?  A  Reader. 

OSAGE   orange   HEDGE. 

Will  you,  or  some  of  your  readers,  inform  me 
whether  the  Osage  Orange  hedge  will  grow  and 
flourish  as  far  north  as  the  northern  part  of  Sul- 
livan county.  N.  H.  ?  L.  Richardson. 

West  Springfield,  N.  IL,  Feb.,  1859. 

Remarks. — It  is  quite  uncertain  whether  the 
Osage  Orange  would  answer  for  hedges  as  far 
orth  as  your  locality — we  think  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  use  some  other  plant,  your  common  hem- 
lock, for  instance,  if  you  desire  something  of  the 
character  of  the  Orange.  The  hemlock  is  grace- 
ful and  beautiful  in  itself,  is  hardy,  of  course 
bears  pruning,  and  makes  a  tasteful  and  attrac- 
tive hedge.  It  would  hardly  answer,  however, 
for  fencing.  

demolishing  rocks. 

In  levelling  a  small  hill,  this  winter,  I  exposed 
some  troublesome  looking  rocks.  I  exhausted 
my  small  stock  of  patience  in  blasting,  breaking, 
burying,  etc.,  and  then  thought  I  would  try  fire 
and  water.  I  collected  a  good  quantity  of  brush, 
■weeds,  leaves,  In  fact  everything  and  anything 
that  would  burn  well.  I  now  made  and  kept  a 
brisk  fire  upon  and  around  the  rock  to  be  re 
moved,  and  as  soon  as  it  was  thoroughly  heated 
(it  takes  only  an  hour  to  heat  a  rock  of  about 
three  or  four  tons)  dashed  on  a  few  buckets  of 
cold  v.-ater  and  to  my  delight,  saw  the  rock  fall 
to  fragments.  OAKLAND  Grove 

Winchester,  Mass.,  1859, 


wood  ashes. 
Please  inform  me  viYiQiher  wood  aslies  exhausts 
the  land  to  which  it  is  applied  ?  s.  E.  Y. 

Warren,  Mass.,  Jan.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Wood  ashes  undoubtedly  acts  as 
a  stimulant  in  the  soil — it  probably  acts  upon 
the  sand,  even,  making  it  solvent  and  fit  to  be 
taken  up  by  the  plants,  covering  their  outer  sur- 
face, stiffening  and  sti'engthening  them  so  that 
they  are  able  to  stand  up.  In  this  way  it  makes 
the  soil  act,  and  be  useful  to  the  plant.  Do  not 
let  the  fear  of  its  exhaustive  power  prevent  you 
from  using  it.  

lame  hens  that  die. 

Will  you  inform  me  through  your  paper  of  the 
cause  of  the  lameness  of  my  hens  ?  I  have  lost 
since  last  fall,  from  fifteen  to  twenty.  In  the  first 
place  they  are  taken  lame  in  one  leg,  and  in  two 
or  three  days  the  other  leg  is  lame,  so  that  they 
cannot  go,  and  will  lie  down  ;  in  two  or  three 
days  after  they  become  lame  in  both  legs  they 
die.  My  hen-house  is  built  of  stone,  and  the  top 
roosts  are  about  six  feet  high.  The  ground  is 
covered  with  loam ;  I  feed  them  morning  and 
evening  on  corn  or  dough,  and  they  have  enough 
to  eat ;  they  do  not  appear  to  be  in  any  pain,  nor 
do  they  grow  poor,  but  are  generally  fat  when 
they  die.  o.  h. 

Raynham,  Jan.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Cannot  enlighten  you — never  have 
witnessed  such  cases.     

a  turkey  crop. 

I  have  male  turkeys  that  came  out  in  June, 
that  weigh  twenty-tico  pounds ;  a  lighter  one, 
when  dressed,  weighed  ITi  pounds,  and  a  young 
hen-turkey,  dressed,  between  eleven  and  twelve 
pounds.  Charles  H.  Stoddard. 

East  Brookfield,  Mass.,  Feb.,  1859. 

A   BIG    PIG. 

I  slaughtered  a  pig  nine  months  old,  on  the 
24th  Inst.,  which  M'eighed  three  hundred  and 
thirty  pounds.  George  Haskell,  Jr. 

Essex,  Jan.,  1859. 


li'or  the  New  England  Farmer. 
"COBIT  AND  COEN  STALKS." 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  the  weekly  number  of  the 
Farmer  for  Jan.  22,  an  article  appeared  with  the 
aliove  caption.  It  seems  that  the  writer  of  the 
article  referred  to,  has  not  succeeded  to  his  mind 
in  the  new  method  of  harvesting  the  corn  crop, 
and  for  the  very  reason,  as  I  believe,  which  he 
has  given,  namely,  that  of  cutting  up  the  corn, 
when  it  v.'as  half-matured,  which  would  naturally 
give  to  the  corn  less  weight,  and  the  pale  color 
of  which  he  speaks. 

My  expeilence  has  been  very  difi"erent  from 
that  of  friend  Bacon,  as  I  have  practiced  cutting 
my  corn  to  the  ground,  and  shooking,  for  the  last 
six  or  seven  years,  and  without  any  of  the  seri- 
ous objections  which  "W.  B."  mentions.  I  be- 
lieve in  the  proverb,  that  there  is  a  time  for 
every  thing,  and  that  the  time  for  cutting  up  corn 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


181 


to  shook,  is  after  the  ear  becomes  well  glazed,  or 
in  other  words,  after  the  stalks  are  fit  for  top- 
ping. Corn  cured  in  this  way,  is  not  only  sweeter 
for  bread,  but  the  fodder  is  worth  one-fourth 
more,  at  least,  than  when  left  to  the  exposure  of 
the  atmosphere.  I  agree  with  "W.  B.,"  that,  the 
idea  of  raising  corn  is  for  the  grain,  but  if  I  can 
get  the  extra  grain,  (as  I  think  if  he  would  take 
the  pains  to  inquire  of  those  who  grind  my  corn, 
they  would  tell  him  it  was  second  to  none,)  and 
the  extra  fodder,  I  have  secured  a  greater  amount 
of  good,  than  he  who  lets  his  fodder  stand  and 
bleach  in  the  field  until  it  is  nearly  worthless. 

If  friend  "B."  will  try  my  way,  I  think  he  will 
meet  with  better  success,  and  be  able  to  have  his 
"old-fashioned  golden  puddings  again  under  the 
new  innovation."  A.  W.  Putnam. 

Sutton,  Jan.  24,  1859. 


l^br  the  New  England  Farmer. 

EDUCATION"  AWD  EMPLOYMENT  OF 
YOUJSTG  MEN  IN  THE  COUNTKT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  education  and  employ- 
ment of  young  men  in  the  country  is  closely 
connected  with  our  agricultural  interests.  It  is 
evident  that  our  country  towns  are  losing  their 
population  for  the  reason  that  our  young  men 
leave  them  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a  popular 
education,  tending  to  fit  them  for  any  other  pur- 
pose than  the  farm.  I  do  not  wish  to  cast  re- 
proach on  the  cause  of  education.  But  would 
it  not  be  better  if  our  institutions  of  learning 
were  so  constituted  as  to  turn  the  minds  of  some 
of  their  pupils  to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  ? 
Should  not  our  schools  be  made  manual  labor 
schools ;  schools  which  will  fit  young  men  for  the 
farm  as  well  as  for  a  profession  ?  I  think  they 
should.  But  considering  our  means  of  educa- 
tion as  it  is,  I  think  our  young  men  may,  if  they 
will,  furnish  themselves  with  a  good  practical  ag- 
ricultural education. 

Your  readers  may  say  that  I  desire  to  make 
all  our  young  men  farmers ;  but  not  so.  We 
must  have  teachers,  competent  teachers,  and  a 
liberal  supply  of  them.  We  must  have  profes- 
sional men;  but  one-half  of  the  number  which  we 
now  have,  and  those  of  the  right  character,  would 
be  far  better  than  the  present  number.  More  of 
our  people  should  be  practical  farmers.  I  am  a 
farmer's  son  myself,  and  I  appeal  to  those  of  my 
class  in  New  England,  if  it  would  not  be  better 
for  more  of  us  to  obtain  an  education  preparato- 
ry to  a  farmer's  life,  than  for  so  many  of  us  to 
strive  for  a  profession.  There  is  another  thing 
which  tends  to  decrease  the  mterest  in  agricultu- 
ral pursuits.  Too  many  of  our  young  men,  leav- 
ing the  farm  in  pursuit  of  more  fashionatjle  life 
in  cities  and  large  country  towns,  leave  the  dis- 
graceful work  of  farming,  as  they  call  it,  and  re- 
pair to  a  clerkship,  and  for  a  year  or  two  work 
merely  for  their  board,  rather  than  stick  to  the 
farm.  Let  us  strive,  one  and  all,  to  alter  this 
state  of  things;  let  us  set  our  hearts  and  hands 
to  work,  and  soon  our  barren  fields  will  be  culti- 
vated, our  decaying  pastures  clothed  anew  with 
grass,  and  New  England  may  look  forward  for  a 
pleasant  and  prosperous  future.  w.  M.  L. 

Sullivan,  N.  II.,  1859. 


BOTH  SIDES. 

A  man  ia  his  carriage  was  riding  along, 

A  gaily  dressed  wife  by  his  side  ; 
In  satin  and  laces  she  looked  like  the  queen. 

And  he  like  a  king  in  his  pride. 

A  wood-sawyer  stood  on  the  street  as  they  passed  ; 

The  carriage  and  couple  lie  eyed ; 
And  said,  as  he  worked  with  his  saw  on  the  log, 

"I  wish  I  was  rich  and  could  ride." 

The  man  in  the  carriage  remarked  to  his  wife, 

"One  thing  I  would  give  if  I  could — 
I'd  give  my  wealtli  for  the  strength  and  the  health 

Of  the  man  who  sawed  the  wood." 

A  pretty  young  maid,  with  a  bundle  of  work, 
Whose  face,  as  the  morning,  was  fair, 

Went  tripping  along  with  a  smile  of  delight, 
While  humming  a  love-breathing  air. 

She  looked  on  the  carriage ;  the  lady  she  saw, 

Arriyed  in  apparel  so  fine, 
And  said  in  a  wMsper,  "I  wish  from  my  heart 

Those  satins  and  laces  were  mine." 

The  lady  looked  out  on  the  maid  with  her  work, 

So  fair  in  her  calico  dress. 
And  said,  'I'd  relinquish  position  and  wealth, 

Her  beauty  and  health  to  possess." 

Thus  it  is  in  the  world,  whatever  our  lot. 

Our  minds  and  our  time  we  employ 
In  longing  and  sighing  for  what  we  have  not, 

Ungrateful  for  what  we  enjoy. 

We  welcome  the  pleasure  for  which  we  have  sighed, 

The  heart  has  a  void  in  it  still, 
Growing  deeper  and  wider  the  longer  we  live, 

That  nothing  but  Heaven  can  fill. 


l^or  the  New  England  Farmer. 
EXPERIMENT  IN  HAKVESTING  CORN. 

I  beg  leave  to  differ  from  W.  Bacon  on  this 
subject.  I  well  recollect  in  my  early  days  that 
corn,  where  I  then  lived,  was  harvested  by  first 
cutting  the  stalks,  and  I  then  knew  of  no  better 
way,  that  being  some  fifty  years  since,  in  the  town 
of  VVinchester,  N.  H.  Since  that  time  I  think  I 
have  found  a  better  way. 

As  it  regards  cutting  stalks,  I  think  they  will 
no  more  than  pay  for  the  labor  ;  if  the  field  is 
large,  it  is  attended  with  much  labor  to  carry 
them  out  of  the  field  to  set  up  to  dry.  I  think  I 
should  do  quite  as  well  to  cut  hay  at  the  halves. 
Should  there  come  a  hard  frost  before  the  corn 
gets  fairly  ripe,  it  v-ould  be  much  injured.  In 
this  vicinity,  we  usually  have  a  hard  frost  on 
or  about  the  2()lh  of  September.  If  the  stalks 
are  cut  soon  after  the  corn  begins  to  glaze,  as 
has  been  the  practice  with  some,  it  lessens  the 
corn  one-eleventh  part  from  that  of  letting  them 
be  on  till  ripe  ;  it  also  leaves  the  corn  more  tx- 
posed  to  cut  off"  the  tops,  than  it  would  be  with 
them  on,  should  there  be  a  frost  before  the  corn 
was  ripe.  If  it  stands  till  it  would  not  shrink  in 
drying,  it  would  be  bad  policy  to  first  cut  the 
stalks,  because  it  is  more  work  than  it  is  to  cut 
all  up  together,  and  you  save  only  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  fodder,  and  not  the  best  part,  for 
that  which  comes  up  at  the  roots  last,  called 
suckers,  is  much  the  best,  being  the  greenest  and 
richest.  In  cutting  up  the  corn  and  stalks  to- 
gether, there  is  a  great  saving  both  in  time  and 
value  of  both  corn  and  fodder.  At  the  price  hay 
is  selling  for  here  now,  $13  per  ton,  and  as  the 


182 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


fodder  growing  on  one  acre  of  land  where  the 
corn  ■will  yield  50  bushels  per  acre  is  worth  one 
ton  of  good  hay,  we  gain  some  $12  or  more  in 
harvesting  of  one  acre  of  good  corn,  over  that  of 
cutting  the  stalks.  I  know  not  Avhy  a  dollar's 
■worth  of  hay  or  corn  fodder  is  not  as  good  as  a 
dollar's  worth  of  corn. 

All  grains  are  better  to  be  harvested  while  the 
sap  is  in  the  straw  or  stalk,  and  I  know  of  no 
one  in  this  section  of  country  that  questions  this 
theory,  millers  not  excepted ;  it  is  much  more 
delicious  and  rich,  and  makes  the  best  bread.  I 
have  experimented  some  few  times  by  letting  six 
rows  stand,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  differ- 
ence, in  hopes  that  it  would  dry  off  best  by  stand- 
ing uncut  on  the  hill,  while  the  rest  of  the  field 
was  cut  and  bound,  and  well  set  up,  and  in  each 
and  every  time,  that  left  standing  was  not  as 
good,  was  not  so  yellow,  and  had  much  more  poor 
corn,  and  the  fodder  the  same  as  lost,  hardly 
worth  cutting  up  at  all.  In  cutting  up  corn,  care 
should  be  taken  to  see  that  the  butts  are  laid 
down,  so  that  the  bundles  will  set  up  well.  Bind 
of  the  size  to  have  six  bundles  make  one  bushel 
of  ears  when  husked  ;  set  six  in  a  stack,  two 
abreast  and  one  at  each  end,  tie  the  tops  togeth- 
er, and  they  will  cure  well  In  this  way,  1  har- 
vested my  corn  this  last  fall,  and  it  is  most  boun- 
tiful, not  one-fourth  of  a  bushel  but  what  is  fit  to 
grind  for  family  use,  and  now  weighs  64  lbs.  to  the 
bushel.  My  stock  eat  the  fodder  as  well  as  they 
do  good  hay.  I  saw  one  old  gentleman  last  Sep- 
tember cutting  his  stalks.  I  inquired  of  him  why 
he  cut  off  the  tops  instead  of  cutting  up  at  the 
roots  ?     He  said  he  was  hroiiglit  up  so. 

Boxhury,  Vt.,  Feb.,  1859.     A.  L.  Brigilvm. 


For  the  New  Eniiland  Farmer. 
POTATOES  FROM  SEED. 

M'R.  Editor  : — Seeing  a  piece  in  the  Farmer 
foi  January  15th,  from  "S.  S.,"  on  raising  pota- 
toes from  the  seed,  I  thought  I  would  send  you 
my  experience  in  that  line,  as  it  has  been  more 
satisfactory  than  his.  In  the  year  1855,  I  found 
some  very  nice  looking  balls  on  the  tops  of  a  va- 
riety known  here  as  the  "Late  Early  Blue."  I 
saved  a  few  of  them  and  planted  the  seed  the 
season  following,  and  two  or  three  weeks  after, 
the  plants  made  their  appearance,  and  grew  very 
slowly  all  the  season.  I  obtained  enough  pota- 
toes from  them  to  plant  three  hills,  last  year, 
(they  were  about  the  size  of  hazel  nuts,)  from 
■which  I  got  enough  to  plant  thirty  hills  this  year. 
These  were  about  the  size  of  walnuts. 

Those  produced  this  season  "were  most  of  them 
large  enough  to  cook.  I  have  cooked  some  of 
them  several  times,  and  they  are  very  nice,  fine 
grained,  sweet,  but  not  mealy;  which  I  suppose 
is  owing  to  thtir  not  having  come  to  maturity 
yet,  as  it  takes  about  seven  years  for  that,  I  am 
told.  They  seem  to  be  no  particular  kind,  but 
possibly  the  qualities  of  various  kinds.  Most  of 
them  are  long,  with  very  deep  eyes.  Some  of 
them  are  black,  and  some  like  the  Early  Blue  ; 
others  look  like  the  Early  Blue  in  color ;  others 
are  yellow.  There  were  various  kinds  growing 
near  those  from  which  I  took  the  seed.  I  have 
found  none  of  them  afi'ected  by  the  rot. 
Yours  for  improvement, 

Keene,  JV.  IL,  1858.  A.  H.  Kingman. 


KIDDER'S  GUIDE  TO  APIARIAN 
SCIENCE. 

This  is  another  new  work  upon  the  Culture  of 
Bees,  by  Mr.  K.  P.  Kidder,  of  Burlington,  Vt., 
containing  175  pages,  and  illustrated  with  sever- 
al engravings.     In  the  cursory  examination  that 


we  have  been  able  to  give  it,  we  find  nothing  re- 
markably new.  But  the  directions  for  hive-ma- 
king, for  swarming,  tending,  &c.,  seem  to  be  use- 
ful and  clear.  We  have  no  doubt  the  book  will 
be  a  useful  one  to  the  bee-keeper.  Mr.  K.  is  un- 
questionably devoted  to  his  calling,  and  deter- 
mined to  understand  it.  The  little  cut  we  have 
introduced,  illustrates  a  page  ot  his  pamphlet  cir- 
cular. His  book  is  for  sale  at  the  bookstores  in 
Boston.     Price  50  cents. 


PERHAPS  WITTY,  BUT  NOT  TRUE. 

"Agricultural  editors  and  professors,  in  the  en- 
joyment of  salaries,  are  almost  the  only  men  who 
think  farming  profitable." 

The  above  is  quoted  from  an  essay  published 
in  the  Transactions  of  one  the  County  Agricultu- 
ral Societies  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  as  discred- 
itable to  the  taste  of  the  writer,  as  it  is  without 
foundation  in  fact.  The  profits  to  be  derived 
from  any  industrial  pursuit,  depend  in  a  great 
degree  upon  the  energy  and  good  management 
of  those  engaged  in  it.  That  farming  is  an  ex- 
ception to  the  universal  rule  in  all  other  business 
— that  it  can  be  made  remunerative  without  the 
care,  economy  and  skill  requisite  elsewhere,  no 
one  pretends.  We  have  yet  to  learn  an  instance, 
moreover,  when  it  has  been  thus  properly  carried 
on  for  a  course  of  years,  in  which  an  ample  and 
generous  reward  has  not  been  returned  for  all 
the  labor  and  expense  best-nved.  And  what  but 
farming  has  transformed  the  whole  face  of  this 
broad  land  from  a  wilderness  to  fruitful  fields  ? 
What,  if  not  farming,  has  fed,  and  clothed,  and 
schooled  the  masses  of  our  people, — constructed 
our  academies,  colleges,  churches,  and  public 
buildings, — yes,  and  built  up  the  greatness  of 


1859, 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


183 


our  cities,  by  supplying  them  with  fresh  blood, 
and  brains  educated  by  its  profits,  and  unweak- 
ened  by  their  cares  and  dissipations  ?  Agricul- 
ture is  the  immediate  sire  of  commerce,  and  the 
wealth  of  the  merchant  finds  its  first  sources  in 
the  wealth  of  the  farmer.  It  is  quite  time  such 
sneering  assertions  were  discarded.  Can  the  wri- 
ter of  the  above — can  any  reader  of  this  para- 
graph— point  to  a  county  or  town  which  does 
not  number  more  or  less  of  those  who  have  made 
farming  sufficiently  profitable  for  every  legiti- 
mate human  wish  ?  Farmers  should  respect 
themselves,  and  honor  their  pursuit ;  and  those 
who  are  honestly  and  earnestly  endeavoring  to 
aid  them  in  rendering  it  still  more  productive, 
and  its  followers  still  more  worthy  of  its  high 
position,  should  be  recognized  as  beyond  the  aim 
of  so  weak  at  attempt  at  ridicule. — Country  Gen- 
tleman. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOW  TO  TB3AT  EXHAUSTED  LANDS. 

Mr.  Brown  : — 1  have  30  acres  of  mowing 
land,  a  light  sandy  loam,  nearly  run  out.  I  pro- 
pose, as  it  used  to  grow  corn  well,  to  put  10 
acres  of  it  this  season  to  corn.  I  have  only  ma- 
nure for  half  of  this  quantity,  and  think  of  try- 
ing guano  and  plaster  for  the  other  part,  and 
wish  to  know  the  best  mode  of  applying  these 
fertilizers,  never  having  used  them,    (a.) 

After  the  corn  is  oft',  how  shall  I  proceed  to 
get  the  land  back  to  grass  ?  (b.) 

I  also  want  to  enrich  and  re-seed  10  acres 
more.  Can  I  do  it  to  advantage  by  sowing  buck- 
wheat or  clover,  and  plowing  in  and  seed  down 
in  the  autumn  ?  (c.) 

Will  it  pay  to  put  in  rye,  barley  or  wheat,  and 
purchase  fertilizer  ?  (d.) 

My  object  is  to  get  the  land  back  to  its  for- 
mer condition  as  soon  as  possible.  The  farm 
has  not  been  occupied  or  carried  on  for  three  or 
four  years.  Middlesex  Subscriber. 

Feb.,  1859.  

Remarks. — (a.)  Some  persons  spread  guano 
broadcast  where  the  land  is  naturally  moist,  and 
derive  considerable  benefit  from  it  for  one  or  two 
years.  This  is  the  easiest  and  cheapest  way  of 
applying  it.  If  put  in  the  hill,  there  is  danger  of 
killing  the  young  corn.  If  the  kernel  touches 
the  guano  it  will  not  sprout — if  it  sprouts  and 
the  tender  shoot  reaches  the  guano,  it  is  death 
to  it. 

(b.)  If  you  desire  to  get  corn  land  into  grass 
by  the  quickest  method,  you  can  cultivate  the 
corn  field  level,  sow  grass  seed  after  the  last  hoe- 
ing in  August,  and  rake  it  in  or  work  it  in  at  the 
hoeing,  if  there  are  not  many  weeds.  This  is  a 
good  way,  because  the  corn  shades  the  tender 
grass  a  little,  and  assists  it  considerably,  if  the 
season  is  a  dry  one.  Where  this  is  done  we 
think  it  better  to  "cut  the  stalks"  and  let  the 
sun  in  after  the  grass  is  fairly  started.  When 
the  corn  is  removed  it  should  be  cut  quite  close 
to  the  ground,  so  that  the  stubble  shall  not  be  in 
the  way  of  the  scythe. 


But  if  you  do  not  like  this  mode,  add  what 
manure  you  can  spare  in  the  fall  and  plow  it  un- 
der, cross  plow  in  the  spring,  and  sow  with  wheat 
and  grass  seed. 

(c.)  Plow,  and  harrow  once,  then  manure  with 
guano,  500  pounds  per  acre,  if  you  can  spare  the 
money  for  it,  and  if  you  cannot  turn  up  less  land 
— sow  with  clover  or  buckwheat,  and  when  just 
going  out  of  blossom,  cut  and  let  it  two-thirds 
dry,  and  then  plow  it  under.  If  you  turn  it  un- 
der green,  rapid  fermentation  will  take  place, 
throwing  off"  the  sugar  and  starch  of  the  plant, 
its  most  important  elements,  and  leaving  com- 
paratively little  behind  that  is  valuable.  If  dry, 
or  nearly  dry,  when  plowed  under,  fermentation 
and  decomposition  will  be  slow,  the  gases  will 
be  evolved  gradually  and  absorbed  by  the  sur- 
rounding soil,  and  enriching  it  for  the  plants 
that  are  to  follow. 

(d.)  Under  judicious  management  we  think  it 
will.  The  land  has  probably  become  exhausted 
of  its  vegetable  matter,  by  frequent  cropping, 
without  much  having  been  returned  to  it.  Fill 
I  it  with  the  roots  of  clover,  or  with  its  stems  and 
leaves,  or  those  of  some  other  plant,  then  plow  it 
deeper  than  usual,  so  as  to  bring  up  new  earth 
that  has  not  been  exhausted  of  its  mineral  mat- 
ter and  you  have  a  soil  resembling  that  where  a 
forest  has  just  been  cut  off". 

The  object  of  gain  sought  must  be,  the  restor  • 
ing  the  land,Jilling  it  with  vegetable  matter,  and 
not  getting  a  crop.  If  the  crop  barely  pays  for 
the  guano  used  and  for  the  labor,  it  ought  to  be 
satisfactory.  When  the  land  is  restored,  it  will 
yield  profitable  crops  indefinitely,  under  proper 
treatment. 

For  the  Neip  England  Farmer. 
GBAIN  CSOPS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  send  you  some  extracts  from 
an  essay  read  by  Mr.  Charles  A.  Hubbard, 
before  the  Concord  Farmers'  Club,  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  10th  inst.  I  think  they  are  worthy  the 
attention  of  farmers  in  other  parts  of  the  State. 
Mr.  H.  is  doing  just  what  hundreds  of  other 
farmers  should  do. 

"Wheat  is  but  little  cultivated  in  this  section, 
but  I  have  raised  it  to  some  extent  for  the  last 
four  years,  v/ith  fair  success.  Four  years  ago  I 
purchased  a  bushel  of  spring  wheat,  and  sowed 
thi'ee  pecks  of  it,  on  half  an  acre  of  good  corn 
land,  and  raised  twelve  and  a  half  bushels  of  ex- 
cellent wheat.  I  sold  eleven  dollars  worth  of 
straw.  The  next  year  I  sowed  three  bushels  on 
an  acre  and  a  half  of  light  sandy  soil,  generous- 
ly manured.  The  manure  was  plowed  in  four 
inches  deep.  After  the  wheat  had  nearly  cov- 
ered the  ground,  I  sowed  on  it  ten  bushels  of 
ashes.  The  crop  was  21.\  bushels.  The  third 
year  1  sowed  four  bushels  on  two  acres  of  heavy 
clay  soil,  but  well-prepared.  The  crop  was  47i 
bushels  of  as  handsome  wheat  as  I  ever  saw. 
The  straw  I  estimated  at  three  tons,  worth  twelve 


184 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


dollars  a  ton.  I  consider  it  worth  two-thirds  the 
amount  of  English  hay.  Last  year,  I  sowed  li 
acres.  The  product  was  large  in  straw,  but  ow- 
ing to  the  wet  weather,  the  kernel  was  not  as 
fair  as  usual.  I  am  satisfied  that  I  have  been 
amply  repaid  for  my  experiments  in  raising 
wheat.  I  have  bought  but  little  flour  the  past 
four  years.  I  usually  get  five  bushels  ground  at 
a  time.  This  will  fill  a  barrel  with  flour.  Then 
there  will  be  a  bushel  of  second  quality,  which 
makes  excellent  warm  bread,  a  half  a  bushel  of 
Graham  flour,  and  the  shorts  or  bran.  The  seed 
I  prepare  as  follows  :  First  I  soak  it  24  hours 
in  strong  brine,  and  then  roll  it  in  lime.  Wheat 
I  consider  the  very  best  grain  to  sow  with  grass 
seed  when  I  wish  to  seed  down  to  grass." 

Yours,  &c.,  Jos.  Reynolds. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

HOW.  MAKSHA-LL  P.  "WILDEK  OM 

PEARS. 

I  notice  in  the  proceedings  of  one  of  the  re- 
cent agricultural  meetings  at  the  State  House, 
that  the  Hon.  Marspiall  P.  Wilder  gave  a  list 
of  those  varieties  of  pears  which  he  deemed  best 
suited  to  the  climate  and  soil  of  Massachusetts. 
No  man  can  have  a  higher  opinion  of  Mr.  Wild- 
er than  myself.  His  eflPorts  for  the  improvement 
of  agriculture  in  general,  and  horticulture  in 
particular,  are  worthy  of  all  praise.  His  experi- 
ence as  a  pomologist  would  also  seem  to  give 
great  weight  to  his  opinions.  Still,  I  must  beg 
to  diflfer  with  his  deliberately  expressed  judg- 
ment in  regard  to  the  varieties  of  pears  best 
adapted  to  our  soil  and  climate.  And  I  think  if 
you  were  to  take  the  testimony  of  any  number  of 
nurserymen  in  the  State  on  the  same  subject,  you 
would  find  no  two  of  them  were  agreed  in  opin- 
ion. There  are  so  many  circumstances  of  soil, 
position,  culture,  &c.,  which  go  to  influence  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  the  pear  crop,  that  he 
who  follows  the  advice  of  any  one  cultivator,  will, 
nine  chances  in  ten,  fail  in  his  expectations. 

The  list  of  pears  referred  to,  as  given  by  Mr. 
Wilder,  is  as  follows  ; 

Best  Six — Bartlett,  Urbaniste,  Vicar  of  Wink- 
field,  Bufi'um,  Buerre  d'Anjou,  and  Lawrence. 

For  Best  Txvelve — Add  to  the  above,  Rostie- 
eer,  Merriam,  Doyenne  Boussock,  Belle  Lucra- 
tive, Flemish  Beauty,  and  Onondaga. 

Best  Six  on  Quince  Boots — Louise  Bonne  de 
Jersey,  Urbaniste,  Duchesse  d'Angouleme,  Vicar 
of  Winkfield,  Buerre  d'Anjou  and  Glout  Mor- 
ceau. 

Now  as  to  the  Bartlett,  the  value  of  that  pear 
is  admitted.  It  is  indispensable  to  every  good 
collection.  The  Urbaniste  is  also  a  highly  prized 
fruit,  but  on  some  soils  it  is.  as  every  nursery- 
man knows,  a  shy  bearer.  The  Vicar  of  Wink- 
field  (its  synonyms,  Clion,  Le  Cure,  mean  the 
same  thing,  for  Clion  was  the  name  of  the  vicar 
or  curate  of  Winkfield,  who  originated  the  fruit,) 
is  a  good  bearer,  and  a  handsome  pear  for  the 
market ;  but  so  far  from  rightfully  pertaining  to 
the  six  best  varieties,  it  ought  to  be  set  down  as 
from  second-rate  to  poor.  I  never  tasted  one  of 
these  pears,  that  I  considered  first-rate  ;  I  have 
tasted  a  great  many  that  were  hardly  fit  to  eat. 
The  Winter  Nelis  is  a  better  fruit,  and  so  is  the 


Beurre  d'  Aremberg.  On  warm  soils,  the  Beurre 
Diel  beats  it  "all  to  pieces."  Ditto,  ditto,  the 
Easter  Beurre.  As  for  the  Bufi'um,  it  is  good  in 
some  localities,  but  not  reliable  in  all.  The 
Beurre  d'Anjou  promises  well,  but  is  not  as  yet 
fully  tested.  The  Lawrence  is  a  good  fruit,  but  not 
in  all  cases  a  good  bearer.  In  my  judgment,  the 
Beurre  Clairgeau  deserves  a  place  among  the 
"first  six"  in  preference  to  any  named  by  Mr. 
Wilder,  except,  perhaps,  the  Bartlett  and  Urban- 
iste ;  while  the  Louise  bonne  de  Jersey  ought  to 
take  precedence  of  all  except  the  Bartlett. 

When  we  come  to  Mr.  Wilder's  "best  twelve," 
I  should  strike  out  the  Merriam  and  the  Onon- 
daga (or  Swan's  Orange,)  and  retain  the  others, 
if  not  "counted  out"  by  those  I  have  named.  The 
Doyenne  Boussock  is  identical  with  the  Gray 
Doyenne,  and  in  my  opinion,  is  only  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  old  White  Doyenne  or  St.  Michael. 
Any  one  who  will  carefully  examine  the  wood, 
the  foliage,  or  the  fruit,  must  come  to  this  con- 
clusion. How  this  modification  has  been  brought 
about — whether  by  budding  or  grafting  on  the 
quince,  the  thorn,  or  the  mountain  ash,  and  then 
back  again  upon  the  pear — it  is  impossible  to 
say  ;  but  the  fact  is  "patent  upon  its  face."  The 
improvement  is  certainly  an  important  one ;  for 
while  the  White  Doyenne  cracks  badly  both  on 
the  pear  and  quince  stock,  the  Gray  cracks  only 
occasionally  on  the  pear,  and  on  the  quince  is  a 
perfect  and  most  exquisitely  flavored  fruit,  such 
as  was  the  St.  Michael  in  its  palmiest  days. 

As  for  the  Glout  Morceau,  which  Mr.  Wilder 
puts  down  among  the  "best  six  on  quince,"  I 
shall  be  better  able  to  give  my  opinion  of  it, 
when  I  have  raised  the  first  specimen  of  the 
fruit.  As  yet,  on  pear  or  on  quince,  I  have  not 
been  able  to  raise  the  first  blossom  of  a  Glout 
Morceau,  though  I  have  practiced  all  the  arts  of 
persuasion  now  known  to  me.  I  think  this  pear 
is  generally  voted  a  very  shy  bearer,  and  if  Mr. 
Wilder  has  succeeded  better  with  it  than  others, 
I  must  believe  it  an  exceptional  case.  The  qual- 
ity of  the  fruit  is  admitted  on  all  hands  to  be 
good. 

But  how  is  it  that  Mr.  Wilder  leaves  out  of 
his  lists  such  pears  as  the  L'Angelier,  the  An- 
drews, and  the  Beurre  Gris  d'Hiver  Noveau  ? 
Either  of  these  is  a  better  pear,  in  my  judgment, 
than  one-half  of  those  named  in  the  above  lists. 
So  you  see,  Mr.  Editor,  that  in  the  quality  of  pears, 
as  in  almost  everything  else,  "doctors  diflPer." 
My  own  practice  is  almost  homoeopathic,  com- 
pared with  that  of  Mr.  Wilder ;  but  my  obser- 
vation in  regard  to  the  pear  culture  has  been 
pretty  extensive,  nevertheless. 

I  think  much  good  would  result,  if  those  en- 
gaged in  the  pear  culture  would  state,  through 
the  agricultural  press,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the 
quality  of  soil  on  which  the  diff"erent  varieties 
have  best  succeeded.  A  "comparison  of  notes" 
in  this  particular,  could  hardly  fail  to  add  to  the 
common  stock  of  knowledge  in  fruit-growing.  I 
am  satisfied  that  there  are  several  otherwise 
good  varieties  of  pears  which  it  is  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  cultivate  on  a  clay  soil,  or  where  the 
argillite  is  a  predominating  element. 

Somerville.  E.  c.  P. 

Cold  Water  to  Cure  Scalds. — I  placed  a 
large  tub  full  of  cold  water,  with  plenty  of  ice  in 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


185 


it,  by  the  side  of  a  large  kettle  full  of  water, 
■which  was  boiling  very  fast.  I  then  rolled  up 
my  sleeve  above  the  elbow,  and  thrust  it  into  the 
kettle  of  boiling  water  up  to  the  elbow,  then  im- 
mediately back  into  the  tub  of  ice  water,  letting 
it  remain  a  few  seconds,  then  into  boiling  water 
again,  repeating  this  process  ten  times  a  minute, 
without  injury  or  inconvenience,  not  even  making 
my  arm  look  red.  From  this  experiment  I  sug- 
gested the  propriety  of  using  cold  water  baths 
instantly  after  being  scalded.  I  have  practiced 
the  above  remedy  with  entire  success  during  the 
last  ten  years.  Cold  water  is  always  handy  where 
there  is  hot  water.  The  sooner  cold  v/ater  is  ap- 
plied after  scalding,  the  surer  will  be  the  cure. — 
Ohio  Cultivator. 


SEVENTH  LEGISLATIVE  AGRICULTU- 
KAL  MEETING. 

[Keportkd  by  John  C.  Moore,  fob  the  N.  E.  Fakmek.  ] 

The  subject  for  consideration' was  "Agricultu- 
ral Markets  and  Fairs." 

Ex-Governor  George  S.  Boutwell  occupied 
the  chair;  and  stated  in  substance,  that  he  had 
accepted  the  invitation  of  the  committee  to  pre- 
side, with  the  view  of  assisting,  rather  than  lead- 
ing, the  discussion.  He  would  leave  the  last 
part  of  the  subject  to  other  gentlemen  present. 
He  had  been  acquainted  with  agricultural  fairs, 
and  would  commend  their  adoption  by  the  far- 
mers of  every  agricultural  town,  as  great  benefit 
would  result  from  them.  They  would  furnish 
facilities  for  observation  and  comparison,  which, 
from  the  nature  of  their  occupation,  they  could 
not  otherwise  enjoy,  and  give  them  the  same 
chances  that  manufacturers  and  others  more  ful- 
ly enjoyed,  and  which  were  held  by  them  to  be 
so  requisite  and  valuable.  Such  clubs  would  not 
conflict  with  the  interests  of  county  societies; 
on  the  contrary,  they  would  assist  them.  They 
would  operate  in  their  effects  like  the  meetings 
of  which  this  was  one.  Education  would  have  to 
be  carried  to  the  farmers,  as  they  could  not 
come  to  it  with  convenience  to  themselves,  only 
as  it  was  familiarly  brought  to  the  door,  as  it 
were,  of  their  own  experience.  The  State  might 
do  well  to  give  some  aid  to  the  establishment  of 
such  clubs,  as  they  would  enable  towns  to  com- 
pare their  products,  and  prepare  them  to  com- 
pete, by  comparison,  with  other  towns  at  county 
exhibitions,  which  too  seldom  showed  what  every 
portion  of  a  county  or  district  could  produce,  as 
they  could  be  made  to  do. 

Mr.  Richard  S.  Fay,  of  Lynn,  being  called 
on  to  speak,  gave  his  opinion  concerning  Market 
Fairs,  which  he  held  to  be  above  fairs  in  impor- 
tance, as  they  were,  in  reality,  the  true  test  of 
agricultural  superiority.  It  surprised  him  that  an 
English  farmer  could  pay  from  $10  to  !?20  rent  an 
acre,  and  yet  live  so  differently  from  our  most 
prosperous  farmers.     Li  the  course  of  two  years' 


residence  in  England,  he  had  paid  attention  to 
the  matter ;  and  compared  with  the  state  of 
things  here  among  our  farmers  who  paid  noth- 
ing per  acre  for  their  lands,  it  appeared  a  myste- 
ry. He  had  experimented  somewhat  during  his 
residence  in  England,  and  found  that  prices  of 
living  were  just  about  the  same  as  here — so 
there  could  be  no  advantage  to  the  English  far- 
mer on  that  score.  He  did  not  labor  as  the  far- 
mers do  here  ;  so  the  benefit  from  his  farm  could 
not  proceed  from  his  individual  dexterity.  The 
price  of  labor  was,  he  found,  about  [the  same  in 
England  as  here ;  so  there  would  be  no  advan- 
tage to  the  Englishman  in  that  respect.  The  ex- 
pense of  keeping  cattle  in  winter  was  no  more 
there  than  here  ;  so  nothing  prejudicial  to  us 
could  arise  from  that  item.  Every  farming  dis- 
trict had  a  weekly  market  once  a  week,  where  a 
ready  sale  was  always  had  for  his  stock  and  pro- 
duce, at  almost  the  London  market  prices  and 
everything  done  in  a  few  hours  that  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  farm  demanded.  There  was  the  com- 
bination of  the  farmer  and  the  merchant  which 
gave  the  producer  two  profits,  which  we  had  not 
the  advantage  of.  Besides,  the  English  farmer, 
when  he  put  his  plow  into  the  ground,  always  had 
something  like  a  certainty  (such  was  the  fine  con- 
diion  of  his  soil,)  that  he  would  have  a  particular 
amount  of  produce.  If  Massachusetts  were  divid- 
ed into  districts — (and  these  announced  in  the 
Farmer's  Almanac,)  and  market  fairs  established 
In  each,  it  would  be  no  longer  necessary  that  every 
farmer  should  waste  his  time  in  cattle  jobbing, 
or  his  means  in  hunting  up  cattle,  to  be  obliged 
to  make  a  questionable  choice,  after  all  his  la- 
bor— groat  good  would  result.  According  to  the 
nature  of  the  productions  of  a  locality,  farmers 
and  others  could  go  and  buy  and  sell  with  an  as- 
surance of  a  market,  or  the  best  the  market 
could  afford,  and  in  this  respect  he  would  derive 
material  benefit.  Dairy  cattle,  horses,  oxen, 
sheep,  whatever  was  the  prevailing  produce, 
could  be  found  in  all  the  perfection  in  which  the 
district  could  produce  it ;  and^  moreover,  accord- 
ing to  the  quality  would  be  the  price  and  the 
benefit.  Mr.  Fay  described  one  of  the  celebrated 
Falkirk  Tryots  in  Scotland— where  flocks  num- 
Ifcring  many  thousands  were  brought  together 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and,  in  the  aggre- 
gate, numbered  hundreds  of  thousands,  which 
were  sold  to  be  driven  to  other  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, and  as  much  as  $500,000  left  in  payment 
thereof.  Everything  was  done  without  higgling 
or  trouble — with  less  effort  than  many  farmers 
would  have  over  the  sale  of  a  pair  of  oxen.  la 
September  and  October,  at  the  same  place, 
60,000  head  of  cattle  were  sold  at  each  of  the 
fair  days,  with  as  much  quietness  and  dispatch. 
It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  this  could  be  ira- 


186 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


itated  here  all  at  once  ;  but  were  farmers  willing 
to  get  up  such  fairs,  they  would  find  purchasers, 
and  ready  ones,  too,  and  would  learn  to  buy  and 
sell,  a  system  of  education  they  stood  much  in 
need  of. 

Charles  G.  Davis,  of  Plymouth,  was  of  the 
opinion  that  those  who  established  such  fairs  as 
had  been  recommended  would  prove  themselves 
the  greatest  benefactors  of  the  farmers  of  New 
England.  They  would  be  found  superior  to  all 
the  shows,  exhibitions  and  colleges  that  could  be 
instituted.  This  being  what  he  deemed  an  in- 
controvertible fact,  the  question  arose  prominent- 
ly— how  could  they  he  brought  about  ?  The  best 
initiatory  process,  in  his  opinion,  was,  to  let 
every  farmer  lend  his  earnest  personal  influence 
to  establish  them.  It  was  too  true  that  farmers 
not  only  frittered  away  their  time  in  petty  ped- 
dling of  small  articles  of  stock,  but  also  submit- 
ted too  freely  to  the  interpolation  of  middlemen 
between  him  and  the  consumer,  to  the  prejudice 
of  both.  It  was  impossible  that  a  farmer,  with 
produce  to  sell,  could  tell  what  was,  or  what  was 
not,  the  market  price  of  any  description  of  it,  so 
long  as  he  depended  on  the  dicta  of  these  ped- 
dling middlemen — who  hindered  the  producer 
and  the  consumer  from  coming  together  and  di- 
viding the  profits  of  labor  and  purchase.  Were 
market  fairs  established,  a  diff'erent  policy  would 
be  introduced  ;  and  it  ought  to  be  for  the  inter- 
est and  advantage  of  both  that  they  should  join 
in  the  institution  of  such  fairs.  They  would  con- 
vince the  Massachusetts  farmer  of  what  he  was 
now  in  much  doubt,  that  farming  was  a  profita- 
ble occupation  ;  and  that  where  system  prevails 
in  working,  buying  and  selling,  it  could  be  dem- 
onstrated to  be  so.  Mr.  Davis  wished  every  one 
present,  when  they  went  home,  to  bring  their  ag- 
ricultural friends  together,  and  see  whether  they 
will  refuse  to  sell  to  pedlers,  and  carry  their  pro- 
duce to  market  on  the  market  day ;  if  they 
would  so  agree,  they  would  soon  realize  the  ben- 
efits. He  mentioned  that  Mr.  Fay,  himself  and 
another  party  had  been  chosen  by  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture  to  present  this  matter  to 
the  community,  with  the  view  that  it  should  be 
brought  to  speedy  perfection,  were  such  the  pop- 
ular wish  ;  and  if  any  objections  existed  against 
the  proposition,  he  hoped  they  would  be  heard 
here — provided  any  objector  was  in  the  audience. 

Mr.  Dodge,  of  Hamilton,  (author  of  an  essay 
on  the  subject  under  discussion.)  said,  at  the  first 
glance  into  it,  he  thought  there  were  more  rea- 
sons opposed  than  in  favor  of  the  proposition  ; 
but  these  were  soon  obviated  by  consideration, 
and  the  result  of  it  was  seen  in  the  pamphlet 
which  he  had  written,  and  which  had  been  pub- 
lished. He  would  not  repeat  his  opinions  here ; 
but  it  was  enough  to  point  to  the  establishment 


of  the  Shoe  Exchange,  in  evidence  that  great  re- 
sults could  flow  from  small  beginnings ;  and  if 
proved  in  the  case  of  the  shoe  business,  why 
should  farming  be  an  exception?  Mr.  Dodge, 
paid  his  respects  to  the  pedlers  and  lorestallers 
and  exposed  the  disadvantages  under  which  the 
farmer  suffered  at  their  hands.  It  was  they  who 
demonstrated  to  the  farmer  that  there  was  no 
profit  in  his  occupation  ;  and  the  demonstration 
would  continue  until  the  forestallers  were  fore- 
stalled by  regular  markets,  and  regularly  remu- 
nerative prices.  As  a  sample  of  the  operations 
of  these  parties,  last  fall — they  made  a  raid  into 
the  rural  districts  and  bought  up  all  the  apples 
they  could  find  at  $2  per  barrel,  and  onions  at 
$1,50.  Now  the  former  were  worth  $3,50  and 
the  latter  $3— and  fast  at  that;  but  there  the 
forestallers  had  previously  got  advantage  of  the 
producers.  This  should  not-have  been;  nor 
would  it  long  be,  were  farmers  only  disposed  to 
do  justice  to  themselves,  and  establish  market 
fairs. 

JosiAH  QuiNCY,  Jr.,  made  a  humorous  speech, 
showing  the  value  of  intelligence  to  the  farmer 
— and  especially  that  which  associated  itself  with 
a  proper  market.  The  sentiments  expressed  this 
evening  were  precisely  what  every  farmer  should 
entertain  and  carry  out  into  practice,  to  the  dis- 
comfiture of  the  forestaller,  who  was  the  great 
public  enemy,  whether  the  producer  or  consumer 
was  concerned.  As  one  phase  of  the  operations 
of  this  class,  Mr.  Quincy  said,  when  he  was 
Mayor  of  Boston,  he  was  informed  that  more 
than  6000  pounds  of  poultry  were  thrown  over 
the  wharves  into  the  sea  rather  than  it  should 
be  in  the  market  and  lower  the  price !  He  thor- 
oughly approved  the  proposition  made  to-night, 
and  would  give  it  his  aid  in  every  shape  in  which 
it  would  avail.  He  looked  on  it  as  being  the 
most  important  one  that  had  been  made  in  his 
hearing,  for  a  long  time,  and  the  public  ought 
to  be  obliged  to  the  gentlemen  who  had  spoken 
for  the  interest  they  had  taken  in  this  essentially 
important  matter. 

John  Brooks,  of  Princeton,  spoke  in  favor 
of  home  markets,  and  argued  that  they  would  be 
found  the  most  profitable — although  he  was  not 
willing  to  be  considered  as  an  opponent  of  mar- 
ket fairs.  Perhaps  they  would  do  as  well  as  was 
anticipated.  He  was  afraid  that  forestalling  could 
be  carried  as  well  into  a  market  as  into  a  farm- 
yard ;  and  had  some  belief  that  farmers  were  not 
so  very  ignorant  concerning  the  proper  prices  of 
produce  as  they  were  represented  to  be.  Mr. 
Brooks  spoke  of  the  system  of  English  farming 
in  accordance  with  data  which  we  fear  has  not 
been  gleaned  from  a  very  reliable  source,  (as  re- 
gards arable  farming,)  to  prove  that  the  farmers 
there  made  no  more  profit  on  the   sura  invested 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


187 


than  they  did  here.  He  also  showed  from  na- 
tional statistics  that  the  corn  crop  of  New  Eng- 
land was  more  profitable  to  the  farmer  than  that 
of  Illinois  to  the  producer  there,  as  was  also  the 
raising  of  pork. 

Wm.  J.  BucKMlNSTER,  of  the  Ploughman,  v^a.s 
the  next  speaker.  He  made  a  defence  of  the 
farmers  against  the  charge  of  ignorance  of  prices, 
and  was  interrupted  by  Mr.  Davis,  of  Plymouth, 
who  explained  that  the  ignorance  he  had  alluded 
to  was  that  arising  from  the  misrepresentations 
of  forestallers.  Mr.  Buckminster  proceeded  to 
say  that,  while  railroads,  telegraphs  and  news- 
papers Avere  so  common,  and  so  generally  distrib- 
uted, the  explanation  could  not  have  its  full  bear- 
ing. Farmers  were  wide  awake  concerning  prices, 
there  could  be  no  doubt ;  and  if  they  did  now 
and  then  make  a  mistake,  it  was  no  more  than  the 
dealers  did.  As  further  proof  of  farmers  know- 
ing what  prices  were,  he  found  that  he  could  not 
purchase  some  things  at  home — thirty  miles  hence 
— so  cheap  as  he  could  do  in  Faneuil  Hall  mar- 
ket. Mr.  B.  spoke  somewhat  doubtfully  about 
the  proposal  before  the  meeting ;  although  he 
hoped  it  would  be  found  otherwise. 

Dr.  LoRiNG,  of  Salem,  came  here  with  some 
idea  of  opposing  the  scheme  of  market  fairs  ; 
but,  after  hearing  the  arguments  pro  et  con,  he 
was  constrained  to  believe  that  it  was  inevitably 
necessary  that  farmers  should  have  some  system 
in  operation  for  their  better  protection  and  stim- 
ulation, and  that  the  best  means  to  adopt  was 
the  proposed  fairs.  Our  farmers  wanted  a  stim- 
ulus. They  generally  contented  themselves  with 
providing  for  a  twelve  months'  existence,  but 
give  them  market  fairs  and  it  would  soon  be  oth- 
erwise, and  there  would  be  no  longer  depression, 
increasing  waste  lands,  and  general  prostration 
of  the  agricultural  interest.  If  fairs  would  not 
suit,  what  would  ?  for  stimulation  was  essential. 
It  belonged  to  the  opponents  of  the  proposal  to 
say  what  would  substitute  that  scheme.  Essex 
county  was  determined  to  try  it  until  a  better 
was  suggested,  although  her  farmers  were  aware 
of  obstacles  being  in  the  way  of  their  ultimate 
advantage.  Every  improvement  in  agriculture 
had  had  its  opposition,  and  this  one  could  hard- 
ly escape  the  same  risk.  For  himself,  he  had  no 
fear  of  its  ultimate  success,  any  more  than  he 
had  doubts  of  its  benefits,  or  of  their  universality 
over  the  Commonwealth. 

Remarks  were  further  made,  touching  on  ab 
stract  details  of  the  discussion,  by  Mr.  Buckmin- 
ster, Dodge,  Davis,  and  others.  The  latter  gen- 
tleman incidentally  showed,  practically,  in  what 
respects  market  fairs  would  prove  beneficial — for 
that  purpose  taking  a  familiar  view  of  matters 
as  they  now  stood,  as  compared  with  what  they 
might  become  were  such  fairs  established. 


It  was  suggested  that  the  subject  should  be 
continued,  and  discussed  next  week  ;  but  arrange- 
ments having  been  made  for  that  meeting,  the 
suggestion  was  withdrawn.  Next  Monday,  the 
matter  discussed  will  be  "Drainage."  Dr.  G. 
B.  LoRiNG,  of  Salem,  is  expected  to  preside. 


Por  the  New  England  Farmer. 

WOBK  IN  THE   LUNENBUHG  PABMEK'S 
CLUB. 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  following  statements  and 
experiments  from  the  Lunenburg  Farmer's  Club 
are  at  your  service.  As  there  is  much  to  learn 
about  the  measuring  of  corn,  shrinkage,  &c.,  it 
maybe  well  for  every  Club  to  contribute  something 
in  regard  to  the  different  varieties  raised,  and 
the  same  may  be  said  of  the  cereals,  that  a  man 
may  see  in  black  and  white  the  best  kinds  to  use, 
and  where  they  can  be  found. 

It  takes  a  long  time  to  determine  what  kinds 
of  apples  will  be  the  most  profitable.  After  a 
man  has  tried  many  varieties,  he  will  finally  set- 
tle down  on  some  that  will  pay  the  best.  The 
diff'erent  breeds  of  cattle,  too,  are  being  tried, 
and  it  is  expected  that  some  discoveries  will  be 
made  in  that  branch  of  husbandry. 

We  think  our  Town  Club  has  made  some  dis- 
coveries during  the  eleven  years  it  has  been  or- 
ganized, and  we  trust  that  the  time  has  not  been 
spent  in  vain.  County  societies  may  cut  a  wider 
swath  on  exhibition  days,  but  the  influence  ex- 
erted is  like  the  old  adage,  "Variety  tends  more 
to  please  than  to  instruct." 

We  ti'ust  the  town  clubs  will  receive  something 
from  the  public  crib  in  the  shape  of  a  few  hun- 
dred a  year ;  that,  with  what  can  be  raised  by 
the  ladies,  the  county  societies  will  look  kind  o' 
lank  in  a  few  years.  Farmer's  clubs  are  getting 
to  be  institutions  which  cannot  be  rubbed  out 
any  more  than  the  common  school,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved they  indicate  the  true  mode  of  disseminat- 
ing agricultural  knowledge. 

W.  H.  Jones,  Secretary. 

CYRUS  KILBURN'S  CORN  CROP. 
Mr,  Kilburn  said,  the  acre  of  land  on  whi.  h 
my  corn  was  planted  was  in  pasture  in  1857  and 
covered  to  a  great  extent  with  rocks  and  stones, 
and  produced  mullen,  hardback,  buttercup,  moss 
and  other  weeds;  the  grass  very  short  and  scant, 
producing  not  half  enough  to  pasture  one  cow. 
Last  spring  the  rocks  were  l)lasted  and  hauled 
off'  the  land ;  carted  on  about  nineteen  loads  of 
green  manure,  spread  and  plowed  it  under  with 
a  side  hill  plow,  harrowed  and  picked  off  the 
stones,  furrowed  the  rows  about  four  feet  the 
same  way  it  was  plowed,  applied  four  loads  ])er 
acre  of  manure  scraped  from  the  barn  cellar,  in- 
cluding the  droppings  from  the  turkey  roost,  put- 
ting in  about  a  pint  in  each  hill.  Planted  about 
the  20th  of  May,  with  King  Phillip  corn,  using 
the  single  corn-planter.  Hoed  twice,  and  let  four 
plants  grow  in  the  hill ;  used  a  plow  the  first  hoe- 
ing, and  a  plow  cultivator  the  second.  Cut  up 
and  stooked  the  same  on  the  last  of  September  ; 
husked  about  the  middle  of  October,  and  had 
125  baskets  sound  corn,  weight  50  lbs.  each, 
exclusive   of  the  basket.     100  lbs.  of  the  ears, 


1S8 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


equal  to  two  baskets,  was  laid  in  a  box  to  dry, 
and  on  the  15th  January,  1859,  the  ears  weighed 
Sil  lbs.,  and  the  shelled  corn  70i  lbs. ;  measured 
■i6l  qts., — one  bushel,  4J  qts., — equal  to  78.68 
bushels  by  weight  to  the  acre,  and  by  measure, 
71.77  bushels.  The  shelled  corn  was  then  spread 
on  a  sheet  to  dry  in  a  warm  chamber. 

Feb.  4th,  winnowed,  measured  and  weighed 
the  same  carefully,  without  losing  a  kernel ;  mea-! 
Fared  one  bushel,  two  qfs. ;  63  4-10  bushels  tn  I 
the  acre  by  measure;  weighed  66  lbs. ;  73  37-56 ^ 
bushels  to  the  acre,  by  weight ;  showing  a  shrink- j 
age  of  34  per  cent,  from  the  ear  at  husking  time 
to  dry  shelled  corn.  The  corn  stover  when  cut 
up  was  quite  dead  ;  the  ears  were  hard  and  dry, 
much  dryer  than  corn  usually  is  when  examined 
by  committee. 

A   WHEAT    CROP. 

Martin  Johnson  said,  my  land  was  broken  up 
in  the  spring  of  1857,  and  400  lbs.  guano  mixed 
with  plaster,  spread  and  cultivated  in.  Planted 
with  corn  the  first  of  June.  The  crop  did  not 
amount  to  much,  as  the  corn  did  not  ripen  well. 
In  the  spring  of  1858  the  land  was  plowed  twice, 
and  160  bushels  leached  ashes  and  300  lbs.  guano 
were  spread  and  cultivated  in.  Two  bushels  of 
China  wheat  were  sown  to  the  acre,  and  culti- 
vator used  to  put  it  in.  The  land  measured  304 
rods,  yielding  73  bushels,  thresher's  measure. 
It  is  a  superior  variety. 

Remarks. — You  ought  to  have  stated  the  time 
of  sowing. 

A   CARROT    CROP. 

J.  and  J.  T,  Dunsmoor  said,  the  land  cultivated 
was  a  loamy  subsoil,  and  contained  138^  rods. 
It  had  been  a  hop  field  for  seven  years  previous 
to  1857  ;  that  season  it  was  sowed  with  wheat, 
and  produced  a  good  crop.  In  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year,  40  loads  compost  manure  were 
put  on  and  plowed  in.  In  the  following  spring, 
*the  land  was  plowed  and  harrowed  again,  and  the 
seed  for  the  carrot  crop  was  put  in  the  13th  of 
April.  Beds  were  made  wide  enough  for  four 
rows  of  carrots,  and  had  the  seed  all  taken,  the 
yield  would  have  been  much  larger.  The  variety 
snwn  was  the  Orange,  and  800  bushels  carrots 
aiid  100  of  turnips  were  taken  from  the  above 
mentioned  land,  at  a  cost  of  $75. 

A   POTATO     CROP. 

J.  and  J.  T.  Dunsmoor  said,  our  field  of  pota- 
toes contained  117^  rods  on  a  reclaimed  meadow, 
mud  from  three  to  four  feet  in  depth.  Plowed  in 
the  autumn  of  1857,  and  harrowed  thoroughly.  In 
the  spring,  planted  in  hills  three  feet  by  two  and 
hoed  once.  The  droppings  of  the  sheep-fold 
were  used  on  this  field,  as  it  seems,  to  advan- 
tage. Potatoes  of  the  Davis  Seedling  variety, 
cut  small,  with  two  pieces  in  the  hill,  producing 
220  bushels. 

A   CORN    CROP. 

Joseph  Goodrich   said,  my  field  contains  248 
rods  of  land,  by  accurate  survey.     It  was  a  piece 
of  old  pasture  land   that  ferns,  whortleberries, 
brakes  and  other  small  brush  possessed,  and  nev 
er  had  been  plowed  until  Dec,  1857. 

In  May  following,  the  land  was  harrowed  and 
ihe  loose  stones  taken  otT.  I  then  spread  about 
twelve  cart-loads  of  green  stable  manure  to  the 


acre,  and  cross  plowed ;  harrowed  the  second 
time  and  furroM'ed  one  way,  aiming  to  furrow 
four  feet,  but  the  ground  being  rough,  there  was 
much  variation  in  width  ;  applied  about  tight 
cart-loads  manure  to  the  acre,  in  the  hills,  which 
were  placed  from  two  feet  to  two  and  a  half  apart. 
This  manure  was  loam  saturated  with  the  drop- 
pings of  cows  the  summer  previous.  Flantcd  the 
12th  of  May  a  variety  called  the  Carter  corn,  from 
four  to  six  kernels  to  the  hill.  After  the  corn  had 
come  up,  and  previous  to  hoeing  the  first  time,  a 
spoonful  of  plaster  was  applied  to  the  hill.  It  was 
hoed  twice,  and  oxen  were  used  to  plow  the  corn. 
In  August,  a  shower  of  hail  did  much  damage 
to  the  crop,  as,  at  the  time,  the  kernel  was  set- 
ting, which  reduced  it  considerably.  A  short 
time  previous  to  harvesting,  a  drove  of  cattle 
broke  into  the  field  and  destroyed  several  bask- 
ets of  ears.  The  corn  was  cut  up  and  stooked 
in  the  field  September  25th,  and  stood  ten  or 
twelve  days,  when  it  was  hauled  to  the  barn  and 
set  up  where  the  air  could  pass  through  it.  In 
three  weeks  the  corn  was  husked  and  two  bush- 
els of  ears  shelled,  producing  43  qts.,  then  spread 
under  cover  where  the  sun  and  air  operated  upon 
it  ten  or  twelve  days,  and  appeared  as  dry  as 
corn  generally  is  in  January ;  then  weighed  the 
same,  and  found  the  weight  to  be  72  lbs.  Quan- 
tity raised  on  the  field,  241  bushels  ears  ;  weight 
of  one  bushel  36  lbs. ;  allowing  56  lbs.  to  the 
bushel,  154  13-14  bushels.  By  measure,  when 
shelled,  162,  nearly. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
NATIVE  AND  FOREIGN  STOCK. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  reading  the  remarks  and 
suggestions  in  the  Third  Legislative  Agricultu- 
ral Meeting,  I  noticed  a  discussion  about  import- 
ed and  native  cattle.  Mr.  Asa  G.  Sheldon,  ot 
Wilmington,  said  there  ought  to  be  no  distinc- 
tion made  between  the  breeds,  but  all  should 
compete  on  the  same  level.  This  is  right,  as  far 
as  my  experience  extends.  I  will  relate  a  cir- 
cumstance which  occurred  at  our  Middlesex 
North  Agricultural  Society,  in  Lowell,  last  Sep- 
tember. I  entered  a  yearling  heifer,  native  breed, 
for  the  premium.  This  heifer  I  raised,  and  gave  a 
brief  account  of  her  keeping  till  the  time  she  was 
entered  for  the  premium  When  one  year  old,  she 
weighed  650  pounds.  When  presented  for  the 
premium  she  was  17  months  old,  and  weighed 
884  pounds.  She  was  handsome,  and  with  all  the 
qualities  combined  for  a  good  cow  ;  she  is  now 
22  months  old,  and  weighs  1052  pounds.  But  the 
committee  never  gave  her  a  passing  notice.  The 
premium  was  av/arded  for  a  heifer  weighing  but 
650  pounds,  with  a  small  sprinkling  of  foreign 
blood.  Let  the  farmers  take  the  same  care  of 
our  native  stock  that  they  do  of  the  imported, 
and  in  a  short  time  our  native  stock  will  be  far 
in  advance  of  all  others.  s.  R. 

Westford,  Mass  ,  Feb.  15,  1859. 


Striking  Cuttings  in  Moss. — The  variety 
used  is  called  Sphagnum;  it  is  the  long  moss 
found  in  loose  and  wet  meadows,  sometimes  used 
by  the  farmer  in  lieu  of  ice  to  pack  outside  of 
butter  boxes  when  brought  to  market.     In  pre- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


189 


paring  this  for  rooting  cuttings  of  plants  in  pots, 
it  should  be  first  thoroughly  dried  and  then  pul- 
verized. After  filling  the  pot  they  should  re- 
ceive a  good  watering  before  inserting  the  cut- 
tings. 

CONSERVATOKY  OP  ABT  AND   SCI- 
JSNCE. 

A  meeting  of  about  forty  gentlemen  represent- 
ing the  association  of  Agriculture,  Art  and  Sci- 
ence, and  various  industrial,  educational  and  mor- 
al interests  of  the  city,  was  held  February  18,  at 
the  Library  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural 
History.  The  meeting  was  organized  by  the 
choice  of  Hon.  Maksiiall  P,  Wilder,  as  Chair- 
man, and  Dr.  S.  Kneeland,  Jr.  as  Secretarj'. 

The  Chairman  stated  that  the  object  of  the 
meeting  was  to  take  steps  for  memorializing  the 
present  Legislature  for  a  grant  of  land  belonging 
to  the  Commonwealth,  in  aid  of  a  plan  for  a  con- 
servatory of  art  and  science,  and  he  invited  the 
representatives  of  the  diff'erent  interests  to  state 
their  views.  A  reading  of  the  portion  of  the 
Governor's  message,  in  which  he  refers  to  the 
value  of  the  public  land,  and  advises  a  certain 
disposition  to  be  made  of  a  portion  of  it,  brought 
the  subject  fairly  before  the  meeting. 

Hon.  A.  H.  Rice  gave  a  sketch  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  education  in  this  community,  and 
traced  the  connection  between  education  and  sci- 
ence, and  the  mechanical  and  fine  arts  ;  the  high- 
est development  of  knowledge  among  us  was  on- 
ly an  expansion  of  the  common  school  system. 
He  considered  that  some  such  plan  as  the  one 
presented,  for  the  enlargement  and  practical  ap- 
plication of  science  in  its  various  branches  to  the 
useful  and  ornamental  arts  of  life,  was  impera- 
tively demanded  as  an  educational  measure. 

Prof.  Agassiz  spoke  in  favor  of  the  plan,  which 
he  thought  of  great  importance,  as  occupying  the 
middle  ground  between  abstract  science  and  its! 
practical  application.  Science,  in  the  abstract,  | 
must  go  alone,  not  hampered  with  any  consider- 1 
ations  of  practical  application,  assisting,  but  not 
interfering  with  each  other ;  the  moment  they 
are  combined  in  the  same  association,  science 
must  languish.  Hence  the  importance  of  some! 
institution  occupying  the  ground  of  an  interpre- 
ter between  the  two,  which  he  thought  the  plan 
proposed  would  do. 

Mr.  M.  1).  Ross  said  that  the  cause  of  the 
present  movement  was  the  fact  that  this  unoccu- 
pied Back  Bay  laud  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
city  ;  in  order  to  make  valuable  what  now  is 
mere  water,  it  must  be  developed  by  the  citizens, 
must  be  used  for  some  purposes  of  public  im- 
provement. 

Prof.  Agassiz,  in  relation  to  the  Polytechnic 
School,  said  that  such  an  institution,  intermedi- 
ate between  trade  and  science,  was  vitally  impor- 
tant;  they  could  not  be  combined  in  the  same 
association — this  he  likened  to  the  high  schools, 
which  are  the  necessary  medium  between  the  pri- 
mary school  and  the  university. 

Rev.  Dr.  Blagden  expressed  his  approval  of 
any  plan  which  promises  to  develop  the  rela- 
tions between  science  and  art;  such  an  institu- 
tion as  the  one  proposed,  he  thought,  would  ele- 
vate the  intellectual  standard  of  the  community, 
and  meet  a  great  public  want. 


Dr.  A.  A.  Gould  alluded  to  the  frequency  of 
such  institutions  in  Europe,  and  thought  they 
were  imperatively  demanded  here. 

J.  D.  PniLBKiCK,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Instruction,  Gen.  B.  F.  Ed- 
MANDs,  Mr.  George  Snelling,  Zelotes  Hos- 
mer,  Esq.,  Mr.  Alfred  Ordway,  Rev.  Dr. 
Miles,  W.  E.  Baker,  Esq.,  Amos  Binney,  Esq., 
all  spoke  favorably  and  earnestly  of  the  plan  pro- 
posed. 

The  Chairman  remarked  that  a  large  space 
would  be  required  for  the  exhibitions  of  the  ag- 
ricultural products.  He  alluded  to  the  land  bill 
now  before  Congress,  which,  if  passed,  would 
give  the  income  of  220,000  acres  of  government 
land  to  Massachusetts  to  be  devoted  to  an  agri- 
cultural college,  if  the  State  would  erect  the 
building.  Perhaps  this  income  might  be  devot- 
ed to  the  furtherance  of  the  agricultural  depart- 
ment of  this  plan. 

A  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Edmands, 
Ross,  Baker,  Wilder,  G.  M.  Pratt,  Samuel  A. 
Gookin  and  A.  Ordway,  was  appointed  to  pre- 
pare memorials  to  the  Legislature  in  aid  of  the 
Natural  History  Society. 

We  regret  tha-t  the  crowded  state  of  our  col- 
umns prevents  us  from  giving  in  full  the  remarks 
of  all  the  gentlemen  who  spoke.  The  movement 
is  an  excellent  one,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  aid 
it  in  any  way  in  our  power. 


Por  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TURNIPS— ARE  THEY  WORTH  RAISING? 

The  same  land,  with  equal  culture  and  manure, 
that  will  yield  500  bushels  of  turnips,  will  yield 
sixty  bushels  of  Indian  corn.  What  is  the  com- 
parative value  of  these  two  products  for  the  feed 
of  stock?  Neither  of  them  will  do  well  without 
some  other  feed — but  when  a  proper  quantity  of 
hay  is  fed  with  them,  either  will  do  very  well. 
My  impression  is  that  the  corn  will  do  the  best, 
especially  when  the  corn  fodder  is  properly 
ly  used  in  connection  with  the  grain — and  when 
properly  cured  and  dealt  out,  it  will  be  found  to 
be  worth  half  as  much  as  so  much  hay.  I  am 
pleased  to  see  the  inquiries  of  Mr.  Brigham,  of 
W.,  on  this  subject.  He  writes  as  though  he 
knew  a  thing  or  two.  There  are  many  farmers 
who  could  answer  these  inquiries  in  a  satisfacto- 
ry manner,  if  they  would.  Might  it  not  be  well 
to  ascertain  these  things  before  another  season 
of  planting — and  not  go  along  entirely  on  the 
hap-hazard  principle?  Essex. 

Fth.  13,  1859. 


Forcing  Melons,  &c. — One  of  the  best  meth- 
ods we  have  found  to  raise  early  plants  of  the 
melon  and  cucumber  under  glass,  is  to  take  sods 
from  three  to  five  inches  thick,  soak  them  some 
twelve  hours  or  more  in  liquid  manure,  and  then 
plunge  them  grass  down,  into  the  bed,  then  in- 
sert three  or  four  seeds  in  each  sod,  where  they 
can  afterwards  be  transplanted  with  the  sod, 
without  disturbing  the  roots. 


190 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


For  the  Neio  England  Farmer. 
TOWN  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  feel  rather  sleepy  to-day,  but 
not  enough  to  prevent  me  from  believing  that 
you  and  others  are  striking  the  right  key-note  by 
advocating  the  formatioa  of  farmers'  clubs  and 
town  associations.  I  trust  that  your  State  will 
move  forward  in  this  matter,  so  that  Maine  may 
follow  after  in  the  course  of  twenty  years. 

There  are  county  societies  throughout  the 
State  that  give  premiums,  but  these  are  usually 
received  by  two  or  three  towns  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  fair.  The  Androscoggin  River  runs  nearly 
50  miles  through  Oxford  County,  and  has  very 
many  excellent  farms  its  whole  length,  but  they 
scarcely  receive  a  dollar  in  premiums.  The  rea- 
son is  obvious.  It  costs  something  to  drive  cat- 
tle, or  to  carry  articles  twenty  or  twenty-five 
miles  to  the  fair,  and  be  on  expense  for  two  or 
three  days,  and  perhaps  return  without  a  premi- 
um. This  is  the  case  to  a  certain  extent  all  over 
the  State.  What  we  want,  is  some  plan  matured 
in  your  State  that  shall  equalize  the  benefits  to 
be  bestowed.  Moving  the  fair  about  effects  noth- 
ing. It  seems  to  me  that  town  associations  must 
be  established  for  this  purpose.  Many  towns  in 
Maine  now  have  their  town  fairs.  We  had  one 
last  year,  as  on  previous  years.  The  stock,  neigh- 
borhood teams,  were  very  fine,  and  all  the  farm 
productions,  and  the  ladies'  conlribjtions  were 
in  abundance.  Committees  were  raised,  and  re- 
ports made,  but  without  premiums.  Everybody 
went  home  happy  ;  yet  we  had,  at  the  same  time. 
State  Agricultural  and  Patent  Office  Reports 
sufficient  to  have  given  every  successful  compet- 
itor a  copy.  Had  we  done  it,  the  charm  would 
have  been  broken.  A  few  would  have  been  sat- 
isfied, the  rest  would  have  grumbled.  We  chose 
to  give  away  these  books,  where  we  thought  they 
would  do  the  most  good.  I  acknowledge  myself 
an  earnest  advocate  of  the  farmer's  interests,  but 
these  interests  need  equalizing  all  over  the  coun- 
ty. I  admired  the  grit  of  a  young  man,  a  year 
ago,  when  at  a  club  m.eeting  the  expense  of  rais- 
ing potatoes  was  discussed,  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  he  remarked,  "I  can  show  you  next  year 
that  potatoes  can  be  raised  cheaper  than  thai," 
and  he  did  doit,  by  raising  1500  bushels  the  last 
year  at  one-half  the  expense  estimated  by  some 
of  his  neighbors.  He  cared  nothing  about  a  pre- 
mium. 

You  need,  and  so  do  we,  a  man  to  canvass  the 
State,  lecture  and  form  clubs  in  every  agricul- 
tural town.  I  have  more  faith  in  that  agency, 
than  in  all  the  premiums  the  State  can  bestow. 
I  would  not  overthrow  the  County  or  State  soci- 
eties ;  they  would  be  the  stronger,  by  the  move- 
ment. Don't  send  a  white-kidded  gentleman 
among  farmers,  but  an  intelligent,  practical,  com- 
mon sense  man,  such  as  will  at  heart  sympathize 
with  the  farmer,  and  the  work  is  done. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  I  am  fairly  waked  up,  and 
will  review  what  I  have  written.  N.  T.  T. 

Bethel,  Me.,  Feb.  18,  1859. 


miums,  as  now  awarded,  and  of  big  cattle  shows, 
as  now  conducted,  are  nearly  at  an  end.  There 
must  be  more  personal  effort,  and  less  show  and 
bluster,  and  less  talk  for  "Buncombe."  You  must 
go  to  the  neighborhood  or  home  of  the  farmer, 
and  excite  him  there,  among  his  neighbors — ex- 
cite them  all,  once  or  twice,  and  then  they  will 
excite  each  other.  Cattle  shows,  properly  con- 
ducted, are  well  enough  for  some  things,  but  they 
are  spasmodic,  and  do  not  go  deep  enough  with 
the  masses. 


Remarks. — Glad  you  are  awake,  sir — wish 
there  were  ten  thousand  more  in  the  same  condi- 
tion. Your  hammer  strikes  right,  and  hits  the 
nail  on  the  head.     The  beneficial  results  of  pre- 


DECEEASB  OF    WATER  ON  THE  GLOBi3. 

At  a  late  meeting  of  the  British  Association, 
a  iNIr.  Galton  read  a  paper  by  Mr.  J.  Spotswood 
Wilson,  "On  the  General  and  Gradual  Dessicca- 
tion  of  the  Earth  and  Atmosphere."  The  writer 
drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  those  who  had 
travelled  in  continental  lands,  especially  in  or 
near  the  tropics,  had  been  forced  to  reflect  on 
the  changes  of  climate  that  appeared  to  have  oc- 
curred. There  were  parched  and  barren  lands, 
dry  river  channels,  and  waterless  lakes,  and  not 
unfrequently  traces  of  ancient  human  habitations, 
where  large  populations  had  been  supported,  but 
where  all  wtis  now  desolate,  dry  and  barren. 

After  quoting  largely  from  the  works  of  vari- 
ous travellers  and  writeis,  (among  the  latest  of 
whom  was  Dr.  Livingston,)  and  giving  interest- 
ing descriptions  of  dried  up  rivers  and  desolate 
tracts  of  country  in  Australia,  Africa,  Mexico 
and  Peru,  which  had  forroer'y  been  inhabited  by 
man,  Mr.  AVilson  concluded  that  there  was  a  grad- 
ual solidifying  of  the  aqueous  vapors,  end  conse- 
quently of  water,  on  the  face  of  this  terrestrial 
world,  which  he  inferred  was  approaching  a  state 
in  which  it  will  be  impossible  for  man  to  continue 
an  inhabitant.  Yet,  he  added,  v.-e  should  feel  sat- 
isfied with  the  prospect  that  the  term  of  our  oc- 
cupation is  not  yet  half  expired.  Races  preced- 
ed us  in  the  chain  of  existence,  and  there  was  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  others  would  not  follow. 
Indeed,  some  of  those  that  are  destined  to  suc- 
ceed seem  to  be  already  in  existence,  and  have 
their  home  in  the  icy  sea,  v/here  they  enjoy  a  cli- 
mate that  exceeds  man's  endurance  Vaiious 
considerations  lead  to  the  c  nclusion  that  the  fit- 
ness of  the  earth  for  man  may  extend  to  a  period 
much  longer  than  that  in  which  it  has  been  occu- 
pied by  him  ;  nor  will  that  term  end  till  after  the 
Polar  bear,  the  walrus  and  the  narwal  have  be- 
come inhabitants  of  the  tropics. 


For  the  New  Englartd  Farmer. 
SEA  KALE. 
I  beg  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  cultivation 
of  sea  kale,  a  vegetable  of  great  excellence,  and 
requiring  but  little  care  when  a  bed  is  once 
formed.  It  is  perfectly  hardy,  grows  on  any  light 
soil,  requires  no  manure,  indeed,  it  does  better 
without  it,  and  is  perennial.  It  may  be  grown 
from  seed  or  from  the  root,  and  fifty  plants  occu- 
pying a  small  space,  will  supply  a  small  family. 
In  its  taste  it  resembles  the  cauliflower,  and 
should  be  cooked  in  like  manner,  by  boiling. 
It  comes  in  season  a  month  before  asparagus, 
and  may,  by  protecting   the   bed  with  a  heavy 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


191 


coating  of  straw  or  hay,  a  practice  always  to  be 
recommended,  be  brought  forward  even  in 
March.  It  is  much  better  when  it  is  blanched, 
and  this  is  done  by  keeping  the  plants  from  the 
sun  under  pots,  boxes  or  straw.  The  seed  can 
be  purchased  at  our  seed-stores,  or  if  not  at  all 
of  them,  at  that  of  Curtis  &  Cobb,  in  Washing- 
ton Street.  Every  farmer  should  have  a  bed  of 
this  vegetable  for  his  own  use,  and  our  market- 
gardeners  would  find  nothing  more  profitable  to 
cultivate.  F. 

EXTBACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
POTATOES   FROM   THE   BALL. 

In  the  fall  of  1854  I  saved  a  dozen  potato  balls 
(all  from  peach  blows)  and  planted  them  in  a 
seed  bed  the  following  spring,  from  which  I  dug 
about  two  quarts  of  'small  specimens"  of  every 
conceivable  shape  and  color.  There  are  over  thir-j 
ty  distinct  varieties — some  very  poor  and  much 
aJffected  with  the  rot — others  white,  mealy  and 
nice,  and  not  much  affected — some  yield  well,  [ 
and  are  good  sized,  others  produce  just  enough  i 
fcr  seed,  and  little,  watery,  soggy  things  at  that,  j 
I  have  planted  such  as  I  thought  to  be  the  most 
promising,  and  from  my  experience  in  the  matter 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  there  will  be  a  few  among 
them  that  will  prove  productive  and  profitable. 

I  raised  last  year  from  a  bushel  and  a  half  of 
these  potatoes,  thirty-five  bushels  of  sound  ones, 
on  ordinary  ground,  without  taking  any  extra 
pains  with  them.  J.  J.  Watson. 

Orange,  Vt.,Feb.7,  1859. 

HOW   TO    CURE   KICKING   COWS. 

In  last  week's  Farmer  I  noticed  an  inquiry  by 
R  subscriber  in  South  Weymouth  for  a  remedy  for 
a  kicking  cow.  I  have  had  many  such,  and  have 
used  various  remedies,  I  have  sometimes  put  a 
rope  or  small  chain  around  the  cow's  body  just 
back  of  the  fore  legs,  and  with  a  small  stick,  twist 
it  quite  tight.  Occasionally  it  does  very  well.  If 
the  cow  is  not  very  bad,  put  a  strap  around  the 
hind  legs  in  the  form  of  an  8,  and  draw  it  pretty 
tight.  I  had  very  good  success  the  last  season, 
in  subduing  some  turbulent  heifers,  by  applying 
a  sort  of  ring  with  a  spring  to  it,  called  a  bull- 
holder,  to  the  nose  of  the  animal,  and  drawing 
the  head  pretty  high ;  after  a  few  lessons  they 
generally  give  up.  Abel  F.  Adams. 

Fitchhurg,  1859.        

a  COMPLIMENT — BOOK-FARMING — USEFUL 
MANURES. 

It  is  a  paper  which  ought  to  be  read  by  every 
farmer  in  New  England.  Many  of  the  single  ar- 
ticles it  contains  of  themselves  are  worth  the 
price  of  the  paper.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who 
declaim  against  book-farming,  but  am  willing  to 
receive  instruction  from  any  source.  It  seems  to 
me  that  book-farming  and  practical  experience 
can  be  made  to  harmonize.  Who,  in  reading 
some  agricultural  journal,  has  not  had  his  atten- 
tion called  to  some  valuable  muck  deposit,  or 
other  material,  upon  his  farm,  which  may  prove  a 
mine  of  wealth  or  a  bank  from  which  to  draw  in 
time  of  need,  rather  than  from  the  purse  to  pay 
for  adulterated  manures  ? 

Again,  the  success  of  our  farmers  carefully  no- 


ted down  and  laid  before  the  public,  has  proba- 
bly done  much  towards  reclaiming  that  swamp, 
underdraining  this  wet  field,  sinking  tliose  bould- 
ers, and  a  hundred  other  like  improvement. 

By  the  way,  I  beg  leave  to  differ  from  your 
correspondent  from  West  Needham,  wliere  he 
says  "there  is  no  place  more  suitable  for  manure 
in  winter  than  under  the  eaves  of  the  south  side 
of  the  barn."  He  seems  to  think  that  manure 
made  in  a  barn-cellar  is  too  strong  for  growing 
plants — but  where  is  there  not  a  chance  for  mel- 
lowing it  with  muck,  forest  scrapings,  leaves,  or 
even  saw-dust,  if  too  strong,  and  thus  increase 
the  farmer's  bank,  rather  than  diminish  it  by 
soaking  eaves  and  washing  showers  ? 

Pottersville,  N.  H.,  Feb.,  1859. 

GARGET    POISON   TO    HORSES. 

Last  May,  one  of  my  neighbors  had  a  cow  to 
which  he  wished  to  feed  some  garget,  and  to  cut 
it  used  a  hay-cutter,  the  one  that  they  cut  hay 
with  for  two  horses  ;  the  result  was,  the  horses 
got  some  small  pieces  of  the  garget,  and  they 
both  died  in  a  few  days  from  the  effects  of  the 
poison.  I  mention  this  for  the  good  of  the  pub- 
lic, as  I  think  there  are  many  farmers  who  do 
not  know  that  garget  is  a  deadly  poison  to 
horses.  A  SUBSCRIBEB. 

Putney,  Vt.,  1859.      _ 

"SPARE   THE   BIRDS." 

I  have  just  met  in  Vol.  X.  of  the  Farmer,  p. 
306,  a  well- written  article  on  this  subject,  which 
I  refer  to  with  the  greatest  pleasure,  as  it  contro- 
verts the  notions  of  Mr.  N.  Page,  Jr.,  put  forth 
with  adroitness  in  the  lately  published  transac- 
tions of  the  Essex  Society.  I  admire  to  see  the 
beautiful  robin  hopping  and  chirping  about,  and 
would  not  have  them  wantonly  killed.  I  cannot 
agree  with  Mr.  Page,  that  they  deserve  to  be 
killed,  because  they  pick  a  part,  it  may  be  the 
larger  part,  of  currants,  strawberries  or  cherries. 


RULES   FOR   MEASURING   LUMBER. 

Can  you  inform  me  where  I  can  get  a  log-book 
for  measuring  round  timber  of  any  size  or  length, 
or  scantling  ?  A  book  that  will  tell  or  give  the 
measure  of  any  kind  of  lumber  ? 

Marshjield,  Vt.,  Feb.,  1859.       C.  H.  Lewis. 

Remarks. — The  Text  Book  of  Modern  Car- 
pentry, published  by  Crosby,  Nichols  cS;  Co.,  of 
this  city,  contains  more  that  you  want  than  any 
other  book  we  know.  We  find  very  little  on  the 
measurement  of  timber  in  any  of  the  mechanics' 
text-books.  

MAPLE   SUGAR. 

I  send  you  a  sample  of  maple  sugar  made  on 
the  18th  of  February.  I  tapped  eight  small  sec- 
ond-growth trees  on  the  I7th,  from  which  I  ob- 
tained eight  pails  of  sap  of  the  sweetest  flavor.  I 
do  not  believe  any  one  in  Vermont  has  got  the 
start  of  me  in  making  maple  sugar  this  year. 

Poultney  Vt.,  Feb.  22,  1859.        J.  E.  Cobb. 

Remarks. — Excellent — excellent.  Hope  you 
have  a  good  memory  ! 


192 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


April 


SALT   AS   A   MANURE. 

Friend  Brown  : — I  wish  to  know  how  salt  is 
to  be  applied  to  the   soil, — whether  it  should  be 


mixed  with  barn-manure,  or  sown  broad-cast? 

If  mixed  with  manure,  in  what  proportion  ?     If 

sown,  how  much  to  an  acre,  at  what  season,  and 

what  kind  of  soil  is  most  benefited  by  it  ?  Would  j     y* 

it  be  advantageous  to  use  it  when  barley  is  to  be  j  might  work  better  on  rocky  land,  than  the  Uni- 

grown  ?  How  would  it  aftect  pasture  land?  And|versal, 


gauged  to  a  certain  depth,  they  work  well — but 
in  stony  land  they  hold  hard  and  don't  turn  well. 

Answer. — We  hear  the  Universal  Plow  spok- 
en highly  of — have  used    one  to    plow   several 
acres  of  sward  land,  and  find  it  to  work  admira- 
It  is  quite  probable  that   a   shorter   plow 


further,  I  would  solicit  the  opinion  of  some  of 
your  expei'ienced  correspondents  on  the  profit 
likely  to  accrue  from  purchasing  salt  at  20  cts. 
per  bushel  for  agricultural  purposes. 

Would  you  consider  it  profitable  to  buy  air- 
slaked  lime,  at  eight  cents  per  bushel,  to  put  on 
land  ?  A.  C.  BuFFUM. 

North  Berwick,  3d  Mo.  3d,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  have  often  used  salt  as  a  fer- 
tilizer, but  have  not  pursued  the  experiments 
with  suflScient  accuracy  to  make  them  worthy  of 
note.  So  we  refer  to  others,  and  find  plenty  of 
evidence  that  salt  may  be  used  profitably  as  a 
fertilizer  where  it  can  be  obtained  at  low  rates 
— where  it  is  dirty  or  in  a  damaged  state  so  as 
to  make  it  unfit  for  common  purposes. 

Salt  renders  dry  loams  more  susceptible  of  ab- 
sorbing moisture  from  the  air,  and  this  is  of 
great  importance,  because  those  soils  which  ab- 
sorb the  greatest  proportion  of  water  from  the 
atmosphere,  are  always  the  most  valuable  to  the 
cultivator.  On  heavy  undrained  lands  it  would 
not  act  beneficially 

When  sprinkled  slightly  over  manure  heaps  it 
checks  the  escape  of  the  carbonate  of  the  ammo- 
nia, and  tends  to  prevent  undue  fermentation 
It  not  only  acts  on  vegetation  as  a  stimulant,  but 
serves  as  a  direct  constituent,  or  food,  of  some 
kinds  of  plants. 

Applied  to  grain  crops,  on  light  soils,  at  the 
rate  of  500  pounds  to  the  acre,  salt  increases  the 
produce  of  seed,  and  very  much  improves  its 
weight  and  quality  per  bushel.  On  grass  land 
and  clover,  salt  has  a  good  effect,  rendering  the 
•herbage  more  palatable  to  stock. 

Mangold  wurtzel,  manured  with  salt  mixed 
with  farm-yard  dung,  at  the  rate  of  ten  or  twelve 
bushels,  or  even  more,  per  acre,  grows  luxuri- 
antly. It  would  undoubtedly  be  useful  on  a  bar- 
ley crop,  because  the  soil  adapted  to  that  plant, 
is  the  kind  of  soil  most  benefited  by  salt. 

We  do  not  doubt  but  that  salt  at  20  cts.,  and 
air-slaked  lime  at  8  cts.  per  bushel,  would  be 
profitable  on  land  where  they  are  actually  needed. 

universal   plow — BLOODY   MILK — FLEMISH 

BEAUTY  PEAR. 
Do  you  know  how  the  Universal  Plow  works 
on  rocky  and  stony  ground,  whether  greensward 
or  old  ground,  rigged  with  the  intervale  mould  ? 
It  looks  in  the  cut  as  if  it  might  work  well.  The 
Eagle  of  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.,  are  of  good 
workmanship  and  material,  and   in  clear  land, 


Bunches  came  on  the  teats  of  my  young  cow, 
and  she  gave  bloody  milk  ;  I  gave  her  garget, 
and  the  blood  ceased  to  come,  but  the  bunches 
remain.     What  shall  I  do  for  her  ? 

Answer. — Give  her  six  drops  of  the  tincture 
of  Aconite,  on  some  meal  wet  up  with  water, 
every  other  day  for  ten  days. 

Do  Flemish  Beauty  pears  often  crack  ?  I  had 
some  that  cracked  so  badly  last  year  as  to  be 
worthless  ;  they  were  on  gravelly  and  stony  land. 
One  tree  had  lime,  ashes  and  soap  suds  around 
it.  A  Subscriber. 

Answer. — Are  you  quite  sure  that  your  pear 
is  the  Flemish  Beauty?  It  has  not  the  habit  of 
cracking.  This  pear  must  be  gathered  earlier 
than  most  others,  even  before  the  fruit  parts 
readily  from  the  tree,  and  then  ripened  in  the 
house.  If  left  to  ripen  on  the  tree  it  becomes 
soft  and  flavorless,  and  decays  soon. 

HUNGARIAN    GRASS. 

Is  it  an  annual  plant,  or  is  it  of  the  nature  of 
other  grasses  ?  Will  you  tell  us  all  about  the 
Honey  Blade  Hungarian  Grass  Seed? 

Cambridge,  Vt.,  1859.  Green  Grass. 

Remarks. — We  have  quite  recently  given  an 
account  of  this  grass.  We  have  not  grown  it, 
but  understand  that  it  is  an  annual  plant,  requir- 
ing to  be  sov/ed  every  spring,  like  millet.  The 
"Honey  Blade"  is  a  honied  term  to  catch  gulls 
with.  Test  it  by  the  rod  rather  than  by  the  acre 
— by  purchasing  and  sowing  only  a  few  pounds 
of  the  seed  at  first.         

ARE    HENS   PROFITABLE? 

I  make  the  keeping  of  hens  more  profitable 
than  any  other  stock,  compared  with  the  capital 
invested.  I  feed  my  young  chickens  with  corn 
meal  four  times  a  day,  and  plenty  of  skimmed 
milk.  When  old  enough  to  lay,  I  give  them  all 
the  corn  and  oats  they  will  eat,  with  gravel,  lime, 
and  frequently  cayenne  pepper,  mixed  with  their 
meal.  Twelve  hens  will  lay  142  dozen  of  eggs 
in  a  year,  or  142  each,  and  I  call  that  doing  well 
— though  they  will  sometimes  do  more. 

East  New  Sharon,  Me.,  1859.     A.  R.  Hall. 

ARTICHOKES. 
A  correspondent  of  the  Cultivator  says  that 
2000  bushels  of  this  root  could  be  raised  on  one 
acre.  I  have  no  doubt  of  this,  for  from  a  single 
rather  small  tuber  I  dug  in  the  fall  nearly  or 
quite  one  peck.  This  root  threw  up  three  stocks, 
yielding  as  above.  I. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


193 


THE   MAKIE  LOUIEB  PEAR. 


Forme  de  Marie  T.nrtsE. 

XLUilB    CuttETIENNI. 

In  accordance  with  our  promise  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year,  to  illuminate  our  col- 
umns with  choice  illustrations  of  valuable  sub- 
jects, we  now  have  the  pleasure  of  adding  to  oth- 
ers already  given,  the  above  beautiful  and  truth- 
ful portrait  of  the  Marie  Louise  Pear— a  pear 
"everywhere  held  in  the  highest  estimation." 

According  to  Downing's  account,  "this  truly 
delicious  pear  was  originated  from  seed,  by  the 
Ablie  Duqueane,  of  Belgium,  in  1809,  and  its 
fruit  was  first  sent  to  England  by  Van  Mous,  in 


Princess  de  Pabme. 
Braddick's  Field  Standard. 

jl816.  It  was  introduced  into  this  country,  along 
I  with  many  other  fine  Flemish  pears,  about  15 
years  ago,  and  is  everywhere  held  in  the  highest 
estimation,  keeping  for  a  long  time  in  the  house. 
The  tree  is  hardy,  but  has  an  awkward,  rather 
crooked,  and  declining  habit,  and  very  narrow 
leaves.  In  the  nursery  it  is  best,  therefore,  to 
graft  it  standard  high,  when  it  soon  makes  a  good 
head.  The  young  shoots  are  olive  gray.  It  is  a 
pear  for  every  garden,  bearing  very  regularly. 
Fruit  pretty  large,  oblong-pyriform,  rather  itr 


194 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


APKIIi 


regular  or  one-sided  in  figure.  Skin  at  first  pale 
green,  but  at  maturity,  rich  yellow,  a  good  deal 
sprinkled  and  mottled  with  light  russet,  on  the 
exposed  side.  Stalk  an  inch  and  a  half  long, 
obliquely  planted,  sometimes  under  a  slightly 
raised  lip,  sometimes  in  a  narrow,  somewhat 
plaited  basin.  Flesh  white,  exceedingly  buttery 
and  melting,  with  a  rich,  very  saccharine  and  vi- 
nous flavor.  Last  of  September  and  middle  of 
October." 

A  HAY  SPEEADING  MACHINE  WAETTED 

The  farmer  has  found  valu"jb  le  assistance  in  se- 
curing his  hay  crop  in  the  mowing  machine,  and 
horse  rake  ;  they  enable  him  to  get  more  hay,  to 
get  it  better,  in  a  shorter  time  and  at  a  cheaper 
rate,  than  he  ever  did  without  their  aid. 

The  mowing  machine  spreads  the  hay  very 
evenly  on  the  ground  where  it  grew,  leaving  it 
in  a  condition  to  dry  rapidly,  but  not  to  be  easi- 
ly turned,  unless  it  is  done  by  the  slow  process 
of  using  the  hand  rake. 

AVhat  is  wanted  now,  is,  some  light,  cheap  im- 
plement, to  put  into  the  fields  about  ten  or  eleven 
o'clock,  A.  M.,  with  a  boy  and  horse,  to  pass  over 
the  hay  rapidly  and  fling  it  to  the  air,  so  that  it 
■will  be  sufficiently  dry  to  go  into  the  barn  on  the 
same  day  that  it  is  cut.  The  process  of  haymak- 
ing might  then  be, — cut  the  grass  with  a  mowing 
machine  just  at  night,  or  early  in  the  morning 
and  by  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  the  top  would  be 
nearly  dry  ;  then,  between  eleven  and  two  o'clock, 
pass  over  it  rapidly  with  the  "tedding  machine,' 
or  hay  spreader,  keeping  it  in  motion  while  the 
men  are  at  dinner,  and  by  two  o'clock,  the  hay 
will  be  ready  to  go  to  the  barn, provided  the  day 
is  bright,  attended  with  a  drying  wind. 

Hay  made  in  this  way  may  be  secured  at  a  cost 
of  about  one  dollar  per  ton  less  than  where  it  is 
raked,  cocked,  partially  spread  again  the  next 
day,  and  then  tumbled  up  and  got  in.  To  any 
person  keeping  a  dozen  head  of  stock,  this  saving 
ought  to  be  sufficient,  in  one  or  two  years,  to  pay 
the  cost  of  the  machine. 

The  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Agriculture,  purchased  an  English  Tedding 
Machine  last  year,  and  introduced  it  into  Middle- 
sex county.  We  saw  it  on  the  farm  of  Gen.  Ly- 
man, at  Waltham,  who  had  given  it  a  thorough 
trial,  and  who  expressed  a  decidedly  favorable 
opinion  of  its  merits,  and  of  its  adaptation  to  the 
same  fields  where  the  mower  has  been  used.  This 
machine  is  all  iron,  too  heavy  by  one-half,  and 
too  expensive.  Yankee  ingenuity  can  devise  one 
more  simple  in  its  construction,  lighter,  and 
cheaper,  and  yet  strong  enough  to  be  durable, 
and  do  all  the  work  required  of  it.  Who  will  de- 
vise and  construct  it,  and  make  $10,000  out  of 
it  ?     Here  is  a  fine  opening  for  inventive  genius. 


Make  a  machine,  and   allow  us  to  test  its  merits 
by  the  25th  of  June. 

For  the  Netp  England  Farmers 
COAIi   AS^HES  AS   A  MANTJKB. 

But  few  experiments  have  been  made  by  Amer- 
ican farmers  to  test  the  fertilizing  properties  of 
coal  ashes.  While  we  are  importing  guano  and 
other  manures  from  foreign  lands  in  enormous 
quantities,  and  at  great  expense,  it  may  be  well 
to  employ  some  substances  nearer  home,  which 
are  now  neglected  and  cast  aside  as  useless. 
Thousands  of  tons  of  ashes  might  be  obtained  ia 
cities,  where  coal  is  extensively  employed  for  fa- 
el,  which,  when  applied  to  the  soil,  would  doubt- 
less greatly  augment  its  productive  powers.  It 
is  stated  in  '"Faulkner's  Farmers'  Manual,"  an 
English  publication  on  manures,  that  coal  ashes 
contain  sulphate  of  lime,  with  some  potash  and 
soda,  all  of  which  are  known,  when  separately 
applied,  to  produce  a  good  effect  on  clover  crops, 
and  to  constitute  an  important  part  of  the  food 
of  all  grasses. 

The  following  experiment  by  an  English  far- 
mer, may  shed  some  light  on  the  subject ;  the 
ground  selected  contained  three  perches  of  clo- 
ver ;  the  first  had  no  manure,  and  produced  thir- 
ty-eight pounds  when  cut  in  full  head  ;  the  sec- 
ond, where  four  quarts  of  sifted  coal  ashes,  which 
had  not  been  exposed  to  the  weather,  were  ap- 
plied, the  produce  was  fifty  pounds  ;  on  the  third 
perch,  one  quart  of  plaster  was  sown,  and  the 
crop  weighed  fifty-four  pounds.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  ashes  increased  the  clover  nearly  one- 
quarter  above  that  on  which  no  manure  was  ap- 
plied, which  goes  to  prove  that  this  substance  is 
a  valuable  fertilizer.  Coal  is  said  to  be  of  vege- 
table origin  ;  therefore,  we  can  see  no  reason  why 
its  ashes  should  not  contain  the  food  of  plants. 
Experiments  on  various  soils  and  crops  might  be 
made  by  any  farmer  at  a  small  expense,  as  coal 
is  employed  as  fuel  in  nearly  every  town. 

O.  V.  Hills. 

Leominister,  Mass.,  Feb.,  1859. 


UNIVEKSAL  PLOW  FOB  STONY   LAND. 

Since  replying  to  the  inquiry  of  a  correspon- 
dent recently,  in  regard  to  the  value  of  the  Uni- 
versal Plow  on  stony  land,  we  have  taken  pains  to 
call  on  one  of  the  best  plowmen  in  New  England 
who  was  among  the  first  to  use  it,  and  with  the 
various  mould-boards  before  us,  had  a  long 
"plow-talk"  over  them,  and  could  not  fail  to 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  upland  mould- 
boards  of  the  Universal  Plow  adapt  the  instru- 
ment peculiarly  well  to  the  plowing  of  rough  and 
stony  grass  lands. 

They  have  a  short  and  powerful  curvature  or 
twist,  which  enables  them  to  turn  the  sod  well 
among  stones. 

They  are  quite  broad  on  the  bottom  and  at  the 
heel,  so  that  they  spread  the  furrow-slice  well,  and 
prevent  stones  from  rolling  back  into  the  chan^ 
nel  and  bringin  g  the  furrow-slice  back  with  them, 
grass-side  up.     Whatever  the  share  enters  un- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


1^5 


der  and  lifts,  the  mould-board  is  quite  sure  to 
spread  off  and  turn  over  effectually. 

The  share  has  a  good  strong  dip,  or  earthward 
tendency,  which  enables  the  plow  to  enter  read- 
ily under  the  furrow-slice,  and  among  the  stones, 
to  hug  the  ground  well. 

The  proportions  of  length  of  beam  to  weight 
of  plow  are  such  as  to  balance  the  instrument 
well,  and  make  it  run  true,  without  jumping 
■when  the  share  strikes  a  stone  or  other  obstacle. 

The  stubble  mould-boards  of  the  Universal 
Plow  work  excellently  in  old  ground  that  is 
stony.  They  are  short,  with  a  strong  turn  and 
peculiar  form,  by  which  they  lift  the  furrow-slice 
high  and  throw  it  off  powerfully,  burying  the 
stubble  and  vegetable  matter  completely,  and 
leaving  a  clean  channel  for  the  next  slice,  and 
breaking  and  pulverizing  the  soil. 

The  No.  141  upland  is  the  right  mould-board 
to  buy  for  plowing  stony  grass  land,  where 
the  team  is  two  to  three  cattle ;  and  the  No. 
152  stubble  mould,  for  a  pair  of  horses  or 
oxen  in  plowing  old  ground.  That  makes  two 
changes.  A  third  and  excellent  change  is  had 
by  procuring  the  skim  plow  and  using  it  on  for- 
ward of  the  No.  152  stubble  mould,  for  sod  and 
subsoil  plowing,  working  the  land  8  to  10  or  12 
inches  deep,  as  desired.  The  best  form  of  mould- 
board  for  stubble  or  old  ground  plowing,  is  also 
the  best  for  the  rear  mould-board  in  sod  and  sub- 
soil plowing,  lifting  the  earth  high  and  throwing 
it  off  well.  The  No.  152  mould-board  does  this 
to  perfection.  The  No.  140  upland  mould -board 
is  a  larger  size  than  the  141,  for  two  yokes  of  ox- 
en. The  No.  141  mould-board  has  been  consid- 
erably used  for  plowing  stony  sod  land,  and  the 
best  reports  are  heard  from  it. 


GLOBE  MANGEL  ■WXTBTZEL. 
Mr.  Brown  : — A  few  weeks  since  I  forwarded 
to  you  a  few  words  on  the  Yellow  Globe  variety 
of  Wurtzel,  as  cultivated  in  France,  and  having 
met  with  some  remarks  of  an  English  farmer, 
commending  this  sort,  I  herewith  send  you  the 
following  extract : — 

"With  regard  to  this  variety  not  producing 
near  the  weight  of  the  long  rooted,  I  would  say 
that  the  result  of  my  first  trial  in  the  same  field 
and  under  precisely  similar  treatment  as  the 
long,  was  so  much  in  favor  of  the  Globe,  that  its 
merit  with  me  and  several  who  witnessed  it  was 
so  far  established,  as  to  induce  me  to  sow  only 
sufficiently  long,  to  produce  an  additional  proof 
of  its  inferiority.  In  my  case,  the  result  is  a  de- 
cidedly increased  quantity  and  quality.  Added 
to  this,  its  superiority  as  a  keeper  is  unquestion- 
able ;  the  reason  with  me  is  obvious,  for  the  vir- 
tue and  quality  of  the  root  being  concentrated 
in  its  globular  form,  whereas  in  the  long,  the 
want  of  that  density  and  close  texture  renders 
it  more  exposed  to  the   action  of  the  air,  which 


absorbs  that  portion  of  succulent  matter  indis- 
pensible  to  its  proper  keeping  for  the  purposes 
of  late  feeding,  in  which  its  permanent  value 
consists."  The  Orange  Globe,  (says  another,) 
"is  more  nutritious."  For  the  cultivation  of  the 
Mangel  Wurtzel,  see  the  N.  E.  Farmer  for  last 
May. I. 

NATIVE  SHRUBS. 
In  the  culture  of  ornamental  shrubs,  but  little 
attention  has  been  given  to  our  beautiful  native 
varieties,  such  as  the  large  flowering  mountain 
laurel,  (Kalmia  latifolia,)  Rhodora  Canadensis, 
and  Clethra  anifolia.  These  three  sorts  rival 
in  beauty  many  of  our  foreign  or  introduced 
shrubs.  The  Kalmia  is  not  only  found  growing 
in  a  swampy  or  wet  soil,  but  also  on  compara- 
tively dry  upland  ;  its  general  height  is  from  four 
to  eight  feet,  the  flowers  are  disposed  in  large 
corymbs  at  the  extremity  of  the  branches,  and 
are  of  a  white  color,  tinted  with  red.  It  blos- 
soms in  June  and  July.  The  plants,  when  taken 
up  with  a  ball  of  earth  attached  and  placed  in  a 
half-shady  situation,  not  being  exposed  to  the 
meridian  sun,  the  soil  rather  moist,  will  gener- 
ally succeed.  They  should  be  transplanted  as 
early  in  April  as  possible.  The  Rhodora,  or  as 
it  is  sometimes  called,  "The  False  Honeysuckle," 
is  a  smaller  shrub,  with  beautiful  purple  flowers 
which  precede  the  leaves  early  in  the  spring ; 
the  bush,  when  in  bloom,  resembles  a  dwarf 
peach ;  its  height  is  about  two  feet,  and  it  is 
found  growing  frequently  in  clumps  in  low 
ground,  but  will  flourish  in  almost  all  good  soils 
that  are  not  too  dry.  This  shrub  should  be  tak- 
en up  as  early  in  spring  as  possible,  or  late  in 
the  fall.  The  Clethra,  called  White  Pepper  Bush, 
is  a  tall  and  clean-looking  white  flowering  shrub, 
having  leaves  of  a  rich  and  shining  green,  rare- 
ly injured  by  insects;  the  flowers  have  a  strong 
fragrance  resembling  the  Syringa  or  Mock 
Orange.  We  have  often  commended  our  culti- 
vators to  try  this  plant  for  hedges,  particularly 
on  moist  or  springy  land,  as  it  is  invariably 
found  in  such  soils. 


RADISH— ONION. 
A  good  method  to  pursue  to  obtain  radishes 
free  from  worms,  is  to  mix  seeds  of  the  Early 
Olive  radish  with  that  of  the  onion,  sowing  them 
together :  that  is,  in  a  bed  requiring  two  ounces 
of  onion  seed,  mix  one-half  an  ounce  of  the  rad- 
ish. We  find  that  in  pulling  these  roots,  it  does 
not  seemingly  interfere  with  or  injure  the  onion. 
The  onion  we  should  sow,  and  would  commend 
for  table  use,  is  the  Early  Weathersfield  Red  ;  it  is 
milder  flavored,  and  a  more  delicate  variety  than 
the  Danvers  Thick,  or  the  Common  Yellow,  and 
altogether  the  best  variety  for  eating ;  the  root 
is  of  the  form  and  size  of  the  other  varieties. 


196 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aprii, 


CHESHIRE  COUNTY,  N.  H, 

The  people  in  Convention,  comparing  their  experiences 
Another  of  the  series  of  agricultural  meetings 
instituted  in  Cheshire  County,  was  held  at  Keene, 
Feb.  17,  in  the  Town  Hall.  Gen.  Converse, 
President  of  the  County  Society,  in  the  chair 
The  afternoon  was  devoted  to  a  general  discus- 
sion of  the  subject  of  Manures,  and  to  that  of 
Wheat, — the  question  upon  the  latter  being, 
whether  the  farmer  cannot  raise  the  grain  and 
supply  himself  with  flour,  at  less  cost  than  he  can 
raise  other  articles,  subject  himself  to  the  cost  of 
finding  a  market,  selling,  and  then,  after  paying 
three  or  four  profits  to  those  whose  hands  it  has 
passed  through,  purchase  what  he  needs  for  his 
family  supply?  No  vote  was  taken  upon  the 
question,  but  judging  from  the  remarks  of  the 
speakers,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  im- 
pression was  a  general  one  that  the  farmers  of 
Cheshire  County  were  working  at  considerable 
disadvantage  in  neglecting  to  raise  wheat,  and  in 
purchasing  so  largely  of  flour.  As  an  illustration 
of  the  amount  of  flour  purchased  in  the  towns, 
it  was  stated  that  in  a  single  town  in  that  State, 
where  there  was  not  a  manufacturing  estab- 
lishment in  the  town,  but  where  nearly  all  the 
people  were  engaged  in  farming,  and  the  popula- 
tion only  about  fifteen  hundred  souls.  Jive  thous- 
and dollars  worth  of  flour  was  annually  sold ! 
And  it  was  thought  that  about  this  state  of  things 
exists  all  over  New  England.  It  appeared  by  the 
statements  made  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  ob 
taining  remunerating  crops  of  wheat  in  that  re 
gion.  Mr.  George  H.  Wright,  of  Keene,  said 
he  had  always  raised  wheat,  and  got  an  average 
of  fifteen  bushels  per  acre,  and  found  the  crop  as 
sure  as  any  other.  Mr.  James  Elliot,  of  Iveene, 
said  he  had  raised  forty  bushels  of  wheat  on  a 
little  less  than  one  acre  and  a  quarter  !  Col.  Ad- 
ams, of  Fitzwilliam,  rarely  failed  in  getting  a  good 
crop  of  wheat ;  thought  it  as  sure  and  profitable 
as  any  of  our  farm  crops.  Mr.  BoTCE,  of  Troy, 
said  he  went  into  debt  for  a  farm,  raised  wheat 
profitably,  and  soon  brought  the  farm  into  condi- 
tion to  make  it  a  sure  and  good  investment  of  his 
labor. 

The  discussion  of  the  subject  of  manures  took 
a  wide  range — but  the  evidence  was,  that  the  far- 
mer must  mainly  depend  upon  what  can  be  accu- 
mulated on  the  farm  through  his  own  industry 
and  skill  in  collecting,  composting  and  preserv- 
ing it ;  that  this,  more  than  all  others,  is  the 
manure  best  adapted  to  the  soil  and  the  crops, 
and  will  secure  to  him  the  most  successful  and 
profitable  results.  Mr.  Milan  Harris,  of  Har- 
risville,  gave  detailed  statements  of  his  experien- 
ces with  guano,  showing  that  on  moist  lands, 
with  proper  skill  in  its  application,  he  had  used 
considerable  quantities  with  satisfactory  results. 


But  notwithstanding  this,  he  candidly  stated  that 
he  agreed  in  the  opinion  expressed  by  others, 
that  the  farmer  must  depend  upon  the  resources 
of  his  own  farm,  and  if  he  used  the  specific  fer- 
tilizers, must  use  them  as  helps,  rather  than  as 
principals.  In  this  connection,  Mr.  S.  W.  Bup- 
FUM,  of  Winchester,  spoke  of  the  importance  of 
a  better  knowledge  of  our  farm  operations,  and 
especially  in  preparing  the  manures  upon  which 
we  are  to  depend  for  successful  crops.  He  warm- 
ly urged  upon  the  farmers  more  reading  and  care- 
ful investigation,  and  said  no  efforts  they  might 
make  would  pay  better  in  the  end.  In  these 
statements  he  was  confirmed  by  the  venerable 
John  Prentiss,  of  Keene,  who  said  that  farmers, 
as  a  class,  undervalued  books,  and  that  in  the 
fifty  years  he  had  been  a  bookseller  in  that  place, 
he  had  rarely  sold  a  work  treating  upon  agricul- 
tural matters  to  a  farmer !  The  mechanic,  the 
machinist,  merchant  and  manufacturer,  were 
eager  to  gather  information  from  books,  or  any 
other  source,  but  the  farmer  seems  to  have  pre- 
judices that  are  invulnerable.  Mr.  P.  also  de- 
tailed his  plan  of  making  up  a  manure  heap  by 
collecting  leaves  and  all  sorts  of  vegetable  refuse, 
and  composting  them  with  matter  from  the  cow 
and  horse  stall,  depositing  the  mass  under  cover 
until  it  became  quite  fine,  and  then  using  it  upon 
his  garden  crops.  Mr.  Woodward,  Editor  of 
the  Keene  Sentinel,  spoke  favorably  of  top-dress- 
ing mowing  lands  before  the  roots  of  the  grass 
are  exhausted,  and  thus  make  them  continue  to 
yield  a  ton  and  a  half  per  acre  for  a  dozen  years 
in  succession,  instead  of  incurring  the  expense 
of  re-seeding  each  five  or  six  years. 

In  the  evening,  the  meeting  was  much  more 
fully  attended.  A  lecture  was  read  by  the  Editor 
of  the  N.  E.  Farmer,  upon  some  of  the  hindran- 
ces of  good  farming,  and  upon  its  social  relations, 
and  then  an  animated  discussion  followed,  which 
continued  until  past  nine  o'clock. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  series  was  held  at 
Marlow,  17  miles  from  Keene,  the  next  day,  Fri- 
day, the  18th.  Hon.  Allen  Griffin  was  elected 
President,  and  Mr.  Lewis,  Secretary.  The  grass 
crop,  manures,  grain  crops  and  top-dressing  were 
the  subjects  discussed.  The  President  opened 
the  meeting  in  an  interesting  speech  upon  prac- 
tical topics,  which  operated  as  a  key-note  through- 
out. Messrs.  Elliot,  of  Keene,  Downer,  Dr. 
Perkins,  Col.  Farley  and  Messer,  of  Marlow, 
related  experiments  or  experiences  in  regard  to 
one  or  another  of  these  subjects.  Mr.  Powers, 
of  Marlow,  said  he  brought  land  that  was  so  poor 
that  sorrel  would  not  grow  on  it,  into  a  high 
state  of  product  by  the  use  of  meadow  much.  The 
President  confirmed  this  statement  by  saying 
that  he  often  had  occasion  to  pass  the  land  re- 
ferred to,  and  believed  it  to  be  one  of  the  most 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


197 


productive  fields  in  the  town.  Mr.  Parker,  of 
Marlow,  made  valuable  statements  in  relation  to 
the  use  of  muck,  and  urged  the  people  to  give  it 
more  attention,  and  cited  several  things  that  had 
been  said  as  showing  the  importance  of  such  gath- 
erings as  these.  He  thought  them  just  what  is 
needed  to  improve  the  condition  of  New  Hamp- 
shire farms.  Mr.  Simoxds  had  used  tan,  he  said, 
with  excellent  results — plowed  under  deep,  it 
keeps  the  land  light  and  porous,  and  he  believed 
had  some  fertilizing  properties. 

The  evening  exercises  were  similar  to  those  at 
Keene,  and  the  Town  Hall  was  crowded  with  at- 
tentive listeners  until  9  P.  M. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
PEED  OP  MILCH  COWS. 
Mr.  Editor  : — In  looking  over  the  "Transac- 
tions of  the  Worcester  North  Agricultural  Soci- 
ety," for  1858,  I  have  been  a  good  deal  interest- 
ed in  the  record  of  some  experiments,  made  by 
John  Brooks,  Jr.,  of  Princeton,  for  the  purpose 
of  testing  the  relative  value  of  different  kinds  of 
feed  for  milch  cows.  So  far  as  one  can  judge 
through  the  manifold  blunders  of  the  printer — 
(you  gentlemen  of  the  press  do  sometimes  make 
strange  work — [It  is  strange  there  are  not  more. 
— Eds.]  with  types) — the  experiments  appear  to 
have  been  tried  with  care  ;  but  they  would  have 
shown  better  the  comparative  milk  and  butter- 
producing  qualities  of  the  varieties  of  feed,  if 
each  variety  had  been  given  to  the  animals  some 
days  before  the  result  was  recorded,  so  that  the 
trial  should  begin  under  the  full  influence  of  the 
feed  experimented  with ;  for  in  the  daily  record 
there  is  sometimes  a  large  difference  between  the 
first  and  the  last  days  of  the  trial,  the  effect  of 
one  kind  of  feed  running  into  the  next  experi- 
ment. For  instance,  as  to  the  amount  of  milk  ; 
one  cow,  during  the  trial  of  cotton  seed  meal, 
gave  at  the  commencement,  10.94  pounds,  and 
on  the  last  day  14.19  pounds,  showing  a  daily  in- 
crease for  the  whole  time.  And  with  15  pounds 
of  English  turnips  daily,  all  the  cows  gave  an  in- 
creased amount  of  milk  at  the  close  ;  while,  with 
the  same  quantity  of  rutabagas,  directly  follow- 
ing the  English  turnips,  three  of  the  four  cows 
gave  less  milk  at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning 
of  the  term — in  one  case  a  pound  a  day  less.  On 
the  last  day  of  trial  with  English  turnips,  the  ag- 
gregate of  milk  given  by  the  four  cows  was  37.37 
pounds  ;  with  rutabagas  it  was  but  34.50  pounds. 
This  result  conflicts  with  the  common  opinion  in 
regard  to  the  relative  value  of  the  English  tur- 
nip and  rutabaga  ;  and  perhaps  it  should  not  be 
received  as  settling  any  point  in  dispute  ;  but, 
looking  at  the  various  aspects  of  the  result,  it 
certainly  should  not  be  set  aside  as  worthless 
testimony  in  favor  of  the  turnip.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  Mr.  Brooks  did  not  state  which  of 
the  very  numerous  varieties  of  the  English  tur- 
nip was  used  in  his  experiments,  as  there  ii 
probably  some  difference  in  their  value  for  feed 
I  have  made  an  abstract  of  some  of  the  more 
important  matters  in  Mi\  Brooks'  tables,  which, 
perhaps,  you  will  think  of  sufficient  value  to  pre- 
sent to  your  readers.     I  take  at  random  the  cow 


Dora.  The  quantities  of  milk  given,  are  the  dai- 
ly average  for  the  whole  term  of  five  days  for 
each  experiment.     She  gave,  when  fed  on 

.      a      I- 

a      o      cqth 

lbs.  pr.  ct.  oz. 

Hay  only,  27.60  lbs 8.33  1.66  10 

Hay  22  lbs.,  cotton  seed  meal,2.751bs..ll  51  1.87  12 

Hay  24.40  lbs.,  Eng.  turnips,  15  lbs 10.59  171  11 

Hay  23  lbs.,  ruta  bagas,  15  lbs 10  06  1.61  10 

Hay  23  50  lbs.,  carrots,  15  lbs 10  89  1.65  10 

Hay  25  lbs.,  English  carrots,  15  lbs 10.38  168  10 

Clover  hay,  2na  crop,  28.40  lbs 11.31  1.73  11 

Hay23.80  1b3.,  corn  meal,  2.75  lbs 10.46  1.67  10 

In  the  following  table  may  be  seen  the  daily 
average  for  the  four  cows  used  for  the  experi- 
ments, with  the  average  increase  or  decrease  of 
milk  during  the  time  occupied  by  each  trial. 
Does  Mr.  Brooks,  by  English  carrot,  mean  the 
common  white  carrot  ? 

a         *•- 

So  So 

lbs.  pr.  ct.  lbs. 

Hayonly 7.34  1.64  .97 

Hay  and  cotton  seed  meal 9.34  1.84  1.97 

Hay  and  English  turnips 8.93  1.70  .73 

Hay  and  carrots 8.81  1.57  .53 

Hay  and  English  carrots 8.31  1.63  .29 

Clover  hay,  2nd  crop 8.69  1.81  2.64 

Hay  and  corn  meal 7.82  1.68  .62 

Hay  and  ruta  bagas 9.07  1.61  .40  dec'e. 

Mr.  Brooks  prooaoly  has  convenient  arrange- 
ments for  experiments  of  this  sort — will  he  not 
increase  the  obligation  under  which  the  farming 
community  lies  to  him,  by  enlarging  on  his  ex- 
periments, and  bringing  new  articles  of  feed  to 
the  test  ?  He  can  then  do  a  great  service  to  his 
brethren,  while  he  is  benefiting  himself  more  es- 
pecially. MiNOT  Pratt. 

Concord,  Feb.  17,  1859. 


FRUTT   CUIiTUBB. 

The  greatest  desideratum,  at  this  time,  in  the 
culture  of  the  apple  and  pear,  particularly  the 
latter,  is  to  ascertain  for  ourselves,  on  our  re- 
spective soils,  what  varieties  will  succeed  well 
with  us,  and  cultivate  these,  as  being  the  most 
remunerative. 

Our  fruit  books  generally  do  not  enlighten  us 
much  on  this  important  matter.  One  of  the 
most  practical  cultivators  of  fruit  and  vegetables 
in  England  for  almost  a  century,  (having  recent- 
ly deceased  at  a  very  advanced  age,)  was  John 
Rogers ;  he  may  be  said  to  be  the  only  writer 
who  has  given  us  scarcely  anything  upon  the  im- 
portance of  the  right  soil  for  the  various  kinds  ; 
thus  in  his  description  of  the  St.  Germain  pear, 
he  writes,  "No  tree  thrives  better  on  a  light,  shal- 
low loam,  on  a  dry  bottom ;  and  no  pear  is  of 
less  value,  if  grown  in  deep,  rich,  heavy  soil." 
He  speaks  of  apples  "having  local  propensities, 
rendering  them  more  prolific  in  one  place  than 
another,"  and  continues,  "deep,  rich  soils  in  shel- 
tered situations,  are  not  the  most  proper  for  the 
apple,  though  recommended  by  'writers  who 
ought  to  have  known  better." 


Uo 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aprii, 


"When  asked  the  cause  of  canker,  he  would  re- 
ply, "that  it  is  occasioned  by  too  deep  planting 
on  unfavorable  soils."  Of  the  Quince  apple,  it 
should  not  be  planted  on  a  strong,  moist  soil ; 
of  another  variety,  should  be  planted  in  a  light, 
sandy  loam;  of  another,  should  be  in  the  same, 
for  though  it  arrives  at  a  greater  size,  both  of 
tree  and  fruit,  in  deep  and  rich  loam,  the  fruit 
greatly  deteriorates.  The  Nonpareil  requires 
a  light,  rich  loam,  on  a  dry  subsoil,  for  in  heavy 
soils  it  soon  becomes  cankered  and  falls  to  decay. 
Of  the  Summer  Golden  Pippin,  a  light,  loamy 
soil,  on  a  dry  bottom  suits  it  best.  Of  Har- 
vey's Pippin,  this  sort  is  not  nice  as  to  soil  gen- 
erally. Of  the  famous  Ribston  Pippin,  which 
he  calls  the  "Glory  of  York,"  he  says,  tree  hardy, 
healthy  and  vigorous,  if  planted  in  a  loamy  soil, 
having  a  dry,  hard  subsoil;  stiff,  moist  soil  causes 
canker,  while  on  inferior  soils,  even  in  bleak 
situations,  the  tree  bears  bountifully. 

As  regards  the  above  extracts,  it  may  be  said 
that  these  eifects  may  not  necessarily  follow  in 
our  country ;  but  if  they  may  not  occur  to  such 
an  extent  on  our  soils,  we  cannot  but  think,  from 
•what  we  have  observed  here,  that  it  will  be  found 
to  be  true  in  a  measure,  at  least,  on  our  New 
England  soil. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOW  TO  TREAT  A  YOUNG  OHCHABD. 

Mr.  Editor  : — How  would  you  advise  to  treat 
a  young  orchard  of  six  acres,  set  at  different 
times,  since  1848?  The  land  a  rather  poor,  grav- 
elly, sandy  soil ;  a  part  abounding  in  stumps, 
having  been  cleared  four  years  since.  Previous 
to  setting,  holes  seven  feet  in  diameter,  18  to  24 
inches  deep,  were  dug  and  filled  with  top  soil, 
loam,  and  in  some  cases,  mud.  The  part  first 
set  has  been  kept  in  constant  cultivation,  mod- 
erately manured  and  cropped  with  corn,  pota- 
toes, beans,  roots,  &c.  Distance  from  barn  one 
half  mile.  The  manure  from  the  barn-yard  can 
be  used  to  good  advantage,  (is  in  fact  needed,) 
on  orcharding,  mowing-fields  and  gardens  nearer 
home. 

Queries. — Would  it  be  good  policy  to  keep  the 
ground  plowed  and  harrowed,  without  manuring 
or  cropping  ? 

AVould  it  be  a  good  plan  to  sow  buckwheat  or 
some  crop  to  turn  in  green  ? 

Or  would  a  slight  manuring  and  cropping, 
(planting  nothing  within  several  feet  of  the  trees) 
be  on  the  whole  better,  economically  considered, 
than  either  of  the  above  methods  ? 

In  general,  the  growth  of  the  trees  thus  far 
has  been  very  good.  Unquestionably,  liberal 
manuring  would  be  a  capital  idea ;  but  where  this 
is  not  readily  obtained,  it  is  natural  to  seek  other 
means  to  gain  the  desired  object. 

Lexington,  Feb.,  1859.  Subscriber. 


it  to  depreciate.  Our  opinion  is,  that  the  trees 
should  be  kept  in  vigorous  condition  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  mowing-fields  near  home.  Let  a  por- 
tion of  these  go  to  pasture,  or  rest,  if  you  cannot 
supply  the  whole  with  manure,  and  dress  the  or- 
charding so  that  the  trees  will  continue  to  grow 
thriftily.  They  will  not  stand  still — if  they  are 
not  growing,  they  will  soon  become  sickly,  bor- 
ers and  other  vermin  will  attack  them,  and  they 
will  soon  acquire  a  habit  of  decay  which  you 
cannot  arrest. 

Plow  the  ground,  manure  it  as  well  as  you  can, 
sow  clover  seed  and  cut  the  crop  for  two  years ; 
then  cut  the  rowen,  let  it  lay  and  wilt  a  day  or 
two  and  plow  that  under,  and  you  will  fill  the 
soil  with  vegetable  matter  from  the  roots  of  the 
clover.  With  a  lighter  manuring,  the  land  may 
then  be  moderately  cropt  for  a  year  or  two,  and 
then  you  may  change  to  clover  again.  In  this 
way  the  crops  will  pay  for  labor  and  manure,  and 
you  will  get  the  growth  of  the  trees  free. 


PORTABLE  IRON  GRIST  MILL. 

We  know  nothing,  personally,  of  the  merits  of 
this  mill,  but  give  the  illustration  and  description 
of  a  party  interested,  because  we  believe  a  good, 
low-priced  mill  is  an  article  much  needed  by 
farmers.  It  is  stated  that  "the  grinding  surfaces 
are  fiat  like  a  burr  millstone." 


Remarks. — As  you  have  begun  an  orchard, 
and  already  jexpended  considerable  money  upon 
it,  it  will  be   exceedingly  baJ   economy  to  suffer 


"The  mills  have  been  severely  tested,  and  have 
been  driven  600  revolutions  a  minute,  grinding 
12  to  15  bushels  of  fine  meal  an  hour,  without 
clogging,  and  thus  demonstrating  the  fact  that 
the  principle  of  the  mill  is  correct.  The  grain 
feeding  directly  upon  the  revolving  under  plate 
— the  upper  plate  being  stationary — is  ground  or 
cut  as  fine  as  is  wished  by  regulating  a  screw  at 
the  bottom  of  the  spindle,  while  the  centrifugal 
force  drives  the  meal  to  the  outer  edge  and 
throws  it  off.  These  mills  are  constructed  whol- 
ly of  cast  and  wrought  iron,  are  of  great  strength 


1859. 


XEAV  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


199 


and  efficiency,  with  no  springs  or  wood-work  to 
get  out  of  order.  It  requires  little  power  or  skill 
to  run  it.  It  will  grind  saleratus,  cream  tartar, 
white  sugar,  bones,  grain,  coffee,  and  as  a  chic- 
cory  and  spice  mill  has  no  equal.  Any  part  of 
it  can  be  duplicated  Ht  small  expense.  The  grind- 
ing surfaces  are  very  durable,  and  can  be  dupli- 
cated v/heu  worn  out  at  the  expense  of  a  single 
pecking  of  a  burr  stooe,  witu  no  delay  of  the 
mill. 

"There  are  two  sizes ;  the  small  hand  mill,'suit- 
ed  to  the  wants  of  the  farmer,  is  of  sufficient 
power  and  capacity  to  do  all  his  milling  at  home 
at  his  leisure,  and  saving  in  tolls  enough  in  a 
short  time,  to  pay  for  the  mill. 

"The  large  mill  is  of  great  strength  and  power, 
and  can  be  driven  by  horse  or  other  power  to  do 
great  execution." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  ONION  MAGGOT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Reflecting  upon  the  inquiry 
you  made  of  me  yesterday  morning,  I  thought 
it  might  be  useful  to  answer  with  more  distinct- 
ness, in  a  form  that  you  can  make  known  to  those 
seeking  the  information.  Your  inquiry  was,  as 
I  understood  it.  Has  any  mode  of  destroying  the 
maggot  or  worm  that  depredates  upon  the  onion 
yet  been  discovered?  My  answer  was.  None,  or 
none  that  has  come  to  my  knowledge. 

The  last  season,  I  made  particular  inquiry  on 
this  subject  of  Mr.  D.  Buxton,  Jr.,  I.  Bushby 
and  I.  Stone,  three  of  the  most  intelligent  culti- 
vators in  this  county,  and  their  answer,  uniformly, 
was  like  that  given  by  Gov.  Lincoln,  in  1845,  at 
the  close  of  a  discussion  of  the  potato  rot ;  the 
only  thing  certain  about  it  is,  ''it  is  death  to  the 
potato."  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  have  never  had 
better  potatoes  than  this  past  season ;  and  al- 
though many  hundred  bushels  of  onions  have 
been  destroyed  by  the  maggot,  there  are  still 
enough  left  fair  and  bright  for  all  reasonable 
purposes.  A  still  more  blasting  and  mysterious 
influence  pervades  some  fields,  known  as  the 
black  vomit  or  the  rust ;  to  which,  two  years  ago, 
I  called  the  attention  of  the  savans  of  the  Essex 
Institute  at  Salem,  and  induced  them  to  view  the 
premises  ;  but  their  Report  thereon  has  not  yet 
appeared.  J.  W.  Proctor'. 

South  Danvers,  Jan.,  1859. 


SQUASHES  VS.  PUMPKINS. 
Cultivators  often  lose  sight  of  the  distinction 
between  species  and  varieties,  hence  they  recom- 
mend the  "importance"  of  planting  all  the  melon, 
squash  and  cucumber  tribe  of  plants  away  from 
each  other,  with  the  idea  that  they  will  mix.  The 
Marrow,  Valpariaso,  Hubbard  and  Acorn,  called 
squashes,  will  mix  with  each  other,  and  also  with 
the  Connecticut  Field  and  hard-shelled  pump- 
kins, but  not,  as  we  have  ever  found,  with  the 
crook  neck,  the  last  of  which  we  consider  the  true 
type  of  squashes.     This  variety  may  have  more 


affinity  to  the  family  of  gourds  ;  we  have  heard 
that  it  will  degenerate  if  grown  in  connection 
with  the  bottle  gourd  ;  of  this  we  know  nothing 
personally.  As  for  any  of  the  above  hybridizing 
with  the  melon  or  cucumber,  if  this  should  have 
possibly  taken  place,  Ave  think  it  doubtful  whether 
the  seeds  from  these  abortions,  (if  they  should 
have  any,)  would  vegetate. 

If  the  analogy  in  the  animal  and  vegetable 
world  hold  good,  they  would  not,  any  more  than 
the  eggs  of  the  mongrel  Canada  goose  crossed 
with  our  native  bird,  or  a  colt  could  be  obtained 
from  the  mule. 

BOYS'  DEPxiRTMENT. 


A  STORY  FOB  BOYS. 

"When  I  was  six  years  old,"  says  a  well-known 
merchant,  "my  father  died,  leaving  nothing  to  my 
mother  but  the  charge  of  myself  and  two  young 
sisters.  After  selling  the  greater  part  of  the 
household  furniture  she  had  owned,  she  took  two 

small  upper   rooms  in  W Street,  and  there, 

by  her  needle,  contrived  in  some  way — how  I 
cannot  conceive,  when  I  recollect  the  bare  pit- 
tance for  which  she  worked — to  support  us  in 
comfort.  Frequently,  however,  I  remember  that 
our  supper  consisted  simply  of  a  slice  of  bread, 
seasoned  by  hunger,  and  rendered  inviting  by 
the  neat  manner  in  which  our  repast  Avas  served, 
our  table  always  being  spread  with  a  cloth,  which, 
like  my  good  mother's  heart,  seemed  ever  to  pre- 
serve a  snow-white  purity." 

Wiping  his  eyes,  the  merchant  continued  : 

"Speaking  of  those  days  reminds  me  of  the 
time  when  we  sat  down  to  the  table  one  evening, 
and  my  mother  had  asked  the  blessing  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  on  her  little  defenceless  ones, 
in  tones  of  tender  pathos  which  I  remember  yet, 
and  which,  if  possible,  must  have  made  the  an- 
gels Aveep,  she  divided  the  little  remnant  of  her 
only  loaf  into  three  pieces,  placing  one  on  each 
of  our  plates,  but  reserving  none  for  herself.  I 
stole  around  to  her,  and  was  about  to  tell  her 
that  I  Avas  not  hungry,  when  a  flood  of  tears 
burst  from  her  eyes,  and  she  clasped  me  to  her 
bosom.  Our  meal  Avas  left  untouched  ;  we  sat 
up  late  that  night,  but  what  aa'b  said  1  cannot  tell. 
I  know  that  my  mother  talked  to  me  more  as  a 
companion  than  a  child,  and  that  when  we  knelt 
doAvn  to  pray,  I  consecrated  myself  to  be  the 
Lord's,  and  to  serve  my  mother. 

"But  this  is  not  telling  you  how  ntatness  made 
my  fortune.  It  was  sometime  after  this  that  my 
mother  found  an  advertisement  in  the  newspaper 
for  an   errand    boy   in  a  commission   store    in 

B Street    Without  being  necessitated  to  wait 

to  have  my  clothes  mended,  for  my  mother  al- 
ways kept  them  in  ])erfect  order,  and  although, 
on  minute  inspection,  they  l)ore  traces  of  more 
than  one  patch,  yet  on  the  Avhole  they  had  a  very 
respectable  air  ;  Avithout  being  obliged  to  Avait 
even  to  polish  my  shoes,  for  my  mother  always 
kept  a  box  of  blacking  Avith  Avhich  my  coAvhides 
must  he  set  oft'  befon'  I  took  rny  breakfast ;  Avi'li- 
out,   waiJng  to  arrange  my  hair,  for  I  had   been 


200 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


April 


obliged  to  observe  from  my  earliest  youth  the 
most  perfect  neatness  in  every  respect,  my  moth- 
er sent  me  to  see  if  I  could  obtain  the  situation. 
With  alight  step  I  started,  for  I  had  a  long  time 
•wished  my  mother  to  allow  me  to  do  something 
to  assist  her. 

"My  heart  beat  fast,  I  assure  you,  as  I  turned 

otit   of  W Street   into   B Street,    and 

made  my  way  along  to  the  number  my  mother 
had  given  me.  I  summoned  all  the  courage  I 
could  muster,  and  stepped  briskly  into  the  store, 
and  made  known  the  reason  of  my  calling.  The 
merchant  smiled,  and  told  me  that  there  was 
another  boy  who  had  come  in  a  little  while  before 
me  he  thought  he  should  hire.  However,  he 
asked  me  some  questions,  and  then  went  out  and 
conversed  with  the  other  boy,  who  stood  in  the 
back  part  of  the  office.  The  result  was,  that  the 
lad  v,ho  first  applied  was  dismissed,  and  I  en- 
tered the  merchant's  employment,  first  as  an  er- 
rand boy,  then  as  a  clerk,  afterwards  his  partner, 
until  his  death,  when  he  left  me  the  whole  busi- 
ness, stock,  &c.  After  I  had  been  in  his  service 
some  years,  he  told  me  the  reason  he  chose  me 
m  preference  to  the  other  boy,  was  because  of 
the  general  neatness  of  my  person,  while  in  ref- 
erence to  the  other  lad,  he  noticed  that  he  neg- 
lected properly  to  tuck  down  his  vest.  To  this 
circumstance  has  probably  been  owing  the  great- 
er part  of  my  success  in  business." 

LADIES'   DEPARTMENT. 


these,  again,  aid  in  increasing  the  circumferen- 
tial extension  and  clumsiness  of  the  body,  the 
former  of  which  is  by  no  means  accommodating 
to  the  gentlemen,  either  on  the  narrow  sidewalks 
in  Boston,  or  in  carriages,  or  cars  generally  ;  and 
the  latter  surely  cannot  be  viewed  favorably  as  a 
feminine  recommendation  by  one  of  the  other 
sex  in  pursuit  of  a  partner  for  life. 

But,  seriously,  there  are  most  weighty  objec- 
tions against  this  now  prevalent  custom  Of  late 
an  eminent  physician  abroad  has  raised  his  warn- 
ing voice  against  this  pernicious  custom.  He 
say-;,  "he  has  no  doubt  but  in  the  parturient 
chamber  he  has  lost  several  patients  who  might 
have  survived  this  critical  period,  had  they  not 
have  been  debilitated  by  colds,  and  irritations 
and  inflammations  induced  by  such  a  reckless  ex- 
posure of  female  health  as  does,  and  must  neces- 
sarily result,  from  such  gear  in  winter,  as  hooped 
petticoats,  fashionably  called  'skirts.'  " 

If  these  are  facts,  and,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  we  see  no  reason  to  doubt  their  truthfulness, 
there  are  weighty  and  ample  reasons  why  such  a 
system  of  dressing  should  be  immediately  changed 
for  one  safer  and  healthier. — Dr.  Wrn.  Cornell, 
in  Happy  Home. 


THE  HOOP  FASHION. 

Now,  lest  it  should  seem  unkind  to  our  good 
mothers,  wives,  sisters  and  daughters,  (being  of 
the  masculine  gender,  and  withal  a  physician, 
who  of  all  men  should  be  tender  of  female  weak- 
ness,) we  frankly  confess  that  there  are  circum- 
stances connected  with  female  life,  and  seasons 
of  the  year,  when  moderately  sized  hoops  may  be 
worn  with  an  augmentation  of  comfort  and  in- 
crease of  health.  But  duty  compels  the  state- 
ment that  such  cases  are  very  rare  in  our  climate. 
In  very  hot,  dry  weather,  (of  which  we  yearly 
have  but  little,)  light  hoops  tend  to  raise  the 
weight  of  skirts  from  the  loins  and  lower  portion 
of  the  back,  and,  consequently,  take  oft",  by  ad- 
mitting freer  ventilation,  a  part  of  the  warmth 
which  at  such  a  time  must  be  uncomfortable,  and 
lighten  the  dragging  sensation  resulting  from  the 
weight  of  the  skirts,  So  much  is  readily  conceded. 

But,  even  then,  the  evil  far  overbalances  this 
moiety  of  good.  Constant  care  is  necessary  at 
e^'ery  change  of  temperature,  from  hot  to  cold, 
and  from  dry  to  moist,  lest  this  cooling  process 
be  carried  too  far,  and  the  health  of  the  wearers 
of  these  frames  become  endangered,  or  essential- 
ly impaired.  No  feeble  person,  or  invalid,  how- 
ever, should  risk  this  augmented  ventilation  at 
any  considerable  distance  from  home,  even  on  a 
summer's  day,  unless  she  have  a  guarantee  that 
the  weather  will  not  change  during  her  absence. 

So  little  has  this  gear  to  recommend  itself  even 
in  summer.  But  what  shall  be  said  of  it  for  win- 
ter ?  Then  it  is  positively  unsafe  for  health.  It 
is  true,  some  advantage  can  be  devised  against 
this  wanton  exposure  of  health  and  life  in  winter, 
by  a  mucff  increased  amount  of  under-dress.  But 


DOMESTIC  RECEIPTS. 

A  Simple  Pudding. — Boil  a  quart  of  milk, 
cut  up  some  bread  in  small  pieces  and  soak 
them  in  the  milk  for  about  half  an  hour;  then 
add  a  table- spoonful  of  Indian  meal,  and  apiece 
of  butter  the  size  of  a  walnut ;  sweeten  well,  and 
put  in  nutmeg  and  other  spices.  Bake  about 
twenty  minutes. 

Pomatum. — Melt  about  half  a  pint  of  beef 
marrow,  and  add  to  it  six  cents'  worth  of  castor 
oil,  and  three  table-spoonsful  of  alcohol ;  scent 
to  your  fancy.  First  rend  the  marrow,  then  melt 
it  and  put  in  all  but  the  perfume,  and  beat  it  un- 
til it  becomes  like  cream  ;  then  add  the  perfume. 

To  Make  Ckeam  Cheese. — The  following 
are  two  recipes  : — Take  a  quart  of  cream,  or,  if 
not  desired  very  rich,  add  thereto  one  pint  of 
new  milk ;  warm  it  in  hot  water  till  it  is  about 
the  heat  of  milk  from  the  cow  ;  add  a  small  quan- 
tity of  rennet  (a  table  spoonful  is  sufficient ;)  let 
it  stand  till  thick,  then  break  it  slightly  with  a 
spoon,  and  place  it  in  a  frame  in  which  you  have 
previously  put  a  fine  canvass  cloth;  press  it 
[slightly  with  a  weight,  let  it  stand  a  few  hours, 
land  then  put  a  finer  cloth  in  the  frame  ;  a  little 
i  powdered  salt  may  be  put  over  the  cloth.  It 
will  be  fit  for  use  in  a  day  or  two. 

Another  Method. — If  cream  is  scarce,  so 
that  a  sufficient  quantity  cannot  be  had  at  once, 
take  a  fine  canvas  bag,  and  pour  as  much  cream 
as  you  may  happen  to  have  into  it,  adding  addi- 
tional small  quantities  twice  a  day,  and,  from  its 
[becoming  naturally  sour,  the  thin  part  of  It  will 
(drain  through  the  canvass,  and  the  remainder 
'will  prove  an  exc  llent  cheese.  If  one  quart  of 
cream  can  be  had  at  once,  and  poured  into  a  fine 
canvass  bag,  it  will  make  a  nice-sized  cheese, 
and  of  course  equally  as  good  as  those  made  by 
several  small  quantities  added  at  convenient  in- 
tervals. The  cheeses  made  in  this  way  are  not 
fit  for  use  so  soon  as  those  made  with  rennet. 


DEVOTED  TO  AGRICULTURE   AWD    ITS  KINDRED   ARTS  AND    SCIENCES, 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  MAY,  1859. 


NO.  5. 


JOEL  NOURSE,  Proprietor. 
Office. ..34  Merchants  Kow. 


SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR. 


FPvEn'K  noi.BROOK,  )  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  \  Editors. 


CALENDAR  FOR  MAY. 

"When  rosy  May  comes  in  wi'  flowers, 

To  dfck  her  gay,  green  spreaiJing  bowers, 

Then  busy,  busy  are  her  hours — 

The  gardener  wi'  his  paidle. 

The  crystal  waters  gently  fa', 

The  meiry  birds  are  lovtrs  a', 

The  fcented  breezes  round  tiim  blow — 

The  gardener  wi'  his  paidle." — Burns. 

AY  is  more  cele- 
brated in  song 
than  any  other 
month  in  the  year 
—  but  it  must 
have  been  a  May 
different  from 
ours,  that  inspir- 
ed the  poet  in 
some  of  his  at- 
tractive strains. 

The     Spectator 
says — "A  celebra- 
ted French  novel- 
ist in    opposition   to 
those  who    begin   their 
Ufj  rominces  with  the  flowery 
^   season  of  the  year,  enters 
"5^     on  his  story  thus  : — 

"  'In  the  gloomy  month 
of  November,  when  the 
people  of  England  hang  and  drown  themselves,  a 
disconsolate  lover  walked  out  in  the  fields,'"  &c. 
The  reason  why  the  writer  commenced  in  this 
way  is  quite  obvious.  He  had  a  disconsolate  lov- 
er to  dispose  of— a  lover  who,  for  aught  we 
know,  was  at  that  very  moment  walking  out  in 
search  of  a  place  wherein  to  drown  himself,  a 
V  Anglaise. 

Had  he  begun  it  thus— "In  the  beautiful 
month  of  May,  when  all  nature  was  rejoicing — 
when  birds  were  singing  in  every  tree,  and  flow- 
ers were  blooming  in  every  nook,"  &c.,  &c.,  po- 
etic truth  would  have  required,  not  the  intro-| 


^•j^W^ 


duction  of  one  solitary  lover  on  suicidal  thought 
intent,  but  a  pair  of  lovers  "sitting  on  a  mossy 
bank,"  looking  untterable  things  at  each  other. 

Philosophize  as  we  may,  the  weather  does  have 
a  great  influence  over  the  spirits  of  the  wisest  of 
us,  and  we  cannot  help  sympathizing  with  her 
varying  moods.  In  the  case  of  the  "lover"  afore- 
said, we  would  hazard  a  guess  that  the  lady  dis- 
missed him  in  an  equinoctial  storm,  and  that  if 
he  contrived  to  live  through  the  winter,  they 
made  it  all  up,  and  were  married  the  following 
May,  with  all  the  orange  flowers  and  "honiton" 
suitable  to  the  occasion  ! 

Heaven's  sunshine  dissipates  "vapors"  •f  more 
than  one  kind,  and  "Melancholy  often  conveys 
herself  to  us  in  an  easterly  M'ind." 

Geologists  tell  us  that  when  the  earth  emerged 
from  chaos,  there  was  a  period  in  which  nothing 
but  enormous  lizards  perambulated  its  surface, 
and  that  it  took  some  time  to  fit  it  up  for  the 
residence  of  human  beings.  We  have  often  been 
reminded  of  this  in  looking  out  upon  a  world 
just  waking  from  its  winter  nap — and  as  day  af- 
ter day,  a  man  plods  amphibiously  along  through 
mud,  water  and  snow — a  pair  of  long  rubber 
boots  beneath  his  feet,  and  an  umbrella  over  his 
head,  he  may  be  supposed  to  have  pretty  vivid 
conceptions  of  those  primitive  settlers  of  the  liz- 
ard tribe.  But  then  came  the  dry  land,  the 
green  grass,  the  birds,  the  flowers — verily,  it  is 
the  old  story  of  the  garden  of  Eden  over  again  ! 

"And  the  Lord  God  took  the  man  and  put  him 
into  the  garden  of  Eden  to  dress  and  keep  it." 

We  would  not  indulge  in  idle  speculations, 
but  may  we  not  fairly  infer  from  this  passage, 
that  husbandry,  in  some  form,  was  his  natural 
and  original  occupation  ?  Is  it  not  true,  also,  that 
the  necessity  for  the  three  learned  professions, 
as  they  are  called,  arises  entirely  from  the  sins 
and  infirmities  of  mankind  ?  The  minister  calls 
not  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance.  It 
is  the  lawyer's  business  to  heal  dissensions  occa- 


202 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


sioned  by  the  bad  passions  of  men,  and  the  physi- 
cian treats  diseases  brought  on  by  some  violation 
of  the  laws  of  nature, — either  in  the  parent  or  his 
ancestors.  So  of  many  trades  and  mechanical 
arts,  it  were  easy  to  show  that  they  are  founded 
upon  artificial  wants  ;  but  we  can  hardly  imagine 
a  condition  in  which  farming  is  not  man's  legiti- 
mate pursuit. 

If  Adam  attended  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
earth,  what,  meanwhile,  was  Eve's  employment? 
We  may  infer  what  Milton  thought  about  it,  for 
he  makes  her  thus  lament  the   expulsion   from 

Paradise — 

"0  flowers, 
That  will  not  in  other  climate  grow, 
My  early  visitation  and  my  last 
At  even,  which  I  breil  up  with  tender  hand, 
From  the  fir?t  opening  bud,  and  gave  ye  names, 
Who  DOW  shall  rear  ye  to  the  sun,  or  rank 
Your  tribes,  and  water  from  the  ambrosial  fount?" 

Most  ladies,  like  their  mother  Eve,  love  flow- 
ers by  nature,  though  all  do  not  like  the  care  of 
them.  It  is,  however,  a  taste  capable  of  cultiva- 
tion. We  believe  any  woman  who  can  have  the 
time,  and  land  enough  and  help  enough  to  give 
her  genius  full  scope,  will  soon  enter  into  the 
matter  with  all  the  enthusiasm  characteristic  of 
the  sex. 

We  find  some  excellent  hints  in  "Rural  Af- 
fairs," a  little  annual  published  at  Albany,  N.  Y., 
by  Luther  Tucker  &  Son,  Editors  of  the  Coun- 
try Gentleman.  "Two  very  distinct  styles  of  ar- 
ranging and  planting  ornamental  grounds  have 
been  adopted.  In  the  old-fashioned  or  geometric 
style,  everything  was  arranged  in  straight  lines, 
or  occasional  circles.  Every  care  was  taken  in 
this  style  to  avoid  irregularity."  This  anecdote 
16  subjoined.  "The  old  gardener  of  Selkirk,  who 
was  very  strongly  imbued  with  this  mania,  when 
he  shut  up  the  thief  in  the  summer-house  for 
stealing  the  fruit,  was  compelled,  for  the  sake  of 
symmetry,  to  confine  his  own  son  in  the  summer- 
house  opposite  !" 

Nature  delights  in  curves,  rather  than  angles. 
She  puts  a  bank  of  violets  here,  a  clump  of  pine 
trees  there — a  wild  rose  on  one  side  the  brook, 
and  a  clematis  on  the  other. 

There  are  few  who  have  been  blessed  with 
homes,  who  cannot  recall  their  early  days  with 
pleasure,  and  associate  with  them  some  spots  es- 
pecially dear.  The  influence  of  all  such  memo- 
ries is  pure  and  refining  beyond  estimation ;  how 
nauch  more  so  when  the  memories  come  linked 
with  beautiful  scenes.  The  elm  tree  at  the  door, 
with  a  robin's  nest  on  a  swaying  branch — the 
vine  over  the  poi'ch,  the  morning-glory  trained 
about  the  window,  and  the  flower-garden — yes, 
the  flower-garden ! — your  little  boy, or  your  young 
brothers,  may  go  to  the  grave  with  heads  as  white 
as  snow,  but  he  will  keep  in  his  heart  a  daguer- 


reotype of  this  beautiful  home  of  long  ago,  and 
you  in  the  midst  as  its  presiding  genius. 

Years  ago  we  knew  of  a  flower-garden — we 
fear  it  was  rather  in  the  geometric  style — but  we 
have  never  seen  one  so  graceful  in  our  eyes  since. 
The  centre  was  a  square — the  four  outside  beds 
were  triangles ;  the  whole  bordered  with  pinks, 
while  year  after  year  grew  in  the  same  places, 
peonies,  marigolds,  tulips,  jonquils,  lady's-de- 
lights,  and  a  few  other  common  flowers.  Far- 
ther down  the  enclosure  was  a  pear  tree,  and 
ranged  about  it  an  oblong  square  of  fleur-de-lis. 

A  faint  idea  of  the  fine  appearance  of  this  last 
arrangement  seems  to  have  daAvned  upon  some- 
body, for  it  received  the  name  of  "Old  Maid's 
Row." 

Ah,  it  is  easy  enough  now  to  look  back  from 
the  heights  of  modern  improvements,  and  smile 
at  the  want  of  artistic  skill  exhibited  in  the  gar- 
den we  have  described ;  but  we  are  content  it 
should  remain  an  unaltered  picture  in  our  mem- 
ory, which  shall  bring  back  to  us  a  vision  of  the 
fair  florists  who  tended  it. 

And  you,  madam,  and  you,  sir, — have  you  not 
a  similar  picture  in  your  memory?  and  for  what 
price  would  you  part  with  it  ?  Perhaps  it  is  all 
grown  over  with  weeds  now,  and  only  a  few  stray 
flowers  mark  the  spot,  but  you  will  see  it  as  it 
was  in  other  days,  and  you  will  see  those  whose 
names 

"Have  been  carved  for  many  a  year 
On  tlie  stone  !" 


For  the  New  Engloiiid  Farmer 
THE  HYDBAULIC  KAM. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  been  looking  over  the 
pages  of  your  interesting  and  valuable  journal, 
hoping  I  might  find  something  from  W.  D.  B., 
of  Concord,  in  reference  to  the  Hydraulic  Ram 
he  likes  so  well,  and  to  which  allusion  was  made 
by  him  in  the  November  number  of  the  Farmer. 
In  the  article  referred  to,  he  says,  "I  think  so 
well  of  the  ram,  that  I  should  be  glad  to  give 
you  a  full  article  on  the  subject."  It  is  this  "full 
article"  that  I  have  been  looking  after.  I  desire 
to  learn  more  about  this  machine,  which  over- 
comes the  force  of  gravity,  and  makes  water  run 
up  hill. 

I  should  be  glad  to  he^r  how  his  ram  has  win- 
tered. So  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  the 
opinion  seems  to  prevail  that  the  greatest  trou- 
ble with  these  machines  lies  in  their  liability  to 
freeze. 

I  have  no  doubt  there  are  many  readers  of  the 
Farmer  who  sufler  much  inconvenience,  especial- 
ly in  winter,  for  want  of  a  convenient  supply  of 
water  for  their  stock.  It  is  evident  that  where 
streams  are  handy,  the  hydraulic  ram,  if  it  M'ill 
v/ork,  is  just  what  is  needed.  I  presume  there  are 
many,  even  among  those  that  have  good  wells,  and 
keep  large  stocks  of  cattle,  who  would  be  glad 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  seemingly  easy  method 
of  obtaining  running  water,  when  they  become 
convinced  that  it  is  reliable,  and  that  the  cost  of 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


203 


the  machine  and  expense  of  keeping  in  repair 
will  not  be  so  great  but  that  it  will  pay. 

If  "W.  D.  B.,"  or  others,  who  are  posted  on 
this  subject,  will  let  their  light  shine,  they  will 
oblige  many  readers  of  the  Farmer,      s.  D.  C 

Sunderland,  Mass.,  1859. 


JARVIS'  AND  BAKER'S  ISiAWD  GUANO. 

In  our  advertising  columns,  the  reader  may 
find  this  guano  offered  for  sale, — and  we  call  at- 
tion  to  it  in  order  to  refer  those  persons  who  de- 
sire to  use  some  specific  fertilizer,  to  an  article 
which  we  think  may  be  used  moderately  with 
safety.  There  are  thousands  of  farmers  T»ho 
would  be  glad  to  employ  some  manurial  agents 
beside  what  they  derive  from  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  farm,  if  they  could  resort  to  them 
with  confidence.  In  various  particulars  such 
agents  may  be  profitably  used. 

From  the  results  of  an  experiment  on  our  own 
farm,  and  from  analyses  by  diff'erent  chemists, 
we  are  inclined  to  think  that  this  guano  may  be 
used  advantageously.  It  does  not  yield  ammo- 
nia, but  its  principal  ingredients  are  the  phos- 
phates and  sulphates  of  lime,  the  articles  which 
confer  a  lasting  benefit  on  the  soil,  instead  of 
stimulating  and  exhausting  its  properties. 

We  have  been  careful,  as  our  readers  well 
know,  about  recommending  specific  fertilizers  for 
general  use, — but  we  have  no  doubt  that  this 
guano  is  safe  and  valuable,  used  as  an  auxiliary 
to  our  common  manures.  Let  each  use  it  in 
small  quantities,  but  dress  liberally  whatever 
ground  is  attempted  to  be  gone  over. 

We  shall  take  occasion  to  speak  of  it  again. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BARLEY  FOR  HORSES. 

In  Portugal,  and,  I  suppose,  in  the  Peninsula, 
generally,  barley  is  the  principal  food  for  horses 
and  asses.  Nowhere  do  these  animals  appear 
fatter  and  sleeker  than  in  and  about  Lisbon. 
Gentlemen's  horses,  whether  native  to  the  coun- 
try, or  brought  from  England  and  Germany,  as 
many  of  their  carriage  horses  are,  are  the  pride 
of  their  owners  and  grooms,  and  certainly  seem 
extremely  well  cared  for.  Yet  their  food  is  near- 
ly or  quite  all  barley  straw,  and  the  grain  served 
to  them  as  oats  are  with  us.  The  barley  is 
threshed  by  being  trodden  out  under  the  feet  of 
oxen  and  horses,  and  is  made  as  fine  as  the  old 
straw  from  an  under  bed. 

When  upon  the  road  the  usual  baiting  is  bread, 
coarse  wheat  bread — occasionally  dipped  in  the 
cheap  wine  of  the  country. 

The  barley  crop  appears  stout  and  heavy  as  it 
stands  in  the  field  ;  and  yet  the  land  is  ill-man- 
ured and  far  from  rich.  I  do  not  see  anything 
to  prevent  as  large  crops  on  ordinary  lands ;  and 
I  do  not  know  why  animals  here  should  not  find 
it  as  nutritious  and  as  palatable  food  as  it  is 
there.  H. 

West  Lebanon,  N.  H. 


We  give  above  the  illustration  of  a  new  device 
to  protect  cucumber,  melon,  squash  and  other 
vines  from  the  depredations  usually  made  upon 
them  by  swarms  of  hungry  bugs.  It  is  simple, 
cheap,  and  we  think  must  prove  eff'ectual.  The 
inside  hoops  in  the  round  one  are  rattan,  and 
the  outside  ones  are  made  of  tough  white  ash. 
These  are  covered  with  gauze,  with  the  meshes 
sufficiently  small  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  the 
striped  bug.  The  three  upright  pins  are  simple 
pieces  of  pine  that  may  be  whittled  out  in  one 
minute  ;  the  upper  end  has  a  notch  cut  in  it, 
while  near  the  lower  end  a  hole  is  bored,  which 
is  slipped  upon  the  bottom  screw,  and  the  pro- 
tector is  set  up. 

The  one  at  the  left  hand  has  four  sticks,  each 
sawed  out  lengthwise,  so  as  to  admit  the  gauze, 
and  fastened  at  the  top  with  bits  of  leather.  The 
points  of  the  sticks  in  this  and  the  round  one 
are  thrust  into  the  grou'hd  until  the  gauze  touches 
the  surface,  when  there  is  no  room  for  the  ac- 
cess of  bugs. 

While  it  appears  to  us  that  these  protectors 
will  be  more  eff'ectual  than  anything  we  have  be- 
fore seen,  intended  for  the  purpose,  they  have 
some  advantages  not  po><sessed  by  others.  The 
first,  is  their  compactness  when  not  in  use,  as  they 
may  be  "collapsed"  instantly,  and  some  one  or 
two  hundred  packed  into  a  flour  barrel,  hearrd 
up  and  put  away  for  another  year.  There  bei  ig 
gauze  on  the  sides  as  well  as  the  top,  the  air  \<  ill 
have  a  free  circulation  among  the  plants,  so  th.it 
they  may  grow  about  as  vigorously  as  they  would 
were  nothing  about  them.  They  are  also  light, 
yet  strong,  cheap,  and  convenient  to  handle,  either 
in  placing,  or  taking  them  from  plants,  and  in 
packing  them  away. 

These  protectors  were  invented,  and  are  man- 
ufactured by  Mr.  Caleb  Bates,  of  Kingston,  Mass., 
who  has  taken  measure  to  secure  a  patent. 


Sewing  Machines  in  England. — Great  ex- 
citement prevails  at  Staff"ord  and  Northampton, 
in  England,  in  consequence  of  the  introduction 
of  sewing  machines  in  the  manufacture  of  boots 
and  shoes.  At  a  meeting  in  Stafford,  attended 
by  20()()  makers  and  binders,  it  was  stated  that 
5000  persons  had  been  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment in  Northampton,  and  1000  in  Staff'ord,  by 
the  introduction  of  machine-sewn  tops,  and  a 
union  was  formed  for  resisting  the  innovation. 


204 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


For  the  New  England  Fanner. 
VARIETIES  OF  NEW  APPLES. 


In  running  my  eye  over  the  last  edition  of 
Downing  on  the  Fruits  and  Fruit  Trees  of  Amer- 
ica, I  was  struck  with  the  number  of  new  varie- 
ties of  the  apple  he  had  added  to  his  list  in  ten 
years.  Within  a  circle  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
Kiles  in  diameter,  near  the  centre  of  which  I  re- 
side, I  find  twelve  new  kinds,  which  I  will  give, 
together  with  the  place  of  their  origin. 


Garden  Koyal Sudbury. 

American  Beauty Sterling. 

Fall  Orange Holden. 

Hill's  Favorite. .  ..Leominster. 

Magnolia ....Bol'on. 

Washington  Royal. . . . Sterling. 


Mother Bolton . 

Carter Leominster 

Foundling Groton. 

Hunt's  Russet Concord. 

Priest's  Sweet.... Leominster. 
Willis'  Kusset Sudburv. 


well  deserves  the  reputation  you  give  it,  it  can- 
not, probably,  be  found  in  one  in  ten  of  the  gar- 
dens or  orchards  of  the  people. 

The  Hunt  Russet  is  one  of  the  surest  bearers, 
and  the  fruit  remarkable  for  its  long-keeping 
qualities,  as  well  as  for  its  delicious  flavor,  yet  it 
cannot  be  found  in  one-fourth  of  the  orchards  o 
the  county.  And  these  deficiencies  exist,  while 
the  people  are  cultivating  third  and  fourth-rate 
fruit  that  requires  its  own  weight  in  sugar  and 
spices  to  soften  and  make  palatable  its  harsh- 
ness. 

It  may  be  said  that  accounts  of  these  good  ap- 
ples may  be  found  in  the  books — so  they  are, 

Now  I  can  speak  of  most  of  these  apples  from  ^^anks  to  those  who  have  given  them  attention 
actual  experience.     1  regard  the   (jaruen  Koyal  I      ,    ^  ,      ,  ,   ,         , 

as  the  most  delicious  early  autumn  apple  thatp*^"^ ''"^^^  ^'"^  ""^  scattered  broadcast  among 
I  know.  The  Foundling,  in  this  neighborhood,  the  farmers,  as  are  newspapers.  So  we  hope 
is  perhaps  entitled  to  the  second  pl^ce.  The  our  correspondent  will  amuse  himsi-lf,  and  ben- 
Carter  is  an  acquaintance,  and  a  most  agreeable  I  efit  others  by  giving  us  brief  sketches  of  the  ap- 
one  too,  of  fifty  years  standing,  and,  regarding  it  j  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  originated  on  our  own  soil, 
as  both  a  cooking   and  a   desert  apple,  has  lew  '  ^ 

equals  and  no   superiors,  from  October  to  Janu- j 
ary,  while  the  Mother,  with  those    who  know  it  EIGHTH  LEGISLATIVE  AQRICULTUIIAIj 


well,  ranks  equally  high  during  the  same  period. 
The  two  russets,  Hunt's  and  Willis',  are  both  de- 
servedly favorites,  which  will  be  in  season  from 
January  to  May,  and  the  Washington  Royal, 
which  Downing  endorses  on  the  authority  of  the 
A".  E.  Farmer,  wi  1  carry  us  through  till  we  can 
gather  our  apples  fresh  from  the  trees.  The 
other  kinds  will  probably  afl'ord  us  a  variety,  and 
perhaps  an  equally  agreeable  flavor,  while  the 
American  Beauty  and  Priest's  Sweet  will  furnish 
the  baking  pan  from  September  to  May. 

This,  I  think,  is  very  well  for  a  little  circle  of 
thirty  miles  diameter,  and  yet  I  have  eaten  ap- 
ples nearly  or  quite  as  good  as  these,  in  the  same 
region,  which  had  no  name  known  to  the  pro- 
ducer. 

If  this  district  was  carefully  canvassed,  I  do 
not  doubt  that  at  least  twelve  more  varieties  of 
neurly,  o'*  quite  equal  excellence,  would  be 
Drought  to  light.  Who  will  be  the  explorer  ? 
Who  will  found  an  establishment  for  systemati- 
cally testing  our  native  fruits  and  disseminating 
those  of  real  merit  ?  Will  not  some  of  our 
horticultural  associations  make  it  an  especial 
subject  of  their  attention  ?  Is  it  not  a  matter  of 
much  more  interest  to  fruit-growers  than  the  in- 
troduction of  foreign  varieties,  or  even  those  from 
the  Middle  and  Western  States  ? 

Henry  Lincoln. 

Lancaster,  Mass.,  March,  1859. 


Remarks. — An  excellent  article — please  let  us 
hear  from  you  again  on  similar  subjects.  We 
think  a  more  particular  account  from  you,  of 
these  and  other  home  varieties  of  apples,  would 
be  of  essential  service.  Such  particulars,  for  in- 
stance, as  the  habits  of  the  tree,  with  regard  to 
quickness  of  growth,  form,  soil  adapted  to  it, 
time  of  fruiting,  flavor,  and  keeping  qualities 
of  the  fruit,  &c.  &c. 

Notwithstanding  the  Oarden  Royal  originated 
In  about  the   centre  of  Middlesex  County,  and 


MEETING. 
[Reported  by  Job:*  C.  Moore,  for  the  N.  E.  F.4rmer  } 

The  meeting  of  the  Legislative  Agricultural 
Society,  last  Monday  evening,  was  well  attended. 
The  subject  discussed  was  "Drainage," 

Dr.  G.  B.  LoRlNG,  of  Salem,  occupied  the 
Chair.  In  opening  the  discussion,  he  said  that 
the  proce.ss  by  which  land  might  be  relieved  of 
its  superfluous  moisture  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant to  the  agriculturist.  It  lay  at  the  very 
foundation  of  the  successful  cultivation  of  the 
soil.  He  did  not  refer  to  large  operations  ;  but 
large  tracts  of  land  saturated  by  springs,  or  hold- 
ing in  their  basins  the  drainage  of  the  hills  or 
the  falling  rains  and  snows,  which  did  demand 
the  attention  of  the  farmer.  These  were  to  be 
found  everywhere.  Hardly  a  farm  could  be  found 
in  New  England  which  did  not  contain  many  val- 
uable acres  where  cultivation  was  a  matter  of 
great  uncertainty,  on  account  of  the  water  with 
which  they  are  chilled  and  drowned.  Every  farm- 
er knew  that  a  ditch  properly  cut  through  a  swamp 
would  drain  it.  Every  farmer  knew  that  surface 
water  would  escape  by  means  of  dead  furrows 
and  an  open  drain.  But  most  farmers  had  seen 
their  strongest  soils  fail  in  the  production  of  cul- 
tivated crops,  and  their  best  grass  lands  invaded 
by  rank  and  sour  herbage,  in  spite  of  all  their 
efforts  to  keep  them  warm  and  productive  by 
means  of  fertilizers.  They  had,  indeed,  removed 
the  water  from  the  surface,  but  the  poison  lay 
deeper  down,  at  the  roots,  dwarfing  their  crops 
and  neutralizing  their  manures.  The  great  ob- 
ject of  thorough  draining  was  to  deliver  farmers 
of  this  evil.  There  were  lands  where  nature  did 
this  for  them,  and  where  the  character  of  the 
subsoil  and  the  location  of  the  lands  were  such 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


20o 


that  deep  tillage  was  alcie  necessary  to  produce 
a  profitable  result  for  agricultural  labors.  But 
■where  these  did  not  exist — where  the  soil  rested 
on  a  bed  of  clay,  or  was  deluged  by  springs — 
art  was  required  to  enable  nature  to  perform  her 
proper  work.  Almost  any  cold  soil  could  be 
brought  to  a  kindly  condition  by  drainage.  If 
farmers  would  furnish  their  crops  with  a  fair 
chance  to  I'emunerate  them  for  their  labor,  let 
them  rid  the  soil  of  water.  If  they  would  avoid 
the  effects  of  drought,  by  allowing  the  roots  of 
their  plants  to  penetrate  the  soil  to  a  depth  which 
drought  could  never  reach,  let  them  drain  the  wa- 
ter from  the  subsoil.  If  they  would  prevent  their 
fields  from  freezing  to  death  in  winter,  and  crack- 
ing and  parching  beneath  the  summer's  sun,  they 
should  give  them  proper  consistency  by  render- 
ing the  subsoil  light  and  porous.  In  order  to 
be  warm  and  fertile,  and  equable  in  its  tempera 
ture,  receptive  of  manure,  and  responsive  to  its 
influence,  soils  must  be  free  from  that  supera 
bundance  of  water  which  made  it  cold  in  winter 
— surface-drj^  in  summer — hard,  clammy  and  for- 
bidding. 

Dr.  Loring  believed  one  of  the  most  valuable 
inventions  for  accomplishing  this  object  to  be 
tile-draining.  He  looked  on  Mr.  Smith,  of  Dean- 
ston,  Stirlingshire,  Scotland,  who  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  demonstrated  the  ben- 
efits of  this  form  of  drainage,  as  the  benefactor 
of  the  farmer.  His  system  had  reclaimed  thous- 
ands of  acres  in  his  own  country,  and  had  been 
adopted  by  the  most  enterprising  farmers  in  our 
own.  Dr.  L.  also  alluded  to  the  efforts  made  by 
Mr.  Johnson,  of  Seneca  county,  New  York,  who 
had  laid  more  than  forty  miles  of  tiles  on  his 
farm,  and  had  increased  his  crops  one  hundred 
fold,  by  proper  under-draining.  It  was  hardly 
worth  while  to  discuss  the  comparative  merits  of 
the  diiferent  modes  of  draining  at  the  present 
day.  Stone  drains  had  had  their  day.  Except 
under  extraordinary  circumstances,  they  were  not 
so  economical  as  tile  drains,  and  in  no  case  were 
they  so  effectual.  Every  man,  it  was  reasonable 
to  assume,  who  undertook  thorough-drainage, 
bad  advanced  far  enough  in  agricultural  science 
to  avail  himself  of  tiles,  if  they  could  be  had 
within  reasonable  reach.  Dr.  Loring  said  he 
did  not  propose  to  explain  their  construction,  or 
their  mode  of  application,  but  simply  give  his 
own  experience  of  the  use  of  tiles.  He  had  on 
his  farm  a  finely  located  field  of  four  and  one- 
half  acres,  level,  warm,  convenient  to  his  barn- 
yard, and  in  every  way  a  tempting  piece  of  soil 
to  cultivate.  For  half  a  century,  however,  it  had 
been  a  reproach  to  the  science  of  farming.  It 
rested  on  an  impervious  bed  of  clay,  into  which 
all  the  water  from  the  surrounding  hills,  and 
from  four  and   one-half   acres  of   overhanging 


clouds,  was  sure  to  be  caught.  It  had  been 
drained  for  generations  by  a  deep,  unsightly,  open 
ditch,  and  was  laid  out  in  beds,  with  dead  fur- 
rows. Many  a  crop  had  been  lost  there ;  and 
farmers  always  said  it  was  plowed  either  a  day 
too  early  or  a  day  too  late.  When  Dr.  L.  took 
it,  it  had,  he  said,  long  been  laid  down  to  grass, 
and  every  where  the  nutritious  grasses  were  being 
expelled  by  rushes  and  weeds.  He  cut  about 
half  a  ton  of  hay  per  acre  from  it  in  the  season 
of  1857.  On  the  first  day  of  December  of  that 
year,  the  season  being  propitious,  he  had  the 
open  ditch  filled  in  above  two  rows  of  four-inch 
sole  tiles,  from  three  to  five  or  six  feet  deep — a 
thousand  feet  in  length — with  a  fall  of  about  four 
inches  per  100  feet.  Into  these  main  tiles,  on 
each  side,  he  inserted  two-inch  sole  tiles  at  dis- 
tances varying  from  20  to  32  feet,  with  the  same 
fall  for  the  water.  The  drains  were  filled  at  once, 
and  their  operation  commenced.  All  winter  they 
continued  to  discharge  water  from  the  field ;  and 
at  the  opening  of  spring  its  cultivation  was  be- 
gun. Here  and  there  between  the  lines  of  drain 
were  hollows  which  the  plow  could  not  obliterate, 
and  the  water  would  stand  for  a  short  time  in 
them.  But  the  soil  improved  month  by  month, 
and  yielded  60  bushels  of  corn  from  the  acre. 
During  last  autumn  it  was  thought  best  to  add 
a  few  more  drains,  and  while  making  them,  the 
workmen  exclaimed — "How  brittle  this  clay  is !" 
The  water  was  gradually  passing  out  of  it.  The 
field  already  showed  the  benefit  of  the  expense 
put  upon  it.  The  snow  melted  rapidly  upon  it, 
and  it  was  fast  becoming  suitable  for  root  culture, 
for  which  it  was  designed  the  coming  season. 
The  cost  of  draining  it  had  been  about  $45  per 
acre  ;  and.  Dr.  L.  said,  were  he  disposed  to  drain 
another  piece  of  land,  he  should  adopt  the  very 
same  method  of  doing  it — with  the  exception  of 
laying  the  two-inch  lateral  tiles  16  or  18  feet 
apart  instead  of  30  feet — as  a  stiff,  tenacious  clay 
demanded  the  lesser  width.  He  could  not  too 
highly  recommend  the  draining  system  to  farm- 
ers at  large,  and  would  urge  the  encouragement 
of  the  system  of  thorough  drainage,  by  all  prop- 
er means,  at  the  hands  of  our  agricultural  socie- 
ties, and  of  the  Commonwealth.  As  there  were 
several  gentlemen  present  who  had  studied  drain- 
age, and  experimented  as  well  as  he,  the  Chair- 
man would  proceed  to  call  upon  them  for  their 
opinions  as  to  its  value. 

Mr.  B.  V.  French,  of  Braintree,  was  the  first 
speaker  called  upon,  and  he  stated  his  experi- 
ence in  draining  in  his  usually  familiar  style — 
having  first  given  a  succinct  history  of  the  im- 
provement, and  commended  the  principle  of  en- 
couragement offered  to  draining  improvers  by 
the  English  government  and  by  private  corpora- 
tions.   The  general  argument  he  used  was  in  fa- 


206 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


ISlAT 


Yor  of  thorough  drainage  on  nearly  all  descrip-  hire,  was  called  on  to  speak  of  certain  improve- 
tions  of  soils,  as  furnishing  the  best  and  safest  ments  on  the  farm  at  the  State  Reform  School 
condition  for  every  description  of  cultivation,  in  the  way  of  draining.  He  could  not  speak  of 
Deepening  the  soil  was  of  the  highest  advan-  expense,  as  the  labor  was  done  by  boys.  The 
tage  to  crops— to  show  which  fact,  Mr.  French  land  was  wet,  and  subject  to  remain  in  a  semi- 
mentioned  that  he  was  informed  that  the  roots  flowed  state.  As  to  the  results,  little  definite  in- 
of  corn  had  been  traced  15  feet  in  the  soil,  clo-  formatian  could  be  given,  as  the  improvement 
ver  roots  23  feet,  and  strawberries  4  feet.  Were  was  only  a  year  old  ;  but,  last  spring,  the  land 
such  conditions  furnished  trees  as  would  enable  could  be  worked  as  early  as  any  other  part  of  the 
them  to  throw  out  their  roots  without  obstruc-  farm.  It  took  several  years  before  the  full 
tion,  there  would  be  no  more  complaint  of  their  amount  of  draining  benefit  could  be  realized— 
being  heaved  out  by  frost  in  the  spring.  He  hence  the  present  impossibility  of  speaking  of 
commended  drains  4  feet  deep,  and  30  feet  apart,  results  in  the  case  in  question. 


and  such    could  be   formed,  tiled  and    filled  for 
about  $50  an  acre,  or  less,  according  to  circum- 


Mr.  NouRSE,  of  Bangor,  Me.,  drained  a  field 
in  1856,  and  last  year  he  had  45  bushels  of  bar- 


stances.  The  remainder  of  Mr.  French's  re-  j^y^  p^r  acre.  One  acre  yielded  51  bushels.  It 
marks  showed  an  extensive  acquaintance  '"'ith^  ^^s  drained  4  rods  apart,  and  the  drains  from  3 
the  subject,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  have  drain-  ^^  4.1  f^^t  ,,e,p.     jt  ^as  designed  originallv  to 


ing  more  liberally  followed  up. 

Mr.   Sanford   Howard,   of  the    Cultivator, 
gave  a  very  interesting  history  of  draining  im- 


cut  drains  between,  but  those  already  construct- 
ed had  worked  so  well  as  to  make  this  design 
probably  unnecessary  to   be  carried   out.     Mr. 


provements  made  by  Mr.  Johnson,  Seneca  coun-[Nourse  was  of  opinion  that  depth  of  drain  com- 
ty,  New  York  State,  showing  that  they  had  been  I  pensated,  in  some  degree,  for  width.  He  thought 
commenced  under  discouragement,  and  especial-  that,  if  a  farmer  had  200  acres  of  land,  he  would 


ly  discouraging  advice,  but  their  consequence 
had  been  singularly  ])rofitable.  These  improve- 
ments had   begun  on   a   small  scale  at    first,  but 


do  better  to  sell  one-half  and  spend  the  money 
on  the  other,  and  borrow  beside,  if  necessary, 
and  profit  would  yet  accrue  in  a  greater   degree 


subsequently  had  been  somewhat  extensive,  and  than  if  he  cultivated  200  acres  of  undrainedland. 
31  instead  of  15  bushels  of  wheat,  per  acre,  had|  Mr.  N.  thought  $35  as  much  per  acre  as  drain- 
been  the  produce  of  drained  lands,  while  the:  ing  would  cost,  and  $20  per  acre  more  than  it 
crops  were  less  subject  to  parasitical  diseases,  I  might  amount  to  in  some  places.  He  concluded 
and  earlier  brought  to  maturity.  Besides,  a  good  I  by  giving  a  very  interesting  and  instructive  view 
crop  was  always  certain  from  drained  land,  when  I  of  the  philosophy  of  draining,  which  he  had 
undrained  soils  would  notfurnish  one  worthy  the|  learned  from  experience.  He  approved  of  the 
cutting.  The  cost  to  Mr.  Johnson  of  digging,  |  use  of  tiles,  as  in  every  respect  preferable  to 
laying  the  tiles,  and  filling,  (including  the  price  stones  ;  but  the  latter  ought  rather  to  be  used, 


of  tiles)  was  28^  cts.  per  rod.  The  land  was  not 
what  was  called  wet  land.  It  had  a  clay  subsoil, 
and  was  very  apt  to  bake  in  summer,  chill  in 
winter,  and  heave  in  spring,  which  evils  had 
been  obviated  by  its  drainage.  While  Mr.  How- 
ard believed  in  the  general  benefits  of  draining, 
there  were  lands,  he  thought,  that  would  not  re- 
munerate the  farmer  for  the  labor  and  expense. 
He  briefly  alluded  to  the  science  of  draining  as 
followed  in  Scotland,  stating  that  the  improve- 
ment in  Ayrshire  had  been  equivalent  to  a  doub- 
ling of  the  produce  of  the  land.  On  the  eastern 
coast  of  Scotland  the  land  was  somewhat  differ- 
ent in  character,  and  the  profit  had  not  been  so 
great.  From  2^  to  3  feet  was  the  approved  depth 
of  drains,  where  experience  had  proved  the  ques- 
tion of  what  was  the  proper  depth.  The  soil 
Mr.  Howard  would  except  from  draining  advan- 
tages, were  those  porous  soils  which  rested  on  a 
'oose  subsoil,  without  any  intervening  impervi- 
ous stratum,  or  hard  pan. 

Mr.  Flint,  Secretary  to  tJie  Board  of  Agricul- 


than  improvement  should  be  neglected. 

Mr.  J.  W.  BucKMlNSTER,  of  the  Ploughman, 

was  doubtful  concerning  this  fancy  style  of  tile- 
draining,  and  wished  to  know  why  it  should  su- 
persede open  drains?  He  also  ftlt  anxious  to 
know  where  the  profit  of  this  underdraining  lay  ; 
in  particular,  where  drains  should  be  made  in  or- 
der to  be  profitable,  and  where  they  would  be 
useless  ? 

Mr.  Sanford  Howard  answered  the  first  ques- 
tion by  stating  that  open  drains,  during  showers, 
would  carry  away  fertilizing  matter  laying  on  the 
surface,  whereas,  by  the  water  being  forced  down 
to  the  drains,  through  the  soil,  the  sediment  was 
retained  in  it,  and  extra  fertility  would  be  the 
consequence.  When  in  Scotland,  he  saw  a  man 
jamming  clay  into  his  drains  in  order  that  the 
water  should  get  into  them  from  underneath,  and 
not  flow  over  their  tops  to  the  outlet,  or  along 
the  surface,  carrying  the  manure  with  it. 

Mr.  Buckminster  would  content  himself  with 
a  homoeopathic  dose  of  such  fancy,  costly  drains, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


207 


as  he  deemed  it,  everything  considered,  the  most 
likely  to  be  safe  to  take.  His  question  as  to 
what  soils  should  be  excepted  from  drainage  had 
not  been  answered. 

Mr.  Leander  Wetherell  spoke  in  favor  of 
draining ;  and  recommended  a  "little  farm  well 
tilled"  in  preference  to  the  rage  for  too  much 
land,  which  was  so  common.  His  own  experience 
showed  him  that  drainage  was  the  most  profita- 
ble of  all  improvements — was  in  truth  the  parent 
of  all  that  was  successful  in  agriculture.  He  felt 
satisfied  with  the  answer  given  to  the  question 
relative  to  open  drains,  but  thought  open  ones 
better  than  none ;  and,  in  the  case  of  cultivated 
forests,  it  was  absolutely  essential.  He  believed 
all  lands  would  benefit  by  drainage — no  matter 
what  their  character  or  position — provided  drain- 
age was  possible  ;  and  Mr.  Buckminster  acknowl- 
edged this  to  be  an  answer  to  his  second  query. 

Several  other  gentlemen  spoke  ;  principally  in 
evidence  of  the  profitableness  of  draining,  and 
that  it  was  no  fanciful  improvement,  after  which 
the  meeting  adjourned. 

The  question  for  next  Monday  evening  will 
be,  "17«e  best  Breed  of  Horses,  and  the  best  modes 
of  breeding  tvith  reference  to  the  loants  and  the 
interests  of  New  England  Farming." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
KrVEB  MEADOWS. 
Mr.  Brown  : — I  learn  by  a  few  of  the  last 
numbers  of  the  Farmer,  that  an  effort  is  being 
made  to  redeem  some  of  the  river  meadows  in 
this  vicinity.  This  is  a  good  move,  and  is  what 
should  have  been  done  long  ago.  That  these 
lands  are  the  most  valuable  in  the  State,  for 
farming  purposes,  there  is  no  doubt.  When  we 
take  into  consideration  their  close  proximity  to 
some  of  the  largest  cities  in  New  England,  with 
large  and  populous  towns  all  about  them,  and 
the  soil  being  of  such  a  nature,  deep  and  mel- 
low, without  stones,  and  being  composed  largely 
of  vegetable  matter,  thereby  rendering  them  al- 
most inexhaustible,  and  when  we  take  into  ac- 
count the  natural  washings  they  receive  from  ad- 
jacent lands,  &c.,  it  seems  too  bad  that  they 
should  be  rendered  almost  worthless,  merely  to 
accommodate  a  few  old  mills  that  are  but  little 
profit  to  their  owners  or  any  body  else. 

In  this  town  there  is  a  small  river  which  has 
its  source  in  Hart  Pond,  and  runs  in  a  circu- 
itous route  through  Carlisle,  then  back  into 
Chelmsford,  and  empties  into  Concord  river  in 
Lowell,  about  one  mile  from  its  mouth.  This 
stream  is  called  River  Meadow  Brook,  and  may 
easily  be  found  on  the  county  maps.  On  this 
river  there  are  two  mills  where  lumber  is  sawed 
in  the  winter  and  spring,  and  grain  ground  at  all 
times  when  it  is  wanted. 

On  the  banks  of  this  river  are  some  of  the  best 
lands  to  look  upon  that  the  eye  ever  beheld; 
and  they  are  as  good  as  they  look.  The  vegeta- 
ble deposit  of  which  this  land  is  composed  is  of 
various  depths.     I  have   dug  down  seven  feet, 


and  found  it  there  almost  entirely  vegetable  mat- 
ter. One  of  my  neighbors  told  me  he  had  dug 
down  ten  feet,  and  found  it  rich  and  mellow.  Of 
the  number  of  acres  of  this  kind  of  land  on  this 
river,  I  do  not  know,  but  should  judge  from  the 
mouth  to  the  source  of  the  river,  as  it  runs,  to  be 
some  ten  miles,  and  the  meadow  on  its  banks  to 
be  about  thirty  rods  wide. 

Now,  these  mill-owners  claim  the  right  to  flow 
this  land  at  pleasure.  I  have  before  me  the  his- 
tory of  Chelmsford,  and  in  this  we  get  an  idea  of 
their  right  and  privilege.  The  author  of  this 
book,  without  doulit,  copied  from  the  old  records, 
and  as  some  may  have  never  seen  the  record  by 
which  the  present  owners  claim  their  right,  per- 
haps it  may  not  be  amiss  to  quote  what  the  reo<- 
ords  say,  as  doubtless  hundreds  of  others  are 
similarly  situated. 

"First  Saw  Mill— July  3,  1656.— -This  year 
was  granted  to  Samuel  Adams,  in  consideration 
of  his  setting  up  a  saw  mill,  450  acres  of  land 
upon  the  south  side  of  his  meadow,  called  Brook 
Meadow,  provided  he  supply  the  town  with 
boards  at  three  shillings  per  hundred,  or  saw  one 
log  for  the  providing  and  bringing  of  another  to 
be  ready  to  work  the  next  March. 

"First  Corn  Mill. — To  this  were  added  a 
hundred  acres  in  consideration  of  his  erecting  a 
corn  mill,  and  to  give  him  still  further  encour- 
agement, they  passed  an  order,  that  no  other 
corn  mill  shall  be  erected  for  this  town,  provided 
the  said  Adams  keep  a  sufficient  mill  and  miller. 
In  1661  he  obtained  liberty  to  set  flood-gates  at 
Hart  Pond  to  himself  and  his  heirs  forever." 

Evidently,  this  was  a  wise  arrangement  at  the 
time,  but  to  say  that  it  is  so  now,  is  the  height 
of  folly.  Then,  a^ain,  I  have  been  told  that  it 
was  not  the  custom  to  flow  these  meadows  in  the 
summer  till  after  the  crops  were  off. 

The  present  owners  of  these  privileges  ob- 
tained their  right  by  purchase,  consequently  no 
law  or  force  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
them  without  full  and  just  compensation.  There- 
fore, I  have  thought  that  if  an  arrangment  could 
be  made  with  the  mill-owners  on  this  and  Con- 
cord River,  and  perhaps  others,  by  which  the 
gates  should  be  raised  on  the  first  day  of  April 
and  shut  down  on  the  first  day  of  October  in 
each  year,  it  would  be  all  that  was  necessary  for 
the  grass  and  cranberry  crops.  Then  we  could 
gather  these  crops  without  having  them  several 
times  inundated,  thereby  rendering  them  almost 
worthless.  T.  J.  Pinkham. 

Chelmsford,  Feb.  18,  1859. 


NIGHT  AIR. 

During  the  months  of  September  and  October, 
throughout  the  United  States,  wherever  there 
are  chills,  and  fever  and  ague,  intermittents,  or 
the  more  deadly  forms  of  fever,  it  is  a  pernicious, 
and  even  dangerous  practice,  to  sleep  with  the 
outer  doors  and  windows  open  ;  because  miasm, 
marsh  emanations,  the  product  of  decaying  vege- 
tation— all  of  which  are  difl'erent  terms,  express- 
ing the  same  thing — is  made  so  light  by  heat, 
that  it  ascends  at  once  towards  the  upper  portion 
of  atmospheric  space,  and  is  not  breathed  during 
the  heat  of  the  day,  but  the  cool  nights  of  the 
fall  of  the  year  condense  it,  make  it  heavy,  and 


208 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


it  settles  on  the  ground,  is  breathed  into  the 
lungs,  incorporated  into  the  blood,  and  if  in  its 
concentrated  form,  as  in  certain  localities  near 
Rome,  it  causes  sickness  and  death  within  a  few 
hours.  The  plagues  which  devastated  Easteru 
countries  in  earlier  ages,  were  caused  by  the  con- 
centrated emanation  from  marshy  localities,  or 
districts  of  decaying  vegetation  ;  and  the  com- 
mon observation  of  the  higher  class  of  people 
was,  that  those  who  occupied  the  upper  stories, 
not  even  coming  down  stairs  for  market  supplies, 
but  drew  them  up  by  ropes  attached  to  baskets, 
had  entire  immunity  from  disease,  for  two  rea- 
sons, the  higher  the  abode,  the  less  compact  is 
the  deadly  atmosphere  ;  besides,  the  higher  rooms 
in  a  house,  in  summer,  are  the  warmer  ones,  and 
the  miasm  less  concentrated.  The  lower  rooms 
are  colder,  making  the  air  more  dense.  So,  by 
keeping  all  outer  doors  and  windows  closed,  es- 
pecially the  lower  ones,  the  building  is  less  cool 
and  comfortable,  but  it  excludes  the  infectious 
air,  while  its  warmth  sends  what  enters  through 
the  crevices  immediately  to  the  ceilings  of  the 
rooms  where  it  congregates,  and  is  not  breathed  ; 
hence  is  it  that  men  who  entered  the  bar-room 
and  dining-saloons  of  the  National  Hotel,  re- 
maining but  a  few  brief  hours,  were  attacked  with 
the  National  Hotel  disease,  while  ladies  who  oc- 
cupied upper  rooms,  where  constant  fires  were 
burning,  escaped  attack,  although  remaining  in 
the  house  for  weeks  at  a  time.  It  was  for  the 
same  reason  that  Dr.  Rush  was  accustomed  to 
advise  families  in  the  summer  time,  not  being 
able  to  leave  the  city,  to  cause  their  younger  chil- 
dren, especially,  to  spend  their  time  above  stairs. 
We  have  spent  a  life-time  ourselves  in  the  West 
and  extreme  South,  and  know  in  our  own  person, 
and  as  to  those  who  had  firmness  to  follow  our 
recommendation,  that  whole  families  will  escape 
all  the  forms  of  fall  fevers  who  will  have  bright 
fires  kindled  at  sunrise  and  sunset  in  the  family- 
room.  But  it  is  too  plain  a  prescription  to  se- 
cure observance  in  more  than  one  family  in  one 
thousand.  After  the  third  frost,  and  until  the 
fall  of  the  next  year,  it  is  an  important  means  of 
health  for  persons  to  sleep  with  an  outer  door 
or  window  partly  open,  having  the  bed  in  such  a 
position  as  to  be  protected  from  a  draught  of  air. 
We  advise  that  no  person  should  go  to  work  or 
take  exercise  in  the  morning  on  an  empty  stom- 
ach ;  but  if  it  is  stimulated  to  action  by  a  cup  of 
eofi'ee,  or  a  crust  of  bread,  or  apple,  or  orange, 
exercise  can  be  taken,  not  only  with  impunity, 
but  to  high  advantage  in  all  chill  and  fever  local- 
ities.— Hall's  Jownal  of  Health. 


FLOWSKS  FOR  KOCK  VTORK. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  sights  in  a  garden, 
is  what  is  called  artificial  rock  work,  where  the 
plants,  which  we  are  accustomed  to  see  growing 
wild  in  our  pasture,  are  transferred  from  these 
localities  to  the  garden,  where  they  are  planted 
around,  and  into  the  interstices  of  rocks.  These 
appendages  to  the  garden  are  not  so  common 
here  as  in  the  old  country.  In  England  may 
sometimes  be  seen  a  hundred  or  more  varieties 
of  ferns,  of  different  forms  and  shades,  in  one 
rock-work. 


In  erecting  rock  work,  it  should  not  be  built 
up  to  resemble  a  pile  of  loose  stones,  nor  regu- 
lar in  its  outline  ;  the  rocks  must  be  large  and 
rugged,  of  rude  forms,  the  spaces  between  them 
may  be  filled  in  with  small  stones,  and  the  paths 
around  may  be  irregular.  This  ornament  to  the 
garden  should  be  placed  in  a  half-shady  situa- 
tion, as  most  of  the  plants  used  require  mois- 
ture and  partial  shade.  A  few  of  those  varieties 
best  suited  for  this  purpose  are,  the  Blood  Root, 
Early  Anemone,  Saxifraga  Vernalis,  Rock  Gera- 
nium, Partridge  Berry,  Mitchella  or  Checker- 
berry,  Linnea  Borealis,  Blue  Houstonia,  Epigea, 
or  Ground  Laurel,  White  and  Yellow  Dalibarda, 
Wood  Anemone,  Columbine,  and  the  smaller 
species  of  ferns. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

EXPERIMENTS    IN  RAISING  OATS    AND 
POTATOES. 

Mr.  Editor: — Several  of  your  readers  have 
requested  me  to  inform  them  of  my  method  of 
raising  the  oats  and  potatoes,  recently  reported 
in  your  paper,  through  the  columns  of  the  Far- 
mer. 

The  potato  ground  is  dry  loam,  on  which  I 
raised  corn  the  previous  year.  The  ground  for 
the  corn  was  prepared  as  follows  :  I  applied 
thirty  loads  of  stable  manure  to  the  acre,  plowed 
in,  and  ten  loads  of  hog  manure  per  acre,  in  the 
hill.  In  the  fall  I  planted  and  harrowed  the 
ground.  Last  spring  I  applied  twenty  loads  of 
stable  manure  per  acre,  plowed  in,  then  plowed 
and  harrowed  it  again.  Planted  it  with  Danvers 
red  potatoes  ;  rows  three  feet  a])art,  and  the  hills 
eighteen  inches  apart.  Seed  small,  cut  once,  and 
two  pieces  in  a  hill.  I  planted  twelve  bushels 
on  an  acre.  The  first  time  hoeing,  I  plowed 
between  the  rows  twice,  also  the  cultivator  twice. 
The  second  time  hoeing,  I  plowed  twice  between 
the  rows.  Raised  505  bushels  on  one  and  one- 
half  acres,  good  size  and  sound. 

The  oats  were  raised  on  ten  acres  green  sward 
and  three  acres  old  ground.  Soil,  dry  loam. 
Plowed  in  the  fall  eight  inches  deep,  harrowed 
thoroughly  in  the  spring  before  and  after  sowing, 
and  rolled.  When  the  oats  were  three  inches 
high,  applied  150  pounds  of  plaster  to  the  acre 
— no  manure.  Seed  3^  bushels  per  acre.  Raised 
725  bushels.  William  Hanson. 

Barre,  VL,  Feb.  22,  1859. 


Rem,\RKS. — A  good  example  for  us,  gentle- 
men ;  505  bushels  of  potatoes  on  li  acres  of  land, 
and  nearly  56  bushels  of  oats  per  acre. 


ir^  The  article  from  Mary  E.  C y,  Oeorge 

Hill,  N.  II.,  upon  the  attractions  of  the  "Mas- 
coma  Valley,"  is  written  with  feeling  and  poetic 
imagination,  and  gives  evidence  of  a  highly  cul- 
tivated taste.  But  as  the  scenic  descriptions  have 
been  given  before,  it  is  not  necessary  to  publish 
her  article.  She  ought,  however,  to  cultivate 
her  talent  for  writing. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


209 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
"W.  &  B.  DOUGLAS'S  HYDBAUIjIC  RAM. 


For  the  purposes  of  Irrigating  Lands,  and  Siipplyinf;  Dwellings 
Barn-yards,  Garden",  Factories,  Villages,  Engines,  Railroad 
Stations,  &c.,  with  Running  Water. 

One  of  the  first  considerations  in  locating  a 
house  or  barn  is  to  select  a  site  that  water — pure, 
soft  v/ater,  may  he  supplied  in  abundance  at  lit- 
tle cost.  A  commanding  site — some  dry  hill, 
from  which  one  may  look  over  the  tops  of  his 
neighbor's  chimneys,  proves  an  expensive  place, 
always,  for  water.  In  how  many  homes  that  are 
elevated  "the  women  folks"  complain  bitterly  for 
the  want  of  plenty  of  water.  How  poor  it  does 
make  a  man  feel  to  be  obliged  to  tackle  up  his 
team  and  take  the  scow  and  draw  home  a  couple 
of  barrels  against  washing-day. 

I  saw  a  selection  made  of  some  building-lots 
the  past  season  that  was  most  unfortunate.  The 
land  was  gravelly,  and  so  elevated  that  the  wells 
must  prove  a  heavy  item  in  the  cost  of  the  home. 
Then,  too,  after  a  deep  well  has  been  dug  and 
paid  for,  the  pumping  of  the  liberal  quantity  of 
water  which  an  establishment  requires,  is  the 
hardest  work  done  on  the  farm.  ' 

It  will  do  for  wealthy  people  to  build  on  hills. 
It  is  not  economy  for  those  who  expect  to  earn 
their  living,  to  build  on  elevated  situations.  Oth- 
er considerations,  besides  the  facility  of  getting 
•water,  should  prevent. 

But  a  great  many  people  live  in  houses  that 
others  have  builded,  and  must  continue  by  pump 
or  bucket,  or  some  other  way,  to  get  their  daily 
supply.  It  is  my  wish  to  suggest  to  some  of  your 
readers  how  they  may  have  running  water  in  their 
houses  and  lands,  at  an  expense,  perhaps,  within 
the  reach  of  all. 

It  is  very  true  that  a  large  portion  of  the  farms 
of  New  England  are  destitute  of  springs  and 
small  brooks.  But  many  have  them.  I  know 
of  hundreds  where  it  is  perfectly  convenient  to 
obtain  a  supply  of  water  to  drive  an  hydraulic 
ram.  A  v/ell  may  be  dug  deep  in  a  moist  place, 
near  the  foot  of  a  hill.  This  will  drive  a  small 
ram  and  deliver  a  portion  of  water  wherever  you 
please.  Then  there  are  brooks  very  common. 
The  water  is  not  so  desirable  as  that  of  springs, 
but  still  it  will  do  for  washing  and  for  stock. 
Wherever  you  can  raise  a  dam  on  a  brook  of  two 
feet,  there  you  may  make  a  ram  work  to  great 
advantage. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    THE   RAM. 

The  cut  at  the  head  of  this  article  gives  a  very 
good  representation  of  the  hydraulic  ram.  The 
air  chamber  in  the  centre  is  most  prominent. 
This  can  be  readily  detached  by  turning  off  four 
screws.  A  valve  is  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the 
air  chamber,  not  seen  in  the  engraving. 

The  valve  enters  the  machine  on  the  right.  A 
convenient  arrangement  for  attaching  the  drive 
pipe,  and,  also,  the  service  pipe,  is  seen  near  the 
bottom  of  the  ram.. 

The  "puppet  valve"  is  on  the  left.  It  is  at- 
tached to  the  spindle,  which  rises  and  falls  with 
the  working  of  the  machine. 

HOW   IT   OPERATES. 

The  ram  has  two  valves.  One  is  called  (he 
puppet  valve.  This  is  so  nicely  balanced  that  it 
opens  when  the  stream  in  the  driving  pipe  is  at 
rest.  x\s  soon  as  the  stream  has  acquired  its  full 
velocity,  the  pressure  on  the  valve,  through  which 
the  water  passes,  is  just  sufliicient  to  close  it 
again.  Now  it  is  plain  that  the  stream  suddenly 
stopped  in  the  driving  pipe  must  press  with  great 
force  against  the  second  valve  placed  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  air  chamber.  The  valve  opens,  and 
a  portion  of  the  compressed  water  in  the  driving 
pipe  is  forced  into  the  air  chamber.  The  service 
pipe  connects  at  the  bottom  of  the  air  chamber 
and  the  elasticity  of  the  air  presses  out  a  con- 
tinuous stream.  Here  is  the  ram,  with  the  pipes 
attached  and  in  operation. 


H,  Spring  or  Brook  ;  C,  Drive  or  Supply  Pipe  from  Brook  to 
Ram  ;  G,  Discharge  Pipe  conveying  Water  to  House  or  other 
point  required  for  use  ;  B,  D,  A,  E,  I,  the  Ram  ;  .1,  the  Plank 
or  other  foundation  to  which  the  Machine  is  secured  for  use. 

THE   POWER   OF   THE   RAM. 

To  enable  any  person  to  make  the  calculation 
as  to  what  fall  would  be  sufficient  to  apply  to  the 
ram  to  raise  a  sufficient  supply  of  water  to  hia 
premises,  for  any  ordinary  distance  of  say  oO  or 
60  rods,  it  may  he  safely  calculated  that  about 
one-seventh  part  of  the  water  can  be  raised  and 
discharged  at  an  elevation  above  the  ram,  five 
times  as  high  as  the  fall  M'hich  is  applied  to  the 
ram,  or  one-fourteenth  part  can  be  raised  and 
discharged,  say  ten  times  as  high  as  the  fall  ap- 
plied, and  so  in  that  proportion  as  the  fall  or  rise 
is  varied.  Thus  if  the  ram  be  placed  under  a 
head  or  fall  of  five  feet,  of  every  seven  gallons 


210 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mav 


drawn  from  the  spring,  one  may  be  raised  25 
feet,  or  half  a  gallon  50  feet.  Or  with  10  feet 
fall  applied  to  the  machine  of  every  14  gallons 
drawn  from  the  spring,  one  gallon  may  be  raised 
to  the  height  of  100  feet  above  the  machine,  and 
so  in  like  proportion,  as  the  fall  or  rise  is  in- 
creased or  diminished. 

A  year's  experience  with  a  hydraulic  ram  has 
enabled  me  to  give  further  suggestions  for  which 
you  may  find  room  another  week. 

I  have  written  the  above  without  the  slightest 
interest  in  the  sale  of  the  ram,  and  wholly  to 
recommend  a  truly  deserving  invention. 

Concord,  Mass.  w.  D.  B. 


TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 

"A  Subscriber,"  of  Salem,  will  probably  ob- 
tain the  eggs  he  wants  of  George  Cruickshanlc,  of 
Whitinsville,  Mass. 

We  have  many  favors  from  correspondents  on 
hand,  most  of  which  will  have  a  place.  Some  of 
them  are  more  appropriate  for  another  season  of 
the  year,  and  will  be  preserved — such,  for  in- 
stance, as  two  or  three  upon  the  subject  of  top- 
ping and  harvesting  corn,  and  one  upon  making 
maple  sugar,  which  came  when  the  season  had 
nearly  closed.  We  would  inform  "G.  F.  N." 
that  we  do  not  preserve  manuscripts,  whether  we 
use  them  or  not.  The  one  to  which  he  refers 
contained  a  pleasant  anecdote,  but  matter  more 
to  our  purpose  crowded  it  out. 

We  have  several  articles  on  the  turnip  discus- 
sion which  we  shall  mingle  in  with  others  as  we 
have  room — one  from  Mr.  Joslin,  of  Waitsfield, 
Vt.,  in  our  next  paper ;  and  also  one  on  the  cul- 
tivation and  use  of  the  beet. 

We  have  another  article  on  pruning  from  Mr. 
Putnam,  of  Danvers,  but  as  no  new  points  are 
introduced,  and  as  so  much  has  already  been 
said  on  the  subject,  we  will  postpone  its  publica- 
tion for  the  present.  AVe  would  say  to  Mr.  P., 
however,  that  the  gentleman  whom  he  quotes  in 
support  of  his  theory  has  probably  sometime 
since  considerably  modified  his  opinions. 

"E.  L.,"  New  Bedford,  will  find  it  difficult  to 
seed  the  land  to  grass  he  speaks  of  without  the 
use  of  manure.  Better  manure  a  portion  of  it 
and  seed  it  down.  The  orchard  having  been  cul- 
tivated and  manured  for  several  years,  may  be 
laid  to  grass  for  two  or  three  years — especially  if 
sowed  to  clover — and  not  injure  the  trees.  It 
should  then  be  plowed  and  cultivated  again. 

Information  by  Letter. — A  correspondent  from 

L e,  Mass.,  wishes  to  put  three  acres  into 

grapes,  currants  and  gooseberries,  and  desires  us 
to  write  him  what  it  will  cost  per  acre,  and  give 
such  other  information  as  will  promote  his  en- 
terprise. All  this  would  afford  us  pleasure  if  it 
were  in  our  power  to  comply  with  his  request, 
especially  as  his  letter  is  accompanied  with  a 
stamp  for  the  return  letter,  and  an  expression  of 


willingness  to  pay  for  all  trouble.  Let  us  call 
his  particular  attention,  and  that  of  other  corres- 
pondents, to  our  position  for  a  moment.  We 
have  from  three  hundred  to  six  hundred  letters 
a  week,  and  many  of  them  of  a  character  similar 
to  the  one  before  us.  Now,  how  many  clerks 
would  it  require  to  answer  their  queries  of  this 
nature,  and  answer  them  considerately,  so  that 
they  would  not  mislead,  rather  than  be  benefi- 
cial ?  Our  correspondent  must  see  that  we  can 
not  reply  to  him,  although  we  have  every  disposi- 
tion to  do  so  if  it  were  in  our  power. 

We  will  state  to  him  that  we  do  not  keep  the 
articles  for  sale  which  he  wants,  nor  any  others, 
excepting  a  few  agricultural  books,  but  he  may 
find  them  among  the  persons  who  advertise  in 
our  columns. 

Ring  Bone. — We  cannot  inform  "N.  P.  S., 
North  Prospect,  Me.,"  how  to  apply  the  medi- 
cine he  speaks  of.  He  must  write  to  G.  H.  Dadd, 
Vet.  Surgeon,  Boston. 


CRANBERRY  ON  UPLAND. 

We  have  thought  that  our  Agricultural  Socie- 
ties have  heretofore  been  rather  premature  in 
their  recommendation  of  the  upland  culture  of 
this  fine  fruit.  As  "one  swallow  does  not  make 
a  summer,"  neither  will  one  experiment  justify 
us  in  commending  this  method.  All  know  that 
the  cranberry  is  natural  to  the  meadow,  and  al- 
though the  covering  with  water  maybe  injurious 
at  the  time  of  flowering  and  setting  of  its  fruit, 
still  the  flooding  of  the  vines  in  winter,  and  the 
covering  with  litter  or  evergreens  to  protect  the 
roots  from  a  severe  freezing,  as  is  practised  in 
the  upland  culture,  will  prevent  this  culture  to 
any  extent.  In  order  to  be  remunerative,  these 
beds  or  patches  must  be  made  on  the  meadow, 
or  upon  a  springy  soil.  The  owner  of  a  consid- 
erable patch  in  Essex  county  recently  stated  that 
it  would  xe(\\nxe  Jive  times  the  labor  to  keep  the 
same  amount  of  land  well  weeded  out,  devoted  to 
cranberries,  that  it  would  to  keep  clear  of  weeds 
an  equal  extent  in  strawberries.  This,  with  the 
whole  process,  from  the  first  preparation  of  the 
land — the  placing  of  meadow  or  swamp  mud  be- 
tween the  rows  in  mid-summer  and  the  covering 
with  evergreens  in  winter — must  bring  all  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  upland  culture  of  cranberries, 
so  called,  ought  not  to  be  recommended  to  our 
farmers. 

We  gave  the  matter  a  pretty  thorough  trial  for 
several  years,  and  became  satisfied  that  the  best 
way  is  to  select  a  piece  of  land,  either  on  the 
meadow,  or  its  margin,  where  it  its  naturally 
moist,  cover  the  grass  entirely  with  sand  or  gravel, 
say  to  the  depth  of  three  or  four  inches,  and  set 
the  vines  in  it,  within  six  or  eight  inches  of  each 
other,  and  keep  them  entirely  free  from  weeds. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


211 


For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 
TUSNIPS  ABE  A  PKOPITABLE  CROP. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Several  conflicting  accounts  re- 
garding the  cultivation  of  rutabagas  have  lately 
appeared  in  your  journal,  and  some  farmers  of 
experience,  even,  seem  yet  to  be  undecided, 
whether  they  are  a  profitable  crop,  or  even  will 
pay  for  raising.  In  your  last  No  ,  February  12, 
your  correspondent,  Otis  Brigham,  asks  the 
question,  "When  compared  with  other  crops,  are 
they  worth  raising  ?"  My  answer  to  that  gentle- 
man is,  that  like  himself,  I  have  raised  them  for 
the  last  45  years,  in  quantities  varying  from  one 
to  twenty  acres,  each  season,  and  find  them,  when 
compared  with  corn  and  other  farm  crops,  deci- 
dedly the  most  profitable  of  any  crop  that  I  have 
cultivated  in  this  country  or  in  Europe,  during 
that  period.  Mr.  B.  admits,  that  he  raised  500 
bushels,  on  half  an  acre  of  ground,  last  year,  when 
and  where  nothing  else  could  be  raised. 

That  quantity  exceeds,  considerably,  what  I 
have  ever  been  able  to  produce,  even  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances ;  still  I  do  not 
doubt  the  statement,  as  I  know  that  such  quan- 
tities have  been  raised,  and  will  be  again. 

Now,  taking  into  consideration,  as  ]Mr.  B.  ex- 
presses himself,  that  they  will  grow  where  and 
when  nothing  else  can  be  raised  ;  I  would  sim- 
ply ask  the  reason  why  they  should  not  be  worth 
raising  ;  or  in  other  words,  why  will  they  not  pay  ? 
He  admits  that  they  are  good  food  for  cattle,  &c., 
and  yet  appears  to  be  in  doubt  with  regard  to 
them  as  a  remunerating  crop.  Is  Mr.  B.  aware, 
that  his  500  liushels  are  now  worth  in  Boston  or 
New  York  market  $165  wholesa^'  ?  or  at  the  rate 
of  $o30  per  acre,  which  I  should  think  is  a  pret- 
ty good  return,  and  ought  to  satisfy  any  ordinary 
man  on  the  subject  in  question.  To  go  into  de- 
tail, however,  would  occupy  too  much  room  in 
your  valuable  paper.  Allow  me,  therefore,  to 
state  a  few  simple  practical  facts,  regarding  the 
cultivation  and  use  of  that  valuable. 

In  the  first  place,  a  tolerable  crop  of  bagas  can 
be  raised  on  ground  too  poor  to  produce  almost 
anything  else,  and  that  with  comparatively  little 
manure,  say  3  cwt.  of  guano,  or  the  price  of  it  in 
bone  meal,  per  acre,  which  quantity  would  scarce- 
ly make  any  impression  on  an  acre  of  corn,  or 
potatoes,  &c.  &c.,  and  fair  crops  are  often  raised 
after  hay  and  early  potatoes  have  been  removed, 
the  same  season,  as  bagas  can  be  planted  success- 
fully any  time  during  the  month  of  July,  and  even 
later'  some  seasons  ;  and  by  leaving  the  tops  on 
the  ground,  to  be  plowed  down,  immediately  af- 
ter the  roots  are  removed,  will  overbaJance  any 
bad  effects  that  their  exhausting  properties  may 
have  on  the  land  for  producing  the  subsequent 
crops. 

A  luxuriant  crop  of  bagas  will  clean  the  ground 
better  than  any  other  hoed  crop  ;  and  if  properly 
treated,  will  effectually  eradicate  every  vestige  of 
switch  or  icitch  grass,  that  common  curse  to 
cultivators  of  the  soil  over  the  world,  and  the  ex- 
pense for  labor  will  not  exceed  that  of  an  acre  of 
corn  or  potatoes.  It  is  a  well  established  fact, 
that  an  acre  of  good  bagas,  fed  out  to  cattle,  will 
produce  more  manure,  and  of  better  quality,  than 
three  acres  of  corn.  It  is  also  an  old  and  well- 
established  fact,  that  young  growing  cattle  and 
swine  will  thrive,  and  grow  faster,  on  turnips, 


than  any  other  description  of  food  ;  and  every 
farmer  who  has  cellar  room  to  preserve  them  in 
winter,  ought  to  produce  a  liberal  quantity  of 
them,  every  season,  for  that  purpose.  They  are 
also  good  for  producing  beef  and  milk,  although 
I  certainly  prefer  beets  for  the  latter  purpose, 
notwithstanding  it  costs  more  than  double  the 
expense  to  raise  them. 

On  the  farm  that  I  now  cultivate,  there  are 
two  acres  of  neglected,  hard,  gravelly  land,  that 
prior  to  last  June  had  not  seen  a  spadefull  of 
manure,  and  had  been  cropped  with  rye  for  the 
last  four  years  in  succession  preceding  that  date, 
by  a  former  tenant,  by  which  means  it  had  be- 
come a  real  consolidated  sward  of  sictfch  or 
icitch  grass,  and  thought  by  many  to  be  past  re- 
demption, for  any  kind  of  crop.  In  June  last  I 
made  an  attempt  to  break  it  up  with  a  double 
team,  but  only  succeeded  in  scratching  the  sur- 
face with  plow  and  harrows,  so  as  to  change  its 
color  a  little.  After  tormenting  it  with  the  har- 
row for  awhile,  I  marked  it  off  into  rows  three 
feet  apart,  manured  in  the  hill  the  same  as  for 
cabbage,  and  planted  the  piece  with  rutabagas, 
finishing  on  the  3d  July.  All  the  manure  I  had 
for  the  two  acres,  was  the  scrapings  of  the  dung- 
yard,  which  was  deposited  in  the  hills,  in  the  usu- 
al way,  at  the  rate  of  not  more  than  two  and  a 
half  cords  per  acre.  The  seed  was  dropped  on  the 
top  of  the  manure  and  covered  with  the  foot  ; 
the  ground  being  too  rough  to  admit  of  any 
speedier  method  of  planting.  The  seed  germinat- 
ed quickly,  and  in  less  than  three  weeks,  the  piece 
was  fit  for  thinning,  and  much  in  need  of  hoeing, 
and  the  final  result  was  an  excellent  crop  of  the 
handsomest  turnips  that  could  be  produced  un- 
der any  circumstances,  notwithstanding  the  in- 
surmountable and  complicated  difficulties  with 
which  their  cultivation  was  beset ;  and  the  tops 
were  so  luxuriant,  that  they  rotted,  or  choked 
out  every  vestige  of  switch  grass,  and  the  piece 
is  now  as  clear  of  that  obnoxious  weed  as  any 
part  of  the  farm.  The  produce  per  acre  was  580 
bushels,  but  if  it  be  taken  into  account,  that  in 
consequence  of  the  unparalleled  wildness  of  the 
ground — the  hills  were  far  apart  in  many  places — 
it  may  be  safely  computed,  that  at  least  a  third 
more  weight  might  have  been  produced,  had  the 
ground  been  under  a  better  state  of  cultivation. 
This  experiment  corroborates,  however,  in  a  cer- 
tain degree,  what  Mr.  B.  says  about  turnips 
growing  when  and  where  nothing  else  can  be 
I'aised.  On  another  piece,  half  an  acre  in  extent, 
from  which  a  tolerable  crop  of  hay  had  just  been 
removed,  I  planted  rutabagas  on  the  19th  of  Ju- 
ly, and  had  a  fair  crop,  320  bushels  of  good  sized 
turnips.  The  piece  received  about  two  cords  of 
sea-weed  and  dung-yard  scrapings,  which  was 
harrowed  in  on  the  plow  furrow,  and  the  seed  de- 
posited by  the  machine  in  rows,  18  inches  apart. 
The  next  and  last  piece  appropriated  to  that  crop 
last  season,  was  half  an  acre  of  rather  clayey  sort 
of  land,  where  a  crop  of  onions  had  been  cut  off 
by  the  maggot.  These  were  deposited  by  the 
sowing  machine  in  rows  18  inches  apart  on  the 
3d  of  August,  and  as  the  ground  had  been  heav- 
ily manured  for  the  onions,  it  produced  402  bush- 
els of  handsome  turnips  after  that  late  date  ;  or 
at  the  rate  of  804  bushels  per  acre. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  here  state,  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  barn  that  contained  all  my  hay, 


212 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


cattle  and  horses,  &c.  &c.,  being  consumed  by 
fire,  with  all  its  contents,  last  fall,  I  have  been 
under  the  necessity,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life, 
of  keeping  my  cows  and  oxen  exclusively  on  corn 
butts  and  turnips  ;  and  I  do  not  see,  but  what 
they  will  compare  favorably,  and  look  as  well  in 
the  meantime,  as  any  around  that  have  been 
feeding  on  English  hay  and  grain,  which  con- 
firms me  still  more  in  the  faith,  that  rutabagas 
are  worth  raising,  notwithstanding  all  that  has 
been  written  and  said  against  them  lately. 

Thomas  Cruickshank. 
Beverly  Farms,  Feb.  14,  1859, 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
FARMERS'  CLUBS  OR  TOWN  AGRICUL- 
TURAL SOCIETIES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  learn  from  your  interesing 
paper,  that  you  are  still  wide-awake,  and  active, 
too,  on  the  subject  of  Farmers'  Clubs  or  Town 
Agricultural  Societies.  You  have  visited,  it 
seems,  several  towns  in  Cheshire  County,  N.  H., 
and  endeavored  to  create  a  deeper  interest  in 
the  subject  of  farming.  Had  you  given  previous 
notice,  in  your  paper,  of  your  intended  visit,  and 
of  the  object  you  had  in  view,  we  should,  sever- 
al of  us,  have  been  there  to  see  and  hear  for  our- 
selves, and  you  would  probably  have  received  an 
invitation  to  address  our  own  town  society,  which 
has  now  been  in  existence  and  in  successful  oper- 
ation a  little  more  than  a  year.  I  say  in  successful 
operation;  because,  though  we  have  done  little 
more  than  hold  discussions  on  subjects  of  the 
highest  importance  to  us  as  farmers,  yet  our  dis- 
cussions have  been  listened  to,  and  participated 
in,  by  a  class  of  persons  who  never  would  have 
been  benefited  by  the  discussions  of  a  county  or 
State  societj'.  In  fact,  we  have  made  up  our 
minds  that,  if  the  people  will  not  go  to  hear  the 
discussions,  then  the  discussions  must  be  brought 
home  to  them.  Our  field  of  missionary  labor  is 
at  home,  and  every  farmer  is  expected  to  take  a 
part  in  it,  at  least  to  give  his  opinion  upon  every 
subject  under  discussion.  In  this  way,  we  com- 
pare notes  with  each  other,  and  make  a  profita- 
ble exchange  of  our  experience.  Though  there 
is  a  good  degree  of  harmony  existing  among  us, 
and  a  very  general  interest  manifested  in  the  at- 
tendance upon  our  meetings,  yet  we  do  not  al- 
ways agree  upon  every  subject,  because  we  are 
not  all  equally  well-informed  upon  every  subject, 
have  not  all  enjoyed  equal  advantages  for  infor- 
mation, and  our  individual  experiences  have  been 
different.  Still,  I  would  mention  as  the  result 
of  our  last  year's  discussion  on  one  topic,  "the 
cutting  and  securing  of  the  hay  crop,"  that  it  was 
better  done,  and  in  better  season,  than  in  any 
previous  year  ;  and  the  crop  of  hay  is  worth  more 
money.  Now,  if  we  can  only  make  an  equal  im- 
provement in  some  other  branch  of  husbandry 
every  year,  we  shall  be  doing  very  well ;  and 
some  of  us  have  faith  to  believe,  that  we  shall 
even  do  better.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  are  deter- 
mined to  do  our  best. 

I  have  made  the  above  few  hasty  remarks,  not 
as  an  act  of  laudation  upon  our  own  humble  ef- 
forts in  forming  a  town  society  for  the  discus- 
sion of  agricultural  subjects,  but  to  encourage 
similar  efi"orts  elsewhere.     I  regard  these  town 


associations  as  a  kind  of  normal  school  for  the 
education  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  in 
which  the  old  and  the  young  enjoy  equal  privi- 
leges, and  may  be  each  other's  instructors,  and 
helpers  of  each  other's  joy  and  labors  ;  and  where 
old  fossil  pi-ejudices  may  be  compelled  to  give 
way  to  clearer  views  and  better  practices  on  the 
subject  of  farming.  These  social  gatherings  will 
be  the  means  of  creating  a  more  general  and 
deeper  interest  in  the  subject,  and  of  diff"using 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land  a 
greater  taste  for  agricultural  pursuits.  These 
little  town  societies,  though  humble  in  their  ori- 
gin, are  the  fountains,  from  whence  are  to  pro- 
ceed all  the  streams  of  scientific,  experimental 
and  practical  knowledge,  which  are  to  elevate 
the  character  and  extend  the  influence  of  farm- 
ers. These  are  the  fountains,  I  say,  whose  streams 
running  through  every  vein  and  artery  of  the 
body-politic,  are  to  give  energy  and  respectabil- 
ity to  our  calling;  and,  without  whose  vivifying 
influence,  the  science  of  agriculture  will  contin- 
ue to  be  greatly  neglected,  if  not  despised. 

It  is  true,  that  farming  is  a  humble,  toilsome 
and  laborious  occupation.  With  many,  the  till- 
er of  the  soil  is  regarded  somewhat  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  slave,  as  low-born  and  low-bred.  This 
is  the  opinion  of  the  frivolous  and  the  ignorant, 
who  still  continue  to  depreciate  and  despise  ru- 
ral pursuits  and  pleasures.  But  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  they  equally  depreciate  and 
despise  all  labor,  all  industry,  all  enterprise  and 
all  effort.  There  is  nothing  in  farming  inconsis- 
tent with  great  intellectual  and  moral  cultivation  ; 
and  there  is  no  pursuit  that  rewards  so  liberally 
with  health,  and  wealth,  and  honor,  as  farming. 
John  Goldsbury. 

Warwiclc,  Feb.  9,  1859. 


SEA  KALE. 

Why  is  it  there  is  such  an  aversion  to  adopt 
any  new  article  for  culture  ?  How  slow  were 
most  cultivators  for  years  in  raising  the  tomato, 
spinach  or  rhubarb.  Some  of  these  were  culti- 
vated in  the  gardens  of  the  amateur  some  twenty 
years  before  they  came  into  favor  by  our  market 
raisers  ;  the  salsify  is  still  hardly  known  as  a 
marketable  vegetable,  Avhile  the  sea  kale  can 
rarely  be  found  even  in  the  markets  of  our  large 
cities.  Farmers  and  gardeners  are  not,  however, 
the  only  ones  that  are  thus  slow  to  receive  valu- 
able novelties.  The  medical  faculty  of  Paris,  it 
is  said,  proscribed  as  poisonous,  the  potato,  one 
hundred  years  after  that  plant  had  raised  mil- 
lions of  vigorous  troops,  who,  under  Marlboro', 
had  again  and  again  beaten  the  finest  armies  of 
France. 

The  sea  kale  is  said,  by  Dr.  CuRTIs,  to  "centre 
within  itself  all  the  good  qualities  of  the  cab- 
bage tribe,  and  as  a  purifier  of  the  blood  in  the 
spring,  it  cannot  be  too  highly  recommended." 
This  plant,  when  first  introduced  into  cultivation 
in  England,  w^as  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able acquisitions  made  to  their  culinary  vegeta- 
bles for  fifty  years  previous. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


213 


The  sea  kale  is  of  easy  culture,  either  by  seeds, 
slips,  or  pieces  of  the  root ;  that  from  seed,  how- 
ever, is  the  most  preferable.  Any  land  in  good 
heart  will  answer.  The  seed  should  be  sown 
about  two  inches  deep,  the  ground  pressed  down 
with  the  spade  or  hoe,  and  in  about  three  weeks 
the  plants  will  make  their  appearance ;  these 
should  be  thinned  out  to  about  one  inch  apart, 
and  they  want  little  attention  other  than  to  keep 
the  weeds  down. 

At  the  commencement  of  winter,  clear  the 
plants  of  decayed  leaves,  bend  over  the  tops 
carefully,  and  cover  them  with  litter.  The  fol- 
lowing spring  the  seedlings  having  made  strong, 
healthy  plants,  should  be  transplanted  into 
ridges  two  feet  distant ;  they  v/ill  then  produce 
what  is  called  the  crown,  or  edible  part  at  the 
top  of  each.  It  is  a  very  lasting  plant,  produc- 
ing as  strong  shoots  or  sprouts  at  eight  or  even 
ten  years  old  as  they  did  at  four.  The  sea  kale 
being  a  maratime  plant,  a  slight  dressing  of  salt 
to  the  soil  previous  to  setting  them  out,  will 
greatly  benefit  their  growth.  This  vegetable  is 
cooked  in  the  manner  of  spinach  and  other 
greens. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ORNITHOLOGY". 
BY   S.   P.   FOWLER. 

There  is  probably  no  branch  of  Natural  Sci- 
ence that  has  enlisted  so  many  ardent  admirers 
as  Ornitholog)'.  The  readers  of  the  Farmer  are 
no  doubt  aware  of  the  enthusiasm  displayed  by 
AV'ilson,  Audubon  and  Nuttall.  William  Bartram, 
one  of  our  earliest  naturalists,  was  a  great  lover 
of  our  feathered  tribes.  He  remarks,  "birds  are, 
in  general,  social  and  benevolent  creatures,  in- 
telligent, ingenious,  volatile,  active  beings."  J. 
P.  Girard,  the  author  of  the  Birds  of  Long 
Island,  says,  "it  his  opinion  that  those  who  pass 
through  life  without  stopping  to  admire  the 
beauty,  organization,  melody  or  habits  of  birds, 
rob  themselves  of  a  very  great  share  of  the 
pleasures  of  existence.  In  spring  when  nature 
has  recovered  from  the  chilling  blasts  of  winter, 
and  again  puts  forth  her  rich  foliage,  what  can 
be  more  delightful,  than  to  listen  to  the  rich 
melody  of  our  songsters,  robed  in  their  nuptial 
plumage,  perched  on  the  branch  of  the  rich  mag- 
nolia, arranging  their  splendid  attire  with  stud- 
ied care,  as  if  jealous  the  swelling  buds  would 
put  forth  blossoms  that  would  rival  them  in  beau- 
ty ?"  John  Ray,  the  father  of  British  Natural 
History,  in  his  work  entitled  "The  Wisdom  of 
God  manifested  in  the  Works  of  Creation,"  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1727,  remarks,  when  speak- 
ing of  birds,  "by  their  melodious  accents  they 
gratify  our  ears;  by  their  beautiful  shapes  and 
colors  they  delight  our  eyes ;  being  very  orna- 
mental to  the  world,  and  rendering  the  country 
where  the  hedges  and  woods  are  full  of  them, 
very  pleasant  and  cheerly,  which  without  them 
would  be  no  less  lonely  and  melancholy ;  not  to 
mention  the  exercise,  diversion  and  recreation 
which  some  of  them  give  us."    We  are  informed 


by  Montaga,  that  the  venerable  Dr.  Latham,  a 
distinguished  English  ornithologist,  when  in  his 
ninety-first  year,  was  as  delighted  in  seeing  a  spe- 
cimen of  a  new  bird,  as  a  boy  on  finding  his  first 
bird's  nest ! 

The  eccentric  English  ornithologist,  Charles 
Waterton,  has  given  us  an  amusing  account  of 
the  means  employed  by  his  instructors  to  coun- 
teract in  his  boyhood  the  growing  passion  for  the 
study  of  birds.  How  poorly  they  succeeded  in 
their  endeavors  to  destroy  his  enthusiasm,  may 
be  learned  from  his  autobiography,  and  the  read- 
ing of  his  admirable  "Third  Series  on  Natural 
History,"  published  in  18o7  when  in  his  seventy- 
sixth  year.  In  his  account  of  his  life  and  adven- 
tures, he  says,  "when  I  was  not  quite  eight  years 
old,  I  had  managed  to  climb  upon  the  roof  of 
an  outhouse,  and  had  got  to  a  starling's  nest  un- 
der one  of  the  slates.  Had  my  foot  slipped,  I 
should  have  been  in  as  bad  a  plight  as  was  poor 
Ophelia  in  the  willow  tree,  when  the  'envious 
sliver  broke.'  The  ancient  housekeeper,  men- 
tioned in  the  account  of  the  barn  owl,  had 
cast  her  rambling  eye  upon  me  ;  seeing  the  dan- 
ger I  was  in,  she  wejit  and  fetched  a  piece  of 
gingerbread,  with  which  she  lured  me  down,  and 
she  seized  me  as  though  I  had  been  a  malefactor. 
At  nine  years  old,  I  was  sent  to  school  in  the 
north  of  England,  where  literature  had  scarcely 
any  elfect  upon  me,  although  it  was  duly  admin- 
istered in  large  doses,  by  a  very  scientific  hand ; 
but  I  made  vast  proficiency  in  the  art  of  finding 
birds'  nests.  It  was  judged  necessary  by  the 
master  of  the  school  to  repress  this  inordinate 
relish  for  ornithological  architecture,  which,  in 
his  estimation,  could  be  productive  of  no  good. 
Accordingly,  the  birch  rod  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  me  when  occasion  offered  ;  but  the  warm 
application  of  it,  in  lieu  of  effacing  my  ruling 
passion,  did  but  tend  to  render  it  more  distinct 
and  clear.  Thus  are  bright  colors  in  crockery 
ware  made  permanent  by  the  action  of  fire ;  thus 
is  dough  turned  into  crust  by  submitting  it  to 
the  oven's  heat." 

To  my  mind,  language  used  by  modern  natu- 
ralists, expressive  of  their  great  love  for  birds, 
appears  tame  when  compared  with  the  enthusi- 
asm discovered  by  some  of  the  old  authors.  The 
most  enthusiastic  language  we  remember  to  have 
read  upon  the  importance,  or  rather  pleasure,  to 
be  derived  from  the  knowledge  of  birds,  was  re- 
corded in  a  work  originally  written  in  High  Ger- 
man, in  a  rollicking  style,  by  Peter  KolbeU;  in 
1731,  in  his  preface  to  the  "Natural  History  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;"  wherein  he  says,  "the 
beauty,  the  variety  and  music  of  the  fe.ithered 
nations  are  enchanting  delights ;  and  their  in- 
stincts and  habits  often  nobly  instructive  and 
amusing.  I  cannot  help  adding  a  reflection  or 
two  more  here  with  regard  to  the  feathered  world, 
those  beautiful,  merry  nations,  which  seem  de- 
signed by  Heaven  as  a  kind  of  soothers  and  soft- 
eners of  the  chagrin  and  melancholy  of  human 
life,  and  a  sort  of  counterbalance  for  the  dull, 
the  sour  and  the  gloomy  parts  of  the  animal  cre- 
ation. What  eye  is  not  struck  with  those  lovely 
nations  of  singers  !  What  ear  is  not  ravished 
with  the  charms  of  their  melody !  We  say,  after 
the  French,  that  he  who  has  no  taste  for  music, 
has  no  soul.  I  must  confess,  I  think  he  has  a 
very  strange  one,  or  that  it  is  hampered  under 


214 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


a  strange  sort  of  organization,  who  is  not  sensi- 
ble to  the  melody  of  the  feathered  nations  ;  and 
can  people  have  a  relish  for  the  music  of  those 
beautiful  warblers,  and  not  a  curiosity  to  look  in- 
to their  history  ;  not  a  desire  to  know  their  make, 
their  instincts  and  their  economy ;  the  knowl- 
edge of  which  is  both  profitable  and  entertaining? 
The  variety  of  their  abodes,  habits  and  instincts, 
their  various  make,  music  and  embellishments, 
are  matters  of  the  most  delightful  amusement. 
Nor  are  the  preying,  the  mule  or  the  unmusical 
part  of  them  unprovided  with  matter  of  very  no- 
ble and  very  useful  contemplation,"  What  writer 
in  modern  times,  has  so  earnestly  and  enthusias- 
tically set  forth  the  claims  of  birds  upon  our  at- 
tention, as  did  this  old  author,  more  than  a  cen- 
tury and  a  quarter  ago  ? 
Danversport,  Feb.  3,  1859. 


NINTH  LEGISLATIVE  AQKICULTUKAL 

MEETING. 
[Reported  by  Johs  C.  Moore,  foe  the  N.  E.  Farmer.) 

The  attendance  at  the  Legislative  Agricultural 
Society's  weekly  meeting,  on  Monday  evening 
last,  was  not  so  large  as  is  usual.  The  subject 
for  discussion  was — ^'Horses:  the  best  method  of 
breeding,  ivith  a  view  to  the  special  interest  oj 
New  England  farmers ." 

Mr.  Sanford  Howard,  of  the  Cxdtivator,  pre- 
sided. In  opening  the  discussion,  he  stated  that 
it  had  been  arranged  that  the  question  as  to  breed 
should  be  confined  to  the  purposes  of  the  imme- 
diate locality.  But  no  single  kind  of  horses 
could  be  recommended  to  breeders  in  this  local- 
ity, as  three  kinds  were  prominently  required 
among  us — the  heavy  cart  horse,  the  coach  horse 
and  the  roadster.  The  heavy  draft  horse,  owing 
somewhat  to  the  disqualification  of  soil  in  this 
Commonwealth,  could  be  more  profitably  bred 
in  a  more  southern  and  western  situation.  The 
draft  horses,  in  this  country,  he  might  remark, 
were  not  so  strong  or  perfect  as  the  Clydesdale 
breed  in  Scotland,  and  the  Suffolk  Punches  of 
England.  The  latter  were  much  hardier  and 
stouter,  and  less  liable  to  leg  ailments.  The 
coach  horse,  also,  could  not  be  profitably  bred  in 
this  section.  With  the  roadster,  however,  it  was 
different.  Our  Morgans,  especially  those  with  a 
dash  of  the  Black  Hawk  blood,  were  superior  to 
any  that  could  be  found  in  Europe. 

With  regard  to  breeding,  a  standard  of  merit 
should  first  be  fixed  ;  and  if  material  was  not  to 
be  found  which  would  come  up  to  that  ideal 
standard,  here  or  elsewhere,  the  improvement 
would  have  to  go  on  with  what  material  we  had 
on  hand.  The  joadster  should  never  be  bred 
from  the  race  horse,  as  the  properties  of  the  com- 
mon roadster  and  the  racer  were  very  different. 
The  hunter,  which  was  a  cross  with  the  racer,  in 
mechanical  conformation,  was  not  adapted  to  the 
ises  to   which  the   common  roadster   was   put. 


The  special  point  of  value  in  the  hunter  was  a 
reat  power  in  the  hind  legs,  which  enabled  him 
to  take  extraordinary  leaps  ;  whereas  the  quali- 
ties of  the  trotter,  to  be  perfect,  demanded  a  prop- 
er and  equal  distribution  of  muscular  power  over 
the  whole  body  of  the  animal.  Mr.  H.  read  sev- 
eral authorities  to  prove  his  position,  and  to  show 
that  a  racing  animal,  or  crosses  from  such,  in 
equal  properties  of  blood,  would  never  make  trot- 
ters. The  mode  of  breeding  adopted — according 
to  Lawrence,  and  the  author  of  "British  Rural 
Sports"  —  with  the  greater  success,  was  the 
coupling  of  the  hackney  mare  and  stallion,  both 
of  which  have  been  bred  as  roadsters.  These 
authorities,  however,  gave  all  the  praise  to  Amer- 
ican trotting  horses — as  being  so  greatly  superior 
to  all  similar  descriptions  to  be  found  in  Europe 
as  to  be  considered  nonpareil.  Further,  they 
upheld  that  the  less  racing  found  in  a  roadster 
the  better.  Englishmen  advocated  bringing  their 
breeding  stock  from  America ;  and  absolutely 
laughed  in  their  sleeves  at  the  idea  of  Americans 
going  to  England  for  animals  to  improve  their 
roadster  stock.  This  was  to  be  looked  on  as  a 
very  high  compliment,  and  showed  decidedly  that 
we  had  all  the  materials  of  improvement  among 
ourselves.  There  had  been  no  cross  of  the  Eng- 
lish Norfolk  roadsters  with  the  racer,  during  the 
past  twenty  years,  and  none  was  certainly  de- 
manded here  among  us,  where  perfection  had  so 
eminently  excelled  that  arrived  at  in  England. 
Mr.  Howard  combatted  the  idea  that  the  impor- 
tation of  thorough-bred  blood  into  our  breed  of 
roadsters  would  give  greater  uniformity  in  sym- 
metry and  color.  The  racer  was  made  up  of  a 
medley  of  bloods,  many  of  them  very  different 
in  the  representation  of  physical  characteristics ; 
and  such  assurance  as  had  been  argued  in  favor 
of  racer  blood  could  not  be  relied  on.  The  prop- 
erties of  the  racer  were  peculiar  to  the  animal, 
and  were  of  no  value  whatever  if  imparted  to 
animals  designed  for  different  purposes  ;  therefore 
let  us  cultivate  our  own  breed  of  roadsters,  as  we 
have  them  among  us. 

Dr.  Wood,  of  Boston,  was  called  on  to  speak, 
and  stated  that  he  was  not  of  the  belief  that 
racer  blood  was  an  improper  element  to  impart 
to  the  roadster.  Experience  had  said  so.  In 
1791  old  Messenger  was  imported  into  N.  Y., 
and  his  blood  is  generally  diffused  there  among 
the  best  trotting  stock.  From  that  horse  came 
Lady  Suffolk,  Trustee,  Hector,  Ajax,  Celeste,  and 
a  great  number  of  others ;  and  many  other  no- 
ble animals  came  directly  from  racing  blood — 
among  them  the  late  Black  Hawk,  which  came 
from  a  thorough-bred  mare  brought  into  this 
State  from  Canada.  It  was,  therefore,  plain  that 
the  racing  blood  was  an  important  element  in 
our  best  roadster  stock.  The  very  best  the  coun- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


215 


try  can  boast  of  came  from  a  three-fourth  thor-  horses  were  superior,  too,  to  those  of  the  districts 
ough-bred  Hambletonian  mare.  I  where  thorough-bred  stallions  were  used.     If  a 

The  President  had  not  denied  the  fact  that  a  good  roadster  was  to  be  found  in  Virginia  and 
trifle  of  thorough-bred  blood  was  a  good  element  Maryland,  he  was  sure  to  have  northern  blood 
in  a  roadster;  and  the  pi'evious  speaker  would' in  him.  Instead  of  improving  the  breeds  there, 
recollect  that  the  Messenger   horse  had  the  re-  the  racing  blood  made  them  a  nuisance  as  road- 


pute  of  having  vulgar  blood  in  him. 

Mr.  Fay,  of  Boston,  from  his  own  experience, 
had  evidence  that  corroborated  what  had  been 


sters.  This  was  not  encouraging  to  the  friends 
of  importing  horses  from  England,  to  improve 
our  own  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  proved  the  policy  of 


said  by  Dr.  ^Yood ;  and  that  gentleman  quoted] Englishmen  coming  here  to  purchase    our  stock  - 


the  unsurpassed  feats  of  Trustee  in  proof  that 
there  was  no  stock  more  hardy  and  capable  of 
endurance  than  the  thorough-bred. 

Dr.  LORING,  of  Salem,  thought  the  discussion 
had  taken  a  course  foreign  to  the  original  inten- 
tion. Farmers  did  not  wish  to  breed  cart  horses, 
or  trotting  horses,  but  good,  substantial,  useful 
animals,  that  could  be  used  for  general  purposes. 
Such  breed  we  had  here  in  New  England,  weigh- 
ing from  900  to  lOoO  lbs.,  hardy,  well  made,  ca- 
pable of  great  endurance,  fair  drivers,  and  pa- 
tient under  fatigue  and  hardship.  They  were 
very  valuable  to  the  farmer,  although  they  might 


for  improvement.  Her  best  bi-eeders  had  ac- 
knowledged the  superiority  of  our  horses.  One 
of  the  most  eminent,  declared  that  he  had  never 
seen  such  a  horse  in  England,  and  that  they 
could  not  raise  such  horses  there.  He  further 
added  that  no  where  in  the  world  could  such 
horses  be  produced,  as  he  had  seen  here  in  New 
England,  in  our  own  State — and  they  vrere  not 
directly,  but  very  remotely  allied  in  blood  to  the 
racer. 

Mr.  Wetherell,  notwithstanding  all  that  had 
been  said,  was  of  the  belief  that  our  stock  of 
horses  was  very  much  indebted  to  thorough-bred 


not  be  exactly  alike  in  all  parts  where  they  were  blood,  in  similar  measure  as  our  cattle  had  been, 
found.  Out  of  the  farms,  the  plows  and  furrows,'  He  also  thought  that  too  much  stress  had  been 
this  stock  had  been  taken,  and  had  performed  placed  on  speed  among  us,  and  that  we  had  cul- 
greater  feats  than  had  been  done  by   any  other!  tivated  it  at  the  expense  of  endurance.  The  same 


description  of  horses.  There  was,  then,  no  use 
.'n  going  back  to  the  old  Messengers,  Trustees, 
Abdallahs  and  Justin  Morgans.  They  were  the 
parents  of  our  present  famed  stock,  but  they 
were  not  fast  themselves.  They  produced  prog- 
enies of  great  endurance,  not  speed,  for  the  speed 
had  been  engrafted  on  the  stock  since,  and  that 


evil  had  appeared  among  the  racing  stock  of 
New  England.  A  special  point  of  management 
— feeding — had  also  been  much  neglected,  as 
well  as  the  careful  watering,  training  and  gener- 
al treatment.  These  things  should  be  better  at- 
tended to  than  they  had  been. 

Mr.  BuCKMiNSTER,  of  the  PlougJiman,  spoke 


speed  had  been  frequently  remarkable,  as  records  I  next.  He  confined  his  remarks  principally  to 
were  quoted  to  show.  The  Morgans  were  indeed  I  the  exposition  of  what  he  called  the  fallacious 
remarkable — more  so  than  any  other  kind,  andi  doctrine  of  breeding  a  horse  to  suir  general  pur- 
they  were  not  thorough-breds.     The  author  of  aj  poses.     No  horse  could  be  so  adapted,  unless  he 


late  work  on  the  horse  did  not  recommend  the 
use  of  Morgan  stallions,  because  they  were  not 
thorough-bred  !  The  history  of  horses  produced 
by  thorough-breds,  did  not  show  such  trotting 
feats  as  those  got  by  the  Morgans.  Why  then 
should  racer  blood   be  infused  into  our  stock  ? 


was  treated  cruelly,  by  being  made  to  accomplish 
labor  which  he  was  not  perfectly  adapted  to  per- 
form. 

Dr.  LoRIXG  denied  that  there  was  any  special 
necessity  for  breeding  for  special  purposes,  as  it 
was  well  known  that  horses  could  be  found  in  the 


We  did  not  want  our  horses  to  run  ;    they  did  I  country   doing  the  common  farm  work,  which 


not  want  to  run,  as  it  was,  but  took  to  trotting 
naturally,  as  they  had  been  bred  for  that  object. 
Moreover,  the  Morgans  were  adapted  for  all  gen- 
eral purposes,  and  that  was  more  than  the  racers 


could  be  put  to  any  labor  on  the  road,  the  field 
or  the  street  without  cruelty,  but  would  go  into 
any  description  of  labor  to  which  a  horse  was 
physically  adapted.     Dr.  L.  commended  the  use 


were.  Take  one  of  your  thorough-breds  from  the  of  small  horses  to  large  mares;  the  horse  not 
plow,  and  ride  him  to  market,  and  what  would! more  than  IG  hands  high,  symmetrical,  compact, 
he  be  like  at  the  end  of  the  journey  ?  What  ex- 1  and  above  all  things,  well  tempered.  If  the  con- 
periments  had  been  made  with  racer  blood,  had!trary  was  the  rule,  heavy  bone  and  light  muscle 


been  failures  here,  for  the  produce  had  neither 
symmetry  or  substantiality  about  them.  We  cer- 
tainly had  among  us  the  best  material  out  of 
which  to  breed  good  farm  horses.  We  had  done 
so,  not  by  management,  but  by  chance,  as  we  had 
nothing  but  native  material  to  work  upon.     Our 


would  be  the  result. 

The  President  was  of  opinion  that  what  near- 
est conformed  to  the  Morgan  type  was  the  best 
model  of  a  horse  for  general  purposes.  If  he  had 
not  said  so  previously,  he  had  meant  to  do  so. 
He  then  announced  that  the  question  for  next 


"16 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


Monday  evening's  meeting  would  be,  "TJie  culti- 
vation and  management  of  Hay."  Hon.  John 
W.  Proctor,  of  Danvers,  is  expected  to  preside. 
The  meeting  then  adjourned  at  a  quarter  past  9 
o'clock. 


For  Vie  Neic  England  Farmer. 
KEVIBW  OP  THE  SEASON. 

In  No.  1  of  the  current  volume  of  the  Farmer 
is  a  "Review  of  the  Season,"  by  D.  Buckland,  in 
■which  he  suggests  the  utility  of  similar  statistics 
from  other  parts  of  the  country.  Believing  such 
information  may  be  serviceable  to  some,  and  in- 
teresting to  many,  I  now  respond  to  the  call  by 
extracting  from  my  daily  register. 

We  are  situated  in  latitude  44°  N.,  and  near- 
ly on  the  meridian  of  Washington.  I  keep  my 
thermometer  in  the  shade  at  the  north  side  of 
the  house,  both  summer  and  winter. 

The  4th  month  was  dry  and  warm.  Plows 
were  started  as  early  as  the  7th.  The  12th, 
grass  and  grain  looked  quite  green.  I  found 
several  varieties  of  wild  flowers  in  the  woods  the 
18th.     A  heavy  thunder  shower  on  the  morning 


contact  with  it.  Mean  temperature  of  the  month, 
68.77"^  or  1.64°  above  that  of  same  month  of  the 
previous  year.  Max.  height  of  mercury,  SS*^  the 
11th;  min.,44°  the  23d.  An  abundance  of  rain 
fell  in  the  last  five  days  of  the  month,  doing 
considerable  damage  to  crops  on  flat  land. 

The  temperature  of  the  9th  month  was  about 
the  same  as  in  the  last  two  or  three  years.  The 
mean  for  the  month  being  61.14°.  ^lax.  height 
of  mercury,  85°  ;  min.,  32°.  Rain  fell  in  only  9 
days,  yet  in  large  quantities,  and  the  ground  was 
very  wet.     First  general  frost  the  23d. 

Potato  crop  pretty  good,  though  on  clayey 
soil  they  rot  badly  ;  not  much  diseased  on  sandy 
land.  Corn  about  an  average, — some  pieces  very 
good.  Fruit  almost  an  entire  failure.  Buck- 
wheat somewhat  damaged  by  frost. 

L.  Yarney. 

Bloomfield,  Prince  Edioard  Co.,  C.  W,  \ 


For  the  New  Enffland  Farmer. 

WHAT  IS  THE  BEST  SEASON"  FOB  PBUN- 
INQ  OUR  FKUIT  TBEES  ? 

This  question   is   constantly  asked  ;   our  agri- 
cultural papers  have  articles  weekly  on  this  sub- 


of  the  30th.    Mean  temperature  43.53°,  which  is,.  ^^_     The  conflicting  opinions  which   are   there 

id  •'  .  .      o.     1       . 


8.18°  above  the  mean  of  that  month  of  1857,  ant 
2.47°  above  the  mean  of  Toronto  for  eighteen 


given,  we  apprehend  are  in  consequence  of  a 
want  of  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  circula- 
tion of  sap,  as  well  as  in  the  office  of  leaves. 
Nature  teaches  us  in  this  matter  in  the  grape 
vine  ;  we  all  know^,  that  if  the  lateral  shoots  of 
the  vine  are  cut  or  injured  in  early  spring  before 


years. 

The  first  half  of  the  5th  month  was  dry,  but  a 
plenty  of  rain  fell  the  last  half.  The  wind  blew 
from  some  easterly  point,  17  days.     Mean  tem- 

P'?^,"elo'?-l^"\u^i'Vi  Q""  -'^'^o^-^t'^at  of  1857    ^^^  ,    ,^„sion  of  the  leaves,  it  willbleed  Tbut  few 
and  4.bb°  below  thatof  18o^.     Maximum  height  |  ^^^^  ^^  ,^^  ^^^^^^  ^^      ^^^  ^^^  contrarv,  if  we  will 
of  mercury,    <4°,  minimum,    32  .     Cherry    and 
pear  trees  in  bloom  the  28th.     Early  apple  trees 
began  to  bloom  the  last  of  the  month. 

6th  month.  The  first  half  was  cool  and  very 
wet ;  but  little  rain  after  the  13th,  and  we  had 
some  extremly  hot  weather.  Mean  temperature 
69°, — 8°  above  the  mean  of  the  same  month  of 
1857,  and  7°  above  that  of  1855.  It  was  also 
8.16°  above  the  mean  at  Toronto  for  18  years. 
.\pple  trees  in  full  bloom  the  3d,  but  some  trees 
near  the  Lake  were  white  as  late  as  the  16th.  A 
fair  quantity  of  blossoms,  enough  to  produce  a 
good  crop,  if  a  good  proportion  had  matured. 
Max.  height  of  mercury,  90°  the  28th.  Min.  45° 
the  1st.  Mean  of  first  12  days,  67°  ;  mean  of 
last  12  days,  83i°. 

7th  month.  First  ten  days,  hot  and  dry.  Rain 
fell  in  ten  days  of  the  month,  but  the  season  for 
harvesting  hay  and  grain  was  pretty  good.  Hay 
ci'op  about  an  average.  AYheat  much  damaged 
by  weevils  and  rust.  Many  fields  were  not  har- 
vested. Mean  temperature  70°, — 2.13°  below 
that  of  1857.  Max.  height  of  mercury,  87°, — 
Min.,  48°.  Warmest  day  the  10th,— coldest  the 
12th.  Diff'erence  in  the  mean  of  the  two  days, 
23i°. 

The  first  half  of  the  8th  month  was  very  hot 
and  dry.  In  the  evening  of  the  18th,  a  sudden 
change  in  temperature  occurred.  Between  6  and 
9  o'clock  the  mercury  fell  17°  ;  a  further  depres- 
sion of  7°  in  the  night  made  24"^  in  eleven  hours. 
Overcoats  and  fires  were  comfortable  several 
days,  l)ut  fortunately  no  frost  was  seen  in  this 
region, — the  earth  having  absorbed  an  extra 
amount  of  heat  in  the  previous  hot  weather,  had 
a  surplus  to  impart  to  the  cold  air  which  came  in 


but  wait  until  these  leaves  are  fully  developed, 
this  will  not  to  any  extent  occur,  for  the  leaves 
which  are  analogous  to  the  lungs  in  animals,  by  a 
beautiful  economy  take  up  the  sap  ;  hence  prun- 
ing should  not  be  done  before  this  period  ;  the 
trees  then  are  in  their  most  vigorous  growth,  and 
the  wounds  will  heal  over  better  at  this  season. 
It  is  amusing  to  hear  the  diff'erent  testimony  of 
farmers  on  this  matter  of  pruning — thus,  a  writ- 
er from  North  Danvers  says:  "I  have  never 
known  an  apple  tree  that  was  pruned  in  March 
or  April  to  bleed."  While  another,  writing  from 
Marshfield,  thus  speaks — "In  pruning  in  April 
or  May,  I  have  found  it  impossible,  in  some  in- 
stances, to  prevent  the  wounds  then  made  from 
flowing  sap — it  would  burst  off'  paint,  shellac, 
and  everything  I  could  apply.  I  have  known  it 
to  continue  to  flow  for  two,  or  even  more  years." 
The  latter  is  the  most  astonishing  to  us,  if  true. 

J.  M.  I. 


For  the  Neio  England  Farmer. 
COBN  CDTjTTJHE. 

How  more  than  one  hundred  bushels  of  Indian  corn 
was  raised  to  the  acre,  in  the  State  of  Maine — the  north- 
ernmost of  all  the  States  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Willard,  of  Wilton,  Franklin  county.  Me., 
says  that  in  1853,  he  grew  fiftj-five  bushels,  eight 
quarts,  on  half  an  acre,  of  merchantable  shelled 
corn,  fit" for  use.  It  was  done  after  this  manner; 
a  piece  of  gravelly  loam  was  selected,  and  finely 
plowed  ten  inches  deep,  and  manured  with  six 
cords  of  stable  manure,  in  best  condition  for  use, 
one-half  of  -which  was  spread  and  covered  by  the 
plow;    the  other  half   wis   placed    in  the   hill. 


.859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


217 


An  abundant  supply  of  well-seasoned  seed  was 
dropped,  and  the  surplus  plants  were  thinned  out 
so  as  to  leave  about  one  plant  to  each  square 
foot  of  land.  It  was  carefully  cultivated,  and 
kept  entirely  clear  of  grass  and  weeds.  Pota- 
toes, pumpkins  or  beans  were  among  the  corn, 
and  none  were  wasted  there. 

I  have  never  seen  a  more  rational  and  satis- 
factory account  of  corn  culture  than  this,  and  al- 
though I  have  heretofore  been  slow  to  believe 
that  one  hundred  bushels  of  useable  corn  could 
be  grown  upon  an  acre,  still,  by  the  application 
of  the  same  industry  and  fidelity  that  Mr.  Wil- 
lard  applied,  I  believe  that  most  of  our  farmers 
could  double  their  crops.  Let  them  begin  by 
plowing  as  deeply  and  fertilizing  and  pulverizing 
as  well,  and  with  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  their 
crops  will  be  as  good.  P. 

South  Danvers,  March  4,  1859. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

PLUM   ON   TUE    PEACH. 

A  writer  in  a  recent  Cultivator,  signed  "E. 
W.,"  says  "that  in  visiting  a  Mr.  Allen's  nursery 
he  learned  a  fact  relative  to  plum  trees  worthy 
of  the  notice  of  our  horticultural  brethren.  Near 
the  house  are  several  plum  trees  of  some  twenty 
years'  growth,  which  were  entirely  free  from 
warts  or  excrescences.  Mr.  A.  imputed  this  en- 
tirely to  the  fact,  that  all  his  plum  trees  are  on 
peach  bottoms." 

This  is  altogether  new  to  me.  Having  a  few 
years  since  cultivated  this  fruit  to  some  extent,  I 
had  a  good  opportunity,  with  upwards  of  fifty 
distinct  varieties,  to  have  seen  this  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, those  varieties  grafted  on  the  peach  root. 
viz.,  Bolmar's  Washington  and  Prince's  Imperial 
Gage,  all  being  on  this  root,  were  greatly  affect- 
ed, so  much  so  that  those  trees  were  ihejirst  we 
were  obliged  to  cut  down.  I  was  troubled  with 
these  unsightly  excrescences  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  render  the  growing  of  the  plum  out  of  the 
question,  and  at  once  discarded  its  further  culti- 
vation in  my  soil.  j.  m.  I. 

Salem,  Mass.,  1859. 

WATER  THROUGH  LEAD  PIPES. 
I  have  repeatedly  noticed  in  the  papers  ac- 
counts of  fatal  effects  to  persons,  resulting  from 
the  use  of  water  conveyed  through  lead  pipes. 
Does  lead  water  hurt  farm  stock  ?  A  neighbor 
whose  cattle  for  many  years  had  been  watered  at 
the  barn  through  logs  from  a  spring  thirty  rods 
distant;  the  logs  getting  leaky,  he  pushed  a  lead 
pipe  through  them,  thereby  saving  much  digging. 
Since  that  time,  his  cattle,  with  as  good  food  and 
care,  appear  more  lean  and  less  thrifty,  and  do  not 
shed  their  coats  and  look  sleek  so  soon  by  more 
than  a  month  after  being  turned  to  pasture.  Cat- 
tle have  died  soon  after  swallowing  paint,  lead 
and  oil,  and  is  it  not  possible  that  lead  and  wa- 
ter may  be  hurtful  to  animals  ?  What  material 
is  best  to  convey  water  through,  to  quench  the 
thirst  of  man  and  beast  ?  An  Inquirer. 

Remarks. — We  have  no  doubt  that  water  im- 
pregnated with  lead  is  hurtful  to  man  and  beast. 
Water  is  not  injured  by  passing  through  logs, 
and  where  there  is  a  constant   stream,  so  as  tL 


keep  the  logs  continually  wet,  they  will  last  for 
many  years.  Conductors,  bored,  and  ready  to 
lay,  are  sold  in  this  city  ;  they  will  undoubtedly 
last  many  years,  if  kept  all  the  time  wet.  Cement 
pipes  are  excellent,  but  must  be  kept  from  the 
frost. 

BEES — CRITICISMS. 

I  see  by  the  i^armer  of  Feb.  26th,  that  Mr. 
Kidder  has  given  in  his  book  a  plate  like  Mr. 
Langstroth's — "The  honored  queen  of  a  happy 
family."  The  subject  is  a  beautiful  one.  It  is  a 
pity  that  in  copying  from  Mr.  L.  he  did  not 
correct  some  errors.  Both  of  them,  (Messrs.  L. 
&  K.)  have  over-drawn  the  matter,  it  is  not  ex- 
actly true  to  nature.  It  is  true  a  few  bees  will 
usually  give  the  attention  represented.  But  I 
never  saw  such  eagerness — such  devoted  atten- 
tion by  so  much  of  a  crowd.  It  would  hardly 
seem  possible  for  her  to  move  ;  and  among  the 
rest,  a  drone  is  making  his  way  into  the  crowd 
(an  occurrence  not  often  seen,)  anxious  no  doubt 
for  a  salute.  Another  error  should  have  been 
avoided  relative  to  the  shape  of  the  bee ;  the 
head  is  too  small,  and  the  body  too  large,  &:c. 

>S'^.  Johnsville,  N.  Y.  M.  Quinby. 

feeding  stock. 

I  have  one  hundred  sheep,  three  horses  and 
eight  head  of  cattle,  and  am,  like  a  good  many 
of  my  neighbors,  short  of  hay.  Hay  is  now  worth 
here  $15  per  ton,  corn  $1  and  oats  50  cts.  per 
bushel.  Now  I  wish  to  know  which  is  best,  all 
things  considered,  to  purchase  hay,  corn  or  oats- 
at  the  foregoing  prices. 

If  grain,  how  shall  I  feed  it,  and  what  quantity 
would  be  equal  to  a  foddering  of  hay,  say  for 
one  hundred  sheep? 

Will  corn  meal  or  oats,  fed  to  ewes  with  lamb, 
be  injurious?  A  Subscriber. 

Woodstock,  VL,  1859. 

Remarks. — Situated  as  you  are,  we  should 
purchase  all  three  of  the  articles,  hay,  corn  and 
oats,  and  feed  them  judiciously  to  all  the  stock. 
A  moderate  quantity  of  corn  or  oats  fed  to  the 
ewes  with  lamb,  will  be  beneficial  to  them. 

gas  lime. 
Please  give  an  article  on  gas  lime,  the  soil  it 
is  adapted  to,  with  its  value  as  a  fertilizer. 
Ilarlford,  1859.  Samuel  Mather. 

Remarks. — The  refuse  lime  of  gas  works  con- 
sists principally  of  a  mixture  of  carbonate  of 
lime,  plaster,  and  other  salts  of  lime  containing 
sulphur.  It  may  be  used  upon  old  mossy  pas- 
tures, or  sprinkled  on  the  furrows  in  the  spring 
with  advantage;  or,  when  greatly  diluted,  sprin- 
kled on  grass  lands.  As  it  does  not  contain 
much  caustic  lime,  it  may  be  mingled  with  barn- 
yard manure  in  small  quantities. 

COMMITTEE   OF   PRODUCE. 
It  has  seemed  to  me  that  in  each  nf  our  rio-ri- 
cullural  t!Ocifiie?,  fcivornl    with    the    buuii;\    uf 


218 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


the  State,  generally  about  $600  a  year,  there 
should  be  a  committee  of  this  character,  whose 
duty  it  should  be,  by  personal  inspection,  corres- 
pondence, or  otherwise,  to  ascertain  and  digest 
a  complete  statement,  in  tabular  form,  in  their 
respective  precincts,  and  make  returns,  of  the 
same  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture. Let  such  statements  be  made  with  such 
authority,  from  year  to  year,  and  brought  togeth- 
er in  the  secretary's  report,  and  they  will,  in  a  I 
great  measure,  remunerate  for  the  money  ex- 
pended in  support  of  such  societies.  I  forbear 
to  enlarge,  always  bearing  in  mind  the  maxim, 
"A  word  to  the  wise  is  sufficient." 
March,  1859.  

THE  MANGOLD   WURTZEL. 

Please  state  the  process  of  preparing  the  soil 
for  a  crop  of  mangolds,  and  where  I  can  obtain 
the  seed.  T.  W.  Sawyer. 

West  Millbury,  Ms.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Plow  and  cultivate  so  as  to  make 
the  soil  quite  fino.  Manure  well,  broadcast,  fur- 
row out  good  wide  and  deep  furrows,  fill  them 
with  manure,  and  sprinkle  salt  over  it,  then  turn 
two  furrows  upon  this,  one  on  each  side,  rake 
down,  roll  it,  and  sow  the  seed.  Under  such 
treatment  you  ought  to  get  a  thousand  bushels 
per  acre,  if  you  tend  them  well.  The  seed  can  be 
had  of  Nourse  &  Co.,  34  Merchants  Row,  Bos- 
ton,   

ELECTRICITY. 

I  noticed  in  the  Farmer  remarks  by  "Electric- 
ity," in  answer  to  questions  made  by  "Non-Elec- 
tricity," in  reference  to  ventilation  and  electrici- 
ty. Will  "Electricity"  answer  the  question, — 
"Why  the  electricity  strikes  a  tree,  or  even  the 
lightning  rod  standing  in  the  open  air,  when  the 
atmosphere  and  all  the  gases  are  reduced  to  an 
equilibrium  ?  When  this  question  is  satisfacto- 
rily answered,  I  shall  then  be  prepared  to  remove 
the  cause  and  save  the  expense  of  protectors. 

Derry,  N.  H.  Inquirer. 

ACID    SUGAR   MAPLE   SAP. 

Will  acid  sugar  maple  sap  affect  paint  or 
strike  through  it  so  as  to  taint  the  wood  of  the 
tub  ?  What  will  cleanse  vessels  painted  on  the 
inside,  so  that  they  will  not  affect  sap  or  water  ? 

Ashfield,  Feb.,  1859.  Henry  Taylor. 

Remarks. — Will  some  sugar-making  friend 
reply  ?  

A   GOOD    PIG. 

Mr.  John  R.  Walker,  of  this  city,  dressed  a 
pig  on  the  third  of  March,  nine  months  old  that 
day,  which  weighed  alive  075  lbs.;  dressed  320 
lbs.  It  was  quarter  breed  Suffolk.  It  was  hand 
some,  and  had  not  been  hurried  any,  but  had 
lived  on  the  usual  pig  food,  corn  meal  principal- 
ly, until  within  two  months  past,  when  some 
ground  wheat  has  been  added.  I  give  this  item, 
so  that  you  will  know  that  New  Hampshire  far- 
mers are  not  much  behind  the  times — in  the 
porous  line,  at  any  rate.  Rockingham, 

Porismonth,  N.  H.,  March,  1859. 


a   FINE    COLT. 

I  noticed  a  statement  in  the  Farmer  a  few 
weeks  since,  with  regard  to  a  large  colt  that  I 
own,  that  needs  some  correction. 

The  writer  called  him  a  Morrell  colt,  which  in 
Vermont  is  equivalent  to  saying  he  was  sired  by 
the  old  Morrell,  of  Danville,  Vt. 

Justice  to  all  concerned  requires  me  to  state 
that  the  colt  was  sired  by  the  Morrell  Cham- 
pion now  owned  by  William  T.  George  and  Hen- 
ry Whicher,  of  Topsham  and  Newbury,  Orange 
county,  Vt. 

The  colt  is    now  eighteen   months   old  ;  color 
dark  chestnut,  height  16^  hands,  and  his  weight 
in  ordinary  flesh  is  over  one  thousand  pounds. 
Perley  Roberts. 

Washington,  Vt.,  Feb.  23,  1859. 

white  pine  seed. 
Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  inform  me  through 
the  columns  of  your  paper  the  best  season  for 
planting  the  pine  seed,  and  likewise  for  gather- 
ing the  cone?  As  I  have  some  fifty  acres  plain 
land  that  I  wish  to  plant  with  the  same,  this  sea- 
son. A  Subscriber. 

Remarks. — Friend  Cutter,  of  Pelham,  will 
please  answer  this.         

pumpkin  and  squash. 

Can  you,  or  any  of  your  scientific  correspon- 
dents, inform  me  of  the  chemical  composition — 
organic  and  inorganic — of  the  ])umpkin  and 
squash?  C.  Blaisdell. 

West  Needham,  March,  1859. 

how  many  pounds  of  milk  for  a  pound  op 
cheese? 

Can  you,  or  any  of  your  correspondents,  tell 
how  many  pounds  of  new  milk  it  takes  to  make 
a  pound  of  merchantable  cheese  ?    ENQUIRER. 

Lyndeboro',  N.H.,  Feb.,  1859. 


For  the  Netp  England  Farmer. 

PREMIUMS  FOR  SPEED  OP  HORSES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  just  received  the  Re- 
port of  the  doings  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture  of  Ohio.  Among  oth- 
er votes  passed  at  the  meeting,  were  the  foUow- 

^"e-~"  .  .         ,  .     , 

"1.  JResnJved.  That  paying  premiums  by  agricul- 
tural societies  for  speed  of  horses,  simply  as  such, 
without  due  reference  to  qualifications  for  pur- 
poses of  general  utility,  is  a  perversion  of  the 
original  design." 

"2.  Ilesolved,  That  trials  of  such  speed  have  a 
great  tendency  to  divett  attention  from  every 
thing  else,  and  with  what  seems  to  be  their  in- 
separable accom])animents,  are  degenerating  and 
demoralizing,  and  therefore  we  will  nototfer  such 
premiums,  and  will  discourage  their  being  of- 
fered by  county  and  district  societies." 

This  opinion,  thus  forcibly  expressed,  is  en- 
titled to  much  respect.  It  comes  from  a  great 
agricultural  State,  and  where  at  the  same  time  the 
breeding  of  horses  enters  into  the  occupation  of 
farmers  very  largely. 

Very  truly  yours,  A  Farmer. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAR:MER. 


219 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PORTUGAL  AGRICULTUBE. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  observed  in  Portugal,  what 
struck  me  as  a  peculiarity  of  the  climate,  that 
the  ground  seemed  never  exhausted.  It  has  been 
cultivated  in  the  same  way  near  a  thousand  years, 
and  still  produces,  for  aught  I  know,  as  much 
now.  The  mode  of  culture  is  rude,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  manure  applied  very  small.  Little  manure 
is  made  ;  cattle  are  not  housed  in  winter  ;  barns 
are  hardly  known  except  in  connection  with  inns 
and  in  the  towns.  Feigns,  brakes  and  leaves  are 
collected  in  wet  places,  and  flocks  of  goats  fold- 
ed upon  them  at  night,  sometimes,  or  the  mate- 
rials are  drawn  into  the  middle  of  the  road  for 
the  travel  to  pass  on  them,  and  after  about  a 
year  carted  to  the  field.  Such  a  thing  as  a  heap 
of  barn-yard  manure  I  never  saw  there  out  of 
the  cities.  The  merest  sprinkling  is  put  upon 
the  land,  and  the  surface  barely  smoothed  over 
with  a  plow,  not  much  better  than  a  sharp  stick. 
And  yet  pretty  good  wheat,  really  stout  barley 
and  tolerable  Lidian  corn  are  grown  every  where. 
Lidian  corn  is  sown  broadcast,  and  thinned  to 
about  one  plant  a  foot  square,  with  the  hoe.  The 
corn  is  perfectly  ripened,  though  the  ear  is  small. 
Potatoes  yield  plentifully,  and  are  of  excellent 
quality. 

And  so  the  land  is  tilled  year  after  year,  and 
century  after  century.  The  principal  difference 
of  the  climate  from  our  own  is,  that  the  seasons 
are  reversed  there.  Summer  is  the  winter  of 
vegetation.  All  nature  sleeps  in  summer  ;  the 
earth  dries  up  ;  every  green  thing  withers. — 
With  the  autumn  rains  vegetation  revives,  and 
the  earth  looks  green  again.  The  barley  and  the 
wheat  harvest  is  over  before  the  drought  comes 
on  in  June,  and  sometimes  earlier.  Indian  corn 
and  potatoes,  by  means  of  artificial  irrigation, 
come  forward  at  any  time,  in  the  south  of  Portu- 
gal. Green  peas  are  in  market  every  day  in  the 
year.  The  wonder  to  me  is,  how  the  fertility  of 
the  land  is  preserved  under  such  a  system  of  cul- 
tivation. H. 

West  Lebanon,  N.  E. 


GRAFTING  AND  TRIMMING  FRUIT 
TREES. 

An  experienced  cultivator  in  Dutchess  county, 
N.  Y.,  writes  as  follows  on  these  subjects : — 

"Scions  for  grafting  should  be  cut  in  February, 
which  is  the  right  season  to  insure  their  living 
and  doing  well ;  tliey  should  then  be  housed  in 
a  cellar  until  the  time  for  inserting  them  arrives, 
which,  with  you,  might  be  by  the  last  week  of 
April  or  the  first  of  May,  and  during  the  latter 
month.  They  should  be  put  only  into  healthy, 
vigorous  branches,  such  as  you  would  not  care 
to  remove  from  the  tree,  and  thus  you  will  have 
an  artificial  tree  that  will  be  ready  for  bearing 
in  about  three  years. 

By  removing  too  many  branches  from  a  tree 
injury  may  be  done.  Careful  attention  should 
be  given  to  this  point  in  lopping  the  branches 
preparatory  to  grafting,  in  order  that  the  sap 
may  pass  into  the  remaining  branches  and  keep 
the  tree  healthy  and  growing.  I  give  you  these 
ideas,  knowing  that  fruit  trees  are  often  injured 


by  those  who  go  about  the  country  making  it 
their  business  to  set  grafts  in  April  and  May,  set- 
ting as  many  scions  as  they  can,  and  getting  pay 
for  those  that  live,  thus  doing  great  damage  to 
the  trees. 

Many  farmers  in  our  county  have,  I  think,  a 
wrong  idea  as  to  the  time  of  pruning  their  apple 
trees,  saying  it  is  of  little  consequence  when  the 
tree  is  pruned,  if  it  only  needs  pruning.  This, 
I  am  ready  to  say,  is  a  sad  mistake,  for  at  all  sea- 
sons when  the  sap  is  down  it  is  entirely  wrong. 
The  first  or  second  week  in  June  is  the  only  fit 
season  for  pruning  the  apple  tree.  Then  the  sap 
is  in  full  (iow,  and  the  wound  made  by  cutting 
off  a  bough  begins  to  heal  and  grow  over  imme- 
diately." 

For  the  New  England  Farmer 

LEGISLATION — LAND  DRAINAGE  COM- 
PANIES. 

BY   HENRY    F.    FRENCH. 

In  the  valuable  treatise  of  Dr.  Warder,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, recently  published  in  New  York,  upon 
Hedges  and  Evergreens,  an  abstract  is  given  of 
the  statutes  of  most  of  our  States  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  fences,  and  we  know  of  no  other  book  in 
which  so  good  an  idea  of  the  legislation  on  this 
subject  can  be  so  readily  obtained. 

By  the  statutes  of  Massachusetts,  any  person 
may  erect  and  maintain  a  water-mill  and  dam  to 
raise  water  for  working  it,  upon  and  across  any 
stream  that  is  not  navigable,  provided  he  does 
not  interfere  with  existing  mills.  Any  person 
whose  land  is  overflowed,  may,  on  complaint, 
have  a  trial  and  a  verdict  of  a  jury,  which  may 
fix  the  height  of  the  dam,  decide  whether  it  shall 
be  left  open  any  part  of  the  year,  and  fix  compen- 
sation, either  annual  or  in  gross,  for  the  injury. 
All  other  remedies  for  such  flowage  are  taken 
away,  and  thus  the  land  of  the  owner  may  be 
converted  into  a  mill-pond  against  his  conseni. 

We  find  nothing  in  the  Massachusetts  statuses 
which  gives  to  land-owners  desirous  of  improv- 
ing their  wet  lands,  any  power  to  interfere  in  arv 
way  with  the  rights  of  mill-owners,  for  the  drain- 
age of  lands.  The  statutes  of  the  common- 
wealth, however,  make  liberal  and  stringent  pro- 
visions for  compelling  unwilling  owners  to  con- 
tribute to  the  drainage  of  wet  lands. 

For  the  convenience  of  those  who  may  be  de- 
sirous of  procuring  legislation  on  this  subject, 
we  will  give  a  brief  abstract  of  the  leading  stat- 
ute of  Massachusetts  regarding  this  matter.  It 
maybe  found  in  chapter  115  of  the  Revised  Stat- 
utes of  1836.  The  first  section  explains  the  gen- 
eral object. 

"When  any  meadow,  swamp,  marsh,  beach  or 
other  low  land  shall  be  held  by  several  proprie- 
tors, and  it  shall  be  necessary  or  useful  to  drain 
or  flow  the  same,  or  to  remove  obstructions  in 
rivers  or  streams  leading  therefrom,  such  im- 
provements may  l»e  efl'ected,  under  the  direction 


220 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


May 


')f  commissioners,  in  the  manner  provided  in  this 
chapter." 

The  statute  provides  that  the  proprietors,  or 
a  greater  part  of  them  in  interest,  may  apply  by 
petition  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  setting 
forth  the  proposed  improvements,  and  for  notice 
t )  the  proprietors  who  do  not  join  in  the  petitionj 
and  for  a  hearing.  The  Court  may  then  appoint 
three,  five  or  seven  commissioners,  to  cause  the 
improvements  to  be  effected.  The  commission- 
ers are  authorized  to  "cause  dams  or  dikes  to  be 
Frected  on  the  premises,  at  such  places  and  in 
such  manner  as  they  shall  direct,  and  may  order 
the  land  to  be  flowed  thereby,  for  such  periods 
of  each  year  as  they  shall  think  most  beneficial, 
and  also  cause  ditches  to  be  opened  on  the  prem- 
ises, and  obstructions  in  any  rivers  or  streams 
leading  therefrom  to  be  removed." 

Provision  is  made  for  assessment  of  the  ex- 
penses of  the  improvements,  upon  all  the  pro- 
prietors, according  to  the  benefit  each  will  de- 
rive from  it,  and  for  the  collection  of  the  amount 
assessed. 

"When  the  commissioners  shall  find  it  neces- 
sary or  expedient  to  reduce  or  raise  the  waters, 
f  r  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  view  of  the  prem- 
ises, or  for  the  more  convenient  or  expeditious 
lemoval  of  obstructions  therein,  they  may  open 
the  flood-gates  of  any  mill,  or  make  other  need- 
ful passages  through  or  round  the  dam  thereof, 
or  erect  a  temporary  dam  on  the  land  of  any 
jierson,  who  is  not  a  party  to  the  proceedings, 
aiid  may  maintain  such  dam,  or  such  passages 
for  the  water,  as  long  as  shall  be  necessary  for 
the  purposes  aforesaid." 

Provision  is  made  for  previous  notice  to  such 
persons  who  are  not  parties,  and  for  compensa 
ti-n  to  them  for  injuries   occasioned  by  the  in 
terference,  and  for  appeal  to  the  Courts. 

This  statute  gives  by  no  means  the  powers 
necessary  to  compel  contribution  to  all  necessary 
drainage,  because,  first,  it  is  limited  in  its  appli- 
cation to  "meadow,  swamp,  marsh,  beach  or  oth- 
er low  land ;"  the  word  meadow  in  New  Eng- 
land, is  used  in  its  original  sense  of  flat  and  wet 
land ;  secondly,  the  statute  seems  to  give  no  au- 
thority to  open  permanent  ditches  on  the  land 
of  others  than  the  owners  of  such  low  land,  al- 
though it  provides  for  temporary  passages  for 
the  purposes  of  "obtaining  a  view  of  the  prem- 
ises, or  for  the  more  convenient  or  expeditious 
removal  of  obstructions  therein."  The  word 
"therein"  referring  to  the  "premises"  under  im- 
provement, so  that  there  is  no  provision  for  out- 
falls, except  through  natural  streams. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  manifest  that  the  State 
assumes  power  sufficient  to  authorize  any  inter- 
ference with  private  property  that  may  be  ne- 
cessary for  the  most  extended  and  thorough 
drainage  operations.  The  power  which  may  com- 


pel a  man  to  improve  his  portion  of  a  swamp, 
may  apply  as  well  to  his  wet  hillsides,  and  the 
power  which  may  open  temporary  passages 
through  land  or  dams  without  consent  of  the 
owner,  may  keep  them  open  permanently,  if  ex- 
pedient. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts, 
passed  March  28th,  1855,  ample  provision  is  made 
for  compulsory  outfalls.  The  act  provides  that 
any  person  having  the  ownership  of  low  lands, 
swamps,  &c.,  that,  by  means  of  adjacent  lands 
of  other  persons,  or  of  a  highway,  cannot  be 
worked,  drained  or  used  in  the  ordinary  manner, 
without  crossing  said  lands  or  highway  may  be 
authorized  to  establish  roads,  drains,  &c.,  to  said 
places.  The  process  is  by  a  petition  to  the  Coun- 
ty Commissioners,  notice  to  all  parties  interested 
and  a  hearing.  The  Commissioners,  if  satisfied 
that  the  request  is  reasonable,  shall  proceed  to 
lay  out  and  establish  the  improvements,  and  as- 
sess damages  equitably  among  parties  benefited, 
to  be  paid  to  the  party  whose  land  is  thus  bur- 
dened. 

An  appeal  lies  to  the  county  by  either  party 
dissatisfied  with  the  award,  as  in  cases  of  the  lay- 
ing out  of  highways.  By  an  act  of  May  30th, 
1857,  it  is  provided  that  where  the  lands  are  all 
in  one  town,  the  selectmen  may  act  instead  of 
the  County  Commissioners. 

By  the  provisions  of  these  acts,  we  understand 
that  any  owner  of  "low  lands,  lakes,  swamps," 
&c..  may,  in  proper  cases  compel  his  obstinate 
neighbor  to  allow  him  to  open  such  drains  through 
adjacent  lands  as  may  be  necessary  to  perfect  his 
work. 

The  provision  is  broad  enough  for  all  low  lands 
or  swamps,  and  should  be  extended  to  all  other 
lands,  dams  and  other  obstructions  whatever,  and 
thus  place  in  the  hands  of  the  proper  authorities 
complete  power  to  do  what  is  just  and  equitable, 
and  for  the  public  good. 

It  would  seem,  then,  that  the  commonwealth, 
which  is  perhaps  as  conservative  in  her  legisla- 
tion as  any  other,  assumes  and  exercises  all  the 
power  necessary  to  authorize  the  most  complete 
system  of  drainage.  Whatever  the  powers  of 
the  States,  upon  the  points  suggested,  there  is  no 
doubt  of  their  power  to  protect  the  farmer,  to 
some  extent,  against  the  encroachments  of  mill- 
owners  and  water-power  companies.  Our  courts 
are  teeming  with  suits  between  land-owners  and 
these  companies  about  fiowage,  and  in  these  suits 
the  corporations  have  usually  the  advantage  of 
wealth  and  influence  and  concert  of  action,  as 
well  as  of  knowledge  of  the  true  state  of  facts, 
while  the  land-owner  has  the  benefit  usually  of 
strong  sympathy  on  the  part  of  jurors. 

The  appointment  of  commissioners  to  examine, 
define  and  record,  from  time  to  time,  the  height 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


221 


of  all  dams  and  embankments,  the  capacity  of 
gates  and  sluice-ways,  the  agreed  or  ascertained 
rights  of  flowage,  connected  with  all  mills  and 
reservoirs  within  their  jurisdiction,  and  such  oth- 
er matters  as  might  be  necessary  to  make  defi- 
nite the  respective  rights  of  the  parties,  would 
tend  to  lessen  litigation,  and  quiet  much  disa- 
greeable and  expensive  controversy. 

In  those  States,  too,  where  it  is  deemed  con- 
stitutional, provision  might  be  made  by  proceed- 
ing before  the  same  commissioners,  for  compul- 
sory outfalls,  upon  proper  compensation  to  own- 
ers, and  even  for  partial  or  full  contribution  by 
unwilling  owners,  where  lands  are  so  situated 
that  it  is  necessary,  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  to 
interfere  with  property  of  owners  who  refuse  to 
join  in  the  enterprise. 


"WONDEBPUIi  POWER  OP  FTJEIi. 

It  is  well  known  to  modern  engineers,  (re- 
marks an  English  journal,)  that  there  is  virtue  in 
a  bushel  of  coal  properly  consumed,  to  raise  sev- 
enty millions  of  pound  weight  a  foot  high.  This 
is  actually  the  average  effect  of  an  engine  work- 
ing in  Huel  Towan,  Cornwall,  England.  Let  us 
pause  a  moment  and  consider  what  this  is  equiv- 
alent to  in  matters  of  practice.  The  ascent  of 
Mount  Blanc  from  the  valley  of  Chamouni  is  con- 
sidered, and  with  justice,  as  the  most  toilsome 
feat  that  a  strong  man  can  execute  in  two  days. 
The  combustion  of  tvyo  pounds  of  coal  would 
place  him  on  the  summit.  The  Menai  bridge, 
one  of  the  most  stupendous  works  of  art  that 
has  been  raised  by  man  in  the  modern  ages, 
consists  of  a.  mass  of  iron  not  less  than  four  mil- 
lions of  pounds  in  weight,  suspended  at  a  medi- 
um height  of  about  120  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea.  The  consumption  of  seven  bushels  of 
coal  would  suffice  to  raise  it  to  the  place  where 
it  hangs.  The  great  pyramid  of  Egypt  is  com- 
posed of  granite.  It  is  seven  hundred  feet,  in 
the  side  of  its  base,  and  five  hundred  in  perpen- 
dicular height,  and  stands  on  eleven  acres  of 
land.  Its  weight  is  therefore  12,700  millions  of 
pounds,  at  a  medium  height  of  125  feet;  conse- 
quently, it  would  be  raised  by  the  effort  of  about 
630  chaldrons  of  coal,  a  quantity  consumed  in 
some  foundries  in  a  week.  The  annual  consump- 
tion of  coal  in  London  is  estimated  at  1,500,000 
chaldrons.  The  effort  of  this  quantity  would 
suffice  to  raise  a  cubical  block  of  marble,  2,200 
feet  in  the  side,  through  a  space  equal  to  its  own 
height,  or  to  pile  one  mountain  on  another.  The 
Monte  Nuovo,  near  Pozzueli,  which  was  erupted 
in  a  single  night  by  volcanic  fire,  might  have 
been  raised  by  such  an  effort  from  a  depth  of 
40,000  feet,  or  about  eight  miles.  It  will  be  seen 
that  in  the  above  statement,  the  inherent  power 
of  fuel  is,  of  necessity,  greatly  underrated.  It  is 
not  pretended  by  engineers  that  the  economy  of 
fuel  is  yet  pushed  to  its  utmost  limit,  or  that  the 
■whole  effective  power  is  obtained  in  any  applica- 
tion of  fire  yet  devised ;  so  that  were  we  to  say 
100  millions,  instead  of  70,  we  should  probably 
06  nearer  the  truth. — Maine  Farmer. 


THE  CONCOED  FARMERS'  CLUB. 

The  meetings  of  this  association  have  been  at- 
tended through  the  winter,  and  the  discussions 
sustained  with  unusual  spirit  and  ability.  The 
annual  meeting  was  held  Nov.  11,  when  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen  were  chosen  officers  for  the 
ensuing  year; — N.  H.  Warken,  President ;  S. 
H.  Rhoades,  Vice  President ;  Joseph  Rey- 
nolds, Secretary  ;  Elijah  Wood,  Jr.,  Treasurer. 

The  President  and  Secretary  were  appointed 
to  assign  places  of  meeting,  and  subjects  for  dis- 
cussion, on  each  week  during  the  season.  At  the 
next  meeting,  Nov.  18,  this  Committee  reported 
the  following  list  of  subjects  to  be  discussed,  in 
the  order  in  which  they  are  presented.  The  gen- 
tleman at  whose  house  the  Club  meets,  is  ex- 
pected to  read  an  essay  upon  the  subject  to  be 
discussed  on  that  evening.  These  essays  are  read 
before  the  discussion.  Farm  Buildings,  Rotation 
of  Crops,  Farm  Implements,  Market  Gardening, 
Reclaiming  Swamp  Lands,  Horses,  Agricultural 
Books,  Diseases  of  Farm  Stock,  New  Plants  for 
Cultivation,  Manures,  Swine,  Grain  Crops,  Drain- 
ing, Root  Crops,  Garden  Fruits,  Pasture  Lands, 
Soiling  Cows,  Poultry,  Flower  Gardening,  and 
Corn  Culture. 

At  the  second  and  third  meetings,  the  subject 
of  Farm  Buildings,  especially  the  structure  and 
internal  arrangement  of  Barns,  was  fully  dis- 
cussed. On  the  fourth  evening,  an  interesting 
discussion  was  had,  on  Farm  Implements.  At 
the  fifth  meeting  which  was  held,  the  subject  of 
Market  Gardening  was  discussed.  In  this  sub- 
ject was  included  the  expediency  and  profit  of 
farmers  raising  vegetables  for  the  market,  the 
best  methods  of  cultivating  certain  vegetables, 
and  the  best  and  most  profitable  ways  of  convey- 
ing them  to  market,  and  disposing  of  them.  The 
present  mode  of  marketing  produce  is  very  labo- 
rious, and  takes  much  of  the  time  of  the  produ- 
cer, and  there  seemed  to  be  a  general  conviction 
that  some  other  method  must  be  adopted. 
If  the  produce  of  a  town  or  neighborhood  could 
be  conveyed  to  market,  by  railroad,  and  deliver- 
ed to  an  agent  or  agents,  who  should  dispose  of 
it  for  the  producer,  for  a  commission  of  a  certain 
per  cent,  on  the  price  obtained,  it  was  thought 
it  would  be  a  better  way  than  that  pursued  at 
present.  This  subject  is  now  fairly  before  far- 
mers, and  if  the  managers  of  railroads  will  af- 
ford the  needful  accommodation,  some  plan  will 
be  devised,  that  will  relieve  them  of  the  necessi- 
ty and  hardship  of  spending  so  large  a  part  of 
their  time  in  dragging  loads  of  produce  to  mar- 
ket. Could  some  feasible  plan  be  devised  to  ac- 
complish this  object,  in  which  the  expense  should 
not  absorb  all  the  profits,  it  would  open  a  new 
source  of  employment  to   farmers,  and  enable 


222 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


them  to  compete  successfully,  with  the  market 
gardeners,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Boston. 
There  need  be  no  fear  of  over-stocking  the  mar- 
ket, especially  with  those  articles  that  are  ma- 
tured in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  as  radishes, 
asparagus,  rhubarb,  early  peas,  cucumbers,  &c., 
as  these  are  now  sent  to  Pirtland,  Bangor,  Hal- 
ifax, and  other  places,  north  and  east,  and  the 
demand  is  annually  increasing. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ST.  HELENA  POTATOES. 

Mr.  Editor: — In  ISuG,  I  purchased  six  or 
seven  potatoes  of  this  variety,  at  Worcester, 
Mass.  At  the  close  of  the  Horticultural  Fair, 
the  productions  were  sold  at  auction,  and  seeing 
a  plate  of  very  nice  looking  potatoes,  I  secured 
them,  at  a  high  price  apparently,  at  least  it  would 
be  so  considered  in  Vermont. 

We  have  used  them  freely  in  our  family  this 
year,  having  raised  over  one  hundred  bushels, 
and  find  them  a  good  potato  for  use.  They  grow 
large,  and  are  not  liable  to  rot,  very  smooth,  as 
tht  eyes  are  directly  upon  the  surface  ;  very  com- 
pact in  the  hills. 

Messrs.  Drew  &  French,  in  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune of  March  olh,  describe  the  potato  exactly, 
under  the  name  of  "Prince  Albert."  Upon  tht 
card  attached  to  the  plate  of  those  I  brought 
from  Worcester,  was  the  name  of  the  producer, 
and  also  of  the  variety,  and  by  that  name  we 
have  called  them.     Are  they  the  same,  or  not  ? 

E.  P.  MUDGETT. 

Cambridge,  Vt.,  March  9,  1859. 


Remarks. — It  is  quite  likely  they  are  identi- 
cal, for  the  same  potato  is  often  known  by  differ- 
ent names.  The  finest  potato  that  we  are  ac- 
quainted with,  or,  at  the  least,  one  equally  as 
good  as  any,  is  that  called  the  "Riley,"  or  "Do- 
ver," from  the  fact  that  a  cargo  of  them  was 
brought  into  the  city  of  Dover,  N.  H.,  by  one 
Capt.  Riley.  They  are  the  true  "Irish  Cup  Po- 
tato," and  will  at  once  be  recognized  as  such  by 
many  of  your  friends  from  the  Emerald  Isle. 
There  are  two  objections  to  them  ;  they  do  not 
yield  largely,  and  their  eye  cups  are  so  deeply 
set  that  it  requires  much  care  to  prepare  them 
for  the  oven  or  the  pot.  But  upon  the  plate,  with 
a  little  sweet  butter,  the  Irish  Cup  is  a  potato 
that  will  commend  itself  any  vifhere. 


Rutland  County  Agricultural  Society. 
— President,  Daniel  Kimball,  of  Rutland  ;  Vice 
Presidents,  Chauncey  S.  Rumsey,  of  Hubbard- 
ton.  Alpha  H.  Post,  of  Rutland  ;  Recording  Sec- 
retary, Henry  Clark,  of  Poultley  ;  Correspond- 
ing Secretary,  Orel  Cook,  Jr.,  of  Rutland  ;  Treas- 
urer, Hon.  Zimri  Howe,  of  Castleton  ;  Auditor, 
Ward  M.  Lincoln,  of  Brandon,  and  a  Board  of 
Managers  consisting  of  twenty-five  persons. 


For  the  New  Englanti  Farmer. 
LETTER  FHOM  CONCOBD,  MASS. 

A  California  Picture — River  Meadow — Horse  Powers. 

A  gentleman  in  this  town  who  returned  from 
California  an  invalid,  last  summer,  lately  received 
from  his  partners  there  a  very  interesting  am- 
b'-otype  picture  of  their  store  at  the  mines,  around 
which  were  quite  a  company  of  his  old  friends, 
and  the  train  of  mules  which  he  had  often  jour- 
nied  with  from  their  head-quarters  at  Marysville 
to  this  depot,  among  the  mountains. 

The  picture  was  large,  and  exceedingly  well 
taken.  The  express  charges  on  it  were  nine 
dollars. 

RIVER   MEADOWS. 

I  am  looking  on,  with  a  good  deal  of  interest, 
to  see  what  progress  is  m;rde  in  getting  down 
that  ruinous  dam  on  the  Concord  River.  There 
has  been  no  movement  of  a  like  importance  ag- 
itated for  years.  It  will  take  money  to  make  it 
successful.  Mr.  Talbot  bought  and  built  in  good 
faith.  At  that  time  the  purchase,  if  necessary, 
of  the  privilege  of  flowing  such  an  extent  of 
country  could  have  been  most  advantageously 
made.  Now,  it  stems,  Mr.  Talbot  has  expended 
in  buildings  and  peculiar  machinery  some  eighty 
thousand  dollars. 

Now,  what  can  you  do  unless  you  have  about 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  with  which  to  com- 
mence negotiations  ?  No  amount  of  words  or 
complaining  will  ever  start  a  stone  from  that 
dam.     The  lever  must  be  made  of  gold. 

When  one  thinks  for  a  moment  of  the  rich  al- 
luvial lands  that  could  so  soon  be  made  to  yield 
the  hay  and  corn  to  crowd  a  thousand  barns,  it 
seems  a  burning  shame  that  the  urtforiunate  bar- 
rier which  stupid  legislators  allowed  to  be  erect- 
ed, should  not  be  allowed  to  come  down  by  their 
wiser  successors, 

HORSE   POWERS. 

While  the  horses  stand  idle  in  their  stalls,  their 
owners  sweat  at  the  wood  pil-s  !  Every  farm  of 
considerable  size  should  have  some  sort  of  a 
horse-power.  It  should  be  located  in  the  ample 
barn,  where,  on  rainy  days,  the  horse  could  drive 
a  saw  which  would  cut  a  cord  every  hour,  easily. 
Then,  how  a  horse  can  make  a  grindstone  go 
around  !  I  like  to  have  a  grindstone  perfectly 
true,  exactly  round,  and  then  go  so  that  fire  will 
occasionally  start  out.  W^here  grindstones  are 
turned  by  hand,  they  are  very  seldom  burst  by 
going  too  fast !  The  fact  is,  it  is  tedious  work — 
the  most  so  of  all  summer.  Where  a  water  pow- 
er is  not  convenient  it  is  a  great  relief  to  have 
the  grindstone  go  by  horse-power.  The  tools 
will  always  be  kept  sharper,  and  can  be  ground 
in  less  time.  It  is  the  height  of  felly  to  smash 
away  with  dull  tools.  It  will  pay  to  provide 
convenient  means  to  keep  them  in  order. 

Hay  cutters  are  made  to  attach  to  a  power  so 
that  the  hay,  for  a  large  stock,  can  be  most  ex- 
peditiously prepared.  If  one  has  a  taste  for  the 
thing,  the  horse  can  saw  the  wood,  wash  the 
clothes,  churn,  turn  the  grindstone,  cut  the  hay, 
shell  the  corn,  drive  the  small  circular  bench  saw, 
and  pump  the  water. 

Are  not  farmers  less  interested  than  other 
classes,  in  ingenious  contrivances  which  expedite 
their  business  and  save  their  strength? 

March  1,  1859.  w.  D.  B. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


223 


Por  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BLIGHT  IN  THE  PEAR. 

Mr.  Brown  : — Having  been  in  the  habit  for 
years  of  examining  the  various  accounts  that 
have  come  to  us,  particularly  from  the  South  and 
West,  Avhere  blight  in  the  pear  is  more  common 
than  with  us,  we  have  been  struck  with  the  re- 
semblance their  seems  to  be  between  what  they 
call  frozen  sap  and  scald,  or  sun  blight ;  thus 
cne  writing  from  Mobile,  describing  its  first  ap- 
pearance and  effect  upon  his  trees,  corresponds 
entirely  with  a  similar  article  from  Illinois,  from 
one  who  denominates  his  as  frozen  sap  blight. 
We  can  hardly  suppose  that  frozen  sap  blight 
could  occur  in  the  climate  of  Mobile. 

We  believe  that  there  are  two  forms  of  blight, 
one  form  being  caused  by  a  severe  scald,  often 
produced  by  the  practice  of  denuding  the  trees, 
when  young,  of  their  side,  or  latteral  shoots, 
thereby  exposing  their  naked  trunks  to  the  sun, 
for  there  are  few  trees  in  a  young  state  that  can 
endure  the  scorching  rays  of  our  August  sun 
when  thus  denuded  ;  there  is  a  constant  effort  in 
young  trees  to  throw  out  these  side  branches 
near  the  ground.  The  enlargement  of  the  trunk 
of  a  young  tree  with  its  laterals  uninjured,  will 
be  much  larger  in  a  given  time,  than  upon  one 
with  these  shoots  removed.  This  we  believe  to 
be  one  of  the  causes,  at  least,  of  one  form  of 
blight.  The  other  form,  or  what  is  called  frozen 
sap  blight  takes  place  ordinarly  upon  trees  that 
are  forced  in  strong  and  highly  manured  soil 
when  young,  and  by  cutting  off  the  tap  root, 
thereby  causing  the  tree  to  make  long  succulent 
shoots,  the  growth  extending  to  so  late  a  period 
as  to  be  overtaken  by  the  winter,  before  the  sap 
is  sufficiently  elaborated,  and  the  wood  matured 
to  stand  a  severe  freezing.  Rich  soil  with  ma- 
nure or  excess  of  moisture  undoubtedly  increases 
the  evil.  The  tap  root,  although  not  forming  a 
part  of  every  plant,  when  it  does  so,  is  an  essen- 
tial part  of  that  plant,  and  the  injury  to  any  one 
part  of  a  plant,,  occasions  a  change  in  the  natural 
developments  of  the  other  parts.  In  allusion  to 
this  cutting  and  high  manuring,  it  has  been  said 
that  "nature,  to  be  perfect  in  any  of  her  works, 
should  not  be  forced ;  we  may  be  impatient,  not 
her.  In  her  elaborate  and  harmonious  labors, 
time  must  be  given  for  all  things  ;  and  all  we 
have  to  do,  is  to  understand  what  she  intends." 

1  would  like  to  ask,  if  any  one  ever  knew  of 
our  natural  button  pear  trees  to  be  affected  by 
either  of  the  above  forms  of  blight.        J.  M.  I. 

Salem,  March,  1859. 


GROTOK  FARMERS'  CLUB. 
No  town  in  our  community  gets  up  a  better 
"Town  Show,"  introduces  more  good  articles  to 
public  inspection,  or  does  its  work  in  a  more  spir- 
ited manner,  than  the  town  of  Groton  ;  and  there 
are  few  towns  where  a  farmers'  club  exists,  where 
the  people  seem  to  take  so  little  interest  in  its 
affairs  and  "let  it  alone  so  severely."  How  these 
two  things  are  to  be  reconciled,  we  do  not  know. 
The  meeting  on  the  evening  of  March  14th,  at 
•which  we  were  present,  was  thinly  attended,  al- 
though the  hall  where  it  was  held  was  in  the  cen- 


tre of  a  populous  village.  The  travelling  was 
exceedingly  bad,  it  is  true,  but  in  such  a  locality, 
the  hall  should  have  been  crowded. 

It  is  encouraging,  however,  to  find  farmers' 
clubs  holding  stated  meetings,  and  their  great 
work  progressing,  though  it  be  sometimes  with 
only  little  zeal.  Groton,  with  her  excellent  land 
and  intelligent  population,  ought  to  lead  the  way, 
and  we  found  some  among  them  convinced  of 
this  fact.  There  are  many  examples  of  good 
husbandry  in  the  town.  Gov.  Bol'TWELL  has 
given  one  in  the  construction  of  his  barn,  and 
the  accuracy  with  which  he  keeps  his  farm  ac- 
counts,— being  able  at  all  times  to  show  profit 
and  loss  in  his  operations.  His  well-arranged 
barn  was  filled  with  a  fine  stock  of  cattle.  There 
are  others  excelling  in  different  departments  of 
husbandry,  but  whose  places  we  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  see. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  CATERPILLAR. 

The  tent  caterpillar,  ( Clisiocampa  Americana,) 
has  become  famous  for  its  ravages ;  so  great  are 
they  that  it  is  necessary  to  adopt  every  means  in 
our  power  to  check  its  progress,  and  to  do  this 
we  must  know  the  insect  under  all  its  forms. 

In  the  winter  there  may  be  seen  on  apple  trees, 
(as  well  as  on  many  others,)  at  the  ends  of  the 
limbs,  a  band  of  eggs,  covered  with  a  brittle, 
shiny,  water-proof  varnish,  extending  around  the 
limb,  and  about  one-half  or  three-fourths  of  an 
inch  long  ;  in  this  there  are  from  three  to  four 
hundred  cylindrical  eggs,  standing  on  end.  When 
the  leaves  begin  to  burs-t  forth,  these  eggs  hatch, 
and  from  them  proceed  the  small  caterpillars 
which  destroy  those  young  and  tender  leaves. 
They  make  for  themselves  a  white,  silvery  tent, 
in  which  they  live  when  at  rest,  and  from  which 
they  go  forth  for  food  ;  as  they  go  they  spin  from 
their  mouths  a  fine  white  thread,  which  guides 
them  back  to  their  home,  and  as  they  increase  in 
size,  still  go  over  the  same  tract,  until  all  the 
leaves  are  eaten.  In  their  repeated  journeys, 
the  limbs  get  coated  above  with  silk,  which  when 
observed,  can  often  guide  to  a  nest  which  would 
otherwise  escape  notice. 

As  the  caterpillars  grow  larger,  they  increase 
their  tent  by  adding  layer  upon  layer  of  silk  at  a 
little  distance  apart,  and  so  large  do  they  some- 
times make  them  when  undisturbed,  that  they 
will  measure  six  by  nine  inches. 

The  full-grown  caterpillar  measures  about  two 
inches  in  length,  the  head  is  black  ;  the  body  is 
striped  longitudinally  with  white,  yellow  and 
black,  and  in  the  yellow  are  many  fine  black 
ones  ;  it  is  sparingly  covered  with  short  hair,  most 
abundant  on  the  sides.  They  leave  the  trees  in 
the  first  part  of  June,  and  seek  a  place  sheltered 
from  storms,  in  which  they  spin  their  cocoons, 
which  are  of  a  oval  shape,  of  a  yellowish  white 
color,  caused  by  a  powder  that  fills  up  the  crevi- 
ces between  the  threads  of  silk.  From  the  chry- 
salis, in  July,  come  forth  the  perfect  insects ;  in 
this  state  they  are  moths  of  a  reddish  brown  color, 
with  two  oblique  white  stripes  on  each  forf  wing. 


224 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


the  antenna;  are  feathered,  and  the  thorax  is  very 
hairy  ;  they  expand  frona  one  and  one-quarter  to 
one  and  one-half  inches. 

There  are  four  states  in  which  these  destruc- 
tive insects  may  be  killed.  First,  in  the  egg,  by 
crushing  the  band  of  eggs,  but  as  the  eggs  are 
small,  this  cannot  be  practiced  to  any  great  ex- 
tent. Secondly  in  the  caterpillar.  Various  meas- 
ures have  been  advised  to  remove  these  pests,  but 
the  best  that  I  have  tried  is  to  brush  them  off  by 
means  of  a  conical  brush  made  for  the  purpose, 
and  then  crush  them  ;  this  should  be  used  early  in 
the  morning,  at  noon,  or  at  night,  for  the  cater- 
pillars are  out  in  the  forenoon  and  afternoon 
only.  Thirdly,  in  the  chrysalis;  this  is  easyi 
enough,  for  when  you  find  a  cocoon,  crush  it;] 
they  are  seen  very  plenty  under  tops  of  fences, 
and  on  buildings  under  the  thick  part  of  the 
shingles  or  clapboards.  Fourthly,  in  the  moth  ; 
the  best  way  to  kill  them  in  this  state  is  to  build 
fires,  in  the  places  infested  by  them,  in  July,  be- 
fore they  lay  their  eggs,  for  they  will  fly  into  the 
fire  and  get  burned. 

How  they  would  disappear  if  every  person 
killed  every  caterpillar  he  saw  crawling  on  the 
ground,  or  every  cocoon  he  saw  sticking  to  a 
fence  or  building ! 

Carleton  a.  Shurtleff. 

Brookline,  Mass.,  1859. 


SUPERPHOSPHATE  OP  LIMB  FOR 
TRANSPLANTING  TREES, 

Phosphoric  acid  possesses  a  very  great  and  re- 
markable influence  on  the  development  of  roots, 
causing  plants  to  throw  them  out  with  unusual  j 
vigor  ;  we  do  not  know  of  any  very  satisfactory  | 
explanation  of  this  phenomenon,  either  chemical  j 
or    physiological,  but   of  the    fact   itself  there  | 
seems  to   be  no  doubt.     The    most   convenient 
mode  of  employing  this  substance  is  in  the  form 
of  superphosphate  of  lime,  as  it  is  called,  that  is 
to  say,  a   mixture    of  oil  of   vitriol    and    burnt 
bones.     This  compound,  which  is   rich  in  phos- 
phoric acid  in  a  soluble  state,   may   be   readily 
mixed  wiih  a  little   dry  mould  ;   it  then  forms  a 
most  valuable  aid  to  the  planter.     Superphos- 
phate of  lime,  is,  therefore,  a  very  valuable  fer- 
tilizer in  the  hands  of  the  planter;  but  in  using 
it  he  must  always  remember  that  as  his  plants 
must  necessarily  absorb  the  whole  or  the  great- 
er part  of  the    soluble   manure  which  he  gives 
them  he  must   take   care  not  to  give  them  too 
much.     He  must  not  suppose  that  if  one  hand- 
ful will  do  good,  therefore   ten  handfuls   will  do 
more ;  it   is  very  easy   to    give  too  much,    and 
plants,  like  animals,  may  equally  be  injured  by 
overfeeding  or  by  starvation. — Prof.  Lindley. 

BUCKWHEAT  AS   FOOD. 

M.  Isidore  Pierre  has  recently  been  making 
some  investigations  on  buckwheat,  from  which 
is  condensed  the  following  interesting  results:— 
Buckwheat  cakes  are  equal  to  pure  white  bread 
as  regards  the  phosphates  or  bone-making  mate- 
rial, and  nitrogenous  principles  which  they  con- 
tain, and  are  superior  to  bread  in  fatty  matters. 
The  general  yield  of  buckwheat  when  cooked  is 
about  three  times  the  weight  of  the  flour  used, 
showing  that  such  flour  will  retain  forty  to  forty- 


one  per  cent,  of  water.  Between  different  batches 
of  ground  buckwheat  is  a  great  dissimilaiity  of 
composition — one  batch  containing  nearly  sev- 
enteen times  as  much  nitrogen,  twenty-five  times 
as  much  fatty  matter,  as  another.  The  bran  is 
the  richest  portion  of  the  buckwheat,  but  cannot 
be  digested  by  weak  stomachs.  The  finest  qual 
ities  of  buckwheat  flour,  and  the  white  mill  dust, 
especially,  are  very  suitable  for  children  and  per- 
sons in  delicate  health,  while  the  coarser  varie- 
ties require  a  strong  stomach  and  much  exercise 
for  their  perfect  digestion. — Rural  New-Yorker. 

HARDY  NATIVE  FLOWERS. 
Among  the  most  beautiful  wild  flowers  that 
grace  our  meadows  in  summer  with  its  unrivalled 
1  scarlet  blossoms,  is  the  Lohella  cardiiiaJis,  some- 
times called  the  Pride  of  America.    This  plant  is 
found  generally  on  the  borders  of  our  brooks  and 
wet  meadows,  and  it  seems  to  be  almost  the  only 
plant,  with   the  exception  of  the    Podophylhim 
peltatum,  or  May  apple,  that  will  thrive  equally 
well   in    our  gardens.     The    Geradias,   another 
beautiful  genus,  of  which  there  are  four  or  five 
species,  on  the  contrary,  are  extremely  difficult 
to  raise  in  our  gardens,  either  from  the  root  or 
seed,   while   the   Asdepias  tuberosa,  or  orange 
colored  Milk  Weed,  the  most  showy  variety  of 
that  genus,  will  grow  quite  as  well  when  trans- 
planted to  our  gardens,  as  in  its  native  woods. 
The  Eepaiica  triloba,  or  Liverwort ;  the  varie- 
ties of  Viola  or  Pansy  ;  Ihjpoxis  ereda,  or  Star 
of    Bethlehem  ;     Sanguinaria     canadensis,     or 
Blood  Root ;  Anemone  nemorosa,  or  Wood  An- 
emone, are  of  easy  culture.     Many  of  them  will 
improve  in  size   and  beauty  under  cultivation. 
I  They  are  as  showy  as  many  foreign  varieties  for 
,  which  high  prices  are  paid.  These  will  all  thrive, 
if  placed  in  moist  soil,  or  in  a  half-shady  part  of 
the  garden. 


THE  MILK  TRADE. 
The  Committee  on  Agriculture  in  our  Legisla- 
ture has  reported  a  bill  in  relation  to  the  pur- 
chase, sale  and  measurement  of  milk.  The  bill  is 
a  fair  one,  and  if  passed,  will  tend  to  correct  a 
good  deal  of  corruption  in  the  business,  establish 
the  measure  so  that  every  body  may  know  what 
a  quart  or  a  gallon  is,  and  greatly   promote  the 
chances   for  the  people  in  the  cities  to  get  pure 
milk  and  just  measure.     We  trust   our  friends 
will  attend  to  this  matter  now,  and  place  before 
their  members  of  the  Legislature,  all  the  facts 
ihey  may  possess,  to  enable  them  to   show  why 
the  bill  should  be  passed.  The  opposition  to  the 
bill  comes  from  the  milk-venders,  who   now  pur- 
chase seven  or  eight  quarts  and  sell  it  for  ten — to 
say  nothing  of  water  added.    Milk  raisers  in  the 
country  have  no  time  to  lose  in  attending  to  the 
matter— it  is  one  of  great  importance,  and  should 
receive  prompt  and  energetic  attention. 


.859. 


NEW   ENGLAND  FARMER. 


225 


THE  GUELDERLAND  FOWL. 


In  Bennett's  Poultry  Book,  page  82,  is  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  this  breed  of  fowls  : — "I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  II.  L.  Devereux,  of  Boston,  for 
the  following  account  of  the  original  importation 
of  this  breed,  and  a  description  of  those  in  his 
possession. 

"The  Guelderland  fowls  were  imported  from 
the  north  of  Holland,  some  years  since,  by  Cap- 
tain John  Devereux,  of  Marblehead,  in  the  ship 
Dromo ;  and  since  that  time  have  been  bred 
purely  by  him,  at  his  place  in  that  town.  They 
are  supposed  to  have  originated  in  the  north  of 
Holland.  They  are  clad  in  a  beautiful  blue-black 
plumage,  but  the  flesh  is  white,  tender  and  juicy. 
They  have  no  comb,  but  a  small,  indented,  hard, 
bony  substance  instead,  and  large  red  wattles. 
They  are  of  good  size.  i:reat  layers,  seldom  inclin- 
ing to  sit ;  bright,  aciive  birds,  and  are  not  sur- 
passed, in  point  of  beauty  or  utility,  by  any  breed 
known  in  this  country." 


Spayed  Cows  give  much  better  and  more 
healthful  milk  than  cows  in  the  natural  state. 
So,  at  least,  says  a  French  work  on  this  subject. 

The  cow  will  continue  to  give  milk,  in  this  con- 
dition two  or  three  years  ;  then  she  will  fatten 
easily,  and  make  excellent  beef.  This  may  be 
true  ;  but  American  dairymen  will  not  soon  adopt 
this  practice  in  regard  to  their  cows. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HINTS  TO  FARMERS  AND  CORRES- 
PONDENTS. 

Friend  Brown  : — Farmers  like  short  articles 
— the  words  and  thoughts  of  practical  men,  few, 
plain,  and  straight  to  the  point.  Why  don't  they 
write,  then  ?     Why  don't  more  of  them  write  ? 

"Why,  bless  us  !"  says  the  editor,  "we  have  a 
multitude  of  correspondents,  and  more  communi- 
cations than  we  can  publish — our  journals  can- 
not contain  everything .'" 

True,  very  true,  no  doubt,  but  with  the  best 
care  on  the  part  of  correspondents,  there  might 
be  a  little  more  room.  If  all  would  remember 
that  farmers  know  good  corn  vrithout  seeing  the 
husk  and  cob,  they  would  often  send  smaller 
grists  to  the  publisher's  mill.  Well  considered 
and  condensed  articles  are  always  acceptable  in 
however  humble  a  dress  they  may  appear.  They 
are  usually  the  best  for  those  who  do,  and  always 
the  least  in  the  way  of  those  who  do  no<,  need  the 
information  they  convey. 

Here  are  some  subscribers  behind  the  editorial 
chair — shall  I  speak  with  them  a  moment  ? 

The  publishers  of  this  excellent  journal  have 
undertaken  to  run  an  express  weekly,  or  monthly, 
to  every  New  England  farmer's  door.  They  dis- 
tribute all  sorts  of  farming  articles,  theoretical, 
practical  and  mixed.  With  the  aid  and  care  of 
the  editor,  they  have  done  excellently  well  in 
every  respect.  But  farmers  and  gardeners,  much 
as  they  are  doing  now,  will  do  still  more,  if 
you  say  the  word,  and  with  mutual  benefit.  They 
might  take  a  seasonable  article  from  each  of  you 


226 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Ma^ 


occasionally,  and  distribute  to  every  other  sub- 
scriber— every  other  will  give  thanks  and  for- 
ward parcels  by  aid  of  the  same  express  to  you. 
Fair  exchange  is  no  robbery — it  is  mutual  effort 
for  mutual  good.  To  obtain  all  the  information 
you  can  from  others  and  bottle  up  your  own  is 
downright  plunder.  Be  neighborly  and  just,  suc- 
cessful farmers,  and  share  your  knowledge  all 
round.  If  you  won't,  pray  don't  ever  again  laugh 
in  your  sleeves,  or  anywhere  else,  when  you  see 
another  suffering  great  loss  in  a  farming  opera- 
tion for  want  of  information  which  you  possess. 
And  don't  complain  of  youngmen  for  leaving  the 
farm  for  any  Eldorado  that  appears  to  offer  a 
golden  gleam,  until  you  take  as  much  pains  to 
learn  them  farming  as  you  do  to  teach  a  two-year 
old  steer  to  haw  and  gee. 

May  it  please  you  to  give  us  some  crumbs.  I 
speak  for  young  farmers,  and  ignorant  ones,  but 
the  wisest  may  learn  something  of  each  other. 

We  don't  ask  you  to  write  elaborate  essays. 
Few  would  stop  to  read  them  in  the  busy  season, 
and  if  once  laid  away,  would  perhaps  never.  Al- 
though they  might  be  good  as  a  minister's  ser- 
mon all  the  way  down  to  "eleventhly,"  if  too  long 
they  would  be  of  little  general  value.  Work- 
ing farmers  don't  often  hunt  through  a  bushel 
of  superfluous  words  for  the  disjointed  members 
of  one  idea.  If  you  send  most  of  your  notes  in 
the  style  you  take  them  for  your  own  use,  there 
will  be  no  superabundance  of  words,  I  dare  say. 
Fine  writing  and  nicely  turned  phrases  are  not 
essential.  An  iron  bar  is  no  more  useful  for  be- 
ing eked  out  at  the  top  with  feathers,  nor  is  it 
necessary  to  knot  your  ox-chains  with  ribbons, 
unless  it  be  cattle-show  day.  Be  short,  clear, 
concise,  practical,  and  there  will  be  room  enough 
for  all.  N.  Page,  Jr. 

Danver sport,  March  26,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SOILING  OF  CATTLE. 

My  attention  has  recently  been  called  to  this 
suliject  by  a  publication  made  by  the  Senior 
Ciuincy,  and  the  impression  from  the  perusal  of 
nis  Essays  is  so  strong,  that  I  feel  constrained  to 
invite  the  attention  of  all  who  would  advance 
their  own  interests  and  that  of  their  neighbors  to 
what  he  says.  He  clearly  demonstrates,  that  in 
the  mode  of  proceeding  which  he  points  out,  as 
many  cattle  can  be  as  well  kept,  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  farming,  on  40  acres,  as  are  now  kept  on 
160  acres,  in  the  ordinary  modes  of  keeping,  by 
those  who  are  esteemed  good  farmers. 

What,  then,  is  the  result  of  such  management  ? 
The  young  man  who  intends  to  be  a  farmer,  starts 
at  the  age  of  21,  with  his  40  acres  of  land  costing 
him  $4000.  He  appropriates  one-half  of  it  to  the 
feed  of  his  stock,  and  the  other  half  to  the  grow- 
ing of  hay  and  other  purposes  of  the  farm.  He 
will  find  himself  able  to  maintain  20  head  of  cat- 
tle, through  the  year,  on  a  farm  thus  managed. 
He  will  find  the  net  income  of  a  stock  thus  man- 
aged not  less  than  $1000  per  year.  Will  not 
farming  thus  conducted  pay  ?  This  is  not  mere 
fancy  speculation.  Mr.  Q.  says  he  has  tried  it 
for  many  years  successively,  and  knows  what  he 
says  is  true.  I  know  a  man,  who  forty  years  ago, 
purchased  a  lot  of  land ;  on  the  shore  of  the  sea. 


40  by  160  rods  ;  and  who  then  erected  buildings 
upon  it,  and  has  since  so  managed  it,  as  to  real- 
ize, at  least  a  net  income  of  $1000  a  year  from 
this  farm.  EssEX. 

March  25,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HAY  AND  HOOTS. 
Mr.  Editor  : — Can  you  enlighten  us  by  any 
fact  or  suggestion  bearing  upon  the  two  following 
questions  : 

1.  If  you  had  first  quality  hay,  (i.  e.,  the  very 
best  which  our  farmers  get  in,)  would  you  use 
any  roots  with  it  in  vs-intering  your  stock  ? 

2.  If  you  should  use  roots,  M'hat  would  the^ 
be  worth  per  bushel  to  you — that  is,  if  the  mar- 
ket value  of  turnips  was  two  shillings  per  bush- 
el, and  the  value  of  other  roots  corresponding; 
which  would  you  do,  carry  your  roots  to  market, 
or  feed  them  with  Jirst  qiialiti/ hay  ? 

Can  you  oblige  us  by  answering  the  above 
practical  questions  ;  also,  giving  us  your  reasons. 

We  have  a  "'Farmers'  Club,"  which  meets  every 
Monday  evening,  at  different  farm  houses,  and 
there,  in  a  very  social  manner,  we  discuss  the 
different  points  arising  under  the  subject  an- 
nounced the  evening  previous.  We  make  no  set 
speeches,  but  we  pass  the  point  round,  demand- 
ing, in  every  case,  an  opinion,  if  not  a  reason. 
In  this  way  we  draw  out  facts,  from  which  prin- 
ciples are  deduced,  and  thus  an  actual  progress 
insured.  The  plan  succeeds  admirably.  Of  course 
we  have  a  constitution,  officers,  and  other  essen- 
tials to  an  organized  body.  The  admission  fees, 
together  with  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the 
members,  provided  us  with  a  little  li!)rary.  But 
what  I  would  especially  call  your  attention  to,  is 
the  informal,  social  features  of  the  club  meetings. 
Queries  are  raised,  experience  brought  out,  facta 
established  and  principles  evolved  in  this  way, 
which  otherwise  would  never,  or  very  seldom,  ap- 
pear. 

The  above  questions  arose  under  the  subject 
of  "Winter  Management  of  Stock,"  and  we 
should  be  much  gratified  to  have  an  expression 
from  you.  Warren  Johnson. 

Topsham,  Me.,  Feb.,  1859. 


Remarks. — If  common  flat  turnips  would  net 
us  thirty-three  cents  a  bushel,  and  other  roots 
bring  a  corresponding  price,  we  would  take  them 
to  market,  and  for  this  reason  :  On  suitable 
land  we  ought  to  expect  600  bushels  of  turnips 
per  acre,  and  at  33  cents  a  bushel  we  should  get 
$198  income  from  an  acre  of  land.  Such  an  in- 
come could  scarcely  be  expected  from  any  of  our 
ordinary  crops,  and  it  would  be  better  to  secure 
that  sum  for  the  turnips,  and  expend  it  for  some 
kind  of  grain,  if  we  M'ished  to  feed  something  be- 
sides hay. 

Your  plan  of  a  Farmers'  Club  is  the  true  one. 
We  have  been  attending  one  similarly  constitu- 
ted for  nine  years  ;  but  we  make  "set  speeches," 
that  is,  four  leaders  are  appointed  on  each  ques- 
tion, and  they  have  precedence,  speaking  in  or- 
der, and  without  interruption. 


1859. 


NEW   ENGLAND  FARMER. 


227 


TENTH  LEGISLATIVE  AQBICULTURAL 

MEETING. 

[Reported  bt  John  C.  Moore,  fob  the  N.  E.  Farmer.) 

The  tenth  of  the  series  of  Legislative  Agricul- 
tural Meetings  was  held  in  the  Hall  of  Repre- 
sentatives, on  Monday  evening  last.  The  atten- 
dance was  moderate.  The  subject  for  discussion 
was,  "The  culture  and  cure  of  the  hay  crop." 

Hon.  John  W.  Proctor,  of  Danvers,  occu- 
pied the  chair  ;  and  in  introducing  the  discus- 
sion, said  in  substance,  that  although  he  could 
not  go  into  the  statistics  of  the  value  of  hay,  as 
compared  with  other  crops,  it  was,  nevertheless, 
one  of  the  most  important  crops  grown  in  the 
State.  He  would  speak  from  his  own  practice  ; 
and  what  he  would  say  relative  to  the  manage- 
ment of  hay  should  pi'oceed  from  that  source, 
and  would  apply  to  all  kinds  of  hay.  In  olden 
times  the  hay  seed  was  generally  sown  with  the 
oats  or  wheat  in  the  spring  ;  but  latterly,  it  was 
customary  to  plow  and  sow  the  seed  in  August, 
and  the  practice  would  become  more  common  as 
its  benefits  were  realized.  This  method  pro- 
duced from  one  and  a  half  to  two  tons  per  acre. 
One  friend  who  mowed  seventy-five  aci'es  had  an 
average  of  one  and  a  half  tons  per  acre.  Some 
of  the  farmers  on  Marblehead  shore  have  brought 
over  100  tons  per  annum  to  the  Boston  market. 
The  annual  produce  of  the  old  Alley  farm  was 
two  tons  per  acre.  This  was  produced  by  the 
use  of  sea-weed  as  a  top  dressing,  after  the  sum- 
mer crop  was  removed. 

Mowing. — The  method  of  cutting  hay  with  the 
scythe  was  fast  dying  out,  and  machine  labor  be- 
ing introduced.  Several  machines — among  them 
Allen's,  Ketchum's,  Manny's  and  Russell's, — 
were  approved,  although  none  of  them  were  per- 
fect. The  best  were  Allen's  and  Ketchum's.  By 
the  use  of  the  former,  in  July  and  August,  one 
gentleman  cut  300  acres,  producing  500  tons,  at 
the  rate  of  50  minutes  per  acre.  In  some  in- 
stances he  cut  an  acre  in  30  minutes.  Mr.  P.  saw 
an  acre  cut  in  40  minutes,  and  a  skilful  man,  with 
a  pair  of  horses  of  1000  lbs.  weight  each,  would 
cut  at  least,  10  or  12  acres  a  day.  This  being 
the  case,  the  importance  of  encouraging  the  im- 
provement of  these  machines  was  obvious.  The 
Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture  had  awarded 
$1000,  which  had  been  given  to  the  Eagle  or 
Heath  Mower  made  by  Mr.  Nourse,  of  this  city, 
and  which  machine  was  worthy  the  award.  On 
level  land  it  worked  well,  but  was  not,  probably, 
fitted  for  uneven,  rocky  land.  Allen's  machine 
was  better  adapted  to  uneven  surfaces;  and 
mowed  an  acre  of  that  in  an  hour.  But  proba- 
bly machines  were  not  properly  adapted  to  hay 
cutting  in  such  land — although,  if  they  could  be, 
the  advantage  would  be  very  great  indeed. 

Making. — After  being  cut,  the  hay,  instead  of 


being  manipulated  by  hand  power,  stirring  is 
now  advantageously  done  by  a  hay-tedder,  oper- 
ated by  horse-power,  one  of  which  was  shown  by 
Dr.  Loring,  of  Salem,  at  the  last  Essex  County 
Exhibition,  and  several  others  have  been  tried 
in  other  parts  of  the  State.  But  still  the  princi- 
ple of  this  machine  was  defective,  and  much 
room  for  improvement  existed.  With  the  rake, 
properly  used,  by  horse-power,  we  had  s.ll  the 
machinery  of  working  hay  in  as  perfect  order  as 
the  power  of  modern  invention  could  make  them, 
and  by  its  use  one-half  of  what  has  heretofore 
been  the  labor  of  haymaking  can  be  saved. 
Some  people  turn  up  their  noses  at  the  mention 
of  machines  for  making  hay,  contenting  them- 
selves with  their  old-fashioned  implements. 
Such  persons,  if  they  wanted  a  shirt,  would  not 
surely  carry  out  their  theory  in  that  respect,  and 
refuse  to  buy  and  wear  one  which  was  not  spun 
and  woven  in  the  old-fashioned  way.  There 
would  be  about  as  much  consistency  in  the  one 
objection  as  in  the  other  ;  for  it  is  well  known 
that  500  yards  of  cloth  can  as  easily  be  made  in 
an  hour,  by  machinery,  as  five  yards  could  be  by 
the  old  family  processes.  Leaving  the  matter  of 
sowing,  managing  'and  curing  hay  to  other  gen- 
tlemen, the  president  took  his  seat. 

Mr.  B.  V.  French  was  called  on  to  speak,  and 
directed  the  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  were 
too  many  fresh- water  meadows  in  the  State, 
which  were  unhealthy  in  summer,  and  unproduc- 
tive of  healthy  food  for  cattle.  Draining  of  such 
swamps,  and  their  proper  management  thereaf- 
ter, would  result  in  great  comparative  profit — 
were  it  simply  on  account  of  the  killing  of  the 
tough  aquatic  grasses.  Mr.  F.  quoted  the  opin- 
ion of  Prof.  James  W.  F.  Johnston,  of  Edin- 
burgh, that,  of  all  our  crops,  the  hay  ci'op  was 
the  worst  treated  with  us.  The  preparation  of 
our  lands  was  not  calculated  to  produce  well,  and 
little  attention  was  given  to  manuring,  so  that  no 
crop  of  value  could  be  produced.  At  considera- 
ble length,  and  with  great  minuteness  of  detail, 
Mr.  French  went  into  a  disquisition  on  the 
modes  by  which  these  evils  could  be  corrected, 
and  the  quantity  and  quality  of  grass  and  hay 
would  be  greatly  improved.  Pastures,  in  partic- 
ular, were  not  so  good  as  they  ought  to  be,  and 
this  was  a  subject  for  improvement  which  should 
not  be  lost  sight  of.  The  proper  selection  of 
grasses  was  also  a  subject  of  importance.  Sweet 
vernal  grass  was  recommended  as  being  one  of 
the  best  for  butter-producing  purposes. 

Mr.  JosiAH  QuiNCY,  Jr.,  wished  to  know 
from  the  experience  of  gentlemen  what  is  the  best 
method  of  top-dressing  grass  lands  ?  His  plan 
was  to  keep  cattle  during  winter,  mix  their  ma- 
nure with  swamp  muck,  and  dress  and  plow  the 
land  in  autumn,  as  had  been  recommended  by 


228 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


the  president.  Experiments  in  this  way  had 
been  favorable  with  him.  Having  plenty  of  ma- 
nure, how  could  it  be  best  applied  to  grass  lands  ? 
Could  it  be  profitably  done  without  breaking  up, 
and  by  means  of  top-dressing  ?  Breaking  up  had 
been  deprecated  by  Hon.  Simon  Brown,  and  oth- 
ers, in  the  Patent  Office  Report  ;  and  what  Mr. 
Q.  wanted,  was^  to  know  what  he  should  do  with 
his  manure  so  as  to  make  his  grass  lands  yield 
two  tons  of  hay,  per  acre,  and  keep  the  yield 
permanent. 

Mr.  Sanford  Howard  corroborated  the  ex- 
perience of  Mr.  Quincy  with  regard  to  the  cul- 
ture of  his  grass  lands,  and  their  produce,  and 
also  some  observation  made  by  him  concerning 
tiie  cultivation  of  hay  lands  by  top-dressing  in 
England  and  Scotland. 

Gen.  Sutton,  of  Salem,  stated  that  he  culti- 
vated his  hay  lands  in  September,  manuring  them 
well,  and  sowing  them  with  herds-grass  and  clo- 
ver. He  let  them  lay  five  years  without  lifting, 
and  always  top-dressed  in  the  fall. 

Mr.  Lawton,  of  Great  Barrington,  had  a  dif- 
ferent sort  of  land  to  deal  with  than  the  sea- 
coast  farmers,  and  had  to  experiment  differently, 
and  with  more  limited  means  than  they  had ;  but 
the  general  management  was  not  materially  dif- 
ferent. He  had  cultivated  land  for  hay  for  30 
years  without  breaking  up,  and  had  realized  as 
much  as  two  tons  per  acre.  He  did  not  approve 
of  overgrown  crops  of  hay,  as  it  wanted  consis- 
tency, and  did  not  go  so  far  with  cattle  as  an  or- 
dinarily good  crop.  When  he  prepared  land  for 
hay,  he  drained,  plowed  deep,  harrowed  well,  used 
ashes  and  compost  and  planted  corn,  plowed 
again  in  the  fall  and  manured  with  compost  and 
sowed  down  with  red-top,  timothy  and  clover. 
As  to  the  time  of  cutting  grass, — if  it  was  cut 
before  it  became  woody,  it  would  make  excellent 
hay  ;  but  if  it  was  allowed  to  stand  too  long,  two- 
thirds  of  its  nourishment  would  be  lost.  This 
was  a  most  important  consideration  ;  and  taking 
into  the  value  of  the  hay  crop,  was  a  particular 
that  should  not  be  slightly  glanced  at.  Mr. 
Lawton  approved  of  a  light  irrigation  in  the 
spring  as  being  of  much  benefit  to  grass  in  its 
earlier  stage.  If  more  care  were  paid  to  our  hay, 
we  would  not  want  so  much  of  it,  and  what  would 
be  of  as  much  consequence,  our  cattle  could  rely 
on  the  nutritious  value  of  what  they  did  eat. 
Mr.  L.  top-dressed  his  meadows  every  second 
year,  and  disapproved  of  growing  green  crops  on 
lands  to  be  plowed  in  as  manure,  as  he  never  had 
any  success  from  it — and  especially  from  the  use 
of  buckwheat  in  this  manner,  which  produced  an 
acidity  in  the  soil  that  was  not  favorable  to  the 
healthy  growth  of  grasses. 

In   reply   to   Mr.  W.  J.  Buckminster,  Mr 
Lawton  stated  that  he  underdrained  soft  meadow 


land,  and  also  wet  upland,  with  great  profit.  He 
had  raised  wheat  on  such  lands  after  draining, 
when  it  never  could  be  raised  previously. 

Mr.  Leander  Wetherell  spoke  to  the  ques- 
tion raised  by  ]Mr.  Quincy,  and  mentioned  lands 
in  the  State  which  had  yielded  two  crops  every 
year,  after  top-dressing  every  second  year — or 
three  tons  to  the  season  ;  but  the  owner  did  no* 
feed  his  land  with  cattle.  This  experience  seeme(' 
opposed  to  the  theory  of  breaking  up  grass  lands 
— or  what  was  called  vatural  moioing — land  that 
had  never  been  turned  up  by  the  plow  within 
man's  memory.  The  fall  is  generally  the  better 
time  for  top-dressing — if  the  ground  is  not  lia- 
ble to  be  washed  ;  if  it  is  so,  the  better  plan 
would  be  to  manure  in  spring.  A  rule  in  the 
middle  of  the  State  was  to  manure  these  natural 
grass  fields  as  soon  as  the  crops  were  taken  oflF. 
Clover,  red-top  and  herds-grass  were  the  best 
kinds  to  be  used  for  seeding  land.  Mr.  W.  had 
no  great  opinion  of  the  value  of  the  new  kind 
of  grasses,  at  present  recommended  as  forage 
grasses ;  and  was  surprised  at  the  small  quanti- 
ties of  forage  grown  per  acre  in  the  common- 
wealth. The  average  was  short  of  one  ton  to 
an  acre.  Nantucket  gave  nearly  an  average  of 
two  tons.  Farmers  could  not,  surely,  afford  to 
use  their  lands  for  so  little ;  and  would  they  so 
determine,  the  best  way  would  be  to  go  into  im- 
provement without  delay,  and  raise  four  tons  per 
acre,  as  had  been  done  in  one  instance  on  record. 

The  President  said  that,  near  Ipswich,  and 
in  that  locality,  generally,  which  was  famous  for 
growing  hay,  it  was  customary,  after  the  crop  had 
been  taken  off,  to  run  an  iron-tooth  harrow  over 
it,  put  in  seed,  bush  harrow  it;  and  in  this  way 
there  was  much  renovation.  Mr.  Proctor  did 
not  approve  of  allowing  cattle  to  feed  on  lands 
intended  for  hay,  as  they  poached  it  in  wet  weath- 
er.    Mr.  Wetherell  agreed  in  this  opinion. 

Mr.  W.  J.  BrCKMlxsTER  took  a  general  re- 
view of  the  discussion,  pointing  out  such  features 
in  it  as  harmonized  with  each  other,  and  were 
certified  scientifically.  He  concluded  by  eulogiz- 
ing the  policy  of  using  labor-saving  machines  in 
agricultural  operations,  which  latter  subject  was 
discussed  by  several  othe^  gentlemen  up  to  the 
time  that  the  meeting  broke  up. 

Mr.  Quincy,  and  other  gentlemen,  approved  of 
the  use  of  hay-caps,  and  stated  that,  in  catching 
weather,  they  would  pay  for  themselves  in  one 
year. 

The  question  for  next  week  will  be,  "T/te  best 
mode  of  improving  the  present  system  of  New 
Enpcland  farming ;"  and  it  is  expected  that  Hon. 
Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  will  preside. 


Treatment  of  Ringbone. — "Will  you  or  anv 
of  your  subscribers,  tell  me  the  best  and  salcst 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


229 


way  to  cure  a  ringbone,  and  not  leave  a  scar  or 
blemish  on  the  foot?" 

We  have  never  known  a  case  of  confirmed  or 
decided  ringbone  cured  by  any  process.  A  scar 
should  never  be  made  in  treating  it.  Cutting  and 
burning  should  never  be  allowed — they  are  both 
cruel  and  useless. 

The  best  medicine  for  man  or  beast,  to  pre- 
serve health,  is  exercise ;  the  best  to  restore  it, 
is  rest.  This  latter  is  the  king  of  medicines,  and 
■we  could  enumerate  some  of  its  surprising  cures. 
For  incipient  ringbone,  this  is  emphatically  the 
remedy.  Dr.  Dadd  recommends  in  addition,  an 
application  of  acetate  of  cantharides,  as  being 
milder  and  better  than  common  blistering. 
When  the  part  becomes  hot,  apply  cold  water 
bandages. — Country  Gentleman. 


For  the  Neio  England  Farmer. 
VEGETABLE  PHYSIOLOGY. 

Mr.  Editor  : — An  inquiry  from  Wm.  R.  Put- 
nam, of  Danvers,  led  you,  in  your  issue  of  Feb. 
26th,  into  some  detailed  remarks  on  the  physi- 
ology of  the  growth  of  trees.  From  these  laws 
of  vegetation,  corroborated  also  by  large  person- 
al experience,  you  draw  the  conclusion  that  the 
only  fitting  season  for  pruning  is  the  months  of 
June  and  July.  I  intend  to  take  issue  with  you 
in  certain  respects,  on  this  point,  although  I 
may  agree  with  you  in  regard  to  it,  in  others. 
Before  going  further,  however,  permit  me  to  ask, 
■whether  your  statement,  under  the  head  of  res- 
piration in  plants,  is  correct,  namely,  that  the 
leaves  absorb  oxygen  and  evolve  carbonic  acid 
gas.  It  is  contrary  to  what  I  have  been  taught, 
and  to  the  statement  in  the  next  paragraph, 
"that  oxygen  is  evolved,  and  carbon  solidified." 
Lindley  says,  "When  a  plant  is  exposed  to  the 
direct  influence  of  the  sun,  it  gives  off  oxygen, 
by  decomposing  the  carbonic  acid  ;  whereupon 
the  carbon  remains  behind  in  a  solid  state." 

In  regard  to  pruning,  I  have  always  consid- 
ered that  the  appropriate  season  should  be  de- 
termined by  the  ends  which  the  pruner  has  in 
vievw  These  are  twofold  ;  1st,  improved  shape, 
increased  vigor  ;  2d,  production  of  fruit. 

In  pruning  for  shape  or  vigor,  the  most  suita- 
ble time,  in  my  opinion,  is  after  the  fall  of  the 
leaves,  no  matter  how  late.  My  reason  for  prun- 
ing at  this  season  is  as  follows :  during  the  sea- 
son of  rest,  as  long  as  the  ground  remains  not 
frozen,  a  plant  continues  to  absorb  food  from  the 
soil  by  its  roots.  The  sap  thus  garnered,  is  not, 
however,  distributed  though  the  branches  until 
the  -warmth  of  spring  brings  about  a  renewal  of 
the  circulation.  Consequently,  if  branches  are 
removed  in  early  winter,  all  the  sap  which  has 
accumulated  in  the  roots  during  the  interval  will 
be  distributed  among  the  remaining  branches, 
now  fewer  in  number,  imparting  to  them  addi- 
tional and  freshened  vigor.  If  pruning  should 
be  deferred  until  late  in  the  spring,  so  late  that 
the  accumulated  sap  is  already  distributed,  then 
each  branch  and  each  snoot  that  is  removed  car- 
ries with  it  just  so  much  sap,  and  consequently 
the  loss  of  so  much  vigor. 

The  question  now  arises  at  what  time  this 
■winter  pruning  should  terminate ;  at  what  sea- 
son the  flow  of  sap  is  so  far  advanced  as  to  de- 


prive the  tree  by  the  loss  of  wood,  of  the  store 
which  it  has  been  accumulating.  What  do  writ- 
ers teach  on  this  point?  Lindley  says;  "As 
pruning,  however,  is  not  always  intended  to  in- 
crease the  vigor  of  a  tree,  late  or  spring  pruning, 
if  not  deferred  until  the  sap  is  in  rapid  motion, 
may  be  more  judicious."  "The  season  for  prun- 
ing is  mid-winter  or  mid-summer;  the  former,  for 
thinning  and  arranging;  the  latter,  for  removing 
new  superfluous  wood."  "By  late  pruning,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  accumulated  sap  is 
thrown  away."  My  own  work  in  this  particular 
is  always  ended  by  the  first  week  in  December. 

The  following  passage  is  from  D'Albret: 

"In  taking  branches  from  a  tree  when  stripped 
of  its  foliage,  during  winter,  January,  February, 
and  March,  when  the  sap  is  in  repose,  concen- 
trated in  the  roots  and  woody  parts,  none  of  it  is 
lost;  it  all  goes  to  the  benefit  of  the  tree  where- 
in it  has  retreated." 

I  quote  again  from  Du  Breuil:  "The  suitable 
period  for  pruning  is  during  the  repose  of  vege- 
tation, from  November  to  March  ;  but,  betsveen 
these  two  limits,  the  most  favorable  time  is  that 
which  follows  severe  frosts,  and  precedes  the 
first  movements  of  vegetation,  about  the  month 
of  February."  Now,  as  spring,  in  France,  about 
Paris,  is  fully  a  month  earlier  than  with  us,  it 
follows  that  there  would  be  no  disadvantage  in 
pruning,  in  Massachusetts,  as  late  as  the  middle 
of  April. 

Once  more,  from  M.  Hardy  :  "In  the  climate 
of  Paris,  pruning  may  be  carried  on  all  winter, 
except  during  severe  frosts.  But  the  most  fa- 
vorable season  in  all  countries  of  which  the  cli- 
mate approximates  to  that  of  Paris,  is  February 
and  March,  after  the  severe  cold  weather  has 
passed.  As  the  apple  tree  is  one  of  the  most 
tardy  in  coming  into  leaf,  the  pruning  of  it  may 
be  deferred  still  later." 

The  writers  whom  I  have  just  quoted  are  the 
highest  authorities  in  France  and  England.  I 
would  not,  however,  be  understood  to  intimate 
ihat  authorities  and  theories  should  take  prece- 
dence of  experience  and  observation  ;  but  the 
Frenchmen  whom  I  have  quoted  unite  large 
practical  observation  with  a  high  degree  of  sci- 
entific knowledge. 

With  regard  to  my  own  experience  in  fall 
pruning,  I  will  merely  say,  without  entering  into 
any  details  of  my  system,  which  might  be  not 
only  interesting  but  useful,  that  during  the  last 
six  years  I  have  taken  the  entire  care  of  a  young 
orchard  of  two  hundred  trees.  All  the  pruning 
has  been  done  by  myself,  begun  after  the  fall  of 
the  leaf,  and  terminated  in  the  early  part  of  De- 
cember. I  cannot  recall  a  single  accident  of  any 
kind  which  I  can  refer  to  winter-pruning  ;  the 
wounds  have  always  healed  smoothly. 

I  shall  be  pleased  to  give  you  and  Mr.  Put- 
nam an  opportunity  to  criticise  winter-pruning. 
In  regard  to  pruning  for  fruit,  I  may  have  a  few 
words  to  say  at  another  time. 

As  the  French  writers  whom  I  have  quoted 
may  not  be  known  to  your  readers  generally,  I 
will  say  that  D'Albret  was  head  gardener  for 
thirty-two  years,  in  the  department  of  fruit  trees, 
at  the  Garden  of  Plants  ;  Du  Breuil  is  profes- 
sor of  horticulture  in  Paris,  and  his  work  has  ob- 
tained prizes  from  the  Agricultural  Societies  of 
Paris,  Rouen  and  Versailles  ;  M.  Hardy  is  head- 


230 


NEAV  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


gardener  of  the   gardens   of  the    Luxembourg' 
Paris.  G.  H.  Lodge. 

Swampscot,  March  3,  1859. 


Remarks. — We  are  glad  to  find  attention 
drawn  to  this  important  subject,  and  thank  Dr. 
Lodge  for  the  interest  he  manifests  in  it.  We 
did  not  intend  to  say,  nor,  upon  reference  to  our 
article,  do  we  find  that  we  did  say,  that  midsum- 
mer is  the  only  time  to  perform  that  work.  We 
say  this — that  in  our  judgment,  midsummer 
pruning  is  best,  but  we  have  often  said  in  these 
columns,  that  if  not  done  then,  any  time  after 
the  fall  of  the  leaves,  and  while  the  tree  is  in  a 
state  of  rest,  or,  at  least  comparatively  so,  prun- 
ing may  be  safely  performed.  But  this  state  of 
rest  is  much  shorter  than  most  persons  are 
aware  of.  Elms,  maples,  and  other  trees,  whose 
twigs  were  as  smooth  as  pipe  stems,  showing  no 
swelling  of  the  buds  whatever,  on  the  first  of  Jan- 
uary last,  had  their  tops  so  thickened  up  by  the 
\5th  of  February,  as  entirely  to  change  their  ap- 
pearance !  We  have  called  the  attention  of 
many  persons  to  this  fact  during  the  winter 
Our  opinions  seem  to  be  at  variance  with  that  of 
the  Doctor,  not  so  much  in  regard  to  the  proper 
time  for  pruning,  as  to  what  time  the  tree  is  in  a 
state  of  repose.  We  are  writing  now  on  the  Sth 
day  of  March,  and  any  person  who  visits  the 
Common  may  see  trees  whose  buds  are  already 
so  swollen  as  to  essentially  darken  the  heads  of 
the  trees.  These  buds  were  so  minute  on  the 
1st  of  January  as  not  to  be  perceptible  ;  they 
have  grown  since,  and  consequently  the  tree, 
during  warm  days,  has  been  in  a  state  of  activi- 
ty. That  activity  will  continue  until  about  the 
middle  of  June,  when  the  elaborated  sap  has 
mostly  returned  to  form  wood,  fruit,  and  perfect 
seeds. 


with  her  toes  in  a  warm,  feather  bed.  If  her 
toes  lap  over  and  under  a  roost,  her  feathers  can- 
not reach  them,  and  her  toes  will  certainly  be 
frozen,  and  in  repeated  freezing  she  becomes 
sick  and  finally  dies,  before  she  has  time  to  lose 
her  flesh.  Make  your  roost  five  inches  in  diam- 
eter ;  the  hen  sits  on  the  highest  point  and  warms 
her  own  feet.  E. 

Biddeford,  Me.,  Feb.  14,  1859. 


POWEKS  INSTITUTE. 


Ji'or  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LAME  HENS  THAT  DIE. 

"M.  O.  H."  informs  you  he  has  lost  fifteen  or 
twenty  hens  since  last  fall.  A  few  years  since  I 
had  occasion  to  fix  over  my  hen-house,  just  as 
winter  -was  coming  in.  I  had  some  nice  poles, 
one  and  one-half  inches  in  diameter,  unseasoned 
from  the  woods,  and  being  very  straight,  I  thought 
they  would  make  good  roosts  for  my  hens,  and 
accordingly  I  put  up  sufficient  for  them  all  with 
these  poles.  In  the  winter,  I  found  some  of  my 
hens  limping,  and  some  died;  they  were  fat,  but 
their  toes  indicated  that  they  had  been  frozen. 
I  had  seldom  ever  seen  a  hen  on  the  cold  ground 
with  both  feet,  as  one  is  usually  up  among  the 
feathers  for  a  short  time,  and  then  the  other  has 
its  turn  ;  but  I  have  never  noticed  a  hen  with 
one  foot  on  the  roost  and  the  other  among  the 
feathers.  It  then  occurred  to  me  that  I  had 
made  them  a  bad  roost. 

The  hen  needs  a  roost  of  sufficient  size  so  that 
the  toes  and  foot  can  be  protected  from  the  cold 
by  her  own  feathers  ;  in  this  condition  she  sleeps 


On  Thursday  evening,  the  17th  of  March,  we 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  officers  of  this 
Institute,  the  officers  of  Instruction  and  Govern- 
ment, the  pupils  and  many  of  the  citizens  of  the 
beautiful  town  of  Bernardston,  at  the  recitation 
rooms  and  Hall  of  the  Institute.  L.  F.  Ward, 
A.  M.,  is  the  Principal ;  Mrs.  E.  H.  Ward,  Pre- 
ceptress, and  teacher  of  the  Ornamental  Depart- 
ment ;  Miss  S.  L.  Leacii,  Preceptress  ;  Servik 
SciINELL,  native  of  Germany,  teacher  of  German 
and  Librarian  ;  C.  F.  SCHUSTER,  teacher  of  Mu- 
sic ;  J.  B.  Cantel,  native  of  France,  teacher  of 
French ;  Charles  G.  Allen,  teacher  of  Pen- 
manship ;  Edward  B.  Phillips,  teacher  of  Vocal 
Music,  and  William  Dwigiit,  M.  D.,  lecturer 
on  Physiology. 

This  Institute  had  its  origin  in  the  munificence 
of  Edward  Epps  Powers,  late  of  Columbus, 
Georgia.  To  his  native  town,  Bernardston,  he 
devised  ten  thousand  dollars,  the  income  of  which 
is  to  be  used  for  purposes  of  education  in  said 
town.  To  this  bequest,  the  citizens  have  added 
liberal  sums,  so  that  they  have  constructed  a  fine 
building  containing  commodious  rooms  for  reci- 
tation, library,  philosophical  apparatus,  &c.,  and 
a  large  and  beautiful  Hall  for  declamation  and 
lectures. 

But  what  is  more  attractive  to  us  than  any  of 
these,  and  gives  this  pioneer  institution  its  crown- 
ing merit,  is  its  agricultural  feature.  Before  en- 
tering the  Hall,  we  were  invited  into  one  of  the 
recitation  rooms,  where  Professor  Ward  intro- 
duced us  to  his  class  in  agriculture.  This  class 
numbered  seventy,  about  one-third  being  young 
women,  and  both  sexes  being  of  the  ages  of  sev- 
enteen to  twenty-two.  A  more  gratifying  spec- 
tacle than  this  we  have  rarely  witnessed.  Ques- 
tions were  put  to  them  in  relation  to  chemistry, 
plants  and  soils,  which  were  answered  promptly, 
intelligently,  and  with  a  most  lively  interest. 
While  they  understood  the  purport  of  the  words 
they  were  uttering,  they  seemed  to  feel  the  im- 
portance to  the  world,  of  the  noble  Art  whose 
mysteries  they  were  exploring.  From  such  a 
germ  as  this,  what  grand  results  may  flow ! 
What  investigations,  what  intellectual  labor  and 
profits  may  result  from  this  beginning  !  The  es- 
tablishing of  such  a  class  as  this  in  so  popular  an 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


231 


institution,  cannot  fail  to  produce  the  most  happy 
influences  upon  our  rural  population.  It  has  our 
hearty  sympathy,  and  warm  wishes  for  success. 

The  pleasure  of  addressing  this  class,  the  oth- 
er pupils  of  the  institution,  and  the  citizens  gen- 
erally, was  reserved  for  us  for  the  evening — this 
being  the  first  lecture  of  a  series,  several  of  which 
are  to  be  upon  agricultural  topics. 

Our  stay  in  town  was  made  agreeable  by  kind 
attentions  from  all  with  whom  we  came  in  con- 
tact, and  especially  by  the  cheerful  hospitalities 
of  Gov.  CusHMAN  and  lady,  whose  guest  we  were 
during  our  brief,  but  highly  interesting  visit. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  SEASONS. 

How  beautiful  is  Spring  !  Every  one  hails  it 
with  joy,  as  it  conies  decked  with  lovely  flowers, 
and  with  green  robes  for  all  the  vegetable  world. 
All  Nature,  animate  and  inanimate,  is  subject  to 
its  influence.  Birds  return  from  Southern  climes 
to  enliven  the  scene  with  their  cheerful  melody. 
The  various  animal  tribes  express  their  delight, 
each  in  its  own  peculiar  manner.  Man.  too,  par- 
takes of  this  universal  joyousness.  The  young 
are  jubilant,  the  eld  are  electrified, and  in  a  meas- 
ure rejuvenated,  and  a  grand  chorus  of  admira- 
tion ascends  from  every  valley  and  every  hill-top. 
This  is  the  season  of  promise. 

Summer  succeeds.  The  seed  has  been  com- 
mitted to  the  earth,  the  tender  blade  is  shooting 
forth,  and  careful  culture  and  training  are  needed 
to  insure  a  crop.  Anxiety  oft  takes  possession 
of  the  mind,  producing  a  salutary  efi'ect  by  induc- 
ing a  greater  degree  of  watchfulness.  Occurren- 
ces beyond  our  control  may  sometimes  blight  our 
prospects,  yet  upon  our  own  exertions,  mainly, 
depends  a  renumerating  harvest.  A  little  neglect 
is  often  highly  detrimental.  This  is  the  season 
of  HOPE. 

Autumn  follows,  when  the  promise  of  Spring, 
and  the  hopes  of  Summer,  are  to  be  realized.  If 
we  have  sown  in  good  soil,  and  have  cultivated 
the  tender  plants  with  proper  care,  imploring,  the 
while,  with  grateful  and  prayerful  hearts,  the 
blessing  of  benignant  Heaven,  we  shall  now  re- 
ceive an  abundant  harvest.  This  is  the  season  of 
FRUITION. 

Winter,  the  season  for  contemplation,  soon 
arrives,  with  its  icy  blasts  and  howling  storms, 
but  he  who  has  acted  well  his  part  in  the  preced- 
ing seasons,  will  be  prepared  for  this.  Plenty 
has  crowned  his  labors  ;  his  garners  are  full,  and 
he  may  sit  quietly  and  comfortably  by  his  own 
fireside,  undisturbed  by  wind  or  storm,  and  un- 
scathed by  the  pinching  hand  of  want.  He  re- 
flects upon  the  past,  anticipates  the  future,  culti- 
vates his  intellect,  and,  with  the  eye  of  one  who 
has  done  his  duty, 

'•Looks  through  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God." 

In  contemplating  the  vicissitudes   of  the  sea- 
sons, he  can  exclaim  with  the  poet  of  Nature, 
"These  as  they  change,  Almighty  Father,  these 
Are  tiut  the  varied  God.     The  rolling  year 
Is  full  of  Thee." 


Bloomfield,  C.  W. 


L.  Varney. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
APPLE  OBCHAE.DS. 

"When  doctors  disagree,  who  shall  decide  ?" 

Mr.  Putnam,  of  Danvers,  tells  us  through  the 
Farmer,  that  he,  and  his  neighbors,  have  prac- 
ticed pruning  their  apple  trees  in  the  spring,  for 
the  last  fifty  years,  and  as  yet  have  discovered  no 
injurious  effects  by  so  doing.  But  t)ie  editor 
comes  out  with  a  good,  sound,  philosophical  ar- 
gument, to  prove  that  the  spring  is,  of  all  sea- 
sons in  the  year,  ihe  worst  time  to  prune  appie 
trees.  I  believe  the  editor  is  right,  because  ne 
gives  his  reasons,  backed  up  by  long  experience, 
and  that  experience  tried  by  both  rules  is  worth 
more  than  a  whole  volume  of  theories.  This  is 
the  kind  of  evidence  I  like,  proved  by  practical 
experience.  Theories  are  good  enough,  when 
proved  and  made  to  be  facts.  It  is  posj.ible  that 
trees  in  a  good  soil,  may  be  practiced  upon  in 
the  manner  friend  Putnam  has  done,  and  not  on- 
ly "still  live,"  but  give  signs  of  good  treatment, 
jet  that  does  not  prove  that  trees  thrive  best, 
under  such  treatment.  People  are  strongly  at- 
tached to  old  customs,  and  are  ready  to  follow 
them,  without  thinking  whether  they  are  right  or 
wrong.  I  once  thought,  like  many  others,  that 
the  spring  was  the  proper  time  to  prune  apple 
trees. 

But  a  few  years  ago,  a  man  came  along  with 
the  N.  E.  Farmer,  and  told  me  that  if  I  wished 
to  take  one  of  the  best  agricultural  papers  in  the 
country,  to  just  put  my  name  on  his  book,  and  my 
wishes  would  be  gratified.  The  man  looked  hon- 
est, and  I  took  his  word  for  it,  and  put  my  name 
down.  I  have  since  learned  by  reading  the  Far- 
mer that  the  man  told  the  truth.  The  Farmer 
told  me  to  leave  off  that  unnatural  practice  of 
bleeding  my  trees  in  the  spring.  I  took  the  ad- 
vice, and  that  has  paid  me  for  the  paper  ever 
since.  But  that  is  only  a  small  part  of  what  I 
have  learned  by  reading  the  Farmer.  If  I  find 
some  articles  published  in  it,  written  by  corres- 
pondents, that  do  not  seem  practical  or  true,  I 
think  them  of  some  value,  because  they  call  at- 
tention and  thought  upon  the  subject,  and  by 
that  means  facts  are  ascertained. 

A  man  stated  some  months  ago  that  he  raised 
an  enormous  crop  of  wheat,  by  planting  it  in 
hills.  The  story  was  incredible,  it  seemed  an  im- 
possibility. But,  if  it  was  one-half  true,  it  was 
valuable  information.  Because,  if  it  is  discovered 
that  a  better  yield  of  wheat  can  be  produced  by 
planting  in  hills  or  drills,  it  is  an  important  fact. 
As  we  are  now  upon  the  wheat  subject,  allow  me 
a  few  words  upon  this  head.  Why  is  not  wheat 
more  generally  raised  in  New  England  ?  Is  it 
not  a  profitable  crop?  Some  say  it  is,  others  say 
it  is  not.  Here  they  disagree  again.  But  there 
is  Mr.  A.,  who  raises  a  good  crop  of  wheat  every 
year,  enough  for  himself,  and  some  to  spare. 
But,  there  is  Mr.  B.,  right  by  his  side,  who  says 
he  can't  do  any  thing  with  it ;  it  will  rust  and 
mildew,  and  is  a  very  uncertain  crop,  it  don't 
pay.  Now  where  is  the  trouble  ?  I  rather  guess 
Mr.  B.  don't  take  the  Farmer.  (By  the  way,  I 
wish  the  Farmer  would  say  much  more  upon 
wheat-growing.)  Wheat  is  one  of  the  staple  ar- 
ticles of  food  in  our  country,  and  its  cultivation 
should  be  well  looked  after.  It  is  successfully 
raised  in  most  all  parts  of  New  England,  and  es- 


232 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


tablishes  the  fact  that  it  can  be  done.  We  ought  I 
not  to  be  wholly  dependent  upon  the  West,  aridi 
the  mercy  of  speculators,  for  our  flour.  \Vhat  is 
needed,  is  a  proper  knowledge  upon  the  cultiva- 
tion of  wheat;  it  is  evident  that  the  soil  has  be- 
come exhausted  of  the  elements  which  are  requi- 
site to  produce  it.  Undoubtedly,  there  are  fertil- 
izers within  the  reach  of  every  farmer,  if  known, 
which  could  be  applied  to  the  soil  and  supply  the 
deficiency.  And  I  believe,  that  with  a  proper 
care,  in  selecting  and  changing  the  seed,  and  sow- 
ing it  in  drills,  at  the  proper  time,  wheat  may 
not  only  be  made  to  pay,  but  be  a  profitable 
crop  to  the  farmers  in  New  England,  and  their 
eyes  be  gladdened  with  the  sight  of  a  golden 
harvest  of  wheat  every  year.  Who  can  enlighten 
the  farmers  on  this  subject?  Ye  wise  ones,  let 
your  light  shine  through  the  N.  E.  Farmer,  that 
it  may  "run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be 
increased."  A.  Philbrook. 

East  Saugus,  March  16,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  kind  words  of  our  correspon- 
dent are  encouraging.  He  confirms  what  we  feel 
assured  are  facts  with  regard  to  pruning.  There 
are  few  orchards  twenty-five  years  of  age  which 
have  been  spring-pruned,  that  do  not  bear  evi- 
dences of  injury  from  such  pruning  ;  and  we  have 
no  doubt,  whatever,  but  we  can  find  them  in  Mr. 
Putnam's.  Friend  Putnam  may  expect  us  to 
make  him  a  call  some  pleasant  morning,  when 
we  will  compare  notes. 


away.  I  do  not  hold  the  calf,  the  box  holds  him  ; 
he  cannot  waste  the  milk ;  yet  it  may  take  three 
or  four  days,  at  intervals,  to  teach  him  to  drink. 
1  should  have  stated  that  the  box  or  calf  stall  has 
a  door,  or  movable  board,  in  the  rear,  so  as  to 
et  the  calf  in  and  out  easily. 

I.  B.  Hart  WELL. 
Wilkinsonville,  Mass.,  March  21, 1859. 


I^or  the  New  England  Farmer. 

KICKING  COWS  AND  STUBBOKN 
CALVES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  perceive  that  your  readers  are 
having  some  experience  with  kicking  cows,  on 
which  subject  I  have  a  word  to  offer.  I  have  a 
beautiful  four  years-old  cow,  and  a  good  milker  ; 
kind  and  gentle  when  her  teats  are  not  sore,  and 
her  treatment  is  exactly  in  accordance  with  her 
notions  of  right ;  but  otherwise  a  very  expert  and 
furious  kicker.  With  one  fore  foot  strapped  up, 
she  will  kick  with  the  hind  leg  of  the  same  side, 
so  as  to  knock  a  pail  out  of  my  hands,  or  strike 
me  above  the  knee.  With  a  rope  and  twister 
around  her,  she  will  distort  the  symmetry  of  a 
milk  pail,  instanter. 

But  I  can  milk  her  with  perfect  safety  to  my- 
self and  pail,  by  putting  her  in  the  stable  with  a 
common  chain  tie,  then  lashing  her  body,  just 
back  of  her  fore  legs,  firmly  to  a  strong,  short 
partition,  not  extending  far  enough  back  to  be  in 
the  way  of  milking  ;  and  lastly  by  attaching  a 
strap  to  the  hind  leg,  on  the  milking  side,  draw- 
ing the  leg  back  out  of  harm's  way,  and  so  as  to 
give  a  liberal  exposure  of  the  udder,  and  a  wide 
berth  to  the  pail,  and  making  fast  said  strap  near 
the  floor  in  the  rear.  All  which  appliances  can 
be  adjusted  in  two  minutes. 

To  teach  a  calf  to  drink  milk,  I  construct  a 
stall,  or  box,  for  him,  so  narrow  and  short  that  he 
can  neither  turn  round,  lie  down,  or  move  for- 
ward or  back,  with  his  head  over  a  large  wooden 
bowl  made  stationary  at  the  proper  position  for 
drinking.     Then  with  my  hands  and  fingers  work 


EXTKACTS  AND  HEPLIES. 
BLACK  SPANISH   FOWLS. 

Have  you  eggs  to  sell  from  pure  black  Span- 
ish fowls?  I  also  wish  to  get  some  Bolton  Grey 
fowls.     Can  you  tell  me  where  to  procure  them  ? 

Dover,  N.  II.,  1859.  B.  o.  o. 

Remarks. — We  have  often  given  ourselves 
considerable  trouble  to  answer  questions  similar 
to  the  above,  by  going  to  the  places  where  fowls 
and  eggs  are  sold,  when  the  dealers  ought  to 
make  known  their  trade  by  advertising.  But  as 
they  prefer  not  to  help  themselves,  we  have  con- 
cluded not  to  help  them  any  longer.  There  are 
plenty  of  the  fowls  and  eggs  which  you  inquire 
for  in  this  city.  

PROLIFIC   PUMPKIN   SEED, 

Samuel  Hurd,  Esq.,  of  Leicester,  exhibited 
at  the  horticultural  exhibition  in  this  city,  last 
fall,  19  sweet  pumpkins  weighing  110  pounds, 
which,  with  two  that  were  not  ripened,  grew 
upon  a  vine  measuring  with  its  branches,  190 
feet  in  length — and  the  whole  is  the  product  of 
07ie  seed, 

I  purchased  the  above  pumpkins  of  Mr.  Hurd, 
an>d  have  used  them  through  the  winter,  eating 
the  last  of  them,  last  week.  They  were  of  the 
most  delicious  flavor.  I  have  saved  the  seeds, 
and  they  number  10,341  good  seeds.         E.  H. 

Worcester,  March  12,  1859. 

OATS   TURNED   TO   RYE. 

I  saw  in  a  late  Farmer  an  account  of  oats  turn- 
ing to  rye,  as  being  a  late  discovery.  Seventy- 
four  years  ago,  my  father  moved  into  Randolph, 
Vt.,  and  two  other  families  at  or  about  the  same 
time.  One  man  of  the  number  sowed  half  an 
acre  of  oats  too  late  ;  he  let  his  oxen  feed  on  the 
oats  as  long  as  they  sprouted  up  through  the 
season,  and  the  next  spring  they  grew  up,  and 
the  latter  part  of  the  season  he  harvested  a  crop 
of  good  winter  rve.  Leander  Turner. 

East  Bethel,  Me.,  1859. 

CURE   FOR  POTATO   ROT. 

Mr.  Robert  French,  of  East  Haverhill,  N. 
H.,  states  that  the  potato  grown  from  seed  that 
has  been  soaked  one  hour  in  blue  vitriol  water 
will  not  rot.  His  recipe  is  "one-fourth  of  a  pound 
of  blue  vitriol  dissolved  in  three  parts  of  water  ; 
cut  the  potatoes  and  soak  them  in  the  solu- 
tion one  hour,  and  then  plant  them.  They  will 
germinate  readily,  and  their  vines  will  not  blast, 
nor  their  tubers  rot."     Try  it  in  a  small  way. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


233 


TIME   TO   COLLECT   AND    SOW   THE   SEED  OF   THE 
WHITE   PINE. 

In  answer  to  the  inquiry  of  your  "North 
Brookfield  Subscriber,"  I  would  say  that  white 
pine  seed  is  ripe  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  or 
the  first  part  of  September.  It  should  be  col- 
lected just  before  the  cones  begin  to  open,  the 
cones  being  laid  away  in  some  dry  chamber  un- 
til the  seed  can  be  thrashed  out,  when  it  should 
be  sowed  as  soon  as  convenient,  this  being  the 
time  when  they  are  naturally  sown.  It  is  a  very 
good  practice  to  sow  on  land  after  having  sown 
winter  rye  without  any  covering  ;  or,  if  sown  on 
old  worn-out  land,  it  would  be  well  to  harrow  the 
ground  previous  to  sowing.  There  has  been  no 
seed  grown  in  this  vicinity  for  several  years. 

relham,  N.  H.,  1859.  B.  F.  Cutter. 

WARTS    ON   A   calf's   NECK. 

I  have  a  yearling  calf  that  has  got  warts  on 
its  neck  about  as  large  as  a  quart  measure ;  they 
have  been  growing  all  winter,  and  now  have  a 
very  offensive  odor.  I  wish  to  inquire  through 
your  paper,  what  will  prove  a  remedy. 

What  is  the  best  thing  I  can  do  for  lice  on  my 
young  stock  ?  LUTHER. 

Mil  ford,  March  7,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  cannot  tell  you  what  will  cure 
the  warts.  A  little  mercurial  ointment  rubbed 
upon  the  cattle  with  a  tooth  brush  will  kill  the 
lice.  

CIDER   VINEGAR — AN   INJURED   COLT. 

Can  you  tell  roe  of  the  surest  and  most  expe- 
ditious method  of  making  good  cider  vinegar  ? 

Will  you  refer  me  to  some  treatise  on  road- 
making  ? 

I  have  a  colt  in  perfect  health,  which  has  a 
swelling  on  his  breast,  caused,  some  say,  by  feed- 
ing from  too  high  a  crib.  If  this  is  not  the  cause, 
please  state  what  is,  if  you  know,  and  the  rem- 
edy. A.  B.  c. 

Remarks. — Loudon  gives  a  chapter  or  two  on 
road-making,  in  his  "Encyclopedia  of  Agricul- 
ture." The  other  questions  we  cannot  answer 
satisfactorily.  

A   BIG   CALF — CORN   FODDER. 

I  had  a  calf  dropped  March  14th,  that  weighed 
1274  lbs.,  and  the  cow  had  been  kept  all  winter 
on  corn  fodder  and  meadow  hay.  I  have  win- 
tered twenty  head  of  cattle  this  winter  on  corn 
fodder  and  meadow  hay,  and  they  are  coming  out 
well  this  spring. 

Some  of  your  correspondents  boast  of  keep- 
ing stock  on  corn  fodder  and  turnips,  as  a  proof 
of  the  goodness  of  turnips.  I  consider  corn  fod- 
der a  good  feed.  In  fact,  I  have  always  noticed 
that  my  cows  failed  in  their  milk  when  my  corn 
fodder  is  out.  The  fodder  from  an  acre  of  good 
corn  is  worth  as  much  as  the  average  of  English 
hay  on  the  same  quantity  of  land. 

I  have  fed  my  corn  fodder  without  either  cut- 
ting, steaming  or  mealing,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  what  it  would  have  been  better  had  all  of 
them  been  done.  Ed.  Emerson. 

TJoUis,  N.  11. ,  March  19,  1859. 


SPLIT   BARK   ON   APPLE   TREES. 

Can  you  inform  me  what  I  can  do  to  save  my 
apple  trees  ?  The  bark  on  many  of  them  is  split 
from  the  ground  to  the  limbs,  and  is  loosened 
from  the  wood,  half  or  more  of  it  on  the  trunk. 
About  one-sixth  of  my  orchard  of  ninety  trees  is 
affected  in  this  way.  s.  D.  M. 

Mansfield,  Mass.,  March,  1859. 

Remarks. — Will  some  one  informed  on  the 
subject  enlighten  us  on  this  question  ? 

FEEDING   FODDER   TO   STOCK. 

In  reply  to  a  communication  in  the  Farmer  of 
March  19,  by  a  "Subscriber"  in  Woodstock,  Vt., 
in  relation  to  keeping  farm  stock,  I  think  if  he 
will  cut  his  hay  for  cattle  and  horses,  mix  his 
corn  and  oat  meal  with  it,  and  feed  judiciously, 
it  will  not  cost  more  than  two-thirds  the  amount 
to  keep  them  that  it  will  to  feed  hay  and  grain 
whole. 

For  sheep,  and  especially  ewes  with  lamb,  I 
should  feed  potatoes,  (after  they  become  accus- 
tomed to  them,)  at  the  rate  of  one  bushel  to  a 
hundred  sheep  per  day,  chopped  fine,  and  a  small 
quantity  of  corn  or  oat  meal  well  mixed  with 
them.  With  me  it  has  proved  a  saving  of  hay, 
and  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  sheep. 

South  Strafford,  Vt.  A  Farmer. 

CALIFORNIA   POTATOES. 

From  half  a  bushel  of  seed,  cut  small,  and 
three  pieces  put  in  a  hill,  I  harvested  thirty., 
three  bushels  of  potatoes.  They  were  planted  in^ 
ordinary  ground,  3  ft.  4  in.  apart,  and  2  ft.  8  in.. 
between  the  hills.  The  manure  was  plowed  in.; 
when  hoed,  they  were  dressed  with  leached  and, 
unleached  ashes  and  plaster.        O.  Thomson. 

Jericho  Centre,  Vt.    

A   FINE   NATIVE   BULL. 

I  have  a  native  bull  two  years  old,  of  fine  form, 
light  red  color,  not  fat,  only  just  decent  store 
order  ;  he  weighed  to-day  1 ;}()(»  lbs.  He  had  the 
benefit  of  a  farrow  cow  through  the  summer  of 
1857.  Since  then  he  has  had  nothing  but  gi-ass 
and  hay  to  eat ;  he  is  gentle  to  handle,  and  not 
unruly.  Lewis  Ward. 

Naugatuck,  Ct.,  March  18,  1859. 

WARTS   on    PLUM   TREES. 

Has  there  been  any  effectual  remedy  discov- 
ered for  preventing  warts  or  hard  protuberances 
from  growing  on  plum  trees  ?     If  so,  what  is  it  ? 

A.  R.  s. 

Remarks. — We  know  of  none  from  actual  ex 
perience.  Mr.  W.  A.  Simonds  advertises  a  wash 
which  he  says  is  a  remedy. 

MUCK  COMPOST. 
"().  N.  M.,"  Warner,  N.  IL,  will  find  many  ar- 
ticles in  the  recent  numbers  of  the  monthly  Far- 
mer on  the  subject  of  his  inquiries ;  also,  a  pa- 
per in  the  Patent  Office  Report  for  1856.  The 
name  of  the  person  he  inquires  for  may  be  seen 
at  the  Yipp.d  of  our  i'>fl]ier. 


234 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOxi.SE  FOOT  AND   HOBSE-SHOSING. 

It  has  been  my  lot  to  have  two  horses  spoilt 
by  bad  shoeing.  On  that  account  I  was  induced 
to  study  the  formation  and  nature  of  a  horse's 
foot.  This  portion  of  the  horse,  because  it  out- 
wardly seems  to  be  one  solid  block,  thicker  than 
a  driver's  skull,  and  made,  therefore,  to  be  bat- 
tered, without  mercy,  on  roads,  paved,  &c.,  con- 
tains a  mechanism  inside  that  is  no  less  exquisite 
than  those  mainsprings  of  grace  which  are  en- 
closed in  the  fine  gold  watch. 

The  horny  case  is  lined  with  plates  that  are  at 
once  elastic  and  devoid  of  sensation ;  thus  concus- 
sion is  broken  and  blows  are  not  felt.  By  this  ad- 
mirable combination  of  solidity  and  elasticity,  the 
given  and  most  difficult  mechanical  jjroblem,  to 
wit,  the  moving  of  a  heavy  body  with  great  ve- 
locity, is  solved.  The  outside  is  called  the ''crust," 
in  England,  and  in  France,  the ''wall."  The  front 
part  of  the  hoof  is  thickest  where  the  first  and 
heaviest  shocks  are  met,  and  thinnest  at  the  heel, 
where  expansion,  not  resistance,  is  required.  The 
ground  surface  of  the  foot  is  composed  of  a  sen- 
sitive sole,  which  is  endued  with  a  power  of  de- 
scent and  ascent  according  to  the  pressure  on  it 
from  above,  and  of  the  frog,  a  spongy,  but  less 
finely  organized  substance,  which  swells  at  the 
back  part,  bulby  an-l  well-defined  in  the  unshod 
colt.  The  whole  use  of  the  frog  is  an  open  ques- 
tion ;  but  every  one  accords  to  it  the  most  im- 
portant functions. 

It  is  useless  for  me  to  go  into  the  minute  part 
of  the  foot,  but  I  will  say  that  whenever  there 
is  inflammation  in  the  foot,  however  small,  the 
horse  will  rest  it,  to  shift  the  seat  of  pain.  At 
first  the  disease  does  not  show  itself  much,  but 
it  is  gradual.  The  spur  of  the  horseman  may 
cause  the  horse  to  bear  much  pain,  without  flinch- 
ing, but  endurance  has  its  limits.  You  will  find 
that  he  steps  more  carefully,  nor  does  he  put  his 
foot  ahead,  and  there  is  also  a  lowering  of  the 
head  and  neck  to  remove  the  weight  from  his 
feet.  Nature  has  formed  the  foot  in  the  right 
shape  to  be  shod ;  it  does  not  need  much  trim- 
ming. In  pulling  off"  an  old  shoe,  care  must  be 
taken  not  to  wrench  the  foot  nor  to  injure  the 
external  crust  of  the  hoof.  Care  must  be  taken 
not  to  pare  the  ground  surface  too  thin ;  rasp  off 
the  rough  particles  adhering  to  the  crust,  but  do 
not  pare  the  frog,  as,  if  it  is  bared  of  its  slight 
covering,  it  is  apt  to  dry  up  and  crack.  The 
rough  edges  of  it  should  never  be  removed.  It 
should  be  left  to  nature,  for  the  frog  throws  off 
its  worn-out  teguments,  like  a  tree  casting  off  its 
dead  limbs  The  hoof,  in  i;s  natural  shape,  should 
guide  the  smith  in  the  selection  of  the  form  of 
the  shoe.  The  shoes  should  be  of  equal  thick- 
ness throughout,  with  a  flat  ground  surface;  shoes 
with  high  heels  are  dangerously  absurd  ;  the  toe, 
which  ought  to  be  raised,  is  lowered,  and  nature's 
plan  reversed,  which  elevates  the  point  in  order  to 
avoid  obstructions.  The  web  should  be  wide,  and 
of  the  same  width  throughout ;  if  drawn  in  at 
the  heel,  it  exposes  the  naricular  joint,  and  if  that 
be  inflamed,  at  once  you  have  a  lame  horse.  In 
putting  on  the  shoe,  it  should  rest  only  on  the 
horny  run  of  the  foot ;  it  must  not  press  on  the 
sole,  thereby  arresting  the  springy  operations,  or 
encumber  the  heels,  where  the  crust  is  thinnest  and 


the  power  of  expansion  the  greatest.  Five  small 
nails  for  the  fore  foot  and  six  for  the  hind  are 
sufficient ;  large  nails  make  too  big  holes  in  the 
crust.  They  should  be  driven  into  the  outer  quar- 
ter, where  the  crust  is  the  thickest;  not  forced 
in  too  high,  but  the  points  brought  out  as  soon 
as  possible,  clenched  down  broadly,  and  then  not 
too  neatly  rasped  away,  which  weaken  their  hold. 
The  heel  and  inside  quarter  to  be  left  free.  When 
a  shoe  is  properly  forged,  there  is  no  danger  of 
applying  it  hot  to  the  crust,  for  the  purpose  of 
removing  the  irregularity  of  the  hoof.       s.  r. 


For  the  New  En<;land  Farmer. 

HUNGARIAN"  QRASS-.COWS  STABLED 
NIGHTS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Having  read  in  your  Taluable 
paper  something  concerning  Hungarian  grass,  I 
thought  I  would  tell  my  experience.  Last  sea- 
son I  procured  four  quarts  of  the  seed,  (paying 
$1,00,)  and  sowed  it  the  2d  of  July,  expecting  it 
to  come  on  as  buckwheat  or  the  like,  but  to  my 
regret,  it  proved  to  be  three  weeks  longer  ma- 
turing. A  frost  the  29th  of  September  cut  it  as 
low  as  it  would  melon  vines,  and  I  am  left  minus 
any  seed.  It  is  a  query  in  my  mind  whether  it 
can  be  raised  and  made  as  profitable  as  it  is  said 
to  be,  by  those  that  have  the  seed  to  sell.  That 
cattle  and  sheep  would  eat  the  straw  when  it  was 
raised  from  hay,  better  than  they  do  oat  straw,  I 
have  no  doubt.  But  when  for  the  seed,  it  must 
be  sown  so  thin  that  it  may  fill  well,  that  it  would 
be  coarse  and  hard,  rendering  it  unpalatable  to 
them.  After  seeing  what  I  saw  of  it,  I  should 
recommend  to  all  who  intend  to  sow  some,  to 
buy  sparingly,  and  sow  early,  and  on  good  ground, 
noting  all  its  qualities  and  see  if  humbug  is  not 
in  the  ascendency. 

Will  someone  inform  me  through  the  Farmer 
whether  a  dairy  of  thirty  cows  can  be  kept  in 
stables  nights  through  the  summer  months,  and 
do  as  well  as  they  would  in  a  pasture  of  eight 
acres  ?  I  have  good  stables  and  cellar  for  the 
droppings,  straw  for  litter,  and  hay  to  feed  them, 
if  they  will  eat  it.  I  want  to  milk  at  four  o'clock 
and  at  six.  E.  J.  BUTTOLPH. 

Essex,  Vt,  1859. 


Remarks. — We  have  no  doubt  but  cows  are 
kept  through  the  night,  in  well-ventilated  stables, 
as  comfortably  and  healthfully  as  in  a  pasture,  and 
even  more  favorably,  if  there  are  no  sheds  in  the 
pasture.  The  stable  should  be  clean  and  sweet, 
and  the  floor  well  littered. 


LOCKJAW  IN  HORSES. 

This  is  a  terrible  malady  to  which  horses  are 
sometimes  subject,  and  it  is  generally  fatal,  owing 
to  the  want  of  skill  on  the  part  of  veterinary 
physicians.  The  method  pursued  by  them  in  its 
treatment  has  been  blistering,  clystering,  &c., 
which  rather  aggravates  than  relieves  the  spasms 
that  usually  attend  it.  Death  generally  ensues 
by  this  practice,  and  the  disease  has  been  held  to 
be  incurable.  In  a  late  number  of  the  Edinburg 
Veierinarij  lievieiv,  a  new  system  of  managing 
lockjaw  is  described,  and  nearly  all  the  cases  in 


18,09. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


235 


which  it  has  been  applied  have  resulted  favora- 
bly. The  plan  consists  of  a  hot  water  packing, 
similar  to  that  pursued  in  the  '"water  cure"  for 
the  genus  homo.  As  soon  as  the  horse  is  observed 
to  be  affected  with  tetanus,  it  is  wrapped  from 
head  to  tail  in  four  or  five  pairs  of  blankets,  which 
have  been  wrung  out  of  warm  water  at  a  temper- 
ature of  two  hundred  degrees  Farenheit.  The 
animal  is  then  allowed  perfect  rest  and  quietness 
for  about  two  hours,  when  warm  water  of  the 
above  temperature  is  poured  along  its  back  out- 
side of  the  blankets,  and  another  like  period  of 
repose  is  allowed,  and  so  on  till  a  cure  is  eftected. 
A  thin  gruel  of  flour,  oat,  or  Indian  corn  meal  is 
given,  when  the  jaws  of  the  animal  are  capable 
of  being  opened.  As  horses  are  liable  to  take 
lockjaw  from  pricks  in  the  feet,  caused  by  care- 
less or  unskillful  blacksmiths  while  shoeing  them, 
this  simple  method  of  managing  the  disease  can 
be  applied  by  any  person,  and  is  svell  worthy  of 
trial. — Rural  New-Yorker. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  PINES  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Mr.  Editor  : — A  vacation  well  spent  gives 
rise  to  agreeable  memories  long  after  we  have 
returned  to  our  accustomed  duties  of  evei-y-day 
life.  A  visit  to  that  mysterious  and  historical 
region,  "The  Pines  of  New  Jersey,"  had  been 
contemplated  by  us  for  many  months ;  for  we 
had  heard  of  the  good  farming  prospects  which 
have  already  induced  many  sons  of  New  England 
to  settle  there  ;  and  wishing  to  investigate  the 
feasibility  of  settling  with  some  friends  where 
lands  are  cheaper  than  at  home,  we  left  this  city 
during  the  month  of  July  for  the  "Pines  of  New 
Jersey."  While  transferring  our  baggage  to  the 
Camden  and  Amboy  railroad  depot,  in  iN'ew  York, 
the  round  face  and  stout  form  of  Capt.  Bluff,  an 
old  acquaintance,  suddenly  confounded  us.  The 
huge  "flippers"  of  the  old  sea-dog  half-squeezed 
the  life  out  of  us,  as  he  cordially  grasped  our 
hand,  and  inquired,  "Where  are  you  bound  to?" 
And  after  learning  our  destination,  the  jolly  cap- 
tain made  us  follow  him  to  the  beautiful  schoon- 
er that  he  commanded,  which  was  to  sail  that 
very  afternoon  for  Tom's  river,  on  the  east  coast 
of  New  Jersey.  The  captain  would  not  take  any 
refusal  to  his  invitation  that  we  should  accom- 
pany him  in  the  Mermaid,  and  that  night,  with 
a  fine  breeze  on  her  quarter,  the  fleet  vessel  was 
leaving  Sandy  Hook  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  per 
hour. 

After  entering  Tom's  river,  we  bade  farewell 
to  the  captain,  and  engaged  a  collier  to  take  us 
through  the  Pines  to  the  open  country  beyond. 
We  are  now  abruptly  entering  on  new  ground — 
a  few  words  regarding  this  interesting  and  much- 
talked-of  region.  During  the  revolutionary  days 
th3  Pines  were  infested  by  the  tories,  who  often 
made  incursions  to  the  settled  country  in  this  vi- 
cinity, where  they  robbed  and  murdered  to  their 
hearts'  content.  The  rebels  often  followed  the 
retreating  scoundrels  into  the  fastnesses  of  the 
forests  where  fierce  battles  were  fought  with  the 
tories.  The  Pines  received  a  bad  name  because 
they  were  the  home  of  these  lawless  people,  and 
though  the  tory  has  long  since  gone  to  his  judg- 
ment, still  the  prejudice  against  this  region  has 


not  been  removed.  There  are  really  good  tracts 
of  land  all  through  the  Pines,  which  until  lately 
have  remained  valueless ;  and  even  now  a  farm 
may  be  bought  at  the  lowest  Western  land- 
holders' prices.  Not  the  heavy  soils  of  the  West 
are  to  be  found  here,  but  good  light  soils,  vary- 
ing from  four  to  twelve  inches  in  depth,  with  a 
fine  warm  subsoil  of  sand,  just  such  as  your 
Cambridge  market-gardener  would  select.  These 
soils  are  much  more  easily  worked,  and  are  ear- 
lier than  Western  lands. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  Gollier  called  for  my- 
self and  baggage,  and  soon  after  we  were  in  the 
midst  of   pine  forests.     An   hour  later  and  we 
had  emerged  upon  a  plain,  leaving  the   forests 
behind  us.    For  miles  in  all  directions  the  wood- 
man's axe  had  been  busy,  for  scarcely  a  tree  could 
be  seen — ail  the  wood  had  been  turned  into  char- 
coal   by    the     industrious     colliers.     By   eleven 
o'clock  w-  had  again  entered  the  forests  of  yel- 
low pine,  and  my  sooty  driver  informed  me  that 
we  were  on  the  Hanover  Furnace  Tract,  one  of 
the  largest  landed  estates  in  New  Jersey.  About 
this  time  we  observed  men  at  work  throvving  out 
a  fine  sort  of  white  clay — so  white,  indeed,  that 
one  might  mistake  it  for  chalk.     It  was  Kaolin, 
decomposed  feldspar.     The  owner   of  this  spot 
had  purchased   seventy-five  acres  of  sandy  land 
for  a  few  dollars  per  acre,  and  informed  us  that 
after   raising   the   Kaolin,  a  neighboring  glass 
i  manufacturer  had  offered  him   five  hundred  dol- 
ilars  for  two   acres.     The  finest  china  ware  has 
been  made  from  this   indestructible  clay,  and   a 
dentist  of  Trenton  has  made  teeth  out  of  it  for 
his   customers.     No    blast   from    the    chemist's 
jlarap  can  melt  this  clay.    Mr.  Niel,  the  owner  of 
the  farm  upon  which  it  was   discovered,  sends 
the  clay  to  New  York,  where  he  gets  twenty  dol- 
lars per  ton  for  it.     Another  hour's  ride  brought 
;  us  to  a  tract  of  hazel  loam  covered  with  oaks. 
("Where  are  we  now?"  I  asked  of  our  collier; 
;  "On  the  Hanover  Furnace  Tract,"  he  replied. 
In   we   drove,    and    coming   to     a   farm-house, 
I  stopped  to  rest  our  horses,  and  there  we  were 
I  again  told  that  we  were  still  on  the  great  Han'  - 
jver  Furnace  Tract.    We  drove  ten  miles  further, 
land  met  a  party  of  persons  who  were   surveyirj;^ 
ja  cedar  swamp.     We  asked  the  principal  of  ths 
I  party  upon  whose  tract  we  were  travelling,  and 
the  old  reply  came  back,  "The  Hanover  Furnace 
Tract."     Upon   further  inquiry  we  learned  that 
the  surveyors  lived  upon  the  tract,  and  were  em- 
ployed by  the  proprietors,  "year  in  and  year  out." 
Another  ride  of  four  miles  brought  us   to  the 
shores  of  a  beautiful  little  lake,  upon  the  banks 
of  which  some  thirty  houses  were  embowered  in 
the   shade  of  gigantic   willows    and  tall   pines. 
Here  lives,  in  retirement,  one  of  the  proprietors 
of  this  great  tract,  which  contains  over  seventy 
square  miles  ;  no  low-class  tavern  oftended  the 
eye,  but  all  was  quiet,  simple,  and  beautiful.  The 
sun  was  sinking  behind  a  heavy  pine  forest,  and 
his  softened  rays,  reflected  upon  the  little  lake, 
caused  it  to  look  like  burnished  gold.     The  pro- 
prietor, Mr.  Samuel  H.  Jones,  came  out  to  meet 
us,  and  at  once  extended  the  hospitable  honors 
for  which,  I  have   since  learned,  Hanover   Fur- 
nace is  celebrated.     We  passed  a  happy  evening 
at  the   mansion,  and  when  we    asked  Mr.  Jones 
why  h':-  did  not  ofler  his  lands  to  settlers  from 
the  North,  he  told  us  that  his  lands  were  oper 


236 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


for  examination,  but  he  would  not  sell  to  any  [ground  goes  as  far  as  one  hundred  pounds  in  the 
,)erson  unless  they  were  well  satisfied  that  they  kernel.  Corn  meal  should  not  be  ground  very 
could  do  better  here  than  elsewhere.  He  de-ifine,  it  injures  the  richness  of  it.  Turnips  of 
spised  all  methods  of  land  speculation,  and  he  small  size  have  double  the  nutritious  matter  that 
wished  to  have  only  temperate,  energetic  men  nfi  large  ones  have.  Rats  and  other  vermin  are  kept 
good  character  settled  around  him.  For  nearly  [away  from  grain  by  sprinkling  garlic  when  pack- 
one  hundred  years  this  great  tract  has  been  ing  the  sheaves.  Money  expended  in  drying 
owned  by  his  family.  It  was  purchased  in  the! lands  by  draining  or  otherwise,  will  be  returned 
days  when  land  was  valueless.  The  Jones's  title  i  with  ample  interest.  To  cure  scratches  on  hors- 
to  their  land  came  from  the  original  appointed  es,  wash  their  legs  with  warm  soapsuds,  and  then 
proprietors — almost  direct  from  the  crown.  Thus  with  beef  brine  ;  two  applications  will  cure  the 


they  can  sell  their  Ipnds  at  ten,  twelve,  and  fif- 
teen dollars  per  acre.  Large,  natural  cranberry 
meadows  are  scattered  over  the  tract.  One  man 
had  purchased  a  cranberry  meadow  containing 
one  hundred  acres  for  eight  or  nine  hundred 
dollars ;  the  first  year's  yield  was  two  hundred 
and   seventv  bushels,  bringing  him   some  seven 


worst  case. — Ohio  Farmer. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

CULTIVATION  OF  CELERV. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Some  time  last   season  I    no- 
ticed an  appeal  made  to  your  valuable  paper   for 


hundred  dollars.  At  Hanover  Furnace  there  are  information  respecting  the  cultivation  of  celery, 
saw-mills  and  a  grist-mill,  besides  the  Furnace ll  thought  I  would  give  you  my  method  of  culti- 
for  iron  castings.  Lumber — pine  sell  at  from  [vating  this  delicious  plant.  In  the  first  place,  I 
twelve  to  sixteen  dollars  per  thousand  feet,  ce-jgo  to  the  pasture  and  dig  a  quantity  of  turf  from 
dar  about  the  same.  Hanover  Furnace  is  thir-i  the  bushy  spots,  laurel  beds  if  there  be  any.  Then 
ty-five  miles  from  Philadelphia,  forty-five  from  collect  any  old  rubbish  that  will  burn,  and  with 
New  York.  From  the  latter  city  it  is  reached  this  I  burn  the  turf  until  it  will  pulverize.  This 
by  the  Camden  and  Amboy  railroad  to  Borden- [destroys  all  foul  seed,  the  eggs  or  larvit  of  in- 
town,  from  thence  to  New  Egypt  by  stage.  The  i  sects,  and  provides  a  mould  which  has  not  bten 
postoffice  is  at  Pointville.  I  send  you  this  sketch,  exhausted.     I  mix  this  with  fine  rotten   manure, 


hoping  that  it  may  benefit  some  of  our  New  Eng- 
land people.  Let  our  young  farmers  go  to  New 
Jersey,  where  no  fever  and  ague  prevails,  taking 
with  them  the  Nexo  England  Farmer,  and  they 
will  succeed  far  better  than  they  will  at  the  West. 
Boston,  March,  1859.  B. 


:SEW  ENGLISH  PEAR. 
F.   J.   Graham,  Esq.,  F.   R.   S.,  of  Cranford, 


two  parts  mould  to  one  of  manure.  After  making 
my  hot-bed  in  the  usual  manner,  I  put  on  five 
or  six  inches  of  the  mixture,  then  sow  the  seed, 
and  never  allow  the  plants  to  grow  nearer  than 
three  inches  of  each  other.  Thus  provided  with 
strong  healthy  plants,  I  trench  as  early  as  the 
season  will  permit,  eighteen  inches  deep,  clearing 
from  the  trench  all  soil  that  may  contain  foul  seed, 
and  fill  up  six  inches  with  the  mixture  of  burnt 
mould   and   manure.     In  this  I   set  the   plants, 


Middlesex,  brought  a  seedling  called   Graham's' hoeing  often,  and  watering  if  the  season  be  dry. 
Bergamot,  which  was  considered  the  most  deli-|^'^hen  the  plant  is  eight  or  ten  mches  high,  I  be 


cious  seedling  pear  that  had  ever  been  brought 
under  the  notice  of  the  Society  [British  Pomo- 
iogical.]  The  fruit  was  medium  size,  very  ob- 
tusely conical ;  an  average  fruit  measuring  two 
in(  hes  and  a  half  in  its  greatest  diameter,  longi- 
tudinally and  transversely;  stalk  short,  stout; 
color  dark  russety-green,  purplish  on  the  sunny 
side,  inclining  to  pale  cinnamon  as  it  ripens; 
tt'Xture  very  melting  and  juicy  ;  flavor  rich,  aro- 
matic and  very  sugary. 

Mr.  Graham  subsequently  sent  the  Secretary 
specimens  of  leaves  and  wood ;  the  former  are 
small,  not  exceeding  two  inches  and  a  half  in 
length,  nor  one  inch  in  breadth,  very  delicate  in 
substance,  and  much  serrated,  the  foot-stalks  be- 
ing nearly  as  long  as  the  leaf  itself,  and  very 
slender.  The  latter  is  very  pale  in  color,  slender 
but  firm  and  very  short-jointed.  Mr.  Graham 
states  it  to  be  very  hardy  and  free  from  canker, 
and  that  its  habit  of  growth  is  very  upright,  pro- 
ducing abundant  blossom  buds — the  tree  natu- 
rally forming  a  perfect  pyramid  or  cone. — Eng- 
lish Cottage  Gardener. 


Hints  to  Farmers. — Toads  are  the  best  pro- 
tection of  cabbage  against  lice.  Plants  when 
drooping  are  revived  by  a  few  grains  of  camphor. 
Sulphur  is  valuable  in  preserving  grapes,  &c., 
from  insects.  Lard  never  spoils  if  cooked  enough 
ii    frying  out.     In   feeding  corn    sixty  pounds 


gin  to  fill  moderately  with  the  burnt  mould  with- 
out the  manure,  preferring  to  give  the  plant  the 
benefit  of  the  light  and  air,  until  the  middle  of 
August,  then  fill  up  with  the  mould,  and  continue 
to  do  so  until  the  crop  is  matured. 

To  keep  for  winter,  dig  a  trench  at  least  three 
and  a  half  feet  deep,  in  a  light,  sandy  soil,  where 
there  is  no  danger  from  water  ;  in  this  put  the 
plants  with  the  top  down,  leaving  an  open  space 
below  this  to  be  covered,  but  not  so  deep  as  to 
keep  it  too  warm,  and  let  the  temperature  be  as 
low  as  possible,  and  not  be  in  danger  of  freezing. 
In  this  way  it  may  be  kept  in  fine  order  until 
spring.  Mechanic. 

Westhoro\  March,  1859. 


Tomatoes. — Now  is  the  time  to  start  the  to- 
matoes. The  women  can  do  it  in  the  house. — 
Take  any  old  box,  bucket  or  pan,  place  some 
coarse  horse  manure  on  the  bottom,  and  fill  with 
rich  loam.  Set  it  iii  the  sun  for  a  day  or  two, 
keeping  it  properly  moist,  until  the  whole  mass 
is  warm,  then  sow  your  seeds.  After  they  have 
come  up,  do  not  let  them  stand  crowded,  as  a  few 
vigorous  plants  are  better  than  many  weak  ones. 
See  that  they  are  always  kept  properly  moist, 
and  you  will  get  an  abundance  of  stout,  healthy 
plants. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


237 


For  the  New  Eiif^land  Farmer. 
POTATOES— SEEDING-.-'WHEAT,  &c. 

Mr.  Editor: — Is  it  not  a  fatal  error,  that  the 
farmer  is  a  little  too  economical  in  seeding  with 
small  potatoes,  instead  of  large  ones,  when  he  is 
so  unsparing  in  his  cash  outlays  for  all  other 
good  seed,  and  especially,  of  some  new  and  un- 
known variety  ?  Here,  on  Long  Lsland,  potato- 
growing  is  reduced  to  a  science.  We  have  many 
farmers  who  sell  from  two  to  seven  thousand 
dollars  value  a  season.  This  constitutes  the  prin- 
cipal crop  of  the  farm,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Swedish  turnips,  which  are  transplanted  after  the 
early  potato  crop  is  taken  otf.  They  plow  in 
horse  manure,  and  plow  deep  ;  select  their  larg- 
est potatoes  for  planting,  cut  off,  and  give  to  the 
pigs,  the  cluster  of  eyes,  called  the  seed  end,* 
(on  the  long  varieties,)  such  as  Jenny  Liud,  Che- 
nango, Long  Reds,  &c. ;  by  doing  this,  they  get 
no  small  potatoes,  and  as  many  pounds  as  if  the 
whole  were  planted.  They  say,  the  body  of  the 
potato  contains  the  large,  healthy  germs,  (which 
must  be  self-evident  to  all  farmers,)  and  ridicule 
the  idea  of  planting  "pig  potatoes''  to  realize 
from.  This  would  seem  to  be  a  common  sense 
view  of  the  matter.  They  plant  a  quarter  of  a 
large  potato  two  feet  apart,  and  want  only  three 
to  four  stocks  in  a  hill.  This  practice  of  planting 
and  cultivation  was  satisfactorily  proved  to  me, 
by  going  into  a  field  of  fifteen  acres,  where  sev- 
eral men  were  digging,  and  scarcely  a  pig  potato 
could  be  seen — but  on  the  contrary,  large,  mar- 
ketable potatoes,  which  required  no  sorting. 

Now,  that  nothing  may  be  lost,  and  a  fair  ex- 
periment may  be  tried,  I  would  suggest  that  these 
small  eyes  be  planted  in  separate  rows.  The  trial 
will  cost  nothing,  and  may  turn  out  to  be  a  val- 
uable discovery.  Last  year,  the  potato  discussion 
terminated  (as  I  thought,)  in  favor  of  large  seed 
for  planting.  Yet,  several  of  your  correspondents 
made  a  fair  showing  for  the  pigmy  family.  The 
last  few  years  of  my  own  farming  convinced  me, 
that  planting  small  potatoes  from  year  to  year, 
was  the  sure  dwarfing  principle.  The  bins  in 
my  cellar  bore  evidence  of  the  fact.  I  am  de- 
lighted to  learn,  that  your  farmers  in  various  sec- 
tions of  New  England  are  trying  the  wheat  crop. 
Take  your  warm  uplands  for  spring  sowing,  and 
your  strong  grass  sward  for  August  sowing,  and 
there  will  be  a  sure  necessity  of  increasing  your 
grist  mills  at  home.  Four  bushels  of  wheat  is 
•worth,  in  every  family,  a  barrel  of  floui- — worth 
remembering.  Our  spring  opens  in  earnest,  the 
green  grass  and  swelling  lilac  buds  even  to  leaf, 
would  seem  to  have  bidden  the  winter  good-by. 
Time  will  develop,  whether  "Winter's  back  is 
broken",  or  to  return  again  with  its  frosty  night- 
cap—we hope  not !  H.  Poor. 

Brooklyn,  L.  I.,  1859. 

*  Many  farmers  think  the  potato  will  not  produce,  without 
the  "seed  end." 


Hungarian  Grass.— We  continue  to  have  in- 
quiries in  relation  to  this  grass.  All  we  can  say 
of  it  is,  that  we  receive  contradictory  statements 
as  to  its  productiveness,  that  it  is  somewhat 
doubtful  whether  it  will  ripen  its  seed  in  all  parts 
of  New  England,  that  it  is  an  annual,  requiring 


to  be  sown  every  year,  and  that  our  friends  had 
better  purchase  the  seed  sparingly,  and  only  sow 
small  patches  of  land  for  experiment. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CARKOTS-.MANGOI.DS— ASHES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Though  our  farms  are  now  cov- 
ered with  snow  from  two  to  four  feet,  according 
to  location,  yet  we  expect  in  due  time  to  have  an 
opportunity  to  plow  our  land  and  put  in  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  seed,  and  I  thought  if  I  had  a  lit- 
tle more  information,  (which  1  have  no  doubt 
you  cua  give,)  I  shall  know  belter  what  propor- 
lion  of  diiierent  crops  to  try  to  raise.  In  the 
Farmer  of  January  8tli,  you  give  a  very  interest- 
ing tabli"  of  the  comparative  value  of  the  differ- 
ent kind.s  of  fodder,  but  you  said  not  a  word 
about  -'carrots,"  a  crop  that  I  have  entertained  a 
higher  esteem  for,  than  for  any  other  root  crop 
for  stock  that  I  have  ever  raised,  not  excepting 
the  potato.  Please  inform  your  readers  of  the 
relative  value  of  this  crop,  according  to  the  basis 
in  the  table  already  given. 

I  noticed  in  a  late  number  of  the  Farmer  an 
inquiry  if  ashes  exhausted  the  soil  ?  Although  I 
thought  your  reply  hit  v/ell  "the  merits  of  the 
case,"  1  will  just  relate  an  incident  in  regard  to 
that  subject  that  came  under  my  personal  obser- 
vation. 

In  the  summer  of  1849,  on  a  farm  in  Avon, 
Ct.,  the  proprietor  showed  me  a  place  in  his  field 
where  he  said  twenty  years  before,  he  hauled  out 
leached  ashes  after  making  soap,  and  spread  them 
on,  like  manure.  At  the  time  I  speak  of,  there 
was  a  well  defined  edge  to  the  part  where  the 
ashes  were  applied,  the  land  producing  perhaps 
double  the  grass  that  grew  all  around  it.  The 
soil  was  a  dryish,  sandy  loam,  and  had  long  been 
under  cultivation.  A.  M.  Brainerd. 

Alexandria,  N.  H.,  March  10,  1859. 


Remarics. — You  are  not  mistaken,  we  think, 
in  your  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  carrot,  but 
we  have  no  table  at  hand  to  show  you  its  relative 
value  with  other  fodder. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TOP-STALKING  OP  CORIST. 

Having  noticed  some  discussion  lately  in  the 
N.  E.  Farmer  respecting  the  utility  of  cutting 
corn  stalks,  I  thought  that  the  following  state- 
ment of  Mr.  Solon  Carter,  of  Leominster,  to 
the  Worcester  North  Agricultural  Society,  pub- 
lished in  the  Abstract  of  Returns  of  the  Agricul- 
tural Society  of  Massachusetts,  1856,  (pp.  246, 
247,  note,)  might  perhaps  be  both  new  and  use- 
ful to  the  readers  of  the  Farmer.  I  am  inclined 
to  think,  that  in  many  cases,  old  practices,  upon 
sufficient  examination,  will  be  found  to  have 
much  of  reason  in  them.  Even  pruning  fruit 
trees  in  spring  ;  for  why  should  a  wound  made 
by  removing  a  limb  and  covering  the  same  with 
grafting-wax  or  other  protection,  not  heal  well 
and  soundly,  at  the  same  season  that  a  graft 
most  readily  unites  with  the  stock?  But  for  Mr. 
Carter's  statement. 

"Each  of  the  three  lots  contained  four  rows, 


238 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


of  twenty-four  hills  each  ;  in  all  ninety-six  hills,  has  ever  been  my  lot  to  witness  in  this  county; 
Lot  No.  1,  was  cut  at  the  ground  and  stooked  so  many  boys,  farmers'  sons,  too,  all  of  them  to 
Sept,  24.  Lot  No.  2,  had  the  top  stalks  cut  in  |  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  stealing  and 
the  usual  way,  at  the  same  date.  Lot  No.  3,  was  j  burglary.  Farmers  of  Chatauque  county,  when 
left  standing  whole  until  October  29,  when  each  your  boys  get  large  enough  to  work,  find  work 
of  the  lots  was  harvested  and  husked.     The  ears  for  them  at  home  ;  on  no  account  let  them  go 


Top  stalks 

Left 

cut 

standing 

Sept.  24. 

whole. 

155^  lbs 

154  lbs. 

131     '• 

V2b    " 

18     " 

171'- 

149     " 

142i  " 

61" 

1U-' 

were  then  spread  about  six  inches  deep,  and  re- 
mained until  Dec.  20.  At  this  date  the  whole 
was  shelled,  and  the  result  is  as  follows  : 

Lot  No.  1.      Lot  No.  2.      Lot  No.  3. 

Cut  up  whole 
/  anil  iiooked 

Sept.  24. 
Oct  2.  harvested,  weight,    143  lbs. 
Dec.  20,  shelled,  corn  we'd,  111  '■ 
Cobs  weighed,  16  " 

Total,  127  •' 

Shrinkage,  16  " 

Per  cent,  of  shrinkage,  13  4  8 

"It  appears,  by  this  experiment,  that  the  corn 
hich  was  stooked  weighed  least  at  harvest  and 
shrunk  most  before  shelling,  while  that  which 
had  the  top  stalks  cut,  weighed  most  at  harvest- 
ing, and  shrunk  least  before  shelling. — Secretary 
of  the  Society ." 

Perhaps  it  may  be  proper  to  say  that  all  the 
lots,  in  other  rtspects,  were  cultivated  alike. 

Boston,  February  22,  1859.  D. 

Remarks. — There  is  a  great  difference  be- 
tween cutting  off  a  limb  near  its  termination, 
where  it  is  small,  and  where  but  comparatively 
little  sap  is  flowing — being  scattered  into  all  the 
branches  and  twigs  in  its  neighborhood — and 
cutting  it  off  close  to  the  body  of  the  tree.  If 
you  were  to  cut  oft"  the  first  joint  of  a  finger,  the 
danger  of  bleeding  to  death  would  not  be  so 
great  as  it  would  if  the  leg  were  cut  off  at  the 
thigh  !  A  skilful  operator  leaves  what  are  called 
leaders,  when  grafting,  to  take  up  the  flowing 
sap  and  divert  it  from  the  limb  that  is  cut  off. 
These  leaders  are  vigorous  limbs  that  spring 
from  a  larger  one  just  back  of  the  one  that  is  cut 
ofi".  But  even  with  this  care,  and  that  of  covering 
the  wound  with  grafting  wax,  they  will  some- 
times bleed  and  decay.  The  scion  itself,  although 
so  small,  also  takes  up  and  disposes  of  consider- 
able sap. 

KEEP  THE  BOY  a  AT  HOME. 

In  the  circuit  court  of  Chatauque  county,  N. 
Y.,  says  the  Sprinc/Jield  Bepublican,  eight  or  ten 
young  men  were  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary 
for  theft,  burglary  and  other  crime.  Before  pass- 
ing sentence.  Judge  Marvin  inquired  of  each  his 
birth-place,  occupations,  and  the  temptations 
that  had  led  him  into  vice.  All  of  them  had  been 
brought  up  farmers,  and  had  gone  to  teaming, 
or  into  taverns,  or  some  other  business  exposing 
them  to  temptation,  and  had  learned  to  drink, 
swear  and  use  tobacco,  and  so  began  their  ca- 
reer of  crime.  Having  finished  his  address  to 
the  criminals,  the  judge  turned  to  the  spectators 
and  said  : — 

"Before  sentencing  these  boys  I  have  a  few 
words  to  say  to  the  men  of  Chatauque  county, 
the  agriculturists  in  particular,  some  of  whom 
are  here  to-day  looking  on  the  saddest  scene  it 


into  the  city  or  village  to  work  ;  nor  let  them  go 
to  teaming  ;  I  care  not  if  they  can  get  fifty  dol- 
lars per  month,  it  will  be  a  dead  loss.  They  will 
just  as  surely  follow  the  example  of  these  boys, 
now  l)efore  you,  as  they  leave  the  sacred  and  re- 
straining influences  of  home.  Give  them  plenty 
of  good  books,  and  papers,  make  home  pleasant, 
and  keep  them  there  until  they  are  of  age  and 
have  the  wisdom  to  resist  the  temptation  of  the 
high  wages  on  the  road  or  in  the  tavern,  but  ob- 
tained at  the  expense  of  good  character." 


Fur  the  New  England  Fanner. 
AGRICULTURAL  PROGRESS  THE  BASIS 
OF  HUMAN  PROGRESS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — When  the  time  comes,  which 
is  foretold  by  the  prophets,  "when  the  swords 
shall  be  beaten  into  plow-shares,  and  the  speara 
into  pruning-hooks" — when  universal  peace  and 
harmony  prevails,  and  "righteousness  cover  the 
earth  as  the  waters  do  the  sea" — then  will  the  in- 
terests of  mankind  become  associated  ;  then  the 
whole  earth  will  be  one  great  mammoth  associa- 
tion. Our  Saviour  has  said,  "for  where  your  trea- 
sure (or  interest)  is,  thei'e  will  your  heart  be  al- 
so." Therefore,  those  who  act  voluntarily,  are 
governed  and  controlled  by  what  they  deem  to 
be  their  interest ;  and  this  interest  or  treasure,  is 
not  confined  to  money — to  dollars  and  cents  ;  but 
is  that  which  is  anticipated  to  produce  pleasure 
and  happiness.  None  but  the  slave  can  be  said 
to  exercise  or  do  a  disinterested  act.  Isolated 
and  antagonistic  interest  is  the  source  or  germ 
of  all  the  contentions,  wars  and  crimes  extant 
on  the  face  of  the  earth — is  "the  sin  of  the 
world."  Isolated  labor  is,  for  the  most  part,  un- 
productive, discouraging  and  unprofitable.  As- 
sociated interest  and  labor  levels  the  mountains — 
fills  up  the  valleys — makes  the  rough  places 
smooth;  and,  by  it,  "all  flesh  shall  see  the  sal- 
vation of  God."  By  it  a  "highway  is  cast  up 
for  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  to  walk  in," — by  it 
the  iron  horse  moves  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  earth — by  it  the  manufacturer  has 
made  his  fabrics  plenty  and  cheap.  Most  of  the 
great  enterprises  of  the  day,  in  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences, are  accomplished  by  associated  interests 
and  labor.  Almost  every  useful  commodity  is 
made  plenty  and  cheap,  except  our  bread  and 
butter,  our  beef  and  pork  and  cheese  !  That 
which  constitutes  the  life  of  man  is  as  scarce  as 
ever — as  hard  to  be  obtained  as  it  was  sixty  or  a 
hundred  years  ago !  This  is  not  a  right  state  of 
things.  Make  the  necessaries  of  life  plenty  and 
cheap,  to  correspond  to  the  productions  of  the 
manufacturer. 

Agriculturists  are  the  foundation,  the  bottom 
strata  of  the  whole  superstructure  of  human  so- 
ciety, and  so  long  as  they  remain  in  their  isolat- 
ed and  antagonistic  condition — laboring  single 
handed,  with  their  few  imperfect  implements,  try- 
ing to  force  a  few  bushels  of  grain  from  a  sterile 
soil,  without  system,  without  adequate  knowl- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


239 


edge,  so  long  a  portion  of  mankind  will  feel  the 
curse  of  hunger,  which  breaks  through  stone 
walls. 

In  the  New  England  monthly  Farmer  for 
January,  ]8u9,  I  have  read  a  communication  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Wilson  Fhigg.  which  advances,  1 
think,  some  erronious  ideas  in  regard  to  the  ef- 
fect which  the  steam-plow  will  have  on  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  country  ;  and  the  crea- 
tion thereliv  of  "great  mammoth  agricidtural  as- 
sociations," which  will  absorb  the  whole  of  the 
faming  interests,  farmers  and  all !  Would  to  God 
that  this  may  be  the  result ;  for  then  we  might 
have  hope  for  the  permanent  regeneration  of 
mankind,  when  all  the  farmers  are  formed  into 
one  great  mammoth  agricultural  association. 
Then  all  will  be  rewarded  according  to  their 
works — all  will  be  free.  No  more  slaves,  not 
even  to  those  great  machines,  Br.  Flagg  to  thi 
contrary,  notwithstanding — for  the  faimers  are 
now  slaves  to  the  small  implements.  But  I  hope 
the  great  machines  will  make  them  free.  "God 
speed  the  plow!"  even  the  great  Steam  Plow! 

Ripton,  Tt.,  Feb.,  18<39.       Samuel  Damon. 


AMEBICATsT  WEEDS  AND  USEPUL 
PLANTS. 

That  person  who  learns  and  retains  the  names 
of  the  machinery  which  he  drives,  or  the  tools 
o-r  implements  which  he  uses  in  his  business,  will 
be  able  to  converse  more  intelligently  about  it, 
will  naturally  investigate  its  nature  and  scope, 
and  will  be  quite  likely  to  make  it  more  profita- 
ble, than  one  possibly  can  who  is  indifferent  in 
regard  to  it. 

It  is  so  with  the  farmer.  He  who  has  studied 
the  names  of  cattle,  who  can  select  an  Ayrshire, 
Alderney,  Short  Horn  or  Devon,  at  sight,  from 
a  promiscuous  herd,  and  tell  why  each  bears  that 
special  name,  will  usually  be  found  to  have  gone 
beyond  that  point  of  inquiry,  and  has  also  learned 
the  comparative  merits  of  each,  so  that  when  he 
wants  an  animal  he  knows  just  where  to  select, 
either  for  the  dairy,  the  shambles  or  the  yoke. 
The  knowledge  of  names  leads  to  the  acquisition 
of  other  knowledge  which  becomes  actual  capi- 
tal to  the  farmer  in  his  business  ;  it  makes  up  a 
sound  judgment  to  guide  him  in  his  purchases 
and  sales,  and  its  exercise  protects  him  against 
the  imposition  of  unprincipled  men. 

With  regard  to  machinery,  stock,  and  the  im- 
plements of  the  farm,  we  have  already  valuable 
helps.  There  are  several  works  on  cattle,  and 
the  catalogues  of  the  agricultural  warehouses 
give  illustrations  and  descriptions  of  tools  and 
implements,  —  while  there  are  more  scientific 
works  that  describe  the  more  complicated  ma- 
chinery, such  as  wind,  horse  and  steam  power. 

What  we  have  said  above  is  intended  to  illus- 
trate and  enforce  what  we  have  to  say  to  the 
farmer  in  regard  to  his  knowledge  of  the  names 
of  the  plants  which  he  cultivates,  and  of  those 
which  he  wishes  to  destroy.     He  certainly  will 


derive  both  satisfac'ion  and  profit  from  a  better 
acquaintance  with  their  names  ;  and  this  will  lead 
— uS  in  the  case  of  the  cattle — to  a  better  under- 
standing of  tii-ir  structure,  habits  and  growth, 
and  consequently  to  larger  profits,  because  ha 
will  better  know  how  to  manage  them. 

Now  we  have  a  work  before  us,  and  one  that 
we  have  long  desired  to  see,  upon  the  American 
Weeds  and  Useful  Plants,  being  an  illustration 
of  Agricultural  Botany,  and  enumerating  and  de- 
scribing the  useful  plants  and  weeds,  which  merit 
the  notice,  or  require  the  attention  of  American 
agriculturists. 

As  as  illustration  of  the  practical  character  of 
the  work  whose  title  stands  at  the  head  of  this 
article,  we  will  quote  what  it  says  of  one  of  the 
plants  common  all  over  New  England,  and  de- 
nounced every  year  as  an  intruder,  fit  only  to  be 
steeped  in  vinegar  and  applied  to  the  face  to  cure 
a  fit  of  ague  or  the  mumps  !  It  is  the  common 
mullein.  We  will  give  the  author's  whole  ac- 
count of  it,  so  that  the  botanist  shall  not  feel 
slighted,  and  that  the  common  reader  may  see 
that  even  the  despised  Mullein  has  extracted 
from  the  scientific  a  great  many  queer  and  hard 
names.     Thus — 

VERBAS'CDM,  L.    Mdllein. 

[Quasi  Barbascum ;  Latin  Barha,  from  its  bearded  or  woolly- 
habit.] 

Calyx  5-parted.  Corolla  with  a  very  short 
tube  ;  limb  sub-rotate,  o-lobed — the  lobes  nearly 
equal  or  the  front  one  larger.  Stamens  5,  une- 
qual, inserted  on  the  tube  of  the  corolla,  decli- 
nate,  exserted, — the  filaments  (or  some  of  them) 
bearded.  Capsule  ovoid  or  globose.  Seeds  nu- 
merous, rugose-pitted.  Tall  and  usually  woolly 
biennial  herbs,  with  alternate  leaves,  those  of  the 
stem  sessile  or  decurrent.  Flowers  in  dense 
spikes,  or  paniculate  racemes. 

T'.  Thap'sus,  L.  Stem  simple,  erect,  tomen- 
tose;  leaves  oval-lanceolate  or  oblong,  very  wool- 
ly on  both  sides,— the  cauline  ones  decurrent; 
flowers  in  a  dense  terminal  spike ;  2  lower  fila- 
ments smooth. 

TuAPsus    Verbascum. 
Mullein. 

French,  Bouillon  blanc. 
raut.     Spanish,  Gordolobo. 

Whole  plant  pale  grayish-green  or  hoary  tomentose, — the  pu- 
oescence  much  branched.  Stem  3-6  feet  high,  rather  stout, 
leafy,  rarely  branching  unless  injured.  Radical  lean's  6-12 
inches  long, — the  cauline  ones  smaller.  Spike  cylindric,  6-12 
(  r  15  inches  long ;  Jlatcers  bracteate  Corolla  bright  yellow. 
Stdjitens  ULequal, — the  two  lower  ones  longer,  with  smooth  fll- 
amtuts. 

Neglected  fields;  road-sides,  &c. :  introduced.  Native  of  Eu- 
rope.    Flowers  June-July.     Fruits  August-September. 

Obs.  This  plant,  although  abundant  in  all  the 
older  settlements,  is  undoubtedly  a  naturalized 
foreigner.  It  is  a  worthless,  unseemly  intruder, 
in  our  pastures  and  cultivated  grounds.  There 
is  no  surer  evidence  of  a  slovenly,  negligent 
farmer,  than  to  see  his  fields  overrun  with  Mul- 
leins. As  the  plant  produces  a  vast  number  of 
seeds,  it  can  only  l)e  kept  in  subjection  by  a  care- 
ful eradication  while  young — or  at  least  before 
the  fruit  is  mature.     When  neglected,  the   soil 


Mullein.      Common 
German,  Das  WoUk- 


240 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


soon  becomes  so  full  of  seeds,  that  the  young 
plants  will  be  found  springing  up,  in  great  num- 
bers, for  a  long  succession  of  years. 

Beside  the  common  mullein,  there  are  two 
other  kinds,  the  Moth  Mullein  and  the  White 
Mullein.  The  latter  is  a  tall  plant  with  a  thin, 
powdery  wooliness.  and  yellow  (sometimes  white) 
flowers 

What  farmer  would  not  value  a  book  giving 
him  a  definite  and  reliable  account  of  every  plant 
growing  on  his  farm  in  the  manner  in  which  this 
is  given  !  Some  of  the  terms  used  in  describing 
it  may  be  difficult  to  comprehend  at  first,  but  with 
a  little  care  they  would  soon  become  familiar. 
But  there  is  usually  enough  in  plain  English  to 
enable  us  to  find  out  the  names  of  unknown 
plants,  and  to  explain  those  whose  names  are 
common  to  us. 

The  work  is  by  Dr.  William  Darlington, 
with  revisions  and  additions  by  George  Thur- 
BER,  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  N.  Y.  College 
of  Pharmacy,  and  we  understand  is  approved  by 
Prof.  Gray,  of  Cambridge,  whose  "Analytical 
Key  to  the  Natural  Orders"  he  has  permitted 
the  author  to  use.  It  is  published  in  the  neat 
and  attractive  style  of  A.  O.  MooRE  &  Co.,  Agri- 
cultural Book  Publishers,  140  Fulton  Street,  New 
York.  It  will  become  one  of  the  most  gratifying 
and  useful  books  we  have. 


Devons.  Allowing  a  quart  to  weigh  two  and  a 
quarter  pounds,  it  gives  but  two  quarts,  for  one 
pound  and  a  quarter  of  butter.  Such  a  statement 
ought  not  to  pass  unnoticed.  C.  E.  FiSKE. 

Natick,  March  12,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
RUNNING  WATER— NATIVE  STOCK. 

Many  are  the  farms  that  are  not  supplied  with 
running  water.  Such  was  mine  ten  years  ago. 
Thinking  that  by  means  of  a  syphon  I  might 
save  the  expense  of  pumping  for  my  stock  of  cat- 
tle, I  dug  a  well  twenty  rods  above  my  barn,  and 
twenty  feet  deep,  the  bottom  of  the  well  being 
on  a  level  with  the  trough  at  the  barn.  The  pipe 
was  half  inch,  laid  four  feet  from  the  top  of  the 
well,  and  run  to  the  bottom  ;  the  remainder  of 
the  pipe  laid  so  as  to  be  secure  from  frost.  These 
ten  years  it  has  worked  admirably  ;  as  good  to- 
day as  ever.  The  cost  of  it  was  about  fifty  dol- 
lars. Now  there  are  a  multitude  of  places  in  New 
England,  as  well  situated  to  obtain  water  by  this 
means  as  my  own,  which  when  obtained,  the  ow- 
ners would  not  part  with  for  many  times  the  cost. 

In  the  March  number  of  the  Farmer  is  a  re- 
port of  the  Third  Legislative  Meeting,  at  which 
time  was  discussed  the  best  stock  for  general 
farming  purposes.  The  reports  of  these  meet- 
ings, (although  there  is  a  great  diversity  of  opin- 
ion,) are  generally  very  interesting  and  profitable 
to  me,  and  I  am  prepared  to  believ  pretty  large 
statements — but  there  is  one,  made  by  Mr.  Da- 
vis, of  Plymouth,  in  relation  to  native  stock, 
which  is  a  little  too  large  for  me  to  credit.  There 
must  be  some  mistake.  The  statement  is  this. 
"Four  pounds  and  a  half  of  the  milk  from  a  cow 
of  a  friend  of  his  had  yielded  one  and  a  quarter 
pounds  of  butter."  Now  this  is  far  beyond  what 
Mr.  Buckminster   ever  claimed  for  his  favorite 


THE  STATE  FARM. 

On  Wednesday,  March  30,  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture  made  a  formal  transfer  of  the  State 
Farm  at  Westboro',  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  Institution,  with  all  the  stock — some  forty 
head — fodder,  grain,  implements,  &c.  &c. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  going  over  a  portion 
of  the  farm  with  the  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  looking  at  some  of  the  improve- 
ments which  had  been  commenced  or  completed 
by  the  Board.  One  experiment  in  draining,  un- 
der the  special  direction  of  Hon.  B.  V.  French, 
is  well  worthy  the  observation  of  those  who  in- 
tend to  engage  in  that  particular  item  of  farm 
progress.  Another  in  trenching,  is  a  work  of 
considerable  magnitude,  and  the  results  from  it 
so  far  are  encouraging.  Some  five  or  six  acres 
of  land  almost  covered  with  rocks,  hummocks 
and  bushes,  have  been  thoroughly  trenched  by 
the  boys  of  the  Institution  to  the  depth  of  eigh- 
teen inches,  and  now  lies  as  mellow  as  a  garden 
bed  ready  for  spring  seeding. 

The  Hon.  John  Brooks,  of  Princeton,  has  act- 
ed as  Chairman  of  the  Superintending  Committee, 
and  no  man  could  be  more  constant,  faithful  and 
persevering  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  which 
have  devolved  upon  him. 

The  head  farmer,  Samuel  N.  White,  Esq., 
after  a  six  or  eight  years'  residence  u])on  the 
State  Farm,  has  returned  to  Brookfield  to  soothe 
the  declining  years  of  aged  parents,  and  to  settle 
once  more  in  the  home  of  his  youth.  These  he 
thought  paramount  objects,  and  declined  longer 
to  remain  in  the  service  of  the  State.  His  duties 
at  the  Farm  have  been  arduous  and  unremitting, 
and  he  has  discharged  them  with  an  ability,  zeal 
and  fidelity  which  reflect  as  much  credit  upon 
himself  as  they  have  been  valuable  to  the  Board. 
Beside  his  responsibilities  as  farmer,  his  clerical 
duties  have  been  nearly  as  arduous  as  those  of 
a  counting-house  clerk,  in  keeping  the  accounts 
of  the  farm  and  the  numerous  experiments  which 
have  been  instituted.  He  carries  with  him  our 
hearty  wishes  for  the  continued  health  and  pros- 
perity of  himself  and  his  intelligent  and  cultiva- 
ted family. 

The  Agls  of  Trees.  —  The  Newburyport 
Herald  says  that  among  those  trees  whose  ages 
have  been  ascertained,  the  elm  has  been  known 
to  live  more  than  ooO  years;  the  chestnut.  600; 
the  cedar,  800;  the  oak,  froin  1000  to  1500;  and 
some  of  the  woods  of  the  tropics  for  3000,4000 
and  5000  years. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


241 


SHORT  HORN  DOUBLE  DUKE. 

OWNED    1!Y  THK   HARVEST   CLUB,   SPRINGFIELD,   MASS. 


Double  Duke  was  bred  by  J.  M.  Sherwood, 
Esq.,  of  New  York,  calved  June  6th,  1856,  and 
is  of  a  roan  color.  His  pedigree  may  be  traced 
back  distinctly  to  the  year  1739.  We  are  ena- 
bled to  present  this  beautiful  portrait  of  one  of 
our  best  breeds  of  neat  cattle  to  the  reader, 
through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Secretary  Flint, 
who  very  properly  prefaces  the  Sixth  Annual  Re- 
port of  the  Massachusetts  Transactions  with  it. 

A  particular  description  of  this  breed  of  cat- 
tle is  not  deemed  necessary  here,  as  it  is  often 
alluded  to  and  discussed  in  these  columns. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

PEARS— ORCHARD  CUIiTURE. 

As  regards  the  pear  for  farm  culture,  I  feel  as- 
sured that  the  hardy  fall  and  winter  cooking  vari- 
eties will  give  the  bast  returns  in  sales.  There 
is  standing  in  Salem  a  large  pear  tree  which  is 
at  least  forty  years  old,  bearing  annually,  good 
crops.  That  of  1847  sold  for  thirty  dollars.  This 
variety  is  Rushmore's  Bon  Chretien,  a  native  ; 
late  fall  or  early  winter  fruit,  much  cultivated  on 
Long  Island,  for  the  market.  Of  Uvedale's  St. 
Germaine,  or  Pound,  Black  Pear  of  Worcester, 
Catalac,  Chelmsford  and  Vicar  of  Winkfield  ,we 
should  say  with  the  late  Robert  Manning,  that 
"the  extensive  cultivation  of  these  sorts  in  large 
orchards,  would  produce  greater  and  surer  in- 
come for  the  capital  employed,  than  any  other 
investment." 


I  The  best  varieties  of  pears  for  culture  general- 
jly,  are  those  that  have  originated  in  our  own 
'country,  and  in  the  more  temperate  or  colder  lat- 
itudes of  Europe.  Thus  we  should  commend 
our  fine  American  seedlings;  they  are  generally 
hardy,  and  of  thrifty  growth.  Among  the  large 
collection  of  pears  which  have  from  time  to  time 
been  introduced  from  abroad,  only  a  small  pro- 
I portion,  comparatively,  have  proved  of  good 
j  quality  in  Massachusetts  ;  a  variety  maybe  called 
\iirst-rate  in  our  country,  and  second-rate  in  Eu- 
rope, and  vice  versa.  The  Bartlett,  called  in  Eng- 
land, William's  Bon  Chretien,  is  tliere  second- 
rate  ;  we,  on  the  contrary,  (taking  into  consider- 
ation its  productiveness  in  almost  all  soils,  as 
well  as  the  quality  of  the  fruit,)  consider  it  one 
of  the  best  for  cultivation.  The  Beurre  d'Arem- 
berg  is  with  them  a  first-rate  winter  fruit  for  cul- 
ture ;  with  us,  (from  its  uncertainty  in  ripening, 
as  well  as  bearing,)  it  has  disappointed  most  cul- 
tivators in  Massachusetts.  I  should  infinitely 
prefer  such  fine  winter  eating  pears  as  the  Win- 
ter Nelis  and  Lawrence.  J.  M.  I. 
Salem,  Mass.,  1859. 


Milking  Young  Cows. — It  is  said  that  young 
cows,  the  first  year  they  give  milk,  may  be  made, 
with  careful  milking  and  good  keeping,  to  give 
milk  almost  any  length  of  time  deemed  desira- 
ble ;  but  that  if  they  are  allowed  to  dry  up  early 
in  fall,  they  will,  if  they  have  a  calf  at  the  same 
season,  dry  up  at  the  same  time  each  succeeding 
year,  and  nothing  but  extra  feed  will  prevent  it, 
and  that  but  for  a  short  time. 


242 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
"WATER  POISONED  BY  LEAD. 

Editors  of  the  Farmer: — Having  noticed 
an  inquiry  in  the  Farmer,  as  to  the  probability 
of  water  becoming  poisonous  to  stock  by  passing 
through  lead  pipe,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  the  follow- 
ing remarks : — Lead,  while  it  retains  its  metallic' 
form,  is  not  poisonous,  but  it  maybe  readily  con- 
verted into  the  various  salts  of  lead,  some  of 
•which  are  energetic  poisons,  especially  the  car- 
bonate ;  it  does  not  affect  all  animals  alike,  nor 
the  same  animal  alike  at  all  times,  as  in  the  case 
of  painters,  who  all  inhale  the  vapors  from  white 
lead,  (carbonate ;)  but  it  does  not  affect  them 
all  alike,  many  of  them  no  at  all  perceptibly,  as 
it  depends  on  the  diathesis,  or  habit ;  and  it  is  so 
with  all  animals. 

Distilled  water — air  and  carbonic  acid  being 
excluded — does  not  act  on  metallic  lead  ;  but  ad- 
mit them,  and  it  readily  corrodes  the  lead,  and 
the  carbonate  is  the  result.  Rain  water,  or  any 
of  the  soft  waters,  are  more  apt  to  become  poi- 
sonous than  well  water,  or  the  so  termed  li«.rd 
water.  The  quality  called  hard  in  water  is  de- 
rived from  the  presence  of  the  earthy  salts  they 
hold  in  solution,  most  frequently  the  sulphate  of 
lime,  which  impairs  the  formation  of  the  carbon- 
ate of  lead,  or  if  it  is  formed  converts  it  into  the 
sulphate  of  lead,  which  is  inert ;  as  in  cases  of 
poisoning  by  lead,  sulphuric  acid  is  used  as  an 
antidote,  rendering  the  lead  inactive  by  convert- 
ing it  into  the  sulphate. 

Mr.  Braid  states  that  the  miners  at  the  lead 
hills,  Lanarkshire,  never  have  the  lead  colic  un- 
til they  work  in  the  smelting  furnace,  (the  ore  is 
the  sulphuret,)  and  Liebig  says  the  lead  colic  is 
unknown  in  the  white  lead  manufactories  in  which 
the  workmen  use  sulphuric  acid. 

Therefore  it  seems  to  depend  on  the  character 
of  the  water,  whether  it  becomes  poisonous  by 
passing  through  lead  pipe.  Lead  may,  and  doubt- 
less does,  (by  being  introduced  in  small  quanti- 
ties, but  constantly,  for  a  long  time,)  become  the 
remote  cause  of  serious  and  destructive  diseases; 
it  impairs  the  function  of  digestion,  lessens  the 
force  of  the  circulation,  constringes  vessels  as 
absorbents,  exhausts  arteries,  Src,  lessening  their 
caliber,  and  finally  deranges  all  the  functions  of 
the  body,  and  it  becomes  a  system  of  rusty,  im- 
perfectly working  machinery,  producing  morbid 
.matter,  instead  of  healthy  blood,  suitable  to  build 
up  and  sustain  the  constantly  wasting  system  on 
the  one  hand,  and  in  a  measure  ceasing  to  throw 
off  the  effete  matter  on  the  other.  By  change  of 
diet,  as  being  turned  out  to  grass,  a  horse,  for 
instance,  may  gradually  recover  his  normal  con- 
dition, or  if  gone  too  far,  he  is  taken  sick  and 
dies,  perhaps  of  congestion  of  bowels,  typhoid 
fever,  or  something  of  that  sort.  These  phe- 
nomena have  a  cause.  Some  of  the  worst  forms 
of  diseases  we  meet,  we  are  told  are  caused  by 
a  morbid  habit  of  the  body  and  this  habit  has  a 
cause.  It  may  proceed  from  various  causes,  the 
gradual  introduction  of  lead  into  the  system  be- 
ing one  of  them. 

In  the  case  of  your  inquirer,  in  the  absence  of 
other  probable  causes  of  the  bad  condition  of  his 
stock,  I  should  think  his  suspicions  of  the  lead 
were  likely  true,  and  I  would  advise  him  to  make 
the  thing  sure,  to  call  a  veterinary  surgeon,  take 


his  advice,  act  upon  it,  pay  him,  improve  his 
stock,  and  my  word  for  it,  it  will  be  a  money- 
making  operation  all  round. 

Oren  H.  Flagg,   Veterijiary  Surgeon. 
Boston,  March  30,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  FARMER'S  GIRL. 

The  Farmer's  girl  leads  a  happy  life 

As  she  trips  o'er  the  grassy  lawn  ; 
With  an  eye  as  oright  and  a  step  as  light 

As  that  of  the  agile  fawn. 

The  farmer's  girl  is  a  merry  maid, 

With  cheeks  of  a  rosy  hue  ; 
She  sits  on  the  stile,  a  sweet  sunny  smile 

Darts  out  from  her  eye  so  blue. 

There's  a  magic  in  her  winsome  voice 

That  "drives  dull  care  away  ;" 
She  can  scrub  and  scour,  or  at  evening  hour, 

The  sweet-toned  harp  can  play." 

She  would  grace  the  halls  of  a  mansion  high, 

Or  the  porch  of  a  lowly  cot ; 
She  will  make  the  home  of  her  chosen  one, 

A  most  delightful  spot. 

Young  men  !  choose  a  wife  'mong  the  farmer's  girls, 

If  happy  in  life  you  would  be  ; 
They  are  gentle  and  kind,  just  to  your  mind. 

Sing!  A  Farmer's  Girl  for  me.  Eats. 

Hill  Side,  April. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PIGS  AND  GIRLS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  a  recent  Farmer,  your  cor- 
respondent, "Rockingham,"  tells  us  of  a  fine  pig 
nine  months  old  which  weighed  320  lbs.  when 
dressed.  A  good  pig  that.  But  Old  Cheshire 
gets  up  bigger  pigs  than  that.  I  suppose  you 
know  that  she  is  famous  for  her  big  oxen,  good 
hotels,  handsome  girls — and  fat  pigs. 

Mr.  George  Thacher,  of  this  town,  slaughtered 
two  pigs,  the  past  winter,  eight  months  old,  which 
weighed  when  dressed,  one  377  lbs.,  the  other 
337  lbs.  Mr.  Thacher  is  a  man  who  understands 
what  he  is  about,  and  what  "pays ;"  and  knows 
that  other  folks  besides  "millers"  have  a  right  to 
fat  hogs.  I  suspect  that  it  is  all  owing  to  his 
being  a  regular  subscriber  to  the  Farmer. 

Mr.  Russell,  another  of  my  neighbors,  slaugh- 
tered a  pig  eight  months  and  twenty  days  old, 
that  weighed  when  dressed  376  lbs.  These  were 
fattened  on  corn  meal,  with  a  little  rye  at  the  last. 

Now,  Mr.  Rockingham,  please  just  take  that 
feather  out  of  your  cap  and  pass  it  over  to  old 

Marlboro',  N.  E.,  March  28,  1859. 


The  Wheat  Crop. — The  Detroit  Advertiser, 
after  conversing  with  parties  in  different  sections 
of  the  State,  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
wheat  crop  never  looked  so  promising  at  this  sea 
son,  as  it  does  now.  The  Rochester  Union  is  in- 
formed by  old  farmers  of  Western  New  York, 
that  the  growing  wheat  is  now  forward,  and  is 
looking  remarkably  well.  It  has  suflered  little 
or  none  from  the  winter  exposure.  The  Cincin- 
nati Gazette  says  reports  of  the  wheat  crop  con- 
tinue favorable. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


243 


ELEVENTH  LEGISLATIVE  AQRICUL- 
TUBAL  MEETING. 

TREPORTtD  BY  John  C.  Moore,  for  the  N.  E.  Farmer.) 

Owing  to  the  House  of  Representatives  having 
occupied  their  Hall  on  the  evening  of  Monday 
of  last  week,  the  usual  agricultural  meeting  was 
postponed  uniil  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  when 
it  was  held  in  the  Green  Room  of  the  State 
House — the  Legislature  being  at  the  same  time 
in  session.  The  attendance  was  not  so  large  as 
could  have  been  desired — particularly  when  such 
an  important  question  was  under  discussion,  viz.: 
"  The  best  means  to  be  adopted  for  the  improvement 
of  the  farming  of  New  England."  His  Excel- 
lency, Gov.  Banks,  was  present  during  part  of 
the  evening. 

Hon.  JosiAH  QuiN«cy,  Jr.,  occupied  the  chair. 
He  said,  substantially,  that  the  question  was  a 
very  comprehensive  one.  Two  points  were  ob- 
vious— the  necessity  of  giving  the  farmer  infor- 
mation, and  the  necessity  of  getting  him  to  take 
advantage  of  it.  Much  of  the  information,  how- 
ever, we  had  in  this  country  regarding  farming 
was  copied  or  stolen  from  English  works,  written 
by  men  who  were  not  really  farmers,  but  gentle- 
men who  made  farming  a  recreation.  Those  who 
did  work  on  the  farms  were  a  very  different  class 
— laboring  under  great  social  disadvantages — 
and  little  better  in  many  respects  than  the  slaves 
of  the  South.  They  had  no  interest  in  the  soil, 
or  hope  to  have  any.  It  was  different  here,  where 
the  farmer  was  the  owner  of  the  soil,  and  where 
he  had  a  consequent  interest  in  it.  Such  a  man 
could  not  believe  in  English  farming  instruction  ; 
and  the  best  way  with  him  was  to  convince  him 
that  his  profession  was  an  honorable  and  a  prof- 
itable one;  This  would  be  one  great  means  for 
improvement ;  and  farmers  on  principle  would 
be  the  most  valuable  men  we  could  have.  A 
good  farmer  could  live  on  very  small  capital,  and 
his  position  would  be  found  to  be  the  most  eligi- 
ble in  the  country.  Young  men  had  been  taught 
to  look  on  the  history  of  the  late  Amos  Law- 
rence as  a  pattern  of  instruction  and  suggestion  ; 
but  few  who  knew  the  real  history  of  the  man, 
and  of  his  trials,  could  fail  to  know  that  his  life 
was,  though  an  honorable  one,  far  from  being  a 
happy  one.  It  was  a  gross  m'stake  to  advance  the 
doctrine  that  it  was  advisable  for  young  men  to 
leave  farming,  and  its  happy  circumstances,  and 
dive  into  the  troubles  of  a  business  life  ;  and  the 
more  that  could  be  done  to  prevent  this  folly,  and 
to  convince  young  men  in  the  country  that  the 
farmer's  position  was  the  most  peaceful,  heallhy, 
honorable  and  covetable,  the  more  would  be  ac- 
complished for  the  improvement  of  farming. 
Many  young  men  were  literally  putting  their 
hands  to  the  plow,  and  every  inducement  should 
be  held  out  to  them  not  to  turn  back. 


Mr.  B.  V.  French  was  of  opinion  that  the 
teachings  of  the  life  of  Amos  Lawrence  had  been 
more  pernicious  than  any  one  could  describe, 
and  was  ready  to  endorse  all  that  has  been  said 
by  the  chairman.  Taking  advantage  of  the  sug- 
gestion, which  Mr.  Quincy  threw  out  at  the  close 
of  his  brief  remarks,  that  the  discussion  might 
include  all  the  means  and  appliances  of  improved 
farming,  Mr.  French  commended  a  more  gen- 
eral attention  to  draining  ;  the  establishment  of 
agricultural  educational  institutions ;  the  insti- 
tution of  such  experiments  in  such  culture  as 
were  simple  in  themselves,  and  within  the  means 
of  every  farmer  to  follow  ;  and  above  all,  the 
careful  training  of  young  men  to  the  profession 
of  agriculture  on  the  basis  of  a  love  for  it.  He 
was  glad  to  note  that  much  progress  had  been 
made  of  late  ;  and  took  occasion  to  pay  a  well- 
deserved  compliment  to  the  public  spirit  of  Hon. 
Josiah  Quincy,  Sen.,  who  had  done  more  to  im- 
prove the  science  of  farming  in  this  region  than 
any  other  man. 

Mr.  W.  J.  BuCKMINSTEK  was  of  opinon  that  if 
the  young  men  who  were  wild  after  foreign  .spec- 
ulation could  be  advised  to  turn  their  energies 
towards  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  respectability, 
comfort,  health  and  usefulness  would  be  more 
certain  than  in  any  other  path  ttiey  could  follow. 
He  held  that  the  system  of  town  farmers'  clubs, 
with  fairs  and  exhibitions  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments and  produce,  which  would  furnish  attrac- 
tive features,  would  do  much  for  the  extension 
of  a  love  for  farming,  and  to  show  the  proof  of 
its  profitableness.  He  was  not  entirely  in  favor 
of  agricultural  colleges  ;  as  practical  instruction, 
with  a  modicum  of  book-learning  intermingled, 
would  be  much  more  beneficial,  in  his  estima- 
tion. One  great  cause  of  an  aversion  to  farm- 
ing was  the  severity  of  the  labor,  and  the  gener- 
al irregularity  of  the  working  hours.  By  the  in- 
troduction of  machine  labor  the  hours  of  labor 
might  be  much  shortened,  and  time  given  for 
such  recreation  as  a  healthy  mind  could  relish 
and  pursue ;  and,  moreover,  by  breaking  up  the 
slavery  and  monotony  of  the  farmer's  life,  young 
women  would  be  induced  to  marry  farmers,  and 
the  business  of  farming  be  placed  on  a  more 
pleasing  and  permanent  basis.  Some  might  smile 
at  this  talk  about  marriage  ;  but  those  who  knew 
the  facts  would  be  ready  to  acknowledge  that 
young  women  had  little  encouragement  to  be- 
come farmers'  wives,  on  account  of  the  hard  and 
weary  labor  they  would  be  bound  to  do  in  the 
household  and  in  the  dairy.  Whatever  fright- 
ened the  women  away  from  it  was  not  well  calcu- 
lated to  induce  young  men  to  attach  themselves 
to  it.  Mr.  B.  concluded  by  recommending  that, 
after  making  the  farmer's  vocation  attractive,  it 
would  be  excellent  policy  to  induce  the  young  to 


244 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


May 


engage  in  its  associate  details  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible age  ;  and  that  every  encouragement  should 
be  given  to  the  improvement  of  agricultural  ma- 
chinf  ry. 

Mr.  Wetherell,  in  consideration  that  the 
lands  in  the  State  did  not  furnish  half  the  quan- 
tity of  the  produce  they  might  be  made  to  do, 
thought  that  one  of  the  best  things  to  go  about, 
would  be  to  elicit  by  what  means  this  could  be 
cured.  Lands  under  cultivation  were  fast  wear- 
ing out ;  and  how  they  could  be  renovated  was 
the  question  paramount  in  interest  to  all  others. 
Farmers  ought  not  to  be  content  with  10  to  15 
bushels  of  grain,  when  they  could,  by  improved 
culture,  produce,  with  no  more  labor,  40  to  60 
bushels.  Education  was  the  best  means  to  pro- 
duce this  improvement ;  and  that  improvement 
which  was  so  desirable,  would  never  be  found 
effectual  until  some  means  were  extant  among  us 
for  learning  the  art  of  approved  modern  farm- 
ing— some  means  which  would,  in  their  dispen- 
sation, have  some  sympathy  with  the  objects  they 
sought  to  attain,  and  which  would  thoroughly 
combine  theory  with  practice.  Mr.  Wetherell 
concluded  by  highly  recommending  the  establish- 
ment of  Farmers'  Clubs  in  every  town  in  the 
State,  and  cited  examples  of  their  exceeding  use- 
fulness, as  it  showed  itself  to  his  experience.  He 
was  thoroughly  confirmed  in  the  necessity  and 
importance  of  carrying  out  this. 

Gov.  Banks  simply  said  that  it  was  his  opin- 
ion that  the  primary  requisite  was  to  show  young 
men  that  it  was  good  for  them  to  become  farm- 
ers, and  that  the  vocation  of  a  farmer  was  a  high- 
ly honorable  one,  and  equal  or  superior  in  status 
to  any  other  profession.  The  great  present  ob- 
jection to  the  business  was  the  necessity  for  se- 
vere labor,  and  the  absence  of  social  amusements. 
As  a  question  of  profit  it  was  not  equal  to  other 
professions,  nor  was  the  political  status  of  farm- 
ers what  it  ought  to  be  ;  but  change  these  disad- 
vantages— and  they  could  be  changed — and  both 
would  be  enhanced  to  a  covetable  degree,  and  the 
farmer's  craft  would  be  preferred  to  any  other. 

Mr.  Sheldon,  of  Wilmington,  said  that  farm- 
ing had  been  very  profitable  to  all  who  had  tried 
it  in  earnest.  He  had  some  idea  that  more  at- 
tention should  be  paid  to  hay,  in  curing,  as  it  was 
the  most  important  crop,  and  therefore  an  ele- 
ment in  the  general  list  of  matters  which  had  a 
serious  bearing  in  the  agricultural  prosperity  of 
the  commonwealth.  Whatever  tended  to  pro- 
duce certain  knowledge  of  a  better  system  in  cur- 
ing hay  in  foul  weather  would  be  found  to  be  of 
the  utmost  consequence.  Men  might  laugh  at  the 
idea  ;  but  if  a  similar  system  to  that  followed  in 
drying  hops  was  introduced,  it  could  be  done 
with  profit.  It  would  not  be  a  great  cost  to  try 
it;  and  its  importance  could  be  in  some  measure 


prized,  when  it  was  known  that  weeks  of  bad 
weather  followed  each  other  in  haying  time.  So 
far  as  Mr.  S.  could  estimate,  $2  per  ton  would 
cover  the  expense  of  drying  in  this  way. 

The  President  held  that  the  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  the  discussion  was,  that  farming,  to  be 
popular,  ought  to  be  shown  to  be  profitable. 

Before  the  discussion  commenced,  a  very  val- 
uable conversational  debate  took  place  on  the 
suljjects  of  draining,  irrigation,  soiling  of  cattle, 
&c.,  &c.,  among  the  gentlemen  present. 

This  meeting,  of  which  the  above  furnishes  a 
sketch  of  the  proceedings,  was  the  last  during 
the  present  legislative  session. 

It  is  probable  that  a  series  of  meetings  will  be 
held  during  the  summer,  &t  which  the  principa. 
agricultural  questions  will  be  lectured  on  and 
discussed  by  competent  parties,  designated  for 
the  duly.  An  idea  prevails  that  May  will  be  the 
best  time,  and  that  the  State  House  the  best 
place,  for  holding  the  proposed  meeting  or  con- 
vention. 

Reviewing  the  past  series  of  meetings,  they 
have  proved  themselves  unusually  interesting, 
and  in  some  respects,  very  profitable.  Doubt- 
less some  rather  strange  theories  have  been  ad- 
vanced, and  some  rather  loose  facts  have  been 
stated  ;  but  these  were  merely  incidental,  and  in 
no  material  measure  have  militated  against  the 
stamina  which  the  general  information  given  at 
the  meetings  emphatically  had. 


For  the  New  England  FaTmer. 
THE  ONION  MAGGOT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  am  truly  gratified  that  your 
intelligent  correspondent  from  Hollis,  N.  H.,  has 
found  a  specific  remedy  against  the  ravages  of 
the  onion  maggot.  This  is  what  has  been  sought 
by  cultivators  here  but  as  yet  they  had  no  sus- 
picions it  would  so  readily  be  found,  and  least  of 
all  in  the  fertilizer  itself,  many  tons  of  which  have 
been  used  on  these  onion  fields. 

If  I  rightly  understand  Mr.  Emerson,  this  cu- 
rative against  the  ravages  of  the  maggot,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  free  application  of  pulverized  guano, 
to  the  young  plant,  just  after  it  starts  into  being. 
Now  according  to  my  observation,  this  maggot 
comes  into  being,  and  operates  in  this  wise.  The 
little  light  colored  fly  which  springs  from  the 
maggot,  hovers  about  the  plant,  and  lays  its 
eggs  near  the  bulb,  just  where  the  top  starts  from 
the  ground,  and  when  these  eggs  warm  into  life, 
the  insects  busy  themselves  in  the  bulb,  and 
make  it  their  abode.  I  have  seen  a  spoonful  of 
maggots  squeezed  from  a  single  onion.  Had  not 
Mr.  E.  asserted  the  contrary,  I  should  have  had 
no  doubt,  that  the  maggot  itself  might  have  been 
preserved  in  guano,  as  well  as  in  pulverized 
earth  or  plastei-.  I  have  no  belief,  that  its  sensi- 
bilities are  so  acute,  as  to  be  overpowered  by  the 
guano.  But  if  it  is  a  specific  remedy,  I  am  glad 
to  know  it. 

There  are  many  cultivators  in  this  town,  who 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMER. 


245 


would  agree  to  pay  a  guarantee  of  $25  an  acre, 
to  have  it  made  certain  that  the  maggot  can  be 
destroyed  by  the  application  of  guano,  after  it  has 
began  to  operate  upon  the  young  plant.  Many 
acres  were  omitted  to  be  sown  the  last  season, 
through  fear  of  this  destroyer,  and  many  more 
would  be  sown  the  present,  were  it  not  for  this 
apprehension.  J.  w.  p. 

South  Danvers,  1859. 


TIME  OF  PRUNING  APPLE  TBEES. 

We  are  always  obliged  to  exercise  considera- 
ble care  that  our  columns  shall  not  be  too  much 
occupied  with  discussions  upon  a  single  topic. 
The  article  lately  presented  by  us  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  pruning,  has  awakened  considerable  inter- 
est in  the  matter,  and  the  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject demands  it.  We  have  received  several  let- 
ters from  high  authorities  confirming  our  views, 
and  two  dissenting  from  them.  One  of  the  lat- 
ter is  from  Mr.  Daniel  Leland,  of  East  Hollis- 
tor,  who  says  he  has  an  experience  in  the  sub- 
ject dating  back  to  1805.  He  thinks  the  true 
time  for  pruning  "is  just  before  the  opening  of 
the  buds,"  and  his  reasons  are, 

"First,  The  wound  will  heal  as  well  as  it  will 
when  pruned  in  the  middle  of  June. 

Secondly,  The  sap  is  saved,  that  is,  taken  up 
in  the  formation  of  the  leaves." 

We  will  not  reiterate  arguments  to  show  that 
he  is  mistaken,  but  will  merely  remark  in  relation 
to  his  first  reason,  that  he  must  be  so,  because 
his  theory  is  contrary  to  the  nature  and  habit  of 
the  tree  ;  the  sap  flows  freely  in  the  spring,  but 
not  at  all,  or  very  lightly,  in  June. 

His  second  reason  is,  that  we  "save  the  sap 
that  is  taken  up  in  the  formation  of  the  leaves." 
But  we  do  not  wish  to  save  it ;  we  often  prune 
because  there  is  an  excess  of  limbs  and  leaves  ; 
they  are  in  the  way  of  each  other,  and  prevent  a 
free  and  healthy  growth.  But  this  is  not  always 
the  case. 

Pruning  is  scarcely  necessary  at  all — unless  in 
cases  of  accident — when  proper  care  is  taken  of 
the  young  tree.  It  may  all  be  done  with  a  com- 
mon pen-knife,  if  it  is  always  done  at  the  right 
time. 

For  the  Neie  England  Farmer. 
COAL  ASHES  AS  A  MANURE. 
An  article  with  the  above  heading  appeared  in 
the  last  Farmer,  in  which  the  writer,  copying  from 
an  English  work,  on  the  benefit  resulting  from 
the  use  of  this  article  in  England,  closes  with 
the  following.  "As  coal  is  employed  for  fuel  in 
nearly  every  town,  experiments  on  various  soils 
and  crops  might  be  made  by  every  farmer  at  a 
small  expense."  This  writer,  it  would  seem,  is 
not  aware,  that  the  ashes  used  in  England,  comes 
from  bituminous,  and  not  anthracite  coal.  I  ap- 
prehend there  may  be  found  a  great  difference  in 
the  fei'tilizing  properties  of  these.     This  want  of 


definiteness,  reminds  us  of  the  use  of  lime  for  the 
apple  tree.  Mr.  Pell,  the  successful  grower  of 
this  frnit  in  New  York  State,  recommends  the 
use  of  shell,  (not  stone,)  lime,  for  this  purpose  ; 
still  many  careless  writers  recommend  simply 
lime  ;  the  natural  inference  is,  that  they  mean 
common  stone  lime.  There  is  a  diftVrence  in  the 
article  of  lime  ;  most  stone  lime  contains  magne- 
sia, a  substance  which  is  considered  deleterious 
to  the  soil,  while  shell  lime  is  destitute  of  this. 
I  have  generally  considered  that  nearly  all  the 
virtue  there  is  in  anthracite  coal  ashes  in  its  ap- 
plication to  land,  is  in  the  ashes  combined  with 
it,  which  comes  from  the  bark,  wood  or  charcoal 
used  to  ignite  it.  j.  M.  I. 


Remarks. — There  is  about  two  per  cent,  of 
potash  in  coal  ashes.  But  its  alkaline  is  not 
its  only  good  quality.  It  has  a  mechanical  effect, 
and  perhaps  has  still  other  qualities  to  recom- 
mend it. 

For  the  Netc  England  Farmer. 

FRUITLESS  TBEES— MORE  LIGHT 
WANTED. 

What  kinds  of  fertilizers  are  best  for  apple 
trees,  to  make  them  produce  fruit  ?  I  have  the 
Baldwin  trees,  and  practice  digging  about  them 
in  the  spring,  and  putting  in  stable  manure,  and 
air-slaked  lime  occasionally.  They  grow  an  abun- 
dance of  wood,  but  very  little  fruit.  Some  of  them 
have  blossomed  full,  but  it  was  all  show,  and  no 
fruit.  This  is  the  case  generally  in  this  vicinity. 
So  that  people  have  come  to  consider  the  apple 
tree  an  encumberer  of  the  ground,  and  almost 
ready  to  wish  them  the  same  fate,  of  a  certain 
fig  tree  of  olden  times. 

What  is  best  to  put  around  pear  trees,  to  make 
them  bear  fruit  ?  1  have  put  manure,  lime,  ashes 
and  iron,  about  them  ;  they  grow  the  wood  rap- 
idly, but  not  the  j^ear.  One  tree,  a  Flemish  Beau- 
ty, made  an  attempt,  last  season,  to  produce  a 
specimen  of  its  kind  ;  but  before  August  was  out, 
the  whole  concern  burst  up,  and  proved  a  failure. 
The  Flemish  Beauty  has  been  a  favorite  pear 
with  us,  but  of  late  years,  it  has  taken  to  crack- 
ing badly,  and  has  lost  its  reputation.  This  crack- 
ing takes  place  long  before  the  pear  matures. 
Can  this  be  prevented  ?  Will  you  or  any  of  your 
numerous  readers,  give  the  desired  information 
upon  these  matters  ?  A.  Philbrook. 

East  Saugus,  March,  1859. 

Remarks. — These  questions,  and  a  hundred 
others  put  to  us,  show  how  much  we  need  a  more 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  business  in  which  we 
are  engaged  ;  and  we  feel  that  want,  impressively, 
quite  often,  when  called  upon  to  reply  to  them. 

Why  is  it,  that  apple  and  pear  trees  that  are 
well  cared  for  fail  to  produce  fruit,  in  one  lo- 
cation, while  others  near  by  bear  abundantly  ? 
Who  can  tell  ?  Who  can  penetrate  the  myste- 
ries of  this  single  point,  or  fathom  a  thousand 
others  that  meet  us  at  every  step?  We  may 
now  and  then  stumlde  upon  some  fact  of  impor- 
tance to  our  Art,  but  must-tlepend  upon  pcrsis- 


246 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


tent,  scientific  investigation,  for  most  of  the 
knowledge  that  will  enable  us  to  make  progress 
in  it. 

There  are  so  many  things  to  be  considered 
that  we  doubt  whether  we  can  be  of  any  service 
to  our  correspondent.  His  trees  make  wood  rap- 
idly, but  will  not  produce  fruit.  Is  the  land  too 
rich  ?  Would  laying  it  to  grass  and  taking  two 
or  three  crops  from  it  bring  the  desired  result  ? 
Or  cropping  it  one  year  with  wheat  or  oats  ?  And 
so  of  the  pear  trees,  who  can  tell  us  where  the 
trouble  lies  ? 

Some  of  the  wise  ones  say  that  root  pruning, 
that  is  cutting  off  a  portion  of  the  roots,  will  bring 
the  pear  trees  to  bearing.  The  process  is  to 
scrape  away  the  earth,  and  with  a  sharp  tool  cut 
off  one  or  two  of  the  leading  roots. 


EXTKACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

PREMIUMS   ON   FOREST  TREES. 

I  see  by  some  of  the  papers  that  the  Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural  Society  have  offered  a  pre- 
mium of  $1000  for  a  plantation  of  white  oak 
trees.  Are  we  to  infer  from  this  that  all  our 
other  kinds  of  oak  are  not  valuable  ?  It  occurred 
to  me  that  it  might  be  as  well  to  test  the  grow- 
ing qualities  of  all  our  common  kinds.  If  I  lived 
in  Massachusetts,  I  would  enter  the  lists  for  the 
premium.  B.  F.  Cutter. 

Ptlham,  N.  IL,  1859. 

Remarks. — If  friend  Cutter  will  look  at  the 
Farmer  carefully,  he  will  see  that,  with  their 
usual  liberal  encouragement  to  agriculture,  the 
Massachusetts  Society  has  offered  a  premium  of 
$1000  "for  the  best  plantation  of  trees  of  any 
kind  commonly  used  for,  and  adapted  to,  ship- 
building, grown  from  see^i  planted  for  the  pur- 
pose." But  there  must  be  one  white  oak  at  least 
to  every  twenty  square  yards. 

HAY  caps. 

Which  is  the  best  kind  of  cotton  for  hay  caps, 
the  light  or  heavy  ;  and  what  kind  of  a  prepara- 
tion can  be  applied  to  them  to  prevent  grasshop- 
pers from  eating  them,  and  make  them  water- 
proof? Addison  County,  Vermont. 

March,  1859. 

Remarks. — Such  cotton  cloth  as  may  be  pur- 
chased lor  nine  cents  a  yard  will  make  excellent 
water-proof  hay-caps,  without  any  preparation  of 
oil  or  paint  of  any  kind.  Caps  made  of  such 
cloth,  and  properly  placed  on  the  cock,  will  keep 
it  dry  during  a  storm  of  three  days.  If  you  cut 
a  ton  and  a  half  of  hay  to  the  acre,  we  do  not 
think  the  grasshoppers  will  eat  your  caps  ! 

BLIGHT  IN  GRAPES — HARTFORD  AND  CONCORD 
GRAPES — PLANTS  IN  ROOMS. 

Last  year  my  Isabella  grape  vine,  (when  the 
grapes  were  about  the    size  of  peas,)  blighted 


badly.  The  leaves  and  fruit  withered  and  fell 
off  from  a  portion  of  the  vine,  while  a  part  re- 
mained thrifty  and  fruit  ripened  finely.  Will 
you  tell  me  the  cause  and  remedy  ? 

What  is  the  bpst  grape  to  raise  for  family  use 
— what  about  the  Hartfovd  and  Concord  ? 

Is  it  well  to  have  plants  in  sleeping-rooms,  and 
rooms  of  the  sick?  Old  Subscriber. 

Taunton,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  cannot  tell  you  the  cause  or 
remedy  of  the  blight  you  speak  of. 

The  Concord  is  a  large,  dark  purple  grape, 
earlier  than  the  Isabella,  and  hardy  and  prolific. 
Ripens  in  September.  The  Hartford  we  have 
not  cultivated,  but  it  is  represented  to  be  prolific, 
is  large,  ripens  easily,  never  mildews,  and  is  fit 
to  eat  early  in  September.  We  cannot  say  which 
is  the  best  grape  for  family  use. 

A  few  plants  in  any  well-ventilated  room  are 
healthy  both  for  body  and  mind. 

blind  staggers — shade   trees — corn — 
pumpkins. 

What  is  the  surest  and  least  barbarous  cure 
for  "blind  staggers"  in  horses  ? 

What  season  is  most  preferable  for  trans- 
planting shade  trees,  especially  evergreens  ? 

Will  King  Philip  or  Brown  corn  do  well  on 
the  northerly  intervales  of  the  Connecticut? 
What  is  the  average  product,  per  acre,  and  where, 
and  at  what  cost  can  it  be  procured  ? 

What  is  the  best  variety  of  pumpkins  ?  Mine 
have  all  run  to  vines.  Farmer. 

Vermont,  March  21,  1859. 

Remarks. — To  cure  blind  staggers  in  horses, 
you  must  always  feed  well  and  treat  kindly,  and 
be  especially  careful  that  the  horse  shall  not  be 
overloaded,  made  to  pull  hard  suddenly,  and  not 
driven  rapidly  when  first  taken  from  feeding. 
Then  administer  to  him  three  drops  of  the  tinc- 
ture of  stramonium,  every  third  day  for  nine 
days,  immediately  after  a  fit. 

Plant  shade  trees  the  last  of  April  or  first  of 
May. 

King  Philip  corn  will  do  well  on  the  lands  you 
speak  of,  if  you  manure  in  the  hill  with  some  fer- 
tilizer that  will  give  it  an  early  start.  Sixty 
bushels  to  the  acre  is  a  good  crop — we  do  not 
know  what  the  average  is.  Sold  at  the  seed 
stores  for  about  $2  a  bushel.  We  cannot  shed 
any  light  on  the  pumpkin  question. 

TICKS   ON    SHEEP. 

Is  there  anything  that  can  be  fed  to  sheep  that 
will  kill  the  ticks  on  them  ?     C.  N.  Andrews. 
Chelsea,  Vt.,  1859. 

Reaiarks. — Give  each  sheep  a  tea  spoonful  of 
sulphur  in  some  corn  meal,  every  other  day, 
three  or  four  times. 

If  this  does  not  kill  them,  a  careful  applica- 
tion of  the  mercurial  ointment  will  accomplish  it. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


247 


A  CONVENIENT  CHICKEN  COOP. 

Almost  every  body  now-a-days  raises  poultry 
— not  so  much,  perhaps,  for  the  profit  which  it 
affords,  as  for  the  pleasant  associations  connect- 
ed with  it,  their  cheerful  morning  notes,  and  the 
happy  influences  which  they  have  upon  children. 
But  where  profit  can  be  added  to  other  induce- 
ments, the  pleasure  of  course  is  enhanced.  This 
depends,  like  almost  every  thing  else,  upon  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  done.  If  a  few  fowls  are 
kept,  and  kept  well,  provided  with  all  the  con- 
veniences needed,  there  will  be  a  profit.  One  of 
the  important  items  is  to  provide  a  comfortable, 
airy  place  for  the  hen  and  her  young  family,  and 
that  may  be  found  in  a  coop  which  this  engrav- 


THE  ONION  MAGGOT. 

Two  years  ago  I  noticed  that  one-third  of  my 
onions  were  either  dead  or  wilting.  On  experi- 
menting, I  found  the  maggot  was  the  cause.  I 
applied  good  guano  on  the  rows,  sprinkled  on 
with  the  hand  so  as  to  nearly  cover  the  little  on- 
ion, or  the  ground  over  them.  1  saw  nothing 
more  of  the  eflfect  of  the  maggot,  and  the  onions 
did  finely. 

Last  year  T  tried  the  same  again,  with  the 
same  result.  I  think  good  guano  is  a  cure  for 
the  maggot,  notwithstanding  your  correspondent, 
"J.  W.  P.,"  says  there  is  none.  The  guano  must 
be  good  and  put  on  with  a  liberal  hand. 

Hollis,  March,  1859.  Ed.  Emerson. 


ing  illustrates.  It  may  be  made  in  a  cheap  man- 
ner, will  shed  the  rain  readily,  and  when  open  at 
the  ends  admits  the  air  freely  through  it,  and  a 
piece  of  board  turned  up  at  the  ends  at  night, 
excludes  all  intruders. 

Other  forms  may  be  used,  perhaps  as  good,  but 
this  is  a  convenient  and  cheap  one.  In  dry  weath- 
er it  is  best  to  let  these  coops  stand  on  the  ground, 
but  when  it  is  wet,  they  should  be  lifted  upon 
boards.  Two  feet  long,  or  three  is  better,  and 
about  twenty-two  inches  high  in  the  centre,  is  a 
good  form.  Some  persons  board  up  the  back- 
end,  leaving  a  hole  for  air  at  the  peak.  In  windy 
weather,  the  back  end  should  be  closed. 


Faemers'  Market  Fair. — The  farmers  of 
Hampden  county  will  hold  a  fair  at  the  Hamp- 
den Park,  in  Springfield,  on  the  13th  of  April, 
for  the  sale,  exchange  and  exhibition  of  horses, 
cattle,  sheep,  swine ,  poultry,  implements  and  farm 
produce,  either  in  bulk  or  by  sample. 

We  think  such  a  fair  in  the  centre  of  that 
county  might  be  useful  to  all  concerned,  and  hope 
it  will  receive  attention. 


A  Good  Permanent  Home,  and  $40,000! 
— A  writer  in  another  column,  on  the  soiling  of 
cattle,  says  he  knows  a  man  who  forty  years  ago 
purchased  a  lot  of  land,  40  by  160  rods,  who  "has 
80  managed  it  as  to  realize  a  net  income  of  at 
least  $1000  a  year  on  this  farm."  Will  he  tell  us 
briefly  how  he  did  it  ? 


.  BOYS'  DEPARTMENT. 

BATTI.E  BETWEEN  THE  BOYS  AND 
THE  BIRDS. 

In  one  of  the  interior  counties  of  Illinois,  there 
stands  an  old  school-house,  deserted,  dilapidated, 
and  pierced  on  every  side  with  numerous  holes 
— giving  sure  signs  that,  in  days  past  and  gone, 
there  has  been  a  hard-fought  battle  of  some  kind. 
But  who  could  have  selected  a  school-house  for 
a  fortress  ;  or  what  enemy  could  have  fired  so 
many  shots  into  it  in  such  a  peaceful,  quiet  neigh- 
borhood, without  being  brought  before  the  prop- 
er authorities  and  punished  to  the  full  extent  of 
the  law?  This. is  the  mystery  which  has  fallen 
to  my  lot  to  unravel. 

The  school-house  stands  on  a  ridge  of  land, 
surrounded  on  every  side  with  shade  trees,  while 
a  few  rods  in  front,  runs  a  small  creek,  making  a 
most  beautiful  play-ground  for  the  school.  Still 
farther  on  is  a  large  field,  once  covered  with 
thrifty  forest  trees,  but  the  farmer  who  owns  the 
field  has  girdled  them  all,  and  now  they  stretch 
out  their  long,  skeleton  arms,  waving,  cracking, 
and  breaking  with  every  wind  that  blows,  and 
falling  into  the  corn  growing  around  them. 

These  old  decaying  forests  aflbrd  homes  for 
large  colonies  of  woodpeckers,  who,  by  habit  or 
instinct,  like  to  burrow  in  old  trees. 

Now  the  woodpecker  is  decidedly  the  most  mil- 
itary in  appearance  of  any  bird  flying,  and  has 
not  only  a  natural  right  to  be  proud  of  his  rich, 
military  dress  and  splendid  appearance,  but  to 
drum  on  these  old  trees  any  spring  morning,  pro- 
vided, when  he  gets  his  forces  together,  he  will 
let  school-houses  alone. 

Dressed  up  in  a  neat  little  red  cap  that  covers 
his  head  and  neck,  a  shining  black  coat,  with 
white  lappel,  with  a  white  waistcoat  and  black 
pants,  he  can  make  as  splendid  an  appearance  on 
a  dry  limb  as  any  other  bird  known. 

It  was  a  bright,  beautiful  morning  in  the  year 
1856  when  the  children  were  assembled  at  the 
old  school-house,  to  learn  to  put  four  letters  to- 
gether in  such  a  way  as  to  make  baker,  to  get 
their  young  ideas  started  in  the  way  to  shoot 
straight.  The  classes  had  nearly  been  through 
with  their  morning  lesson,  the  older  boys  and  girls 
had  taken  slate  and  pencil,  and  were  trying  to 
put  two  and  two  together  so  as  to  make  five,  and 
all  as  busy  as  they  well  could  be,  when  tap,  tap, 
whir-r-r-r-r-r-r,  went  somebody  or  something  on 
the  outside  of  the  school-house.    "Boys,  be  still. 


248 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Mat 


drumming  on  the  school-house  !"  angrily  snapped 
out  the  teacher.  The  boys  clapped  tijeir  hands 
to  their  mouths,  the  little  girls  smiled  and  hung 
down  their  heads,  and  quiet  was  hardly  restored, 
when  tap,  tap,  tap,  whir-r-r-rr/r  went  on  one  side 
and  then  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  and  it 
really  seemed  as  if  an  invading  army  had  made 
a  general  attack  on  the  house. 

"Really  this  is  too  bad,"  shouted  the  enraged 
teacher  ;  "if  I  can  find  out  who  is  making  this 
disturbance  I  will  punish  him  severely." 

"Please,  then,  'taint  nobody  but  the  birds," 
said  a  bold  little  fellow  who  sat  by  the  window, 
and  knew  all  about  it. 

"The  birds  !  the  birds  !"  said  the  teacher,  as 
ne  walked  to  the  door  ;  "I  would  like  to  know 
what  business  the  birds  have  to  come  here,  and 
disturb  us  in  this  manner  ?" 

As  he  reached  the  outside  of  the  house,  some 
half  dozen  of  the  red-capped  rascals  flew  from 
the  house,  proving  that  the  little  fellow  was  right. 
The  woodpeckers  had  actually  made  an  attack  on 
the  school-house.  "Well,  Avell,"  said  the  teacher, 
"if  the  birds  dont't  let  us  alone,  we  must  punish 
them,  if  we  can  catch  them." 

Half  an  hour  passed  quietly  away,  and  all  were 
80  busy  with  their  lessons,  that  the  birds  were 
nearly  forgotten,  when  a  general  attack  was  again 
made  by  the  birds.  This  could  not  be  tolerated, 
and  three  or  four  of  the  older  boys  were  sent  out, 
with  full  license  to  kill  them  if  they  could.  But 
the  rascals  were  too  nimble  for  them.  Before  the 
boys  could  pick  up  a  stick  or  a  stone  to  throw  at 
them,  they  would  be  oft"  and  up  on  a  dry  limb, 
peeping  out  from  behind  it,  winking  and  shaking 
their  heads  at  the  boys,  as  much  as  saying  — 
"Catch  a  woodpecker  asleep,  if  you  can." 

Such  was  the  disposition  of  the  birds  that  it 
was  necessary  to  keep  a  watch  during  school 
hours  to  guard  the  house  from  their  attacks. 
When  school  was  out  for  the  day,  they  made  a 
general  attack  upon  it.  Affairs  continued  in  this 
way  for  some  three  weeks,  when  their  attacks  be- 
came so  furious  that  the  teacher  was  forced  to 
dismiss  school,  and  let  them  have  their  own  way. 
In  a  short  time  the  birds  had  billed  some  one 
hundred  and  fifty  holes  in  the  outside  covering 
of  the  house,  and  it  was  nearly  ruined.  The  cause 
of  the  attack  was  easily  explained,  from  the  na- 
ture and  habits  of  the  birds  themselves. 

The  woodpecker,  or  sap-sucker,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  is  a  bird  which  lives  upon  the  grubs 
and  worms  which  breed  in  old  and  decayed  trees 
and  wood.  For  this  purpose  he  is  armed  with  a 
long,  sharp  bill,  which  he  drives  into  the  wood 
where  the  wood-worm  burrows  ;  and  then  he 
uses  another  weapon,  which  is  a  long,  sharp 
tongue,  with  a  barb  on  the  end  of  it.  When  he 
reaches  the  insect,  he  thrusts  his  spear  through 
him,  pulls  him  out,  and  in  this  way  works  for 
his  living. 

To  enable  him  to  discover  his  prey,  his  hear- 
ing is  so  extremely  acute  that,  by  hopping  up  a  de- 
cayed tree,  and  laying  his  ear  against  it,  he  hears 
the  worm  at  work  in  the  tree,  bores  into  it,  and 
pulls  him  out. 

The  school-house  in  question  was  covered  with 
a  kind  of  half-decayed  lumber,  taken  from  the 
forest  at  a  time  favorable  to  the  attacks  of  these 
insects.  The  birds  were  the  first  to  discover 
their  existence  in  the  house,  and   consequently 


made  their  attacks  for  that  purpose.  The  re- 
sults were,  the  school  was  broken  up,  the  house 
nearly  ruined,  and  the  birds,  for  once  in  their 
lives,  ,came  off  victorious  from  the  attacks  of 
their  common  enemy — the  school-boys. — JMcrry^s 
Museum. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


DOMESTIC  RECEIPTS. 

Squash  Cakes. — Squash  left  at  dinner  may 
be  made  into  griddle-cakes  in  the  following  man- 
ner :  To  one  tea-cup  full  of  winter  squash,  put 
two  tea-cups  of  milk.  Stir  in  flour  enough  to 
make  a  batter  of  the  right  thickness  for  griddle- 
cakes,  and  if  you  like  it,  a  spoonful  of  Indian 
meal.  Add  a  little  salt,  half  a  teaspoonful  of 
saleratus,  and  one  egg.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
observe  this  rule  exactly.  Use  more  f  ggs,  if  you 
choose.  The  cakes  may  be  made  very  good  witb- 
out  any. 

Custards  without  Eggs. — Boil  a  quart  of 
milk,  except  a  tea-cup  full  in  which  to  put  four 
tablespoonsful  of  flour.  When  it  boils,  put  in  a 
very  little  salt,  and  stir  in  the  flour  just  as  for 
starch.  Add  two  tablespoonsful  of  sugar,  and 
such  spice  as  you  like.  Peach  leaves  boiled  in 
the  milk,  or  a  spoonful  of  rose-water,  are  recom- 
mended. 

Loaf  Puddings. — Tie  up  a  pound-loaf  of  ba- 
ker's bread  in  a  cloth,  and  put  it  into  boiling 
water  with  considerable  salt  in  it,  and  boil  it  an 
hour  and  a  half.     Eat  with  cold  sauce. 

Crumb  Cakes. — Keep  a  bowl  or  pitcher  with 
some  milk  in  it,  and  from  time  to  time  throw  in 
the  crumbs  of  bread  which  break  off  when  it  is 
sliced,  and  also  the  dry  pieces  left  at  the  table. 
When  you  next  want  griddle-cakes,  take  this 
mixture  and  break  up  all  the  pieces  with  your 
hand,  add  an  egg,  salt  and  saleratus,  and  a  few 
spoonsful  of  flour.  No  griddle-cakes  can  be  bet- 
ter. 

Boiled  Brown  Bread. — If  they  are  hard 
crusts,  lay  them  over  night  in  a  dish  with  a  little 
water.  In  the  morning  add  milk,  and  boil  them. 
Do  it  very  slowly,  and  take  care  that  it  does  not 
burn.  Sprinkle  in  salt,  and  just  before  you  take 
it  up,  add  a  little  butter.  If  there  is  not  much 
milk,  take  off  the  lid  the  latter  part  of  the  time. 
Take  up  the  pieces  as  whole  as  you  can. 

A  Charlotte. — Butter  a  deep  dish  very  thick, 
cut  thin,  smooth  slices  of  nice  white  bread,  and 
line  the  bottom  and  sides  of  the  dish,  fill  it  with 
sliced  apples,  sprinkling  each  layer  with  brown 
sugar  enough  to  sweeten  it,  and  any  spice  you 
may  prefer ;  also  a  few  bits  of  butter.  Have 
ready  some  slices  of  bread  to  cover  the  top, 
soaked  a  few  minutes  in  milk  or  water ;  lay  them 
over,  and  cover  them  with  a  plate  that  will  fit 
close,  and  upon  that  lay  a  weight.  Bake  in  a 
moderate  heat  three  hours. 

Tea  Cakes. — One  pound  of  flour,  one  pound 
of  sugar,  three  ounces  of  butter,  one  eg^,  one 
cup  of  milk,  one  teaspoonful  of  saleratus.  Roii 
them  half  an  inch  thick  and  bake  them  quick.— 
Happy  Home. 


DEVOTED   TO  AGRICULTURE    AND    ITS   KINDRED   ARTS   AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XL 


BOSTON,  JUNE,  1859. 


NO.  6. 


JOEL  NOniSE,  Proprietor. 
Office. ..34  Merchants  Row. 


SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR. 


FRED'K  HOI.BROOK,  )  Asr^oriATE 
HENRY  F.  FUEXCH,     Editors. 


OALENDAK  FOR  JUNE. 

••For,  lo,  the  winter  is  past,  the  rain  is  over  and  gone  ; 

"The  flowers  appear  on  the  earth  ;  the  time  of  the  singing  of 

birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land." 

u  N  E  ,     in     the 
months,     is     like 
our   early  man- 
hood    in     life, 
crowded  with  full- 
ness and  strength, 
and   flushed  with 
activity  and  joy. 
The  birds   mate 
and    sing,  insects 
flutter    from   leaf 
to  leaf,  or  sport  in  the 
wirm   evening   rays;  — 
flowers  exhale   their  fra- 
grant odois,  and  gentle  airs  waft 
~    -     yi\\  them  to  us,  and  regale  our  sens- 
/__  ^^^^  es    as    though   from    Hesperian 
&^1 


showers. 


fields.  The  plants  stretch  away  from 
the  ground  and  bathe  in  the  sun- 
light, spreading  their  leaves,  like  so 
many  hands,  to  catch  the  condensing 
vapors,  or  absorb  the  softly-falling 
June  is  not  perfection,  it  is  only  the 

month  of  progress — the  flush  and  promise  of  ro- 
bust youth.     A   little   later   in   the    season  will 

bring  maturity  in  some  plants,  and  that  comes 

so  near  the  next  step  in  Nature's  course,  decay, 

as  to  break  the  charm.     But  June   suggests  no 

decay — it  is  all  promise — and    arouses  in    any 

feeling  heart,  something  of  that  benevolence  and 

love  which  beams  from   its  great  Architect,  and  erald  jewel,  with  which  the  year   adorns  herself, 


fruit,  the  odor  of  the  budding  grape  vine,the  song 
of  the  lark  and  the  cooing  of  the  turtle-dove, 
(not  the  veritable  mud-turtle,  as  we  thought  in 
our  juvenile  ignorance,)  the  murmuring  of  the 
brook  Kidron,  no  longer  rushing  in  a  torrent 
over  its  rocky  bed,  but  flowing  gently,  as  was  its 
wont  in  summer — and  the  olive-trees  on  Mount 
Olivet  clad  in  fresh  green.  Later  in  the  season, 
he  watched  for  the  "Rose  of  Sharon"  and  the 
"lily  of  the  valley."  Ninety  generations  of  men 
have  since  passed  away,  and  yet  such  is  the  uni- 
formity with  which  nature  does  her  work,  that 
we,  of  a  world  then  unthought  of,  can  find  no 
words  more  appropriate  than  those  of  Solomon 
to  express  our  joy  when  "the  flowers  appear  on 
the  earth,  and  the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is 
come."  And  until  the  internal  fires  of  our  plan- 
et shall  burst  their  shell,  we  are  told  "seed-time 
and  harvest,  summer  and  winter,  shall  not  cease." 

Yet,  from  this  very  harmony  of  nature,  so  won- 
derful when  we  think  of  it,  we  are  apt  to  under- 
value many  of  our  blessings  as  commonplace. 
The  sun  rises  and  scatters  the  vapors  away,  bring- 
ing life  and  joy  to  the  animal  and  vegetable  world, 
yet,  were  it  mentioned  as  a  subject  of  gratitude, 
many  of  us  would  reply  in  the  spirit  of  the  man, 
who,  when  his  attention  was  directed  to  the  Falls 
of  Niagara,  merely  said, — "Vfhy  shouldn't  it  fall 

what  hinders  it?"  But  hear  the  exclamation 
of  one  who  had  endured  a  six  months'  winter  in 
an  Arctic  region.  "To-day,  blessed  be  the  great 
Author  of  light,  I  have  once  more  looked  upon 
the  sun." 

And  this  month  of  June — this  gem— this  em- 


kindles  and  glorifies  all 

That  Solomon  was  a  close  observer  of  nature, 
is  manifest  from  his  writings,  and  we  can  imag- 
ine some  of  the  sights  and  sounds  which  would 
greet  him  as  he  walked  out  nearly  three  thous- 
and years  ago,  in  the  country  about  Jerusalem. 

There  was  the  fig-tree  covered   with   young 


how  many  merely  regard  it  as  the  same  old  June 
they  have  always  known,  the  month  that  comes 
after  May — and  never  give  it  another  thought. 
But  no,  it  is  not  the  same  June,  and  you  may  see 
in  it  wonders  you  never  discovered  before,  if  you 
will  not  insist  on  walking  through  the  world 
blindfold. 


250 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


"And  what  is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June  ? 
Then,  if  ever,  come  perfect  days." 

And  a  few  lines  farther  on  in  this  beautiful  poem 
by  Lowell — 

''Whether  we  look   or  whether  we  listen, 
We  hear  life  murmur  or  see  it  glisten  ; 
Every  clod  feels  a  stir  of  might 
An  instinct  within  it  that  reaches  and  towers, 
And,  grasping  bliidly  above  it  for  light, 
Climbs  to  a  soul  in  grass  and  flowers." 

Of  course,  our  poet  is  using  language  figura 
lively,  an''  does  not  mean  to  assert  any  heresies 
cone  V'  'ng  the  xistence  of  mind  ;  but  men  have 
actually  held  the  doctrine  which  the  above  lines 
contain,  if  taken  literally.  For  example — "The 
Americans  believe  that  all  creatures  have  souls, 
not  only  men  and  women,  but  brutes,  vegetables, 
nay,  even  the  most  inanimate  things,  as  stocks 
and  stones." 

We  should  premise  that  this  was  written  when 
"Americans"  meant  North  American  Indians, 
and  is  not  intended  as  a  libel  on  the  inhabitants 
of  the  United  States.  We  presume  our  aborig- 
inal predecessors  did  not  found  their  belief  upon 
any  process  of  reasoning,  but  upon  the  sort  of 
instinctive  sympathy  we  have  with  plants  and 
animals.  The  violet  seems  to  you  to  have  a  gen- 
tle soul,  which  only  expresses  itself  in  a  faint 
perfume,  and  should  you  crush  it  with  your  foot, 
you  would  feel  like  some  cruel  tyrant,  who  has 
immolated  an  unoflending  victim.  The  tulip  has 
a  regal  soul,  which  you  would  not  insult  by  any 
indignity — but  you  see  a  gross  weed  among  your 
corn,  and  you  pull  it  up  and  fling  it  away,  saying, 
"What  business  had  it  among  my  corn?"  With 
animals  the  sympathy  is  still  greater,  and  it  is 
a  difficult  thing  to  draw  the  line  between  instinct 
and  reason.  It  is  well  known  that  many  animals 
evince  what  we  should  call  a  process  of  reasoning 
were  it  exhibited  in  man,  and  the  more  closely 
•we  watch  them,  the  more  wonderful  it  seems. 
Every  one  who  owns  a  dog  can  tell  anecdotes 
which  will  illustrate  this,  and  if  he  does  not  ac- 
tually believe  that 

"When  translated  to  that  upper  sky, 
Hii  faithful  dog  shall  bear  him  company," 

he  half  wishes  the  paradise  of  dogs  were  not  a 
myth ! 

While  we  would  not  be  supposed  to  advocate 
"the  transmigration  of  souls,"  or  any  of  its  kin- 
dred doctrines,  we  do  not  believe  that  animals 
have  credit  for  half  the  intelligence  they  really 
possess — and  yet,  they  tell  us,  that  man  himself 
is  only  an  oyster  in  a  higher  stage  of  develop- 
ment !     (See  Vestiges  of  Creation.) 

Because  a  man  is  dumb,  we  do  not  suppose 
him  to  be  destitute  of  ideas,  and  an  animal,  al- 
though he  cannot  tell  us  what  he  is  thinking 
about,   may  have   a  language  of  his  own,  which 


we  are  too  ignorant  to  understand.  We  know 
that  our  domestic  animals  appreciate  kindness, 
and  are  capable  of  affection  for  us,  and  for  each 
other.  A  gentleman  tells  us  that  the  robins  in 
his  garden  are  acquainted  with  him.  That  when 
a  marauding  cat  steals  in  among  them,  and  he 
hears  their  cries  of  distress,  he  steps  out  from 
his  study,  and  they,  knowing  that  a  friend  has 
come,  immediately  cease  their  cries,  and  acknowl- 
edge his  presence  with  a  note  of  welcome. 

It  is  curious  to  note  with  what  simplicity  the 
little  child  reads  stories  of  animals.  It  does  not 
surprise  him  at  all,  to  be  told  that  the  wolf  held 
a  long  conversation  with  Little  Red  Riding  Hood, 
before  he  went  and  eat  her  grandmother  ;  and  that 

"The  frog  he  would  a  wooing  go," 

appears  to  him  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world,  though  it  may  seem  rather  naughty  that 
he  should  do  so, 

"Whether  his  mother  would  let  him  or  no." 

The  child  has  faith  ;  he  believes  in  the  angels 
that  guard  his  bed  while  he  sleeps,  and  that  the 
insect  carries  in  its  own  little  bosom  its  private 
griefs  and  joys.  We  grown-up  people  shall  be 
wiser  and  better  in  many  respects,  when  we  "be- 
come like  little  children." 

There  is  not  an  insect  so  small,  as  to  be  be- 
neath our  notice.  "Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard, 
consider  her  ways,  and  be  wise." 

There  is  the  great  brown  caterpillar  which  you 
will  find  on  your  fruit-trees  and  rose-bushes 
about  this  time,  (if  you  were  not  wise  enough  to 
exterminate  him  a  month  ago  ;)  he  is  an  ugly- 
looking  creature  enough,  and  a  delicate  lady 
would  as  soon  encounter  a  bear  or  a  lion — he  is 
a  nuisance  to  you,  too,  and  you  do  not  see  what 
end  he  answers  in  creation.  Well,  we  do  not  see 
either,  and  will  only  suppose  he  answers  some — 
but  even  he  is  an  object  of  interest  to  those  who 
take  pains  to  observe  him  closely.  It  is  not 
merely  that  he  will  come  out  of  that  rough  case 
one  of  these  days,  and  will  fan  your  cheek  with 
his  butterfly  wing,  but  he  lives  in  the  midst  of 
an  organized  community;  perhaps  he  makes 
stump  speeches  to  his  fellow-citizens  ;  he,  too, 
has  his  three  meals  a  day,  and  walks  out  for  ex- 
ercise, and  finally,  when  his  time  has  come,  he 
seeks  some  secluded  spot,  weaves  his  own  shroud, 
and  appears  no  more  in  the  form  he  first  wore. 

"  And  there's  never  a  leaf  or  a  blade  too  mean 

To  be  some  happy  creature's  palace  ; 
The  little  bird  sits  at  his  door  in  the  sun, 

Atilt  like  a  blossom  among  the  leaves. 
And  lets  his  illumined  beinp  o'errun 

With  the  deluge  of  summer  it  receives; 
His  mat-i  teels  the  egsrs  Ijeueath  her  wings. 
And  the  heart  in  her  dumb  bieast  flutters  and  sings  ; 
He  sings  to  the  wide  world,  and  ehe  to  her  nest, — 
In  the  nice  ear  of  Nature  which  song  is  the  best.'" 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


2.51 


For  the  New  Enfiland  PaHiter. 
THE  FARMER'S  POSITION. 

For  many  years  the  earth  has  yielded  a  rich 
reward  to  the  faithful  tillers  of  the  soil  in  New 
England.  The  systematic,  enterprising  farmers 
in  almost  every  community  are  showing  evident 
signs  of  prosperity,  particularly,  those  who  are 
expending  their  income  upon  their  farms  and 
buildings,  bringing  around  them  many  conveni- 
ences, enjoyments  and  comforts  of  life,  which  add 
not  only  to  their  wealth,  but  to  their  refinement 
and  good  taste. 

There  have  been  great  improvements  in  our 
agricultural  position  during  the  last  twenty  years, 
and  while  we  would  acknowledge  the  press  as 
the  greatest  instrumentality  in  awakening  an  in- 
terest in  our  farming  communities,  would  be 
grateful  for  their  untiring  eti'orts  to  make  their 
periodicals  so  valuable. 

The  science  of  agriculture  has  been  spread  be- 
fore the  people  in  a  form,  cheap,  practical  and 
useful,  and  the  great  body  of  farmers  have  be- 
come readers,  thinkers,  experimenters,  and  are 
still  inquiring  for  more  practical  knowledge  in 
the  art  of  good  farming. 

What  has  been  gained  by  all  this?  New  fer- 
tilizers have  been  found  out  and  applied  to  the 
soil ;  old,  worn-out  farms  have  been  reclaimed ; 
old  buildings  have  been  transformed,  and  located 
with  taste  and  convenience,  or  new  ones  built. 
Fruit  trees  have  been  planted  and  nursed,  and 
many  are  yearly  gathering  their  first  fruits  as 
their  reward  of  well  directed  toil. 

How  beautiful  to  look  out  upon  our  fields  that 
our  own  hands  have  helped  to  subdue  and  enrich, 
smiling  luxuriantly,  the  grass  ready  for  the 
scythe  and  the  grain  for  the  sickle,  and  the  corn 
and  the  after  harvest  making  haste  to  fill  the 
granary  and  cellar.  These  are  heaven's  gifts, 
the  legitimate  reward  of  toil,  the  indispensable 
products  of  the  soil,  which  all  men  must  Jiave  or 
die. 

Who  can  but  envy  the  good  farmer  as  they 
look  upon  his  possessions,  his  well-arranged 
farm-houses  and  out-buildings,  his  lots,  good 
fences,  gardens  and  margin  of  flowers,  his  fruit- 
yard  and  orchard,  all  witnesses  of  his  prosperity 
and  his  pride  in  his  profession.  And  then,  how 
permanent  is  his  income,  and  Providence  his 
surety  for  seed-time  and  harvest. 

If  the  agriculturist  prospers,  it  gives  energy  to 
trade  and  commerce.  The  vitality  of  every  de- 
partment of  business  centres  here,  cities  extend 
their  borders,  manufacturing  villages  spring  up 
along  our  streams  and  rivers,  and  our  institu- 
tions gain  strength  as  the  soil  becomes  rich,  and 
the  tillers  prosperous.  Tlien  for  safety,  happi- 
ness, prosperity,  intelligence,  usefulness,  what 
other  avocation  compares  with  rural  life? 

In  the  commercial  world,  how  numerous  are 
the  contingencies,  what  uncertainty  enters  into 
every  enterprise.  Perhaps  to-day  rich,  and  to- 
morrow poor,  making  others  wretched. 

Professional  life  is  honorable  if  honorably  pur- 
sued. Men  rise  to  eminence  and  usefulness,  and 
are  indispensable  to  carry  on  the  machinery  of 
society  and  government ;  but  the  comparative 
number  that  are  useful  to  any  great  extent  is 
small,  and  the  risk  is  great.  None  of  these  con- 
tingencies enter  necessarily  into  the  peaceful  life 


of  the  agriculturist ;  but  he   should  be  learned 
in  his  profession,  and  when  this  is  the  case,  how 
vast  the  field  for  study ;  it  is  no  less  than   "the 
earth  and  the  fullness  thereof."      Berkshire. 
April  8,  1859. 


A  BARKEL  FOUNTAIN". 


Fowls  will  drink  impure  water,  undoubtedly, 
when  thirsty,  but  if  they  could  always  select, 
there  is  little  question  but  they  would  prefer  to 
visit  a  stream  of  pure  water,  or  drink  from  a 
fountain  of  clear,  cool  water. 

The  above  cut  shows  how  easily  any  person 
rearing  poultry,  may  prepare  a  fountain  which 
will  answer  a  good  purpose,  at  the  most  trifling 
cost.  All  that  it  needs  is  to  mount  a  keg  on  a 
couple  of  upright  stakes  driven  into  the  ground, 
and  extend  a  small  tube  from  the  cask  to  a  shal- 
low trough  or  pan,  and  allow  the  water  to  drip 
slowly  from  the  cask  into  it. 


THE  GREAT  FRENCH  HENERY. 
Some  months  ago  we  published  an  account  of 
a  stupendous  experiment  in  rearing  fowls  in  t:ie 
city  of  Paris.  The  account  was  written  with  so 
much  apparent  accuracy  of  detail,  and  bearing 
so  much  the  semblance  of  truth,  that,  although 
so  much  out  of  the  common  course  of  things,  we 
published  it,  though  we  must  confess,  not  until 
it  had  remained  on  our  table  many  weeks.  Sam- 
uel Cooper,  Esq.,  of  this  city,  recently  wrote 
a  mutual  friend  in  Paris,  Mr.  Fleischman,  in  re- 
lation to  the  matter,  who  replies  that  the  whole 
affair  belongs  to  that  class  of  bugs  which  we  call 
hum — a  humbug  !  Will  the  editor  of  L'Agri-cul- 
teur  Praciicien,  Paris,  France,  be  kind  enough  to 
give  us  the  facts  ? 


S""  The' town  of  Nelson,  N.  11.,  containing  a 
population  of  about  6-50,  lias  made  fourteen  and  a 
half  tons  of  maple  sugar  the  present  season.  The 
number  of  trees  tapped  was  10,859  ;  the  numhci 
of  trees  in  'he  town  suitable  for  tapping,  whic' 
were  not  tapped,  is  10,883. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


For  Vie  New  England  Farmer. 
FBUIT  TREES. 

Mr,  Editor: — Nothing  in  the  Farmer,  for 
ears,  has  been  to  me  more  instructive,  and  in 
^eneral,  more  sensible,  than  the  remarks  from 
your  own  pen  of  Feb.  2G,  on  pruning  fruit  trees. 
First,  because  in  your  reasonings  you  start,  not 
with  experience,  which  is  ever  more  doubtful, 
but  with  first  principles  ;  and  secondly,  because 
your  remarks  come  in  exactly  the  right  time  and 
season,  so  that  they  are  like  what  some  writer 
has  defined  wit  to  be,  viz.:  a  good  thing  well  ap- 
plied. Particularly  am  I  pleased  to  find  you  be- 
ginning at  the  beginning,  that  is,  with  first  prin 
ciples,  and  considering  what  is  called  experience 
afterward.  They  who  begin  with  experience — 
valuable  as  that  is  in  its  place — must  forever 
wander.  This  is  true  of  most  things,  as  well  as 
with  agricultural  and  horticultural  matters. 

However,  believing  as  I  do,  in  starting  right, 
and  desirous  that  there  should  be  no  fl  iw  in  your 
reasoning,  especially  at  the  outse.t ;  and  al)ove 
all,  as  your  argument  is  strong  enough  without 
the  aid  of  analogies  which  are  not  according  to 
truth,  let  me  say  that  when  you  tell  your  corres- 
pondent that  in  cutting  off  a  branch  of  a  tree  in 
the  spring,  we  do  not  save  the  sap  for  what  re- 
mains, any  more  than  one  would  save  a  man's 
blood  to  strengthen  the  rest  of  his  body  by  cut- 
ting off  one  of  his  arms,  you  forget  or  overlook 
a  fact,  which  is  both  in  accordance  with  fact  and 
experience,  but  also  with  the  first  principles  of 
physiology.  Some  of  the  best  anthorities  might 
be  quoted  on  this  subject.  Feeble  constitutions 
are  often  greatly  improved  by  amputations,  and 
it  is  according  to  nature  that  they  should  be. 
Truly  yours,  \v.  a.  a. 


For  the  New  En<^lanJ  Farmer. 

VAIilTE  OF  MUCK. 

Explanations— Errors  sometimes  Useful  — Evidence  of  Drs.  Em- 
inona  and  Dana,  in  regard  to  value  of  Muck— 35  acres  of  Mow- 
ing keeps  40  Cows. 

Mr.  Brown  : — I  regretted  the  typographical 
errors  in  my  notice  of  the  climate  and  soil  in  Or- 
leans county,  Vt.,and  forwarded  the  corrections, 
which  you  promptly  gave.  The  corrections  had 
not  been  seen,  I  presume,  by  your  correspondent 
at  Brookfield,  Vt.,  before  writing  his  article,  in 
v;hich  he  represents  me  as  making  statements 
'^so  wide  of  the  truth."  1  merely  gave  the  esti- 
mate of  my  friend,  who  is  one  of  our  most  relia- 
ble men  in  the  county.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
stock  mentioned  by  him  was  fully  equal  to  forty 
ordinary  cows.  Let  me  assure  your  correspond- 
ent, that  he  will  find  nothing  in  the  article  allud- 
ed to  by  him,  which  "is  wide  of  the  truth,"  except 
what  is  made  so  by  typographical  errors.* 

I  shall  not,  however,  seriously  regret  those,  as 
they  were  promptly  corrected  by  you,  if  my  ar- 
ticle and  that  of  your  correspondent  shall  call 
attention  to  the  immense  value  of  the  "muck" 
or  peat  beds  of  Vermont.  For  the  information 
of  "VV."and  others,  I  will  give  a  few  extracts 
from  the  remarks  of  reliable  writers.     Mr.  Em 


*  The  estimate  made  of  the  stock  wintered  by  me,  as  alluded 
to  by  Mr.  Hall,  in  a  late  article  on  the  climate  and  soil  of  Or 
leans  county,  Vt.,  I  regard  as  fully  correct. 

Coventry,  Ft.,  Jan.,  1859.  J.  B.  Wheelock. 


mons,  one  of  the  geological  surveyors  of  New 
York,  in  his  report  on  the  third  district,  1839, 
after  describing  several  peat  bogs,  speaks  of  one 
in  Warren  county  : — "It  occupies  about  60  acres ; 
is  upwards  of  60  feet  deep  ;  is  of  an  excellent 
quality  and  of  easy  access.  The  value  of  a  marsh 
of  peat  may  be  estimated  by  determining  the 
worth  of  a  cubic  yard  or  load,  or  any  given  quan- 
tity, and  calculating  the  amount  of  peat  which  is 
contained  in  the  area.  The  quantity  of  peat  in 
a  square  rod  of  surface,  and  worked  to  the  depth 
of  30  feet,  would  furnish  284  loads,  which  may  be 
considered  as  worth  50  cents  per  load.  Or,  if  we 
estimate  it  as  worth  only  half  so  much,  we  per- 
ceive that  50  or  60  acres  of  it  is  almost  invalua- 
ble, when  favorably  situated.  Even  a  small  bog 
in  the  centre  of  a  farm  might  be  employed  to  in- 
crease its  value  one-half.  There  are  four  pur- 
poses to  which  peat  may  be  applied. 

"First,  as  a  manure.  It  should  be  raised  in 
the  fall,  spread  in  the  barn-yard,  or  placed  in 
heaps  and  mixed  with  animal  matter  and  lime. 
Placed  under  these  circumstances,  it  is  exposed 
to  the  frost  and  atmospheric  agents,  which  pro- 
duce incipient  chemical  changes,  necessary  to 
convert  it  into  the  nutriment  of  plants.  This  is 
especially  the  case  when  lime  is  added  to  it,  which 
forms  a  soluble  salt,  the  geate  of  lime,  v/ith  a 
portion  of  the  vegetable  matter.  It  will  not  an- 
swer a  good  purpose  when  employed  without 
preparations." 

])r.  Emmons  might  have  added,  as  a  prepara- 
tion of  peat  or  muck — let  it  receive  the  urine  of 
cattle  in  a  barn  cellar,  or  the  night  soil  and  wash 
of  a  house,  or  combine  ashes,  instead  of  lime, 
say  two  bushels  to  a  common  cart-load,  and  it  is 
well  prepared  for  use.  Ten  or  twelve  cords  may 
be  made  thus  by  any  common  family,  yearly,  near 
the  dwelling-house. 

After  stating  the  importance  of  peat  for  fuel 
and  for  producing  gas-light,  he  adds: — "Perhaps 
it  would  be  saying  too  much  to  assert  that  peat 
is  more  valuable  than  coal ;  but  when  we  consid- 
er that  for  creating  heat,  it  is  not  very  inferior 
to  bituniinous  coal,  that  it  contains  a  gaseous 
matter  equal  in  illuminating  power  to  oil  or  coal 
gas,  that  its  production  is  equally  cheap,  and  in 
addition  to  this,  it  is  a  valuable  manure,  if  prop- 
erly prepared,  its  real  or  intrinsic  worth  cannot 
fall  far  short  of  the  poorer  kinds  of  coal." 

Dr.  ]>ana,  in  his  Muck  Manual,  has  given  the 
analysis  of  both  peat  and  cow-dung.  He  found 
more  soluble  geine  in  peat  than  in  cow  dung. 
He  says,  "The  salts  and  geine  of  a  cord  of  peat 
are  equal  to  the  manure  of  one  cow  for  three 
months."  "Departing  from  cow-dung  and  wan- 
dering through  all  the  varieties  of  animal  and 
vegetable  manures,  we  land  in  a  peat  bog.  The 
substance  under  our  feet  is  analyzed  and  found 
to  be  cow-dung,  without  its  musky  breath  of  cow 
odor,  or  the  power  of  generating  ammonia." 
"Peat  approaches  dung  moistened  with  the  liquid 
evacuations  of  the  animal." 

If  we  moisten  peat  with  the  liquid  evacuations 
of  the  animal,  its  value  is  greatly  increased.  In 
experiments  reported  to  Dr.  Dana,  by  Hon.  Wm. 
Clark,  Jr.,  of  Northampton  after  giving  the  pro- 
cess of  manuring  corn  land  with  several  kinds  of 
manure,  he  says  : — 

"The  land  was  treated  alike  in  all  respects, 
except  the  diflierent  kinds  of  manure  ;  all  of  which 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  J^ARMER. 


253 


was  spread  on  the  turned  furrow  and  harrowed 
in  before  planting.  The  corn  where  the  wood 
ashes  and  muck,  were  spread,  early  took,  prece- 
dence of  all  the  other  parcels,  and  continued  ap- 
parently much  the  best  through  the  season.  This 
manure  was  prepared  by  mixing  eight  bushels 
of  ashes  with  two  estimated  tons  of  muck." 

Within  the  limits  of  the  calcareous  mica  slate 
regions  of  Vermont,  which  with  the  limestone 
regions  on  Lake  Champlain,  &c.,  constitute  much 
more  than  half  of  the  area  of  the  state,  are  im- 
mense deposits,  or  rather  formations,  of  sphag- 
nous  muck.  In  many  instances  the  beds  of  what 
were  once  large  ponds,  are  now  filled  with  muck 
to  a  great  depth.  Many  existing  ponds  are  con- 
tracted to  one-fourth,  and  some  to  one-tenth  of 
their  former  area,  and  will  eventually  entirely 
disappear.  When  the  peat  or  muck  lies  over 
shell  marl,  as  is  the  fact  in  many  locations,  it  is 
more  valuable  for  manure  than  in  other  cases. 
Such  marl  may  be  readily  converted  to  caustic 
lime  by  placing  it  over  a  pile  of  logs  or  wood, 
and  then  burning  the  pile.  It  is  equally  valua- 
ble for  manure,  when  burnt  thus,  as  if  burnt  in 
a  kiln.  The  ponds  made  anciently  by  beavers, 
and  now  called  beaver  meadows,  (not  barren,  as 
your  types  made  me  say,)  very  often  contains  both 
marl  and  muck.  These  are  very  numerous,  and 
furnish  an  adequate  supply  to  a  large  number  of 
farms.  I  will  furnish  you  with  some  experiments, 
made  by  myself  and  others,  as  soon  as  I  may 
find  it  convenient.  Yours,  <S:c., 

Browninglon,  VL,  1859.  S.  R.  Hall. 


Mr.  Brown  : — Allow  me  to  enclose  a  copy  of 
a  line  received  from  my  friend  Wheelock,  since 
writing  the  letter  enclosing  this. 

Yours,  Szc,  s.  R.  n. 


Rev.  S.  R.  Hall: — Since  forwarding  a  hasty 
line  to  you  to-day,  and  having  read  the  article  by 
'•W.,"in  the  last  Farmer,  calling  in  question  the 
accuracy  of  your  statement,  it  has  seemed  to  me 
that  you  might  like  to  receive  an  account  of  the 
stock  I  am  wintering  at  the  present  time.  I  do 
not  now  mow  more  ground  than  when  I  made 
the  statement  to  you  some  years  ago — not  over 
thirty-five  acres.  If  any  one  doubts  whether  I 
am  wintering  stock  equal  to  forty  ordinary  cows, 
let  him  come  and  see  it.     I  have  now — 

1  yoke  of  7  foot  Oxen. 
10  Cows. 

8  Yearlings. 

8  Calves. 

3  Horses  (larpe  ) 

3  Colts,  1,  2  and  3  years  old. 
47  Slieep  cf  the  large  breed. 

One  of  my  neighbors,!  think, keeps  more  stock, 
in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  land  he  mows 
over,  than  I  do.  My  grain,  &c.,  is  about  the 
same  as  formerly.  Yours,  &c., 

JosiAH  B.  Wheelock. 

Coventry,  Vt.,  Jan.  31,  1859. 


Remarks. — If  our  intelligent  correspondent 
would  be  a  little  more  careful  in  his  chirography 
he  would  have  to  regret  less  errors.  For  in- 
Btance,  if  we  should  select  his  words  "with," 
"barren,"  and  some  others,  and  place  them  with- 
out any  connection  with  others,  we  think  it  would 
puzzle  him  to  tell  what  they  are. 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BUCKWHEAT  AND  WIRE  WORMS. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  have  long  had  it  in  contem- 
plation to  communicate  to  you  what  I  observed 
in  a  gentleman's  corn-field,  last  season,  in  the 
fore  part  of  July.  It  was  four  acres  of  Indian 
corn,  two  acres  growing  and  two  acres  trying  to 
grovv',  upon  a  piece  of  land,  all  of  which,  until 
that  year,  had  always,  as  the  owner  expressed  it, 
been  so  infested  with  wire  worms  as  to  i-ender 
the  growing  of  Indian  corn,  or  other  crops,  "a 
very  steep  up-hill  business."  But  when  I  ob- 
served it,  only  one-half  the  field  was  giving  signs 
of  the  worms,  while  the  other  half  presented  that 
beautiful  appearance  which  always  characterizes 
a  luxuriant  corn-field.  All  parts  of  the  field  had 
been  treated  alike  that  season,  but  the  year  pre- 
vious, the  part  of  the  field  presenting  a  healthy 
appearance,  had  produced  an  abundant  crop  of 
buckwheat,  no  buckwheat  having  been  sown  on 
the  other  part.  The  difference  between  the  two 
portions  of  the  field  was  very  marked — the  crop 
on  that  part  where  no  buckwheat  had  been  raised 
being  past  all  hope  of  recovery. 

Now  I  thought  the  above  facts  of  sufficient 
importance  to  excuse  me  for  a  self-introduction 
to  you,  in  my  first  newspaper  article,  knowing, 
as  I  do,  your  anxiety  to  give  any  information, 
however  remotely  benefiting  the  farming  interest. 

If  the  farmer  can  be  exterminating  so  destruc- 
tive an  enemy  to  his  thrift  as  the  wire  worm,  and 
at  the  same  time,  and  on  the  same  soil,  be  produc- 
ing a  profitable  crop,  he  surely  ought  to  know  it, 
and  know  how  to  do  it.  I  do  not  know  as  the 
buckwheat  had  anything  to  do  with  driving  off  or 
starving  out  the  worms,  but  it  certainly  looks  like 
it.  At  any  rate,  I  have  given  facts  as  I  have  seen 
them,  and  farmers  can  form  thtir  own  opinions  ; 
they  will  lose  nothing,  if  they  have  a  nest  of  wire 
worms  which  they  would  like  to  break  up,  by  ap- 
plying the  buckwheat  theory. 

'Leyden,  March  5,  1859.        David  Mowry. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
FRUIT  TREES— LIMITED  DURATION. 

The  celebrated  Thomas  Andrew  Knight,  of 
the  London  Horticultural  Society,  one  of  the  most 
scientific  cultivators  in  Europe,  whose  attention 
was  directed  to  the  unhealthy  condition  of  the 
old  varities  of  fruits,  particularly  the  apple,  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  we  could  no  longer  raise 
healthy  tree,  and  good  fruit  from  the  old  sorts. 
Professor  Lindley,  although  differing  from  Pres- 
ident Knight's  theory,  says,  "However  much  we 
may  diff'er  from  him,  no  man  living  now  before 
the  world,  can  be  said  to  rank  with  him,  in  that 
particular  branch  of  science,  to  which  his  life  was 
devoted."  Thiking  that  the  opinion  of  the  practi- 
cal Octogenary  llodgers,  on  this  theory,  would  be 
interesting  to  your  readers,  I  have  ventured  to 
transcribe  it.  He  says,  "The  Golden  Pippin  is 
one  of  the  most  esteemed  and  hardy  fruits.  There 
is,  however,  an  idea  prevalent  that  this  country 
was  about  to  lose  this  fine  fruit  forever.  In  Mr. 
Knight's  Treatise  on  Orchard  Fruit,  the  doctrine 
was  first  broached,  that  ail  our  varieties  and  sub- 
varities  of  fruits,  liave  but  a  temporary  existence. 
They  are  raised  from  seed,  flourish  for  an  uncer- 
tain number  of  years,  and  after  arriving  at  their 


254 


JNEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


maximum  of  health  and  fertility,  gradually  sink 
to  decay,  and  at  length  disappear.  Taking  this 
idea  as  a  rule,  the  Golden  Pippin  was  judged  to 
be  in  this  last  stage  of  existence  ;  and  it  was  pre- 
dicted, that  not  only  were  the  old  full-grown 
trees  to  disappear,  but  all  the  young  ones  worked 
from  them  would  perish  also. 

"These  failures,  1  think,  are  caused  by  a  careless 
choice  of  grafts, — by  working  them  on  improper 
stocks,  and  planting  them  in  old  worn-out  soils, 
instead  of  in  fresh,  well  trenched,  loamy  soil ; 
this  latter  opinion  was  the  more  feasible,  because 
there  were  many  middle-aged  trees  in  different 
parts  of  the  kingdom  which  were  in  full  vigor 
and  bearing ;  and  although  young  plants  in  old 
gardens  and  orchards  were  unthrifty,  such  as 
were  properly  planted  innewly  broken-up  ground, 
if  workeu  on  the  best  stocks,  succeeded  as  well 
as  ever.  This  being  the  opinion  of  the  author 
respecting  the  failure  of  the  Golden  Pippen,  and 
other  old  sorts,  he  gave  the  subject  his  best  con- 
sideration, and  set  about  proving  how  far  his  own 
experience  of  40  years  was  well  or  ill  founded,  and 
arrived  at  the  following  conclusion,  viz. : 

"If  the  stocks  are  raised  from  the  most  healthy 
stocks,  properly  treated,  and  Avorked  with  the 
most  healthy  moderate  sized  scions,  cut  from  the 
top  of  sound,  lieallhy  trees,  and  when  fit  for  trans- 
planting, be  placed  on  well  trenched,  light,  fresh 
loam,  having  a  dry  bottom,  they  v/ill  assuredly 
prosper.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  grafts  be  takt^n 
indiscriminately  from  any  tree  or  from  any  part 
of  a  tree,  they  will,  nine  times  out  of  twelve,  be  in 
some  respects  or  other  defective,  and  particularly, 
if  they  be  not  afterwards  planted  in  their  favorite 
soil,  where  their  wood  woidd  not  he  sufficiently 
ripened."  3.  M.  I, 

Salem,  Mass.,  1859. 


Jfi'or  the  New  Engianii  Farmer. 
HUNGARIAN  GKASS. 

In  answer  in  part  to  inquiries  frequently  made 
by  correspondents  of  the  Neiv  England  Farmer, 
in  relation  to  Hungarian  grass,  permit  me  to 
state  a  single  experiment  I  made  with  it  last  sea- 
son. My  son  in  Illinois  sent  me  a  small  parcel 
of  seed  which  he  brought  from  Iowa.  I  sowed  it 
on  rather  light,  dry  ground  in  low  condition.  I 
waited  till  midsummer,  and  not  being  able  to  see 
a  single  plant  of  the  grass,  I  raked  it  over,  and 
sowed  some  turnips  and  late  peas.  Towards  au- 
tumn, I  discovered  a  few  plants  on  the  borders 
of  the  lot  which  I  presume  was  the  Hungarian 
grass.  It  grew  ten  to  fourteen  inches  high,  with 
a  colored  head — purplish,  I  think,  full  of  seed,  a 
specimen  of  which  1  enclose  you.  Whether  the 
seed  does  not  vegetate  till  late,  like  our  wild 
millet,  that  starts  up  on  our  stuhliles  after  the 
grain  is  reaped,  or  whether  the  seed  was  picked 
up  by  a  flock  of  strange  birds,  I  saw  one  day  up- 
on it,  I  cannot  tell.  This  Hungarian  grass  did 
not  appear  to  be  much  superior  to  our  wild  mil- 
let or  barley  grass,  as  we  used  to  call  it  when  I 
was  a  boy,  only  the  heads  were  larger.  I  have 
seen  millet  growing  far  superior  to  this  grass  in 
every  respect,  and  that  would  afford  a  good  crop 
of  seed  and  fodder.  I  shall  try  it,  however, 
again,  on  better  land,  to  ascertain  what  another 
experiment  will  do.  Rurus  McIntire. 

Farsonjield,  Maine,  1859. 


J^or  the  New  England  Farmer. 
FLOWER  GARDENING. 
BY   ALBERT   STACY. 
[Read  before  the  Concord  Farmers'  Club,  March  30th,1859.] 

The  cultivation  of  flowers  is  adapted  to  per- 
sons in  every  condition  of  life.  The  high  and  the 
low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  all  can  partake  of  its 
advantages.  It  may  not  pay  in  dollars  and  cents, 
like  corn  and  potatoes,  but  it  affords  a  higher 
gratification  which  money  cannot  buy.  Some  per- 
Nons  seem  to  have  the  impression  that  the  body, 
only,  is  to  be  attended  to ;  therefore,  they  will 
slave  themselves  from  morning  till  night,  through- 
out the  year,  not  merely  to  keep  body  and  soul 
together,  but  to  pile  up  the  almighty  dollars. 
Such  persons  will  ask.  What  is  the  use  ?  Does  it 
pay  ?  Does  it  afford  meat  and  drink  ?  I  an- 
swer no,  only  to  the  mind  ;  and  such  individuals, 
having  no  great  stock,  are  certainly  in  want  of 
no  great  amount  of  food  for  it.  These  remarks 
apply  only  to  those  who  decry  the  cultivation  of 
flowers,  and  who  look  upon  the  time  employed 
upon  them  as  wasted.  Whatever  will  give  grat- 
ification to  others,  is  worth  doing.  Selfish  men 
do  not  often  cultivate  flowers.  But  the  social 
man,  who  likes  to  have  others  about  him  enjoy 
themselves,  will  appreciate  the  pleasure  which  a 
neatly  arranged  flower  garden  affords  .o  all  per- 
sons of  taste.  It  is  an  employment  equally  adap- 
ted to  ladies  and  children,  as  to  men.  Let  any 
of  our  young  ladies  employ  themselves  an  hour 
or  two  a  day  in  the  flower  garden,  and  we  should 
not  hear  of  so  many  dilapidated  and  dyspejjtic 
spinsters,  whose  principal  enjoyment  is  gossip 
and  bohea.  It  would  give  a  fiesh  bloom  to  their 
cheeks,  an  elasticity  to  their  step,  which  \rouid 
make  them  fit  companions  to  some  of  our  faint- 
hearted bachelors,  instead  of  a  drag  to  their  ex- 
istence. Downing,  in  one  of  his  essays,  says  "that 
he  has  a  neighbor  on  the  Hudson,  a  lady,  whose 
pleasure  grounds  cover  many  acres,  whose  flower 
garden  is  a  miracle  of  beauty,  and  who  keeps  six 
gardeners  at  work  all  the  season.  But  there  is 
never  a  tree  transplanted,  that  she  does  not  see 
its  roots  carefuly  handled,  not  a  walk  laid  out, 
that  she  does  not  mark  its  curves,  no  matter 
what  guests  enjoy  her  hospitality.  Several  hours 
every  day,  are  thus  spent  in  out-of-door  employ- 
ment." 

I  suppose  the  reason  why  so  many  of  our  young 
men  leave  the  farm  and  seek  employment  in  the 
cities  in  mercantile  life,  is,  that  they  have  ac- 
quired no  taste  for  farming;  and  no  person  will 
succeed  in  an  employment  which  they  do  not  like. 
If  you  can  cultivate  a  taste  for  flowers  in  the 
child,  you  will  have  a  stepping-stone,  which  will 
lead  to  something  more.  Give  him  a  small  plot 
of  ground,  show  him  how  to  plant  the  seeds,  and 
vou  will  soon  see  that  he  will  take  a  lively  inter- 
est in  the  first  appearance  of  the  flowers,  and  his 
play,  as  well  as  work,  will  be  to  take  care  of 
them ;  he  will  soon  evince  a  taste  for  cultivating 
the  smaller  garden  fruits,  such  as  strawberries, 
raspberries,  currants,  then  the  various  fruits  of 
the  orchard  will  claim  his  attention  ;  the  whole 
will  result  in  a  taste  for  farming  which  will  pre- 
vent his  roaming  away  to  seek  employment  in 
commercial  life,  at  which  so  few  succeed.  Make 
the  labor  of  the  farm  attractive,  and  you  can 
commence  in  no  surer  way  than  to  teach  a  child 


i859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


255 


the  cultivation  of  flowers.  It  can  be  done  at  lit- 
tle trouble  and  expense.  You  can  have  flower- 
beds bordering  the  walks  that  lead  to  your  house. 
Yon  can  set  out  in  them  flowering  shrubs,  like 
the  Deutzia,  Althea,  Rhododendron,  Japan  Pear, 
Spira'a,  and  the  most  beautiful  of  all,  the  Rose, 
with  its  infinite  variety  of  color  and  fragrance. 
You  can  have  flower-beds  under  your  windows, 
which,  with  a  little  care,  will  furnish  you  with 
bouquets  to  adorn  your  rooms  in  summer  ;  your 
dwellings  would  be  much  improved  by  training 
up  some  of  the  many  varieties  of  running  roses, 
and  Honeysuckles,  at  the  corners  and  up  the  pil- 
lars of  the  piazza. 

If  you  wish  a  flower  garden  on  a  little  more 
extensive  scale,  a  plot  of  ground,  which  every  far- 
mer can  spare,  100  feet  by  60,  would  be  amply 
sufficient.  Make  a  bed  4  feet  wide  round  the 
whole  of  it,  then  a  walk  3  feet  wide  ;  then  let 
your  boy  or  girl  who  has  been  at  school,  apply 
practically  their  geometrical  knowledge,  and  draw 
a  circular  bed  at  each  end,  and  an  oval  in  the 
centre,  with  a  walk  round  each  ;  border  each  bed 
with  a  narrow  strip  of  green  turf,  fill  the  walks 
with  gravel  and  roll  them  down  hard.  When  all 
this  is  accomplished,  you  will  have  a  simple  ar- 
rangment  of  a  flower  garden,  which,  if  well  done, 
will  be  attractive,  before  a  seed  or  bush  is  plant- 
ed. There  is  no  necessity  for  an  extensive  vari- 
ety ;  leave  the  rare  and  costly  plants  to  those  who 
have  money  to  buy  them.  By  a  judicious  selec- 
tion of  the  right  kinds,  you  can  have  an  abun- 
dance of  blossoms  the  whole  season.  You  will 
want,  of  course,  some  of  the  bulbous-rooted 
plants,  such  as  the  Snow  Drop,  Crocus,  Hyacinth, 
Tulip  and  Crown  Imperial.  These  ought  to  be 
planted  in  the  fall  from  2  to  4  inches  deep,  and 
they  will  be  among  the  earliest  blooming  flowers 
we  have.  As  soon  as  the  frost  is  out  in  the 
spring,  you  can  set  out  some  flowering  shrubs. 
You  will  want  the  Azalea  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful plants  ;  the  '^alycanthus,  the  flowers  of  which 
are  of  a  dark  brown  color,  and  very  fragrant,  re- 
sembling the  odor  of  ripe  melons  ;  the  Japan 
Quince,  the  flowers  bright  scarlet,  and  blooming 
in  April  ;  the  Deutzia,  which  is  a  plant  of  easy 
cultivation,  having  a  profusion  of  white  blossoms 
which  are  highly  fragrant;  the  Rhododendron, 
which  bears  an  abundance  of  rose-colored  flow- 
ers, spotted  with  yellow  or  orange  blossoms,  in 
June  or  July,  and  wants  shade  and  humidity  ;  the 
Spiraea,  of  which  there  is  a  variety,  all  beautiful ; 
the  Spira'a  prunifolia  plena  and  Reeves's  Spi- 
raea, are  two  of  the  best ;  the  Weigela  Rosea, 
which  ought  to  have  a  place  in  the  smallest  col- 
lections ;  it  blooms  in  April  and  May,  and  bears 
an  abundance  of  fine  rose  colored-flowers,  which 
hang  in  graceful  bunches,  from  the  axils  of  the 
leaves  and  ends  of  the  branches.  It  is  easily 
raised  from  cuttings,  which  strike  readily.  Dur- 
ing the  spring  months  you  will  certainly  want 
some  varieties  of  the  Rose,  the  queen  of  flowers, 
some  of  the  Moss  Roses,  some  of  the  red,  white, 
scarlet  and  yellow.  You  can  have  a  choice  from 
over  3000  varieties.  There  is  no  flower  which 
better  repays  the  cultivation  bestowed  upon  it 
than  the  rose.  The  infinite  variety,  in  color,  frag- 
rance, and  shape,  and  ease  with  which  it  is  cul- 
tivated, serve  to  render  it  worthy  of  a  place  in 
every  one's  garden.  Any  one  who  will  procure  a 
dozen  of  the  finest  varieties,  will  become  slightly 


touched  with  the  rose  fever.  In  order  to  make 
it  flourish,  the  soil  must  be  deep  and  well  drained. 
Give  it  plenty  of  manure  ;  the  richer  you  make 
the  ground  the  better.  Mr.  Rivers  recommends 
as  a  specific  stimulous,  what  he  calls  roasted  turf, 
which  is  easily  made  by  paring  sods  from  the 
road- sides,  and  half  charring  them.  It  acts  like 
magic  upon  the  little  spongiolesof  the  rose,  mak- 
ing new  buds,  and  fine  fresh  foliage  start  out  very 
speedily.  For  climbing  roses,  none  take  prece- 
dence of  the  Baltimore  Belle  and  the  Queen  of 
the  Prairies.  Downing  says,  that  "if  he  could 
have  but  one  rose,  his  choice  would  immediately 
fall  upon  the  Souvenier  de  Malmaison,  from  its 
constant  blooming  habit,  large  size,  hardiness, 
beautiful  form,  exquisite  color,  and  charming 
fragrance."  I  have  found  it,  however,  rather 
tender,  and  the  buds  liable  to  blast.  May  is  the 
most  suitable  month  for  the  general  sowing  of 
flower  seeds ;  many  varieties  do  better  to  be 
started  in  hot  beds  in  April,  and  transplanted  to 
the  border,  the  latter  part  of  May.  The  follow- 
ing varieties  of  annuals  ought  to  be  in  every  ones 
collection  :  Ambrosia,  German  Asters,  Balsam, 
Canary  bird  flowers.  Candy  Tuft,  Coreopsis,  Cy- 
press Vine,  Eschscholtzia,  Pansy,  Dwarf  Rocket 
Larkspur,  Lupins,  Mignonette,  Nasturtium,  Nem- 
ophila,  Petunia,  Drummond  Phlox,  Portulacca, 
VVall  Flowers,  Schizanthus  and  Verbena.  The 
above  mentioned  will  give  you  a  succession  of 
bloom  the  whole  sf  ason.  One  of  the  most  valu- 
able of  the  bedding-out  plants  is  the  verbena,  es- 
pecially the  scarlet  flowered.  Their  dazzling, 
brilliant  scarlet  flowers  cannot  be  exceeded  by 
any  other  plant  yet  introduced.  It  blooms  from 
May  to  November.  There  are  many  other  vari- 
eties of  every  color  and  tint,  excepting  yellow 
and  blue.  The  Asters  and  Balsams  do  much 
better  to  be  started  in  a  hot-bed  in  April,  and 
transplanted  to  the  border  in  May,  about  one 
foot  apart.  Of  the  biennials  and  perennials  you 
will  want  the  Canterbury  Bell,  the  different  vari- 
eties of  the  Pink,  the  good  old-fashioned  Holly- 
hock, Honesty,  Sweet  Williams,  Wall  Flowers, 
Larkspurs,  and  Phlox.  You  will  likewise  want 
the  Dahlia,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  perfect 
of  flowers,  sporting  in  every  variety  of  tint.  The 
Paony,  a  genus  which  contains  many  magnificent 
flowering  plants,  and  the  Dielytra  Spectabilis, 
which  Breck  says  is  "the  finest  herbaceous  per- 
ennial in  cultivation." 

But  there  is  no  end  to  the  varieties  which  a 
person  can  have,  if  so  disposed. 

I  will  conclude  by  giving  a  formula  for  a  liquid 
manure,  which  I  have  found  very  efficaceous  in 
making  plants  grow  ;  it  is  likewise  well  adapted 
to  vines  and  trees.  I  obtained  it  from  Mr.  Bull. 
Put  a  wheelbarrow  load  of  peat  into  a  half  hogs- 
head, fill  with  water,  add  two  pounds  of  potash 
to  the  mixture,  and  water  once  a  day  in  dry 
weather. 


Strength  of  Camels. — The  Galveston  Ncivs 
states  that  one  of  the  camels  in  that  city  kneeled 
down  and  received  a  load  of  five  bales  of  hay 
weighing  1,400  pounds,  which  it  raised  without 
he  least  effort,  and  walked  away  with  apparent 
ease.  In  there  native  country  the  average  load 
for  a  full  grown  camel  is  some  800  pounds,  with 
which  they  perform  long  journeys  over  deserts 
with  but  little  food  or  water. 


256 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


'^''^3^:^^i:m;yvm^'^"^^^ 


I  \ 


lii. 


KETCHUM'S  OKE-HOESE3  MOWING  MACHINE. 


The  idea  is  now  pretty  well  established  in  the 
public  mind,  that  the  mowing  machine  will  very 
generally  come  into  use,  and  that  it  deserves  to 
be  ranked  among  the  valuable  labor-saving  ma- 
chines of  the  age.  The  timid  and  conservative 
have  had  their  day  of  doubt  and  criticism  ;  but 
while  they  have  been  doubting  and  wasting  hu- 
man thews  and  sinews,  active  and  progressive 
minds  have  tested  and  re-modelled  some  of  the 
machines,  until  they  have  produced  one  which 
will  accomplish  the  work  quickly,  cheaply  and 
effectually. 

Such,  we  believe,  will  prove  the  one  illustrated 
at  the  head  of  this  article.  We  cannot  yet  speak 
of  it  with  entire  confidence,  because  nothing  short 
of  actual  field  labor,  under  several  trials,  can  in- 
spire such  confidence.  But  from  the  partial  trial 
we  have  given  it,  we  can  say  that  it  comes  nearer 
our  idea  of  what  a  mowing  machine  ought  to  be, 
than  any  we  have  yet  seen. 

We  shall  continue  our  tests  of  the  machine  in 
the  earliest  grass  we  can  find,  and  content  our- 
selves for  the  present,  in  showing  the  reader  what 
the  proprietors  of  the  machine  think  they  have 
accomplished. 

After  repeated  and  long-continued  experi- 
ments in  the  field  and  manufactory,  the  proprie- 
tors have  succeeded  in  producing  a  one-horse 
mowing  machine,  which  for  simplicity  c'  con- 


struction, lightness  of  draft,  ease  of  operation 
and  the  low  price  at  which  it  is  sold,  must  recom- 
mend itself  to  every  New  England  farmer. 

The  machine  is  so  constructed  as  to  combine 
great  strength  and  durability  with  the  smallest 
possible  weight ;  the  cutters  are  so  formed  as  to 
prevent  entirely  the  liability  to  clog,  so  trouble- 
some in  some  machines ;  it  may  be  stopped  and 
started  in  wet  or  lodged  grass,  without  backing; 
the  seat  is  conveniently  placed,  so  that  the  ope- 
rator can  ride  with  perfect  ease  to  himself  and 
the  horse  ;  it  has  a  wheel  and  lever  attached,  by 
which  the  operator  can  instantly  raise  the  cutter- 
bar  six  or  eight  inches,  to  pass  over  a  stone  or 
other  obstruction,  and  while  raised,  the  machine 
may  be  drawn  to  and  from  the  field,  &c.  The 
cutter- bar  being  always  on  a  line  with  the  axis 
of  the  driving-wheel,  this  machine  operates  well 
on  rough  or  uneven  ground,  where  other  ma- 
chines cannot  mow.  A  very  important  improve- 
ment in  this  machine,  is  that  it  can  be  instantly 
thrown  out  of  or  into  gear,  by  means  of  a  short 
lever,  which  can  be  operated  with  ease  by  the 
driver  on  the  seat.  The  machine  is  constructed 
entirely  of  iron,  and  its  parts  so  adjusted  and 
guarded  against  accidents,  that  it  requires  but 
little  mnre  attention  to  keep  it  in  working  order 
than  the  common  scythe. 

For  full  particulars  of  the  form,  construction 
and  mode  of  management  of  the  machine,  see 
advertisement  in  another  column.  The  price  of 
the  one-horse  machine  is  $75,  and  the  two-horse 
'^bout  $100. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


257 


PEAR  TB.EES, 

Why  is  it  that  the  pear  tree  does  not  flourish 
in  every  locality? 

This  question  is  often  asked.  It  has  been  at- 
tributed by  some  to  their  situation  or  proximity 
to  the  ocean ;  and  among  others,  by  Downing. 
This  theory  he  could  not  sustain,  and  hence,  a 
few  years  after,  he  rescinded  it,  and  remarked, 
that  "a  larger  observation  of  the  effects  of  the 
composition  of  soils,  convinced  us,  that  much  of 
what  we  attributed  to  climate,  was  simply  to  a 
want  of  inorganic,  or  mineral  manures  in  the 
soil."  We  apprehend  that  the  want  of  proper 
soil  in  the  first  place,  and  the  method  of  apply- 
ing so  much  animal  manure,  not  composted,  in 
the  second,  to  be  frequently  the  difficulty  in  cul- 
tivating the  pear  tree.  Regarding  the  proper 
dressing  of  land  for  fruit  trees,  our  design  is  to 
follow  nature  in  her  modes  of  enriching  the  soil, 
or  in  other  words,  to  use  vegetable  and  mineral 
manure  more  generally  in  the  application  of 
leaves  in  compost  with  wood  ashes,  and  peat  and 
shell  lime. 

Another  objection  we  should  have,  to  the  use 
of  unfermented  animal  manure,  is,  that  it  stimu- 
lates, and  as  a  consequence  of  this  over-supply 
or  forcing,  induces  a  sort  of  plethora,  or  tender- 
ness in  the  tree,  from  a  too  rapid  and  forced 
growth  ;  hence  we  prefer  to  see  a  moderate  and 
regular  growth.  We  believe  that  good  pasture 
land  is  better  fitted  for  fruit  trees,  than  that 
which  has  been  long  under  the  plow,  because  it 
is  not  exhausted  of  that  decomposed  vegetable 
and  mineral  matter,  which  is  fitted  to  be  the  food 
of  trees  ;  the  wood  also  ripening  better.  We 
have  long  observed  that  young  trees,  particular- 
ly the  cherry,  if  making  a  great  growth  in  the 
summer,  was  extremely  apt  to  die  out  in  the  fol- 
lowing winter,  owing,  undoubtedly,  to  its  succu- 
lent grovyth,  and  want  of  ripeness  in  the  new 
wood. 


the  plaster,  and  render  it  less  efficacious  as  a  fer- 
tilizer? Will  it  have  the  power  to  fix  the  am- 
monia of  the  urine  ? 

Every  farmer,  who  has  an  iron  boiler,  may 
calcine  his  own  plaster  at  a  trifling  expense  ;  and 
if  it  will  absorb  four  times  the  amount  of  urine, 
and  retain  the  ammonia,  I  think  it  must  make 
a  very  powerful  fertilizer,  especially  if  the  urine 
is  allowed  to  become  putrid  before  mixing. 

Framinyltam,  March  15,  1859.  e. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
A  XEW  AND  USEFUL  FEKTILIZEK. 
I  have  used,  for  several  years  a  mixture  of  plas- 
ter and  urine,  at  planting,  to   give   corn   a  start. 
1   first    saturate    the    plaster    with   urine,    then 


Remakks. — We  do  not  learn,  upon  inquiry, 
that  any  advantage  will  be  derived  from  the 
plaster  for  the  purposes  you  speak  of,  by  cal- 
cining it.  That  process  will  cost  something,  and 
that  cost  had  better  be  expended  in  the  purchase 
of  more  plaster. 

FoT  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TRAjSTSPL ANTING  TRESS. 

The  supporting  of  trees  after  setting  is  a  more 
important  operation  than  it  is  generally  consid- 
ered. There  are  many  methods  or  ways  in  which 
this  is  done  ;  sometimes  by  pegs  driven  into  the 
ground  from  which  ropes  are  fastened  and  car- 
ried to  the  tree,  but  more  generally  by  poles 
set  against  them  in  a  triangular  form.  When 
newly-transplanted  trees  are  swayed  about  by 
strong  winds,  the  formation  of  new  roots  is  pre- 
vented, or  often  destroyed,  and  cavities  formed 
at  the  base,  admitting  too  much  air,  v/hich  de- 
ranges the  roots.  The  best  plan  for  supporting 
a  newly-set  tree  is  the  following : 

After  digging  the  holes  to  their  proper  depth 
and  circumference,  I  then  with  a  crow-bar  make 
a  hole  in  *^he  centre  of  the  place  to  receive  the 
tree,  into  which  I  insert  firmly  a  short  pole  or 
stake,  that  shall  at  the  other  end  reach  nearly  to 
the  branches.  I  then  place  the  tree  along  its 
extent ;  and  then  with  a  wisp  or  collar  of  some 
soft  material,  such  as  straw,  moss,  or  sea-weed, 
bind  it  around  the  point  of  pressure,  and  tie  it 
firmly.  This  plan  of  setting  maintains  the  per- 
pendicular position  of  the  tree,  and  I  commend 
it  to  those  setting  out  either  fruit  or  ornamental 
trees.  For  the  latter  I  consider  it  admirably 
adapted,  as  trees  in  our  cities  and  towns  are  so 
often  destroyed  by  being  swayed  about  by  boys, 
and  sometimes  by  the  horns  of  cattle. 

Salem,  April,  1859.  j.  m.  I. 


Steeps  for  Seeds. — The  above  subject  has 
for  a  long  time  engaged  the  attention  of  many 
spread  upon  a  tight  floor,  stir  and  turn  with  I  experimenters,  and  with  various  results.  Strong 
a  hoe  occasionally,  and,  when  dry,  pulverize.  I 'solutions  of  any  of  the  well-kno^¥n  materials 
have  sometimes  mixed  dry  plaster  with  the  mass,  used,  are  apt  to  injure  the  germs  of  seeds,  while 
without  v/aiting  for  it  entirely  to  dry,  before  pul-:  weaker  solutions,  being  held  by  the  spongy  coat- 
verizing.  In  this  case  more  should  be  used  in  a  ings,  frequently  not  only  secure  earlier  germina- 
hill.  About  a  great  spoonful  (heaped,)  to  a  hill,  'tions,  but  by  a' timely  supply  of  necessary  pabu- 
of  the  strongly  saturated  mass  gives  the  corn  ajlum,  secure  vigorous  plants,  which,  as  a  necessi- 
fine  start.  It  should  be  scattered  in  the  hill,  andjty  of  proper  conditions  in  their  early  stages  of 
not  lie  in  a  heap  on  the  corn,  as  that  would  in-  growth,  yield  larger  returns.  Among  the  mate- 
jure,  and  sometimes  entirely  prevent  the  growth,  j  rials  used  we  would  enumerate  the  following: — 
A  friend  suggests,  that,  as  caZcniec?  plaster  has  Saltpetre,  Sulphate  of  Ammonia,  Carbonate  of 
several  times  the  absorbing  power  that  the  un-iSoda,  Soluble  Phosphate  of  Lime,  etc.  We 
calcined  has,  it  wonui  be  far  better  to  mix  with  should  be  glad  to  learn  from  those  who  have 
urine.  How  is  this?  Will  not  the  calcining  used  steeps,  what  has  been  their  success.— IFor/c- 
process  expel  some  of  the  valuable  properties  ouing  Farmer. 


258 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


For  the  New  Eriffiand  Farmer. 
PRUNING  APPIjE    TREES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  just  been  reading  the 
remarks  of  Mr.  Putnam,  and  the  editorial  on 
this  subject.  I  have  given  considerable  attention 
to  it,  and  differ  somewhat  from  yourself  in  the 
time  of  pruning,  as  a  matter  of  convenience.  I 
think  there  are  weighty  objections  against  prun- 
ing in  June  or  July.  AVhile  the  fruit  and  foliage 
are  on  the  trees,  it  would  make  tearing  work  to 
pull  out  a  limb  after  it  was  cut  off ;  I  think  it 
would  damage  the  young  fruit  it  must  necessari- 
ly touch.  Another  difficulty  would  be  in  drop- 
ping the  branches  upon  the  grass  or  vegetables 
that  may  be  under  the  trees  ;  and  still  another  in 
going  around  with  a  cart  to  collect  the  brush. 
Then,  again,  in  June  and  July  we  are  too  fully 
employed  in  keeping  down  the  weeds,  or  picking 
the  early  fruits,  and  in  haying,  to  spare  the  time. 
Such  has  been  my  experience  in  a  long  course  of 
extensive  farming  operations,  and  are  sufficient 
reasons  to  deter  me,  and  I  think  most  people, 
from  pruning  at  that  time. 

I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  winter 
is  the  best  time,  and  we  usually  have  comforta- 
bly weather  enough  between  the  falling  of  the 
leaves  in  autumn,  and  the  first  of  March,  to  ac- 
complish this  work.  Is  not  this  the  season  for 
trimming  grape  vines  ?  I  sometimes  prune  after 
the  first  of  March,  in  which  case  I  would  recom- 
mend that  all  limbs  above  one  and  a  half  inches 
in  diameter  be  cut,  say  one  foot  from  the  trunk  ; 
then  in  June  go  round  with  a  sharp  saw  and  cut 
the  stubs  very  smooth,  and  pare  the  edges  with 
a  sharp  knife,  and  perhaps  paint  a  little  ;  but  I 
do  not  like  oil  on  trees.      Otis  Withington. 

BrooJdine,  Mass.,  March,  1859. 


Remarks. — An  orchard  that  has  been  proper- 
ly tended,  requires  no  operation  that  will  injuie 
the  fruit,  tree,  crops  under  it,  or  ox  teams  to  car- 
ry off  the  lim.bs  ;  and  an  orchard  that  needs  a  se- 
vere pruning  of  large  limbs,  certainly  ought  to 
have  it  done  at  the  proper  season  of  the  year, 
even  at  the  expense  of  inconvenience,  and  all  the 
other  objections  urged.  November  pruning  will 
answer  very  well,  but  June  is  better.  Where  a 
person  raises  an  orchard  himself,  he  ought  to  be 
able  to  do  all  the  pruning  in  it  necessary  ivitJi,  a 
common  pocket  knife,  except  in  cases  of  accident 
to  the  tree  by  wind  or  otherwise. 


CROCODILES. 


After  burying  the  eggs  in  the  soil,  there  to  bfi 
matured  by  the  sun,  the  female  visits,  from  time 
to  time,  the  place  in  which  they  are  secreted,  and 
just  as  the  period  of  hatching  is  completed,  ex- 
hibits her  eagerness  for  her  offspring  in  the  anxie 
ty  with  which  she  comes  and  goes,  walks  around 
the  nest  of  her  hopes,  scratches  the  fractured 
shell,  and,  by  signs  which  resemble  the  bark  of  a 
dog,  excites  the  half-extricated  young  to  struggle 
forth  into  life.  When  she  has  beheld,  with  this 
sort  of  joy,  fear  and  anxiety,  the  last  of  her  off- 
spring quit  its  broken  casement,  she  leads  them 
forth  into  the  plashy  pools  away  from  the  river 


and  among  the  thick  underwood,  to  avoid  the 
predantory  visits  of  the  father,  whose  palate  de- 
lights in  nothing  more  than  the  flavor  of  his  own 
young,  which  he  eats  remorselessly  on  every  op- 
portunity. In  this  season  of  care  and  watchful- 
ness over  them,  she  is  ferocious,  daring,  and  mo- 
rose, guarding  with  inquietude  her  young,  when- 
ever they  wander.  She  turns  when  they  turn, 
and  by  whining  and  grunting,  shows  a  peculiar 
solicitude  to  keep  them  in  such  pools  only  as  are 
much  too  shallow  for  the  resort  of  the  full-grown 
reptile. 

EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

PRUNING   AND   TAP   ROOT. 

I  have  read  the  remarks  of  "J.  M.  I.,"  on  the 
trimming  of  trees,  the  circulation  of  sap,  and  the 
agency  of  leaves,  &c.  &c.,  but  have  failed  to  learn 
from  him,  with  any  precision,  the  proper  time 
and  manner  to  trim  the  limbs  from  apple  trees; 
if  ever  this  should  be  done.  I  am  free  to  confess 
that  I  have  little  faith  in  the  trimming  process, 
as  ordinarily  performed.  The  handsomest  and 
most  productive  apple  trees  I  have  ever  seen, 
have  grown  up  among  the  roclss,  with  very  little 
modification  from  the  hand  of  man.  I  should-as 
soon  think  of  pricking  the  veins  of  a  child,  when 
in  full  health,  to  make  him  grow,  as  to  cut  off  the 
limbs  of  a  tree  to  promote  its  growth.  Any 
wounds  to  either  are  unnatural,  and  cause  an  ex- 
traordinary effort  in  nature  to  counteract  them  ; 
therefore,  I  disapprove  entirely  the  cutting  of 
the  tap  root  of  young  trees,  when  setting  them  in 
a  nursery,  in  order  that  the  roots  may  spread 
more  extensively  on  the  surface,  and  be  the  more 
readily  taken  up,  when  wanted  for  the  orchard. 
Nature,  in  starting  the  tap  root  down  below  the 
surface,  designed  it  for  the  support  of  the  tree, 
and  whoever  would  have  his  orchard  perfect, 
should  be  cautious  about  interfering  with  its  nat- 
ural supports.  *. 

March  21,  1859.         _ 

AGRICULTURAL   KNOWLEDGE. 

I  have  recently  been  perusing  the  "Transac- 
tions of  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  Promot- 
ing Agriculture,"  and  I  find  that  from  its  foun- 
dation it  was  zealous  in  getting  agricultural 
knowledge  in  some  form  before  the  people  ;  they 
resorted  to  such  expedients  as  were  available, 
which  were  widely  different  from  the  manner  of 
disseminating  such  matter  now.  If  that  interest 
were  taken  in  the  difl'usion  of  agricultural  knowl- 
edge at  the  present  time,  that  there  was  former- 
ly, would  it  not  materially  change  the  aspect  of 
many  rural  homes  ? 

It  may  be  said,  we  have  a  large  number  of  va- 
rious agricultural  works  and  newspapers  ;  this  is 
all  very  well,  but  it  does  not  suffice.  We  want 
a  system  by  which  the  community  may  be  drawn 
together  to  have  a  talk  or  hear  occasionally  a 
lecture  on  agriculture.  Such  gatherings  and  dis- 
cussions would  produce  the  most  beneficial  re- 
sults. J. 

Winchester,  1859.       

PORTABLE   IRON   GRIST   MILL. 
Subscriber,  Orwell,  \t.,  will  find  who  sells  this 
mill  by  looking  at  the  advertising  columns  of 
the  weekly  Farmer. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


259 


WHAT    IS    GRASS. 

Noah  Webster,  the  highest  authority  we  have, 
(Ed.  1844,  at  New  York,)  says  it  is,  in  common 
usage,  herbage,  the  plants  which  constitute  the 
food  of  cattle  and  other  beasts — the  plants  from 
which  hay  is  made,  such  as  herdsgrass,  red-top, 
clover,  and  many  other  species — all  which  are 
included  in  the  family  of  the  grasses."  But  an- 
other W.,  wiser  than  old  Noah  W.,  has  recently 
grown  up,  and  says  "clover  is  not  a  grass."  (See 
Boston  Courier  of  Tuesday,  March  22.)  Who 
shall  decide  when  doctors  disagree  ?  I  say,  let 
farmers  themselves  decide.  Ask  any  twelve  you 
meet,  and  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  eleven  of 
them  will  promptly  say  that  clover  is  a  grass — 
ask  the  learned  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agri- 
culture, and  he  will  tell  you  that  clover  is  a 
grass,  for  he  has  already  said  that  in  print.  This 
hypercritical  quibbling,  of  persons  who  know 
much  less  than  they  think  they  do,  is  vexatious 
and  annoying  to  practical  men.  *  *. 

ALEXANDRIAN   CLOVER. 

I  have  received  a  package  of  seeds  from  the 
Patent  Office,  and  among  them  is  one  marked 
"Alexandrian  Clover,  Trifolinm  Alexandrinuni, 
(from  Egypt.)     Sow  early  in  the  spring." 

My  query  is,  whether  it  is  a  flowering  plant 
designed  for  garden  culture,  or  should  it  be 
sown  broad-cast  for  seeding  down  ground  like 
our  common  clover?  j. 

Winchester,  1859. 

Remarks.  —  The  Alexandrian  clover  is  de. 
scrib  id  in  the  books  as  one  of  the  forage  plants. 

lands   in   MAINE. 

Good  arable  lands  can  be  purchased  in  Frank- 
lin county,  Maine,  for  five  or  six  dollars  per  acre, 
where  farming  produce  can  be  raised  in  abun- 
dance. I  advise  people  to  go  there,  instead  of 
the  West.  J.  B.  Johnson. 

Salem,  N.  H.,  1859. 

TO    CURE   SPRING  KNEES   IN   HORSES. 

In  a  past  number  of  the  New  England  Farmer, 
I  noticed  an  inquiry,  as  to  what  would  cure  a 
horse  having  sprung  knees.  I  had  a  horse  about 
two  years  ago,  whose  knees  were  very  badly 
sprung,  and  I  cured  him  in  a  few  weeks  by  using 
"Dr.  Streeter's  Magnetic  Liniment."  I  would  re- 
commend it  in  other  cases  of  the  kind. 

James  S.  Thompson. 

Kingston,  Mass,  1859. 

TO   CURE   WARTS   ON   CATTLE. 

Dissolve  potash  to  a  paste,  cover  the  wart  with 
it  for  half  an  hour,  then  wash  it  off  with  vinegar. 
The  cure  is  sure  for  man  or  beast.  A.  Briggs. 

Deerfield,  Mass.,  1859. 

HOW  TO   HULL   CORN. 

Place  &  strong  bag  with  three  pints  of  wood 
ashes  in  it,  in  a  boiler  with  three  quarts  of  corn, 
in  water.  Boil  until  the  hulls  will  slip  off  by 
rubbing  them  with  the  hand.  When  rinsed,  boil 
the  corn  again  in  fair  water  till  it  is  sufficiently 
Boft.  Asa  Benfield. 

Centre  Broolc,  1859. 


TARRING   APPLE   TREES. 
I  am  tarring  my  apple  trees  to  prevent  the  can- 
ker worm  from  ascending.     Can  I  mix  any  thing 
with   the  tar  to  prevent  it  from  becoming  hard 
too  soon  ? 

Is  tarring  the  cheapest  and  most  effectual  way 
of  preventing  the  canker  worm  ? 

A  Son  of  Pomology. 
Westford,  April,  1859. 

IIOAV   TO   hull   corn. 

A  good  housewife,  who  has  often  read  and 
acted  upon  the  receipts  in  the  "Ladies'  Depart- 
ment" in  your  well  conducted  monthly,  has  often 
asked  me,  "What  is  the  best  way  to  hull  corn  for 
family  use  ?"  Can  you  give  her  the  informa- 
tion ?  Subscriber. 

Quincy,  March  12,  1859. 

Remarks. — Some  obliging  lady  will  undoi.bt- 
edly  tell  us.  

PLANT  PURE  POTATOES. 
Plant  potatoes  that  are  not  specked  with  rot, 
or  any  disease,  and  my  word  for  it,  you  will  have 
good,  sound  potatoes;  this  is  no  fiction,  for  I 
have  raised  them  for  two  years  past,  and  had  on 
old  or  new  land  sound  potatoes. 


TOBACCO. 

Where  can  I   find   a   practical  work  0!i   to- 
bacco ?  B.  B. 
Middletoivn,  Ct. 

Remarks. — Do  not  know.     We  hope  not  any- 
where. 


EXPEBIMBNTAL  FARMS. 
Much  responsibility  rests  on  those  who  under- 
take the  direction  of  one  of  these  establishments. 
We  are  glad  to  learn  that  our  neighbors  of  Es- 
sex have  already  taken  the  bull  by  the  horns, 
and  appointed  a  committee  of  their  experienced 
citizens  to  shape  affairs  on  their  Society's  farm 
in  Topsfield.  We  learn  Messrs.  Fay,  Merriam, 
Loring,  AYilHams  and  Dodge  are  planning  for 
the  use  of  their  farm.  We  have  confidence  that 
these  gentlemen  will  venture  upon  no  plans  of 
operation  that  will  not  be  practically  useful.  Mr. 
Brown,  the  working  man  on  the  farm,  is  young, 
energetic  and  ambitious.  He  is  already  favored 
with  a  contract,  that  will  enable  him  to  use  his 
produce  at  home,  thereby  bringing  it  to  a  good 
market,  and  increasing  his  means  of  fertilizing 
his  grounds.  The  employers  are  ambitious  of 
improving  the  appearance  and  conveniences  of 
the  farm.  It  is  so  centrally  situate,  that  it  prob- 
ably will,  ere  long,  be  made  the  focus  of  all  the 
society's  operations.  As  was  once  said  by  the 
renowned  blacksmith  of  Hinsdale  to  Mr.  Web- 
ster, when  he  was  about  to  address  his  fellow- 
citizens  at  Worcester  at  a  political  meeting,  fa- 
miliarly slapping  him  upon  the  shoulder,  "^Nluch 
is  expected  of  you,  Daniel,  to-day."  So  say  we 
of  our  friends  in  Essex. 


260 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

HIGH  FARMING — PROF.  MAPES'S  FARM 
—SUPERPHOSPHATE. 

BY   JUDGE   FRENCH. 

Not  many  weeks  ago,  we  published  a  pretty 
careful  criticism  upon  the  farming  operations  of 
Mr.  Sheriff  Mechi,  of  Tiptree  Hall,  England,  one 
of  the  highest  farmers  of  that  country,  and  our 
conclusions  were,  that  although  Mr.  Sheriff  Mechi 
might  make  money  in  England  by  underlaying 
170  acres  of  poor  land  with  iron  pipes,  and  pump- 
ing through  them  all  his  manure  with  a  steam- 
engine  ;  by  underdraining  five  feet  deep,  and 
doing  other  things  accordingly,  yet  that  his  own 
statement  showed  that  with  American  prices  for 
the  labor  he  charged,  and  American  prices  for 
the  crops  he  credited,  he  would  run  his  farm  ru- 
inously in  debt.  His  success,  we  said,  results 
through  the  low  price  of  labor  mainly,  the  price 
there  being  but  about  half  our  New  England 
prices. 

In  the  New  York  weekly  Tribune  of  March 
26,  1859,  is  an  account  of  the  farm  of  Prof. 
Mapes,  near  Newark,  New  Jersey.  The  account 
is  very  interesting  to  farmers,  because  of  its  en- 
couraging results.  The  farm  contains  121.^  acres, 
and  the  statement  shows  that  the  expenses  upon 
it  for  the  year  1858  were  $3,152  60,  and  the  in- 
come from  it  was  $11,027  88,  leaving  a  nett 
profit  of  $8,475  28,  after  paying  all  expenses  and 
a  fair  rent  for  the  land!  Only  33:i  acres  of  the 
farm  was  in  cultivated  crops,  the  rest  being 
grass  and  woods.  The  account  below  gives  the 
items  of  income  and  expenses,  with  a  balance 
which  may  challenge  competition  on  either  side 
of  the  water. 

Having  some  acquaintance  with  Prof.  Mapes, 
having  seen  his  farm,  though  not  in  the  grow- 
ing season,  and  having  met  his  foreman,  Mr. 
Quin,  both  on  and  off  the  farm,  and  talked  with 
him  about  the  farm  operations,  we  feel  some 
confidence  in  our  ability  to  form  a  correct  opin- 
ion of  this  statement. 

That  the  professor  is  a  man  of  great  scientific 
knowledge  of  agriculture,  and  of  wonderful  tact 
in  his  application  of  science  to  the  culture  of 
his  crops,  everybody  who  sees  him  and  his  farm 
will  at  once  admit.  He  understands  the  theo- 
ries of  farming,  and  his  farm  shows  that  he 
makes  his  knowledge  practical.  He  raises  the 
very  crops  that  pay  the  best  in  his  market,  and 
he  gets  the  largest  crops  and  the  highest  prices. 
His  farm  is  not  indeed,  a  regular /"«/■?«,  but  rath- 
er a  market  garden,  a  nursery,  a  seed  establish- 
ment, and  a  fruit  garden. 

Yet  these  are  departments  open  to  many  of 
us,  and  why  cannot  we  make  profit  of  them  as 
well  as  he  ?  To  be  sure,  we  cannot  expect  to 
get  eigJit  and  twelve  dollars  per  hundred  for  pears, 


if  we  could  raise  them  in  any  great  quantities, 
but  our  impression  is,  that  nobody  can  show  in 
this  country  better  dwarf  pear  trees  than  Prof. 
Mapes. 

He  is  the  inventor  of  Mapes'  Superphosphate 
of  Lime,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  his  rivals  in 
patent  manures  should  detract  from  him  and  his 
successful  farming. 

Five  thousand  tons  of  this  manure  have,  some 
seasons,  been  manufactured  at  the  works  in  which 
he  is  largely  interested,  near  his  place.  His  farm 
is  manured  almost  exclusively,  with  this  prepa- 
ration, and  acres  were  pointed  out  to  us,  on 
which  were  the  finest  fruit  trees,  and  beds  of 
strawberries,  besides  the  ordinary  crops,  which 
had  received,  for  many  years,  no  other  manure. 

The  professor  stated,  in  our  hearing,  at  the 
New  York  Farmers'  Club,  that  stable  manure 
could  not  be  sold  in  his  neighborhood  for  .$1,50 
a  cord,  to  be  hauled  one  mile,  because  the  su- 
perphosphate is  cheaper,  and  his  neighbors  who 
were  present,  suggested  no  doubt  of  his  correct- 
ness. Yet,  at  Exeter,  it  costs  us  $5,00  a  cord, 
besides  hauling,  and  this  is  probably  an  average 
price  in  the  larger  towns  in  New  England. 

After  all  our  bids,  and  yets,  and  apologies  for 
Prof.  Mapes's  astonishing  profits,  there  is  a  large 
balance  of  credit  to  be  divided  between  his  mode 
of  culture  and  his  superphosphate.  "How  does 
he  get  so  large  crops  at  so  little  cost  ?"  is  the 
question.  His  explanation  is  found  in  three 
points, — thorough  drainage,  deep  and  fine  cul- 
ture, and  the  use  of  superphosphate. 

He  underdrains  with  tiles  from  four  to  five 
feet  deep  ;  he  subsoils  eighteen  or  twenty  inches 
deep,  and  works  his  root  and  hoed  crops  con- 
stantly in  summer,  with  a  little  subsoiler  drawn 
by  one  mule,  and  with  the  horse-hoe  ;  and  he  ap- 
plies to  every  acre,  at  the  start,  600  pounds  of 
superphosphate  and  a  less  quantity  in  after  years, 
according  to  the  crop.  That  this  manure  does 
wonders  on  his  farm  is  not  to  be  doubted.  We 
have  ourselves  tried  it  several  years,  and  always 
with  favoi'able  results,  some  of  which  have  been 
published.  We  propose  to  continue  our  exper- 
iments the  present  year  with  one  ton  of  the  ni- 
trogenized  superphosphate  now  on  hand. 

And  a  word  by  the  way  upon  this  subject  may 
not  be  amiss.  We  do  not  believe  that  farmers 
should  in  general  purchase  their  manure,  unless 
they  are  selling  their  crops.  If  they  are,  they 
must  replace  them  by  bringing  on  to  the  land 
the  elements  of  fertility  which  they  have  carried 
away.  This  can  only  be  done  by  buying  some  or 
other  of  these  fertilizers.  Superphosphate  of 
lime  is  admitted  everwhere  to  be,  excepting  gu- 
ano, the  very  best  of  fertilizers,  and  guano  is 
difficult  to  apply  properly,  and  is  not  adapted  to 
all  crops.     The  best  farmers  in  England  buy  im- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


261 


mense  quantities  of  superphosphates  for  their 
root  crops  in  particular,  and  many  of  our  farmers 
use  it  upon  their  potatoes  and  corn.  Prof.  Mapes 
has  no  secret  as  to  his  mode  of  manufacture,  but 
publishes  it  as  follows  : 

"The  Improved  Superphosphate  of  Lime  was 
first  invented,  and  was  composed  of  100  pounds 
of  bone-dust  dissolved  in  56  pounds  of  sulphu- 
ric acid,  to  which  was  added  36  pounds  of  Peru- 
vian guano  and  20  pounds  of  sulphate  of  ammo- 
nia ;  100  pounds  of  this  mixture  were  found  to 
be  equal  in  application,  both  in  power  and  last- 
ing quality,  to  185  pounds  of  the  best  Peruvian 
guano. 

The  Nitrogenized  Superphosphate,  which  is 
found  to  be  practically  superior  to  the  Improved 
Superphosphate,  is  composed  of  equal  weights 
of  improved  superphosphate  and  dried  blood 
ground." 

Probably  any  chemist  in  the  country  will  pro- 
nounce a  fertilizer  consisting  of  the  above  ele- 
ments, valuable  for  almost  all  cultivated  crops, 
and  we  trust  our  farmers,  in  their  progress  in  ag- 
riculture, will  not  forget  that  there  are  manures 
besides  what  are  found  in  their  barn  cellars — 
manures  which  contain  no  seeds  of  weeds,  which 
are  light  of  freight  and  cheap  of  application.  In 
a  garden  of  vegetables,  we  should  hardly  know 
how  to  raise  our  crops,  without  a  bag  of  super- 
phosphate at  hand.  A  cabbage  will  fatten  on  it, 
like  a  pig  on  corn  meal,  and  a  cauliflower  will  head 
two  weeks  sooner,  by  the  application  of  an  ounce 
of  it,  at  the  time  of  transplanting.  We  have  tried 
every  variety  of  fertilizer,  and  have  more  faith  in 
Mapes's  Superphosphate  than  in  any  other  man- 
ufactured article  of  the  kind. 

We  give  the  statement  from  the  Tribune,  as  to 
Prof.  Mapes's  farm.  Can  any  man  show  a  bet- 
ter one  ?     Does  farming  pay,  or  does  it  not  ? 

"The  following  excerpt  from  the  farm  book  of 
Mr.  Patrick  T.  Quinn,  the  manager  of  the  farm, 
which  has  been  duly  certified  to  by  him  as  cor- 
rect, will  show  the  actual  sales  and  expenses  of 
the  last  year  : 

Sales  from  April  1,  1858,  to  April  1,  1859,  Inclusive 

Timothy  Hay,  50  tons $750  00 

Salt  Hay,  SeJge  and  Black  Grass,  91  tons 5G4  20 

Asparagus 40  00 

Beete,  500  bushels  (some  sold  by  the  bunch). 250  00 

Greens  (Spinach,  Sprouts,  &c.) 108  00 

Cabbage,  early  and  late  cauliflower 675  00 

Kohl  Rabi 19  50 

Carrots,  900  bushels  at  43c 391  30 

Celery 195  20 

Corn,  shelled,  650  bushels  at  85c 467  50 

Corn,  sweet 60  00 

Egg  Plants 51  00 

Lettuce 120  00 

Melons 43  50 

Onions 149  20 

Parsnips,  250  bushels  at  37|c 93  75 

Pepiiers 6  00 

Squashes 55  00 

Rhubarb 310  00 

Radishes 65  00 

Salsify,  (Oyster  plant) 25  00 

Tomatoes 45  00 

Turnips,  1.200  bushels,  at  35c 420  00 

Potatoes,  (mostly  sold  for  seed.)  700  bushels, 

at  f  1 700  00 

Seeds,  (all  kinds) 2,520  18 


Hot-bed  and  cold  frames 315  17 

Rhubarb  Plants,  Grape  Vines,  Raspberry, 
Blackberry,  Currants  and  Strawberry 
Plants 1,017  00 

Grap-S,     Strawberries,     Raspberries     and 

Blackberries 375  00 

Pears,  sales— 1S57—S805  (  ,  <,i„  -,, 

1808—496  (  *^*'"*8^  sales.... 610  40 

Fruit  Wines  on  hand 470  00 

Corn  Fodder— soyho  stalks  and  ereen  rye 240  00 

Hogs,  milk  and  butter ^. 386  00 

Two  choice  calves 50  00 

Total gn  ,627  83 

Expenses. 
Eight  workmen,  eight  months,  at  $20.... $1,280  00 

Five  workmen,  four  months,  at  $20 400  00 

19,825  lbs.  Superpliofphate  of  Lime,at  2C....396  50 

Rent  for  53,1  acre?,  at  $8 426  00 

Rent  for  52  acres,  salt  grass,  at  $1,25 65  00 

Taxes 31  50 

Wear  and  tear  of  Tools loo  00 

Use  of  team,  at  $3  per  day 453  60 

Total $3,152  60 

Total  receipts $ii  ,627  83 

Deduct  expenses 3,152  60 

Net  profits  $8,475  28 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
MASSACHUSETTS  APPLES. 

The  apple  is  more  emphatically  the  farmer's 
fruit  than  the  pear.  They  can  be  raised  Avith 
more  certainty  of  a  crop,  particularly  if  here  in 
Massachusetts  we  pay  more  attention  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  those  sorts  which  are  indigenous,  or 
have  been  raised  on  our  soils ;  for  however 
strange  it  may  appear,  I  have,  for  many  years, 
observed,  that  the  best  apples  in  our  markets 
have  been  those  sorts  which  were  first  produced 
in  our  region.  In  a  report  to  the  Essex  Agri- 
cultural Society  some  years  since,  I  made  the 
above  statement,  which  was  afterwards  corrobo- 
rated by  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who,  in  an  article 
on  the  culture  of  the  apple,  remarked,  th«t  the 
best  apples  in  the  West  wei'e  those  varieties 
which  originated  in  the  "Great  Valley  of  the 
West."  With  us  the  Hubbardston  Nonsuch, 
Baldwin,  Roxbury  Ilussett,  Mother,  Porter,  Wil- 
liams' Favorite  and  Danvers  Winter  Sweet  are 
among  our  best  fruits  ;  all  these  are  of  Massachu- 
setts origin.  From  farther  observation  on  this 
subject  we  would  repeat  the  assertion,  that  a 
fruit,  (particularly  the  apple,)  originating  on  a 
given  soil,  will  generally  be  superior  in  that  lo- 
cality or  section,  than  in  any  other.  We  have 
in  our  mind  the  Newton  Pippin,  Esopus  Spitz- 
enberg,  Red  Doctor,  Pennocks,  Red  Winter  and 
Red  Gilly  Flower,  fruits  which  are  considered 
first-rate  in  their  native  habitats,  as  the^-  un- 
doubtedly are,  but  when  grown  upon  our  sou, 
are  inferior  to  those  sorts  named  above.  We 
say  the  same  of  the  imported  varieties  generally, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Gravenstein  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  Rihston  Pippen  of  England  ;  the 
former  does  equally  well  with  many  of  our  vari- 
eties, and  the  latter  occasionally  on  rich  soil. 

Salem,  Mass.  J.  M.  I. 

Windham  County,  Vt.,  Agricultural  Soci- 
ety.— The  annual  Fair  of  this  society  will  be 
held  at  Ncwfane,  Oct.  5  and  6,  1859.  Officers, 
O.  S.  Howard,  President;  Alonzo  Dutton,  Ira 
A.  Pulsifer,  Vice  Presidents  ;  W.  A.  Stedman, 
Secretary  and  Treasurer. 


262 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
DISEASES  OP  HORSES, 
I  have  a  very  sick  colt  which  was  in  good  order 
when  attacked.  The  first  symptom  of  disease,  I 
noticed  about  six  weeks  since,  when  he  seemed 
to  lose  his  balance  in  the  stable  and  f^ll.  He 
was  a  little  stiff  in  the  hind  parts,  and  gradually 
eeemed  to  lose  the  free  use  of  his  limbs,  stag- 
gering some,  but  quite  frolicsome  when  out  with 
other  colts.  He  grew  worse  until  three  weeks 
ago,  when  he  would  lie  down  in  the  stable  and 
groan.  When  on  his  feet  he  acted  like  a  poi- 
soned lamb,  except  frothing  at  the  mouth ;  three 
weeks  ago,  I  bled  him  in  the  mouth,  and  phys- 
icked thoroughly,  but  to  no  purpose.  He  still 
lies  in  his  bed  of  straw  perfectly  comfortable. 
But  whea  I  get  him  up,  he  suffers  exceedingly, 
breathing  like  a  wind-broken  horse.  After  ac- 
tive exercise  his  bowels  are  in  a  good  state,  and 
have  been  all  the  time.  His  food  during  the  win- 
ter has  been  poor  hay  and  corn  stalks,  with  occa- 
sionally a  swill  mess,  I  have  rowelled  him,  and 
for  the  past  three  weeks  have  fed  him  nothing 
but  bran  mash  and  new  milk  to  drink,  from 
eight  to  twelve  quarts  per  day.  It  is  a  horse  colt 
twenty-one  months  old.  He  has  appeared  to  me 
through  the  whole  time  as  if  his  spine  was  af- 
fected. It  is  very  difficult  for  him  to  use  his 
limbs.  I  think  he  will  live  some  time  yet,  if  the 
new  milk  holds  out.  There  have  been  a  number 
of  horses  sick  in  town  similar  to  this,  and  most 
have  died.  W.  D.  Searl. 


Remarks. — We  publish  the  above  in  hopes  to 
draw  out  some  remedy  for  this  disease,  and  to 
learn  whether  it  prevails  in  other  places.  It  is 
always  difficult  to  suggest  remedies  to  patients 
that  are  not  seen.  We  can  think  of  nothing  to 
suggest  in  this  case. 


APPLES  FOR  EXPORTATION. 
We  believe  that  apples  are  to  become  a  more 
staple  article  for  exportation  than  they  have  ever 
yet  been  in  New  England.  Our  soil  and  climate 
are,  we  apprehend,  better  adapted  for  the  perma- 
nent cultivation  of  this  fruit  than  the  deep  allu- 
vial soils  of  the  South  and  West.  We  find  that 
there,  particularly  in  the  West,  they  are  more 
subject  to  what  has  been  denominated  frozen  sap 
blight  or  canker,  which  we  think  may  be  attrib- 
utable to  their  deep  soils,  the  roots  running  be- 
low the  action  of  the  eun  and  air,  so  necessary 
for  the  health  and  longevity  of  trees ;  we  find 
here,  on  the  contrary,  apple  trees  in  a  healthy 
state,  that  are  half  a  century  in  age.  In  New 
England  we  have  a  more  shallow  soil ;  hence 
trees  grow  slower,  the  wood  ripening  better  than 
upon  rich,  deep  soils,  where  they  are  forced  to 
grow  later,  the  wood  being  succulent,  the  leaves 
remaining  long  upon  the  trees,  rendering  them 
liable  to  be  overtaken  by  the  winter,  before  the 
sap  is  sufficiently  elaborated  to  stand  a  severe 
freezing.  Hence  we  believe,  that  as  Massachu- 
setts can  never  be  made  a  grazing  or  grain-grow- 


ing region,  compared  with  the  South  and  West, 
and  as  the  apples  here  are  equal,  if  not  superior, 
on  the  whole,  to  those  of  any  other  section,  we 
would  recommend  to  the  farmers  of  Massachu- 
setts to  cultivate  the  best  keeping  varieties  of 
good  winter  apples,  as  a  source  of  income  more 
sure  of  a  safe  return  than  that  of  Indian  corn ; 
for  while  the  South  cannot  compete  with  us  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  former,  neither  can  we  with 
them,  in  the  production  of  the  latter.  One  gen- 
tleman in  the  city  of  Salem  exported  during  a 
few  weeks  last  fall,  four  thousand  barrels  of  win- 
ter apples,  all  grown  in  the  county  of  Essex, 
principally  in  the  town  of  Danvers. 


For  the  New  England  Fanner. 

RINGING,  SUMMER  PRUNING,  AND  TKfl 
TRUE  SAP  OP  TREES. 

The  Isabella  Grape  may  be  accelarated  in  ri- 
pening, and  produce  larger  berries,  by  a  process 
of  ringing  the  shoots  in  June  and  July.  Vines 
treated  in  this  manner  produce  fruit  nearly  twice 
the  usual  size  when  girdled  an  inch  in  width  ; 
the  shoot  operated  upon  to  this  extent,  dies  of 
course,  the  following  winter ;  but  on  the  contrary, 
when  the  ring  of  bark  is  taken  off,  only  one-half  an 
inch  in  width,  the  fruit  grows  larger,  l)ut  the 
bark  coming  together  before  the  winter,  a  con- 
nection is  formed,  and  the  shoot  is  not  thus  de- 
stroyed. In  explanation  of  this  effect  we  would 
say  that  the  crude  sap  of  the  vine,  after  passing 
up  through  the  Alburnum  or  sap  wood  to  the 
leaves,  where  it  is  concentrated,  returns  through 
the  nerves  of  the  leaves,  to  the  base  of  the  leaf 
stock,  and  then  downward  between  the  bark  and 
young  wood  called  Cambium.  This  is  the  true 
sap  of  trees  ;  it  is  wholly  generated  in  the  leaves, 
descending  to  the  extremities  of  their  roots,  de- 
positing in  its  course  the  matter  which  is  succes- 
sively added  to  the  tree.  When  the  enlarge- 
ment and  more  early  maturity  of  the  fruit  be  the 
object,  the  operation  of  ringing  may  be  per- 
formed as  above;  but  if  made  on  the  small  branch- 
es of  the  new  wood,  the  fruit  does  not  acquire  a 
proper  state  of  maturity ;  it  should  be  done  on 
the  previous  year's  shoots.  The  effects  of  ring- 
ing are  more  obvious  on  the  grape,  pear  and  ap- 
])le  than  upon  soma  fruits  ;  we  nave  attempted 
it  on  the  peach  tree  without  any  seeming  effect. 
If,  by  the  agency  of  leaves,  the  gases  extracted 
from  the  atmosphere  by  these  organs,  and  the 
juices  drawn  from  the  earth  by  the  roota  are 
mixed,  assimilated  and  rendered  subservient  to 
the  tree,  thereby  increasing  its  growth  and  per- 
fecting its  fruit,  the  question  arises,  Is  summer 
pruning  beneficial  or  injurious  ?  We  apprehend 
that  it  is  improper ;  for  by  this  process,  we  di- 
minish the  resources  of  the  tree,  in  thus  remov- 
ing so  many  leaves,  as  we  must,  of  necessity,  in 
this  operation.  The  above,  if  true,  shows  the 
folly  of  takuig  off  the  leaves  of  any  fruit  tree, 
to  accelarate  the  ripening  of  its  fruit. 

The  Alburnum  is  the  outer  coating  of  young 
wood,  often  called  sap-wond.  The  Cambium  is 
mucilaginous  matter  found  between  the  bark  and 
young  wood.  J.  M.  IVES. 

Salem,  Mass.,  1859. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


263 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ABOUT  FBUIT  TBEES. 

I  observe  by  the  report  of  the  Sixth  Legisla- 
tive Agricultural  Meeting,  that  the  chairman 
made  some  most  excellent  remarks  on  pruning 
apple  trees  ;  and  I  regret  that  want  of  room,  or 
any  other  reason,  prevented  the  editor  of  the 
Farmer  from  publishing  them  at  length.  I  do 
not  know  that  I  have  an  idea  on  this  subject, 
that  has  not  been  derived  from  some  agricultu- 
ral or  horticultural  publication,  or  from  some  ju- 
dicious cultivator  of  fruit ;  but  I  wish  to  add  my 
testimony  in  favor  of  what  I  believe  to  be  the 
right  way  of  pruning  trees. 

It  has  become  an  established  rule  with  me, 
never  to  cut  a  branch  from  a  vigorous  growing 
apple  tree,  if  it  can  be  avoided,  except  when  so 
fully  in  leaf  that  the  sap  will  not  flow  from  the 
wound.  By  this  course  the  trees  will  entirely 
escape  those  terrible  black  spots  below  the 
wounds,  which  always  disfigure  and  often  kill  the 
bark  for  a  considerable  space.  I  should,  in  gen- 
eral, prefer  June  to  July  or  August,  to  do  this 
work,  as  the  earlier  it  can  be  safely  done,  the 
more  time  will  be  given  for  the  wounds  to  heal  the 
first  season,  and  any  exposed  branch  will  become 
more  gradually  habituated  to  the  scorching  suns 
of  midsummer. 

The  remarks  of  Mr.  Lake,  at  the  same  meet- 
ing, are  almost  equally  in  accordance  with  my  ex- 
perience. If  we  train  up  our  young  trees  in  the 
way  they  should  grow,  there  will  be  little  need 
of  cutting  large  limbs  at  all.  if  we  should  find 
it  necessary  to  remove  such,  the  stumps  should 
be  carefully  protected  from  the  weather,  so  as  to 
keep  the  scar  dry  and  sound  as  long  as  possible. 
Whether  fruit  is  really  injured  by  too  much  ex- 
posure to  the  hot  sun,  is  a  matter  to  be  tested  by 
observation,  but  the  brown,  leathery  appearance 
of  the  naked  branches  does  not  indicate  a  salu- 
tary effect  from  exposure  to  it.  Many  a  sturdy 
old  tree,  I  have  no  doubt,  has  received  its  death 
from  the  hand  of  the  grafter,  who,  to  give  his 
scions  a  good  start,  has  deprived  the  branches  of 
both  their  customary  shade  and  the  foliage  requi- 
site to  keep  up  a  brisk  flow  of  the  sap. 

The  manner  of  pruning  trees  is  a  no  less  im- 
portant matter.  A  rough  giant  of  a  man,  in  cow- 
bide  boots,  well  garnished  with  nails  in  the  heels, 
and  his  red  right  hand  armed  with  an  axe,  or 
coarse-toothed  saw,  is  a  vision  ominous  of  much 
evil,  when  seen  among  the  branches  of  a  tender 
barked  fruit  tree.  Like  the  friendly  bear  in  the 
fable,  who  in  his  well  meaning  efibrts  to  brush  a 
fly  from  the  nose  of  the  sleeping  man,  crushed 
in  the  organ  entirely,  he  means  good  and  does 
evil.  Devastation  is  as  sure  to  follow  in  his 
track,  as  in  that  of  a  flight  of  locusts.  It  should 
be  a  cardinal  rule  never  to  set  about  the  work 
carelessly  or  without  a  plan.  There  are  many 
questions  to  be  decided  before  we  can  do  it  in 
the  very  best  manner,  such  as  what  are  the  nat- 
ural habits  of  the  tree  ;  is  it  designed  to  cultivate 
the  land  with  other  crops,  or  to  spread  the  trees 
so  near  the  ground  as  to  occupy  it  entirely  with 
them  ;  is  the  exposure  such  that  high  trees  will 
sufl'er  particularly,  both  in  the  branches  and  fruit, 
from  strong  sweeping  winds  ;  and  then,  how  with 
the  material  before  us  can  we  obtain  just  what  we 
desire  ;  how  much  can  we  cut  now  and  yet  leave 


enough  to  protect  the  rest  from  the  scorching 
sun,  and  afford  sufficient  work  for  the  roots  to 
keep  them  in  a  healthy  condition.  Having  de- 
cided all  these  matters,  and  any  others  that  may 
happen  to  have  a  bearing  on  the  case,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  begin  our  work. 

For  tools,  I  want  a  fine-toothed  saw  and  a  thin 
bladed  knife,  both  in  the  finest  order,  and  a  step 
ladder.  The  branch  should  be  supported  with 
the  left  hand,  while  cut,  so  as  not  to  start  the 
bark  at  the  place  where  the  instrument  comes 
out.  When  using  the  knife,  which  I  rely  upon 
almost  solely,  on  young  trees,  I  press  the  branch 
to  one  side  so  as  to  take  oft'  all  resistance  from 
pressure  on  its  flat  sides.  In  this  way  limbs  an 
inch  or  more  in  diameter  may  be  easily  cut 
through.  My  next  step  is  to  examine  the  wound, 
and,  if  it  is  not  all  right,  pare  it  carefully  till  the 
surface  is  smooth,  and  the  bark  adherent  all 
round.  When  the  operation  is  done  I  wish  it  to 
appear  to  be  a  wound  on  the  side  of  the  branch 
or  trunk,  rather  than  a  stump  projecting  from  it. 
If  the  pruning  is  done  as  soon  as  the  tree  is  fully 
I  in  leaf,  it  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  season 
that  a  handsome  circle  of  new  Avood  is  formed  all 
round  the  wound,  and  the  wood  within  is  smooth 
and  sound  and  by  the  end  of  the  second  season, 
it  will  be  entirely  healed,  unless  quite  a  large 
one.  I  next  take  th.ise  branches  which  will 
have  to  be  removed  at  another  time,  and  cut  in 
their  extremities  so  as  almost  entirely  to  check 
their  growth.  Finally,  if  I  find  any  branch,  which 
I  propose  to  have  remain  permanently  on  the  ti-ee, 
is  assuming  an  undesirable  form,  I  endeavor  to 
correct  it  by  clipping  or  otherwise  as  is  requi- 
site. By  following  this  plan  regularly,  I  find  my 
trees  improving  from  year  to  year,  and  I  hope 
eventually  to  get  them  in  good  shape,  and  have 
no  large  limbs  to  cut  off. 

I  wish  to  remind  those  persons,  who  are  anxious 
lest  we  shonld  raise  too  nany  apples,  that  there 
ar5  at  least  500,000,000  people  living  on  our 
globe  in  countries  Avhere  apples  do  not  grow  ; 
and,  that  probably  499,000,000  of  these  would 
like  this  fruit  if  they  could  get  it ;  and  moreover, 
that  by  keeping  apples  at  a  temperature  just 
above  the  freezing  point,  they  may  be  kept  sound 
for  any  desirable  length  of  time,  and  transported 
to  the  moat  remote  parts  of  the  world.  Apples 
have  been  sent  to  California  packed  in  boxes 
among  cargoes  of  ice,  and  it  is  as  easy  to  send 
them  10  the  East  Indies,  and  other  parts  of  tlie 
tropical  world.  In  view  of  these  facts  I  would  ap- 
peal to  the  patriotism  and  the  pockets  of  the  peo- 
ple of  New  England,  and  ask  them  why  they  can- 
not grow  apples  as  well  as  ice  enough  to  supply 
a  large  part  of  the  world  with  both  these  luxuries. 

11.  Lincoln. 

Lancaster,  Mass.,  April  11,  18o9. 


STARTING  CUTTINGS  IN  MOSS. 
It  is  a  very  simple  operation,  and  at  the  same 
time  one  that  requires  some  little  skill  and  care, 
to  strike  a  cutting.  Cuttings  of  grape  rines,  cur- 
rants, and  of  many  shrubs  and  flowers  are  usual- 
ly started  in  sand,  and  some  think  brick  dust  the 
best  material  for  this  purpose.  We  see  in  the 
January  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monfhbj  Ad- 
vertiser a  quotation  from  a  German  periodical, 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  swamp  moss  or  sphaynum 


264 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


•which  it  says  has  been  used  in  Holland  instead 
of  earth  or  sand,  for  the  purpose  of  striking  cut- 
tings, and  up  to  this  time  we  liave  heard  of 
scarcely  a  single  failure,  and  its  success  has  been 
most  complete.  This  sphagnum  (or  swamp  moss) 
should  be  well  dried  and  reduced  to  powder,  by 
rubbing  it  between  the  hands.  Fill  the  cutting 
pots  or  boxes  with  it,  and  after  watering  it  well, 
insert  the  cuttings.  It  dries  less  quickly  than 
earth  or  sand,  and  preserves  an  uniform  humid- 
ity, and  the  root  fibres  are  developed  more  rap- 
idly. It  is  said  that  some  plants,  that  in  sand 
require  several  months  to  root,  only  require 
"three  or  four  weeks  in  the  moss." — Maine  Far- 
mer. 


has  anything  like  the  merit  which  this  possesses, 
if,  indeed,  there  is  one  in  any  other  country. 
Published  by  A.  O.  Moore  &  Co.,  140  Fulton 
Street,  New  York,  and  for  sale  by  Crosby,  Nich- 
ols &  Co.,  117  Washington  Street,  Boston. 


LAJWDSOAPE  GARDENING. 

There  are  few  things  that  mark  the  progress 
of  civilization  and  the  arts  more  than  the  ex- 
pression of  a  true  taste  in  architecture  and  gar- 
dening. So  long  as  men  are  indifferent  about 
the  appearance  of  the  house  they  lire  in,  and  the 
grounds  that  surround  it,  they  will  rarely  express 
a  true  taste  in  anything  else.  This  is  true  of 
communities  and  nations,  as  well  as  individuals, 
— and  as  we  do  not  remain  stationary  in  any- 
thing, but  either  progress  or  recede,  it  is  evident, 
we  think,  that  if  there  is  no  advancement  in  the 
particulars  we  are  considering,  there  will  be  lit- 
tle in  anything  else. 

Improvements  in  our  buildings  and  grounds, 
if  conducted  with  economy,  and  in  accordance 
with  our  business  and  ability,  are  not,  by  any 
means,  a  mere  gratification  of  taste  alone.  So 
far  as  architecture  is  concerned,  they  give  em- 
ployment to  several  classes  of  industrious  per- 
sons, while  the  high  cultivation  of  plants  are  so 
many  examples  for  all,  of  what  the  soil  is  capa- 
ble of  producing  when  proper  means  and  skill 
are  applied  to  it.  When  buildings  are  construct- 
ed upon  ti"ue  architectural  principles,  and  with 
a  highly  cultivated  taste,  and  the  surrounding 
grounds  are  in  keeping  with  them,  the  combina- 
tion not  only  gratifies  the  eye,  but  adds  greatly 
to  the  beauty  and  richness  of  the  country. 

We  have  been  led  to  these  remarks  by  finding 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HUNGARIAN   GRASS. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — In  your  last  issue  I  no- 
ticed you  made  two  remarks,  editorially,  about 
Hungarian  grass  ;  that  statements  about  its  pro- 
ductiveness were  somewhat  conflicting,  and  that 
it  was  doubtful  whether  the  seed  will  ripen  in  all 
parts  of  New  England.  Circumstances  and  events 
which  led  to  the  first  are  about  the  same  as  might 
be  expected  about  any  other  new  thing.  In  an- 
swer to  your  second  remark,  I  will  give  you  the 
result  of  an  experiment  I  made  the  last  season, 
without  any  comments,  at  this  time,  for  the  ben- 
efit of  not  a  few  most  deeply  concerned  to  know 
the  truth  in  the  matter  of  Hungarian  grass. 

Between  the  fifteenth  and  twentieth  days  of 
June,  1858,  I  cast  up  the  soil  in  this  cold,  but 
pleasant,  Green  Mountain  town,  and  sowed  twen- 
ty-nine quarts  of  the  seed.  The  latter  part  of 
September  I  threshed  from  seven  and  a  half  tons 
of  huy  gathered,  two  tons  and  eighty  pounds  of 
well-ripened  seed,  measuring  eighty-five  bushels, 
of  which  I  send  you  a  sample. 

I  noticed  you  recommended  to  farmers  to  try 
it  sparingly.  I  recommend  to  every  farmer  to 
try  it  liberally.  I  shall  sow  no  oats  this  year,  but 
shall  sow  at  least  fifteen  acres  with  said  seed. 

Wm.  Richards. 

Richmond,  Mass.,  April,  1859. 


For  the  New  En^^-land  Farmer. 

THIN  AND  THICK  SO  WING. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  my  communication  of  Janu- 
ary 9,  1  gave  a  short  account  of  my  method  of 
using  green  manure,  and  growing  corn.  After 
harvesting  my  corn,  1  plow  in  the  fall  from  eight 
to  10  inches  deep,  and  in  the  spring  generally  sow 
to  oats  and  "seed  down."  Inthe  spring  of  1856  I 
sowed  on  five  acres  seven  bushels  of  oats ; 
threshed  with  a  machine ;  result,  256  bushels. 
In  1857,  sowed  on  1^  acres  two  bushels  oats;  re- 
sult,   108  stooka  ;    threshed  out  part  in  the   fall, 


yield   nearly  a  bushel   to   the   stook  ;    the  rest 

upon  our  table  a  new  edition  of  Doirning's  Land-l^^^eshed  out  at  difi"erent  limes,  the  exact  yield  I 

n     J     ■  1    T>       1    \     1  u    J         vu      cannot  tell,  but  iudare  not  far  from  100  bushels, 

scape   Gardemng  and  Pair  at  Architecture,  \\.  be-  -  '      .   J      «^  ^.  .      .    . 


ingthe  sixth  edition,  enlarged,  revised  and  newly 
illustrated,  with  a  supplement,  containing  some 
remarks  about  country  places,  and  the  best  meth- 
ods of  making  them  ;  also,  an  account  of  the 
newer  deciduous  and  evergreen  plants,  lately  in- 
troduced into  cultivation,  both  hardy  and  half- 
hardy.     By  Henry  Winthrop  Sargent. 

The  work  contains  nearly  600  pages,  is  printed 
on  thick,  fine,  white  paper,  and  is  illustrated  by 
numerous  elegant  engravings  on  steel,  wood  and 
stone  ;  some  of  them  from  the  pencil  of  Mr. 
Moore,  one  of  the  publishers. 

No  other  work  in  this  country,  on  these  topics, 


In  1858,  sowed  on  I4  acres  2;^  bushels  ;  mowed 
for  fodder  \  acre,  leaving  1.]  acre  ;  threshed  with 
a  machine  ;  result,  105  bushels.  I  sow  as  near 
as  I  can,  1}  bushels  oats,  from  12  to  16  quarts 
herds  grass,  and  six  to  eight  pounds  clover,  per 
acre.  The  richer  the  ground,  the  less  oats  and 
more  hay  seed.  Now  for  my  reasons.  By  sowing 
oats  thin,  they  do  not  lodge  so  bad  ;  the  heads 
are  larger,  and  better  filled,  give  heavier  oats,  do 
not  shade  the  ground  so  much,  and  where  they 
do  lodge,  do  not  give  so  thick  a  coating  over  the 
young  grass,  as  to  kill  it  near  so  much  as  if  sowed 
thicker. 

Oats  are  not  generally  considered  so  good 
grain  to  "seed  down"  with,  as  wheat  or  rye,  but 
if  any  one   will  try  oats   at  the   rate  of  1  to  li 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


265 


bushels  per  acre,  according  to  the  richness  of  the 
ground,  they  can  judge  for  themselves.  In  the 
spring  of  1856  I  planted  Ih  acres  of  corn  ;  in  the 
fall  harrowed  the  ground  and  sowed  i  acre  to 
winter  rye,  and  sowed  Timothy  seed  in  the  fall, 
and  clover  in  the  spring,  as  soon  as  the  snow 
was  gone.  In  the  spring  of  1857,  sowed  the  rest 
of  the  piece,  1^  acres,  as  before  described,  and 
last  season  mowed  for  the  first  time,  and  could 
see  no  difference  between  that  "stocked"  with  rye 
or  that  with  oats.  My  manner  of  sowing  is  to 
go  over  the  ground  with  a  light  harrow  to  smooth 
it  down,  then  sow  the  oats,  then  use  a  cultivator 
harrow,  sow  the  hay  seed,  and  cross  harrow  with 
a  light  harrow  of  30  teeth  ;  then  roll  the  ground, 
•which  leaves  it  in  a  fit  condition  for  the  scythe. 
The  richer  I  make  my  ground,  the  more  hay  seed 
I  want  to  sow,  thereby  avoiding  a  coarse  quality 
of  hay,  which  is  generally  the  result  of  the  first 
year's  crop.  I  do  not  consider  a  great  crop  of 
oats  of  so  much  consequence  as  a  good  crop  of 
grass  from  five  to  eight  years  following.  Now, 
Mr.  Editor,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  that 
my  method  of  procedure  is  better  than  other  far- 
mers', but  my  motto  is,  let  every  one  read,  (and 
write  too,  for  others  to  read,)  judge,  practice, 
and  decide  for  himself.  W.  C.  White. 

Barre,  Vt,  April  5,  1859, 


AMERICAN  GUANO. 

We  recently  alluded  to  this  subject,  and  said 
that  we  should  recur  to  it  again.  After  the  Peru- 
vian guano  was  introduced,  it  could  be  purchased 
for  several  years  for  $40  a  ton  ;  the  price  was 
gradually  increased,  until  now  the  exorbitant 
charge  of  $65  a  ton  is  demanded — and  this  in- 
crease of  price  has  been  continued  when  shipping 
freights  have  been  very  low.  It  is  a  complete 
monopoly,  and  we  hope  the  American  people 
will  not  encourage  it.  In  1856,  the  sales  of  the 
Peruvian  guano  amounted  to  $17,000,000,  and 
the  average,  for  some  years  previously,  was  about 
$15,000  000. 

Some  two  or  three  years  ago,  certain  islands, 
named  Baker's  and  Jarvis's  islands,  in  the  Paci- 
fic Ocean,  some  five  thousand  miles  from  any 
land,  were  discovered  by  two  American  citizens, 
named  Michael  Baker  and  Thomas  D.  Lucas.  A 
company  was  formed  under  the  title  of  the  Amer- 
ican Guano  Company,  and  the  interest  of  the 
discoverers  purchased.  The  importance  of  a 
cheap  supply  of  guano  to  our  agricultural  pur- 
suits attracted  the  attention  of  our  government, 
and  the  Department  of  State  entered  into  nego- 
tiation with  the  Peruvian  Government,  proposing 
the  payment  of  $10  per  ton  for  all  guano  import- 
ed thence  into  the  United  States.  This  negotia- 
tion failed,  and  the  Republic  of  Peru,  through 
their  agents,  has  obtained  the  monopoly  of  gu- 
ano in  our  markets,  which  has  increased  in  price 
from  $40  per  ton  to  its  present  price  of  $65  per 
ton  ! 

The  following  analysis  of   Baker's  Island  Gu- 


ano, by  L.  D.  Gale,  M.  D.,  Chemical  Examiner 
of  Patents  in  the  United  States  Patent  Office,  in- 
asmuch as  it  agrees  with  analyses  made  by  other 
men  eminent  in  the  scientific  world,  will  give  a 
correct  idea  of  its  constituent  parts  : 

Organic  eompounds  yielding  ammonia,  &c 9.940 

Combined  Water 2.500 

Carbonic  acid  from  organic  compounds  of  lime 600 

Bone  pliosphate  of  lime,  and  bonp  pho-phate  magnesia 

(containing  phosphoric  acid,  33.67) 83  266 

Sulphate  of  soda 1.293 

Common  salt 1  615 

Loss 816 

100.000 

In  connection  with  this  analysis.  Dr.  Gale  re- 
marks : 

"Guanos  are  of  two  kinds  ;  those  in  which  the 
ammonia-yielding  products  predominate,  as  in 
the  best  Peruvian  guanos ;  and  those  in  which 
the  phosphates  of  lime  and  magnesia  predomi- 
nate. 

"The  first  kind  is  produced  in  regions  where 
there  are  little  or  no  rains,  and  the  second  in  re- 
gions where  the  rains  wash  away  a  large  part  of 
the  organic  or  soluble  portions,  and  leave  the  in- 
soluble parts.  Su'hare  the  Mexican  guanos  of 
the  W.  I.,  and  those  on  the  Islands  of  the  Paci- 
fic Ocean,  above  named. 

"If  we  heat  to  redness  an  ammonia-yielding 
guano,  we  volatilize  05  to  70  per  cent,  of  organ- 
ic matter,  capable  of  yielding  ammonia  and  oth- 
er volatile  products  which  constitute  the  body  of 
this  class  of  guanos.  What  remains  after  extract- 
ing the  ammoniacal  and  phosphatic  compounds, 
is  of  comparatively  little  value,  as  it  is  chiefly  al- 
kaline salts. 

"What  effect  has  such  an  article  on  the  soil  on 
which  it  is  spread  ?  It  stimulates  to  an  unwont- 
ed degree  ;  and  causes  it  to  put  forth  all  its 
strength  to  force  the  growth  of  plants,  as  alcohol 
stimulates  the  animal  to  unusual  exertions  for 
the  time,  but  which  finally  exhaust  the  system. 
So  the  stimulating  guanos  force  the  present  crop 
at  the  expense  of  the  future  strength  of  the  soil. 

"Every  farmer  who  has  experience,  knows  that 
when  he  has  once  used  guano  for  his  crops,  its 
strength  is  exhausted  the  first  year  ;  and  if  he 
would  continue  to  grow  crops,  he  must  continue 
to  repeat  his  guano. 

"But  what  is  the  result  with  the  phosphatic 
guano  ?  The  analysis  shows  that  more  than  80 
{)er  cent,  of  these  guanos  consists  of  the  phos- 
phate of  lime  and  of  magnesia,  in  an  insoluble 
state,  or  in  just  such  a  condition  that  the  roots 
of  plants  will  take  up,  and  appropriate  so  much 
of  the  salt  as  is  requisite  to  perfect  the  same." 

An  analysis  of  this  guano  made  by  Drs.  Scaf- 
for  and  Craig,  under  the  superintendence  of  Prof. 
Henry,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute  at  Wash- 
ington, and  which  was  made  under  directions 
from  the  Government,  exhibits  similar  results  to 
those  given  above  by  Dr.  Gale.  Accompanying 
their  analysis  is  a  detailed  statement  of  the  pe- 
culiar qualities  of  the  article,  from  which  we 
make  the  following  extract : 

"As  to  the  worth  of  these  substances,  we  can 
best  represent  it  by  comparison  with  bones,  which 


266 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jdne 


are  nearer  to  them  in  composition  than  any  oth-  earthy  phosphates  of  lime  as  is  contained  in  half 
er  common  material.  a  hundred  weight  of  bone  dust.     Hence  the  ad- 


'Bones,  however,  are  valuable  as  manure,  by 
reason  of  their  mineral  matter,  phosphate  of 
lime,  &c.,  and  also  by  their  animal  matter.  This 
latter,  by  slow  decomposition,  furnishes,  year  af- 
ter year,  something  to  the  plant  in  the  shape  of 
ammonia. 

"The  phosphate  of  lime  being  an  important 
constituent  of  all  our  cereal  grains,  is,  by  itself, 
a  desirable  addition  to  a  soil.  This  can  be  easily 
understood  when  it  is  remembered  that  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  liones  of  all  animals  is  original- 
ly derived  from  the  bone  earth  in  vegetable  food. 

"The  specimens  we  have  examined,  contain  a 
larger  per  centage  of  phosphate  of  lime  than 
bones  contain  ;  they  have  also  rather  more  phos- 
phoric acid  than  bone  earth,  and  are  in  a  finely 
divided  condition,  so  that  the  useful  matter  can 
be  readily  taken  up  when  applied  to  crops." 

The  samples  brought  were  under  the  charge 
of  a  Government  officer,  Charles  H.  Davis, 
Commander  U.  S.  ship  St.  Mary's,  and  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  the  Government  chemists.  An- 
alyses have  been  made  by  several  other  chemists 
than  those  already  referred  to,  and  with  similar 
results. 

We  wish  to  be  perfectly  understood  in  this 
matter  by  the  reader.  We  do  not  recommend 
this  guano,  or  any  other  specific  fertilizer,  to  the 
exclusion  of  a  single  shovel  full  of  home-made 
manure.  All  that  can  be  made  from  the  natural 
resources  of  the  farm  imist  hi  made.  But  this  be- 
ing sadly  deficient  every  where,  after  our  be^t 
efforts  have  been  exerted,  we  recommend  this 
guano  as  a  help,  to  enable  us  to  gather  more  pro- 
lific harvests  of  grain  and  roots,  and  restore 
our  exhausted  pastures  and  fields  to  better  crops 
of  grass  and  hay.  With  this  view,  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  recommend  its  use  sparingly,  by  a 
large  number  of  persons. 

The  general  agent  of  the  company  is  A.  C.  Lom- 
bard, Esq.,  Boston,  Mass.,  who  will  supply  pam- 
phlets giving  a  more  full  account  of  it  than  we 
are  able  to.  The  sub-agents  are  Messrs.  Nourse, 
Mason  &  Co.,  Quincy  Hall,  Boston. 

DAISIES  AND  BONE  MANURE. 
An  English  pa])er  in  commenting  upon  this 
subject,  remarks  that  the  Cheshire  dairy  farmer, 
by  the  free  use  of  bone  manure  laid  on  his  grass 
lands,  makes  his  farm,  which  at  one  time,  before 
tne  application  of  bone  mamn-e,  fed  only  20  head 
of  cows,  now  feed  40!  In  Cheshire,  two-thirds 
or  more,  generally  three-fourths,  of  a  dairy  farm 
are  kept  in  perfect  pasture,  the  remainder  in  til- 
lage. Its  dairy  farmers  are  commonly  bound  to 
lav  the  whole  ot  their  manure,  not  on  the  arable, 
but  on  the  grass  land,  purchasing  what  may  be 
necessary  for  the  arable.  The  chief  improvement, 
l)esides  drainage,  consists  in  the  application  oi 
hone  manure.  In  the  milk  of  each  cow,  in  its 
urine,  in  its  manure,  in  the  bones  of  each  calf 
reared  and  sold  off,  a  farm  parts  with  as  much 


vantage  found  in  returning  this  mineral  manurfc 
by  boning  grass  lands.  The  quantity  of  bones 
now  commonly  given  in  Cheshire  to  an  imperial 
acre  of  grass  land  is  about  12  or  15  cwt.  This 
dressing  on  pasture  land  will  last  seven  or  eight 
years  ;  and  on  mowed  land  about  half  that  peri- 
od. But  the  grass  land  once  boned  and  kept  un- 
der pasture  is  never  so  exhausted  as  to  be  as 
poor  as  it  was  before  the  application. — Moore's 
Rural  New-Yorker. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PROFITS  FROM.  POULTRY. 
DISCUSSION  AT   THE   CONCORD   FARMER'S   CLUB. 

March  24,  1859.— John  Broaa'N,  2d,  stated 
that  on  the  1st  of  January,  1858,  he  had  50  hens. 
In  April  he  bought  eight  more.  In  June  he  sold 
20  hens,  that  weighed  from  eight  to  12  pounds 
per  pair,  for  14  cents  per  pound.  He  sold  478 
dozen  eggs,  and  raised  from  60  to  70  chickens. 
He  received  for  eggs  and  chickens,  $125.  Cost 
of  keeping,  $70.  Made  manure  worth  $10.  He 
covered  the  droppings  once  a  fortnight  with 
loam.  January  1st,  1859,  had  00  hens.  Has 
sold  since  150  dozen  eggs.  His  hens  are  of 
mixed  breeds.  He  feeds  on  oats,  barley  and 
wheat,  corn  and  cob  meal,  or  shorts,  new  cab- 
bage, pumpkins  and  squashes,  rotten  apples, 
boiled  potatoes.  He  does  not  keep  corn  before 
them.  Thinks  this  will  make  them  too  fat,  and 
they  will  not  lay  as  well.  Keeps  scraps  by  them. 
Sometimes  boils  a  young  calf  and  gives  them, 
pounds  up  the  bones ;  keeps  some  kind  of  food 
by  them  all  the  time.  Thinks  it  was  more  prof- 
itable last  year  to  sell  eggs  than  to  raise  chick- 
ens ;  some  years  it  is  most  profitable  to  raise 
chickens. 

J.  P.  Brown  thinks  it  is  best  to  raise  both,  as 
a  hen  that  raises  a  brood  of  chickens,  will  lay 
about  as  many  eggs  as  one  that  does  not. 

E.  Wood,  Jr.,  has  112  hens.  When  he  began 
to  keep  them,  he  was  desirous  to  know  how  much 
it  cost  per  day  to  keep  a  hen,  and  he  weighed 
and  measured  the  food  for  a  few  weeks.  He  finds 
the  cost  about  one-third  of  a  cent.  Hens  require 
a  mixture  of  grains  ;  if  they  have  but  one  kind, 
barley  is  the  best.  They  must  have  a  warm  place, 
and  sunshine.  Does  not  let  them  run  out  in  cold 
weather  ;  he  did  not  let  them  out  till  March  ;  his 
hens  have  improved  under  his  keeping,  and  laid 
well.  He  takes  two  pounds  of  scraps  at  night, 
and  puts  into  a  pail  of  hot  water,  and  lets  it  stand 
till  morning  ;  then  puts  in  cob  meal  and  water, 
enough  to  fill  the  pail ;  this  makes  them  a  break- 
fast. He  gives  barley  or  some  other  grain  in  the 
forenoon,  and  corn  at  noon  ;  he  gives  a  good 
deal  of  meat,  and  pounds  up  the  bones  with  a 
sledge  hammer  ;  they  eat  the  bones  greedily  :  he 
keeps  oyster  shells  pounded  where  they  can  get 
at  them  ;  he  has  had  as  many  as  60  eggs  a  day 
from  112  hens.  This  is  more  than  the  average. 

The  manure  is  valuable.  He  mixes  with  fine 
mud  ;  thinks  he  shall  have  from  $30  to  $40 
worth  of  manure,  enough  to  go  on  10  or  12  acres 
of  corn,  putting  a  portion  in  each  hill.  Much  de- 
pends upon  the  condition  of  hens  in  the  fall. 
Hens  that  1  e  had  of  Mr.  Farmer,  had  proved  hi? 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


267 


best  layers,  owing  to  their  being  well  kept  in  the 
fall.  If  pullets  are  left  to  run  at  large  in  the 
fall,  and  not  fed  well,  they  will  not  lay  as  early, 
nor  so  much. 

J.  ]}.  Farmer  said  :  Last  year  he  had  20  hens, 
and  raised  150  chickens  ;  did  not  know  how  many 
eggs;  his  hens  cost  him  one-half  a  cent  per  day. 
This  year  he  had  ^0  hens  ;  in  January  he  had 
50  dozen  eggs,  minus  three  eggs  ;  1>3  got  30  cents 
a  dozen.  Bought  150  pounds  of  beef,  and  kept 
it  by  them  while  it  lasted  ;  he  pounded  up  the 
bones  ;  the  hens  eat  pounded  bones  greedily.  lie 
gives  them  warm  dough  once  a  day  in  cold  weath- 
er. If  we  keep  hens  for  the  eggs  only,  he  thinks 
the  Poland,  or  Black  Spanish,  or  Bolton  Greys, 
are  better  than  the  larger  breeds.  It  is  profitable 
to  raise  chickens  ;  his  hens  range  over  a  10  acre 
pasture  ;  he  keeps  scraps  by  them.  Hens  should 
be  treated  gently  ;  hens  that  are  perfectly  tame, 
will  lay  twice  as  many  eggs  as  wild  ones  ;  he 
thinks  hen  manure  better  than  guano.  Last  year 
he  had  enough  to  manure  three  acres  of  corn  in 
the  hill. 

1).  Tarbell  said,  if  we  raise  chickens  for  mar- 
ket, it  is  best  to  have  them  early,  and  it  is  im- 
portant that  they  should  be  nicely  dressed,  if 
we  would  get  a  good  price.  Chickens  that  are 
carefully  cleaned,  and  nicely  put  up,  will  often 
bring  nearly  twice  as  much  as  others  that  are 
equally  good,  but  carelessly  dressed. 

Mr.  Editor,  here  are  some  directions  and  sug- 
gestions, respecting  the  management  of  barn- 
yard fowls,  from  practical  men  who  know  how  to 
raise  eggs  and  chickens  profitably,  and  who  are 
doing  it  this  very  day,  and  I  doubt  not  that  your 
numerous  readers  will  value  them  more  than  all 
the  fine  stories  or  fine  pictures  that  Burnham,  or 
any  other  hen  fancier,  have  ever  published. 

Yours  truly,  R. 


QLa.:NDERS  IN"  HOKSES. 

Glanders  is  the  ivorst  and  most  loathsome  form 
of  disease  to  which  the  horse  is  subject ;  and 
man  himself  does  not  enjoy  immunity  from  it. 
In  the  mother  country,  in  France,  and  in  the  Ger- 
man confederacies,  glanders  has  appeared  in  is- 
olated cases  among  men,  and  even  whole  families 
have  l)een  swept  away,  as  by  the  blast  of  a  tor- 
nado, dying  the  most  horrid  deaths.  A  man  or 
horse  once  inoculated  with  the  true  virus  of  glan- 
ders, is  doomed  to  destruction  ;  there  appears  to 
be  no  help  for  him. 

The  exciting  causes  of  spontaneous  glanders, 
are  excessive  work,  faulty  nutrition  and  bad  sta- 
ble management,  both  as  regards  diet  and  venti- 
lation. 

Second  Mode  of  Origin. — The  next  cause 
assigned  for  the  presence  of  glanders,  is  conta- 
gion. I  use  the  term  in  its  ordinary  acceptation, 
which  signifies  contact  or  tonch  ;  the  glandered 
virus  being  applied  or  received  on  an  at)raded  or 
highly  vascular  surface,  is  taken  up  by  the  ab- 
sorbent vessels,  enters  the  circulation,  and  after 
a  while,  appears  as  "inoculated  glanders." 

The  third  cause  of  glanders  is  infection.  The 
term  infection  signifies,  to  corrupt  or  vitiate.  The 
atmosphere  which  pervades  a  down-cellar,  or  un- 
ventilated  stable  locations,  is  infected  or  tainted 
•with  the  odoriferous  gases  arising  from  filth  and 


animal  excretions.  Here  the  virus  of  glanders 
can  be  concocted  and  the  disease  reign  triumph- 
ant. The  vitiated  atmosphere  prevailing  in  such 
locations,  finds  an  easy  introduction  into  the 
horse's  system,  through  pulmonary  respiration. 
And  no  doubt  many  other  diseases,  hitherto  con- 
sidered as  contagious,  have  had  the  same  pul- 
monic origin.  Therefore,  the  exciting  cause  of 
infectious  glanders  is  the  poison  or  miasm  gen- 
erated in  a  confined  atmos])here,  concocted  out 
of  exhalations  from  the  breath,  fajces,  urine  and 
perspiration  of  horses  pent  up  in  it.  It  will  be 
perceived  from  what  I  have  already  said,  that 
spontaneous  glanders  is  the  result  of  an  infected 
atmosphere,  so  that  in  reality  there  may  be  but 
two  exciting  or  direct  causes  for  glanders,  viz  : 
contagion  and  infection. 

Treatment  of  Glanders. — The  only  reme- 
dies that  are  likely  to  prove  beneficial  in  the 
treatment  of  this  malady,  are,  cod  liver  oil,  phos- 
phate of  lime,  vegetable  tonics,  and  blood  root ; 
these  may  be  given  in  the  ordinary  doses,  as  re- 
commended for  other  diseases  ;  at  the  same  time 
I  should  give  thirty  drops  per  day,  of  oil  of  sas- 
safras, and  occasionally  inject  the  nasal  cavities 
with  diluted  pyroligneous  acid. — Dadd's  Veteri- 
nanj  Journal. 

For  the  New  Enr^land  Farmer. 
TARRING  CORW  FOR  SEED. 

Mr.  Brown  : — I  admir- the  outspoken, straight 
forward  course  of  yourself  and  others  that  write 
for  the  Farmer.  The  opposite  opinions  of  far- 
mers brought  together,  are  conducive  of  much 
good.  The  results  of  experiments,  both  success- 
ful and  otherwise,  are  attended  with  profit,  when 
spread  before  the  public.  The  man  who  is  suc- 
cessful, publishes  it  abroad,  but  failures  seldom 

come  to  light.     The county  society  does 

not  publish  the  fact  of  a  heavy  debt  occasioned 
by  their  race  course,  no  more  than  they  do  the 
granting  of  premiums  to  unworthy  applicants. 
When  we  read  in  their  transactions  the  award  of 
a  premium  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  bush- 
els of  corn  to  the  acre,  eighty  bushels  is  nodou^it 
nearer  the  truth. 

It  pains  me  to  see  such  havoc  made  by  insec  s 
and  birds  on  the  corn  crop.  I  have  seen  many  a 
field  of  corn  where  the  cut  worm  has  destroyed 
from  25  to  50  per  cent.,  which  might  have  been 
prevented  by  an  outlay  of  25  cents.  The  only 
sure  remedy  against  the  cut  worm  is  to  secure 
the  services  of  the  crow  in  the  fields. 

Forty-three  years  actual  experience  has  demon- 
strated to  me  the  entire  safety  of  such  birds  be- 
ing permitted  to  range  the  fields  at  will. 

Tar  applied  to  seed  corn  before  it  is  planted, 
certainly  will  prevent  the  crows  destroying  it. 
For  more  than  forty  years  I  have  not  been  able 
to  detect  a  single  failure,  wherever  it  was  done 
correctly.  Not  one  ])erson  in  ten  would  proba- 
bly be  successful  in  their  first  endeavor  in  tarr- 
ing corn  ;  to  be  known,  the  operation  must  be 
seen.  One  man  dare  no  use  boiling  water,  so  he 
fails  ;  another  destroys  the  vitality  of  the  kernel 
by  too  great  a  degree  of  heat  long  continued.  I 
have  known  parts  of  fields  destroyed  by  poison- 
ous manures,  when  this  single  fact  was  over- 
looked, and  tar,  or  the  birds,  was  erroneously 
supposed  to  be  the  cause. 


■^68 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


Could  some  President  of  an  Agricultural  So- 
ety,  or  some  pattern  farmer,  be  induced  to  try 
he  experiment  of  tarring  seed  corn,  I  doubt  not 
.  lat  in  less  than  ten  years,  scarecrows  would  be 
■nong  the  missing.  Some  farming  editors  re- 
.ommend  the  planting  of  8  or  10  kernels  to  the 
hill,  as  a  safeguard  against  worms  and  insects. 
The  expense  to  thin  out  is  great,  and  a  field  thus 
dealt  with  never  stands  equally  in  all  the  hills. 
By  tarring  your  corn,  you  need  plant  no  more 
kernels  than  you  wish  to  grow.  When  we  des- 
troy the  crow,  we  lose  one  of  our  best  friends  ; 
when  will  the  farming  community  pause  and  con- 
sider on  this  matter  ?  Let  us  have  your  opinions, 
based,  as  far  as  may  be,  on  facts  ;  especially  let 
us  have  failures,  so  as  to  bring  together  both 
sides  of  the  question.  R.  Mansfield. 

West  Needham,  April,  1859. 

Remarks. — Friend  Mansfield  has  not  given 
us  the  mode  of  tarring,  which  might  be  adopted 
if  persons  understood  the  precise  mode  of  prep- 
aration. Our  neighbors  practice  in  this  way  : 
they  fill  a  pail  half  full  of  boiling  water,  add 
about  half  a  pint  of  common  tar — coal  tar  is  just 
as  good — stir  it  until  the  tar  is  melted  and  thor- 
oughly mingled  with  the  water,  then  add  the 
corn,  stirring  it  well  for  about  ten  minutes,  or 
until  it  is  completely  coverd  with  the  tar.  Take 
the  corn  out  and  roll  it  in  plaster  or  fine  ashes, 
and  the  process  is  complete. 


ROBINS  AND  WOHMS. 

While  so  much  is  said  and  written  in  reference 
to  the  destructiveness  of  the  robin,  an  Albany 
cultivator  thus  writes  his  opinion : — "The  robins 
are  so  industrious  to  feed  their  young  with  the, 
cut-worm,  bugs  and  insects,  so  destructive  to  the 
garden,  that  I  consider  every  robin's  nest  in  or 
near  my  garden  to  be  w'orth  a  dollar."  Still 
another: — A  Vermont  farmer  says,  "If  we  would 
consult  our  real  interest,  as  well  as  the  finer  feel- 
ings of  our  nature,  it  would  be  by  defending  the 
innocent  robin  from  the  attacks  of  both  boys  and 
men."  And  in  reference  to  the  "larger  species" 
of  grubs  or  muck-worm,  he  continues,  "Provi- 
idence  seems  to  have  provided  an  antidote  to 
this  evil,  in  the  common  robin.  This  innocent 
and  useful  bird  preys  with  peculiar  avidity  upon 
this  species  of  worms.  This  fact  may  be  ascer- 
tained by  visiting  a  nest  of  young  robins  in  the 
vicinity  of  a  corn-field,  when  it  will  be  perceived 
that  they  are  fed  lavishly  upon  this  kind  of  worm." 


Tar  as  a  Disinfectant. — The  editor  of  the 
Medina  Gazette  tells  of  a  skunk  being  captured 
in  a  house  by  a  dog,  with  the  usual  result  of  dis- 
gust to  the  victors.  The  terrible  scent  was  neu- 
tralized by  burning  tar  upon  live  coals  of  fire  by 
which  the  air  was  purified  as  if  by  magic.  If 
this  kind  of  fumigation  is  a  sure  specific,  it  de 
';erves  to  be  known  and  put  upon  record. 


EXTRACTS  AND  BUPLIES. 
GROWING   OF   ONIONS. 

My  neighbors  are  anxious  to  know  something 
more  about  Mr.  Emerson's  discovery,  "whereby 
he  secured  a  good  crop  of  onions."  They  do  not 
believe  that  a  plant,  once  impregnated  or  attacked 
by  the  maggot,  can  be  saved  by  the  ai)plication  of 
guano,  in  any  form  or  any  quantity.  They  believe, 
where  there  are  jdants  enough  on  the  ground, 
some  of  them  may  be  perforated  by  the  worms, 
while  others  are  not — and  that  those  plants  which 
are  not  thus  attacked,  may  be  improved  in  their 
growth  by  the  application  of  guano — this  is  their 
theory  and  interpretation  of  Mr.  E.'s  discovery. 
Some  of  these  cultivators  have  been  engaged  in 
the  business  of  growing  onions  for  thirty  years 
or  more — and  during  all  this  period,  have  raised 
from  one  to  four  thousand  bushels  each,  a  year. 
If  Mr.  E.,  or  any  other  gentleman  of  N.  H.,  has 
had  a  more  enlarged  or  critical  experience  in 
this  class  of  culture,  I  should  like  to  know  it. 
The  truth  is,  they  know  every  rope  in  the  ship 
about  the  onion.  To  grow  and  preserve  them 
has  become  a  second  nature.  I  would  as  soon 
undertake  to  teach  a  Marblehcad  fisherman  how 
to  hook  a  cod,  or  a  Kentucky  hunter  how  to  use 
a  rifle,  as  to  teach  a  Danvers  gardener  how  to 
grow  onions.  SouTU  Danvers. 

Ai)ril  9,  1859.  _ 

draining  a  meadow. 

I  have  a  meadow  in  which  the  mud  is  about 
one  and  a  half  feet  deep  resting  upon  a  thin 
stratum  of  clay,  and  under  this  is  quicksand. 
Will  an  undergrour  d  drain,  laid  with  stone,  be 
safe,  or  will  it  be  likely  to  soon  fill  ?  The  quan- 
tity of  water  discharged  is  considerable.  How  will 
it  answer  to  plow  in  summer,  put  on  a  little  sand 
or  manure,  and  seed  down  ?  s. 

,S.  //.,  March,  1859. 

Remarks. — An  underground  drain  made  of 
stone  will  be  quite  likely  to  get  filled  up  and  be- 
come useless  in  the  course  of  a  few  years.  But 
properly  drained,  with  tile  or  pipe,  it  will  be 
among  the  best  lands. 

Summer  plowing  and  seeding  is  a  capital  op- 
eration— but  even  that  ought  to  succeed  thor- 
ough draining.  

laying  land  to  grass — grape  vine. 

I  have  a  piece  of  land  rather  low  and  some- 
what clayey,  which  I  wish  to  lay  down  to  grass 
this  year,  and  want  to  know  the  best  time  and 
way.  Corn  has  been  raised  on  the  same  piece 
for  two  years,  a  thing  that  I  do  not  often  do. 
Barley  does  not  do  very  well  here,  and  there  are 
objections  to  oats  when  sown  with  grass  seed" 
How  would  it  do  to  put  on  guano  and  oats,  this 
spring,  and  after  the  oats  are  off,  put  on  manure 
and  sow  grass  seed  ?  If  this  course  would  do, 
how  much  guano  should  be  used,  and  how  and 
when  should  the  manure  be  applied  and  the 
grass  seed  sown  ? 

I  have  a  native  white  grape  vine  which  has 
borne  for  several  years,  and  ripened  its  fruit  fine- 
ly ;  but  last  year,  after  the  fruit  was  fully  grown 
it  began  to  wither,  and  very  few  if  any  of  the 
grapes  were  fit  for  use.    If  you  can  tell  the  cause, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


269 


and  how  to  prevent  the  same  again,  I  should  be 
thankful.  N.  G. 

Taunton,  Mass.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Sow  the  land  with  spring  wheat 
and  grass  seed ;  or  sow  only  one  bushel  and  a 
ha(f  of  oa.t&  to  the  acre,  and  your  grass  seed  will 
probably  take  well  and  grow  well.  Can  give  no 
advice  about  the  grape  vine. 

SOWING   SEEDS   FOR   BUCKTHORN   HEDGE. 

Will  you,  or  some  of  the  readers  of  your  val- 
uable paper,  inform  me  which  is  the  best  season 
of  the  year  for  sowing  the  seed  for  a  buckthorn 
hedge  ?     Also,  the  best  manner  of  sowing  ? 

Pittsfield,  Mass.,  1859.       Emory  H.  Nash. 

Remarks. — We  have  not  had  occasion  to  sow 
the  seed  of  buckthorn,  nor  can  we  find  any  ac- 
count of  the  process  in  the  books.  It  is  seldom 
done  except  by  nurserymen,  because  a  hedge  is 
60  much  more  readily  obtained  from  the  plants. 
We  should  sow  the  seeds  in  a  fine,  mellow,  gar- 
den soil  in  May,  as  most  other  seeds  are  sown. 

SETTING   FRUIT   TREES— CLOTH    FOR    HAY-CAPS. 

I  wish  to  be  informed  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
preparing  the  ground  for  setting  fruit  trees. 
Also,  is  it  best  to  set  them  in  the  spring  or  fall  ? 
Also,  will  cotton  cloth  used  for  hay  caps,  shed 
rain  without  any  preparation  of  oil  or  paint  of 
any  kind?  A  New  Subscriber. 

Ilatjield,  April  7,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  soil,  to  be  in  the  most  favora- 
ble condition  for  fruit  trees,  ought  to  be  under- 
drained ;  then  plow,  pulverize  and  manure  as  you 
would  to  obtain  sixty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre. 
Dig  the  holes  five  or  six  feet  across,  and  twelve 
to  eighteen  inches  deep  ;  do  this  several  days  be- 
fore you  set  the  trees.  Holes  prepared  in  this  lib- 
eral manner,  will  give  you  room  enough  to  place 
the  roots  in  their  natural  position,  and  will  be 
actually  cheaper  in  the  end,  than  to  dig  them 
three  feet  in  diameter.  Every  good  tree,  taken 
up  and  reset,  carefully,  will  live  and  grow,  wheth- 
er set  in  fall  or  spring.  We  set  them  at  either 
of  these  seasons,  as  is  most  convenient.  Good 
twilled  cotton  cloth,  costing  about  nine  cents  a 
yard,  will  shed  the  rain  from  a  well  made  up 
haycock  during  a  storm  of  three  days  and  nights. 
They  are  better  without  paint  or  varnish,  or  any 
other  preparation. 

WARTS   ON  PLUM   TREES. 

In  answer  to  an  inquiry  of  "A.  R.  S."  about 
plum  trees,  I  would  say  that  several  years'  expe- 
rience has  taught  me,  that  a  sure  way  of  prevent- 
ing warts  or  hard  protuberar'ies  from  growing 
on  plum  trees,  is  to  place  chicken  coops  under 
them  as  early  in  the  spring  as  possible,  or  before 
the  trees  blossom.  The  chickens  will  look  out 
for  everything  that  causes  warts.  i.  f. 

Pittsfield,  Mass.,  April  6,  1859. 


RAISING  CALVES. 

I  never  let  the  calves  suck  more  than  twice, 
without  the  cow's  bag  is  swollen  very  much. 
They  will  learn  to  drink  milk  as  soon  as  they  get 
a  little  hungry.  After  they  have  learned  to 
drink  well,  give  them  some  meal  or  fine  hay,  and 
they  will  soon  eat  like  cows.  I  keep  fourteen 
head  of  cattle,  and  I  raised  them  all  (except  one) 
in  this  way.  One  of  my  heifers,  which  calved  a 
year  ago,  in  October,  when  turned  out  to  grass 
in  June,  gave  fourteen  quarts  of  milk  a  day  quite 
a  number  of  days.  Another,  which  I  sold  two 
years  since  to  a  man  in  this  town,  has  given  over 
nineteen  quarts  per  day.  She  is  owned  by  a 
man  in  this  town  now,  who  would  not  take  $100 
for  her.  A  Yankee  Farmer. 

Westboro',  April,  1859. 

WELL  AND  AQUEDUCT  WATER. 

I  have  a  well  which,  in  a  dry  season,  afi'ords 
water  much  cooler  and  better  for  some  purposes 
than  that  from  the  aqueduct.  In  a  wet  time  it 
fills  up  so  full  that  it  is  but  little  cooler  than  that 
of  the  aqueduct.  The  well  is  eight  rods  from  the 
house,  twenty  feet  deep,  with  descending  ground 
to  the  house. 

I  wish  to  inquire  if  by  inserting  a  pipe  to  the 
bottom  of  the  well,  I  can  with  a  pump  take  wa- 
ter into  the  buildings  of  uniform  coldness,  or 
will  it  meet  with  the  same  variations  it  does 
when  taken  with  the  "old-fashioned  bucket  ?" 

Waitsfidd,  Vt.  S.  P.  Joslin. 

ROBINS. 

An  anonymous  correspondent  of  the  Farmer, 
in  a  short  note  referring  to  robins,  says,  "1  have 
just  met  in  Vol.  X.  of  the  Farmer,  p.  306,  a  well 
written  article  on  this  subject,  which  I  refer  to 
with  the  greatest  pleasure,  as  it  controverts  the 
notions  of  N.  Page,  Jr.,  put  forth  with  adroitness 
in  the  lately-published  transactions  of  the  Essex 
Society." 

If  friend  "Star"  will  explain  clearly  which 
statement  of  mine,  or  assertion,  or  "notion,"  if 
he  pleases,  is  successfully  controverted  by  any- 
thing in  the  article  alluded  to,  I  will  readily,  as 
in  duty  bound,  retract.  N.  PAGE,  Jr. 

Danversport,  April,  1859. 

CHANGING   SEED   POTATOES. 

A  neighbor,  who  has  the  very  desirable  habit 
of  pocketing  several  hundred  dollars  annually 
from  the  proceeds  of  his  ])otato  crop,  says  he  in- 
creases the  yield  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  per 
cent,  by  procuring  seed  potatoes,  which  grew  on 
an  entirely  different  soil  fifteen  or  twenty  miles 
distant.  Fifty  per  cent,  on  the  potato  crop  of 
the  whole  State,  I  imagine,  would  be  more  in  a 
single  year  than  our  proportion  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts claim,  about  which  so  much  ink  and 
breath  have  been  spent  in  the  last  forty  years. 

Lancaster,  Mass.,  1859.  H.  Lincoln. 

THE  SEASON — CANKER  WORM. 
The  month  of  March  gave  eight  inches  of  rain, 
and  the  first  half  of  April  promises  near  as  much 
in  proportion.  What  it  falls  short  in  rain  is 
made  up  of  cold  winds,  indicating  large,banks  of 
snow  to  the  North.     On  all  sides  the  winter  is 


270 


NEW   ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


spoken  of  as  having  been  mild  and  open.  Cultiva- 
tors are  anticipating  a  favorable  spring.  I  per- 
ceive those  who  have  apple  orchards  are  prepar- 
ing to  guard  by  tar,  against  the  ascent  of  the 
grub,  that  deposits  the  egg  from  which  springs 
the  canker  worm — that  bane  of  all  good  orchards. 
Were  it  not  for  this  devourer,  the  acres  appro- 
priated to  orchards  would  be  the  most  valuable 
on  the  farm.  Essex. 

April  12,  1859.  _ 

SOIL-PLANTING    IN   HOTBEDS. 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  Farmer  I  noticed 
soil-planting  in  hot-beds  recommended.  My  ad- 
vice to  those  inclined  to  try  the  experiment,  is  to 
be  moderate  in  their  expectations  of  success.  I 
made  the  experiment  some  tv/o  years  since — and 
like  most  of  my  plants — got  bit  for  my  pains. 

The  grub  which  I  transplanted  itito  my  bed 
with  the  soil  nearly  destroyed  my  planting. 
Those  which  escaped  the  gruD,  found  it  an  im- 
practicable aifair  to  attempt  to  root  through  a 
compact  soil,  consequently  they  yielded  up  the 
design  with  all  the  gravity  of  a  nonplussed  ten- 
dril. And  my  first  planting  of  that  year  was 
duly  chronicled  a  failure.  H.  M.  CouCH. 

Georgetown,  March,  1859. 


For  the  Neic  Fii^'lmid  Farmer. 

HOM7"  PLANTS  GROW---L1CSSONS  IN 
BOTANY, 

My  Dear  Sir; — I  have  for  many  years,  ever 
since  I  was  old  enough  to  know  what  the  benefits 
might  be,  been  in  favor  of  the  farmer's  studying 
the  natural  sciences.  As  long  ago  as  1840,  I 
wrote  a  series  of  articles  on  thi.s  subject,  which 
were  published  in  the  old  Netv  England  Farmer, 
edited  by  Henry  Colman.  Each  year  since  then, 
I  have  been  more  and  more  impressed  Avith  the 
truth  of  what  I  said,  and  the  number  of  those 
of  the  same  opinion  has  nobly  increased  since 
that  time,  insomuch,  that  many  efforts  have  been 
made,  and  some  of  them,  I  am  happy  to  say,  with 
signs  of  success,  to  establish  institutions  in  which 
these  branches  shall  be  taught,  with  special  ref- 
erence to  the  needs  of  young  farmers.  Success, 
I  say,  to  every  effort  in  the  cause.  Let  such 
schools  be  multiplied  all  over  the  land. 

But  it  is  easy  to  see,  that  however  numerous 
these  may  become,  their  number  will  always  be 
too  small  to  meet  the  universal  demands  of  the 
young  farmers  of  America.  We  must  have  a 
starling  point  short  of  them,  and  that  point  must 
be  the  home  of  the  young,  and  the  "peoples'  col- 
leges," the  district  schools ;  for  as  numerous  as 
higher  institutions  may  become,  the  great  mass 
of  American  youth  are,  probably,  through  all 
time,  to  receive  their  school  education  in  these 
humbler  institutions. 

I  am  aware  there  have  always  been  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  introducing  these  studies  in  our 
schools.  Not  in  the  children,  be  it  understood  ; 
they  are  born  naturalists,  and  only  need  to  have 
this  principle  of  nature  drawn  out,  to  become 
eminently  so.  But  parents,  blinded  by  other 
objects,  have  looked  with  unholy  indifference  on 
the  useful  and  beautiful  in  the  world  around 
them,  and  have  diverted  the  minds  of  their  chil- 
dren to  other,  less  attractive  studies.     Then,  we 


have  had  no  text  books  adapted  to  the  capacities 
of  the  young.  They  must  be  so  clogged  with 
scientific  technicals  that  the  clear  sunshine  of 
beauty  they  should  bring,  was  provokingly  be- 
fogged with  perplexity  and  darkness.  Then  we 
have  had  but  few  teachers  qualified  to  the  task, 
or  rather  pleasure,  of  giving  instruction  in  these 
branches.  They  have  been  educated  to  other 
and  often  less  useful  and  less  attractive  sciences. 

We  rejoice  in  one  series  of  scientific  text  books, 
adapted  to  the  wants  an  1  capacities  of  the  mem- 
bers of  our  common  schools,  and  shall  hail  its 
introduction  as  the  dawn  of  a  new  and  brilliant 
era  in  thfir  existence.  Prof.  Gray,  in  preparing 
his  botanical  works,  has  fully  comprehended  the 
wants  of  the  young.  His  "How  Plants  Grow," 
commences  the  work  of  vegetable  physiology  and 
botany  in  the  germ,  and  leads  the  pupil  on,  just 
as  young  plants  grow;  naturally  and  familiarly, 
in  a  style  that  any  child  can  comprehend  as  easily 
as  they  can  any  ordinary  reading  lessons. 

This  work  is  followed  by  his  "Lessons  in  Bot- 
any," written  in  the  same  farailiar  style,  but  lead- 
ing the  student  up  another  grade  in  this  beauti- 
ful and  attractive  science.  And  then  comes  his 
♦•Structural  and  Systematic  Botany,"  whose  course 
is  still  upward  and  onward,  until  led  into  the 
"Manual  of  Botany,"  decidedly  the  most  full  and 
understandable  work  on  the  science  we  have  ever 
seen. 

In  addition  to  the  familiar  language  in  which 
the  works  are  written,  they  are  illustrated,  thanks 
to  their  enterprising  publishers,  Messrs.  Ivison 
&  Phinney,  New  York,  by  cuts  so  life-like  that 
any  one  at  all  familiar  with  flowers  will  recog- 
nize them  without  any  other  introduction.  The 
series  is  one  by  which  any  ordinary  mind  may 
become  its  own  teacher  j  a  ladder  that  is  of  so 
easy  ascent  that  the  youngest  may  safely  venture 
upon  it. 

The  only  remaining  obstacle  in  the  way  of  in- 
troducing the  study  of  plants  into  all  our  schools, 
now,  that  we  can  conceive  of,  will  arise  in  the 
plea  that  our  teachers  are  not  educated  in  the 
science ;  but  this  series  happily  removes  this  ob- 
stacle, for  we  wouldn't  give  a  fig  for  a  teacher 
who  has  not  mind  enough  to  become  familiar 
with  "How  Plants  Grow,"  and  energy  enough  to 
cultivate  it.  One  hour's  reading  and  investiga- 
tion each  day,  will  keep  a  teacher  enough  in  ad- 
vance of  her  class,  and  enable  her  attractively  to 
lead  them  along.  The  pleasure  and  profit  all 
will  derive  from  the  efi'ort  who  will  make  it,  will 
more  than  compensate  for  the  labor  best::wed. 
She  wdll  find  another  gem  in  their  educational 
garlands,  and  new  and  attractive  objects  of  beau- 
ty in  a  world  where  ignorance  and  indifference 
see  fio  much  deformity. 

The  season  for  our  common  schools  to  open  is 
near,  bringing  with  it  the  early  spring  flowers  ; 
fit  season  to  commence  their  study  ;  and  we  hope 
the  teachers  of  our  good,  old  Commonwealth  will 
see  to  it  that  a  class  of  beginners  is  formed  in 
every  school.  Further  than  this,  let  every  school 
become  a  class  in  learning  "How  Plants  Grow," 
just  as  many  of  them  are  now  singing  classes. 
To  this  end,  let  the  teacher  talk  to  them  a  few  mo- 
ments every  day  upon  the  subject,  giving  illustra- 
tions of  the  subject.  For  instance,  let  a  common 
garden  bean  be  the  subject,  and  let  them  show 
them  the  bean  dry  and  dead,  then  when  the  first 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


271 


vegetation  process  developes  itself,  and  so  on  until 
it  reaches  maturity.  Or  let  them  take  a  bud,  and 
show  them  how  the  leaves  that  are  to  shade  them 
this  year,  were  folded  up  and  hermetically  sealed 
last  fall,  to  preserve  them  through  the  long,  cold 
•winter,  and  how  they  break  their  encasement  and 
expand  in  early  spring.  A  few  short  talks  and 
illustrations  will  get  up  an  interest  that  will  grow 
and  increase  like  the  growth  and  increase  of  the 
plants  they  delineate,  until  a  beautiful  tree  of 
knowledge,  bearing  flowers,  leaves  and  fruit,  will 
appear  to  gladden  its  possessor.  W.  Bacon. 
Biclimond,  Mass.,  April  9,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  publishers  of  these  excellent 
works  do  not  seem  to  appreciate  what  would  be 
greatly  for  their  interest,  by  neglecting  to  secure 
a  notice  of  them  through  proper  channels. 


THE  NB^W  BREAD  AND  MILK  LAWS. 

It  is  known  to  most  of  our  readers  that  our 
Legislature  has  attempted  to  secure  to  the  people 
of  the  Commonwealth  pure  milk,  good  measure, 
and  bread  of  full  weight.  The  acts  relating  to 
these  subjects  are  of  such  general  interest,  that 
we  copy  them  in  full.  The  following  is  the  act  to 
punish  fraud  by  the  sale  of  adulterated  milk,  and 
to  provide  for  sealing  measures  to  be  used  in  the 
sale  of  milk : 

Section  1.  The  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  the  sev- 
eral cities  in  this  Commonwealth  shall,  and  the  Se- 
lectmen of  the  several  towns  may,  annually  ap- 
point one  or  more  Inspectors  of  Milk,  whose  duty 
it  shall  be  to  prosecute  all  violations  of  the  law 
against  the  adulteration  of  milk,  and  who  shall 
have  power  to  enter  all  places  where  milk  is  stored 
or  kept  for  sale,  and  whenever  he  has  reason  to  be- 
lieve the  same  in  any  way  adulterated,  he  shall 
take  specimens  of  the  same  and  cause  them  to  be 
analyzed  or  otherwise  satisfactorily  tested,  the  re- 
eult  of  which  he  shall  preserve  as  evidence  against 
the  parties  complained  of. 

Sec.  2.  Said  inspectors  shall  keep  an  office  and 
books,  for  the  purpose  of  recording  the  names  and 
places  of  business  of  all  persons  engaged  in  the  sale 
of  milk  within  their  respective  limits  ;  and  any  per- 
son who  shall  presume  to  engage  in  the  business 
of  selling  milk  without  first  causing  his  name  and 
place  of  business  to  be  recorded  upon  the  books 
of  the  inspector  of  milk,  and  his  name  legibly 
placed  upon  all  carriages  used  by  him  in  the  con- 
veyance of  milk,  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  pen- 
alties as  if  convicted  of  the  adulteration  of  milk, 
as  providedin  the  two  hundred  and  twenty-second 
chapter  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred 
and  tifty-six. 

Sec.  3.  Inspectors  appointed  pursuant  to  the  pro- 
visions of  section  first  of  this  act,  shall,  before  en- 
tering upon  the  duties  of  their  ofHce,  be  sworn  to 
the  faithful  enforcement  of  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  and  shall  also  give  public  notice  of  thiir  aj)- 
pointment,  br  publishing  the  same  two  weeks  in 
some  newspaper  published  in  the  city  or  town  in 
which  they  hold  their  place  of  business,  and  if  i  o 
newspaper  is  published  in  such  town,  by  posting 
in  public  and  conspicuous  places  in  said  town,  two 
or  more  such  notices;  and  they  shall  receive  such 
compensation  for  their  services,  as  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen  of  the  several  cities,  and  the  Selectmen 
of  the  several  towns,  shall  determine. 


Sec.  4.  Milk  shall  be  bought  and  sold  by  wine 
measure.  All  persons  engaged  in  the  sale  of  milk 
shall  annually,  in  the  month  of  May,  cause  to  be 
sealed  by  the  sealer  of  weights  and  measures  in 
their  respective  cities  and  towns,  all  vessels  used 
by  them  in  the  sale  or  buying  at  wholesale  of  milk, 
by  wine  measure,  and  all  cans  used  in  the  sale  of 
milk  shall  be  sealed  by  said  sealer  of  weights  and 
measures  at  a  price  not  exceeding  two  cents  each 
at  the  amount  which  they  severally  hold  by  wine 
measure,  and  any  person  who  shall  fail  to  comply 
with  the  provisions  of  the  law  requiring  all  meas- 
ures to  be  sealed,  or  shall  buy  or  sell  at  wholesale, 
milk  by  any  other  measure  than  wine  measute,  or 
shall  sell  adulterated  or  unwholesome  milk,  shall 
be  held  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  upon  convic- 
tion thereof  by  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction, 
shall  forfeit  to  the  use  of  the  complainant  a  sum 
not  exceeding  twenty  dollars. 

Sec.  5.  No  person  shall  offer  for  sale  in  this 
Commonwealth,  milk  produced  from  cows  fed  up- 
on the  refuse  of  brewcrif-s  or  distilleries,  or  any 
other  substance  which  may  be  deleterious  to  the 
quality  of  the  milk,  under  a  penalty  of  ten  dollars 
for  each  offence. 

Approved  April  6,  1859. 

The  following  is  the  act  passed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture, regulating  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
bread : 

Section  1.  A  loaf  of  bread  shall  be  two  pounds 
in  weight ;  and  bread  may  be  baked  and  sold  in 
loaves,  half,  three-quarter  and  quarter  loaves,  but 
not  otherwise,  except  in  bread  composed  in  chief 
part  of  rye,  or  maize. 

Sec.  2.  Small  rolls  and  fancy  bread  weighing 
less  than  one-quarter  of  a  pound  each,  may  be 
baked  and  sold  without  regard  to  weight. 

Sec.  3.  In  every  shop  or  place  where  bread  is 
sold  by  retail,  and  in  each  front  window  thereof, 
there  shall  be  conspicuously  placed,  a  card,  on 
which  shall  be  legibly  printed  a  list  of  the  different 
kinds  and  qualities  of  loaves  sold  there,  with  the 
price  of  each  per  loaf,  and  half,  three-quarter  and 
quarter  loaf. 

Sec.  4.  All  bread,  except  small  rolls  and  fancy 
bread  of  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  poui  d  each,  sold 
in  any  shop  or  place,  shall  be  weighed  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  buyer,  and  if  found  deficient  in  Avcight, 
bread  shall  be  added  to  make  up  the  weight  re- 
quired by  law. 

Sec.  5.   Any  person  who  shall  violate  any  of  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  shall  forfeit  for  each  offence, 
the  sum  of  ten  dollars,  to  be  recovered  in  an  actio 
of  tort  to  the  use  of  the  party  suing  therefor. 

Approved  April  5,  18.59. 


JACOB  STKAWK",  THE  GIANT  FAKMEB 
OF  THE  WEST. 

Twenty-seven  years  ago,  Mr.  Strawn  came  to 
this  State  a  poor  man.  His  operations  were  small 
at  first,  but  continued  to  increase  each  year,  un- 
til be  had  reduced  over  o(),()(){)  acres  of  land  to  a 
state  of  cultivation.  He  has  one  farm  of  7,800 
acres,  and  another  of  10.000.  He  has  usually  em- 
ployed from  200  to  oOO  men,  and  a  large  ntunber 
of  horses.  Every  year  until  quite  recently,  he 
has  stalled  from*5,000  to  0.000  head  of  cattle, 
and  kept  other  live  stock  in  ])r()portionate  num- 
bers. In  this  twenty-seven  years  he  has  made  a 
fcu'tune  of  a  million  of  dollars,  and  he  is  still  hale 
and  vigorous  to  enjoy  it.  He  has  one  corn  field 
in  Morgan  county,  nearly  six  miles  long,  but  has 


272 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


latterly  been  curtailing  his  business  and  convert- 
ing some  of  his  real  estate  into  cash.  He  is  a 
monument  of  what  patience,  perseverance,  in- 
dustry and  continuous  exertion  in  one  direction 
will  do  for  a  man  who  has  determined  upon  the 
accomplishment  of  a  certain  end. — Journal, 
Springfield,  111. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LABOR  OP  BEES  IN  HIVES. 
In  tlie  Farmer  of  January  1st,  "Progress"  says, 
"1  have  a  suggestion  to  make  respecting  bee- 
hives on  Mr.  Quinby's  plan.  I  like  the  Isading 
idea  of  his  plan,  but  not  the  application  of  it.  In 
his  hives  the  bees  are  obliged  to  store  all  their 
surplus  honey  in  boxes  placed  on  the  top  of  the 
hive,  and  they  must  climb  up  to  get  to  the  boxes. 
Instead  of  placing  boxes  on  the  top,  why  not 
have  a  small  hive,  or  large  box,  to  set  by  tlie 
side  of  ihc  hive,  and  when  it  is  full,  open  a  com- 
munication between  the  two,  and  allow  the  bees 
to  store  their  surplus  honey  in  it  just  as  Mr. 
tiuinhy  has  his  stored  in  boxes  on  the  top  ?" 

"Progress"  is  not  the  first  man  that  has  suggest- 
ed tlris  idea.  To  those  who  can  look  only  at  the 
surface  of  things,  it  does  really  appear  as  if  the 
bees  had  needless  trouble  to  reach  the  boxes  on 
the  top.  There  are  many  things  about  bees  that 
work  much  better  in  theory  than  in  practice,  and 
1  suspect  that  we  know  but  very  little  about  their 
manner  of  operations,  and  are  often  in  error  in 
our  endeavors  to  assist  them.  I  would,  however, 
suggest  to  "Progress,"  that  it  is  possible,  yes, 
more  than  possible,  that  the  bees  which  gather 
the  honey,  are  not  the  ones  that  store  much  in 
the  boxes.  This  seems  to  be  indicated  by  what 
we  can  see  when  watching  them  in  a  glass  hive. 
For  instance,  one  bee  can  frequently  be  seen 
giving  another  honey.  Also,  one  that  brings  pol- 
len, finds  a  cell  suitable  to  receive  it,  and  then 
thrusts  in  its  legs,  and  discharges  its  load,  con- 
sisting of  the  round  pellets,  and  leaves  without 
further  care.  Another  bee,  probably  a  nurse, 
soon  comes  along  and  packs  it  close  in  the  bot- 
tom. A  great  many  gatherers  bring  in  both  honey 
and  pollen.  The  latter  is  seldom  stored  in  the 
boxes  on  the  top,  but  kept  in  the  hive  where  the 
brood  is  raised.  Consequently,  hive  honey  is 
not  as  pure  as  that  from  box  or  cap.  If  a  bee 
went  to  the  boxes  to  discharge  a  part  of  its  load, 
why  not  all  ? 

A  glass  hive  that  was  apparently  full  through- 
out with  brood  and  honey,  had  boxes  put  on  the 
top  to  receive  the  surplus.  Before  they  had  con- 
structed much  comb  in  them,  the  bees  would  de- 
posit honey  on  the  surface  of  a  comb,  containing 
a  brood  of  drones,  in  the  hive !  The  convex  cov- 
ering of  these  cells  made  cavities  between,  suf- 
ficient to  keep  it  in  place — the  next  morning,  it 
would  be  all  removed,  probably  to  the  boxes,  as 
the  bees  were  constructing  combs  there.  It  is 
quite  common  to  see  honey  in  the  cells  next  the 
glass  at  evening,  and  next  morning,  find  them 
empty. 

For  several  years,  I  have  had  what  might  be 
termed  a  perfect  observatory  hive  in  operation. 
It  was  nearly  five  feet  high,  two  and  a  half  feet 
wide,  and  one  and  three-fourths  inches  thick  ; 
containing  just  one  comb  in  thickness,  and  had 
boxes  on  the  top  of  it.     Whenever  the  yield  of 


honey  was  good,  nearly  every  unsealed  cell  not 
occupied  with  brood  or  pollen,  would  contain 
honey  at  evening  ;  but  the  honey  would  general- 
ly be  removed  during  the  niglit.  The  honey 
sealed  up,  was  either  in  the  top  of  this  long  hive, 
or  in  the  boxes,  as  far  as  possible  from  the  en- 
trance. 

From  the  foregoing,  I  s\vq.\\  suppose  till  we  get 
further  light,  that  the  bees  which  go  aliout  after 
the  honey,  have  but  very  little  to  do  at  home  in 
packing  and  sealing  up  stores  for  winter  ;  th-t 
when  a  loaded  bee  enters  the  hive,  it  either 
gives  its  honey  to  another,  or  discharges  it  into 
the  first  convenient  cell  at  hand,  and  afterwards 
it  is  removed  to  the  boxes  or  some  other  part  of 
the  hive  away  from  the  entrance.  The  result  of 
some  thirty  years'  experience  fully  sustains  the 
above  theory.  I  have  had  hives  twenty-two  inches 
in  height,  and  others  only  ten  ;  on  account  of 
this  difference  in  shape,  I  could  discover  no  dif- 
ference in  the  result  in  the  boxes.  Hence  our 
laudable  attempts  to  assist  our  bees  by  placing 
boxes  near  the  entrance,  to  save  the  labor  of 
travel,  is  not  attended  with  the  expected  success. 

Respecting  "the  box  at  the  side"  suggested  by 
"Progress,"  I  would  say  that  a  little  experience 
will  indicate  the  best  place  to  obtain  surplus 
honey.  For  myself,  I  have  always  found  that  the 
bees  must  be  crowded  for  room  in  every  other 
place,  before  they  will  store  much  at  the  side. 
It  would  appear  as  if  they  thought  it  less  safe 
from  robbers  than  at  the  top.  It  is  quite  com- 
mon to  have  boxes  on  the  top  filled  and  ready  to 
be  removed,  in  from  fourteen  to  twenty  days, 
and  I  never  had  any  at  the  side,  ready  to  take 
away,  short  of  five  or  six  weeks.  In  fact,  I  never 
had  any  so  well  filled  here,  as  at  the  top.  For 
the  last  few  years,  I  do  not  take  the  trouble  to 
give  the  bees  a  side  box,  as  long  as  all  of  them 
can  be  profitably  employed  elsewhere. 

St.  Johnsville,  N.  Y.  M.  Quinbt. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
DAIRY  SALT. 

I  do  not  recollect  seeing  published  the  follow- 
ing method  of  preparing  dairy  salt.  Perhaps  it 
is  too  well  known  to  merit  it.  It  was  introduced 
to  me  as  being  practiced  by  an  experienced  Scotch 
dairyman. 

Take  the  best  crystal  salt,  wash  it,  dissolve, 
strain,  settle  and  turn  off;  boil  it  down  in  some 
perfectly  clean  iron  vessel,  skim  as  boiling; 
when  stirred  off  dry,  it  will  produce  fine  salt,  white 
as  the  drifting  snow,  which  if  stirred  up  in  a 
glass  vessel  of  water,  will  produce  no  sediment, 
and  will  be  distinct  from  any  mineral  or  other 
possible  impurity. 

Salt  is  offered  in  the  country  markets  for  from 
one  and  one-fourth  to  one  and  one-half  cents 
per  pound,  which  looks  like  the  model  of  perfect- 
ness.  After  the  above  method  of  manufacture 
it  will  cost  nearly  double  that  amount. 

For  two  years  past  we  have  manufactured  salt 
in  this  way  for  the  produce  of  about  three  tons  of 
butter  each  year. 

Having  this  year  increased  our  dairy,  we  have 
procured  coarse  salt  for  another  trial  of  the  same. 

S.   P.   JOSLYN. 

Waitsfield,  Vt.,  March  17,  1859. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMEK. 


273 


Djlslqn  for  a  couN'rnY  residence. 


We  are  happy  to  present  the  reader  to-day,  j 
with  what  appears  to  us  a  beautiful  design  for  a 
country  residence.  It  is  from  the  pencil  of  Mr.  I 
G.  E.  Harney,  a  young  artist  of  great  promise,! 
of  Lynn,  in  this  State.  We  have  rarely  seenj 
sketches  so  truthful  and  life-like, — truthful,  be-| 
cause  they  are  life-like, — and  so  animated,  if  we' 
may  be  allowed  the  license,  as  several  we  have  been } 
permitted  to  look  at  from  his  pencil.  We  have' 
employed  the  best  engraver  to  second  his  efforts,! 
and  believe  the  result  will  prove  acceptable  toj 
every  person  of  taste.  We  will  indulge  in  a  sin-| 
gle  remark,  only,  in  connection  with  this  subject, 
and  that  is  this  :  You  may  expend  a  given  sum' 
of  money  in  building  your  house,  and  produce; 
an  awkward, uncouth  and  inconvenient  dwelling,' 
or,  with  the  same  cost,  have  one  that  shall  be  at-] 
tractive,  tasteful,  and  every  v/ay  convenient.  If 
you  are  not  acquainted  with  the  subject — as  it 
is  hardly  expected  many  will  be — you  have  only 
to  apply  to  some  competent  designer  and  archi- 
tect for  the  proper  suggestions.  The  latter  course 
is  always  cheapest  in  the  end. 

For  a  situation  away  from  the  city,  where  the 
owner  is  not  restricted  to  a  four  rod  lot,  but  whose 


estate  is  measured  by  the  acre,  we  think  the  ac- 
companying a  very  appropriate  design.  We  of- 
fer a  dwelling,  the  leading  features  of  which  are 
of  the  rural  gothic  style,  characterized  by  the 
verge-boards,  pointed  arches  of  the  veranda  and 
porch,  lattice-windows  and  the  general  prevalence 
of  modified  gothic  features. 

The  following  is  the  description  of  the  plan: 
No.  1,  veranda  ;  No.  2,  hall,  containing  stairs  to 
the  chambers,  with  a  private,  enclosed  staircase 
under  these,  leading  to  the  cellar.  Opening 
from  the  hall.  No.  3,  is  the  parlor,  15  feet  by  16, 
in  the  front  of  which  is  a  bay-window,  which 
may  be  furnished  with  a  cushioned  seat.  No.  4, 
living-room,  14  feet  by  21,  containing  a  large 
closet  on  each  side  of  the  chimney-breast,  and 
communicating  by  means  of  the  pantry,  No.  9, 
with  the  kitchen,  No.  6.  The  pantry  is  to  be 
furnished  with  shelves  and  sink,  contains  a  store- 
room, No.  10,  and  opens  upon  a  small  stoop.  No. 
11,  which  shields  the  rear  entrance  to  the  house. 
The  kitchen  is  14  feet  by  18.  No.  7,  is  a  one- 
story  addition,  9  feet  by  15,  containing  a  wash- 
room, fitted  with  a  boiler  and  stationary  tubs. 
A  door  opens  from  this  room  to  the  yard.  No. 
5  may  be  used  either  as  a  bedroom  or  library; 
it  is  is  feet  by  15.  The  second  story  contains 
four  good  sized  chambers,  besides  dressing- 
rooms,  closets,  a  bathroom,  Szc.  Height  of  first 
story,  10  feet;  do.  of  second,  8^  feet. 


274 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


GROUND    PLAN    OF   THE    DESIGN. 


Construclion. — This  is  a  frame  house.  The  out- 
side covering::  to  be  vertical  wealher-lioarding,  of 
uniform  width  ;  the  joints  to  be  tonj^ued  and 
grooved  and  covered  with  battens.  The  verge- 
boards,  window  and  door-trimmings,  and  other 
ornamental  details,  to  be  sawn  from  3-]  inch  plank. 
The  interior  is  to  be  plain  finished  in  the  two  prin- 
cipal stories,  and  the  attic  may  be  left  unfinished, 
if  desired.     Cost  from  $2800  "to  $;iOOO. 

G.  E.  H.    ' 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TARRING  SEED  CORN. 

Mr.  Brown: — Mr.  R.  Mansfield,  in  the 
Farmer  for  April  23d,  says  "that  after  an  expe- 
rience of  forty-three  years  he  is  satisfied  that 
crows  and  birds  may  be  permitted  to  range  the 
fields  at  will,  and  that  tarring  seed  corn,  if  it  is 
done  correctly,  will  prevent  the  destruction  of 
corn  by  crows  so  that  no  'scare-crows'  need  be 
used  in  the  fields  at  all." 

After  twenty  years'  experience,  I  can  bear  tes- 
mony  also,  that  Mr.  Mansfield,  on  this  point,  is 
substantially  correct;  and  also,  that  the  "tarring 
of  the  seed  corn"  is  a  pretty  safe  remedy  against 
the  ravages  of  the  cut  worm,  grub  and  wire 
worm. 

Probably,  of  all  the  farmers  that  have  tried 
"tarring  seed"  in  the  past  fifteen  years,  not  one- 
third  now  continue  the  ])ractice.  One  farmer 
tried  the  tar  and  he  got  on  so  much  that  the 
corn  would  not  come  up.  Another  farmer  poured 
stiff'  tar  among  his  seed  corn,  and  tried  to  stir  it 
up  ;  some  of  it  was  tarred,  but  a  good  deal  more 
was  not,  and  the  crows  pulled  it  just  as  fast  as 
they  could  get  to  it.  A  third  farmer  said  that 
the  tar  stuck,  so  to  his  hand  that  he  could  not 
plant  it,  8zc.  Mr.  Mansfield  has  not  given  us 
his  plan  of  preparing  seed  corn  in  this  way  for 
planting.  But  you  have  given  yours,  and  your 
neighbor's  plan,  which  seems  to  me  a  vei-y  good 
way. 

During  the  past  twelve  years  I  have  given  a 
plan  of  preparing  seed  corn  for  planting  in  sev- 


eral agricultural  journals.  But  it  may  be  worth 
repeating.  First  put  the  seed  corn  to  soak  for 
twelve  or  twenty-four  hours,  in  water,  previous 
to  planting.  If  you  have  some  saltpetre  handy, 
dissolve  half  a  pound  in  warm  water  and  turn  to 
the  corn  in  soak.  Then  take  out  a  peck  of  this 
swelled  corn,  put  it  into  an  old  half  bushel  meas- 
ure or  small  tub ;  raise  up  the  corn  round  the 
measure  in  form  of  a  tunnel ;  then  take  a  gill  of 
tar,  (pitch  tar  is  the  best,  though  coal  tar  will 
answer,)  put  it  into  a  half-new  tin  pan,  pour  on 
water  enough  to  cover  the  tar  and  then  set  the 
pan  over  a  furnace.  When  it  boils,  stir  the  tar 
and  water  until  it  has  become  entirely  dissolved 
in  the  water.  Then  pour  it  on  hot  to  the  corn, 
and  stir  it  w'ell  until  all  the  corn  has  become 
well  smeared  with  tar.  When  you  stop  stirring, 
the  corn  will  crawl  together  like  a  pail  of  small 
live  crabs.  Then  take  your  plaster  and  scatter 
it  on,  stirring  it  till  every  kernel  is  coated  with 
plaster,  and  the  corn  is  ready  for  planting. 

Of  course,  it  is  understood  by  farmers  that 
the  seed  corn  after  this  preparation  must  be  kept 
moist  in  the  field.  If  the  seed  is  allowed  to  get 
dry  and  parched  for  any  length  of  time  in  the 
sun,  it  will  not  germinate,  and  must  not  be  plant- 
ed. When  seed  corn  is  treated  after  this  plan 
no  farmer  need  fear  but  that  his  corn  will  come 
up  in  good  time,  if  the  seed  is  good. 

Derby,  Ct.,  1859.  L.  DuRANU. 


Hydrophobia. — A  man  was  cured  of  hydro- 
phobia in  Italy  lately,  by  swallowing  vinegar,  in 
mistake  for  a  medicinal  potion.  A  physician  at 
Padua  heard  of  this,  and  tried  the  remedy  on  a 
patient ;  he  gave  him  a  pint  of  vinegar  in  the 
morning,  another  at  noon,  and  a  third  at  sunset, 
which  cured  him. 


To  Take  Rust  out  of  Steel. — Cover  the 
steel  with  sweet-oil,  well  rubbed  on.  In  forty- 
eight  hours,  rub  with  finely  powdered,  unslaked 
lime,  until  the  rust  disappears. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


275 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
REVIEW  OP  THE  SEASON". 

Mr.  Editor  : — With  a  view  of  keeping  the 
readers  of  the  Fanner  posted  up  on  the  changes 
and  fluctuations  of  the  season,  I  send  the  results 
of  my  record  of  the  weather  for  the  last  six 
months,  giving  an  account  of  the  principal  ele- 
ments which  have  governed  the  seasons  during 
that  time.  The  amount  of  snow  and  rain  has 
been  small,  yet  the  ground  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  time,  from  Uecemher  to  March,  has  been 
mostly  coated  with  ice,  so  that  we  have  had  an 
ordinary  amount  of  tolerable  sleighing,  while  the 
amount  of  snow  which  continued  on  the  ground 
has  not  exceeded  three  or  four  inches,  m  re  than 
a  few  days  at  a  time,  yet  by  thawing  and  freez- 
ing, it  has  formed  ice  of  a  more  permanent  char- 
acter. We  have  had  no  severe  snow  storms,  and 
but  a  few  days  of  extreme  cold  weather. 

October  had  a  mean  temperature  of  47.54°, 
which  was  only  .GS*^  above  the  mean  of  the  ])ast 
six  years,  and  was  the  warmest  October  since 
1854.  Rain  fell  on  15  days,  and  its  whole  amount 
was  3.58  inches,  but  no  snow  fell  during  the 
month.  We  had  two  thunder  storms,  one  on  the 
23d,  with  heavy  thunder  in  north-west,  from 
three  to  six,  P.  M. ;  had  a  light  shower  at  six 
o'clock.  On  the  30th  at  eight  o'clock,  P.  M., 
thunder  was  heard  in  nortii-west,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  rain  began  to  fall,  and  soon  increased 
to  a  heavy  shower,  when  the  thunder  was  not 
heard  for  some  time,  but  at  40  minutes  past  eight 
o'clock,  there  was  a  sudden  heavy  peal  of  crack- 
ling thunder,  which  probably  struck  at  no  great 
distance.  After  this,  rolling  thunder  continued 
in  south-east,  till  about  20  minutes  past  nine. 
There  was  an  aurora  of  considerable  brightness 
between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  on  the  evening  of 
the  27th,  consisting  of  bright  arch,  rays,  stream- 
ers, and  beautiful  corruscations. 

November  had  a  temperature  of  30.37",  which 
was  5.62°  colder  than  the  mean,  and  colder  than 
any  of  the  six  preceding  years.  Rain  and  snow 
fell  on  13  days.  The  total  amount  of  rain  and 
melted  snow  was  2.64  inches.  Amount  of  snow 
Si  inches.  Winter  commenced  with  a  snow  storm 
on  the  23d  and  24th,  when  the  depth  of  snow 
was  5.i  inches.  The  total  amount  of  snow  for  the 
month  was  8.^  inches.  The  mountains  were  cov- 
ered with  snow  on  the  fourth,  and  on  the  seventh 
the  first  snow  fell  on  the  low  lands.  On  the  22d, 
there  was  a  cold  fog,  or  in  other  words,  a  storm 
cloud  rested  on  the  earth,  and  as  the  cold  in- 
creased in  consequence  of  the  north-west  wind, 
frost  gathered  in  beautiful  crystals  ,on  the  north- 
west side  of  twigs  of  trees  and  other  objects, 
showing  the  beautiful  process  of  the  formation  of 
the  snow-flake. 

December  had  a  temperature  of  21.02°,  which 
is  1.37°  below  the  mean.  There  were  two  eve- 
nings and  two  mornings  when  the  mercury  stood 
below  zero;  the  lowest  was  11°  below,  on  the 
morning  of  the  25th.  Rain  and  snow  fell  on  13 
days,  and  snow  on  five  days.  The  whole  amount 
of  rain  and  melted  snow  was  2.3S  inches,  and  the 
amount  of  snow  7.i.  There  was  a  large  amount 
of  frozen  rain,  and  rain  and  snow  together. 

January,  1859,  had  a  temperature  of  21.03°, 
being  4.51'"  above  the  mean.  Rain  and  snow  fell 
on  thirteen  days,  and  snow  on  seven.  The  whole 


amount  of  rain  was  2.81  inches,  and  of  snow  14:^. 
The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  month  was 
the  three  cold  days.  9th,  10th  and  11th,  being 
the  coldest  days  of  the  whole  winter.  The  mer- 
cury on  the  10th  stood  at  -27°  at  7,  A.  M.,  -20° 
at  2,  P.  M.,  and  -24°  at  nine,  P.  M.,  making  a 
mean  of  23.66"  below  zero  during  the  day,  which 
is  about  4°  colder  than  the  coldest  day  within 
six  years.  Aside  from  these  three  days  and  the 
following  morning,  the  mercury  did  not  sink  be- 
low zero  during  the  month. 

February  had  a  mean  temperature  of  23.64°, 
which  was  4.63°  above  the  average  of  the  past 
six  years,  but  was  3.42°  colder  than  1857.  The 
mercury  s'unk  only  twice  below  zero  during  the 
month.  Rain  and  snow  fell  on  eight  days,  and 
snow  on  six.  The  whole  amount  of  rain  and  melt- 
ed snow  was  1.39  inches,  and  of  snow  14|J.  There 
was  an  aurora  of  consideralile  brightness  on  the 
22d,  which  began  between  .six  and  seven,  P.  M., 
and  became  obscured  by  clouds  a  little  before 
eight  o'clock.  It  was  a  diff'use  light  without  rays 
or  streamers,  with  a  bright  red  border  in  the 
north-west. 

Marcli  has  been  the  mildest  month  of  tlie  same 
name  during  the  past  six  years.  Its  temperature 
was  34.31°,  which  was  7.79  warmer  than  the  mean 
of  the  six.  Rain  fell  on  sixteen  days,  and  snow  on 
three.  The  amount  of  rain  was  3.95  inches,  and 
of  snow  Zh-  The  ice  disappeared  in  Otter  Creek 
on  the  15th,  and  the  flood  was  highest  on  the 
20th.  The  birds  arrived  a  few  days  earlier  than 
usual,  and  uttered  their  cheerful  notes  as  the 
harbingers  of  spring.  Although  March  leaves  the 
earth  bare  of  vegetation,  yet  the  buds  are  swollen, 
and  the  signs  of  the  time-  indicate  an  early  spring. 

The  amount  of  water  which  has  fallen  during 
the  past  six  months  is  16.95  inches,  and  of  snow 
48.37  inches.  The  two  wettest  months  were  Oc- 
tober and  March,  while  the  most  snow  fell  in 
January  and  February. 

Although  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer  does 
not  depend  upon  the  conditions  of  the  past  six 
months  to  a  great  extent,  yet  there  are  some 
things  worth  recording,  while  to  the  man  of  sci- 
ence, all  seasons  are  alike  interesting,  for  he 
wants  to  study  the  laws  of  elementary  distur- 
bance, and  gain  a  knov/ledge  of  those  eternal 
principles,  which  produce  change  in  the  earth 
and  in  the  elements  around  it.      D.  BuCKLAND. 

Brandon,  Vt.,  April  4,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  WAY  TO  DESTROY  CANADA 
THISTLES. 

In  meadows,  cut  them  about  the  20th  of  Au- 
gust, or  after  they  have  gone  to  seed.  At  that 
time,  the  top  has  drawn  from  the  roots  so  much 
for  its  support,  that  it  leaves  the  root  almost  ex- 
hausted, and  would  die  were  it  not  for  the  shel- 
ter and  protection  which  the  top  affords  against 
the  fall  rains.  At  this  stage  of  the  thistle,  you 
will  find  that  the  stalk  near  its  roots,  and  a  part 
of  the  roots  are  hollow,  and  I  infer  that  the  wet 
getting  into  it,  is  what  kills  it.  It  is  all  folly  to 
suppose  that  plowing,  hoeing  or  niowing,  at  any 
season  of  the  year  will  destroy  thistles  unless 
full  grown.  I  have  found  that  cutting  the  tops 
of  young  thistles,  with  the  scythe,  or  hoe,  serves 


276 


NEW   ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


only  to  produce  more  and  larger  roots  with  young 
thistles,  which  are  the  first  year's  growth  from  the 
seed.  But  two  years  mowing,  when  in  seed,  will 
make  a  final  end  of  them.  If  in  meadows,  cut 
sweet  elders  when  they  are  in  bearing,  and  all 
that  have  berries  on  them  will  die.  A.  w.  B. 
West  Berkshire,  Vt.,  Feb.  12,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Fanner. 
THE  MAY  OR  DOK  BUG. 

(PHTI.I.OPHAaA  QUERCISA.) 

This  well-known  insect  is  generally  disliked 
on  account  of  its  form  and  color,  and  because  it 
is  accustomed  to  trouble  us  in  summer  evenings 
by  flying  into  our  rooms,  and  buzzing  around  in 
its  noisy  fligiit,  often  tumbling  down  upon  the 
occupants  of  said  rooms,  much  to  their  disgust. 
But  these  are  nothing  to  the  real  reasons  we  have 
for  destroying  these  insects,  for  they  are  the 
source  of  much  harm  to  the  farmer  ;  and  in  or- 
der that  your  readers  may  recognize  their  ene- 
mies, I  send  you  the  following  description. 

These  insects  pass  through  four  states  before 
arriving  at  maturity  ;  namely,  the  egg,  the  larva 
or  grub,  the  pupa  or  chrysalis,  and  the  imago  or 
beetle.  In  the  egg  and  pupa  state  they  are  with- 
out motion,  and  consequently  harmless,  but  in  the 
larva  and  beetle  state  they  do  consideral)le  harm 

The  grubs  (which  are  often  confounded  with 
the  muck  worms  which  live  in  manure,)  are  of  a 
dirty  white  color;  the  head  is  brown  and  the  hind 
part  of  their  body  is  dark  ;  they  are  aliout  an 
inch  long,  and  one-third  or  more  of  an  inch  thick, 
when  fully  grown.  They  lire  in  the  grub  or  lar- 
va state  three  or  four  years,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
third  or  fourth  summer,  according  to  Dr.  Harris, 
they  penetrate  the  earth  to  the  distance  of  about 
two  feet,  where  they  change  into  pupa  and  re- 
main over  winter.  In  May  these  beetles  burst 
their  pupa  skin  and  come  forth  in  their  perfect 
state  ;  they  are  then  about  seven-eighths  of  an 
inch  long,  of  a  mahogany  color,  with  their  shells 
punctured  as  if  slightly  pricked  with  a  pin,  their 
antenna  are  divided  at  the  end  into  three  leaves, 
and  like  the  legs  and  under  side  of  the  body,  are 
lighter  colored  than  the  wing  covers  ;  between 
the  hind  and  middle  pairs  of  legs  the  body  is 
covered  with  yellow  hair. 

As  soon  as  they  are  hatched  they  begin  to  feed 
upon  small  roots  beneath  the  soil,  and  thus  they 
subsist  for  three  or  four  years,  doing  an  immense 
amount  of  damage  when  very  numerous  ;  for  in- 
stance, sometimes  they  will  undermine  meadows 
so  that  the  turf  may  be  rolled  up  as  if  cut  with 
a  spade.  In  the  beetle  state  they  feed  upon  the 
foliage  of  trees,  often  doing  considerable  dam- 
age, but  as  they  live  only  a  short  time  in  this 
state,  they  cannot  commit  such  depredations  as 
they  do  in  the  larva  state. 

From  the  foregoing,  I  think  it  will  be  seen 
that  we  ought  to  free  ourselves  as  much  as  pos- 
sible from  these  troublesome  insecs  ;  the  way  in 
which  we  can  accomplish  this  best,  is  by  cherish- 
ing the  birds  which  feed  upon  them  ;  and  I  would 
say  that  it  would  be  more  profitable  for  the  farm- 
er to  protect  his  corn  than  to  kill  the  crow,  be- 
cause they  destroy  an  immense  number  of  these 
and  other  noxious  insects  ;  we  can  also  accom- 
plish a  great  deal  by  killing  all  we  meet  with  in 


plowing,  when  they  are  often  turned  up,  both  in 
the  larva  and  perfect  state,  and  also  wherever  we 
meet  them. 

The  best  way  to  kill  them  is  to  crush  them  un- 
der foot,  or  if  there  are  many  of  them,  by  throw- 
ing them  into  boiling  water,  after  which  they  may 
be  given  to  the  hens  for  food;  where  they  abound 
they  can  be  collected  by  shaking  the  trees  on 
which  they  feed  after  spreading  a  sheet  under- 
neath to  catch  them  ;  this  method  should  be  used 
in  the  daytime,  while  the  beetles  are  asleep,  for 
otherwise  they  will  fly  off  to  another  tree  ;  but 
they  rarely  abound  in  sufficient  numbers  for  this 
method,  so  that  the  others  will  answer  very  well 
if  practiced  universally. 

Carleton  a.  Shurtleff. 

Drooldine,  Mass.,  1859. 


Remarks. — We  have  had  young  cherry,  moun- 
tain ash,  and  even  elm  trees,  completely  stript 
by  these  beetles.  They  are  numerous  early  in 
June,  and  quite  destructive.  Our  mode  to  de- 
stroy them  has  been  to  spread  a  sheet  under  the 
trees  in  the  evening,  after  dark,  and  jar  them  on 
to  it,  and  then  gather  them  up  quickly  and  put 
them  into  hot  water. 


THE  SWEET  POTATO  CROP. 

The  writer  of  the  following  article,  which  we 
copy  from  the  American  Farmer,  published  at 
Baltimore,  states  that  300  bushels  per  acre  may 
be  obtained  when  the  crop  is  well  managed.  In 
our  dry,  hot  summers,  we  can  raise  them  in  New 
England  without  diflEiculty. 

Five  bushels  of  small  potatoes  are  required  to 
ensure  abundant  plantings  for  an  acre.  These 
are  bedded  as  early  in  the  season  as  the  weather 
will  permit,  in  the  following  manner.  Raise  the 
beds — which  should  be  not  over  six  feet  in  width 
— some  inches — by  throwing  surface  earth  upon 
it,  and  mix  in  good  compost  of  stable  manure. 
Lay  down  the  potatoes  upon  this  bed,  side  by 
side,  and  close  enough  to  touch,  and  cover  them 
with  three  or  four  inches  of  compost,  and  several 
inches  of  earth  upon  that.  In  due  time  there 
will  be  abundant  plantings.  This  method  is  con- 
sidered much  better  than  the  old  plan  of  planting 
pieces  of  the  potato. 

When  the  plants  are  fit  to  be  drawn  out,  the 
ground  having  been  well  prepared,  is  laid  off  in 
furrows  three  and  a  half  feet  apart.  Well  made 
compost  of  stable  manure,  yard  scrapings,  &c.,  is 
thrown  into  the  drill,  and  furrows  thrown  over  it 
from  each  side,  making  a  ridge,  the  top  of  which 
is  then  levelled  off  with  the  hoe.  The  holes  in 
which  the  plants  are  to  be  inserted  are  made  fif- 
teen inches  apart;  for  this  purpose  a  pointed 
stick  is  used,  near  the  end  of  which  through  an 
augur  hole  a  piece  fifteen  inches  long  is  inserted 
at  right  angles,  which  answers  the  purpose  both 
of  regulating  the  depth  of  the  hole  to  be  made, 
and  of  marking  by  the  impression  of  the  cross- 
piece  on  the  ground  the  distance  of  the  next  hole. 
A  little  practice  renders  a  hand  expert  in  thus 
marking  the  ground.  The  plants  are  dropped 
according  to  the  marks,  and  another  hand  fol- 
lows to  plant  then .     The  young  plants  are  kept 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


277 


clear  of  grass  by  the  hoe,  and  between  the  rows, 
as  soon  as  the  grass  starts,  the  bar  side  of  the 
plow  is  run  as  near  as  possible,  throwing  the 
earth  away  from  the  ridge  ;  in  the  next  working 
it  is  thrown  back,  leaving  the  ridge  about  what 
it  was  in  the  beginning.  During  this  working, 
the  vines  are  laid  along  the  ridges  by  hand,  to 
avoid  their  being  covered,  and  returned  after  the 
work  is  done.  It  is  important  that  grass  be  kept 
from  about  the  plants  by  careful  working  during 
the  early  season  of  their  growth. 

When  the  crop  is  not  consumed  upon  the 
ground,  it  is  harvested  by  chopping  the  vine  off 
at  the  surface  with  the  hoe,  and  running  the  bar 
of  the  plow  as  near  as  it  may  be  done  without 
cutting  or  bruising  them,  on  each  side  of  the  po- 
tatoes, when  they  may  be  easily  drawn  out. 

They  are  preserved  in  cellars,  or  out  of  doors 
in  kilns.  The  method  of  fixing  them  is  to  raise 
the  ground  a  few  inches,  where  they  are  to  be 
placed,  and  cover  with  pine  shatters  to  the  depth 
of  six  inches  or  more.  The  potatoes  are  laid  up- 
on these,  and  piled  in  the  usual  way,  as  many  as 
fifty  or  sixty  bushels.  These  are  then  covered 
with  a  thick  covering  of  pine  shatters,  boards 
laid  upon  them,  and  earth  to  the  depth  of  six 
inches,  to  be  increased  when  cold  weather  comes 
on. 


EXTRACTS  AND  KEPLIES. 

HYDRAULIC   RAM. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  am  pleased  to  see  the  hy- 
draulic ram  so  conspicuously  presented  in  your 
paper  of  the  16th  inst.  It  strikes  me  as  one  of 
the  most  useful  and  convenient  appendages,  upon 
a  stock  farm,  that  can  possibly  be  introduced — 
wherever  one  can  be  made  to  operate.  I  know 
a  farm  near  me,  (known  as  the  Pickman  farm.) 
on  which  one  was  placed,  a  few  years  since,  with 
a  fall  of  thirteen  feet  only,  and  water  has  been 
conveyed  by  it  for  the  supply  of  a  stock  of  more 
than  60  head  of  cattle,  for  a  distance  of  2.300  feet. 
The  original  cost  of  the  ram  and  pipe  did  not  ex- 
ceed $200 — and  the  annual  charge  of  repairs  has 
not  exceeded  $10.  If  any  one  can  find  a  better 
mode  of  watering  cattle,  I  should  like  to  know  it. 
When  it  is  considered  that  the  water  is  constant- 
ly conveyed  to  any  part  of  the  buildings  or  yard, 
where  wanted,  without  any  crowding  of  the  ani- 
mals or  loss  of  manure,  I  think  those  who  are 
accustomed  to  tend  upon  cattle  will  perceive  the 
advantages  of  this  mode  of  watering.  *. 

HOW  TO   HULL   CORN. 

Put  one  quart  of  corn  into  cold  water,  and  add 
two  large  tea-spoonfuls  of  saleratus ;  put  it  on 
the  fire,  and  boil  it  until  the  hull  will  rub  off  ea- 
sily ;  rinse  it  well  in  cold  water,  and  put  it  on  the 
fire  again,  and  boil  it  until  it  is  soft  enough  for 
use.  R.  w.  G. 

West  Mansfield,  4  Mo.  13. 

KICKING   COWS. 

I  have  noticed  something  about  kicking  cows 
in  your  paper.  Hang  a  common  draft  chain  over 
the  back  of  the  cow,  just  forward  of  the  hips, 
when  you  go  to  milk,  and  I  think  you  will  have 
no  more  trouble.  Isaac  P.  Greenleat. 

Oroton,  X.  II.,  1859. 


OLD  APPLE   TREES — GRASS   SEED — CRANBERRIES 
— ASHES. 

1.  Can  large  old  trees  be  made  to  produce 
more  fruit  liy  grafting  ? 

2.  Is  there  any  permanent  cure  for  bone  spa- 
vin? 

3.  How  much  grass  seed  does  it  require  to 
sow  an  acre  of  land  ? 

4.  Does  not  sowing  oats  or  wheat  with  grass 
seed  exhaust  the  land  and  consequently  diminish 
the  quantity  of  hay  ? 

5.  When  is  the  best  time  to  set  cranberry 
vines  ? 

6.  Will  it  pay  to  buy  dry  ashes  at  20  cents  a 
bushel  for  agricultural  purposes  ? 

New  BedJ'ord,  4  Mo.  4.  Subscriber. 

Remarks. — 1.  Sound  old  apple  trees  produc- 
ing natural  fruit  may  be  grafted  profitably. 

2.  Consult  Dr.  G.  H.  Dadd,  Boston. 

3.  If  the  land  is  rich,  less;  if  the  land  is  poor, 
more.  One  bushel  of  red-top  and  eight  quarts  of 
herds-grass,  with  six  pounds  of  clover  sowed  on 
the  snow  in  the  last  of  March  or  in  .'\pril,  is 
what  we  use.  Some  of  our  neighbors  use  more, 
and  some  less. 

4.  Wheat  and  oats,  of  course,  exhaust  the  soil. 
To  succeed  well,  sow  six  or  eight  pecks  of  oats 
per  acre  instead  of  twelve,  as  is  usually  the  case ; 
they  will  then  tend  to  shade  and  protect  the 
young  grass  instead  of  crowding  it  out.  It  is 
also  safe  to  sow  a  bushel  of  wheat  per  acre  when 
seeding  down  land,  and  if  the  crop  proves  a 
heavy  one,  top  dress  the  land  as  soon  as  the 
wheat  crop  is  taken  off,  and  the  grass  will  be 
likely  to  succeed  well. 

5.  A  good  time  to  set  cranberry  plants  is  in 
April  or  early  May — whether  it  is  the  best  time 
or  not,  we  do  not  know. 

6.  Twenty  cents  a  bushel  for  pure  ashes  is  a 
good  investment  for  your  money. 

CATTLE  EATING  BOARDS  AND  BONES. 
Can  you  inform  me  what  makes  my  cattle  eat 
old  boards  and  bones  ?  I  cannot  have  a  board 
fence  around  my  yard,  but  what  some  of  the 
cattle  will  be  gnawing  it ;  they  seem  to  liave  a 
sort  of  hankering  after  something  of  that  sort 
all  the  time.  Is  there  not  some  disease  about 
them  that  causes  it,  or  are  there  some  proper- 
ties wanting  in  their  food — which  is  principally 
hay  cut  on  old  land  ?  Would  it  be  beneficial  to 
give  them  bone  meal — and  if  so,  how  much  at  a 
time?  A  Vermont  Subscriber. 

Remarks. — A  little  bag  of  bone  meal  that 
will  cost  about  seventy-five  cents,  fed  to  your 
cattle  just  as  much  as  they  will  eat,  will  pro!)a- 
bly  cure  their  propensity  for  chewing  old  bones 
or  eating  your  board  fences.  Nourse  t^-  Co.,  34 
Merchants  Row,  Boston,  keep  it  for  sule. 

A.  A.  Austin,  Enfield,  N.  H.,  is  referred  to  a 
capital  little  work,  Eastwood  on  the  Culture  ot 
the  Cranberry,  for  the  information  he  desires. 


278 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


LICE   ON  TREES — LAWTON    BLACKBERRY — CRAN- 
BERRIES   ON   HIGHLAND. 

I  have  a  young  orchard,  and  through  neglect 
it  has  bred  lice  so  freely,  that  some  of  the  trees 
are  covered  with  them.  They  cover  not  only 
the  larger  limbs,  hut  the  smallest  twigs.  What 
is  the  best  method  of  getting  rid  of  them  with- 
out injury  to  the  trees  ? 

Are  you  acquainted  with  the  Lawton  Black- 
berry ?  Is  it  a  good  bearer  and  easily  cultivated, 
and  ".vhere  can  it  be  obtained,  and  at  what  price? 

H;tve  you  ever  seen  the  cranberry  cultivated 
on  high  dry  soil,  and  if  so,  with  what  success  ? 

Greenland,  N.  E.,  1S59.  E.  Johnson. 

Remarks. — Take  soft  soap  and  soft  water  of 
the  consistency  of  thick  cream,  and  scrub  the 
tree  with  an  old  brush  to  get  off  the  scaly  aphis 
— but  be  careful  not  to  rub  carelessly  or  too  hard. 
Then  cultivate  well,  and  keep  the  trees  moder- 
ately growing. 

The  Lawton  Blackberry  is  undoubtedly  a  fine 
fruit  where  the  season  is  long  enough  to  perfect 
it.     It  does  not  ripen  well  in  this  region. 

Better  not  cultivate  cranberries  on  high  land 
— it  is  not  their  natural  place.  We  have  done 
it,  and  succeeded,  but  not  at  a  profit. 

POULTRY. 

To  Mr.  B.  O.  0.,  of  K  //.—Why  do  you  wish 
to  get  the  pure  Black  Spanish  fowls  or  Bolton 
Greys  ?  They  are  not  as  good  as  some  others — at 
any  rate  no  better.  The  best  hens  living  are  a 
mixed  breed,  say  a  small  part  China — JJorkings, 
Polands,  liolton  Greys,  and  the  old  native  breed, 
all  mixed  together;  then  keep  a  small  rooster,  if 
any.  I  have  tried  doing  without  a  rooster,  and 
think  it  rather  the  best  way,  if  your  object  is 
eggs.  But  on  no  account  keep  a  large  rooster. 
If  you  wii-h  to  raise  chickens  for  the  table  or 
market,  get  the  half-blood  yellow-legged  China, 
and  the  yellow-legged  Dorking ;  have  the  color 
mostly  white.  If  you  want  to  have  your  hens 
do  well  and  lay  well  keep  a  small  rooster,  or  none 
at  all.  Keep  them  in  a  warm  room  in  the  win- 
ter, well  lighted  and  ventilated  ;  feed  them  all 
they  will  eat  on  Indian  meal  made  into  pudding, 
buckwheat,  corn  and  boiled  potatoes  ;  some  meat 
aiid  some  sulphur.  Sulphur  I  feed  to  nearly  all 
creatures.  If  you  don't  wish  to  find  now  and  then 
a  large,  nice  hen  dead,  don't  have  your  roost 
more  than  four  feet  high,  and  then  have  two 
shelves  for  them  to  go  up  and  down  on.  In  this 
way  if  they  have  a  plenty  of  burned  bones,  pound- 
ed crockery,  lime,  ^'c,  they  will  pay. 

Plainfield,  Mass.,  1859.  Geo.  Vining. 

INDIA   RUBBER   RINGS. 
I  saw  a  notice  some  time   ago,  in   your  valua- 
ablc  paptr,  that  India  rubber  rings  had  been  in- 
vented, and  proved   successful  to   prevent  cows 
leaking  their  milk.     Will  you  please  write  me 
where  they  may  be  obtained,  and  at  what  cost  ? 
Rosv^^ELL  Underwood. 
Enfield,  April,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  are  not  able  to  inform  you 
■where  the  rings  may  be  procured. 


HOW  TO   KILL   LICE   ON   YOUNG   STOCK. 

In  answer  to  the  inquiry  of  your  "Milford 
Subscriber,"  I  would  say  that  pulverized  sulphur 
sprinkled  among  the  hair,  on  those  parts  of  the 
animal  most  liable  to  be  infested  with  lice,  will 
effect  a  cure.  Also,  mix  sulphur  with  salt  for 
your  stock  to  eat.  The  above  method  I  tried  last 
winter,  and  it  proved  to  be  an  excellent,  cheap 
and  simple  remedy.  L.  G.  Brown. 

Lyndehorongli,  N.  //.,  1859. 

N.  B.  Salt  and  sulphur  mixed  together  and 
occasionally  given  to  cattle  to  eat  will  prevent 
them  from  becoming  lousy  when  they  are  free 
from  lice. 

LIME   ON   WHEAT   LAND. 

AVhen  is  the  best  time  to  sow  lime  on  wheat, 
and  what  is  the  best  mode  of  slaking  it? 

HanUnyton,  Vt.,  April  18,  1859.  II.  M.  J. 

Remarks. — Slake  the  lime  with  water  as  is 
done  for  making  mortar.  Sow  it  after  the  wheat 
is  sown,  and  harrow  in  both  at  the  same  time. 

AN    IMPROVEMENT    IX    RAISING    STOCK. 

Mr.  Elon  Robinson,  of  Calais,  Vt.,  has  a  half 
blood  red  Durham  bull  calf,  weighed  1520  lbs. 
the  day  he  was  two  years  old  ;  girts  6  feet  10 
inches ;  kept  on  sour  skim  milk  and  whey  the  first 
summer,  and  common  ordinary  keeping  since ; 
kept  in  warm  stable  in  winter,  and  well  ventila- 
ted in  summer.  Durham. 

Calais,  March  27,  1859. 

long  red  potatoes. 
When  I  was  young,  s^y  forty-five  or  fifty  years 
ago,  my  father  had  a  kind  of  potato  we  called  the 
red  potato.  They  were  a  longish  potato,  of  a 
dark  red  color.  It  took  all  the  season  for  them 
to  get  ripe.  They  would  nearly  all  hold  on  to 
the  tops  when  pulled.  They  were  a  first  best  po- 
tato for  spring  and  summer  use.  Will  someone 
of  the  readers  of  the  Farmer  tell  me  where  I 
can  get  the  seed  ? 

receipt  for  making  doughnuts. 

One  cup  of  sugar,  one  cup  of  sweet  milk,  one 
egg,  one  tea-spoonful  cream  of  tartar  ;  add  half 
a  tea-spoonful  of  saleratus  and  two  table-spoon- 
fuls of  shortening ;  salt  pork  fat  is  the  best  ;  stir 
in  flour,  and  mould  it  as  soft  as  it  will  roll  on  a 
board ;  cut  it  in  small  cakes  and  fry  them. 

R.    W.    G. 

a   fine   COW. 

Elijah  Herrick,  Esq.,  of  West  Milton,  Vt., 
has  a  cow  of  native  breed  who  yields  him  two 
pou7ids  and  seven  ounces  of  butter  from  one  day's 
milk — fed  on  good  hay  and  three  quarts  of  cob- 
meal  a  day.  She  is  eight  years  old,  has  had  six 
calves,  and  has  only  been  dry  four  months  for 
six  years.  A  Farmer. 

BARNS. 
It  is  impossible  for  us  to  make  any  useful  sug- 
gestions to  "J.  P.,  North  Sutton,  N.  H.,"  in  re- 
lation to  his  barn,  without  being  on  the  spot. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


279 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 
APPIjES-.-'WH  SAT— PEARS. 

Mr.  Editor: — Doubtless  you  have  heard  of 
a  small  town  out  here  among  the  hills  and  moun- 
tains, called  Lyndeborouf^h.  On  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  town  we  have  a  romantic  spot 
called  Purgatory.  Hundreds  of  people  visit  the 
place  yearly,  and  they  make  the  liill!^  and  woods 
resound  with  shouts  both  loud  and  clear.  A 
short  distance  from  this  place,  can  be  seen  a  lit- 
tle old  house,  a  good  barn,  and  as  thrifty  an 
orchard  as  can  be  found  in  these  parts,  accord- 
ing to  the  care  and  attention  which  it  has  re- 
ceived. This  latter  place  is  the  rural  home  of 
your  humble  servant.  If  ever  you  come  into 
these  parts,  call,  and  you  shall  be  welcomed  and 
shown  the  wonders  and  curiosities  of  Purgatory. 
At  some  future  time,  I  will,  with  your  permis- 
sion, furnish  you  with  a  written  history  of  this 
Purgatory  of  the  woods.  We  have  as  good  farms 
and  farmers  as  are  to  be  f  )und  in  any  section  of 
the  State.  The  soil  is  hard  and  rocky,  but  -when 
subdued  by  the  liborer's  arm,  it  affords  a  large 
profit  to  the  husbandman. 

Two  facts  :  Mr.  Holt  shows  by  figures,  that  his 
profit  per  acre  on  wheat  is  $35,33.  He  also 
raised,  last  season,  30  pears,  on  a  small  tree 
which  was  seven  years  from  the  seed.  The  30 
pears  weighed  25  lbs.  The  soil  and  climate  are 
peculiarly  adapted  to  raising  corn,  wheat  and 
other  English  grain,  vegetables  and  fruit,  espe- 
cially the  apple.  Of  the  apple,  over  $1000  worth 
last  fall  were  sent  to  market  from  this  town. 
Farmers  are  waking  up  and  taking  hold  of  the 
business  of  fruit  culture  in  earnest.  They  are 
renovating  their  old  orchards  and  setting  out  a 
large  number  of  small  trees.  Many  have  set  out, 
during  the  past  ten  years  from  10  to  300  young 
apple  trees.  A  few  cry  out,  "you  will  glut  the 
market — apples  wilj  not  be  worth  raising — no 
sale."  Such  do  not  stop  to  consider  how  small 
a  portion  of  the  world  they  themselves  inhabit, 
and  that  they  live  on  a  soil  that  is  well  adapted 
to  growing  fruit  which  is  remarkable  for  its  long 
keeping  qualities,  beauty  of  form  and  high  flavor. 
A  few  farmers  here  are  cont'U'edto  follow  in 
the  footsteps  of  their  grandfathers,  and  year  af- 
ter year,  gather  natural  fruit  from  their  trees  and 
convert  it  into  cider — not  realizing,  that  if  their 
trees  were  grafted  and  well  taken  care  of,  they 
would  yield  them  ten-fold  more  profit  than  now. 

Lyndeborouyh,  N.  II.,  1S59.    L.  G.  Broavn. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  SEASON  IN"  IOWA. 

This  has  been  the  wettest  winter  and  spring 
ever  known  in  Iowa.  A  gentleman  lately  told 
me  that  he  had  seen  twenty-two  Marches  in 
Iowa,  and  that  there  had  been  more  rain  during 
the  last,  than  in  all  the  others  together,  except 
March,  185S,  which  was  also  wet.  It  continues 
to  rain  and  snow  in  April,  thus  far,  as  much  as 
in  March.  The  ground  is  perfectly  saturated. 
From,  six  inches  to  three  feet  of  water  in  almost 
everybody's  cellar.  Scarce  a  blade  of  grass,  or 
other  green  thing,  ventures  to  show  itself.  Last 
night  it  cleared  off  with  a  very  strong  and  cold 
wind,  and  we  awoke  with  frost  on  our  windows. 


The  farmers  are,  of  course,  sorely  tried.  There 
has  t)een  no  suitable  time  to  sow  their  wheat,  or 
prepare  the  ground,  which  is  generally  done  in 
February  and  March.  But  there  is  a  glorious 
promise  on  record,  and  time  enough  yet  for  its 
fulfillment. 

The  accounts  of  returning  prosperity  at  the 
East  do  not  hi  Ip  us  any,  at  present ;  except  to 
encourage  the  hope  that  it  may  reach  us,  some- 
time. VVe  do  not  look  for  entire  relief  in  one 
year,  with  never  so  good  crops.  Property  is  very 
greatly  depreciated ;  and  those  who  are  in  debt, 
are  in  a  sad  case. 

Many  are  joining  the  insane  caravan  for  Pike's 
Peak.  Teams  go  by  here  by  the  dozen,  some 
days.  Good  will  come,  no  doubt,  of  this  move- 
ment, in  the  future  ;  but  at  what  cost  ?  Suffer- 
ing and  disappointment  to  nine-tenths  of  those 
who  go  expecting  to  get  rich  and  happy  ! 

Your  readers  will  think  that  I  love  to  write  in 
a  lugubrious  strain.  I  don't ;  but  lam  bound  to 
tell  the  truth.  Perhaps  the  whole  tnUh  would  re- 
quire me  to  add,  which  I  do  very  cheerfully  and 
thankfully, that  this  is  a  rich  and  glorious  country, 
after  all.  VYe  have  remarkable  health  ;  and  if  we 
only  had  a  few  more  of  your  conveniences,  and  a 
few  more  right,  honest,  industrious  and  Christian 
people,  we  should  be  about  as  well  off  as  this 
mundane  sphere  will  admit.  M.  K.  C. 

Tipton,  Iowa,  April  14,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
DOYENNE  PEAR. 

In  a  criticism  on  Col.  Wilder's  list  cf  pears, 
the  writer,  I  apprehend,  is  mistaken  in  consider- 
ing the  Doyenne  Gris  and  the  Boussock  to  be 
identical  with  the  St.  Michael;  the  Boussock  is 
an  entirely  distinct  variety;  and  as  for  the  Doy- 
enne Gris,  all  I  can  say  is,  that  this  fruit  remained 
fair  with  me  for  many  years,  while  the  St.  Mi- 
chael, particularly  upon  the  pear  root,  cracked 
and  blasted.  At  this  time  my  neighbor  Manning 
commended  the  Doyenne  Gris  as  the  best  substi- 
tute for  the  St.  jNIichael.  In  a  recent  article 
which  I  forwarded  for  the  Farmer,  I  remarked 
that  Rogers  is  the  only  writer  who  has  given  us 
scarcely  anything  as  to  the  importance  of  soil  for 
the  various  kinds  of  pears.  I  would  say,  farther, 
that  from  the  "New  England  Book  of  Fruits," 
which  I  published  some  years  since  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Manning,  down  to  the  recent  work  by 
Field,  there  has  been  but  little  on  this  desidera- 
tum of  soil,  for  with  the  exception  of  the  Bartlett, 
there  are  few  varieties,  if  any,  that  fruit  equally 
well  in  all  good  soils.  It  is  remarkable  how  the 
Bartlett  will  assimilate  itself  to  almost  all  soils 
and  localities ;  more  so  than  almost  any  other 
fruit,  not  excepting  the  apple.  I  hear  of  its  fruit- 
ing well  throughout  the  country.  J.  M.  I. 

Salem,  Mass.,  April,  1859. 


Hogs  in  Ohio. — We  learn  from  an  exchange 
that  the  number  of  hogs  in  Ohio,  six  months  old 
and  over,  on  the  first  day  of  April,  1858,  were 
2,554,914.  In  1857,  there  were  2,333,778,  thus 
showing  an  increase  of  223,136  in  the  year  This 
prosperity  should  make  that  State  bristle  up. 


280 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
DOUBTFUL  ITEMS  IN  CULTUEE. 

In  one  of  our  fruit  books  we  find  the  following  : 
"Seedlings  may  be  brought  into  early  bearing  by 
grafting  into  bearing  trees,  and  some  varieties, 
that  are  twelve  to  fifteen  years  in  bearing  natu- 
rally, can  be  made  to  bear  in  a  few  years  by  this 
process." 

I  tried  this  "process,"  a  few  years  since,  by 
placing  some  10  or  12  scions  from  as  many  three- 
year-old  seedling  stocks  upon  a  dwarf  pear  tree. 
I  watched  these,  from  year  to  year,  as  they 
grew,  for  six  years  ;  the  scions  grew  well,  but 
showed  no  appearance  of  flowering,  and  hence  I 
felt  rather  doubtful  that  this  would  necessarily 
hasten  its  bearing.  On  the  spring  opening,  seven 
years  from  the  operation,  I  was  sadly  disappointed 
in  finding  the  tree  dead,  root,  and  branch. 

The  same  writer  says : — "Foreign,  and  other 
tender  kinds,  may  be  made  more  hardy,  or  accli- 
mated, by  grafting  into  hardy,  native  stocks." 
This  acclimation,  as  it  has  been  called,  induced 
the  above  writer  to  recommend  raising  peach 
trees,  "from  the  stone  here,  as  being  more  hardy, 
than  if  raised  in  New  Jersey,  or  any  warm  cli- 
mate." I  never  observed  the  least  difference  be- 
tween those  raised  in  Jersey  and  from  seed  here. 
I  once  fruited  about  three  hundred  peach  trees 
from  seed,  and  about  the  same  time  received  one 
hundred  and  fifty  budded  trees  from  Hancock, 
N.  J.,  and  never,  in  after  years,  could  see  any 
possible  difference  in  the  hardiness  of  the  former 
over  the  latter.  In  a  conversation  with  the  late 
Robert  Manning  on  this  subject,  I  found  him 
decidedly  of  my  opinion  in  this  matter,  remark- 
ing that  his  finest  bearing  peach  trees  were  orig- 
inally from  the  South. 

Another  extract : — "A  fruit  may  be  raised  on 
a  soil  not  congenial  to  it,  by  grafting  into  a  stock 
adapted  to  such  soil."  This  I  consider  at  least 
doubtful;  I  have,  however,  never  known  this  to 
have  been  tried.  If  any  of  your  readers  are  able 
to  enlighten  me  in  this  matter,  I  should  like  to 
hear  from  them. 

Still  another: — "By  cutting  off  all  the  blossoms 
in  the  bearing  year  of  the  apple,  it  will  change 
the  year  of  its  bearing."  I  find  that  most  of  our 
Baldwin  apple  trees  bear  in  the  even  year,  so 
called,  and  in  order  to  change  this  to  the  odd  year, 
one  of  our  most  experienced  cultivators  tried  this 
method  most  effectually  in  the  garden  of  his  em- 
r)loyer,  without  success.  I  have  never,  as  yet, 
eard  of  this  being  done  successfully. 

Salem,  Mass.,  1859.  j.  m.  I. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
NE"W  "WAY  OF  SALTING  CATTLE. 
Friend  Brown: — Last  fall  I  adopted  a  new 
method  for  salting  my  cattle,  and  am  so  well 
pleased  with  it  that  1  am  induced  to  make  it 
known,  so  that  others  may  adopt  it  if  they  like. 
I  bought  a  lump  of  the  mineral  salt,  weighing 
82  lbs.,  and  put  it  in  a  dry  place  in  my  cow-yard. 
where  the  cattle  can  go  and  lick  at  their  leisure. 
My  stock  consists  of  one  pair  of  oxen,  six  cows, 
and  two  calves.  They  work  upon  it  almost  every 
day,  and  in  seven  months  have  used  about  one- 
third  part  of  it.  I  think  this  plan  has  thfe  advan- 
tage over  the  old  one,  in  at  least  three  ways,  viz.: 


1st.  It  is  always  by  them. 

2d.  It  is  not  so  liable  to  be  wasted. 

3d.  It  is  not  so  much  care  and  trouble  to  give 
it  to  them. 

The  salt  may  be  obtained  of  B.  Thatcher  &  Co., 
No.  184  State  Street,  formerly  15  Long  Wharf, 
Boston,  at  one  cent  per  lb.         B.  F.  Cutter. 

Felham,  JV.  II.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOW  I  BUY,   KEEP  AND   SELL  OXEN. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  see  by  your  paper  that  you 
publish  the  weight  of  some  of  our  largest  hogs, 
and  likewise  our  big  cattle  ;  but  you  do  not  tell 
how  it  is  done,  whether  on  corn  or  ])umpkins.  I 
thought  some  of  your  readers  might  like  to  know 
the  difference  in  price  between  working  oxen  and 
when  they  are  fit  to  go  to  Brighton. 

I  will  tell  you  the  course  pursued  by  me  the 
past  thirty  years.  I  raise  all  my  cows  and  buy 
all  my  oxen.  I  want  them  six  years  old  and  to 
weigh  thirty  hundred  when  bought.  I  weigh  them 
when  I  buy,  and  before  selling,  to  know  some- 
thing what  they  are  worth.  I  will  give  the  price 
paid  and  received,  and  the  number  of  years  kept. 


Cost.  Time  kept. 
$72  00 6  years. . 

70,00 1      "     .. 

105,00 5       "     .. 

8.5,00 3       "     .. 

80  00 3       "      .. 

90,00 1       "     .. 

95,00 2       "     .. 

75.00 1       "     .. 

50,00 2 


Sold  at 
.$115,00 
. .  .95.00 
...98,00 
..112,00 
..110,00 
..105,00 
..110,00 
..110  00 
..170.00 


No.  1 0,  $150,00 176,00 

$li0,00 3  yc'.iM 160,00 

160,00 1      "     175,Q0 

1.50.00 2     "     2('0,00 

170,00 2     "     170,00 


$1492,00 


$1906.00 
1492,00 


$4U,00 

During  that  time  the  oxen  have  been  the  only 
team  for  farm  work.  I  keep  no  horse.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  manner  I  feed  :  The  latter  part  of 
summer  they  have  green  corn  fodder.  During 
the  winter  a  bushel  of  turnips  once  or  twice  a 
week,  according  to  the  quantity  raised.  From 
the  1st  of  March,  meal  ground  from  corn  and 
cobs,  two  bushels  of  cobs  and  one  bushel  of  corn 
on  the  cobs,  well  seasoned  with  oats.  Of  this 
mixture  they  have  a  peck  each  day. 

No.  10  I  kept  only  twelve  weeks  and  the  pair 
gained  50  pounds  per  week  on  two  bushels  of 
turnips  and  one-half  bushel  of  meal  a  day.  They 
were  not  worked.  I  do  not  feed  any  meal  with- 
out mixing  with  cut  hay,  roots  and  chaff,  and 
should  think  it  vp-hill  work  to  feed  icithavt  roots, 
any  way.  My  cows  are  fed  with  mangel  wurtzels 
throughout  the  winter  and  spring,  to  which  is 
added  a  little  meal. 

I  send  you  some  samples  of  Merino  wool.  My 
sheep,  tv/enty  years  ago,  did  not  shear  four  lbs. 
a  head,  with  good  care  and  no  roots.  My  last 
sale  of  twelve  hundred  pounds — and  there  were 
no  wether's  fleeces — averaged  5.60  pounds. 

George  Dewey. 

Hanover,  N.  II.,  April  \5th,  1859. 


Rem.vrks. — Thank  you,  Sir.     This  is  the  kind 
of  information  we  want;  it  is  tangible;  if   yoii 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


281 


can  make  this  gain,  others  can,  now  that  you  have 
told  them  how  you  do  it.  A  pound  and  a  half, 
and  a  little  more  gain,  in  the  fleece  throughout  a 
flock  of  sheep,  is  no  mean  item.  The  wool  you 
sent  us  is  very  beautiful. 


GRAPE  PREMIUM  OP   $100  ! 

We  have  often  given  the  subject  of  grape  cul- 
ture considerable  prominence  in  our  columns,  for 
several  reasons ;  because  we  believe  our  people 
may  use  more  fruit,  as  diet,  and  less  meat, — be- 
cause good  varieties  (»f  well-ripened  grapes  are 
nutritious  and  healthful, —  because  from  them 
may  be  obtained  the  finest  wines  for  sick  or  in- 
firm persons, —  and  because  they  are  indigenous 
to  our  soils,  natural  to  the  climate,  and  may  be 
produced  cheaply  in  large  quantities.  We  might 
add  farther — and  it  is  no  inconsiderable  consid- 
eration— that  the  homestead  will  be  much  more 
valuable  in  the  market,  if  it  becomes  necessary 
to  place  it  there,  and  its  occupants  will  be  wiser, 
happier  and  better  persons,  where  fruitful  grape 
vines  are  judiciously  disposed  over  it,  climbing 
a  tree  here,  or  hanging  on  a  trellis  there,  or  cov- 
ering a  portion  of  the  dwelling  itself,  and  giving 
the  whole  an  air  of  neatness  and  repose  which 
shall  soothe  and  refresh  the  aged,  and  present 
agreeable  attractions  to  the  young. 

We  are  glad,  therefore,  to  present  anything 
that  will  encourage  the  cultivation  of  a  plant  so 
ornamental,  and  whose  fruit  is  of  so  much  im- 
portance. 

These  remarks  are  suggested  by  the  receipt  of 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Charles  H.  Dana,  of  West 
Lebanon,  N.  H.,  who  informs  us  that  he  places 
at  the  disposal  of  the  New  Hampshire  State  Ag- 
ricultural Society  one  hundred  dollars  to  be 
awarded  to  the  person  who  will  present  the  best 
kind  of  grape  for  garden  or  vineyard  culture  in 
this  climate.  That  the  committee  may  be  able 
to  judge  correctly  of  the  merits  of  each  kind 
presented,  they  should  be  planted  in  the  same 
locality,  and  receive  the  same  cultivation.  Mr. 
Dana  proposes  to  conduct  such  an  experiment 
himself  by  planting  and  cultivating  all  the  kinds 
offered  for  this  premium.  New  or  rare  kinds  of 
grapes,  sent  to  Mr.  Dana  free  of  expense  to  him, 
will  be  entered  in  competition  for  the  premium. 
Roots  are  preferred,  but  cuttings  will  answer. 

Cuttings  of  two  inches  in  length  may  be  sent 
by  mail.  The  ends  should  be  sealed  and  the  cut- 
tings wrapped  in  damp  paper.  The  lists  will  be 
open  for  competitors  during  the  months  of  April 
and  May,  1859.  The  premium  will  be  awarded 
in  the  autumn  of  the  second  year  after  planting. 
In  case  the  same  kinds  of  grape  should  be  offered 
by  different  competitors,  or  in  case  different  kinds 
snould  prove  of  equal  excellence,  the  committee 


will  be  at  liberty  to  divide  the  premium,  or  oth- 
erwise award  it  in  their  discretion. 

There  is  another  reason  why  we  should  urge 
upon  our  New  Hampshire  friends,  and  especially, 
those  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  to  give 
especial  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  grape, 
and  that  is,  the  failure  of  the  peach  and  plum, 
and  the  great  uncertainty  of  the  pear  and  some 
of  the  finer  kinds  of  the  apple. 

We  are  certain  that  Mr.  Dana's  offer  of  a  lib- 
eral premium  is  timely  and  judicious,  and  are  as- 
sured that  his  character  is  a  sufRcient  guaranty 
that  the  experiment  will  be  conducted  with  fideli- 
ty and  honor. 


TRIMMING   GRAPE  VINES  IN  SPRING. 

We  are  frequently  asked  at  what  time  in  spring 
we  trim  our  vines,  and  have  now  before  us  two 
letters  from  subscribers  on  this  subject.  Grape 
vines  should  not  be  trimmed  in  spring.  The 
proper  time  is  November,  and  in  our  locality 
about  the  25th.  By  trimming  at  that  season  we 
get  rid  of  a  large  amount  of  surface  for  contin- 
ued evaporation  and  capillary  attraction,  all  of 
which  is  increased  by  winds  passing  over  the  sur- 
faces of  a  larger  amount  of  the  vine  ;  the  ends 
where  the  cutting  occurs  are  sure  not  to  bleed 
when  the  growth  commences ;  they  may  then  be 
firmly  tied  without  the  chance  of  breaking  or  in- 
juring swollen  buds.  The  cuttings  made  from 
the  trimmings  at  this  season  are  of  a  better  qual- 
ity for  spring  use,  and  the  portion  not  used  for 
cuttings  may  be  cut  up  in  an  ordinary  straw  cut- 
ter and  buried  in  the  ground  around  the  vines, 
there  to  soften  during  winter  and  insure  their 
early  decay  in  spring,  furnishing  such  pabulum 
as  will,  make  fruit.  We  know  by  absolute  exper- 
iment that  the  same  amount  of  inorganic  mate- 
rial, or  indeed  of  inorganic  or  organic  material 
as  is  contained  in  the  cuttings  of  grape  vines  as 
ascertained  by  analysis,  taken  from  other  and 
lower  sources  in  nature,  will  not  produce  the 
same  amount  of  fruit  as  when  derived  from  the 
decayed  cuttings  themselves  in  the  soil.  Here 
each  constituent  has  assumed  a  form,  and  as  a 
consequence,  a  condition  which  is  precisely  such 
as  is  wanted  for  fruit-making.  We  mean  by  this 
that  the  same  amount  of  potash  and  the  same 
amount  of  phosphates  contained  in  a  hundred 
pounds  of  these  grape  cuttings,  will  not  produce 
one-tenth  of  the  effect  when  applied  to  the  vine 
as  a  manure,  as  will  the  cuttings  themselves. 
For  although  these  more  crude  applications  of 
phosphates  and  potash  may  increase  the  growth 
of  wood,  they  do  not  materially  increase  the 
yield  of  fruit ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  bones, 
hide,  blood  of  animals,  and  other  manures  con- 
taining inorganic  constituents  from  animal  or 
other  progressed  sources,  are  more  valuable  than 
those  of  direct  mineral  origin.  When  grape  vines 
are  trimmed  in  the  spring,  alongside  of  others 
trimmed  in  the  fall,  the  difference  in  the  qua  ity 
and  quantity  of  the  fruit  is  quite  perceptible. 
Occasionally,  indeed  frequently,  bleeding  will  oc- 
cur with  spring  pruning  or  trimming,  which  tends, 
to  weaken 'the  vine,  and  waste  the  pabulum  take 
from  '^^  e  soil  by  the  roots. 


282 


NEW   ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


It  should  be  remembered  that  this  is  not  a  mere 
waste  of  water,  but  of  all  those  constituents 
which  are  elaborated  by  chemical  changes  going 
on  in  the  soil  during  the  winter,  and  placed  it. 
proximate  conditions  for  wood  and  fruit-making 
by  the  vital  action  of  the  roots  in  spring.  With 
fall  trimming  the  stand  of  the  vine  remains  in 
degree  more  moist  than  the  lower  portions  of  an 
untrimmed  vine.  They  are  not  called  on  to  yield 
up  their  aqueous  contents,  and  their  capillary 
tubes  are  kept  pliant  and  ready  for  early  spring 
action.  We  do  not  approve  of  spring  trimming 
of  grape  vines. — Working  Farmer. 


For  the  New  En;ila7>d  Farmer. 

ON"  THE  CULTIVATION  AND  USE  OF 
BEETS. 

Mk.  Editor  : — It  may  not  be  generally  known 
to  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  the  various  uses  to  which  this  root  can 
be  applied.  With  regard  to  its  nutritious  quali- 
ties, as  food  for  cattle  and  swine,  il^'c.,  all  are  pret- 
ty much  agreed  ;  and  even  in  its  superlative  ex- 
cellence as  a  milk  and  butter  producing  vege- 
table. But  comparatively  few  may  be  aware  of  its 
intrinsic  importance,  in  the  manufaccure  of  su- 
gar, brandy,  vinegar,  &c.,  &c.,  and  last  hut  not 
least,  that  of  paper.  In  a  British  journal,  I  read 
lately  that  for  the  last  mentioned  purpose,  it  is 
now  extensively  cultivated,  both  in  France  and 
England,  as  a  Held  crop,  for  its  paper-producing 
properties,  &c.,  &c.,  and  consequently,  its  pro- 
duction in  these  countries,  and  other  parts  of 
Europe,  has  become  of  no  small  nati  nal  impor- 
tance. The  London  Times  newspaper  is  now 
printed  exclusively  on  paper  made  from  beets; 
and  as  it  requires  seven  tons  daily  for  that  gi- 
gantic journal,  the  saving  in  that  material,  when 
compared  with  paper  made  in  the  usual  way,  is 
said  to  be  nearly  $200,000  per  annum,  to  the 
stockholders  ;  and  the  quality  is  much  superior 
to  paper  made  from  any  other  known  substance ; 
being  more  tough  and  elastic,  resembling  vellum, 
or  parchment,  and  consequently  more  durable, 
and  impervious  to  damp,  &c.,  &c.  In  France 
and  England,  where  beet  sugar  and  brandy  are 
extensively  made,  the  pulp,  or  fibre  is  extracted 
from  the  syrup  by  means  of  a  peculiar  kind  of 
"^ieve  and  press,  made  on  purpose,  and  is  gener- 
ally sold  to  paper-makers,  after  undergoing  a 
process  of  washing  and  drying,  to  prepare  it  for 
transportation,  and  is  represented  by  recent  trav- 
ellers in  these  countries  to  be  a  lucrative  and 
money-making  business,  to  those  engaged  in  it. 

Now,  as  many  sections  of  New  England  pre- 
sent better  facilities  for  producing  the  ditt'erent 
varieties  of  beets,  than  most  parts  of  P'rance,  and 
decidedly  superior  to  any  part  of  Britain,  both  as 
regards  soil,  and  climate,  I  am  surprised  that 
Yankee  enterprise  has  been  so  long  asleep,  on 
such  an  interesting  subject  as  the  cultivation  and 
manufacture  of  beets. 

It  is  a  well-established  and  incontrovertible 
fact,  that  large  sums  of  money  are  paid  yearly  by 
this  country  to  France  for  brandy  ;  and  that  at 
least  four-fifths,  of  that  impor  ed,  by  our  most 
respectable  wholesale  liquor  dealers,  is  distilled 
from  the  beet,  instead  of  the  grape,  as  by  them 
represented;  and  some  of  our  most  distinguished 


connoisseurs,  in  s\ich  articles,  have  often  been 
baffled,  to  detect  the  difference  of  the  one  from 
the  other.  That  they  are  about  alike  for  pro- 
ducing intoxication  and  stupefaction  of  the  brain, 
is  pretty  much  all  the  use  of  either  of  them  ;  but 
if  people  will  have  such  stuff,  it  may  be  as  well 
to  provide  it  for  them  at  home,  as  to  trouble  them 
with  sending  their  money  to  fore'gn  countries 
after  it;  especially  when  such  cuuulries  take 
little  or  none  of  our  produce  in  return  ;  but  only 
V  ur  own  hard  specie. 

A  superior  article  of  brandy,  to  that  to  be 
found  in  our  first-class  hotels  and  drinking  sa- 
loons, under  the  name,  I  think,  of  Cognac,  could 
be  made  in  this  country  at  from  one  to  two  dol- 
lars ])er  gallon,  and  be  a  very  profitable  business 
to  the  distiller  ;  as  beets  raised  in  these  northern 
States  produce  a  third  more  juice  in  proportion 
to  bulk,  than  that  raised  in  any  part  of  Britain 
or  France.  And  with  a  proper  machine  for 
planting  the  seed,  at  regular  distances,  in  the 
lovv,  so  as  to  obviate  the  present  slow,  and  ex- 
pensive process  of  dropping  it  by  hand,  far- 
mers and  gardeners  would  find  it  a  remunerat- 
ing crop  at  2<j  cents  per  bushel ;  provided  they 
could  alwa}s  find  a  ready  market  for  it;  which 
is  cheaper  by  nearly  one-third  than  what  the 
French  and  British  manufacturers  generally  have 
to  pay  for  it.  And  taking  into  account  that 
eight  bushels  of  good  beets  generally  produce  one 
hundred-weight  of  sugar;  and  that  the  pulp,  or 
residue  for  the  making  of  paper  will  almost  cover 
the  cost  of  the  raw  material,  I  do  not  see  any 
very  formidalile  obstacle  in  the  way  of  making 
the  manufacture  of  beets  into  these  articles,  in 
this  country,  a  very  profitable  investment  for 
capital,  provided  any  enterprising  individual  of 
adequate  means,  or  joint  stock  company,  would 
take  hold  of  it  in  real  earnest. 

Should  the  editor  of  the  Farmer  consider  this 
subject,  worthy  of  a  corner  in  the  columns  of 
that  interesting  journal,  the  writer  will  be  willing, 
at  any  time,  to  communicate  what  additional  in- 
formation he  can,  and  answer  any  questions 
through  the  same  medium,  or  otherwise,  regard- 
ing this  interesting  new  branch  of  industry,  that 
he,  the  editor,  or  any  of  his  numerous  contribu- 
tors, may  think  proper  to  ask  ;  as  the  writer  has 
had  considerable  experience  in  the  cultivation  of 
beets,  and  is  cognizant,  in  some  degree,  with  the 
process  of  transforming  it  into  the  different  ar- 
ticles above  stated  ;  having  witnessed  the  several 
operations  on  a  large  scale,  in  various  parts  of 
Europe.  Thomas  Cruickshank. 

Beverly  Farms,  March  21,  1859. 


Death  of  Mr.  Henry  Partridge. — The  in- 
telligence of  the  sudden  death  of  this  gentleman 
came  to  us  with  a  startling  reality.  It  occurred 
on  the  19th  inst.,  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age, 
while  he  stood  at  the  post  of  duty,  engaged  in 
his  usual  avocations.  Mr.  P.  had  a  wide  spread 
reputation  as  the  manufacture  of  the  unequalled 
manure  forks,  now  in  general  use  all  over  New 
England  ;  the  excellence  of  his  work  fitting  well 
his  excellence  of  character.  He  was  an  upright, 
worthy  man — a  man  whose  usefulness  to  the 
world   will  not  cease  with    his  departure  ;    his 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


283 


good  example  will  long  be  fresh  in  the  memory 
of  those  who  knew  him,  and  continue  a  blessing 
to  the  world. 


Fur  the  New  Enf^land  Farmer. 
CORN  VERSUS    ROOTS. 

I  am  really  fearful  lest  you  should  be  wearied 
with  communications  upon  the  subject  of  "ii'oo^ 
Crops,"  notwithstanding  I  feel  under  obligations 
to  reply  to  a  few  additional  queries  relating  to 
this  matter,  proposed  to  me  in  the  last  Farmer 
by  Mr.  Brigiiam,  of  Westboro'. 

In  referring  to  ruta  bagas,  he  inquires  as  to 
their  value  when  compared  to  cornj  and  instan- 
ces his  raising  a  crop  of  bagas. ti'i-  the  rate  of 
1000  bushels  per  acre,  and  thinJii?  he  realized 
less  profit  therefrom,  than  he  did  from  a  crop  of 
corn  75  bushels  to  the  acre. 

In  reply  I  would  say  that  so  far  as  my  experi- 
ence goes,  an  acre  of  land  that  will  give  75  bush- 
els shelled  corn,  ought,  all  things  being  equal,  to 
give  1200  bushels  bagas,  i.  e.,  this  would  not  be 
a  more  extravagant  yield.  The  crop  of  bagas 
would  weigh,  at  60  pounds  to  the  bushel,  20  tons 
— the  crop  of  corn,  at  60  lbs.  to  the  bushel,  would 
be  2^  tons,  a  very  large  difference  here — about  13 
times  the  amount  in  weight.  And  as  to  feeding 
properties,  will  any  one  doubt  but  what  one  bush- 
el of  bagas,  weighing  60  pounds,  will  go  as  far  in 
producing  milk  or  making  beef,  as  2^  quarts,  or 
5  pounds,  of  corn  ? 

Indeed,  every  one  who  has  had  any  experience 
in  feeding  the  two,  cannot  but  see  at  once  that 
facts  and  figures  are  vastly  in  favor  of  the  roots. 

The  truth  is,  that  when  judiciously  cultivated, 
we  obtain  such  enormous  crops  of  the  esculents 
that  they  cannot  but  be  profitable,  even  (I  was 
about  to  say,)  if  they  are  not  worth  much.  A  man 
can  hardly  raise  20  or  30  tons  of  bagas  or  carrots 
from  an  acre,  and  feed  them  to  his  stock  proper- 
ly, without  their  telling  to  advantage,  both  in  his 
facilities  for  keeping  stock,  (and  we  know  it  is 
an  established  axiom,  ''the  more  stock  the  better 
farmer,")  and  also  adding  greatly  to  the  compost 
heap  ;  which  last  should  always  be  taken  into 
account  when  rating  the  usefulness  of  any  crop. 

Mr.  Brigham,  at  the  close  of  his  article,  refers 
to  the  labor  of  feeding  roots.  Sure  I  am  that 
this  cannot  be  great,  with  the  use  of  a  good  root 
cutter  that  will  readily  slice  a  bushel  a  minute — 
an  implement  indispensable  to  every  one  using 
roots  in  any  shape.  Wm.  J.  Pettee. 

Salisbury,  Ct.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BARN  CELLARS  FOR  MANURES. 

There  is,  in  my  opinion,  no  place  better  to  man- 
ufacture our  compost  manure,  than  in  a  barn  cel- 
lar. 1  think  I  have  the  means  of  judging,  as  I 
have  had  some  fifteen  years'  experience  in  ma- 
king and  using  manure  without,  and  about  fif- 
teen years  with,  the  benefit  of  a  barn  cellar,  for 
the  purpose  of  composting. 

In  the  first  place,  the  liquid,  as  well  as  the 
solid  droppings  from  the  cattle,  can  all  be  saved 
by  having  it  composted  with  meadow  mud  and 
loam,  of  which  there  must  be  a  good  supply  in 
the  cellar,  so  that  it  can  be  ready  at  all  times  to 


mix  with  the  droppings.  Much  of  the  work  may 
be  done  in  rainy  or  stormy  dnys  ;  this  I  consider 
to  be  quite  a  saving  to  the  farmer. 

In  a  barn  cellar,  the  compost  heap  can  be  kept 
in  a  right  temperature.  If  it  is  not  sufficiently 
moist,  water,  suds  or  sIojjs  from  the  house  may 
be  turned  upon  it  to  keep  it  sufficiently  wet,  and 
no  more. 

Manure  managed  as  above,  can  receive  no 
damage  from  drying,  or  fire-fanging.  as  some 
say  it  will  in  a  barn  cellar.  Again,  it  is  not  wast- 
ed by  the  winds  and  drenching  rains,  as  it  would 
be  if  out  in  the  open  weather. 

Another  advantage  is,  it  can  be  carted  out  up- 
on grass  lands  in  the  fall  or  winter  season,  and 
on  soft  meadows,  while  they  are  frozen,  and 
where  manure  cannot  be  conveniently  carted  on 
at  any  other  time. 

I  think  the  best  place  to  keep  manure,  is  in 
the  barn  cellar,  until  it  is  wanted  for  immediate 
use,  although  it  is  almost  a  universal  practice  in 
this  region  to  draw  out  their  manure  in  the  fall, 
and  lay  it  in  piles  for  spring  use.  I  think  in  so 
doing,  the  manure  must  lose  much  of  its  strength. 

CordaviUe,  Marcli,  1859.         James  Hawes. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
NEW  ARRANGEMENTS   FOR  A  BARN. 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  barn  I  propose  to  build, 
will  be  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  square, 
with  a  cellar  under  the  whole  ;  the  cellar  to  be 
ten  feet  high  or  more  ;  if  possible,  the  lights  and 
entrance  on  the  south  side.  I  propose  to  have 
a  good  and  separate  pen  for  each  horse,  cow  and 
work-ox,  the  pen  to  be  twel-.  e  by  twelve  feet,  well 
fenced,  the  feed  to  be  dropped  from  the  barn  above, 
through  apertures  made  for  the  purpose.  As 
soon  as  the  weather  will  permit,  I  propose  to  haul 
in  as  much  dry  soil  and  swamp  muck  as  I  possi- 
bly can,  so  as  to  have  it  ready  to  commence  my 
winter's  work.  As  soon  as  I  turn  my  stock  into 
their  pens,  or  rat'er  a  little  before,  I  will  put  in- 
to each  pen  as  much  swamp  muck  and  soil  as  will 
cover  the  entire  surface  one  foot  deep,  all  ovt  r, 
or  one  hundred  and  forty-four  square  feet ;  aid 
as  soon  as  the  trees  drop  their  leaves,  gather 
them  with  brakes,  for  litter  to  cover  the  s<il 
lightly,  two  or  three  times  per  week  ;  and  once  a 
week,  when  the  stock  has  trodden  and  trampled 
the  whole  mass  well,  take  a  shovel  and  turn  the 
whole  upside  down ;  repeat  this  operation  for 
four  weeks  ;  then  remove  the  manure  thus  made 
to  a  suitable  part  of  the  cellar.  Again  fill  your 
pens  as  before,  and  repeat  the  operation.  The 
stock  must  be  simply  turned  into  their  separate 
apartments,  without  any  tying  of  any  kind.  I 
turn  them  in  loose,  but  take  care  to  secure  the 
doors  of  the  pens  so  as  to  avoid  any  mischief  re- 
sulting from  their  getting  together.  I  also  pro- 
pose to  cut  and  steam  all  the  hay  and  other  feed. 
or  a  great  part  of  it.  I  mean  to  follow  out  the 
same  plan  in  summer,  by  turning  the  stock  in  at 
night,  instead  of  yarding  them,  as  we  have  done 
before,  so  that  I  may  make  one-half  as  much 
manure  in  summer  as  in  winter.  By  this  system 
I  expect  to  save  all  the  liquid  and  solid  marure 
that  the  stock  will  make.  I  shall  also  have  all  the 
salts,  &c.,  pertaining  to  the  same,  absorbed  by 
the  soil.  John  H.  CoNbTANTiNE. 

Cartipton  Village,  N.  //.,  1859. 


284 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


Far  the  Nev  England  Farmer. 

DRAINAGE— POWER  OF  SOILS  TO  RE- 
TAIN    MANURE. 

BY     JUDGE      FRENCH. 

lOffect  of  Manure  not  Permanent— What  becomes  of  it— Four 
ways  by  which  it  goes  oil'— 1) raining  helps  to  keeps  it— Lord 
Bacon's  mode  of  obtaining  Fresh  Water  from  tha  Sea— How 
Soils  Retain  Manure— Clay  Absorbs  Ammonia— AUo  Lime 
anil  Potash— Burnt  Clay  Absorbs  less— Absorption  of  Organic 
Slatters— Liquid  Manure  Filtered  Ijy  Clay— Sewer  Water  and 
Flax-Water  Purified  by  Filtering— Solutions  of  Logwood  and 
other  Dyes  deprived  of' Color  by  Clay— Skunks  Sweetened  by 
being  Buried— How  much  an  Acre  will  Retain- Practical  Con- 
clusions. 

Every  farmer  knows  that  the  effect  of  manure 
upon  land  is  not  permanent.  A  new  application 
of  some  kind  of  fertilizer  is  necessary,  at  each 
rotation.  It  is  matter  of  common  observation, 
too,  that  some  lands  hold  manure  much  longer 
than  others,  and  especially,  that  sandy  land  re- 
quires more  frequent  manuring  than  a  heavier 
soil  of  clay.  There  seem  to  be  but  four  meth- 
ods in  which  manures  can  be  taken  from  the  soil. 
The  first  is  by  escaping  into  the  air,  by  evapora- 
tion, as  it  is  usually  termed  ;  the  second  is  by 
being  washed  from  the  surface  by  heavy  rains, 
or  by  the  melting  of  snow  in  spring  ;  the  third 
IS  by  washing  down  or  sinking  through  the  soil, 
-tnd  the  fourth  by  being  taken  up  by  the  growing 
urop,  and  becoming  part  of  the  harvest. 

Draining  prevents  surface  washing  by  allowing 

he  water  to  pass  into   the   soil,  instead  of  run- 

ling  away  upon  the  surface.     It  tends,  too,  t« 

orevent  the    escape  of  manure  in  the   form   o/ 

:^a8es,  or  by  evaporation,  because  it  makes  room 

or  it  to  sink  down  into  the  soil.     The  object 

text  to  be  attained,  is  to  retain  the  fertilizing  el- 

ments  in  the  soil,  within  reach  of  the  roots  of 

he  growing  crops,  long  enough  for  the  plants 

c,o  appropriate  them. 

The  objection  that  draining  leaches  out  of  the 
•oil  the  elements  of  fertility,  has  been  practically 
inswered,  by  the  opinions  of  learned  practical 
nen,  and  by  observations  upon  the  quality  of 
Irainage  water,  showing  that  in  general,  deep 
Irains  discharge  pure  water,  while  shallow  drains 
lischarge  water  charged  with  fertilizing  sub- 
.tances. 

As  certain  soils  are  known  to  part  with  ma- 
lure  much  more  speedily  than  others,  it  may  be 
veil  to  inquire  more  critically  into  the  reason 
f  this  fact,  as  bearing  upon  the  question  at  what 
epth  it  is  safe  to  draw  off  the  water  from  culti- 
vated land,  so  as  not  to  take   away  with  it  the 
lod  which  should  nourish  the  crop. 
One  obvious  mode  by  which  soils  are  capable 
f  stopping  the  descent  of  manure  through  them, 
1  by  straining  out,  as  it,  were,  the  grosser  parti- 
les  of  matter.     This  is  merely  mechanical,  and 
epends  upon  the  coarseness  or  fineness  of  the 
articles  of  soil.     Common  salt,  it  is  supposed, 
'oes  not  escape  by  evaporation,  and  is  not  muck, 
at  all,  taken  into  soils  by  absorption,  yet  it  is. 


to  some  extent,  retained  in  the  soil  by  attraction. 
The  particles  dissolvedin  water  are  carried  down- 
ward, and  finding  particles  of  soil  not  saturated 
with  water,  are  attached  to  them,  and  remain  till 
washed  away  or  taken  up  by  plants. 

Lord  Bacon,  in  his  "Sylva  Sylvarum,"  speaks 
of  a  method  of  obtaining  fresh  water,  which  was 
practiced  on  the  coast  of  Barbary : — "Digge  a 
hole  on  the  sea-shore,  somewhat  above  high  wa- 
ter mark,  and  as  deep  as  low  water  mark,  which 
when  the  tide  cometh,  will  be  filled  with  water 
fresh  and  potable."  He  also  remembers  "to  have 
read  that  trial  hath  been  made  of  salt  water 
passed  through  earth,  through  ten  vessels,  one 
within  another,  and  yet  it  hath  not  lost  its  salt- 
ness,  so  as  to  become  potable,  but  when  drayned 
through  twenty  vessels,  hath  become  fresh." 

Dr.  Stephen  Hales,  in  a  paper  read  before  the 
Royal  Society,  in  1739,  on  "some  attempts  to 
make  sea-water  wholesome,"  mentions  that  "sea- 
water  being  filtered  through  stone  cisterns,  the 
first  pint  that  runs  through  will  be  like  pure  wa- 
ter, having  no  taste  of  the  salt,  but  the  next  pint 
will  be  salt  as  usual." 

Mr.  Bernays,  in  the  Agricultural  Gasette,  in 
October,  1849,  describes  some  experiments  of 
his  filtration.  He  found  that  a  solution  of  com- 
mon salt  was  diminished  in  strength  by  filtra- 
tion through  a  soil,  and  that  the  diminution 
was  in  proportion  to  the  depth  of  the  filtering 
column. 

Professor  Way,  in  a  valuable  article  "On  the 
Power  of  Soils  to  Absorb  Manure,"  to  be  found 
in  the  eleventh  volume  of  the  journal  of  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Society,  gives  a  series  of 
careful  experiments  on  this  subject,  some  of  the 
results  of  which  will  be  stated. 

His  opinion  is,  that  the  power  of  soils  to  ab- 
sorb or  retain  manures  is  due  partly  to  capillari- 
ty or  attraction,  and  partly  to  chemical  action, 
but  he  thinks  there  is  a  power  beyond  these,  and 
indefinable,  at  present,  which  some  soils,  and  es- 
pecially clays,  possess  to  retain  the  mineral  bases 
and  animal  and  vegetable  ingredients  of  manure. 

The  power  of  clay,  whether  pure  or  mixed,  to 
absorb  ammonia,  is  well  known. 

Prof.  Way  also  proves  that  clays  have  power, 
to  considerable  extent,  to  absorb  caustic  lime 
and  its  carbonate,  and  also  potash  and  magnesia. 
Contrary  to  the  received  opinion,  he  found  that 
the  absorptive  power  of  clay  is  diminished  by 
burning,  although  it  is  well  known  that  some 
clay  soils  are  much  improved  by  burning  the 
surface,  and  that  burnt  clay  is  on  some  soils  a 
valuable  manure.  Mr.  Pusey  says  "The  action 
of  burnt  soil  rests,  I  believe,  on  some  distinct 
principle,  not  hitherto  understood." 

Indeed,  the  attempt  to  solve  the  mysteries  of 
vegetation  by  the  tests  of  chemical  science,  will 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


285 


always  be  fruitless.  There  is  a  power  in  the  vital 
principle,  whether  in  animal  or  plant,  which  con- 
trols chemical  action,  and  defies  the  laws  which 
govern  dead  matter.  How  and  why  some  substan- 
ces promote  vegetable  or  animal  growth,  while 
others  destroy  life,  science  can  probably  never  as- 
certain. It  is  profitable,  however,  to  note  careful- 
ly, the  practical  results  of  experiments,  although 
we  are  obliged  to  confess  that  they  are  inexplica 
ble. 

Some  facts  stated  in  the  article  referred  to,  as 
to  the  power  of  soils  to  absorb  organic  matter, 
and  to  purify  the  most  offensive  substances,  are 
both  interesting  and  useful.  Mr.  Huxtable  had 
stated  that  he  had  made  an  experiment  in  the 
filtration  of  the  liquid  manure  in  his  tanks, 
through  a  bed  of  an  ordinary  loamy  soil,  and 
that  after  its  passage  through  the  filter-bed,  the 
urine  was  found  to  be  deprived  of  color  and 
smell — in  fact,  that  it  went  in  manure  and  came 
out  water.  Prof.  Way  gives  a  series  of  experi- 
ments which  corroborate  the  fact  stated,  as  to 
the  action  of  soil  in  removing  color  and  smell 
from  putrid  substances.     He  says : 

"They  have  been  repeated  with  many  diiferent 
soils,  and,  under  every  possible  combination  of 
circumstances,  but  still  with  the  same  effect. 

"Similar  results  were  abtained  by  acting  upon 
putrid  human  urine,  upon  the  stinking  water  in 
which  tlax  had  been  steeped,  and  upon  the  water 
of  a  London  sewer.  That  the  power  of  the  soil,  in 
all  these  cases,  is  due  to  the  clai/  contained  in  it, 
there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt;  many  similar  ex- 
periments were  made  with  sand,  but  although  the 
color,  so  far  as  it  was  due  to  suspended  matter, 
was  in  some  dej;ree  reduced,  the  offensive  charac- 
ter of  the  solutions  was  but  sightly  modided.  So- 
iutioRs  of  different  coloring  matters,  such  as  those 
of  logwood,  sandal-wood,  cochineal,  litmus  &c., 
when  filtered  through,  orshaken  up  with  a  por- 
tion of  clay,  are  entirely  deprived  of  color." 

The  learned  professor  also  states  that  he  has 
been  told  that  the  American  Indians  are  in  the 
habit  of  taking  skunks  and  burying  them  in  the 
earth,  by  which  means  they  are  speedily  deprived 
of  their  offensive  odor,  and  rendered  fit  for  food. 
Most  New  England  people  probably  know  that 
the  garments  of  boys  who  have  come  in  contact 
v.'ith  that  same  spotted  animal,  are  sometimes 
deodorized  by  burying  them  for  a  time  in  the 
earth.  It  is  said,  too,  that  nothing  will  so  soon 
remove  the  smell  of  onions  from  a  knife,  as  leav- 
ing it  in  the  ground.  The  extent  of  this  power 
of  absorption  is  an  all-important  inquiry.  How 
much  manure  will  a  given  quantity  of  soil  absorb 
and  retain  for  use  ?  We  have  seen  that  this  de- 
pends very  much  upon  the  proportion  of  clay 
which  it  contains. 

Professor  Way  found  by  experiment  with 
sewer-water  and  clay,  that  four  pounds  of  the 
clay  used  was  sufficient  to  filter  five  pounds  of 
the  sewer-neater,  so  as  to  deprive  it  of  color  and 


smell,  and  nearly  all  its  fertilizing  properties. 
The  soil  of  an  acre  ten  inches  deep  is  estimated 
to  weigh  1000  tons,  so  that  it  would  seem  that 
1000  tons  or  224,000  gallons  of  such  sewer-water 
might  be  poured  upon  an  acre  of  such  clay,  and 
most  of  its  fertilizing  properties  be  retained  in 
the  ten  inches  of  surface  soil. 

Most  soils,  however,  are  by  no  means  so  pure 
clay  as  that  used  in  this  experiment.  Again,  the 
soil  of  a  field  is  not  equally  permeable  as  that 
used  in  a  small  experiment,  and  all  clay  soils 
contain  splits  or  fissures  which  let  down  water 
perpendicularly  to  considerable  extent. 

The  practical  conclusions  from  the  facts  and 
principles  stated  would  seem  to  be, 

That  sandy  lands,  in  which  roots  strike  deep- 
er than  in  clays,  are  in  more  danger  of  loss  by 
the  sinking  of  manures,  and  require  deeper 
draining  to  retain  them : 

That  such  lands  are  improved  by  claying : 

That,  as  the  power  of  a  soil  to  absorb  manure 
depends  on  its  bulk,  or  in  other  words  is  limited, 
the  deeper  the  drains  within  the  reach  of  the 
roots  of  the  crop,  the  better  the  security  against 
loss,  because  a  greater  mass  of  soil  is  fitted  for 
absorption,  and  for  the  penetration  of  roots. 


For  tite  New  England  Farmer. 
TTrRK"IP  CBOPS— WINTEB  WHEAT. 

Me.  Editor  : — In  looking  over  my  January 
number  of  the  A^.  E.  Farmer,  (monthly,)  I  have 
been  somewhat  interested  in  the  discussion  of 
the  root  crop  there  presented.  Most  of  the  writ- 
ers are  of  the  same  opinion  as  myself,  that  the 
raising  of  turnips  is  profitable,  as  well  as  being 
a  crop  that  is  just  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  far- 
mer. I  never  have  raised  turnips  very  extensive- 
ly, but  always  have  fed  out  more  or  less  to  my 
cattle  during  the  winter  and  spring,  and  consid- 
er them  a  very  healthy  food.  Some  object  to 
giving  them  to  milch  cows  because  they  give  the 
milk  and  butter  a  turnip  taste,  but  I  never  have 
experienced  any  trouble  of  this  kind  when  given 
in  moderate  quantities. 

In  order  to  keep  a  stock  of  cattle  in  a  healthy 
and  thriving  condition  they  must  be  supplied 
with  a  variety  of  food.  Most  of  the  farms  of  New 
England  possess  soils  that  are  adapted  to  grow- 
ing the  different  kinds  of  grasses,  grains  and 
roots,  and  these  seem  to  be  what  cverj'  farmer 
needs.  Perhaps  on  some  of  our  New  England 
farms,  a  certain  kind  of  product  can  be  raised 
more  advantageously  than  another ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, on  a  very  moist  or  wet  farm,  Indian 
corn  cannot  be  grown  with  the  same  profit  as 
grass;  therefore  it  would  be  judicious  for  the 
owner  of  such  a  farm  to  direct  his  attention  to 
raising  grass  more  than  to  anything  else  ;  but 
farms  containing  equal  soils  all  over  them,  wheth- 
er of  a  wet  or  dry  nature,  are  rare. 

My  advice  to  farmers  owning  lands  that  will 
produce  the  various  farm  products  profitably,  is 
to  raise  a  medium  quantity  of  each,  rather  than  to 
grow  all  roots  and  no  corn,  or  all  corn  and  no  grass. 


286 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jl-NE 


I  will  not  deny  the  assertion  of  one  of  your  cor- 
respondents that  the  corn  crop  is  the  crop  of  New 
England,  but  let  other  crops  receive  their  due 
attention.  Turnips  are  not  raised  so  extensively 
in  this  vicinity  as  they  ought  to  be,  from  the 
fact  that  half  the  people  do  not  know  their  value, 
and  the  reason  why  they  are  so  ignorant  of  their 
value  is  because  they  never  had  any  of  ihem  to 
actually  test  their  worth.  I  never  have  known 
any  one  that  raised  roots  for  stock,  to  abandon 
it  after  a  fair  trial,  but  on  the  contrary,  to  raise 
more. 

What  kind  of  winter  wheat  would  you  recom- 
mend to  be  sown  in  this  vicinity,  and  about  what 
time  of  year  should  the  seed  be  put  into  the 
ground?  Would  not  a  light  dressing  of  com- 
posted manure,  plowed  in  just  before  sowing,  be 
a  benefit  to  the  wheat  as  well  as  to  the  after  crops 
of  grass  ?  G.  w.  D. 

berry,  N.  H.,  February,  1859. 


Remarks. — The  Winter  Blue  Stem  is  an  ex- 
cellent variety. 

Get  in  the  crop  as  early  in  September  as  pos- 
sible, so  that  it  shall  get  well  rooted,  and  not  so  land  pulverization.    If  my  soil  was  but  six  inches 


For  the  I^ew  England  Farmer. 
PliOWINQ— MANUKINQ—PIjANTIKG. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Plowing  and  planting  time  be- 
ing near  at  hand,  I  shall  venture  a  few  sugges- 
tions to  your  farming  readers.  Plowing  and  pre- 
paring the  ground  for  seed,  is  of  vastly  more  con- 
sequence than  is  generally  supposed,  or  conceded 
by  the  farmer.  To  plow  when  the  soil  is  wet, 
leaves  it  to  dry  in  the  sun,  hard  and  cakey.  The 
yiiung  roots  of  the  vegetables  struggle,  and  are 
headed  oft'  at  all  points  by  this  baked,  brickey 
soil  that  yields  so  ungraciously  to  their  seeking 
desires. 

There  is  great  need  of  more  attention  to  the 
preparation  of  the  soil.  The  farmer  that  plows 
his  field  but  si.x  to  seven  inches  deep,  is  very 
careful  to  spade  his  garden  twelve  to  fifteen 
inches,  that  it  may  be  light  as  an  "ash  heap," 
and  that  he  may  boast  of  a  '-good  garden,"  if 
nothing  else.  This  same  friability  and  deepening 
the  soil,  measurably  applies  to  every  crop.  Corn, 
grains,  potatoes,  need  this  deep,  mellow  soil. 
Even  a  tree,  with  its  more  stubborn  roots,  re- 
quires it.     Hence  the  necessity  of  deep  plowing 


liable  to  be  winter  killed. 


HOOT  CHOPS  FOE  STOCK  FEEDING. 
We  beg  again  to  remind  our  readers,  partieu- 


deep,  1  should  plow  nine  inches,  unless  I  have  a 
quicksand  bottom — vegetable  roots  will  soon 
find  the  soil,  reap  the  benefit,  and  you  will  have 
an  augmented  crop. 

For  a  corn  crop,  first  plow  deep,  then  spread 


larly  those  who  are  engaged  in  dairy  and  «tock  "^^""'T' \"^  ^'•'f\Pl7/V"  ;^^  T  .^  ?I! 

farming,  to  appropriate  a  full  amount  of  land  to  «>•  ^'x  inches.  I  should  do  this,  evenhad  I  btt 
root-growing.  Carrots,  beets,  turnips,  parsnips,  ^  ^mall  quantity,  rather  than  manure  m  the  hill, 
may  all  be  raised  with  profit,  wherever  stock  is 
to  be  fed.  For  horses,  carrots  are  invaluable 
For  milch  cows,  they  not  only  furnish  a  milk  of 
superior  flavor,  butter  of  fine  color  and  odor,  but 
when  used  as  a  portion  of  their  food,  they  guar- 
antee a  healthful  condition.  The  power  of  the 
pectic  acid  of  the  carrot  to  gelatinize  all  vegeta- 
ble matter  held  in  solution  in  the  stomach,  puts 
its  contents  in  such  a  condi'ion  that  the  peristal- 
tic motion  of  the  intestines  can  manage  it.  Flat- 
ulence is  prevented,  and  thorough  digestion  se- 
cured. The  dung  of  the  horse,  fed  partly  on  car- 
rots, never  contains  the  undecomposed  shell  of 
the  oat,  nor  large  amounts  of  starch  unappropri- 
ated: and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  a  bushel  of 
oats  and  a  bushel  of  carrots  will  do  more  for  the 
horse  than  two  bushels  of  oats  ;  and  not  because 
the  carrot  contains  as  much  flesh-making  mate- 
rial as  the  oat,  but  because  it  cause*  all  the  flesh- 
making  material  of  the  oat  to  be  appropriated 
instead  of  being  voided  with  the  excretia.  For 
cows  and  oxen,  other  roots  may  occasionally  be 
substituted  with  profit,  as  variety  to  all  animals 
is  pleasing  in  their  food  ;  and  no  one  root  should 
be  continuously  used.  Since  the  introduction  af 
pulping  machines,  pulped  roots  mixed  with  cut 
hay,  cut  straw,  and  other  cheap  material,  add 
much  to  the  economy  of  the  farm  as  well  as  to 
the  health  of  the  cattle. — Working  Farmer. 


Lice  on  Calves. — I  have  discovered  a  meth- 
od of  ridding  calves  of  lice.  Give  tliemjiax  seed. 
I  am  wintering  eight  calves ;  they  became  very 
lousy,  and  I  fed  them  half  a  pint  at  a  time  for 
two  days,  and  the  oil  from  it  drove  the  lice  all 
ofi'. — Oenesee  Farmer. 


quantity, 
I  give  a  reason  for  so  doing.  In  the  first  ])la»P, 
the  roots  of  corn  do  not  stop  in  the  hill,  like 
those  of  a  plant  in  a  flower  pot ;  they  soon  di- 
verge from  it,  seeking  nourishment  in  their  jour- 
ney in  all  directions,  a  long  way  from  home. 
Now,  the  reasonalde  conclusion  is,  manure  dis- 
tributed through  the  soil,  is  what  they  are  after, 
and  what  they  will  find. 

How  common  it  is  t  >  see  the  young  corn  yel- 
low and  decripid,  from  the  fact  that  it  is  dropped 
on  green,  strong  manure,  (always  laid  to  the 
weather,)  and  cannot  attain  a  vigorous,  healthy 
color  till  its  roots  get  away  from  this  hot-bed 
hill.  But  the  farmer  says,  I  am  short  of  manure, 
I  must  put  four  acres  into  corn  ;  all  I  can  count 
on,  is  thirty  cart  loads  ;  I  must  dung  out  in  the 
hill.  Now,  he  plows,  plants  and  cultivates  four 
acres,  and  may  get  eighty  or  ninety  bushels  of 
corn.  I  say,  ])ut  the  thirty  loads  of  manure  upon 
one  acre,  plow  in  at  the  cross  plowing,  and  haz- 
ard the  statement,  the  one  will  give  the  product 
of  four  acres,  to  say  nothing  of  labor  and  cost, 
being  about  three  to  one.  In  this  connection,  let 
me  ask,  would  not  corn  do  better,  if  the  kernels 
were  dropped  several  inches  apart,  to  avoid  the 
crowded  state  of  the  hill  while  growing  ?  Try 
every  other  hill. 

In  regard  to  potatoes,  there  is  no  dunging  in 
the  hill  on  this  island  ;  they  spread  horse  ma- 
nure (if  they  can  get  it,)  and  plow  in  deep.  In 
pulling  potatoes,  it  will  be  noticed  their  tough, 
fibrous  roots  run  far  outside  the  hill.  A  mellow 
soil,  well  impregnated  with  manure,  must  also 
attract  these  roots,  which  are  the  great  feeders 
in  giving  growth  and  perfecting  the  vegetable. 
The  vine  receives  its  nutriment  from  the  air,  and 
its  short,  brush-like  roots  at  its  base,  connecting 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


287 


itself  with  the  potato,  wkh   a  tough  umbilical  ture.     Until   land  is  more  valuable   than  it  is  in 
cord,  showing  its  relations  to  each.  .--_.- 

AVe  also  know  that  grain  roots  require  a  deep 
soil  for  a  successful  crop,  particularly  on  clayey 
subsoils  ;  many  of  your  agricultural  works  tell 
you,  they  dive  deep. 

Boast  not  of  acres,  let  the  crops  do  the  brag- 
ging. The  true  motto  should  be,  good  cultivation 
pays.  H.  Poor. 

BrooJdyn,  L.  L,  1859. 


A  NEW  ■WORK  ON  DRAINING-. 

Farm  Dratxage.  Bv  Henpy  F.  French.  The  Principles,  Pro 
cesser  ami  Fffccts  of  Draining  I. anj  witli  Stones,  WchI,  Plows 
an'l  Open  Ditclie^,  anil,  eMU'ciallv,  with  Tiles;  incluiliiig  Ta 


most  parts  of  New  England,  a  proper  selection 
must  be  made,  and  draining  resorted  to  only 
where  it  will  pay.  An  interesting  history  of 
draining  is  given,  and  the  various  methods  dis- 
cussed. The  proper  depth  of  draining  occupies 
a  very  important  place  in  the  discussion.  The 
manufacture  of  tiles,  and  the  proper  sizes  to  be 
used,  and  the  various  implements  needed  in  the 
operation,  are  described  and  well  illustrated  by 
cuts,  making  the  whole  subject  plain  to  any  or- 
dinary capacity.  Various  tables  have  been  pre- 
pared by  the  author  and  his  assistants,  contain- 
cJ^n;tdmm!;*^io\he"cr^ofSi^'l;^;&^^^^  much  Valuable   information.     We  commend 

t:;'^St^!^l^^r^\^^l^^irS^  book  to  all  interested  in  draining,  and  to  all 

Williams  &  Co.,  100  Washington  Street,  Boston.  ^y^g  farmers  in  the  country. 

We  have  been  anxiously  waiting  for  this  vol-  The  author  commenced  the  draining  of  his  own 
ume  for  some  months,  and  greet  its  appearance  land  some  years  ago,  and  not  finding  the  instruc- 
with  much  pleasure.  It  is  a  book  for  the  times,  tion  he  needed  to  guide  him,  had  to  work  his  way, 
The  subject  of  Draining  has  been  for  several  as  best  he  could,  and  after  some  mistakes  and 
years  past  engaging  the  attention  of  the  farmers  [failures,  by  careful  thinking  and  observation,  he 
in  the  Northern  and  Middle  States,  and  every  arrived  at  satisfactory  results,  and  became  fully 
reliable  source  of  information  has  been  eagerly  convinced  of  the  importance  of  draining  to  the 
consulted.  Almost  the  only  systematic  and  sci-  successful  practice  of  farming  on  many  of  our 
entific  information  has  been  derived  from  Eng-  ^^^^  productive  lands.  During  his  own  opera- 
lish  works.     But  there   have  been  great  doubts  ^joj^g  j^^  acquired  much  valuable  information  re- 


whether  English  methods  were  adapted  to  our 
climate  and  soils,  and  especially,  whether  the 
same  results  would  be  realized  here  that  have 
been  reached  in  that  country,  and  indeed,  the 
opinion  has  been  by  no  means   universally  ac- 


lating  to  the  subject,  and  with  true  public  spirit 
ht  determined  to  impart  this  information  to  his 
brother  farmers.  He  has  spared  no  pains  or  ex- 
pense to  make  his  work  reliable  and  useful,  hav- 
ing gained  not  only  all  the  informatian  he  could 


ceptedthatthereis  the  same  necessity  for  drain- 1  frojn  books,  observation,  and  actual  experience 
age,  under  our  scorching  sun  and  clear  sky,  as;  j^  ^^jg  country,  but  visited  and  conversed  with 
in  foggy  England,  where  the  "Demon  of  vapors  j^j^g  ^^^^  practical  men  in  England,  and  carefully 
descends  in  a  perpetual  drizzle,"  and  keeps  the  ^^.^^^^p^j  ^^it  various   modes  of  draining  in  that 


atmosphere  in  so  moist  a  state,  that  evaporation 
goes  on  at  a  much  slower  rate  there  than  here 


country.  It  is  written  in  his  usual  easy  and  pleas- 
ant style,  and  is  the  most  valuable  book   upon 


Judge   French   has  given   us  an   interesting i^j^^  ^^1^^^^^  that  has  ever  been  written  on  either 
comparison  of  the  meteorology  of  old  England!  ^j^^  ^^  ^j^^  water. 

and  New  England,  and  the  result  of  the  compar-l  -jj^^  farmers  of  this  country  are  certainly  un- 
ison  is  that  draining  is  even  more  necessary  inl^^j.  ^^^^^  obligations  to  him  for  this  extra  pro- 
this  country  than  in  England.  In  this  country  j  f^^^j^^^l  1^^^^.^  undertaken  and  carried  to  a  suc- 
the  ground  is  frozen  solid  to  the  depth  of  two  or.  ^^^^^1  issue,  under  a  press  of  business  that  would 
three  feet,  and  in  the  spring,  is  completely  satu-'j^^^^  deterred  any  man  from  engaging  in  it  who 
rated  with  cold  water,  which  renders  the  soil  un-ij^^^  ^^^  ^  ^j^^^^.^  1^^^  ^f  farming,  and  an  ear- 
fit  to  be  worked,  until  the  season  is  so  far  ad-  ^^^^  ^j^gj^^  ^^  promote  it 
vanced,  that  there  is  scarcely  time  for  the  growth 
and  ripening  of  the  crops.  But  thorough  drain- 
ing, it  is  contended,  will  take  off  the  water  as 
soon  as  the  ground  is  thawed,  and  the  soil  can 
be  worked  and  the  seed  got  in  three  or   four 


HOME-MADE    rURNITTJBB, 


The  simplest  and  cheapest  kind  of  furniture, 
by  which  an  air  of  taste   may  be  given  to  a  cot- 
,  ,.  ,         ,  ,  tage,  consists  of  a  plain  box  or  bench,  made  of 

weeks  earlier,  so  that  the  crops  may  have  so  ,^^^^jg^  ,^y  ^j^^  1^,^^^^,^  ^f  ^^^  ^^^j^r  of  the  dwell- 
much  longer  time  to  grow  and  ripen.  The  state- ling,  stuffed  with  hay,  corn-husks,  moss  or  hair, 
ments  and  reasoning  of  Judge  Frencu  are  clear  held  in  place  by  a  covering  of  coarse  canvas,  and 
and  satisfactory,  and  will  afford  to  many  farmers' ^'overed  with  chintz  by  the   mistress  of  the   cot- 

^1    ..  •   f         .•  u-  u  *u  1-         1  ita^e.     Seats  of  all  kinds  are  made  at  a  very  tri- 

that  information  which  they  so  much  need.  \  „P        ^caic  wi  a  t    _ 

,       .  „  r   ,     ,       ,    •       ,      i  fli»J?   cost  in  this  way  ;  so   that,  with  a  little  in- 

Another  important  feature  of  the  book  is,  that,  ^pj^^j^y^  ^  ^^^^  niay,  by  the  aid  of  a  few  boards 

It  does  not  encourage  indiscriminate  draining,  as,  nailed  together,  a  little  stuffing  and  canvas,  and 

ine  sovereign  remedy  for  all  failures  in  agricul-ja  few  yards  of  shilling  chintz,  be  made  to  pro- 


288 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


duce  nearly  the  same  effect  as  one  where  the  fur- 
niture is  worth  ten  times  as  much.  The  next 
step  is  to  add  square  pillows  or  cushions  to  all 
the  benches,  seats  or  couches,  in  order  that  any 
person  sitting  upon  them  may  have  a  support 
for  his  back  without  touching  the  wall.  Another 
of  the  cheapest  and  simplest  seats  for  a  cottage, 
is  the  barrel-chair.  These  chairs  are  easily  made 
by  sawing  off  a  portion  of  the  barrel,  nailing  on 
a  few  boards  to  form  the  seat,  and  leaving  a  part 
of  the  staves  a  little  higher  than  the  others,  to 
form  the  back  or  arms.  To  make  the  high- 
backed  chair,  the  staves  must  be  pieced  out  a 
little,  the  outside  or  rim  of  the  back  being  con- 
fined in  its  place  by  a  piece  of  hoop,  neatly  ap- 
plied. The  seat  and  back  are  stuffed  with  any 
cheap  material,  covered  with  chintz. — Downing. 


MAHKET-DAY  AT  SOUTH  DANVEBS. 
[Repoeted  for  the  Fabmek  bt  J.  M.  Ivis.] 

Tuesday  last  was  market-day  at  South  Dan- 
vers,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Essex  Agricultu- 
ral Society.  These  market-days  have  been  in 
successful  progress  in  Great  Britain  for  many 
years,  affording  an  opportunity  for  exchanges, 
sales  of  neat  stock,  and  other  agricultural  prod- 
ucts. It  was  held  on  Washington  and  Foster 
Streets,  within  sight  of  the  birthplace  of  George 
Peabody,  of  England,  who  has  been  such  a  pat- 
ron of  that  town.  Early  in  the  forenoon,  vehi- 
cles of  various  kinds,  droves  of  sheep  and  cattle, 
fowls,  &c.,  were  wending  their  way  in  "cattle- 
show  fashion."  Among  the  collection  of  cattle 
were  4  new  f.^i!rh  cons  with  their  calves,  from 
R.  Hanley,  of  Lynn  ;  W.  P.  C.  Patterson,  3  na- 
tive cows ;  Albert  ],-odge,  of  Beverly,  2  Jersey 
cows  and  heifer ;  Charles  Roberts,  heifer  3  years 
old,  heifer,  Ayrshire,  mixed  and  native  cows ; 
working  cattle,  from  John  Brown  ;  40  sheep  and 
55  lambs,  from  E.  Page,  of  South  Danvers ;  J. 
W.  Wilkins,  cows  and  heifers ;  P.  1).  Patch,  of 
Hamilton,  one  yoke  of  fine,  fat  Durham  oxen  ; 
P.  L.  Osborn,  bull  21  months  old,  weight,  1320 
pounds ;  Chester  and  Suffolk  boar,  from  W.  H. 
Foster,  Beverly;  M.Brown,  Ipswich,  cow  and 
ox ;  Amos  King,  cows ;  George  B.  Dodge,  of 
Hamilton,  one  yoke  of  cattle  ;  S.  Dane,  of  Ham- 
ilton, new  milch  cows  and  beef  cattle  ;  E.  S. 
Poor,  Danvere,  two  colts,  valued  at  $300  each ; 
Hugh  Galbreith,  5  cows ;  John  Needham  and 
John  Brown,  Jr.,  cows ;  town  of  Danvers,  one 
yoke  of  fine,  fat  oxen  ;  R.  S.  Fay,  of  Lynn,  cows  ; 
Lewis  Fay  and  Thomas  Brown,  cows  ;  J.  S.  Need- 
ham  and  N.  Page,  Jr  ,  of  Danvers,  Lake,  of  Tops- 
field,  and  Flint,  of  North  Reading,  fruit  and  or- 
namental trees. 

There  were  various  agricultural  implements 
offered  for  sale.  Ketchum's  mowing-machine,  for 
one  horse,  attracted  much  attention  ;  Whitman's 
patent  plowman,  for  guiding  the  plow,  was  in 
operation,  on  Gen.  Sutton's  farm,  but  did  not 
work  as  well  as  was  anticipated  ;  a  fine  apple- 
parer  was  offered  at  $5,  which  performed  well. 
The  stock  at  market  were  as  follows:  85  milch 
cows  and  calves,  37  steers  and  heifers,  9  bulls,  5 
pairs  of  working  oxen,  13  fat  ditto,  18  calves, 
36  horses,  4  colts,  1  stallion,  112  pigs,  96  sheep 
and  lambs,  besides  6  or  8  boxes  of  fowls,  pota- 
toes, wagons,  &c.,  on  sale. 


Sales. — There  were  a  considerable  number  of 
private  sales  of  cattle,  &c.,  in  the  morning,  pre- 
vious to  the  auction.  Among  them  were  the  fol- 
lowing: 4  three  year  old  heifers  of  Joseph  Batch- 
eldor, of  Wenham.  $26  each;  native  cow  and  calf 
of  E.  W.  King,  $45 ;  one  yoke  of  fat  cattle,  be- 
longing to  the  town  of  South  Danvers,  weighing 
3400  pounds,  at  $9  per  100 ;  one  yoke  of  work- 
ing oxen,  from  George  B.  Dodge,  of  Hamilton, 
5  year  old,  $108;  one  pair  of  Durham,  full 
blooded,  from  Paul  D.  Patch,  of  Hamilton,  and 
fed  by  him  4  years,  $10  per  100 ;  these  oxen 
were  5  years  old,  girth  8  feet,  estimated  net  weight 
after  dressed, 3000  pounds;  2  native  cows. 8 year 
old,  with  calves,  from  J.  W.  Wilkins,  for  $40 
and  $31  ;  a  native  cow,  6  years,  from  Col.  Bach- 
elder,  of  Middleton,  $45. 

At  the  Auction  Sale  at  twelve  o'clock. — 
The  Huntington  cow,  of  R.  S.  Fay,  native  breed, 
$43  ;  Rodman  cow,  $44 ;  Boston  do.,  one-half 
Ayrshire  $48 ;  native  heifer  and  calf,  from  Mr. 
Gilbert,  of  Beverly,  sold  for  $,"8;  do.  from  Mr. 
Kittredge,  $39  ;  do.  from  Mr.  Dane,  of  Hamilton, 
for  $34  and  $35  ;  female  goat,  $8  ;  some  6  or  8 
horses  sold  at  prices  varying  from  $35  to  $160, 
each. 

The  market  was  much  more  successful  than  I 
could  have  anticipated,  from  the  misgivings  which 
bad  previously  been  expressed ;  in  fact,  I  think 
it  may  be  justly  considered  a  successful  experi- 
ment, and  I  am  "right  glad"  that  "old  Essex" 
has  led  off  in  such  an  enterprise. 

A  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Society  was 
held  in  the  Warren  Bank  building  at  10  o'clock, 
at  which  opinions,  &c.,  were  offered.  Mr.  Fay, 
of  Lynn,  in  the  absence  of  the  President,  presid- 
ed ;  it  was 

Voted,  That  North  Andover  be  recommended 
to  the  farmers  of  the  county  as  a  market  for  the 
sale  of  stock  and  agricultural  products  to  be  held 
on  the  third  Tuesday  of  May,  and  that  the  far- 
mers be  invited  to  attend  the  same. 

It  was  also  voted,  that  Gen.  H.  K.  Oliver,  of 
Lawrence,  Jos.  Kittredge,  of  North  Andover,  J. 
H.  Morse,  of  Lawrence,  J.  Osgood  Loring  and 
Otis  Bailey,  of  North  Andover,  be  a  committee 
to  superintend  the  market  to  be  held  at  that 
time  and  place.  Messrs.  B.  Perley  Poore  and 
Dean  Robinson,  of  West  Newbury,  Enoch  S. 
Williams,  of  Newburyport,  and  Paul  Titcomb,  of 
Newbury,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  report 
on  the  expediency  of  holding  a  subsequent  mar- 
ket-day at,  or  near  Newburyport ;  and  to  fix  the 
time  for  the  same.  It  was  also  voted  that  the 
committee  on  the  market  at  South  Danvers  re- 
port to  the  Trustees  a  full  account  of  the  same. 
The  Trustees  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  North 
Andover  on  the  third  Tuesday  in  May,  at  10 
o'clock. 

One  of  the  greatest  annoyances  at  these  gath- 
erings is  the  numerous  "catchpenny  contrivan- 
ces, and  noisy,  discordant  sounds  from  drums 
and  fiddles,  in  such  near  proximity  to  the  market, 
and  I  would  suggest  to  our  Trustees  that  they 
endeavor  at  the  next  market  to  secure  a  field  or 
enclosure,  where  these  nuisances  may  be  further 
removed,  that  they  may  not  interrupt  or  inter- 
fere wiih  the  Auctioneer  or  those  of  the  society 
[in  the  performance  of  their  duty. 

May  4,  1859. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER, 


289 


CHAFER'S  MACHINE  fOK  UKJEfcidiiVOr  MljbLi-fclTONES. 


The  ahove  cut  represents  Draper  s  Inipruved 
Patent  Ahtclirni;  for  Ihc^siny  Jhil-Sf.uiies.  The 
Bubscribers  present  iv  to  the  public  with  perfect 
confidence,  as*  one  of  the  most  labor-sa\ing  ma- 
chines in  use,  while  from  the  uniformity  of  stroke 
and  perfect  adaptation  of  the  chisel  to  the  stone, 
one-half,  at  least,  of  the  expense  of  sharpening 
Uols  is  saved,  and  the  character  of  the  dress 
much  improved. 

The  machine  being  attached  to  the  spindle  of 
the  mill,  is  put  in  motion  by  the  revolution  of 
the  same,  being  capable  of  striking  eight  hundred 
times  in  a  minute,  with  a  convenient  arrangement 
for  graduating  the  stroke  to  any  required  weight, 
and  adjustable  to  any  draft,  doing  the  work  with 
a  precision  not  easily  acquired  by  hand-dressing, 
and  being  wholly  under  the  control  of  the  oper- 
ator. It  is  readily  adapted  to  any  kind  of  dress 
for  either  burr  or  granite  ;  for  the  latter,  the 
time  usually  required  for  dressing  is  from  ten  to 
fifteen  minutes,  and  for  burr,  from  fifteen  to 
thirty,  cracking  the  face  in  perfect  lines,  parallel 
with  the  furrows,  without  breaking  the  surface 
between  the  lines,  thus  producing  a  much  more 
perfect  dress  in  one-eighth  part  ]of  the  time  re- 
quired for  dressing  with  the  hammer.  Thus  the 
Btone  is  preserved  for  longer  use,  and  makes 
more,  and  a  better  quality  of  meal,  in  the  same 
time,  than  by  the  usual  method  of  dressing.  To 
the  most  ordinary  observer,  the  advantages  must 
be  obvious.  Application  may  be  made  to  the 
Bubscribers,  at  South  Dedham,  Mass. 

T.  W.  &  R.  M.  Draper. 


The  Horticulturist. — The  number  of  this 
popular  journal  for  May  is  a  capital  one.  The 
"leader"  by  the  editor,  upon  "Life  in  the  Coun- 
try Railroad  Cars,"  seems  as  natural  as  the  way 
to  breakfast.   We  have  been  in  those  cars,  some- 


times, and  have  had  ocular  and  olfactory  expe- 
riences there !  As  Sancho  Panza  said  of  the 
'•man  who  invented  sleep,"  so  say  we, — "bless- 
ings on  the  man  who  will  devise  and  put  in  exe- 
cution some  mode  of  correcting  the  evils  of  our- 
gregarious  mode  of  railroad  travelling." 

This  number  of  the  Horticulturist  is  eminently 
practical.  See  the  article  on  "The  Useful  and 
the  Beautiful,  in  Gardening  ;"  one  on  "Bad  Graft- 
ing— How  Wood  is  formed" — with  illustrations  ; 
and  one  on  "Budding  and  Grafting."  The  fron- 
tispiece presents  a  fine,  colored  engraving  of  the 
"Hartford  Prolific  Grape."  Published  by  C.  M. 
Saxton,  New  York. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TUKNIPS. 

As  the  turnip  ordeal  was  passing,  I  was  feed- 
ing out  my  crop  of  some  eight  hundred  bushels. 
To  gratify  your  correspondent  at  Lowell,  Vt.,  I 
wish  to  say  I  rolled  them  from  the  root  cellar  to 
the  barn  floor  in  a  wheelbarrow,  there  split  them 
up  with  a  long  handled  square  pointed  shovel,  an 
implement  of  the  cow-house,  and  shovelled  them 
into  the  mangers.  When  they  were  given  to  the 
dairy  cows,  it  was  directly  after  the  morning's 
milking.  VVhether  they  "thinned  or  thickened,  in- 
creased or  diminished,  the  quantity  of  milk,"  my 
observations  do  not  allow  me  to  say.  The  im- 
proved condition  of  the  animals,  indicate  that 
their  products  during  the  whole  of  the  coming 
season  will  be  materially  increased  both  in  quan- 
tity and  quality. 

The  time  saved  from  the  fifteen  minutes  per 
bushel,  which  it  took  the  hired  man  of  your  Mas- 
sachusetts correspondent  to  feed  theii  out,  to- 


290 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


gether  with  witnessing  the  gratitude  of  the  ani- 
mals receiving  them,  amply  paid  for  doing  it  my- 
self. I  did  not  raise  them  as  did  your  correspon- 
dent, who  found  them  an  unprofitable  crop  side 
by  side  of  a  corn-field,  that  produced  seventy-five 
bushels  of  corn  per  acre,  but  on  a  plot  of  ground 
60  cold  and  ill  adapted  to  corn,  it  would  not  have 
produced  ten  bushels.  I  hope  the  present  sea- 
son, those  who  hold  the  turnip  culture  in  the 
least  esteem,  will  not  fail  to  raise  enough  to  give 
their  animals  as  feed,  as  often  as  they  provide 
their  families  with  fresh  fish,  or  perhaps  some 
other  less  frequent  change  in  the  variety  of  food. 
Waitsfield,  Vt.  S.  P.  Joslin. 


SORKEIi. 

Thi-i  grass  should  be  cut  early.  If  permitted 
to  stand  till  the  seed  has  become  fully  matured, 
the  crop  not  only  proves  worthless  in  itself,  but 
an  injury  to  the  soil.  By  cutting  when  it  is  green 
and  succulent,  or  before  the  seed  has  shattered 
out,  we  obtain  an  article  possessing  considerable 
value,  and  which  is  eagerly  devoured  by  sheep 
and  horses,  besides  accomplishing  much  towards 
eradicating  it  from  the  soil  from  which,  ordina- 
rily, it  is  expelled  not  without  considerable  diffi- 
culty when  once  it  has  obtained  root. 

In  curing  sorrel,  care  should  be  had  to  expose 
it  as  little  as  possible  to  the  sun.  We  have  found 
it  an  excellent  plan  to  mow  in  the  morning,  and 
cock  in  small  bunches  as  soon  as  the  dew  is  off. 
This  j)lan  prevents  the  seed,  by  far  the  most  val- 
uable part  of  the  crop,  from  being  wasted,  as 
well  as  much  useless  trouble  in  spreading  and 
cocking  up.  There  are  few  seeds,  perhaps,  more 
tenacious  of  life  than  the  sorrel.  The  pericarp 
or  seed  vessel,  in  which  the  vital  germ  is  en- 
closed, is  singularly  firm  and  indurated,  and  when, 
by  any  chance,  it  becomes  imbedded  in  the  soil 
to  a  depth  which  excludes  it  from  warmth,  it  re- 
mains dormant,  and  will  retain  its  vitality,  un- 
impaired, for  years.  If  a  field  which  has  pro- 
duced sorrel  in  large  quantities,  be  turned  out  to 
pasture,  it  will,  on  being  again  plowed  and  sub- 
jected to  tillage,  even  after  the  lapse  of  many 
years,  become  filled  with  sorrel  plants,  although 
not  a  vestige  of  that  plant  has  been  seen  during 
the  interregnum,  or  while  in  pasture.  And  this 
is  sometimes  the  case  with  other  plants.  We 
once  plowed  a  pasture  which  had  been  grazed 
for  twenty-five  successive  years,  and  upon  which 
scarcely  a  mullein  had  been  seen  during  all  that 
time.  Upon  disturbing  the  soil  it  brought  the 
long  imbedded  seed  to  the  solar  influences  and 
the  air,  and  the  surface  was  covered  before  July 
with  so  luxuriant  a  crop  of  mulleins  as  to  make 
it  necessary  to  pull  up  and  carry  off  cartloads  of 
the  plants.  By  sowing  lime,  in  liberal  quanti- 
ties, and  taking  especial  care  to  eradicate  and 
destroy  all  the  plants  that  appear,  the  pest  may 
be  entirely  overcome.    The  lime  neutralizes  the 


peculiar  acid  which  gives  life  and  sustenance  to 
the  weed,  and  by  converting  it  into  a  healthy  and 
salutary  pabulum  for  more  profitable  species  of 
vegetable  life,  deprives  it  of  its  appropriate  nu- 
triment, and  thus  starves  it  out.  Clayey  soils 
rarely  become  infested  to  any  considerable  ex- 
tent with  this  production.  When  it  does  make 
its  appearance  upon  them,  it  is  generally  attrib- 
utable, as  a  result,  to  the  seed  having  been  dis- 
seminated with  the  grass  seed  employed  in  stock- 
ing down,  and  rarely  lasts  more  than  one  year, 
when  it  is  crowded  out  by  the  cultivated  grasses, 
generally  without  maturing  its  first  crop  of  seed. 
It  requires  a  high,  dry  and  hot  soil,  and  does 
not  flourish  vigorously  except  in  the  very  face  of 
the  sun.  Sandy  lands,  of  all  descriptions,  pro- 
duce sorrel  more  or  less  abundantly.  And  it  is 
this  description  of  soils  which  are  always  the 
most  remarkably  benefited  by  ashes  and  lime. 
They  are  non-calcareous,  and  to  be  improved, 
and  rendered  permanently  productive,  must  be 
supplied  artificially  with  that  of  which  they  ar 
deficient. 

TOMATOE3. 

Physicians  are  unanimous  in  their  recommen- 
dation of  this  vegetable.  Its  nutritive  character 
has  procured  it  many  friends,  and  perhaps  there 
is  at  present  no  vegetable  in  this  country,  which 
is  more  extensively  cultivated,  or  which  com- 
mands, in  our  principal  markets  a  more  ready 
sale,  or  a  more  remunerating  price.  It  delights 
in  a  free,  warm  and  rather  vigorous  soil,  and 
should  be  assisted  in  its  development  by  liberal 
and  continued  applications  of  old  and  invigora- 
ting manure.  It  is  remarkably  prolific,  one  plant 
often  producing  a  bushel  of  fruit.  The  matura- 
tion of  tomatoes  does  not  take  place  at  once,  but 
the  fruit  ripens  in  succession,  so  that  the  branches 
are  burdened  with  ripe  and  green  fruit  at  one 
and  the  same  time.  The  methods  of  cooking 
and  appropriating  tomatoes  have  been  varied  to 
an  almost  infinite  extent.  In  all  its  forms,  how- 
ever, it  has  innumerable  admirers,  and  is  proba- 
bly, at  this  day,  the  most  popular  of  all  our  gar 
den  edibles.  For  family  use,  a  few  hills,  planted 
as  soon  as  the  soil  can  be  suitably  prepared,  in 
the  spring,  will  be  sufficient.  Guano  and  gypsum 
have  a  very  favorable  eflect  on  the  tomato. 


Commissioners  on  Flowage. — The  Board  of 
Commissioners  appointed  at  the  recent  session  of 
the  Legislature,  will  meet  at  12  o'clock,  noon,  on 
Monday  next,  to  enter  upon  their  view  of  the 
land  flowed.  After  this  examination,  which  will 
probably  occupy  two  or  three  days,  they  will  give 
a  hearing  to  the  petitioners  at  the  Town  Hall,  in 
Concord. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


291 


EXTBACTS  AND  KEPLIBS. 
TWO    SICK    COLTS. 

In  looking  over  my  last  Farmer,  I  noticed  a 
piece  written  by  "\V.  ]).  Searl,"  concerning  a 
sick  colt,  and  as  I  have  had  two  sick,  in  precise- 
ly the  same  way,  one  last  year,  and  one  this,  I 
think  I  can  give  him  a  little  light  on  the  matter. 
The  one  that  was  sick  last  year,  got  over  it  after 
laying  on  the  barn  floor  about  two  months,  but 
has  not  done  very  well  since  ;  the  one  this  year 
■was  sick  about  three  weeks  and  died;  she  had 
the  appearance  of  being  hurt  across  the  small  of 
the  back,  would  walk  on  the  end  of  the  hoofs  of 
the  hind  feet,  with  them  drawn  forward  ;  they 
finally  got  so  stiff,  that  she  lost  the  use  of  them 
entirely.  In  the  fore  part  of  her  sickness,  she 
would  lie  and  groan  terribly;  when  she  died,  I 
thought,  I  would  learn,  if  possible,  what  ailed  her, 
80  I  sent,  and  got  my  brother,  and  we  opened 
her,  and  in  the  maw,  we  found  the  trouble.  It 
was  the  bots — there  was  a  spot  the  bigness  of  a 
man's  hands  entirely  covered  by  them,  and  caused 
such  a  fever,  that  the  lungs  were  swelled  to  more 
than  twice  the  usual  size.  That  is  what  causes 
the  difficulty  in  breathing.  It  was  generally 
thought  she  was  poisoned.  Now  I  think  if  friend 
Searl  will  doctor  his  colt  for  the  bots,  he  will 
cure  him.  O.  T.  Willard. 

Bolton,  Vt.,  1859.      _ 

POPPIES    VERSUS  BUGS. 

Last  season  I  had  some  beautiful  vines  of  dif- 
ferent kinds  growing  in  my  garden,  which  prom- 
ised a  bountiful  supply.  One  morning,  I  found 
them  covered  with  bugs,  and,  being  about  to 
leave  home  for  several  days,  hesitated  a  moment 
as  to  what  I  should  do  for  the  tender  plants. 
My  eyes  immediately  rested  upon  some  poppies, 
and  the  thought  occurred,  that  the  leaves  might 
be  a  remedy  against  the  ravages  of  the  bugs.  I 
instantly  gathered  some,  and  laid  the  leaves  up- 
on the  hills,  around  the  plants,  and  under  the 
leaves.  After  an  absence  of  several  days,  I  return- 
ed, and  immediately  repaired  to  the  garden,  to 
learn  the  fate  of  my  vines.  They  were  looking 
finely,  and  not  a  bug  to  be  seen  of  any  kind. 
Whether  the  poppies  had  any  thing  to  do  in  driv- 
ing away  the  devouring  insects,  some  may  ques- 
tion. Suffice  it  to  say,  they  decamped  instanter, 
and  my  opinion  is,  they  are  not  partial  to  the 
opium  quality  of  poppies.  If  this  will  serve  the 
interests  of  the  gardeners,  you  are  at  liberty  to 
publish  it.  N.  R.  Wright. 

Paper  Mill  Village,  N.  H.,  April  21,  1859. 

TO    CURE   KICKING   COWS. 

Place  the  animal  by  the  side  of  a  stall,  or  plank 
partition,  and  confine  her  head  in  stanchions,  or 
by  a  chain,  so  that  she  can  neither  move  side- 
ways or  forward  and  back.  Pass  a  rope,  having 
a  slip-noose  on  the  end,  around  both  hind  legs, 
just  above  the  gambrel.  Draw  this  pretty  tight, 
and  the  cow  will  soon  find  that  the  more  she 
kicks,  the  more  she  hurts  herself,  and  will  gen- 
erally be  cured  of  the  propensity  in  a  short  time. 
The  pain  of  this  operation,  if  the  animal  struggle 
violently,  is  quite  severe,  and  will  render  the 
cords  of  the  legs  stiff  for  a  time,  but  the  cure  will 
be  permanent.  Care  must  be  taken  not  to  let  the 


rope  get  below  the  gambrel  joint,  as  the  cow  will 
then  throw  herself  down.  J.  Y.  N. 

Norton,  May,  1859. 

QUINCE   BUSHES. 

Please  inform  me  how  I  can  make  my  quince 
bushes  bear?  They  blossom  well,  but  yield  no 
fruit.  Aaron  Brigham. 

Holliston,  April,  1859. 

Remarks. — There  is  no  prescription  specially 
applicable  to  your  question.  Perhaps  the  soil  is 
too  rich,  and  they  make  too  much  wood ;  per- 
haps it  is  not  rich  enough.  If  they  appear  very 
luxurious,  head  them  in,  and  remove  some  of  the 
soil  about  one  of  them,  and  supply  it  with  sand 
or  clay.  

HOW  TO   PREVENT   CROWS  FROM  PULLING   CORN. 

Take  two  ounces  of  nitre  to  a  peck  of  corn, 
dissolve  the  nitre  in  half  the  quantity  of  boiling 
water  wanted  to  cover  the  corn,  then  add  as 
much  beef  brine,  and  soak  the  corn  from  twelve 
to  twenty-four  hours,  then  roll  in  plaster,  or  dry 
•ihes.  I  have  followed  this  method  for  more 
than  five  years,  and  have  suffered  no  loss  from 
crows.  R.  A.  Damon. 

Fiipton,  April,  1859. 

HUNGARIAN   GRASS. 

In  your  last  issue,  I  noticed  an  account  of 
Wm.  Richards  raising  Hungarian  grass,  but  he 
gave  no  account  of  the  quantity  of  land  he  sowed. 
Will  Mr.  R.  give  us  all  the  information  he  can 
about  sowing  and  harvesting  it ;  and  what  stock 
he  thinks  best  to  feed  it  to,  and  whether  he  will 
feed  the  seed  clear  or  mixed  with  other  grain, 
and  what  he  thinks  it  worth  compared  with  corn 
or  oats,  and  oblige  A  YouNG  Farmer. 

Brandon,  Vt.,  April  23,  1859. 

H.  E.  Fitch,  Clarence,  Nova  Scotia. — We  are 
not  able  to  give  you  the  information  you  desire, 
without  occupying  an  amount  of  time  which  we 
cannot  at  present  command. 


Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 

SUPERPHOSPHATE  OP  lilME  FOR 
SQUASHES. 

As  the  time  is  near  at  hand  for  planting,  I  deem 
it  advisable  to  tell  my  experience  in  relation  to  my 
use  of  the  superphosphate  of  lime  in  preserving 
the  vines  of  the  autumn  marrow  squash.  I  have 
used  the  superphosphate  lime  for  two  years  with 
perfect  success,  and  obtained  large  crops  of  that 
delicious  vegetable  without  losing  a  vine.  Be- 
fore I  put  on  the  superphosphate  I  could  not 
raise  a  single  squash,  on  account  of  the  worm  in 
the  vine  near  the  root.  It  usually  commenced 
its  ravages  about  the  time  that  it  fruited.  The 
vines  would  look  well,  yet  in  two  days  they  would 
all  wilt  away,  but  by  the  use  of  the  superphos- 
phate of  lime  I  am  able  to  save  every  vi;ie,  and 
get  full  crops  of  squashes.  I  commence  putting 
it  on  them  as  soon  as  the  seed  comes  up,  to  keep 
off  the  small  black  beetle,  which  is  does  to  per- 


292 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


fection,  and  then  to  keep  off  the  striped  bug,  al- 
so to  keep  off  the  stinking  pumpkin  bug,  which 
it  is  sure  to  do.  I  put  on  a  small  quantity  after 
every  rain  and  every  hoeing  and  when  they  be- 
gin to  put  forth  runners,  I  put  about  a  table- 
spoon ul  around  the  root,  and  in  all  cases,  where 
it  has  been  used  properly,  it  has  insured  a  good 
crop. 

Be  sure  and  get  that  which  is  good  ;  there  has 
been  a  great  quantity  of  poor  stuff  in  the  market 
which  has  disappointed  the  expectation  of  the 
consumer.  I  have  used  it  on  tomatoes  with  great 
success.  It  should  not  be  put  on  melons  nor 
cucumbers,  it  is  too  caustic  for  them,  and  kills 
the  tender  plants. 

Farmer  James,  by  the  use  of  the  superphos- 
phate of  lime,  raised  acres  of  fine  marrow  squash- 
es where  he  had  totally  failed  for  years,  before 
he  knew  of  this  infallible  remedy.  Farmers  try 
it.  S.  A.  Shurtleff. 

Spring  Grove,  April  13,  1859. 


LIVE  FOB   SOMETHING. 

Live  for  something,  be  not  idle, 

Look  about  thee  for  employ  ; 
Sit  not  down  to  useless  dreaming — 

Labor  is  the  sweetest  joy. 
Folded  hands  are  ever  weary. 

Selfish  hearts  are  never  gay  ; 
Life  for  thee  hath  many  duties — 

Active  be,  then,  while  you  may. 

Scatter  blessings  in  their  pathway  1 

Gentle  words  and  cheering  smiles 
Better  are  than  gold  and  silver, 

With  their  grief  dispelling  wiles. 
As  the  pleasant  sunshine  falleth, 

As  the  dew  descends  on  earth, 
So  let  thy  sympathy  and  kindness, 

Gladden  well  the  darkened  hearth. 

Hearts  there  are  oppressed  and  weary ; 

Drop  the  tear  of  sympathy — 
Whisper  words  of  hope  and  comfort — 

Give,  and  thy  reward  shall  be 
Joy  untj  the  sou!  returning 

From  this  perfect  fountain  head. 
Freely,  as  thou  freely  givest ; 

Shall  the  grateful  light  be  shed. 


For  the  New  Enand  Farmer. 
HOAAT  TO  TKEAT  A  YOUNG  ORCHABD. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  read  your  remarks  in 
the  last  Farmer,  (weekly,)  with  much  interest, 
on  the  manner  of  treating  a  young  orchard.  If 
manured  sufficiently  to  protluce  two  crops  of 
clover  and  a  crop  of  rowen  to  turn  in  after  the 
second  year's  cutting  is  remo\ed,  a  fine  growth 
of  the  trees  may  be  expected. 

But  let  us  suppose  the  soil  is  very  gravelly  and 
poor  ;  the  orchard  large,  and  only  manure  enough 
for  a  very  moderate  dressing  can  possibly  be 
scraped  together,  might  not  the  ti  ees  be  kept  in 
a  growing  condition  by  applying  lo  each  tree,  of 
eight  or  ten  years'  growth,  say  one-eighth  of  an 
ox-cart  load  of  a  good  compost  manure  ?  Let 
this  manure  be  spread  at  some  distance  from  the 
body  of  the  tree  ;  little  or  none  of  it  coming  with- 
in 3  or  4  feet  of  it,  but  the  main  part  of  it  above 
and  a  little  beyond  the  extremities  of  the  roots. 


Let  the  ground  between  the  trees  be  plowed, 
cultivated  with  cultivator,  and  harrowed  to  keep 
down  the  weeds.  No  crops  taken  off  until  more 
manure  can  be  spared. 

Might  not  such  tieatment  as  this  be  more  eco- 
nomical than  purchasing  manure  enough  to  fill  a 
very  i)oor  soil  with  clover  roots  ?  In  very  poor 
soils,  by  digging  holes  7  feet  in  diameter  and  2 
feet  deep,  and  filling  with  loam  and  meadow  mud, 
trees  may  be  kept  in  good  condition  two  or  three 
years,  with  no  other  application  than  a  little 
coarse,  straw,  yard  manure,  put  around  the  body 
at  setting,  (if  set  in  the  spring,)  and  dug  in  next 
season.  If  then,  after  that,  a  moderate  quantity 
of  manure  is  spread  near  the  trees,  each  year,  to- 
gether with  a  liberal  supply  of  swamp  muck, 
plowing  and  harrowing  without  cropping,  and  an 
occasional  liberal  supply  of  manure  with  crop- 
ping ;  I  say,  if  by  these  means,  trees  can  be  kept 
growing,  might  not  much  land,  especially  in  the 
vicinity  of  villages,  now  comparatively  useless, 
be  profitably  turned  to  orcharding,  thus  increas- 
ing its  value,  improving  its  appearance,  inviting 
new  settlers,  and  paving  the  way  for  a  plentiful 
supply  of  fruit  ? 

One  question  more  :  Would  occasionally  turn- 
ing in  a  green  crop  of  oats  or  buckwheat  be  eco- 
nomical where  a  yearly  supply  of  manure  is  with 
difficulty  obtained  ?  K. 

Framingham,  March,  15,  1859. 


Remarks. — The  suggestions  of  our  corres- 
pondent are  valuable,  and  do  not  seem  to  require 
any  special  comments  or  replies  from  us.  If  he 
plows  in  a  crop  of  oats  or  buckwheat,  he  will  de- 
rive much  more  benefit  from  it  by  mowing  the 
crop  and  allowing  it  to  partly  dry  before  plowing 
it  under. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
EXPERIMENT  "WITH  POTATOES. 

Mr.  Brown  : — Nothing  at  the  Lunenburg 
Cattle  Show,  last  year,  interested  me  so  much  as 
the  exhibition  of  fine  specimens  of  potatoes. 
And  nothing  in  this  department  seemed  so  val- 
uable as  an  account  of  an  experiment  in  raising 
them,  given  by  Daniel  Putnam,  Esq.,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lunenburg  Farmers'  Club.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  result  of  the  experiment: 

Lot  1.— 8  large  potatoes,  weighing  2  lbs.  12  ozs.  Whole  po- 
tatoes in  the  hill;  product  of  8  hills,  36^  lbs. 

Lot  2.-8  large  potatoes  wtipliing  2  lbs.  12  ozs.  Cut  4  pieces 
each,  4  pieces  to  a  hill ;  produce,  42  lbs. 

],ot  3. — 4  large  potatoes,  weighing  1  lb.  6  ozs.  Cut  4  pieces 
each,  2  pieces  to  a  hill  ;  produce,  32  lbs. 

I^ot  4. — 2  large  potatoes  weighing  11  ozs.  Cut  4  pieces  each, 
1  piece  to  a  hill  ;  produce,  25  lbs. 

Lot  5. — 8  small  potatoes  weighing  13  ozs.  Whole  potatoes  in 
the  hill  ;  produce,  25  lbs. 

Lot  6. — 8  small  potatoes  weighingl3  ozs.  Cut2  pieces,  2  pieces 
in  a  hill ;  produce  33  lbs. 

lots  7  and  8 — Planted  with  the  eyes  cut  ouf,  proved  failures. 

Kind  of  potatoes  used,  Jenny  Linds. 

This  experiment  needs  to  be  analyzed,  in  or- 
der to  communicate  fully  its  valuable  lessons. 

In  lot  No.  1,  44  ozs.  produce  584  ozs.,  equal  to 
13  bushels  for  one ;  rather  a  small  yield.  An 
acre,  planted  in  rows  3  feet,  and  hill  2k  feet 
apart,  would  produce  470  bushels,  requiring  36 
bushels  of  seed. 

In  lot  2,  44  ozs.  produce  672  ozs.,  equal  to  15 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


293 


bushels  for  one.  An  acre  planted  at  the  same 
distances  as  the  >ast,  would  produce  540  bushels, 
requiring  3G  bushels  of  seed. 

In  lot  3,  22  ozs.  produce  512  ozs.,  equal  to  23 
bushels  for  one.  An  acre  ])lanted  3x2^  feet 
•would  produce  412  bushels,  requiring  18  bushels 
of  seed. 

In  lot  4,  11  ozs.  produce  400  ozs.,  equal  to  3G 
bushels  for  one.  An  acre,  planted  3  f^  24-  feet, 
would  produce  322  bushtls,  requiring  9  bushels 
of  seed. 

In  lot  5,  13  ozs.  produce  400  ozs.,  equal  to  30 
bushels  for  one.  An  acre  planted  3  ^124  would 
produce  322  bushels,  requiring  13  bushels  ©f 
seed. 

In  lot  6,  13  ozs.  produce  528  ozs.,  equal  to  40 
bushels  for  one.  An  acre  planted  3x24  would 
produce  425  bushels,  requiring  10  bushels. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  potoates  plant- 
ed as  in  lots  1st  and  2d,  the  entire  produce  is 
greatest,  but  the  amount  of  seed  demanded  is 
enormous.  In  lots  4th  and  0th,  the  produce  is 
quite  large,  and  the  amount  of  seed  is  the  small- 
est. 

Shall  we,  then,  use  the  large  potatoes  or  the 
small  ?  I  answer,  if  a  man  has  little  land  and  a 
plenty  of  large  potatoes  for  seed,  let  him  plant 
them,  either  whole  or  cut  in  four  pieces,  and  four 
pieces  put  in  the  hill.  If,  however,  he  has  much 
land  and  but  few  seed  potatoes,  let  him  use  the 
small  ones,  cut  in  two  pieces,  and  two  pieces  put 
in  the  hill.  w.  c. 

Clinton,  Ms.,  1859.      

Remarks. — The  attention  of  Mr.  Baylies,  of 
Taunton,  is  respectfully  called  to  this  article. 


For  the  Netc  England  Farmer. 
MIGRATION    OF  SWALLOWS. 

Quite  a  number  of  articles  have  appeared  in 
the  Farmer  within  the  last  few  years,  relative  to 
the  habits  of  swallows,  and  the  time  of  their  mi- 
gration, but  I  do  not  recollect  that  any  account 
from  this  region  has  appeared.  I  will  therefore 
relate  the  result  of  my  own  observations,  made 
»ast  fall. 

About  the  21st  of  the  7th  month,  1858,  these 
lively  summer  birds  began  to  congregate  in  con- 
siderable numbers  upon  the  telegraph  wires,  and 
the  roofs  of  barns.  These  meetings  were  held 
daily,  and  their  numbers  continued  to  increase. 
Soon  it  became  apparent  that  some  important 
event  was  about  to  take  place.  Sometimes  large 
companies  would  commence  an  incessant  chatter- 
ing, very  much  resembling  a  set  of  politicians 
when  discussing  some  momentous  question,  in 
the  result  of  which  all  are  expecting  to  be  bene- 
fited. Presently  all  would  rise,  and  after  per- 
forming certain  gyratory  evolutions,  would  re- 
turn to  their  places. 

The  multitude  then  assembled  were  nearly  all 
common  barn  swallows,  and  about  the  30th  of 
the  month  they  left  for  parts  unknown. 

The  13th  of  the  8th  month  I  saw  large  num- 
bers of  the  white-bellied  swallows  assembled  on 
the  "wires,"  but  on  the  14th  very  few  were  seen. 
All  did  not  leave,  however,  for  some  of  this  va- 
riety, and  a  few  of  the  former,  were  seen  as  late 
as  the  Glh  of  9th  month,  though  they  were  evi- 


dently young  ones.  A  few  chimney  swallows 
were  observed  the  16th  of  8th  month. 

The  2nd  of  9th  month  I  saw  from  fifty  to  sixty 
white-bellied  swallows  in  a  distance  of  about  two 
and  a  half  miles,  23  in  one  flock,  and  upwards 
of  30  in  another  ;  a  few  barn  swallows  were  with 
them.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  whole  were 
scarcely  full-fledged.  In  another  place  I  saw  a 
large  number,  probably  more  than  a  hundred,  on 
a  dead  tree  by  the  side  of  a  mill-pond.  Thty 
performed  various  evolutions,  such  as  they  usu- 
ally do  when  collected  in  other  places.  I  have 
no  idea  that  they  were  preparing  to  take  a  dive 
into  the  mud.  They  are  too  lively  and  too  beau- 
tiful to  hybernate  in  such  quarters.  It  is  much 
more  reasonable  to  suppose  they  were  preparing 
for  a  long  journey,  and  that  they  soon  took  their 
flight  to  more  genial  climes.  The  6th  I  saw  thir- 
teen swallows  of  the  same  variety  as  the  last,  and 
I  do  not  recollect  that  I  saw  any  after  that  day. 

Bloonifield,  C.  W.,  1859.  L.  Vaknet. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
POTATO  KOT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Among  all  I  have  read  on  this 
subject,  I  do  not  recollect  any  description  of  the 
attending  circumstances,  or,  as  a  physician  would 
say,  any  statement  of  the  "symptoms."  And,  it 
appears  to  me  that  it  is  misapprehending  or  over- 
looking these,  which  has  led  to  such  a  variety 
of  opinions  relative  to  the  cause ;  I  mean,  when 
the  rot  prevails  so  as  to  constitute  an  epidemic. 
[  have  observed,  somewhat  particularly,  these 
attending  circumstances,  and  I  have  noticed  that 
they  were  essentially  alike,  every  year  the  rot 
has  prevailed.  The  disease  commences  its  rav- 
ages the  last  half  of  August,  usually  ;  sometimes, 
between  the  first  and  tenth  of  September.  The 
potato  vines  are  green  and  luxuriant,  and  the  tu- 
bers unripe.  The  thermometer  ranges  from  sev- 
enty-six to  eighty  degrees  in  the  shade  ;  the  wind 
southerly,  usually  south-west,  and  blows  very 
briskly  ;  there  is  more  or  less  rain — not  often  a 
great  quantity ;  frequently  only  a  heavy  mist, 
sometimes  attended  with  fog.  Such,  according 
to  my  observation,  have  uniformly  been  the  symp- 
toms attending  the  potato  disease.  If  we  have 
a  cold  rain,  or  hot,  dry  weather,  or  if  the  potato 
vines  are  dead  and  the  tubers  ripe,  I  have  never 
known  the  rot  to  prevail.  In  the  same  field  I 
have  had  early  potatoes  by  the  side  of  late  ones; 
the  former  were  uninjured,  the  latter  rotted  bad- 
ly. Last  year,  I  planted  a  part  of  my  early  po- 
tatoes quite  late,  the  last  of  May ;  the  last  of 
August,  when  the  rot  commenced,  the  vines  were 
growing,  were  very  green,  the  tubers  were  un- 
ripe, and  they  were  diseased  worse  than  any 
other  kind  I  raised  ;  while  those  that  were  plant- 
ed early,  were  unaff'ected ;  and,  indeed,  I  had 
never  had  this  kind,  (early  blues,)  rot  before. 

The  mischief  to  the  potato,  under  the  above 
circumstances,  is  done  very  suddenly.  I  have 
noticed  the  tops  to  begin  to  wilt  and  turn  black 
in  a  few  hours,  and  the  tubers  to  be  afi'ected, 
after  the  first  indications  appeared.  The  conclu- 
sion to  which  I  came,  the  second  year  the  rot 
prevailed,  was,  that  it  was  produced  by  atmos- 
pheric influence,  combined  with  the  circumstan- 
ces mentioned  above  ;  the  juice  of  the  top  is  poi- 


H 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


soned,  or  converted  into  a  gangrene,  which  kills 
the  top,  and  descends  to  the  tuber,  producing 
disease  and  decay. 

If  the  above  is  correct,  then  it  overthrows  the 
bug  theory,  which  has  been  so  confidently  ad- 
vanced. But  the  advocates  of  that  theory  will 
ask  me,  probably,  why  we  never  witnessed  such 
effect  from  the  atmosphere  prior  to  1843  ?  I  can 
answer  them  only  in  the  Yankee  fashion,  by  ask- 
ing them  why  we  never  had  such  bugs  before 
that  year  ?  Was  that  bug  created  then  ?  Or  was 
it  bioui;ht  into  existence  by  a  cross  between  two 
previously  existing  genus?  Or  if  the  bug  exist- 
ed previously  to  1843,  were  its  habits  so  changed 
that  it  teased  to  feed  on  what  it  could  not  poison, 
and  con.menced  living  on  the  potato?  But  it 
seems  this  is  only  a  microscoj)ic  bug,  i.  e.,  im- 
perceptible to  the  naked  eye.  Every  efiect  must 
have  an  adequate  cause.  Can  so  small  a  bug 
produce  such  effects  as  to  cause  thousands  of 
busheKs  of  potatoes  to  rot?  I  have  no  doubt 
the  microscope  reveals  animaleula?  living  on  po- 
tatoes ;  it  does  preying  upon  the  thigh  of  a  gnat, 
and  floating  in  the  purest  water.  But  I  would 
as  soon  believe  that  the  ox,  which  died  after 
drinking,  was  killed  by  the  animalculte,  which 
the  microscope  revealed  in  the  water  from  which 
he  drar^k,  as  to  believe  the  potato  rot  is  pro- 
duced by  the  animalcultr  which  th«  microscope 
exhibits  living  upon  them.  The  cause  is  not  ad- 
equate to  the  efiect.  Atmospheric  changes,  we 
know,  are  frequent,  and  at  times  very  great ; 
sometimes  producing  diseases  entirely  new  in 
their  type,  which  carry  ofl'  thousands  of  the  hu- 
man family  ;  and  why  not  new  diseases  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom  ? 

The  only  remedy  I  have  discovered,  is  to  plant 
an  early  kind,  plant  early,  and  on  early  ground, 
so  they  may  mature  early.  If  the  vines  are  dead 
and  the  potatoes  ripe  by  the  20th  of  August,  you 
will  not  lose  many  by  the  rot.  8.  u.  P. 

Leominster,  1859. 


guished  excellence.  The  same  law  of  nature  ex- 
ists among  neat  cattle,  as  among  horses  ;  and 
whosoever  disregards  it,  may  look  for  disappoint- 
ment. Farmers  will  therefore  be  expected  to 
raise  the  offspring  of  cows,  both  male  and  female, 
to  which  first  premiums  have  been  awarded,  and 
in  tl.is  way  alone  may  they  hope  to  improve 
their  stock.  He  that  relies  upon  chance,  to  the 
neglect  of  experience,  will  chance  to  be  disap- 
pointed. 

'•Them  are  my  sentiments." 

"MULTUM  IN  PaRVO." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

NATIVJE  BREED  OP  CATTLE. 

REMARKS   BY   COL.   PICKERING. 

It  should  be  constantly  borne  in  mind,  that 
the  Society  has  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting  improvements  in  every  branch  of  hus- 
bandry. Chance  in  breeding,  or  a  lucky  purchase, 
may  give  a  farmer  a  superior  cow,  but  unless  her 
offspring  be  raised,  we  shall  make  no  advance  ; 
and  fifty  years  hence,  the  quality  of  our  neat  cat- 
tle will  not  be  improved.  It  is  true,  that  fine 
cows  and  fine  bulls  do  not  always  produce  an  off- 
spring equal  to  themselves  ;  but  the  high  prob- 
ability is  in  their  favor.  Hence  the  high  prices 
given  for  the  improved  imported  breeds,  like 
generally  producing  like.  Many  are  willing  to 
raise  a  cov/  calf  from  a  superior  cow  ;  while  they 
are  regardless  of  a  bull  calf.  To  an  improving 
farmer,  the  latter  is  more  valuable  than  the  for- 
mer. The  offspring  of  the  female  is  very  limited  ; 
whereas  the  male  may  be  the  sire  of  hundreds. 
The  heifers  from  fine  cows  so  often  prove  worth- 
less, because  the  cows  are  put  to  worthless  bulls. 
How  diflerent  is  the  conduct  of  the  breeders  of 
horses  !  No  one  expects  a  fine  colt  unless  from 
a  good  mare,   when   sired   by  a  horse  of  distin- 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

SLATE  VS.  STOCK  JOBBERS. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  have  noticed  several  articles 
in  the  New  England  Farmer  about  slate  roofing. 
Not  being  a  manufacturer  of  slate,  it  maj  be])os- 
xible  foi  me  to  give  some  information,  without 
expecting  to  have  my  pockets  atuj/'tdivifh  the  pro- 
ceeds of  certain  certificates  of  stock.  Disinterest- 
ed persons  might  possibly  suspect  "Rusticus" 
to  be  an  owner  of  Glen  Lake  stock,  from  the  zeal 
he  manifests  in  building  up  that  enterprise,  and 
ignoring  all  others.  If  he  wishes  to  advertise 
his  quarry,  let  it  be  done  openly.  The  public 
want  facts  and  experience,  instead  of  theory  and 
stock  joblnng.  Ttiis  same  public  have  paid  thous- 
ands of  dollars  to  speculators  for  stock  in  slate 
and  mining  corporations,  having  immense  nomi- 
nal capitals,  high  sounding  titles,  and  owning  a 
very  Jew  acres  of  pasture  land  with  a  rock  upon 
it.  If  this  money  was  judiciously  expended  upon 
real  quarries  or  mines,  instead  of  being  absorbt^d 
by  the  managers,  stockholders  would  have  less 
reason  to  complain.  Let  capitalists  examine  for 
themselves,  before  making  investments  in  any 
such  corporations.  I  do  not  wish  to  apply  these 
remarks  to  Glen  Lake,  as  I  am  entirely  unac- 
quainted with  their  financial  operations  ;  wishing 
them  success  in  any  honorable  measures  for 
building  up  this  important  branch  of  business. 
The  course  taken  by  '•Rusticus"  would  create  a 
distrust  of  all  kinds  of  slate.  Having  examined 
most  of  the  Vermont  slate  quarries,  and  practi- 
cally tested  several  of  them  upon  my  otcn  build- 
ings, I  consider  them  generally  valuable.  The 
absorption  of  funds  necessary  for  opening  quar- 
ries, erecting  buildings  and  machinery,  being  so 
large,  the  means  of  the  owners,  in  many  instances 
being  very  limited,  and  the  desire  for  quick  re- 
turns so  strong,  that  often  surface  or  unsound 
stock  has  been  manufactured  and  sold.  Disin- 
tegration is  therefore  certain.  Why  do  some 
slates  change  color  or  fade,  while  others  are  fast 
colored  ?  Iron  and  sulphur  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  the  former.  Copper  is  the  metallic 
base  of  the  latter.  The  one  rusts,  the  other 
brightens.  The  copper  slate  will  withstand  a 
greater  degree  of  heat  than  the  iron  slate,  with- 
out cracking.  Slate  varies  in  hardness  in  the 
different  quarries.  In  all  instances  within  my 
knowledge  the  softer  stock  (as  in  other  stone 
quarries)  hardens  by  exposure.  The  softer  slate 
are  usually  the  finer  grained.  The  harder  the 
slate,  the  thinner  it  will  split,  provided  it  is  free. 
I  prefer  slate  of  a  medium  thickness  and  size. 
Slatera  and  owners  often  advise  the  use  of  thin 
slaie,  as  it  saves  them  expense  in  transportation. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


295 


I  have  roofs  covered  with  slate  from  Col.  Allen's 
quarry  of  viottled  slate,  (prohably  the  one  men- 
tioned by  "Rusticus,")  from  the  Western  Ver- 
mont Slate  Company's  quarry  offast  and  07ie  col- 
ored slate,  (annihilated  by  '"Rusticus,")  and  from 
the  quarries  of  the  Eagle  Slate  Company,  to 
whose  skirts  "Rusticus"  endeavors  to  fasten  Glen 
Lake.  These  three  quarries  represent  the  dif- 
ferent varieties  mentioned,  and  are  those  most  ex- 
tensively wot  Iced  for  roofing  slate.  All  have  a 
wide  reputation,  and  have  been  unable  to  supply 
the  demand  upon  them.  Their  owners  have  de- 
voted their  energies  to  the  building  up  of  the 
trade,  and  sustaining  instead  of  destroying  each 
other.  The  mottled  slate  has  been  laid  upon  my 
roof  si'x  years.  It  exhibits  no  sign  of  disintegra- 
tion or  change  of  color.  1  have  examined  roofs 
covered  with  this  slate  in  184S  and  '49,  which 
are  now  in  good  condition.  The  slate  from 
the  quarry  of  the  Western  Vermont  Slate  Com- 
pany has  been  laid  nearly  six  years.  It  presents 
the  same  beautifill  purple  color  as  at  first,  and  ex- 
hibits no  sign  of  disintegration.  Roofs  covered 
with  this  slate  in  1850  and  '51  are  now  in  good 
condition.  The  slate  from  the  Eagle  quarry  has 
been  laid  four  years,  and  gives  good  satisfaction. 
Although  it  has  changed  color  badly,  there  are 
no  signs  of  disintegration.  Some  veins  of  slate  in 
this  quarry  do  not  change  color  as  much  as  others, 
it  splits  freer  than  the  others  mentioned.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  about  the  durability  of  all  these 
varieties.  The  quality  of  slate  manufactured 
from  those  and  other  younger  quarries  is  gradual- 
ly improving,  both  in  material  and  workmanship. 
For  cottages  and  roofs  which  are  conspicuous,  a 
fast  colored  slate  would  no  doubt  improve  their 
appearance  materially,  but  in  many  instances  the 
owners  have  no  preference  as  to  color.  No  Ver- 
mont slate  will  absorb  sufficient  water  to  injure 
it.  I  have  experimented,  and  found  that  slates 
from  the  same  quarry  vary  in  the  (juantity  ab- 
sorbed. In  conclusion,  let  me  advise  your  nu- 
merous readers  to  use  slate  upon  their  roofs.  It 
is  economical,  safe  and  durable.  Give  a  suffic- 
ient underlap,  and  nail  firmly.  They  require  but 
trifling  repairs  and  have  often  proved  a  safeguard 
against  conflagration.       Pro  Bono  Publico. 


For  the  New  Eii!>lnnd  Farmer. 

THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  FORMING  HABITS 
OF  INDUSTRY  EARIiY  IN  LIFE. 

Mr.  Editor  : — As  far  as  my  observation  ex- 
tends, children  are  naturally  disinclined  to  per- 
severe in  steady  labor  ;  their  restless  and  active 
propesities  are  manifested  in  every  variety  of  an- 
tics, in  preference  to  doing  the  dreaded — what  is 
called — work  ;  they  will  make  efforts  at  what  they 
consider  to  be  play,  which  in  an  adult  would  be 
considered  most  severe  labor ;  they  will  lug  a 
heavy  sled  up  a  steep  hill  in  anticipation  of  the 
pleasure  of  riding  down,  frequently  to  the  risk  of 
their  lives.  These  feelings  seem  to  be  natural 
to  all  active  children.  When  these  active,  pro- 
pelling powers  are  directed  in  the  right  channel, 
as  the  child  advances  in  years,  the  habits  of  use- 
ful industry  are  formed,  or  become  what  is  called 
second  nature. 

When  parents  neglect  the  opportunity  of  di- 
recting these  natural  propensities  to  activity  in 
their  children,  at  an  early  age,  and  let  them  grow 


up  without  any  definite  plan  of  business  for  life, 
I  they  will  compare  with  training  four-year-old 
steers  to  the  yoke,  and  instead  of  making  of 
jthem  good,  industriotis  citizens,  "ten  to  one"  if 
jthey  do  not  imbibe  the  habits  of  idleness  and 
j rowdyism,  and  at  bfst  make  an  addition  to  that 
class  of  characters,  in  all  conscience  already  nu- 
merous enough,  who  have  no  definite  object  in 
view,  but  are  ready  to  improve  every  opportuni- 
ty to  speculate  upon  the  industry  of  others,  make 
grabbing  trades,  and  if  satisfactory  success  does 
'not  attend  such  respectable  efi'orts  at  business, 
they  have  an  eye  more  directly  to  a  fortune  at 
the  gambling  table,  or  "investigating"  the  pock- 
ets of  ladies  and  gentlemen  ;  peradventure  a  for- 
tune may  be  there. 

"How  can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or 
the  leopard  his  spots  ;"  or  how  can  the  child, 
grown  up  in  idleness,  become  accustomed  to  hab- 
its of  useful  industry  ?  It  is  a  hard  case,  noth- 
ing is  more  difficult  than  correcting  bad  habits 
and  forming  good  ones.  The  colored  preacher 
said  his  converts  "would  vart  back  again,"  and 
so  it  is  apt  to  be  with  those  grown  up  in  the  nat- 
ural way. 

It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  the  ab- 
origines of  this  country  could  be  induced  to  per- 
form any  kind  of  manual  labor  ;  the  horrors  of 
starvation,  or  the  pleasure  of  indulging  a  crav 
ing  appetite  with  food,  were  not  motives  suffi- 
ciently powerful  to  induce  them  to  forsake  their 
old  habits  of  indolence,  and  casting  oflT  thought 
for  the  future. 

1  have  no  doubt  but  there  have  been  instances 
of  reformation  among  adults  who  have  never 
been  taught  the  habits  of  industry,  but  such  in- 
stances are  as  uncommon  as  conversions  at  the 
eleventh  hour.  I  have  known  many  instances  of 
these  hopeful  characters  who  knew  more  than 
father  and  mother  combined,  that  grew  up  with- 
out a  trade,  and  ultimately  proved  an  affliction  to 
their  parents  and  all  concerned.  A  neighbor  of 
mine  possessed  one  of  these  promising  loafing 
sons,  and  a  friend  of  the  father  inquired  why  he 
did  not  set  his  son  to  work  ;  the  father  replied, 
"O,  let  him  alone,  he  will  do  well  enough  when 
he  grows  older."  The  fact  was,  he  had  already 
got  to  be  too  old  for  his  father  ;  he  got  married, 
ill  treated  his  wife  and  left  her,  enlisted  into  the 
army,  (the  best  place  for  him,)  and  finally  died 
a  vagabond  in  the  poor-house. 

We  often  see  the  effects  of  early  habits  of  in- 
dustry in  examples  of  aged  people  who  have 
been  so  long  accustomed  to  a  diligent  business 
life,  that  working  seems  almost  as  necessary  to 
their  existence  as  their  daily  bread,  and  when 
the  time  arrives  that  deprives  them  of  the  etijoy- 
ment  of  their  favorite  employment  they  feel  a 
melancholy  vacancy  in  their  minds  which  ap- 
proaches nearly  to  unhappiness.  There  are  nu- 
merous instances  of  men  of  wealth  who,  having 
become  weary  of  business,  and  retired  from  it 
under  the  Impression  of  living  easier  lives,  after 
jgratifying  tiiemselves  with  a  full  supply  of  imag- 
inary happiness  in  the  anticipated  leisure,  have 
returned  again  to  their  toils  as  less  burdensome 
than  the  pleasure  of  doing  nothing.  I  have  heard 
[young  people  say  they  wondertd  why  old  people 
I  need  work;  that  they  had  pro])erty  enough  to 
I  carry  them  through,  and  that  they  might  sit  down 
'and  enjoy  themselves. 


296 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


June 


Nov.',  young  man,  I  wish  you  would  tell  me 
what  enjoyment  there  is  in  doing  nothing?  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  heaven  is  not 
the  place  "for  idlers,  that  happiness  there  consists 
in  the  employment  of  doing  good,  one  toward 
another,  and  progressing  in  knowledge  and  per- 
fection forever.  What  is  a  soul  without  a  mo- 
tive, any  more  than  an  idiot  or  brute,  or  what  hap- 
piness and  enjoyment  can  there  be  without  ac- 
tion ;  the  enlightened  soul  was  made  for  enjoy- 
ment in  working  good,  not  for  doing  evil,  nor 
continuing  in  a  torpid  state  of  idleness  like  the 
bear  in  the  winter.  A  love  of  industry  at  any 
kind  of  business  must  be  created  by  early  instruc 
tion  and  practice,  while  the  child  readily  receives 
impressions  which  will  be  lasting,  and  habit  will 
soon  overcome  the  propensity  to  idleness,  and  if 
he  is  organized  with  the  elementary  ingredients 
of  a  man,  he  will  love  work  better  than  play. 
Every  farmer  that  produces  grain  and  vegetables, 
and  every  mechanic  who  makes  a  shoe  or  any 
useful  implement,  is  doing  good,  loving  his 
neighbor,  and  obeying  and.serving  God,  I  suspect, 
more  acceptably  than  many  do  in  olfering  him 
their  artificial  prayers.  Silas  Brown. 

North  Wilmington. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PKODUCT  OF  TEN  COWS. 

Gentlemen  : — I  send  you  a  table  of  figures 
showing  the  product  of  a  small  dairy  of  ten  cows, 
for  one  year  ending  with  May,  I808.  The  cows  are 
of  common  stock,  costing  from  $2j  to  $30  each  ; 
fed  liberally  with  straw  and  wheat  bran  and  corn 
meal  in  winter,  and  with  bran  and  good  pastur- 
age in  summer.  Feed  has  been  given  them  dry 
and  cold  ;  and  the  stable  open  enough  to  be  well 
aired  and  cool.  Cows  only  housed  in  winter. 
The  sales  are,  of  cream  at  $1  per  gallon,  to  con- 
fectioners ;  and  skimmed  milk,  at  12  cents  per 
gallon,  to  boarding  houses. 

SALES  FOR  WEEK. 


June  5, 

185T 24.24    ■ 

Dec.  5, 

..2.3.71—676.45 

12, 

25.67 

12 

..23.22 

1V», 

20.92 

19, 

..24.40 

26, 

20.51 

26, 

..22.25 

30, 

13  26—104.60 

Jan.  2,1853.. 

.29  68—123.26 

July  7, 

27  26 

9, 

..22  06 

14 

'J.7  60 

16, 

.  23.78 

25, 

34  22 

23, 

..21..'-0 

Aug   1, 

....  31  9.3—121.01 

3U, 

..19.20—  86.84 

8, 

31  15 

Ffb.  6, 

..17  48 

15, 

30.45 

13, 

..17  84 

22, 

2'J.Sl 

20, 

..19.72 

29, 

2S. 6:— 111.06 

27, 

.  19  84—  74.88 

Sep.  5, 

27  93 

Mar.  6, 

..15  60 

12, 

33  78 

13, 

..17  72 

19, 

44  10 

20. 

..17  56 

26, 

27.'4 

27, 

.  IS  20—  69.08 

Oct.  3, 

21. .58—155.23 

Apr.  3, 

.  18.44 

10, 

....  25  S9 

10, 

..23.81 

17, 

27  16 

17. 

..17.45 

24, 

18  70 

24, 

..18  41 

31, 

25.42-  97.17 

May!, 

..22  34—100.45 

Nov.  7, 

24  04 

8, 

..27.42 

14, 

21,08 

15, 

.  34  74 

21, 

19  48 

22, 

.28.54 

28, 

22.78—  87.38 

29, 

..33.59—124.29 

$676.45 

$1,258.2;5 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Wm. 

J.  Fern. 

Tt  T 1,. „„...: 

-i.„J    U.,  T>„    1 

1^^  It  has  been  estimated  by  Dr.  Lee,  of  Geor- 
gia, that  the  annual  income  of  the  soil  of  not 
less  than  one  hundred  millions  of  acres  of  land 
in  the  United  States  is  diminishing  at  the  rate 
of  ten  cents  an  acre. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 

DOMESTIC  KE3CEIPTS. 

Loaf  of  Tea  Cake. — One  cup  of  sour  milk, 
one  cup  sugar,  one  tea-spoonful  rose-water,  a  lit- 
tle nutmeg,  one  table-spoonful  of  butter,  one  tea- 
spoonful  of  soda,  one  and  a  half  cups  flour. 

Deborah's  Batter  Pudding. — Sixteen  table- 
spoonsful  of  flour,  one  quart  of  milk,  six  eggs, 
salt,  beat  the  eggs  to  froth  on  a  plate,  and  after 
it  is  mixed  beat  it  fifteen  minutes.  Either  boil 
or  bake. 

Newton  Short  Gingerbread. — Eight  cups 
flour,  three  cups  sugar,  one  of  ginger,  one  of  but- 
ter, six  eggs,  one  tea-spoonful  of  soda. 

Steam  Pudding. — Three  cups  of  flour ;  one 
cup  of  suet;  one  cup  of  molasses;  two  cups  of 
milk ;  one  tea-spoonful  bicarbonate  of  soda. 
Chop  the  suet  very  fine,  put  it  in  the  flour  with 
the  other  ingredients,  and  steam  it  two  hours. 
To  be  eaten  with  lemon  dip. 

Lemon  Dip. — Thin  two  table-spoonsful  of 
flour  with  water  ;  stir  it  into  a  pint  of  boiling  wa- 
ter ;  let  it  boil  once;  take  it  up  and  stir  in  four 
table-spoonsful  of  sugar,  a  little  butter  and  the 
juice  of  one  lemon. 

Plum  Pudding. — One  stale  brick  loaf — take 
off  the  brown  crust,  cut  it  in  thin  slices,  and 
spread  them  with  butter;  pour  over  it  one  quart 
of  boiled  milk,  and  let  it  stand  until  morning; 
grate  in  one  nutmeg,  one  tea-spoonful  of  salt, 
eight  eggs  well  beaten,  a  pint  bowl  of  stoned 
raisins;  flour  the  r.iisins  and  bake  two  hours.  To 
be  baked  immediately  after  putting  in  the  rai- 
sins and  eggs. 

Swiss  Cake. — One  and  a  half  cupsful  of  su- 
gar, four  table-spoonsful  of  butter,  one  cupful  of 
milk,  three  cupsful  of  flour,  two  eggs,  one  tea- 
spoonful  of  soda  and  one  and  a  half  tea-spoons- 
ful of  cream  of  tartar.     Flavor  to  your  liking. 

Nice  and  Nameless  Cake. — Two  cupsful  of 
sugar,  a  small  lump  of  butter,  half  a  pint  of  milk, 
four  eggs,  one  cocoa  nut,  grated,  a  tea-spoonful 
of  soda  and  two  tea-spoonsful  of  cream  of  tartar. 

Cocoa  Nut  Cakes. — Two  grated  nuts  an 
equal  weight  of  powdered  white  sugar,  the 
whites  of  three  eggs,  well  beaten  ;  make  them 
the  size  of  a  half-dollar,  and  bake  on  buttered 
tins. 

Bread  Cake. — Five  teacups  well  raised  bread 
dough,  three  heaping  cups  of  sugar,  two  even 
cups  of  butter,  five  eggs,  a  glass  of  brandy,  and 
a  nutmeg  ;  fruit  as  you  like. 

Yeast  for  Bread  or  Cakes. — In  a  quart  of 
boiling  water  stir  suffii;ient  wheat  flour  to  make 
quite  a  thick  battel  ;  while  hot,  stir  in  it  four 
ounces  of  white  sugar  and  a  teaspoonful  of  salt. 
When  cold,  put  in  sufficient  yeast  (say  near  a 
teaspoonful)  to  cause  the  mass  to  ferment.  Lay 
it  by  in  a  covered  jar  for  use.  Half  a  teacupful 
is  enough  to  make  two  large  loaves.  To  renew 
the  yeast  when  used  up,  reserve  a  teacupful.  It 
is  simple  and  efficien't  for  raising  buckwh:'at 
cakes  and  bread — very  white  and  very  light,  if 
the  flour  is  good. 


DEVOTED   TO  AGRICULTTJEE    AND    ITS  KIISTDRED   ARTS  AIID "  SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  JULY,  1859. 


NO.  7. 


JOEL  XOL'RSE,  Proprietor. 
Office. ..34  Mekcuants  Row. 


SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR, 


FRED'K  HOLBROOK,  )  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  \  Editors. 


JULY. 

"O  that  this  too,  too  solid  flesh  would  melt, 
Thaw,  and  resolve  itself  into  a  dew." 

Hamlet,  Act  1,  Scene  2. 

ULY  —  arid,  tropi- 
cal month.     What 
an  exalted  idea  it 
gives   one   of  the 
energy  and  patri- 
otism of  our  fore- 
fathers,   to    think 
they  could  muster 
resolution    to    de- 
■—  clare      themselves 
"free    and    independent," 
_,    _     on  a  hot  day  in  July.    We 
'CA*     -wonder  they  did  not  wilt 
into  supine  submission  to  George 
III.,  or  anybody  else  who  chose  to 
place    an    oppressive    foot     upon 
their  necks.     When  we  forget  to 
commemorate  their  heroism  with  ring- 
ing of  bells,  -speeches,  fireworks,  can- 
non and  India  crackers,  we  deserve  to 
lose   "the  peace   their   valor   won;"    yea, 
more, — to  go  without  "tea"  the  rest  of  our 
natural  lives  I 

Sydney  Smith  is  said  to  have  wished  he  could 
"take  ofl'  his  flesh  and  sit  in  his  bones  awhile," 
by  way  of  keeping  cool !  Though  mankind  are 
not  generally  so  anxious  to  get  rid  of  their  "flesh- 
ly weeds,"  they  certainly  are  very  much  addict- 
ed to  finding  fault  with  the  weather. 

For  instance, — last  winter  we  had  some  days 
of  "remarkable  weather."  This  spring  east  winds 
prevailed  to  an  uncommon  extent,  although  we 
were  told  that  once  in  three  hundred  years  May 
•was  a  ramZess  month,  and  that  this  was  the  identi- 
cal three  hundredth — therefore  fears  were  enter- 
tained that  life  would  be  entirely  parched  out  of 
the  vegetable  world. 

Others  took  a  diff'erent  view  of  the  case,  and 
wgre  apprehensive  that  the  premature  heat  would  | 


be  succeeded  by  an  "unkindly  frost"  or  perhaps 
a  snow-storm,  which  should  nip  in  the  bud  the 
forth-putting  leaves  and  flowers.  Now  July  has 
arrived,  and  although  naturally  enough  "hot 
weather  may  be  expected  about  this  time,"  how 
many  times  will  it  be  remarked  that  this  is  the 
very  hottest  summer  that  has  been  known  for 
years — it  may  be,  even  within  the  memory  of  the 
"oldest  inhabitant." 

Perhaps  those  who  suffer  the  greatest  incon- 
venience, are  the  ones  who  do  nothing  but  try 
to  keep  comfortable.  The  lady  who  sits  at  her 
window  in  a  white  wrapper,  watching  the  reap- 
ers at  work  under  a  broiling  sun,  bestows  a  great 
deal  of  commiseration  upon  them,  because  she 
does  not  know  that  the  faintest  breeze  brings 
cooling  to  their  brows — and  that  by  being  busy, 
we  forget  to  say  "how  hot  it  is." 

We  may  call  this  the  high  noon  of  summer. 
The  great  clock  which  tells  the  Months  of  the 
Year,  has  struck  twelve,  but  we  must  give  our- 
selves only  a  short  nooning,  for  time  flies  and 
labor  presses.  Our  hay,  our  oats,  rye  and  bar- 
ley will  soon  be  ready  for  the  sickle  or  the  scythe. 
They  have  been  silently  growing  taller  and  tall- 
er every  moment  since  last  April,  impelled  by 
some  power  which  we  cannot  comprehend.  It 
seems  but  a  little  while  since  the  seeds  were  bur- 
ied deep  down  in  the  earth,  and  nothing  but  re- 
peated observation  could  have  convinced  us  that 
there  should  be  a  resurrection  of  these  few  poor 
grains  that  we  planted.  We  could  have  shown 
no  reason  why  these  dead  and  buried  seeds 
should  spring  up  to  a  fresher  and  fuller  life. 
But  here  they  are,  and  summer  after  summer  we 
have  seen  the  miracle  repeated,  until  we  pass  it 
by  without  wonder,  calling  it  the  ''order  of  iVa- 
iure." 

"They  took  a  plow  and  plowed  him  down, 

Put  clods  upon  his  bead, 
And  they  ha'  sworn  a  solemn  oath, 

John  Barley oorn  was  dead. 

"But  the  cheerful  spring  came  kindly  on, 
And  showsrs  began  to  fall — 


298 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


John  Barley-corn  got  up  again, 
And  sore  surprised  them  all." 

A  curious  custom  prevailed,  and  for  aught  we 
know,  does  still,  in  Scotland,  of  doing  their  har- 
vesting in  couples — every  Jack  having  his  Jill. 
It  must  have  been  in  reference  to  this  usage  that 
"Gin  a  body  meet  a  body"  was  written — for  only 
imagine  it  applied  to  two  of  our  harvesters  in  red 
flannel  shirts  "a  comin'  through  the  rye."  Burns 
tells  us  that  his  yoke-fellow  at  the  gathering  in 
of  the  harvest,  was  his  first  love.  He  describes 
her  as  a  "bonnie,  sweet  sonsie  lassie."  For  the 
benefit  of  those  who  doubt  the  poet's  ability  to 
select  his  "first  love"  from  the  numerous  train' 
to  whom  he  paid  his  addresses,  we  will  say  that 
he  was  at  this  time  only  fifteen  years  of  age,  and 
the  lassie  a  year  younger.  We  can  easily  sup- 
pose that  this  was  before  he  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  Nannies  and  Marys  and  Peg- 
gies who  figured  in  his  poems.  It  must  strike 
every  one  that  Burns  was  remarkably  fortunate 
in  his  female  friends,  if  we  may  trust  to  his  own 
description  of  their  charms  ;  but  we  fear  that  a 
less  romantic  explanation  of  the  circumstance  is 
the  true  one,  and  that  the  graces  which  he  threw 
around  them  existed  only  in  his  imagination. 

The  fantasy  of  the  poet  was  a  Midas'  wand 
that  tinged  the  earthliest  thing  with  gold.  We 
learn  that  his  brother,  a  more  common-place  per- 
sonage, "looked  upon  some  of  the  ladies  of  these 
early  verses  as  so  many  moving  broom-sticks, 
on  which  fancy  hung  her  garlands  !  Not  a  very 
flattering  description,  but  such  is  the  power  of 
genius  that  it  may  throw  a  halo  around  the  most 
common  objects,  not  only  for  itself,  but  for  the 
whole  world.  Who  does  not  think  with  tender 
interest  of  "Highland  Mary" — an  interest  so 
great  that  even  a  spear  of  her  hair  which  found 
its  way  to  the  Burns'  festival  in  Boston,  was  re- 
garded with  enthusiasm, — yet  who,  for  her  own 
sake,  would  have  given  a  thought  to  the  dairy- 
maid of  the  Castle  of  Montgomery  ? 

Having  reached  our  editorial  limits,  we  make 
our  exit,  wishing  all  a  good  "mess"  of  green 
peas  for  the  Fourth,  and  to  our  young  friends  in 
.particular,  we  would  say,  that  although  it  may 
not  accord  with  our  Yankee  notions  of  gallantry 
to  see  our  girls  bearing  sheaves  at  the  Harvest 
— may  each  find  some  "bonnie  sweet  sonsie  lass," 
to  help  him  bear  the  burdens  of  life. 


The  Tyson  Pear. — This  pear,  it  is  well  known, 
is  long  in  coming  into  bearing  when  grown  on 
pear  stocks,  and  this  quality  is  regarded  as  a  se- 
rious drawback  on  its  value.  But  the  objection 
vanishes  when  it  is  cultivated  as  a  dwarf.  The 
most  beautiful  object  we  ever  saw  in  the  form  of 
a  bearing  tree,  was  a  four  year  Tyson  a  few  years 
since,  on  the  grounds  of  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  of 


Rochester,  of  symmetrical  form,  and  loaded  with 
ruddy-cheeked  pears.  The  present  unfavorable 
year,  a  small  tree  five  feet  high,  set  three  years, 
in  the  garden  of  David  Thomas,  of  Union  Springs, 
is  bending  under  its  crop  of  Tyson.  This  vari- 
ety grows  well  on  the  quince,  and  promises  to 
be  one  of  the  most  profitable  dwarfs. — Country 
Gentleman. 


TUBNIPS  AMONG  COBN. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of 
my  brother  farmers  to  the  fact  that  turnips  can 
be  grown  among  corn  with  very  little  trouble  or 
expense.  I  have  raised  them  for  several  years  in 
the  following  manner  :  After  the  cultivator  went 
through  the  corn  the  last  time  for  the  season,  I 
followed  that  with  the  turnip  seed,  sowing  broad- 
cast; a  boy  follows  dragging  a  hand-rake,  and 
it  is  don©.  Last  year  I  used  a  drill  with  better 
success  than  broadcast.  Two  boys  can  keep  up 
with  the  cultivator — one  to  pull,  the  other  at  the 
handles.  Put  one  row  of  turnips  between  each 
row  of  corn.  I,  of  course,  am  alluding  to  ground 
that  will  bring  a  good  crop  of  corn  ;  in  poor 
ground  it  is  useless  to  put  turnip  seed  or  any- 
thing else  among  corn.  I  have  tried  several  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  turnips,  and  find  the  Yellow  Ab- 
erdeen and  White  Norfolk  to  produce  the  best. 
The  latter  I  think  is  most  productive.  The  seed 
can  be  procured  at  almost  any  of  the  seed  stores 
in  Philadelphia,  at  one  dollar  a  pound,  and  a 
pound  I  think  sufficient  for  a  five-acre  field.  It 
will  most  likely  produce  two  or  three  hundred 
bushels.  Now  I  consider  the  cost  and  trouble 
nothing  in  comparison  to  that  amount  of  turnips 
fed  during  winter  and  spring.  I  do  not  consider 
the  corn  injured  in  the  least  by  the  turnips,  as 
they  grow  principally  after  the  corn  is  cut  off". — 
Oermantown  2'eleyraph. 


Money  in  English  Elections. — In  spite  of 
the  outcry  of  the  London  Times  about  IVlr.  Bu- 
chanan's Duquesne  letter,  it  seems  that  we  must 
go  to  the  mother  country,  after  all,  if  we  want  to 
learn  how  to  spend  money  in  elections.  The 
London  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune 
writes  in  his  last  letter  : 

"As  to  the  internal  aff"airs,  the  conservatives 
have  gained  about  twenty  seats,  and  are  still  in 
a  minority  of  about  sixty  votes  in  full  Parlia- 
ment. Still,  they  have  consolidated  their  party 
by  stupendous*  bribery.  Lord  Derby  subscribed 
£20,000  for  the  election,  the  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland £25,000,  each  of  the  three  new  peers 
£10,000,  and  Gome  £30,000  more  were  furnished 
by  the  other  members  of  the  Carlton  Club." 


Grass  Under  Trees. — By  sowing  nitrate  of 
soda  in  small  quantites  in  showery  weather,  un- 
der trees,  a  most  beautiful  verdure  will  be  ob- 
tained. I  have  used  it  under  beech  trees  in  my 
ground,  and  the  grass  always  looks  green. — 
Having  succeeded  so  well  on  a  small  scale,  I 
have  now  sown  nitrate  of  soda  among  the  long 
grass  in  the  plantations,  which  cattle  could  never 
eat.  I  now  find  that  the  herbage  is  preferred  to 
the  other  parts  of  the  field. — Prairie  Farmer. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


299 


SHEEP  SHEARING. 
WHEN  SHOULD  IT  BE  DONE? 
The  common  answer  to  this  question  is  :  When 
the  oil  has  been  secreted  after  washing,  so  that 
the  wool  has  its  greasy  look,  and  feel,  and  the 
"yolk"  has  begun  to  form  near  the  root  of  the 
fibre.  This  is  well — one  other  matter  needs  to  be 
looked  after,  also.  It  is  the  growth  of  the  new 
wool.  Every  year  a  new  growth  of  wool  com- 
mences from  the  skin  of  the  sheep.  This  should 
be  watched  l)y  the  shepherd,  and  the  shearing 
should  be  done  just  as  the  second  growth  begins 
to  start.  The  shearer  should  cut  as  nearly  as 
possible  along  the  dividing  line  between  the  old 
and  the  new.  If  the  second  year's  growth  is  al- 
lowed to  grow  somewhat,  before  shearing,  you 
take  part  of  two  years'  wool  in  the  same  fleece. 
This  impairs  the  fibre,  for  at  the  point  of  union 
between  the  growths  of  the  two  yeai-s,  the  wool 
is  weak.  This  lowers  the  price.  Besides,  if  the 
shearing  is  long  delayed,  the  fleece  for  the  next 
•winter  will  be  thinner,  and  the  sheep  more  liable 
to  sicken  and  die.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you 
shear  before  the  second  year's  gi'owth  has  start- 
ed at  all,  some  of  this  year's  growth  will  be  left 
at  the  outer  extremity  of  the  next  year's  fleece. 
This  remnant  of  this  year's  fleece,  will  diminish 
the  value  of  the  next  year's  fleece,  for  the  reason 
mentioned  above.  We  say,  then,  shear  your 
sheep,  if  possible,  when  the  new  fleece  just  be- 
gins to  start. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  SHEARING. 

Sweep  off  the  barn  floor,  scatter  a  little  straw 
over  it,  and  nail  over  that  a  bit  of  coarse  canvas, 
or  old  oil  cloth.  This  will  make  a  soft  bed  for 
the  sheep  to  rest  on  during  shearing,  and  it  can 
be  kept  perfectly  smooth  and  clean. 

If  you  use  low  benches  to  shear  on,  they  should 
be  prepared  in  a  similar  way.  The  place  where 
the  sheep  lie  during  the  process  should,  at  least, 
be  very  clean  and  smooth,  to  avoid  filth  in  the 
wool,  or  tearing  it  with  a  rough  surface.  Drive 
into  the  out-side  barn-yard,  sheep  enough  to  last 
the  shearers  half  a  day.  Then  drive  a  portion  of 
these  into  a  spialler  enclosure,  (a  stable  or  part 
of  the  "bay")  near  the  barn  floor.  Strew  the  floor 
of  this  enclosure  with  clean  straw,  that  the  sheep 
may  not  become  dirty,  if  they  lie  down. 

CAUTIONS  ABOUT   PREPARING. 

1.  Wait  till  the  dew  is  off,  before  shutting  up 
the  sheep,  under  cover. 

2.  Do  not,  if  you  can  avoid  it,  confine  a  great- 
er number  of  sheep  at  once,  than  the  shearers 
can  shear  in  half  a  day.  It  does  the  sheep  no 
7ood  to  be  long  shut  up,  and  the  shearing  can  be 
done  more  easily  and  neatly,  if  the  body  of  the 
sheep  is  full  of  food. 

3.  The  above  cautions  are  for  dry  weather. 
But  if  the  weather  should  be  wet,  you  must  eith- 
er wait  a  few  days,  till  it  becomes  clear,  or  keep 
the  sheep  under  cover  and  feed  them  as  best  you 
can.  For  it  should  be  always  kept  in  mind,  that 
shearing  should  not  be  done  when  the  wool  is 
wet.  Sometimes  in  "catching"  weather,  sheep 
thus  confined,  can  be  let  out  to  feed  in  a  pasture 
near  by,  and  driven  under  shelter  again,  if  a 
shower  should  be  coming  up, 

4.  These  facts,  as  well  as  the  fatiguing  nature 
of  the  work,  will  suggest  the  importance  of  em- 
ploying as  great  a  number  of  good  hands  as  you 


can,  and  doing  up  the  work  as  soon  as  possible. 
We  would  want  "good  hands,"  for  a  poor  shear- 
er wastes  more  than  his  wages,  in  haggling  the 
wool,  and  injuring  the  sheep. 

MODE  OF  SHEARING. 
Every  shearer  has  his  own  way.  We  would 
not  dictate  to  any.  But  the  following  is  a  good 
mode: — Place  the  sheep  on  his  rump,  with  his 
back  towards  you,  and  his  left  side  resting  against 
your  left  leg  and  thigh.  In  this  position,  the 
sheep  may  have  "his  jacket  opened  ;"  that  is,  the 
shearer  will  commence  at  the  brisket,  and  shear 
down  the  belly  on  the  right  side  ;  then  shear  the 
outside  of  both  thighs  ;  then  up,  on  the  left  side 
of  the  belly  to  the  brisket;  and  then  both  sides 
of  the  neck,  with  the  head.  This  is  "opening  the 
jacket."  The  sheep  is  then  laid  upon  his  side, 
and  the  shearer  commences  at  the  rump,  and 
shears  thence  towards  the  head.  Then  the  sheep 
is  turned  over,  and  the  other  side  is  sheared  in 
like  manner.  Great  care  should  be  taken  in  turn- 
ing the  sheep,  to  prevent  his  struggling  and 
kicking  the  fleece  to  pieces.  Prudence  and  gen- 
tleness are  qualities  that  will  pay  here,  as  well  as 
everywhere  else.  A  few  suggestions  must  close 
what  we  say  now.  Remove  all  straws,  burs  and 
other  filth  from  the  fleece,  before  beginning  to 
shear.  Also  wipe  the  feet  of  the  sheep,  if  they 
have  dung  on  them.  Keep  the  platform  clear, 
by  frequent  sweepings.  Use  no  violence,  and 
remember  with  pity  the  fears  of  a  dumb  animal. 
Shear  close  and  even,  and  be  very  careful  not  to 
cut  the  wool  twice,  which  is  often  done  by  un- 
skillful or  careless  shearers.  Do  not  cut  the  skin 
of  the  sheep,  or  prick  it  with  the  point  of  the 
shears.  When  the  operation  is  done,  see  that  all 
tags  and  stray  locks  are  cut  off",  from  legs,  tail, 
belly,  and  every  other  part.  Leaving  such  tags 
is  very  slovenly,  and  gives  protection  to  the  ticks. 
— Ohio  Farmer. 


WILL  YOU  LEND  ME  YOUR  —  ? 

Yes,  neighbor,  if  you  will  bring  it  home  again 
to-day.  There  is  no  greater  trial  of  one's  patience 
than  this  everlasting  unfaithful  borrowing.  No 
benevolent  man — such  as  we  are — will  refuse  to 
lend  a  friend  a  book  or  a  hat,  a  razor  or  a  hand- 
saw, a  plow  or  a  pick-axe,  if  he  can  have  a  reas- 
onable assurance  that  it  will  be  returned,  when 
the  immediate  purpose  for  which  it  was  borrowed 
has  been  accomplished.  But  to  reduce  yourself 
to  beggary,  by  lending  all  you  have,  with  no 
prospect  of  seeing  again  in  proper  time  or  suita- 
ble condition,  the  articles  lent,  is  a  tax  upon  our 
good  nature,  which  is  perhaps  more  than  ought 
to  be  borne. 

We  have  sometimes  doubted  the  inspiration 
of  the  proverb,  "The  borrower  is  servant  to  the 
lender."  At  any  rate,  men  have  so  far  deteriorat- 
ed in  their  sense  of  propriety,  that  they — some 
people — borrow  with  the  most  perfect  assurance, 
as  if  the  lender  were  a  servant  to  them.  Of  this, 
however,  we  should  not  complain.  Let  us  lend 
cheerfully  all  that  is  asked,  as  humble  servants 
of  the  borrower,  but  let  us  muster  courage  to  say 
to  our  inveterate  and  self-confident  borrowing 
friends,  please  return  that  axe,  umbrella,  book, 
hoe,  rake  or  jackknife,  to-day  or  to-morrow,  or 
as  soon  as  you  can  make  it  convenient. — I'ort- 
land  Transcript. 


300 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


For  the  A'ew  England  Farmer. 
OBNITHOLOGT. 
BY   S.   P.   FOWLER. 

The  family  of  wrens  in  the  United  States  and 
Territories  is  composed  of  twelve  species,  and  in- 
•  eludes  the  genus  regulus,  (crested  wrens)  and 
the  Troglodytes  or  proper  wrens.  The  only 
species  I  have  observed  in  Danvers  are  the  house 
wren,  winter  wren,  marsh  wren,  golden-crested 
wren  and  ruby-crowned  wren.  The  common 
house  wren,  (Sylvia  Domestica,  of  Wilson,) 
which  I  intend  more  particularly  to  notice,  is  the 
most  numerous  species  found  in  Massachusetts. 
It  has  become  completely  domesticated,  is  never 
seen  in  our  woods  and  forests,  and  seldom  no- 
ticed far  from  the  habitations  of  men.  With  the 
protection  it  everywhere  receives,  it  is  singular 
it  is  not  found  more  abundantly,  as  it  rears  two 
broods  of  young  in  a  season,  and  lays  from  six 
to  nine  eggs.  Its  habits  are  very  peculiar  and 
eccentric,  possessing  individuality  in  a  high  de- 
gree. It  is  never  moved  by  a  particle  of  grega- 
rious emotions  so  common  in  birds ;  on  the  con- 
trary, two  pair  of  wrens  can  never  endure  each 
other's  presence  in  a  garden,  a  quarrel  always  tak- 
ing place,  and  one  of  them  is  forced  to  quit  the 
premises.  Although  quite  a  small  specimen  of 
ornithology,  it  is  smart  and  courageous,  petulant 
and  imperious.  It  seldom  fails  to  assault  the 
peaceable  blue-bird,  when  preparing  to  breed  in 
the  neighborhood,  by  visiting  its  nest  in  the  own- 
er's absence,  and  committing  outrages,  of  which 
one  would  suppose  such  little  birds  would  not  be 
found  guilty,  but  leave  such  exploits  to  be  per- 


speak  more  particularly  of  the  male,)  are  not 
confined  to  constructing  in  connection  with  his 
mate,  a  cradle  for  his  young,  but  embrace  other 
than  this,  a  constant  instinctive  desire  to  labor, 
when  nothing  useful  is  produced,  in  building 
nests  not  wanted,  and  but  half  form  3d.  The 
wren  is  busy  in  this  unproductive  work,  simply 
because  he  must  be  employed,  cannot  afford  to 
be  idle. 

We  see  this  industrious  trait  of  character  in 
men  and  think  it  commendable.  I  have  never 
seen  anything  like  it  in  birds,  with  the  exception 
of  the  one  under  consideration,  and  it  has  also 
been  noticed  in  the  house  wren  of  Europe.  This 
labor  is  usually  performed  by  the  wren,  when 
not  particularly  engaged  with  its  own  affairs,  by 
odd  jobs,  as  we  say,  chiefly  when  the  female  is 
engaged  in  incubation,  when  time  passes  slowly 
with  him,  helping  to  fill  up  a  long  day  in  June ; 
with  other  engagements,  such  as  stolding  at  the 
cat,  as  soon  as  he  gets  his  eye  upon  her,  prying 
into  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  garden,  by 
creeping  about  more  like  a  mouse  than  a  bird, 
and  striving  to  obtain  a  general  meddlesome 
knowledge  of  the  affairs  of  all  birds  in  his  neigh- 
borhood. This  labor,  as  we  have  before  intimat- 
ed, consists  in  forming  as  many  half-finished 
nest  as  he  can  find  boxes  in  which  to  build. 

A  friend  of  mine,  desirous  of  getting  as  many 
of  these  birds  to  breed  in  his  garden  as  possible, 
placed  some  two  or  three  boxes  in  his  grounds 
for  their  accommodation.  In  conversation  he 
observed  to  me  one  day,  that  his  boxes  were  all 
filled  with  wrens,  and  was  much  pleased  with  the 
supposed  fact.     Knowing  the  singular  propensi- 


formed  by  the  cautious,  piratical    crow,  or  the  jy  ^f  j^is  bird  to  engage  in  useless  labor,  I  re 
fillibustering  blue  jay.     These  visits  of  ,^jj,.j^j,(l    upon  -       -       -  


handsome 


.   .  „,   jpon   examination  he  would  probably 

the  wren  to  the  domicil  of  the  blue-bird  are  for  fi^j  ^^  ^^^  p^jr  of  wrens  in  his  garden.     Ah  ! 
the  purpose  of  demolishing  its  nest,  or  sucking  \^^^^  g^ys  he,  I   saw  the  birds  go  in   and   out  of 


its  eggs,  and  if  surprised  in  these  felonious  inten- 
tions by  the  return  of  the  mild,  but  justly  indig- 
nant bird  which  wears  the  blue  coat,  it  evades 
its  deserved  punishment  about  to  be  inflicted,  by 
fluttering  to  the  ground  on  its  short  curved  wings, 
when  it  conceals  itself  in  the  shrubbery  or  pass- 
ing along  under  cover,  a  few  rods,  it  rises  again 
to  the  top  of  a  tree,  and  utters  its  hurried,  trill- 
ing notes  in  defiance. 

While  thus  invading  the  premises  of  others, 
the  wren  is  very  careful  of  its  own  ;  not  a  bird 
can  come  near  them  for  honest  and  peaceful  pur- 
poses, without  a  hostile  threat,  or  severe  scold- 
ing, such  an  one  as  no  other  songster,  but  the 
one  in  a  drab  colored  dress,  knows  how  to  inflict. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  little  churl  possess- 
es good  qualities,  alike  noticeable  in  birds  as 
well  as  men.  Its  domestic  habits  are  admirable, 
taking  the  best  care  of  its  numerous  ofispring, 
being  careful  to  warn  them  of  the  dangers,  which 
beset  their  youthful  flights,  and  of  the  cruel  hab- 
'ts  of  the  feline  race,  as  every  stealthy  maraud- 
ing cat,  (our  birds'  greatest  enemies  and  tormen- 
tors,) would  be  compelled  to  admit,  could  these 
felines,  (which  should  be  shot,  every  one  of  them, 
when  found  in  a  garden,)  be  made  to  testify. 
The  wren  is  also  an  industrious  bird,  its  industry 
being  peculiar,  and  not  noticed  in  other  birds.  It 
builds  a  large  nest,  if  we  regard  its  surroundings, 
composing  a  foundation  of  short  crooked  sticks, 
that  one  would  suppose  would  be  very  difficult  to 
be  managed  by  so  small  a  bird.  His  labors,  (I  here 


the  boxes,  and  build  their  nests.  I  replied,  we 
will  examine  them,  and  see  if  we  can  find  eggs  or 
young.  Upon  examination  we  found  in  all  the 
boxes,  but  the  one  that  was  the  true  domicil  of 
the  wrens,  nothing  but  a  mass  of  short,  crooked 
sticks  !  I  never  had  but  one  pair  of  wrens  in  my 
grounds  at  the  same  time,  although  I  have  heard 
persons  say  they  had  two  pair  in  the  spring,  but 
one  of  them  was  caught  by  a  cat.  I  suppose,  in 
this  particular  case,  grimalkin's  character  had 
suffered  unjustly,  which  so  seldom  happens  in 
the  imputed  cases  of  bird-catching,  I  am  particii- 
larly  desirous  here  to  notice.  In  my  grounds 
the  wren  raises  two  broods  in  a  year,  and  its 
sprightly  and  tremulous  note  is  heard  as  late  as 
the  20th  of  September.  But  little  is  known  of 
its  migratory  habits  ;  where  it  goes  in  autumn, 
and  from  whence  it  comes  in  spring,  no  ornithol- 
ogist knows.  It  manages  with  its  short  wings 
to  migrate  beyond  the  limits  of  the  union  ;  most 
probably  to  Mexico.  It  comes  to  us  in  the  night,, 
and  its  pleasing,  lively  note,  is  first  heard  upon 
a  pleasant  morning  in  the  early  part  of  May. 

Knowing,  friend  Brown,  your  love  for  birds, 
I  send  you  with  this  communication  an  olive-jar 
expressly  prepared  for  kitty  wren.  In  these  jars 
I  have  found  them  more  inclined  to  breed  than 
in  anything  else,  having  had  one  of  them  in  my 
garden  for  many  years.  The  way  and  manner 
of  placing  it  upon  a  pole,  I  have,  I  think,  in- 
formed you. 

Danvers'port,  April  l^th,  1859. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


301 


AGRICUIiTUKAL  KEPORTS. 

It  has  been  our  purpose  to  present  a  series  of 
notices  of  the  Reports  of  the  State  and  County 
Agricultural  Societies  of  the  past  year.  We 
published  a  notice  of  the  Transactions  of  the 
Massachusetts  Society,  soon  after  its  publication, 
and  have  slightly  noticed  one  or  two  others. 

We  propose  now  to  take  them  up  in  order, 
and  make  such  remarks  as  their  contents  may 
suggest.  In  general,  they  indicate  that  the  Ag- 
riculture of  the  Commonwealth  is  in  a  progres- 
sive state,  and  that  all  classes  of  the  community 
are  interested  in  its  promotion.  There  is  no  want 
of  zeal  or  effort  in  the  cause.  There  is  a  great 
amount  of  force  and  energy  brought  to  bear  up- 
on the  subject.  But  one  thing  is  very  obvious, 
on  looking  over  the  Reports,  and  that  is,  a  want 
of  unity,  method  and  system.  If  there  could  be  a 
meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  several  societies, 
and  a  plan  of  operations  carefully  digested  and 
arranged,  we  cannot  but  believe  that  much  good 
would  come  from  it,  and  some  of  the  measures 
resulting  from  the  want  of  experience  and  from 
the  impulsive  character  of  Young  America,  would 
be  suppressed,  and  no  small  amount  of  force,  that 
now  does  more  harm  than  good,  be  directed  into 
useful  channels.  Perhaps  the  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture might  do  something  to  promote  this  object> 
and  to  divert  the  zeal  and  efforts  of  agricultural 
men  to  these  subjects  that  deserve  immediate  at- 
tention. 

The  Massachusetts  Society  has  set  a  good  ex- 
ample in  this  respect.  That  Society  has  annu- 
ally directed  its  attention  to  some  specific  object, 
which  the  exigencies  of  the  times  seemed  to  de- 
mand. This  year,  they  have  called  attention  to 
the  establishment  of  local  fairs  for  the  exhibi- 
tion of  stock,  produce  and  implements,  and  in 
consequeiice  of  their  recommendation — seconded 
by  the  action  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture 
— a  Market  Day,  or  Fair,  was  holden  at  South 
Danvers,  the  3d  inst.,  and  others  will  be  held  in 
various  parts  of  the  State.  We  are  inclined  to 
think  that  such  fairs,  properly  arranged  and  man- 
aged, wherever  the  population  is  sufficiently 
dense,  will  be  productive  of  much  good.  They 
will  bring  the  farmers  together,  and  enable  them, 
by  sale  or  purchase,  or  by  barter,  to  supply  their 
several  wants,  without  intervention  of  "middle- 
men," who  usually  carry  off  the  profits  of  such 
traffic,  and  furnish  them  an  opportunity  to  dis- 
pose of  the  products  of  their  farms  directly  to 
the  consumers  and  dealers.  There  are  several 
places  in  the  state  where  such  fairs  may  be  held 
to  advantage.  We  shall  watch  their  course  with 
interest,  and  be  prepared  to  publish  notices  of 
such  of  them  as  we  may  witness,  or  that  may  be 
offered  to  us  from  time  to  time  by  others. 

Farming  is  a  progressive  business,  and  new 


methods,  new  implements  and  new  subjects  of 
attention  present  themselves  from  year  to  year, 
and  should  receive  due  regard  from  the  manag- 
ers of  our  agricultural  societies. 

The  tendency  at  the  present  time  is  to  give 
the  control  of  our  county  societies  to  men  who 
are  not  farmers — men  who  wish  to  keep  them- 
selves before  the  people,  and  to  make  agriculture 
a  hobby  which  they  may  ride  for  some  effect  not 
set  forth  in  the  "Farmer's  Guide  Book !"  Such 
men  may  infuse  a  certain  degree  of  energy  into 
their  movements,  but  their  object,  it  may  reason- 
ably be  supposed,  is  often  an  ulterior  one.  They 
aim  to  produce  a  sensation,  and  to  carry  things 
through  with  eclat,  and  are  quite  likely  to  be 
content  when  their  personal  objects  are  attained. 

We  think  more  careful  thought  is  needed  in 
appropriating  the  bounty  of  the  State,  so  that  the 
most  permanent  good  shall  be  accomplished  by 
it.  The  object  of  this  bounty  is  not  to  put  money 
in  the  pockets  of  the  competitors,  for  premiums, 
but  to  promote  agricultural  experiments,  and 
real  improvements  ;  to  diffuse  scientific  and  prac- 
tical knowledge,  and  to  increase  the  product  of 
the  soil.  When  the  object  is  merely  to  obtain 
the  prizes,  and  no  pains  are  taken  to  furnish 
statements  of  the  methods  pursued  in  producing 
the  articles  or  animals  for  which  they  are  award- 
ed, which  may  be  useful  to  others,  or  which  may 
afford  reliable  information,  it  is  time  they  were 
withheld,  or  appropriated  to  some  other  means  of 
effecting  the  same  objects. 

The  premiums  paid  by  the  Massachusetts  So- 
ciety for  Essays  upon  agricultural  subjects,  wilj 
do  more  for  the  cause  than  twice  the  amount 
paid  for  articles  that  were  produced  by  accident, 
or  were  cultivated  expressly  for  the  premium,  at 
an  expense  of  land,  manure  and  labor  that  no 
practical  man  can  afford.  What  is  wanted  at  the 
present  day,  is,  that  farmers  should  make  well 
arranged,  careful  experiments,  and  give  the  re- 
sults, whether  successful  or  not,  in  a  clear,  reliable 
form,  so  that  they  may  convey  information  of  a 
practical  character.  One  such  experiment  is  worth 
more  than  a  hundred  big  squashes,  or  beets,  and 
we  hope  a  set  of  well  digested  experiments  will 
be  prepared,  and  liberal  premiums  offered  for 
them,  to  be  paid,  whether  they  result  profitably 
or  otherwise,  provided  they  are  conducted  in  con- 
formity to  the  prescribed  conditions. 

If  one-half  the  money  from  the  State  treasury 
were  appropriated  in  this  way,  we  have  no  doubt 
that  it  would  do  more  to  promote  agriculture 
than  is  accomplished  by  it  at  the  present  time. 

Essays  upon  stock-breeding  and  stock-feeding, 
upon  draining  and  reclaiming  pasture  lands,  up- 
on grain  crops,  and  root  crops,  upon  meteorolo- 
gy, geology,  and  various  topics  connected  with 
the  subject  of  agriculture,  should  receive  so  lib- 


302 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


eral  a  portion  of  the  State  bounty,  that  the  talents 
of  agricultural  writers  shall  be  called  into  requi- 
sition, and  the  intellectual  activity  of  the  farmers 
be  quickened.  This  will  do  more  to  make  farm- 
ing an  intellectual  pursuit,  and  to  make  farmers 
respect  their  vocation,  than  any  thing  else,  and  is 
the  thing  that  is  especially  wanting  at  the  pres- 
ent day.  Mere  excitement,  got  up  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  fast  horses  and  balloons,  will  do  nothing 
to  promote  the  cause  of  agriculture,  but  will 
rather  divert  attention  from  that  sober  and  care- 
ful thought  and  observation,  that  are  necessary 
to  success,  and  serve  to  convert  our  agricultural^ 
exhibitions  into  mere  puppet  shows  and  vanity, 
fairs.  If  such  things  must  be  done,  let  them  have 
a  day  exclusively  appropriated  to  them,  and  let 
them  have  no  connection  with  the  Farmers'  Hoi-! 
idays. 

One  thing  we  would  earnestly  press  upon  eachj 
county  society  in  the  State;  that  is, that  they  ap- 
propriate a  reasonable  amount  of  their  funds  to 
carry  through  a  series  of  meetings  next  winter, 
open  to  all  persons,  where  discussions  and  lee- 1 
tares  shall  be  continued  through  the  afternoon] 
and  evening.  Let  them  be  conducted  systemat-| 
ically,  tlie  subjects  to  be  discussed  selected  with 
care,  and  proper  notice  of  each  meeting  be  given 
at  least  ten  days  in  advance.  We  do  not  believe 
it  possible  for  any  one  of  the  County  Societies 
to  expend  one  hundred  dollars  to  so  much  ad- 
vantage in  any  other  way. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BEB  CRITICISM  EXPLAINED. 

Mr.  Editor  : — There  was  an  article  published 
in  your  paper  some  two  weeks  since,  under  the 
head  of  Bee  Criticism,  where  Mr.  Quinby  has 
accused  me  of  having  a  plate  in  my  Circular  like 
one  of  Mr.  Langstroth's.  I  beg  to  inform  him 
that  he  is  in  error.  In  respect  to  the  propor- 
tions of  the  bees,  I  suppose  Mr.  Q.  is  aware  that 
the  bodies  of  the  bees  are  not  always  of  the 
same  uniform  size  ;  but  their  heads  always  are. 
I  suppose  he  is  also  aware  that  a  family  of  bees 
is  not  complete  without  the  presence  of  the  drone, 
as  there  are  three  kinds  of  bees  that  constitute 
a  colony.  As  he  remarks  that  he  has  never  wit- 
nessed bees  as  represented  in  that  cut,  perhaps 
he  does  not  use  an  observatory  glass  hive,  where- 
in those  wonderful  sights  are  often  seen  by  the 
watchful  eye  of  the  bee-master. 

Burlington,  Tt.  K.  P.  Kidder. 


Northern  and  Southern  Fish. — Dr.  Ges- 
ner,  of  Brooklyn,  in  his  recent  address  before 
the  American  Geographical  Society,  says  : — 

"The  fish  of  the  North  differed  very  much  in 
appearance  from  those  of  the  South,  as  all  the 
southern  and  tropical  fish  were  highly  colored, 
like  the  colors  of  the  flying  dolphin.  They 
seemed  to  be  analogous  to  the  birds  of  the  South, 
whilst  all  our  northern  fish  are  of  a  dark  color, 
and  yet  their  flesh  is  more  solid  and  healthy." 


SOILING  OP  CATTLE. 
In  another  column  we  have  spoken  of  a  work 
upon  this  subject,  which  will  be  of  more  interest 
in  connection  with  the  following  extract  from  the 
work  itself.  We  regret  that  we  have  not  the 
means  of  laying  the  contents  of  the  whole  book 
— sixty-four  pages — before  the  reader.  Mr.  Quin- 
cy  says : — 

My  practice,  and  the  result  of  the  past  year, 
were  the  following  : — 

My  stock,  consisting  at  an  average  of  twenty 
cows,  were  kept  in  their  stalls  through  the  whole 
year.  The  practice  was  to  feed  them  about  six 
times  in  the  day,  and  to  permit  them  to  range  in 
a  yard,  about  eighty  feet  square,  two  hours  in  the 
forenoon,  and  two  in  the  afternoon.  They  were 
kept  well  littered  and  well  curried.  While  they 
were  out  of  the  stable,  the  attendant  took  that 
opportunity  to  clean  the  stalls,  and  to  supply 
fresh  litter.  During  winter,  they  were  fed,  as  ia 
usual,  with  salt  and  fresh  hay  and  vegetables. 
From  June  to  November,  inclusive,  may  be  con- 
sidered, strictly  speaking,  the  soiling  season ;  by 
which  is  understood  that  in  which  they  are  fed 
with  green  food  in  the  house.  As  this  is  the  crit- 
ical period,  I  shall  be  minute  in  the  accounts  of 
my  preparations  ;.,nd  proceedings. 

In  the  autumn  preceding,  I  had  caused  rye  to 
be  sown  upon  an  inverted  sward,  very  thick,  on 
abQUt  three  acres.  Early  in  April,  1  prepared 
and  sowed,  in  manner  as  shall  be  stated  after- 
wards, about  three  acres  and  one-quarter  of  land 
with  Indian  corn  in  drills.  I  also  soM-ed  about 
three  acres  of  oats  and  buckwheat,  broadcast,  at 
the  rate  of  three  bushels  to  the  acre,  about  the 
latter  end  of  the  month.  The  whole  quantity 
of  land  I  thus  prepared  to  be  used  in  soiling,  in 
aid  of  my  grass,  did  but  little  exceed  nine  acres. 
Of  these,  that  which  I  sowed  with  rye  turned  out 
so  poorly,  that  I  never  soiled  from  it  more  than 
five  days;  so  that,  in  fact,  the  land  thus  prepaved 
did,  in  efficiency,  but  little  exceed  six  acres. 

About  the  Ist  of  June,  cattle,  in  general,  were, 
this  season,  turned  out  to  pf.sture.  On  the  SOth 
of  May,  my  farmer  began  to  out  the  sides  of  the 
road  leading  to  my  house  frc^":  the  highway  and 
orchard.  He  continued  to  soil  from  this,  and 
from  grass  growing  in  my  orchard,  until  the  7lb. 
On  this  day  he  abandoned  cutting  the  grass  for 
soiling,  and  began  to  cut  from  the  winter  rye. 
This  was  found  too  tough,  and  it  was  quitted ; 
and  my  farmer  returned  to  soiling  upon  grass. 
Having  cut  over  all  the  refuse  of  my  grass  by 
the  24th  of  June,  he  then  went  into  the  poorest 
of  my  mowing  land,  and  afterwards  into  my  clo- 
ver. From  this  he  continued  to  soil  until  the 
6th  of  July.  By  this  time  he  had  gone  over  not 
much  short  of  three  acres  of  mowing  land.  On 
the  6th  of  July,  he  began  to  soil  from  my  oats. 
He  continued  "to  soil  from  these  until  the  21st  of 
July.  On  the  21st  of  July,  he  began  to  soil  on  In- 
dian corn  ;  on  which  he  continued  until  the  2Gth, 
when  he  began  to  cut  about  two  acres  of  late  and 
light  barley.  On  this  he  continued  until  the  30th 
of  July ;  when  he  recommenced  soiling  on  corn- 
fodder,  and  continued  upon  it  until  the  31st  day 
of  August.  On  this  day  began  to  cut  over  the 
roadsides,  which  had  been  first  cut  early  in  June. 
This  was  continued  only  to  the  2d  of  September; 


l869. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


303 


xvhen  he  began  to  cut  the  second  crop  of  Indian 
corn  growing  upon  the  three  and  one-fourth  acres 
of  Indian  corn,  which  had  now  shot  up  in  great 
luxuriance  from  the  roots  of  that  which  had  been 
cut  over  between  the  21st  and  26th  of  July.  On 
this  soiling  continued  until  the  8th  of  September. 

On  the  9th  and  10th,  he  soiled  upon  about  a 
fourth  of  an  acre  of  millet  and  buckwheat ;  on 
the  11th,  soiled  on  a  second  crop  of  clover;  from 
the  12th  to  the  15th,  inclusive,  on  corn-stalks  of 
about  an  acre  of  sweet  corn ;  and,  on  the  loth, 
on  a  patch  of  millet  and  oats.  This  was  contin- 
ued to  the  20th ;  when  he  began  on  two  acres  of 
Indian  corn,  sown  in  drills,  on  the  1st  of  August, 
on  land  from  which  a  crop  of  pease  had  been 
previously  taken.  Soiling  was  continued  on  this 
corn  until  the  3d  of  October.  From  this  time 
antil  the  15th  of  October,  the  soiling  was  wholly 
from  second  crop  grass  taken  from  various  parts 
of  my  mowing  land. 

From  the  loth  of  October  to  about  the  20th 
of  November,  they  were  kept  wholly  upon  car- 
rot and  turnip  tops,  arising  from  the  topping  of 
about  twelve  acres  of  both ;  being  allowed  al- 
ways one  foddering  of  salt  hay.  This  finished 
the  summer  feeding.  From  this  time  they  are 
kept  wholly  upon  salt  and  English  hay.  The  re- 
sult, then,  of  this  experiment,  so  far  as  relates 
to  land,  is  the  following : — 

The  twenty  head  consumed  the  produce  of 

2j  acres,  roadsides  and  orchard. 

S"    "       mowing  land. 

Sj    "       Indian  corn,  cut  as  fodder. 

2      "       late  and  light  barley. 

8      ««       oats. 

2      "       laio  sown  Indian  ooro  after  a  pea-crop. 

J    "       Buckwheat. 
1      "       millet,  buckwheat,  and  oats. 


This  is  the  whole  land  which  was  cut  over  for 
soiling,  with  the  exception  of  the  after-feed  on 
the  mowing  land,  and  the  tops  of  carrots  and 
turnips.  In  comparing  this  result  with  the  for- 
mer practice  of  my  farm,  I  apprehend  the  follow- 
ing statement  to  be  just : — 

I  offset  the  keeping  from  the  11th  of  Septem- 
ber to  the  20th  of  November  against  the  old 
manner  of  letting  the  cattle  run  at  large  during 
the  autumn  months  on  the  mowing  land,  to  its 
great  injur}-,  by  poaching  and  close  feeding.  If 
this  should  not  be  deemed  sufficient,  1  then  make 
no  estimate  of  the  difference  between  keeping 
fifteen  head  of  cattle,  my  present  stock.  After 
these  allowances  and  offsets  (which  no  man  can 
doubt  are  sufficiently  liberal.)  then  I  state  that 
my  experiment  has  resulted,  in  relation  to  land, 
in  this,  that  I  have  kept  the  same  amount  of  stock, 
by  soilitig  on  seventeeit  acres  of  land,  which  had 
always  previously  required  fifty  acres.  The  re- 
sult is,  in  my  opinion,  even  in  this  respect,  great- 
er than  what  is  here  stated.  This,  however,  is 
sufficient  to  exhibit  the  greatness  of  the  econo- 
my of  this  mode,  so  far  as  relates  to  land. 


of  it.  Tie  your  horse  in  the  centre  of  the  stall, 
unless  you  want  him  to  do,  as  most  horses  do, 
drive  more  on  one  rein  than  on  the  other.  Horses 
that  are  liable  to  cast  themselves  in  their  stalls, 
should  be  tied  with  neck-halters,  giving  them 
much  more  freedom  of  the  head  than  the  nose- 
halter.  Gentleness,  firmness  and  moderation  will 
subdue  the  most  obdurate.  M.  D. 

Georgetown,  Mass. 


NE-W  BOOKS. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MANAGEMENT  OF    THE  HORSE. 

Never  attempt  to  clean  or  otherwise  disturb 
your  horse  while  eating  his  meals,  unless  you 
want  him  to  bite  and  kick.  But  when  you  clean, 
take  him  out  of  the  stall,  and  make  a  business 


Lasgstkoth  ok  the  Honey  Bee.  A  Practical  Treatise  on  the 
Hive  and  Honey  Bee,  by  L.  L.  LanGstroth  :  with  an  intro- 
duction by  Rev.  Robert  Baird.  D.  D.  Third  Edition,  Revised, 
and  illustraied  with  seventy-seven  Engravings.  New  York: 
A.  0.  iloosE  &  Co.,  Agricultural  Book  Publishers,  140  Fulton 
Street. 

We  have  spoken  of  this  work  in  terms  of  com- 
mendation before.  The  present  edition  has  been 
re-written,  and  the  latest  discoveries  of  the  au- 
thor added,  and  neatly  illustrated  with  engra- 
vings in  the  highest  style  of  the  art ;  they  are  so 
accurate  to  nature,  and  so  skilfully  executed  as 
to  bear  the  sharpest  scrutiny  of  the  most  accom- 
plished artists  ;  so  that  while  the  principles  and 
teachings  of  the  work  come  from  a  source  of  un- 
doubted ability,  they  are  clothed  at  once  in  form 
both  enduring  and  attractive.  We  think  it  the 
best  work  extant  on  the  subjects  of  which  it  treats, 
and  commend  it,  without  reserve,  to  those  who 
wish  to  engage  in  the  pleasing  employment  of 
tending  these  little 

"Crea^.urei!  that,  by  a  rule  in  Nature,  teach 
The  art  of  order  to  a  peopled  kinf.dom." 

For  sale  by  A.  Williams  &.  Co.,  100  Washing- 
ton Street,  Boston. 

The  Life  op  North  American  Iksects.  By  B.  Jaeoer,  late 
Professor  of  Zoology  acd  Botany  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
Assisted  by  H.  C.  Preston,  M.  D.  With  numerous  Illustra- 
tions from  Specimen?  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  Author. 

This  is  one  of  a  class  of  books  that  we  take  up 
with  pleasure — one  of  the  helps  to  good  farming, 
because  it  will  attract  and  interest,  and  lead  the 
mind  to  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  what  there 
is  on  the  farm.  When  this  is  the  state  of  the 
mind,  it  can  never  lack  objects  of  study  and  in- 
vestigation in  the  animals  we  raise,  in  the  plants 
we  cultivate,  or  in  the  soil  itself.  The  truth  is, 
we  know  very  little  of  what  there  is  about  us. 
We  see  things  daily  that  are  common  blessings, 
each  one  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  general 
good,  pass  by  them  indifferently,  and  sigh  for 
some  far  off  object,  which,  when  acquired,  would 
not  be  worth  possessing.  No  other  place  on  earth 
presents  so  many  points  of  instruction,  so  many 
solid,  and  enduring  attractions,  as  the  farm.  In 
itself  it  is  a  little  world,  with  scope  and  verge 
enough  for  stronger  minds  than  most  of  us  pos- 
sess. The  want  of  interest  in  it  springs  from  a 
want  of  a  true  knowledge  of  the  advantages 
which  it  offers. 

The  book  before  us  will  shed  light  upon  one 
of  its  departments.     The  book  is  written  in  pop- 


304 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


ular  form,  sufficiently  scientific  for  the  general 
reader,  and  we  hope  will  find  its  way  to  thous- 
ands of  the  homesteads  of  our  people.  New  York  : 
Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers.  For  sale  by  A. 
"Williams  &  Co.,  100  Washington  Street,  Boston. 

Essays  on  the  Soilinq  op  Cattle,  Illustrated  from  Experience, 
and  an  Address,  containing  supigestions  which  may  be  Useful 
to  Farmers.  ByJosiAU  QuiNCT.  Boston:  Printed  by  John 
Wilson  &  Son,  22  School  Street. 

No  man,  probably,  on  this  continent,  has  had 
so  much  experience  on  the  subject  of  soiling  cat- 
tle, that  is,  keeping  and  feeding  them  through 
the  entire  year  in  the  barn — as  Mr.  Quincy  has ; 
and  throughout  his  long  experience,  he  has  un- 
doubtedly attended  to  it  with  a  persistency  of 
care  and  observation  that  characterize  very  few 
of  our  agricultural  experiments. 

He  says  "there  are  six  distinct  advantages 
which  those  who  advocate  soiling,  propose  to 
themselves  by  the  practice,  and  on  which  they  es- 
tablish the  preference  of  this  mode  to  the  com- 
mon one  of  pasturing  cattle  during  the  summer. 

1.  The  saving  of  land. 

2.  The  saving  of  fencing. 

3.  The  economizing  of  food. 

4.  The  better  condition  and  greater  coigfort  of 
the  cattle. 

5.  The  greater  product  of  milk. 

6.  The  attainment  of  manure. 

The  only  offset  to  all  these  advantages,  is  the 
labor  of  raising  and  cutting  the  food,  and  feeding 
and  taking  care  of  the  stock." 

Mr.  Quincy  discusses  each  of  these  heads  with 
considerable  minuteness;  and  sustains  them  by 
such  reasons,  as  will  go  far  to  convince  any  per- 
son that  his  mode  of  managing  his  stock  is  a 
successful  and  profitable  one.  The  Essays  are 
full  of  important  suggestions,  and  ought  to  be  in 
the  hands  of  our  farmers  generally. 

We  have  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  passing  over 
Mr.  Quincy's  farm,  and  of  listening  to  brief  rela- 
tions  of  his  manner  of  treating  his  grass  lands, 
of  feeding  his  stock,  cultivation  of  fruit  and  for- 
est trees,  &c.  &c.,  and  in  their  appearance  found 
ample  corroboration  of  what  he  states  in  his  Es- 
says. They  ought,  with  his  permission,  to  be 
published  in  the  annual  volume  sent  us  by  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture.  We  feel  under  per- 
sonal obligation  to  him  for  the  clear,  comprehen- 
sive and  valuable  facts  communicated,  and  will 
find  an  early  opportunity  to  lay  portions  of  them 
before  the  reader. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
■WATER  CRESS. 

The  Water  Cress,  ( Nasturtiicm  officinale,)  is 
considered  to  be  one  of  the  most  wholesome  of  all 
our  salad  herbs,  and  one  of  the  oldest  in  use.  Its 
qaalities  are  warm  and  stimulating — the  very 
reverse,  in  some  respects,  to  most  other  plants 


used  in  a  green  or  uncooked  state.  The  Dutch 
and  English  people  use  great  quantities  of  this 
cress  in  spring,  as  an  antiscorbutic.  A  salad  so 
easily  procured,  being  found  in  many  of  the 
running  fresh  water  streams  throughout  Massa- 
chusetts, and  withal  so  wholesome,  particularly 
for  those  persons  of  sedentary  habits,  we  should, 
at  this  season,  when  it  is  the  proper  time  of  the 
year  to  gather  it  before  it  runs  up  to  seed,  re- 
commend its  use. 

The  supply  of  water  cresses  brought  every  day 
to  one  market  in  London,  is  said  to  be,  at  least, 
ten  thousand  bunches,  and  this  is  probably  not 
one-half  the  quantity  sold  in  other  parts  of  Eng- 
land daily.  j.  M.  I. 

Salem,  May,  1859. 


For  the  Neui  England  Farmer, 
DECAY  OP  PEAR  TREES. 

Writers  for  agricultural  papers  disagree  as  to 
the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  pear  tree  of  late 
years,  but  all  seem  to  concede  the  fact.  Some  sug- 
gest a  sea-air,  others  ascribe  it  to  a  faulty  cultiva- 
tion, and  others  to  raising  them  from  the  sprouts 
from  the  roots  instead  of  the  seed.  My  experience 
makes  all  these  suggestions  erroneous.  I  was 
born  and  brought  up  in  York,  Maine,  a  seaboard 
town,  where  the  pear  tree,  sixty-five  years  ago, 
grew  and  flourished  ;  natural  fruit  was  abundant, 
from  which  much  perry  was  made,  more  than  in 
all  other  towns  within  my  knowledge.  The  tree 
then  sprouted  up  abundantly  so  as  to  be  trouble- 
some. Farmers  in  setting  an  orchard,  generally 
set  few  pear  trees  for  that  reason.  Two  horse 
teams  would  come  from  Massachusetts  yearly, 
and  get  these  sprouts  to  graft. 

About  thirty  years  ago,  1  wanted  some  to  set 
in  the  town  of  Parsonsfield,  and  went  to  my  broth- 
er's in  York  to  get  them.  I  knew  the  few  trees 
he  had  used  to  sprout  so  as  to  be  a  nuisance.  I 
was  disappointed  when  I  got  there,  on  being  in- 
form°d  that  pear  trees  had  almost  entirely  ceased 
to  sprout  up,  not  only  on  his,  but  on  other 
farms.  I  procured  a  few,  however,  and  set  them 
out,  but  they  did  not  grow  well.  I  procured 
young,  thrifty,  grafted  trees  from  the  West,  and 
they  did  no  better.  I  planted  seeds  and  raised 
several  trees,  and  they  did  not  succeed  any  bet- 
ter. I  have  still  a  few  trees  that  bear  sparingly, 
and  are  gradually  dying  out.  I  at  first  attribut- 
ed my  failure  to  various  causes  of  location  and 
culture,  but  am  now  convinced,  from  constant 
poor  success  under  various  circumstances,  that 
the  tree  has  ceased  to  flourish  as  formerly. 
Whether  this  deterioration  will  continue,  or  after 
a  series  of  years  the  tree  will  again  succeed  as 
of  old,  remains  to  be  seen.  In  the  culture  of  the 
psach  tree,  since  my  remembrance,  there  has 
been  a  series  of  years  when  the  tree  was  easily 
raised  and  did  well,  and  then  for  a  series  of  years 
none  could  be  raised,  and  then  again  they  suc- 
ceeded well,  except  their  liability  to  winter  kiil 
occasionally.  It  may  be  so  with  the  pear.  The 
cause  seems  to  be  among  those  hidden  things  in 
the  operations  of  nature  we  cannot  fathom. 

Farsonsjield,  Me.,  1859.    Rufus  McIntire. 


E^  Somebody  says  the  conversion  of  &  South 
Sea  Islander  is  an  easy  matter,  compared  -vvith  that 
of  a  Fifth  Avenue  heathen. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


305 


A  PAIR  OF  JAVA  FOWLS. 


The  account  of  these  fowls  which  we  give  be- 
low, we  copy  from  Bennett's  Poultry  Book. 

These,  like  all  other  pure  Java  fowls,  are  of  a 
black  or  dark  auburn  color,  with  very  large  black 
legs,  single  comb  and  wattles.  They  are  good 
layers,  and  their  eggs  are  very  large  and  well- 
flavored.  Their  gait  is  slow  and  majestic.  They 
are,  in  fact,  amongst  the  most  valuable  fowls  in 
the  country,  and  are  frequently  described  in  the 
books  as  "Spanish  fowls,"  than  which  nothing  is 
more  erroneous.  They  are  as  distinctly  an  orig- 
inal breed  as  the  pure-blooded  Great  Malay,  and 
possess  about  the  same  qualities  as  to  excellence, 
but  falling  rather  short  of  them  as  to  beauty. 
This,  however,  is  a  matter  of  taste,  and  some  con- 
sider the  pure  Java  superior  to  all  other  large 
fowls,  so  far  as  beauty  is  concerned.  Their  plu- 
mage is  decidedly  rich. 

Mr.  C.  N.  Bement,  a  distinguished  breeder,  and 
writer  on  the  subject  of  poultry,  says  of  this  fowl : 

"This  is  a  singular  breed,  which  partakes  of 
the  common  fowl  and  the  India  fowl,  peculiar  to 
the  island  of  Java,  where  they  are  seldom  reared 
but  for  fighting;  and  are  said  to  be  so  furious, 
that  they  sometimes  fight  together  till  death  of 
one  or  the  other  separates  them.  According  to 
Willoughby,  it  carries  its  tail  nearly  like  the  tur- 
key. The  Sieur  Feurnier,  informs  us,  that  one 
of  this  species  was  kept  in  Paris  ;  it  has,  accord- 
ing to  him,  neither  comb  nor  wattles ;  the  head 
is  smooth,  like  that  of  a  pheasant.     This  fowl  is 


very  high  on  its  legs  ;  its  tail  is  long  and  point- 
ed, and  the  feathers  of  unequal  length  ;  and,  in 
general,  the  color  of  the  feathers  is  auburn,  like 
the  vulture.  It  is  generally  supposed  the  Eng- 
lish game  cock  originated,  or  is  a  cross  of,  this 
variety." 

The  above  quotation  is  a  description  of  the 
wild  Indian  game,  and  not  of  the  Java,  except  ia 
color. 

For  the  New  Englflnd  Farmer. 
TUBNIPS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  read  with  interest,  the 
numerous  articles  on  turnips  which  have  recent- 
ly appeared  in  your  valuable  paper.  There  seems 
to  be  quite  a  dilTerence  of  opinion  among  agri- 
culturists respecting  their  value,  compared  with 
other  crops. 

Experience  proves  that  animals  do  not  thrive 
best  on  the  most  concentrated  food,  nor  is  such 
food  most  conducive  to  health  in  man  or  beast. 
A  man  would  not  long  survive  if  fed  upon  sugar 
or  venison  alone,  and  a  dog  would  not  live  six 
months  if  fed  wholly  upon  fine  wheat  flour.  Yet 
all  admit  these  substances  are  highly  nutritious. 

The  analysis  of  the  turnip  shows  a  large  per 
cent,  of  water  to  the  nutritive  matter,  but  I  be- 
lieve it  to  be  more  valuable  to  feed  with  other 
fodder,  than  a  strict  chemical  analysis  shows  it. 
A  change  of  food  is  beneficial  to  stock,  and  in 


0 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


•winter,  when  animals  cannot  get  green  food, 
turnips  are  excellent  to  keep  the  stomach  in 
tone,  and  give  them  an  appetite  for  dry  feed. 

The  different  varieties  of  turnips  vary  in  nu- 
triment. The  Swedish  I  consider  best,  but  my 
experiments  have  been  mostly  with  the  English, 
■which  I  have  raised  and  fed  for  several  years. 

I  frequently  winter  a  part  of  my  cattle  upon 
corn  fodder,  straw  and  turnips,  until  the  latter  are 
fed  out,  when  I  use  corn  meal  as  a  substitute  for 
the  turnip.  As  nearly  as  I  can  judge  from  the 
growth  and  appearance  of  the  stock,  (and  I  have 
observed  them  closely,  to  satisfy  myself,)  six 
bushels  of  fifty  pounds  turnips  are  equal  to  one 
bushel  of  corn,  to  feed  with  coarse  fodder.  When 
corn  is  worth  one  dollar  to  feed,  I  value  turnips 
at  one  shilling  per  bushel.  In  many  localities, 
ten  bushels  of  turnips  are  more  easily  raised 
than  one  of  corn.  I  have  frequently  raised  good 
crops,  at  a  trifling  expense  in  cornfields  where 
the  worms  had  destroyed  a  part  of  the  corn,  and 
it  was  too  late  in  the  season  to  replant  it,  by 
sowing  broadcast  and  cultivating  and  hoeing  in 
the  seed.  James  R.  Walker. 

Spri7igfield,  Vermont,  1859. 


the  cows  had  then  been  turned  upon  it,  we  have 
no  doubt  they  would  have  surfeited  themselves 
and  quite  likely  some  unpleasant  flavor  would 
hare  been  imparted  to  the  milk. 

That  is  not  the  way  to  treat  cows  with  such 
food  ;  it  is  no  more  rational  than  it  would  be  to 
set  fifteen  hungry  children  down  to  make  a  dia- 
ner  upon  the  richest  pudding  or  cake. 

Farmers  must  exercise  a  good  sound  judgmert 
in  every  department  of  their  labor ;  that  is  the 
only  safe  guide  for  them. 


E3PFECT  OF  GHBEN"  BYE  ON    THE  MILK 
OF  COWS. 

T.  P.  Shepard  &  Co.  lately  made  the  following 
statement  to  the  Standing  Committee  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of 
Domestic  Industry: 

"On  Thursday,  Nov.  5th,  we  turned  fifteen 
milch  cows  into  a  lot  containing  sixteen  acres. 
Eight  acres  had  been  planted  with  corn  this  sea- 
son, and  harvested  a  few  weeks  before.  Eight 
acres  were  sown  with  rye  in  September,  which 
had  come  forward  very  fast,  and  commenced  to 
joint.  On  Thursday  and  Friday  the  cows  fed 
exclusively  in  the  corn-field,  gleaning  the  corn 
fodder  and  a  few  small  ears  of  corn  that  re- 
mained upon  the  ground.  During  these  two  days 
there  was  but  little  increase  in  the  milk,  ajid  no 
change  in  (juality.  On  Saturday,  Sunday,  Mon- 
day and  Tuesday,  the  cows  fed  in  the  rye  field, 
and  the  quantity  of  milk  was  increased  more  than 
twenty  per  cent.  On  Saturday  the  milk  had  a 
slight  unpleasant  flavor,  which  increased,  until 
Tuesday  it  was  so  offensive  to  the  taste  and  smell, 
as  to  be  wholly  unfit  for  use.  On  Wednesday 
the  cows  were  turned  into  the  meadows,  and  on 
Wednesday  evening  the  milk  was  perfectly  sweet, 
and  free  from  any  unusual  flavor.  During  these 
days  the  cows  had  no  access  to  salt  water,  salt 
meadows  or  fresh  bogs.  There  were  no  weeds 
in  the  rye  field,  and  no  more  among  the  corn 
than  is  usual  in  a  well  cultivated  field.  The  cows 
were  as  usual  stabled  at  night  and  fed  with  clover 
hay."  ___ 

Remarks. — Our  cows  feed  upon  rye,  not  only 
■without  detriment,  but  with  decided  advantage. 
The  land  upon  which  it  grows  was  plowed  last 
September,  and  sowed  to  rye  and  grass  seed 
As  soon  as  the  rye  was  four  or  five  inches  high, 
we  turned  the  cows  upon  it,  and  they  have  con 
tinued  to  keep  it  pretty  well  cropt.  If  it  had 
been  allowed  to  grow  until  it  began  to  joint,  and 


NURSLING  VESPERS. 

BY   EEV.    J.   E.    RANKIN. 

A  row  of  little  faces  by  the  beJ, 
A  roiT  of  little  Lands  upoQ  the  spread, 
A  row  of  little  roguish  eyes  all  closed, 
A  row  of  little  Baked  feet  exposed. 

A  gentle  mother  leads  them  in  their  praise, 
Teaching  their  feet,  to  tread  the  heavenly  ways, 
And  takes  this  lull,  in  childhood's  tiny  tide, 
The  little  errors  of  the  day  to  chide. 

No  lovelier  sight,  this  side  of  heaven  ii  seen, 
And  angels  hover  o'er  the  group  serene  ; 
Instead  of  odors  in  a  censer  swung, 
There  iloats  the  fragrance  of  an  infant's  tongue. 

Then  tumbling  headlong  into  waiting  beds, 
Beneath  the  sheets,  they  hide  their  timid  heads. 
Till  slumber  steals  away  their  idle  fears. 
And,  like  a  peeping  bud,  each  little  face  appears. 

All  dressed  like  angels,  in  their  gowns  of  white, 
They're  wafted  to  the  skies,  in  dreams  of  night. 
And  heaven  will  sparkle  in  their  eyes  at  morn. 
And  stolen  graces,  all  their  ways  adorn. 


The  American  Home  Garden.  Being  principles  and  rules  for 
the  Culture  of  Vegetables,  Fruits,  Flowers  and  Shrubbery. 
To  which  are  added  brief  notes  on  Farm  Crops,  with  a  table 
of  their  average  product  and  chi-mical  constituents.  By 
Alexander  Watson.  Illustrated.  Harper  &  Brothers,  New 
York.     A.  Williams  &  Co.,  Boston. 

This  is  a  neatly-printed  volume  of  500  pp.,  on 
fine,  white  paper,  and  large,  clear  type, — capital 
recommendation  to  any  book.  The  opening  of 
the  book  gives  a  plan  for  a  garden,  aspect,  fec- 
cing,  protection,  mechanical  preparation  of  vari- 
ous soils,  draining,  plowing,  &c.,  and  then  passes 
on,  touching  upon  every  possible  topic  and  mani- 
pulation necessary  in  the  management  of  an 
American  Home  Garden. 

There  are  ten  thousand  families  In  New  Eng- 
land to  whom  this  book,  if  read  and  practiced 
upon,  would  save  annually  more  than  ten  times 
its  cost.  It  is  handsomely  got  up,  and  has  the 
great  merit  of  having  a  good  index.  We  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  it  contains  all  the  amateur  might 
want,  but  that  it  is  admirably  calculated  to  ben- 
efit the  American  Home  Gardeners, 


A  Useful  Fact. — In  peeling  onions,  put  a 
large  needle  in  the  mouth,  half  in  and  half  out. 
The  needle  attracts  the  oily  juice  of  the  bulb,  and 
any  number  may  be  peeled  without  aflfecting  tL» 
eyes. — Frairie  Farmer. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


307 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
MENTAL    ACTIVITY  AMONG   FARMEHS. 

The  human  mind  was  made  lor  action,  and  is 
active,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree.  From  the 
utmost  imbecility  of  infancy,  there  awaits  it  un- 
limited power,  expansion  and  ennoblement,  at- 
tainable by  gradual  steps  of  progress.  Not  by 
flights  or  leaps,  but  by  toiling  self-culture,  does 
it  rise  from  the  mists  and  darkness  of  ignorance 
to  the  elevation  and  clearer  light  of  knowledge. 
On  its  own  self  will  depend  its  progress  and  de- 
velopment. The  obscurest  son  of  poverty  has 
■within  him  the  germs  of  greatness  and  happi- 
ness, and  that  will  for  application  which  oft  takes 
the  precedence  of  genius,  is  of  more  value  than 
Croesian  wealth,  with  all  its  advantages  and  lux- 
uries. Mind,  then,  in  its  normal  and  healthy 
condition,  is  capable  of  continual  progress,  which 
ehould  be  sought  by  earnest  effort. 

Whether  the  mind  or  the  heart,  thinking  or 
feeling,  is  entitled  to  greater  regard,  as  more  im- 
portant, is  a  question  long  agitated  and  variously 
decided  by  different  individuals.  But  the  can- 
did and  enlightened  will  admit  that  the  mind  is 
of  equal  worth,  and  should  therefore  receive  equal 
attention.  As  an  illustration  of  the  baneful  ef- 
fects of  an  opposite  course,  we  have  only  to  look 
at  certain  Christians  who  make  the  cultivation 
of  the  religious  sensibilities  the  main  object. 
Their  mental  capacity  remains  about  the  same  as 
twenty  years  ago,  and  so  connected  by  sympa- 
thetic bonds  are  the  mind  and  heart,  that  the  re- 
ligious feelings  of  the  latter,  are  often  paralyzed 
and  bound  in  superstition  by  the  neglect  and 
consequent  narrowness  of  the  former.  Bigotry 
follows,  as  a  natural  consequence,  which  to  all  is 
obnoxious,  and  injurious  to  the  free  exercise  of 
holy  influences. 

Considering,  then,  the  nature  of  mind  as  pro- 
gressive, and  the  study  of  all  to  allow  it  devel- 
opment by  proper  action,  what  degree  of  mental 
activity  as  favoring  this  do  we  find  among  the 
farming  population  ?  Many  writers  and  orators, 
particularly  on  certain  festive  occasions,  would 
make  the  occupation  of  the  farmer  very  intellec- 
tual. They  parade  the  names  of  nearly  all  the 
sciences,  and  very  logically  prove  them  connected 
with  it.  That  they  are,  may  be  true.  It  is  also 
true  that  some  of  the  most  practical  and  success- 
ful farmers  have  no  knowledge  of  these  sciences, 
except  of  a  few  facts  and  some  general  principles. 
Now,  however  much  agricultural  writers  and  or- 
ators may  flatter  the  vanity  of  the  farming  com- 
munity in  regard  to  their  "glorious  occupation," 
and  what  it  may  be,  still  the  facts  regarding  their 
present  condition  remain  as  proofs  that  the  oc- 
cupation is  not  wholly  scientific,  and  that  farm- 
ers do  not  yet  rank  with  professional  men  in 
point  of  intellectual  culture.  A  farmer  in  our 
country  towns  can  get  along,  and  be  successful 
to  a  certain  degree,  with  a  practical  knowledge 
of  his  business,  as  well  as  can  mechanics  with 
theirs  ;  admitting,  however,  that  science  may  be, 
and  often  is,  called  into  the  aid  of  both,  and  that 
with  the  most  happy  results.  But  this  fact  is 
sufficient  to  our  present  purpose,  that  farmers 
can  succeed  without  extraordinary,  and  even  with 
meagre  mental  acquirements  and  advantages. 
This  fact  that  they  can,  is  indisputably  estab- 
lished by  the  fact  that  they  do.     Still  it  may  be 


said  that  farmers  rank  as  high  or  higher  in  in- 
telligence, sound  judgment  and  general  informa- 
tion than  any  other  laboring  class.  There  are 
many  things  in  their  occupation  favoring  this. 
Their  judgment,  in  particular,  is  called  into  al- 
most daily  exercise,  and  thus  strengthens  and 
matures.  But  as  for  a  real  desire  for  mental  cul- 
ture and  development,  resulting  in  earnest  men- 
tal effort,  farmers  as  a  class,  to  say  the  least,  are 
much  below  professional  men ;  though  they  may 
rank  as  high  or  higher  than  other  so-ci^lled  la- 
boring classes.  But  aside  from  these  compari- 
sons, their  mental  culture  and  development  is 
much  less  than  from  the  importance  and  M'orth  of 
mind,  duty  plainly  indicates.  And  as  one  reason 
why  their  minds  remain  so  dormant,  their  occupa- 
tion not  absolutely  requiring  extensive  mental  ac- 
quirements, their  minds  reach  not  that  state  of 
mental  culture  in  preparation  for  business,  which 
awakens  earnest  and  lasting  desire  for  knowledge. 
Consequently,  if  they  have  sufficient  business 
tact  and  practical  information  for  success,  they 
remain  satisfied.  Some  minds  among  farmers, 
as  among  all  classes,  seem  ever  to  have  that  de- 
sire, or  to  have  had  it  awakened,  by  the  requisite 
degree  of  mental  training  ;  and  they  reach  more 
elevated  positions,  and  rank  as  leaders.  Still,  it 
may  be  questioned  by  certain  persons,  whether 
the  farmer's  occupation  is  consistent  with  the 
possession  and  indulgence  of  a  literary  taste ; 
whether  the  continual  cultivation  of  the  intellect 
is  expedient,  or  even  justifiable,  in  connexion 
with  manual  labor  on  the  farm.  But  with  what 
assurance  can  one  argue  that  a  farmer's  knowl- 
edge and  labor  should  be  limited  to  his  farm,  and 
that  his  study  should  embrace  only  such  subjects 
as  are  intimately  connected  with  it,  and  directly 
subserve  practical  skill.  Lord  Bacon  says,  "Stud 
ies  serve  for  delight,  for  ornament  and  for  abili- 
ty. Their  chief  use  for  delight  is  in  privateness 
and  retiring ;  for  ornament  is  in  discourse  ;  and 
for  ability  is  in  the  judgment  and  disposition  of 
business."  Now  it  cannot  be  denied  but  that 
farmers,  generally,  have  great  facilities  in  leisure 
and  retirement  for  mental  improvement.  And 
we  doubt  whether  there  is  any  class  of  men,  tak- 
ing these  facts  into  consideration,  with  the  fact 
that  their  physical  exercise  keeps  the  mind  fresh, 
and  their  relish  for  mental  food  ever  keen,  that 
may  experience  more  delight  and  real  happiness 
in  studies,  than  farmers.  For  ornament  in  dis- 
course, many,  and  perhaps  the  general  class,  are 
deficient.  Even  in  our  most  prominent  agricul- 
tural papers,  where  on  one  page  will  be  glorifica- 
tion.essays  on  farming  and  on  farmers,  on  anoth- 
er, will  be  anecdotes  or  stories  in  which  one  of 
the  characters  will  be  a  farmer,  and  where  rough- 
ness and  verdancy  will  be  fully  displayed  in  the 
ideas  and  language  imputed  to  him.  And  had 
it  not  somewhat  of  a  foundation  in  truth,  it  would 
not  be  sanctioned  by  public  opinion.  Again,  if 
studies  are  useful  in  the  judgment  and  disposi- 
tion of  business,  it  is  certainly  a  consideration 
also  worthy  of  their  commendation.  The  farm 
would  furnish  for  it  ample  scope,  and  return  sat- 
isfactory reward. 

One  reason  why  studies  are  contemned  by  prac- 
tical men  is,  that  those  who  use  them  are  too  apt 
to  spend  time  over  them  to  the  neglect  of  their 
business.  This  the  same  writer  calls  sloth.  A 
man  must  use  judgment  here,  as  elsewhere,  iu 


308 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


regulating  his  time  and  attention  to  his  wants 
and  pleasures.  He  who  does  this  rightly,  does 
much  toward  forming  his  character  to  a  perfect 
sphere ;  the  true  object  of  man's  life.  Besides, 
in  perfect  physical  development,  manual  exercise 
on  the  farm,  combined  with  proper  intellectual 
culture,  would  furnish  examples  more  noble  Uian 
perhaps  any  other  calling.  Among  farmers  at 
present,  it  is  not  so  universally  the  rule  as  among 
merchants,  and  one  or  two  other  classes. 

One  of  the  great  objections  urged  against  farm- 
ing is  the  lack  of  mental  activity — that  the  mind 
lies  so  dormant.  Admitting  that  the  objection 
has  its  origin  in  truth,  we  confidently  assert  that 
sluggishness  or  emptiness  of  mind  is  not  at  all 
necessarily  connected  with  farming.  The  fault, 
from  causes  we  have  mentioned,  and  which  exist 
unreasonably  and  unnecessai-ily,  is  with  the  farm- 
ers themselves. 

To  recapitulate,  our  points  are  hriefly  these. 
Every  individual  has  an  immortal  element  with- 
in, called  the  mind.  This  mind  is  intended,  and 
thereby  fitted,  for  continual  culture  and  develop- 
ment; consequently,  it  is  duty  to  comply  with 
these,  being  the  requirements  of  God.  That  for 
various  reasons,  the  minds  of  many  among  the 
class  called  farmers  lie  in  too  dormant  a  state. 
That  they  have  no  sufficient  and  warrantable  rea- 
sons for  this,  and  that  the  pleasures  and  advan- 
tages they  would  derive  from  mental  culture 
would  be  sufficient,  and  more  than  sufficient,  for 
the  required  labor  and  time.  And  that  to  many 
the  great  objection  to  farming — deficiency  of  men- 
tal activity — is  not  really  attributal)le  to  farming, 
but  to  farmers ;  and  that  this,  with  many  other 
objections,  would  be  obviated  by  the  course  here 
advocated. 

Life  is  not  for  inaction,  quiet  repose  and  the 
gratification  of  animalism.  Beneath  the  path- 
way of  every  man  lie  the  springs  of  happiness, 
and  he  must  patiently  dig  for  them,  who  would 
refresh  his  soul  with  their  cooling  waters. 

Waylaiul,  Mass.  L.  H-  Sherman. 


For  the  New  Eni;land  Farmer. 

HUNGARIAN  GKASS—HUBBARD 
SQUASH. 

Mr.  Editor  : — As  considerable  interest  seems 
to  be  felt  in  regard  to  the  Hungarian  grass,  I  will 
give  the  result  of  a  trial  of  it  made  last  year  by 
Moses  Parkhurst,  in  Paxton,  about  eight  miles 
west  of  Worcester.  On  the  21st  of  June,  he 
sowed  two-fifths  of  a  pint  of  seed  on  a  little  less 
than  four  rods  of  ground  ;  on  the  26th  of  July  it 
was  headed  out;  on  the  21st  of  August  I  saw 
the  piece,  and  cut  up  some  stalks  which  measured 
five  feet  high.  The  piece  would  average  about 
three  or  three  and  one-half  feet  high  ;  the  heads 
had  begun  to  "turn"  some,  at  this  time.  En- 
closed I  send  you  one  cut  at  that  time.  It  was 
cut  the  1st  of  September,  and  twenty-eight  quarts 
of  seed  wei-e  threshed  from  it,  weighing  at  the 
rate  of  fifty-two  pounds  to  the  bushel.  The  soil 
•was  a  good  loam,  such  as  would  be  considered 
good  corn  land.  I  am  not  able  to  state  its  value 
for  fodder,  but  see  no  reason  why  \t  should  not 
be  a  valuable  crop. 

The  Hubbard  squash  being  somewhat  noted,  I 
will  state  that  last  year  I  sent  to  Mr.  J.  J,  H. 
Gregory  for  some  seed,  and  raised   upwards  of 


twenty,  about  half  of  which  appeared  to  be  the 
Hubbard,  and  the  others  gave  unquestionable  ev- 
idence that  their  predecessors  had  been  quite  fa- 
miliar with  the  marrow  squash.  Most  of  the  pure 
ones  have  been  very  good  ;  some  of  them  have 
had  quite  a  strong,  rank  flavor,  which  detracted 
very  much  from  their  merits.  Some  of  them, 
cooked  in  the  fall,  were  as  dry  and  mealy  as  a  po- 
tato, so  dry  that  milk  had  to  be  put  with  it  to 
get  it  through  the  sieve.  It  does  not  require 
half  the  sweetening  of  the  common  marrow 
squash.  I  have  some  in  my  cellar  now,  though 
somewhat  decayed.  They  have  kept  about  two 
months  longer  than  the  marrow. 

V,  P.  Parkuurst. 
Temphton,  April  27,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  have  received  some  half-doz- 
en samples  of  Hungarian  grass  seed,  all  corres- 
ponding with  each  other ;  also,  a  sample  of  the 
grass  itself,  from  which  we  have  threshed  the 
seed,  and  frund  it  agreeing  with  the  samples  of 
seed.  None  of  these  are  like  the  grass  you  were 
kind  enough  to  send  us, — nor  does  it  bear  any 
special  resemblance  to  them.  We  think  your 
specimen  is  not  the  true  Hungarian  grass. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
KEMEDY  FOR  KICKING  COWS. 

Dear  Farmer  : — I  do  not  much  like  your  cor- 
respondents' (A.  F.  Adams  and  S.  B.  Hartwell) 
method  of  treating  kicking  cows,  nor  do  I  be- 
lieve such  means  effectual  or  necessary.  They 
are  dangerous  experiments — much  more  likely  to 
spoil  than  to  reform. 

A  number  of  years'  experience  with  a  large 
number  of  cows  and  heifers,  has  fully  convinced 
me  that  hindness  is  the  only  safe  application  to 
make  to  kicking  kine,  as  well  as  to  most  other 
vicious  animals. 

There  is  always  some  cause  for  cows  kicking 
to  be  found  either  in  their  condition,  or  in  the 
mode    of  treatment   pursued   by   those    having 
charge  of  them.     This  should  be  sought  after  ti' 
found,  and  then  the  proper  remedy  applied. 

Heifers  not  unfrequently  kick,  and  sometim"es 
menacingly  use  their  horns  also,  at  the  outset  of 
their  cow-life,  from  fear  or  fright.  Some  wild 
and  furious  boy  or  man  is  set  to  milk  them  for 
the  first  time,  seizing  their  tender  and  unaccus- 
tomed teats  with  rough  and  uncautious  hands  ; 
the  timid  creature  does  just  what  nature  sug- 
gests, and  what  we  should  expect,  viz.  :  kicks 
the  blockhead  over,  and  our  decision  is,  "served 
him  right." 

Now  comes  a  critical  point.  If  kindness  and 
forbearance  be  now  substituted  for  a  beating,  the 
cow  may  be  saved — otherwise  she  is  lost  almost 
to  a  certainty.  A  little  timely  caution,  however, 
may  save  all  trouble  and  risk.  Let  the  milker 
take  with  him — or  her,  (and  females  are  uniform- 
ly better  hands  at  milking  than  males,)  to  the 
stable  some  choice  bit  of  food,  and  feed  it  to  the 
frightened  and  trembling  brute  from  the  hand  ; 
pat  and  rub  her  carefully  about  the  head  and 
shoulders,  talking  soothingly  and  kindly  to  her 
till  she  shall  make  your  acquaintance,  which  she 
will  soon  do,  and 'manifest  it   by  signs  which 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


309 


you  cannot  mistake.  Then  approach  and  hand- 
le with  care,  her  teats  and  udder — see  if  they 
are  swollen  or  sore,  which  will  often  be  found  to 
be  the  case,  and  if  so  bathe  them  long  and  pa- 
tiently with  soapsuds,  applying  a  little  oil  or 
greese  to  any  chaps  or  cracks  that  may  be  found, 
and  then  she  is  in  readiness  for  a  very  gentle  at- 
tempt at  milking. 

Don't  hurry,  nor  be  in  any  perturbation  from 
fear  of  being  injured,  but  sit  up  closely,  and  con- 
tinue to  talk  low  and  kindly  to  your  subject ;  be 
very  cautious  not  to  hurt  or  frighten  her  in  the 
least,  and  ten  to  one  your  task  will  be  accom- 
plished without  the  movement  of  a  single  hoof. 

This  process  continued,  will  tame  and  subdue 
the  wildest  and  most  obstinate  heifer  to  a  gentle 
and  loving  cow,  and  I  have  seen  them  exhibit  a 
decree  of  affection  which  intelligence  might  copy 
with  profit. 

If  such,  or  similar  treatment,  will  not  tame  the 
heifers  or  reform  the  cow,  let  them  be  fattened 
for  the  shambles,  and  others  more  tractable  take 
their  places,  rather  than  subject  them  to  the  rope^ 
strap,  chain  bull-ring,  club,  milking  stool,  or  any 
such  barbarous  inflictions. 

'Springfield,  Vt.  K  Ingham. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

BEE-HIVES. 

I  have  put  off  re-writing  the  article  on  bee- 
hives that  I  mailed  to  your  address  some  months 
since,  hoping  that  it  might  turn  up.  Not  seeing 
it  in  the  Farmer,  I  suppose  the  little  money  en- 
closed for  the  advertisement  tempted  some  thief 
among  the  mails,  who  took  the  money  and  de- 
stroyed the  article.  The  article  referred  to,  was 
in  reply  to  "Norfolk,"  on  a  charge  of  inconsis- 
tencj-,  wherein  he  accuses  me  of  "Preaching  what 
I  do  not  practice.  That  my  instructions  are  not 
for  myself,"  &c.  This,  as  far  as  myself  is  concern- 
ed, amounts  to  but  little,  but  perhaps  some  read- 
ers of  the  Farmer  rD.\g\it  wish  to  know  as  well  as 
"Norfolk,"  what  right  I  have  to  recommend  one 
hive,  and  afterwards  use  another.  I  intend  to 
make  a  full  confession,  and  if  it  does  not  fully 
exculpate  me  from  blame,  it  may  somewhat  mod- 
ify their  feelings.  I  would  say  first,  that  I  can- 
not be  charged  with  altering  some  simple  thing 
about  a  bee-hive^hen  obtaining  a  patent,  and 
charging  all  a  few  dollars,  who  can  be  persuaded 
to  use  it.  All  that  the  bee  needs  in  a  state  of  na- 
ture, is  a  cavity  suitable  for  rearing  her  broods, 
and  depositing  her  stores  for  winter.  All  that 
man  requires  in  addition,  is  an  apartment  that 
can  be  removed  with  surplus  stores.  A  single 
box  in  the  plainest  form  was  used  for  twenty-five 
years,  and  nothing  found  to  surpass  it  in  conve- 
nience, safety,  economy  or  profit.  Believing  it 
the  best  for  the  apiarian  of  any  class,  I  recom- 
mended no  other  in  the  work  alluded  to  by  "Nor- 
folk." And  now  for  the  sake  of  being  consistent, 
must  I  adhere  to  this  throughout,  and  deny  my- 
self the  advantages  that  may  arise  from  the  minds 
of  others  ?  I  think  I  would'rather  risk  his  charge 
of  inconsistency.  "The  best  way  is  as  good  as 
any,"  and  the  moment  that  a  man  settles  down 
into  the  belief  that  he  has  arrived  at  the  summit 
of  improvement,  there  is  no  further  advancement 
for  him.    There  is  a  vast  differenca  in  the  ability 


to  discriminate  between  what  is  an  improvement, 
and  what  is  said  to  be. 

The  Rev.  L.  L.  Langstroth  presented  me  with 
the  movable  frame,  or  movable  comb-hive  ;  I  saw 
at  once,  that  I  could,  if  I  chose,  still  use  the  sim- 
ple box  with  the  addition  of  the  frames,  and  1 
could  take  out  and  return  to  the  hive  all  the 
combs  without  injury  to  a  single  bee.  I  trans^ 
ferred  bees  and  combs  into  some  of  these  in  the 
spring  of  '56.  In  '57  and  ^oS,  I  introduced  new 
swarms  in  a  large  number,  and  have  found  the 
following  advantages. 

Most  apirists  know  that  their  stocks  are  quite 
liable  in  some  seasons  to  overswarm,  and  have 
witnessed  with  regret,  swarms  too  small  to  be 
worth  anything  alone,  continue  to  issue  till  the 
parent  stock  was  reduced  too  much,  to  contend 
successfully  with  the  worms.  And  as  a  conse- 
quence, both  old  and  new  colonies  would  be  lost. 
With  the  help  of  the  frames,  such  ruinous  oper 
ations  can  be  prevented.  A  few  days  after  th 
first,  and  just  before  the  second  swarm,  the  comb  • 
can  be  examined,  and  all  the  queen-cells  removed 
but  one.  When  the  queen  in  that  matures,  it 
finds  no  opposition — quietly  remains,  and  soon 
becomes  the  mother  in  the  old  stock.  I  will  pre 
sume  that  the  natural  history  relative  to  thia 
point  is  understood.  This  operation  cannot  be 
performed  with  a  hive,  in  which  the  comb",  are 
fast. 

Artificial  swarms  are  successfully  made  viiih 
but  very  little  trouble,  as  follows.  When  most  of 
the  bees  are  out  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  taking 
out  the  frames,  looking  them  over  carefully  till 
the  queen  is  found,  when  the  frame  containing 
her  is  put  in  an  empty  hive,  setting  that  on  the 
old  stand  ;  and  putting  the  old  stock  in  a  new 
place.  Enough  bees  will  return  to  the  old  queen 
to  make  the  swarm.  If  done  at  the  proper  sea- 
son, enough  brood  will  be  in  the  combs,  together 
with  those  just  matured,  to  keep  the  old  stock 
sufficiently  strong.  If  no  queen-cells  about  fin- 
ished are  present  in  the  stock,  it  is  nearly  al- 
ways practical  to  procure  one  from  some  other, 
with  a  queen  nearly  mature,  to  introduce,  and 
thereby  gain  several  days  in  breeding. 

If,  from  any  cause,  a  stock  or  swarm  is  weak, 
but  otherwise  healthy,  it  may  be  assisted  by  some 
strong  colony,  merely  by  taking  a  comb  or  two 
filled  with  brood,  and  giving  it  to  the  weak  one. 
In  a  few  days,  the  maturing  brood  will  add  ma- 
terially to  its  strength.  In  the  same  way,  their 
winter  stores  maybe  equalized  in  the  fall ;  some 
stocks  will  have  too  much,  and  others  too  little. 
The  changing  of  a  few  combs  will  make  all  right, 
and  benefit  all. 

Nature  had  to  provide  drones  for  isolated  col- 
onies, and  when  we  bring  together  a  large  num- 
ber, this  instinct  for  rearing  drones  is  retained, 
and  each  produces  its  number  ;  when  in  reality 
there  is  no  necessity  in  an  apiary  of  fifty  or  a 
hundred  stocks  for  any  more  drones  than  two  or 
three  colonies  might  produce.  So  many  drones 
cannot  be  reared  without  much  labor  of  the  work- 
ing bees,  and  cannet  be  supported  afterwards 
without  a  great  consumption  of  honey.  Several 
patents  have  been  granted,  the  chief  merit  of 
which  is  a  trap  to  catch  and  destroy  them.  But 
with  the  movable  combs,  we  can  take  ihe  matter 
into  our  own  hands,  and  say  in  the  spring  wheth- 
er we  will  have  thirty,  three  hundred,  or  three 


310 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


thousand,  reared  in  any  stock.  It  is  done  by  re- 
moving: the  drone  comb,  or  any  part  of  it,  and 
substituting  worker  combs  instead.  Without 
these  cells  the  bees  cannot  rear  drones  if  they 
would.  It  is  now  pretty  well  demonstrated, 
that  the  eggs  of  a  healthy  queen  are  all  alike, 
and  the  sex  of  the  future  bee  depends  on  the  cell 
in  which  it  is  deposited.  If  every  drone  we  have 
reared  was  a  worker,  it  would  not  only  support 
itself,  but  would  i)e  likely  to  add  to  the  common 
stores.  The  advantages  would  be,  in  having  just 
enough. 

The  size  of  the  hive  can  be  graduated  to  suit 
the  wants  of  any  colony.  If  there  are  too  many 
combs  to  be  properly  protected  from  the  moth, 
a  part  may  be  taken  away,  and  returned  as  needed. 

The  loss  of  queens  in  most  apiaries  is  a  seri- 
ous damage.  Except  within  the  first  few  days  af- 
ter its  occurrence,  there  is  no  further  means  of 
ascertaining  this  fact,  short  of  several  weeks  ;  by 
which  time  it  is  often  too  late  to  save  the  stock. 
But  with  the  frames  it  can  be  ascertained  at  any 
time;  and  after  the  young  queen  commences  her 
maternal  duties,  only  a  minute  or  two  is  required 
to  examine  the  brood  combs ;  any  cells  contain- 
ing eggs  or  brood  indicate  her  presence.  If  she 
is  lost,  another  can  be  provided  in  time  to  save 
the  stock. 

These  are  some,  but  not  all  the  advantages 
that  I  have  found  in  the  movable  combs.  Sup- 
pose that  I  had  recommended  this  movable  comb 
hive  immediately  on  being  satisfied  that  I  could 
make  it  profitable  ;  and  then,  as  with  many  other 
beautiful  theories,  failed  in  practice.  1  should 
have  been  worse  off",  than  to  be  accused  of 
"preaching  what  I  did  not  practice."  Prudence 
should  prevent  any  one  from  recommending  an 
improvement  based  on  theory  alone.  ''Consist- 
ency"  dictates  a  different  course.  I  have  now 
used  these  frames  three  summers,  and  know  from 
experience  what  I  say  respecting  them.  Having 
found  them  beneficial  for  myself,  I  think  they 
might  be  so  to  others,  and  consider  it  a  duty  to 
give  the  pul)lic  all  the  knowledge  I  possess  in 
bee  culture.  I  have,  therefore,  added  an  appen- 
dix to  my  treatise,  giving  directions  for  making 
and  using  these  frames,  an  advertisement  of 
which  is  enclosed. 

"Norfolk"  calls  the  "movable  comb  hive,  un- 
wieldly."  1  have  seen  some  that  I  think  are  so. 
But  I  apprehend  this  to  be  a  matter  of  taste ;  as 
I  make  the  hive,  there  will  be  no  complaint  in 
this  respect.  The  principal  of  the  movable  combs 
is  the  point  that  I  consider  constitutes  the  ad- 
vantage. 

In  the  controversy  about  the  triangular  guide, 
I  have  but  little  interest,  further  than  I  should 
be  pleased  to  have  all  admit  that  it  was  public 
property.  Whoever  succeeds  in  establishing  a 
claim,  should  give  us  something  a  little  more  re- 
liable— something  that  would  give  us  straight 
combs  with  certainty  ;  because  now  a  colony  will 
occasionally  make  their  combs  crooked,  and  are 
of  no  value  as  movable  combs,  on  that  account. 

I  have  given  what  to  me  are  valuable  points  in 
the  movable  comb  hive,  and  the  reasons  why  they 
are  so.  Now  will  "Norfolk,"  "Clark,"  or  any  one, 
give  us  through  the  Farmer  as  minute  an  ac- 
count of  the  "Union  hive" — in  what  consists  its 
superiority  ?  It  will  hardly  be  satisfactory  to  say 
it  is  better,  without  pointing  out  what  particular 


makes  it  so.  I  am  willing  to  adopt  anything  that 
is  shown  superior  to  what  I  already  possess.  My 
likes  and  dislikes  are  goverened  by  what  appears 
the  utility  of  the  thing. 

In  criticisms  on  this  subject,  it  is  best  to  avoid 
personalities.  I  shall  consider  I  am  not  called 
upon  to  answer  anything  of  the  kind. 

8t.  Jolinsville,  N.  Y.  M.  Quinbt. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

CATTLE  AND  HORS1ES  EATINO  BOARDS 
AND  BONES. 

A  "Vermont  Subscriber"  asks  "the  reason  why 
his  cattle  eat  old  boards  and  bones  ?"  I  presume 
the  reason  is,  because  he  has  kept  them  too 
close  yarded,  and  has  not  let  them  get  to  the  fresh 
earth  during  the  winter,  so  that  they  could  have 
the  privilege  to  eat  dirt,  grass,  shrubs,  &c.,  as  is 
natural  to  cattle  and  horses.  After  cattle  have 
run  out  and  grazed  all  summer,  and  then  taken 
them  up  to  hay,  dry  fodder  and  close  confinement, 
they  soon  begin  to  hanker  for  a  fresh  bite  of 
grass,  or  to  lick  the  ground,  and  if  you  let  them 
out,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  a  creature  to  eat  a 
pint  or  even  a  quart  of  fresh  earth  at  a  time. 
When  I  have  been  plowing  in  the  spring  I  have 
had  oxen  want  to  stop  and  lick  a  mellow  looking 
spot  of  earth  that  had  been  turned  up  by  the  pre- 
vious furrow.  I  always  let  them  stop  and  eat  all 
they  want.  Cattle  and  horses  should  be  let  to  run 
out  on  a  field  or  pasture  occasionally,  during  the 
winter,  to  gnaw  the  ground  and  grass  roots,  and 
if  the  snow  covers  the  ground  for  a  long  time  to- 
gether, they  should  be  supplied  with  a  few  shovels 
ful  of  fresh  earth  from  some  clean  place  under 
the  barn,  or  from  the  roots  of  an  old  decayed 
tree,  if  it  can  be  had.  I  never  knew  cattle  to 
gnaw  the  fence  or  their  cribs  in  the  summer 
when  they  run  out,  or  even  when  they  run  at 
large  in  the  winter,  and  if  "Subscriber's"  cattle 
have  had  access  to  the  ground  during  the  winter, 
and  still  gnaw  boards,  &c.,  they  are  unlike  any 
cattle  that  I  ever  saw  ;  will  he  please  tell  us  about 
this  ?  It  is  the  same  with  the  horse  ;  I  often  hear 
people  complain  of  their  horses  gnawing  their 
cribs. 

Colts  are  raised  in  the  country,  and  graze  in 
the  pastures  for  more  than  half  the  year  for  their 
living,  and  when  they  are  old  enough  to  be  put 
into  stables  and  put  to  close  confinement  and 
hard  work,  and  especially  when  they  are  brought 
to  the  city,  they  are  changed  from  their  native 
element  of  grazing,  and  rolling  and  stretching 
themselves  out  at  full  length  on  the  ground  to 
rest,  and  as  the  good  people  of  old  longed  for  the 
leeks  and  onions  of  Egypt,  so  they  long  and  han- 
ker for  their  old  grazing  pastures  of  the  country, 
and  in  their  faint  stomach-hankerings  do  the 
next  best  thing,  and  gnaw  the  cribs,  and  every 
carriage  and  sleigh  back  they  stand  next  to. 

I  purchased  a  five-year  old  horse  six  years  ago, 
that  had  been  brought  from  Vermont  one  year 
before,  and  in  three  weeks  after  I  purchased  him, 
he  had  gnawed  through  the  bottom  of  a  two  inch 
plank  crib,  and  before  I  discovered  that  he  was  a 
cribber,  for  my  man  took  care  of  him.  After  this 
I  put  him  out  in  a  little  yard  two  or  three  times 
a  week,  and  let  him  pick  some  grass  and  ground, 
and  roll  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  if  I  could  noi,  spare 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


311 


his  services  longer.  I  kept  him  two  years,  and 
after  six  or  eight  weeks  he  scarcely  scarred  his 
crib  by  biting  it. 

Four  years  ago  I  bought  a  five-year  old  mare, 
that  had  been  brought  from  New  Hampshire  and 
stabled  in  Boston  six  months  for  sale.  When 
I  got  her  she  would  eat  an  apple  tree  limb  as 
long  and  large  as  an  ox  goad,  and  I  saw  her  strip 
a  piece  off  a  sleigh  back,  eighteen  inches  long  and 
as  thick  as  my  thumb,  and  eat  it,  paint,  varnish 
and  all.  I  led  her  out  two  or  three  times  a 
week,  and  held  her  by  the  halter  while  she 
rolled,  and  then  hitched  her  to  the  fence,  for  I 
had  no  better  chance,  and  treated  her  to  as  much 
old  frozen  grass  and  ground  as  she  could  reach. 
It  entirely  cured  her  gnawing  in  two  weeks.  So 
I  have  treated  four  horses  within  six  years  with 
perfect  success,  and  I  think  if  stable  keepers 
should  provide  a  soft  place,  30  feet  square  if  they 
could  not  get  larger,  for  their  horses  to  roll,  three 
or  four  times  a  week,  (for  it  is  natural  to  a  horse 
to  roll  and  it  rests  them  when  tired,)  and  keep  a 
barrel  of  fresh  earth  for  them  to  eat  when  they 
want,  their  horses  would  be  much  more  healthy, 
and  they  would  have  no  cribbers. 

Blinkers  and  check  reins  also  deserve  an  ar- 
ticle, but  from  some  one  more  capable  of  express- 
ing his  thoughts  on  paper  than 

Maiden,  Mass.  A.  S.  Hall. 


within  the  past  twenty-five  years  is  truly  aston- 
ishing. It  is  mere  pastime  to  labor  with  these 
improved  implements,  compared  with  that  of 
wielding  the  old-fashioned  tools  used  by  our 
fathers.  I  have  recently  obtained  one  of  Nourse, 
Mason  &  Co.'s  "Universal  Plows,"  with  its  series 
of  mould-boards.  I  think  it  must  soon  become 
a  general  favorite  with  our  progressive  farmers. 
I  am  just  getting  ready  to  give  it  a  fair  trial. 
As  yet  I  have  only  used  it  as  a  stubble  plow, 
and  find  it  A.  No.  1.  The  team  is  ready  to 
hitch  on  to  my  new  plow,  and  I  must  exchange 
the  pen  for  the  plow-handles. 

Yours,  most  respectfully, 

Levi  Bartlett. 

Ho!(.  H.  F.  Feehoh,  Exetbr,  N.  H. 


Remarks. — Your  remarks,  friend  Hall,  are  prac- 
tical, and  will  undoubtedly  be  extensively  useful. 
Now  give  us  some  as  good  on  those  useless  and 
cruel  tormentors,  blinkers  an(J  check  reins,  and 
you  will  do  the  community  a  good  service. 


DRAINAGE— WHEAT.QROWING-- 
UNIVERSAL  PLOW. 

LETTER  TEOM  LEVI  BARTLETT,   OF   WARNER,   V.   H. 

Warner,  MayU,  1859. 

My  Dear  Sir: — With  much  satisfaction  I 
have  perused  your  new  work  on  "Drainage." 
Such  a  book  was  greatly  needed,  and  I  hope  it 
may  be  largely  patronized  by  our  New  Hamp- 
shire farmers. 

It  is  now  more  than  twenty  years  since  I  com- 
menced underdraining  my  naturally  wet  farm, 
and  I  have  done  more  or  less  at  it  every  year, 
during  that  period.  I  have  mostly  used  stone 
for  the  purpose,  but  in  some  instances  they  have 
failed  by  the  burrowing  of  field  mice  and  moles. 
I  trust  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  di-ain  tile 
can  be  had  at  reasonable  cost  by  the  farmers  in 
the  interior  of  our  State.  There  is  a  vast  amount 
of  valuable  land  in  the  State  that  needs  draining, 
which,  if  properly  done,  would  add  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars  to  the  agricultural  interests  of 
•'the  old  Granite  State." 

I  have  succeeded  in  growing  fine  crops  of  win- 
ter wheat  on  underdrained  land.  From  five  years' 
experience  in  growing  winter  wheat  I  am  full  in 
the  faith  that  it  can  be  successfully  grown  in  New 
England.  There  was  a  large  amount  sown  in 
this  town,  last  fall,  and  it  is  looking  splendidly 
now.  But  to  grow  wheat  successfully  here,  our 
farmers  must  better  understand  the  true  princi- 
ples of  preparing  and  manuring  the  land  for  the 
crop. 

The  improvement  in  agricultural  implements 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
CRACKING  OP  APPLE  TREES. 

Mr.  Editor: — Your  correspondent,  S.  D.  M., 
of  Mansfield,  states  that  he  has  lost  a  number  of 
apple  trees  the  last  winter,  by  the  bursting  and 
splitting  of  the  bark,  and  asks  if  there  is  any  i-em- 
edy.  I  am  afraid  there  is  none  but  to  dig  up  the 
trees  and  replace  them.  My  own  loss  has  been 
severe.  I  had  two  rows  of  fine,  thrifty  apple 
trees,  planted  in  the  spring  of  1850.  They  had 
grown  vigorously,  were  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
inches  in  eircumference,  and  had  commenced 
bearing.  Of  these,  I  have  lost  ten,  that  I  cer- 
tainly would  not  have  sold  for  two  hundred  dol- 
lars. One  pair,  especially,  of  Baldwins,  so  hand- 
some as  to  be  the  admiration  of  all  my  visitors, 
was  well  worth  a  hundred  dollars. 

I  discovered  the  injury  some  time  in  January; 
the  bark  was  split  from  the  lower  branches  to 
the  ground,  some  five  or  six  feet.  The  split  was 
sometimes  on  one  side  of  the  tree  and  sometimes 
on  the  other ;  and  before  I  finally  dug  them  up, 
this  spring,  I  satisfied  myself  that  there  was  no 
hope  of  saving  the  trees,  for  I  was  able  to  pass 
my  hands  under  the  bark,  on  either  side,  and 
meet  my  fingers  behind.  One  which  stood  near 
the  barn  cellar  will  survive,  the  split  being  only 
about  eighteen  inches  long  and  the  rest  of  the 
bark  sound. 

What  was  the  cause  of  this  mischief?  These 
trees  grew  on  a  heavy,  strong  loam,  resting  on 
a  hard,  firm  subsoil,  retentive  of  moisture.  The 
last  summer  was  cold  and  wet,  followed  by  a  very 
mild  and  pleasa-nt  fall.  So  remarkably  mild  was 
the  season,  that  I  had  dahlias  in  flower  until 
November  10th,  or  three  weeks  later  than  ever 
before,  and  on  that  day  gathered  from  my  gar- 
den bouquets  of  flowers.  The  consequence  was, 
the  trees  made  a  late  and  vigorous  growth,  and 
had  not  matured  and  ripened  their  wood.  On 
the  night  of  the  10th  of  November  the  tempera- 
ture changed  suddenly  ;  on  the  morning  of  the 
11th  the  ground  was  frozen  hard,  and  ice  made 
in  small  pools,  strong  enough  to  bear  a  man. 
Two  days  afterwards,  on  the  13th,  my  son  was 
skating  on  a  neighboring  pond  !  The  change 
from  a  summer  to  a  winter  temperature,  so  sud- 
den and  almost  instantaneous,  caught  the  trees 
full  of  sap,  which  froze  and  burst  the  bark  as 
soon  as  milder  weather  thawed  it.  This,  in  my 
opiaion,  is  the  cause  of  the  trouble  ;  if  any  of 
your  correspondents  have  a  diff'erent  solution,  I 
hope  to  hear  it. 


312 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Jtjlt 


The  lesson  I  draw,  is  the  importance  of  creat- 
ing a  dry  soil  by  draining.  Had  this  land  been 
as  thoroughly  drained  hst  year  as  it  is  now,  I 
think  I  should  have  saved  my  treeis.  Of  a  large 
number  of  pear  trees,  and  a  few  other  apple  trees, 
growing  on  similar  soil,  but  thoroughly  under- 
drained,  I  have  lost  none.  C  A.  Hewins. 

West  Roxbury,  May,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  loss  of  which  our  correspon- 
dfent  speaks,  to  us  would  be  a  serious  one.  Money 
in  any  amount,  would  scarcely  pay  us  for  trees 
planted  and  reared  by  our  own  hands.  We  have 
had  several  fine  apple  trees  badly  cracked,  but 
they  have  all  lived,  and  appear  to  be  doing  well. 
The  true  mode  of  preventing  it  is,  undoubtedly, 
as  Mr.  He  WINS  suggests,  underdrainiug. 


TBANSACTIONS  OF  THE  ESBBX  AGBI- 
CULTUKAIi  SOCIETY. 

This  is  quite  a  volume,  and  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  valuable  that  has  been  issued 
during  the  past  year.  Eloquence  and  poetry 
have  contributed  theii?  charms  to  add  to  its  val- 
ue. The  addresses  of  Dr.  Loring  and  Edw^aru 
Everett  are  both  eloquent  and  instructive,  and 
Giles  Corey's  second  dream  is  full  of  humor  and 
wit.  Then  follows  an  account  of  the  bequest  of 
the  Treadwell  farm,  and  the  arrangements  for 
its  management  which  have  been  made  by  the 
Society,  and  the  contract  with  Mr.  Brown,  the 
farmer  who  has  taken  it  in  charge.  We  shall 
watch  the  operations  on  this  farm  with  much  in- 
terest. After  these,  commences  the  Report  prop- 
er, with  a  paper  of  great  value  upon  fruit  cul- 
ture, by  J.  M.  Ives.  Whatever  he  says  upon 
this  subject  is  reliable  and  instructive.  He  is 
entitled  to  speak,  for  by  long  experience  and  crit- 
ical observation,  he  has  acquired  much  knowl- 
edge in  this  department. 

The  next  paper  is  a  beautiful  essay  upon  a 
beautiful  subject — Flowers.  The  display  of  flow- 
ers was  an  attractive  feature  at  the  Exhibition. 
The  160  varieties  of  dahlies,  with  their  300  blos- 
soms, Mas  an  exhibition  by  itself  well  worthy  of 
a  visit,  and  we  think  the  $8  premium  well  be- 
stowed. There  were  $40  awarded  for  fiowers>  and 
their  display  contributed  more  to  the  promotion 
of  taste  and  refinement,  than  the  exhibition  of 
fast  women,  or  fast  horses,  on  any  trotting  course 
in  the  State.  The  letter  of  N.  Page,  on  the  rob- 
in, as  a  devastator  of  fruit,  ia  racy  and  enter- 
taining. 

There  is  a  valuable  report  by  G.  P.  Sargent, 
J  on  the  comparative  value  of  crops  as  food  for  cat- 
tle, well  worth  a  careful  study,  and  shows  much 
research  upon  an  important  subject.  The  re- 
ports of  Dr.  LoRiNG  and  Mr.  Rogers,  upon 
milch  cows,  are  drawn  up  v,-iLh  much  c-are,  and 
are  model  reports.  Liberal  premiums  were  award- 


ed for  stallions,  breed  mares  and  farm  and  draft 
horses.  Trotters  and  roadsters  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  admitted  to  the  lists,  not  being  con- 
sidered farm  stock.  Sixteen  premiums  were 
awarded  for  plowing.  Good  plowing  is  always 
considered  worthy  of  encouragement  by  the  ju- 
dicious managers  of  this  Society.  We  are  sorry 
to  see  a  movement  to  abolish  plowing-matches, 
though  we  confess  that  they  need  some  radical 
changes. 

There  are  valuable  statements  respecting  the 
work  and  construction  of  mowing-machines,  a 
subject  of  much  importance  to  farmers  who  feel 
the  need  of  such  machines,  and  are  unable  to  de- 
cide which  is  the  best.  There  is  an  interesting 
paper  upon  Poultry,  by  James  J.  H.  Gregory, 
and  a  valuable  paper  upon  Manures,  by  Wm.  D. 
XoRTHEND,  which  contain  much  important  in- 
struction. The  statement  by  Samuel  Raymond, 
about  his  farm,  will  amply  repay  a  careful  pe- 
rusal. Those  on  underdrainiug  and  the  reclaim^- 
ing  wei  meadoics,  show  that  these  important  sub- 
jects are  receiving  due   encouragement  in  Essex. 

The  statements  on  the  various  subjects  to  which 
we  have  referred  are  carefully  prepared.  There 
are  several  of  them  which  we  should  be  glad  to 
analyze,  and  point  out  their  excellences.  No 
awards  are  made  by  the  committees  of  this  So- 
ciety without  careful  statements.  This  is  as  it 
should  be.  For  these  statements,  when  properly 
prepared,  are  really  the  most  valuable  part  of 
the  reports,  and  no  premium  should  be  awarded 
without  them.  The  statement  should  be  consid- 
ered a  part  of  the  object  for  which  the  premium 
is  awarded. 

The  volume  closes  with  a  list  of  the  books 
contained  in  the  library  belonging  to  this  Socie- 
ty, which  is  much  the  most  valuable  library  be- 
longing to  any  county  society  in  the  State.  This 
library  has  contributed  very  much  to  make  this 
Society  what  it  is, — one  of  the  most  flourishing, 
harmonious  and  succcessful  societies  in  the  State. 


J^or  the  Nato  England  FUrmer. 
DISBASE3,  OF  HOBSE3. 

Mr.  Editor: — The  11th  day  of  January  last 
was  the  coldest  day  I  ever  experienced.  A  day 
or  two  after,  I  discovered  that  my  young  horse 
was  diseased,  and  supposed  it  was  caused  by  the 
severity  of  the  weather.  Upon  examination  I 
found  the  disease  was  in  her  spine,  at  its  junction 
with  the  hips,  as  there  she  was  very  sensitive. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  describe  the  con- 
dition she  was  then  in,  for  her  disease  was  strik- 
ingly similar  to  that  described  by  your  corres- 
pondent, W.  D.  Searl ;  she  continued  to  grow 
worse  until  her  hind  limbs  were  well  nigh  use- 
less. 

Of  the  nature  of  the  horse  and  of  his  diseases 
I  am  totally  .ignorant,  and  having  no  one  noax 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARxMER. 


81 ; 


me  capable  of  giving  instruction,  my  only  resort 
was  to  the  small  stock  of  common  sense  I  pos- 
sess. My  judgment  dictated  a  different  course 
from  that  pursued  by  Mr.  S.  I  neither  took  blood 
nor  gave  physic,  but  thinking  that  strength  was 
better  than  weakness,  1  gave  her  a  more  gener- 
erous  diet — applied  beef  brine  to  the  weak  part 
often,  and  a  stiff  brush,  and  kept  her  covered 
with  a  warm  blanket,  (she  had  never  been  blan- 
keted.) This  treatment  proved  salutary,  and  she 
is  now  as  well  as  ever.  So  sick  was  this  beast 
at  one  time,  it  v/as  thought  she  could  not  live  48 
hours. 

West  Windham,  N.  H.,  April  20,  1859. 


MA-HKET  DAT  AT  NORTH  ANDOVER. 

The  second  of  the  market  days  or  agricultural 
exchanges  established  by  the  Essex  County  Ag- 
ricultural Society,  was  held  on  Tuesday  at  North 
Andover,  about  two  miles  from  Lawrence.  In 
point  of  attendance  and  extent  of  sales,  of  course, 
it  was  not  so  large  as  the  market  day  at  South 
Danvers  a  fortnight  since.  Considering  the  chil- 
liness of  the  day,  the  busy  season,  and  the  fact 
that  this  was  a  first  attempt  at  North  Andover,  the 
fair  was  as  successful  as  could  have  been  expect- 
ed. In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  in  the  height 
of  the  bargaining  and  sales,  some  rain  fell,  which, 
of  course,  threw  a  damper  on  everything.  The 
pens  of  the  Society  were  erected  on  an  elevation 
near  the  depot,  and  there  were  three  or  four  hun- 
dred persons  present  most  of  the  time.  The  en- 
tries of  stock  with  the  Secretary  consisted  of  22 
horses,  95  swine,  of  dift'erent  sizes,  including  pigs, 
126  horned  cattle,  including  oxen,  steers,  heifers, 
cows,  calves  and  the  like,  about  a  dozen  sheep 
and  a  number  of  coops  of  fowls.  There  were 
several  good  stallions  brought  forward  for  exhi- 
bition by  their  owners,  and  among  the  fat  cattle 
some  excellent  specimens,  including  a  pair  weigh- 
ing 3190  lbs.,  belonging  to  J.  H.  Barker,  of  North 
Andover;  a  pair  weighing  3088,  belonging  to 
William  Foster,  of  North  Andover,  and  a  yoke 
weighing  33GO,  to  Dean  Andrews,  of  East  Box- 
ford.  There  was  one  fat  steer  five  years  old, 
weighing  2400  lbs.,  which  belonged  to  John  Bark- 
er, of  North  Andover.  In  the  matter  of  fat  cat- 
tle the  show  was  excellent,  including  no  less  than 
14  yoke. 

Among  the  private  sales,  a  yoke  of  fat  cattle 
belonging  to  J.  French,  of  Danville,  N.  H.,  and 
weighing  3380  lbs.,  were  sold  for  8.i  cts.  per  lb. ; 
two  fat  cows,  J.  P.  Putnam,  Andover,  75  ;  two 
heifers,  for  $35 ;  a  sheep  and  lambs  for  $12  ;  one 
calf  and  sheep  for  $8,  and  there  were  some  oth- 
er private  sales  which  did  not  become  known  as 
to  price,  and  were  to  drovers.  Some  shoats  for 
$4,50  each. 

The  sales  at  auction  were  more  numerous.  A 
yoke  of  oxen  was  sold  to  J.  W.  Smith,  for  $52  : 
another  yoke  to  some  person  for  $100;  a  young 
bull  for  .$9  ;  a  horse  for  $18  ;  a  cow  for  $20,  to 
Mr.  Dame  ;  a  cow  and  calf  to  Seth  Chase,  for 
5!32  ;  a  horse  belonging  to  Mrs.  Sargeant,  for 
$44  ;  another  for  $41  ;  an  ox-cart  for  $30  ;  anoth- 
er for  $15  ;  a  wagon  for  $63  ;  horse-cart  for  $11. 
There  were  in  all  some  thirty  sales  at  auction, 
but  in  many  of  these  cases  the  animals  were 
bought  in  by  the  owners,  to  save  loss. 


There  were  several  wagon-loads  of  vegetables 
on  sale,^and  that  was  all.  Much  attention  was 
attracted  by  the  ao;ricultural  implements  exhib- 
ited on  the  ground,  including  a  horse-hoe,  some 
mowers  and  reapers,  and  the  like. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  held  a  meeting  at  the 
engine-house  at  10  o'clock.  Dr.  Robinson,  of 
West  Newbury,  presided,  and  Allen  W.  Dodge, 
Esq.,  of  Hamilton,  was  secretary. 

Mr.  W.  R.  Putnam,  of  Danvers,  made  a  well- 
founded  report  showing  the  great  success  of  the 
fair  at  South  Danvers  a  fortnight  since.  Re- 
ports were  made  in  favor  of  holding  market  days 
as  follows  : 

At  Newburyport  on  the  second  Tuesdays  of 
April  and  October  ;  the  fair  in  October  will  coin- 
cide with  the  annual  fair  of  the  Horticultural  So- 
ciety at  that  place,  under  the  presidency  of  Dr. 
Kelly. 

At  South  Danvers  on  the  3d  Tuesday  of  Octo- 
ber, annually. 

At  Georgetown  on  the  3d  Tuesday  in  June, 
when  will  occur  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Essex  County  Agricultural 
Society. 

At  North  Andover,  annually,  on  the  2d  Tues- 
day of  September. 

At  Lawrence  on  the  4th  Tuesday  of  October. 

Committees  of  Arrangements  for  the  different 
market  days  were  thus  appointed  : 

At  Lawrence  and  North  Andover,  J.  Kittredge, 
of  North  Andover,  H.  K.  Oliver,  of  Lawrence, 
J.  H.  Morse,  of  Lawrence,  J.  O.  Loring  and  Otis 
Bailey,  of  North  Andover. 

At  Newburyi)ort,  Major  Ben:Perley  Poore, 
Dr.  Robinson,  of  West  Newbury,  Enoch  S.  Wil- 
liams, of  Newburyport,  Paul  Titcomb,  of  New- 
bury, Col.  Colman,  of  Newburyport. 

At  Georgetown,  Major  Ben  :  Perley  Poore,  of 
Newbury,  Moses  Tenny,  S.  Little,  George  W. 
Boynton  and  Col.  Nelson,  of  Georgetown,  and 
D.  S.  Caldwell,  of  Newbury. — Traveller. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

PEEPARINQ  MEADOWS  FOB  CBANBEB- 
KIES. 

Mr.  Brown: — I  noticed  in  the  N.  E.  Farm&r 
for  April  18th  an  article  on  raising  cranberries 
which  did  not  correspond  with  my  views  on  the 
subject. 

Your  plan  of  covering  the  ground  with  sand 
is,  it  seems  to  me,  too  expensive,  when  the  ground 
can  be  prepared  as  well,  at  less  cost.  My  plan, 
(and  I  have  had  some  experience,)  is  to  take  a 
piece  of  swamp,  or  meadow,  which  can  be  flowed, 
and  keep  it  flowed  for  three  years,  which  will  be 
sufficient  to  kill  the  grass  and  bushes.  The  land 
is  then  in  an  excellent  condition  to  set  the  vines, 
soft  and  mellow.  The  vines  should  be  set  near 
together,  the  nearer  the  better.  The  brush  nee'' 
not  be  removed  from  the  meadow,  as  the  vines 
will  climb  upon  it,  and  in  a  few  years  it  will  rot 
and  sink.  I  think  this  a  much  better  way  than 
sanding  the  ground.  A  layer  of  sand  four  inches 
thick,  at  10  cents  per  yard,  would  cost  $56  per 
acre. 

As  the  Tand  which  is'/l)est  fitted  for  cranberry 
culture  is,  usually,  the  poorest  for  other  purpos- 
es, and  as  good  land  for  cranberries  can  be  pur- 


314 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Ujlt 


chased  for  from  $5  to  $10  per  acre,  it  seems  to 
me  that  when  they  can  be  brought  into  good  con- 
dition in  three  years,  by  water,  at  very  little  ex- 
pense, it  is  folly  to  expend  $50  per  acre  to  has- 
ten the  growth  two  years.  Besides,  it  is  usually 
considered  here  that  the  deep  muck  of  swamps 
is  more  favorable  for  the  growth  of  cranberries 
than  sand. 

Land  for  cranberries,  it  is  almost  indispensa- 
ble to  have  plowed  in  winter  ;  in  fact,  their  cul- 
tivation, where  the  land  is  not  flowed,  will  al- 
ways be  attended  by  trouble  and  considerable 
expense,  as  the  frost  is  sure  to  throw  them  out  of 
the  ground  in  winter. 

I   should  like   to  inquire  if  anything  can   be 
done   to   prevent  the  frost  injuring  the  berry? 
Would   peat,  old    hay   and  brush,  burnt   in  the 
meadow  during  frosty  nights,  save  the  berries  ? 
Addison  Flint. 

North  Reading,  May,  1859. 

P.  S. — Since  writing  the  above  I  have  seen  a 
query  in  the  Farmer  in  regard  to  the  time  of  set- 
ting cranberries. 

In  answer  to  that  I  would  say  that  experience 
has  taught  me  that  October  is  the  best  season  to 
set  vines,  if  they  are  to  be  covered  with  water ; 
otherwise,  May.  A.  r. 

Remakks. — Mr.  Flint  is  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful cranberry  producers  in  our  knowledge. 
We  have  visited  his  meadows,  and  found  them 
exceedingly  fruitful,  and  the  fruit  of  the  finest 
kind. 

When  we  spoke  of  covering  land  with  sand, 
we  intended  to  refer  only  to  small  patches  suffi- 
cient to  raise  a  supply  for  a  single  family's  use. 
When  a  sand  bank  is  directly  on  the  margin  of 
the  meadow,  however,  the  reclamation  may  some- 
times be  profitably  made  in  this  way. 


all,  or  nearly  all,  if  I  had  not  applied  the  guano, 
as  I  had  in  years  before. 

That  trial  was  in  1S57.  In  1858  I  applied  the 
guano  in  season  and  had  no  trouble  with  the  mag- 
got. They  might  not  have  troubled  me  if  I  had 
not  used  the  guano.  I  do  not  know  every  rope 
in  the  ship.  I  raise  very  few  onions — ^^iust  a  small 
bed  for  family  use.  Never  raised  ioO  bushels 
in  my  life,  and  most  likely  never  shall. 

I  sprinkled  the  guano  on  the  onions,  probably 
at  the  rate  of  400  or  500  lbs.  to  the  acre.  I  was 
satisfied  with  the  result,  and  shall  try  it  again. 

Ed.  Emerson. 

EolUs,  N.  H.,  April  29,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
GUANO  ON  ONIONS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  the  N.  E.  Farmer  for  April 
23d,  I  saw  a  communication  from  "South  Dan- 
vers."  lie  says,  "my  neighbors  wish  to  know 
something  more  about  Mr.  Emerson's  discovery 
whereby  he  received  a  good  crop  of  onions." 
And  yet  he  says  those  same  neighbors  know  every 
rope  in  the  ship.  No  one  can  tell  them  anything 
about  onions,  &c.  I  only  stated  a  fact  that  passed 
under  my  own  observation,  not  to  instruct  peo- 
ple who  know  every  rope  in  the  ship,  who  can- 
not learn  anything  new,  because  they  know  every 
thing  about  it.  For  such  people  are  beyond  be- 
ing benefited  by  any  teaching. 

I  wrote  it  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  were 
not  perfect,  who,  like  myself,  like  to  read  the  ex- 
periments of  others,  and  profit  by  them,  or,  at 
least,  try  such  as  may  benefit  them. 

I  stated  that  I  noticed  that  my  onions  were  wilt- 
ing ;  I  should  think  one-third  were  down.  I  exam- 
ined the  wilted  ones  and  found  a  maggot  in  the 
stalk,  just  above  the  onion.  I  sprinkled  on  a 
good  coat  of  guano,  and  no  more  died,  but  the 
two-thirds  grew  finely.  Whether  all  died  that 
would  have  died,  if  I  had  not  applied  the  guano,  I 
could  not  tell.  I  supposed  I  should  have  lost  them 


EXTRACTS  AND  EEPLIES. 
BEET   SUGAR,  AND   PAPER   FROM  BEET3. 

I  was  pleased  to  see  the  sensible  article  from 
the  pen  of  your  intelligent  correspondent,  Mr. 
Cruickshank,  in  the  Farmer  of  May  7,  on  the 
value  and  use  of  beets  for  making  sugar  and  pa- 
per. I  have  often  thought,  as  I  have  been 
through  a  pretty  thorough  school  of  mechanics, 
and  now  a  farmer,  that  if  I  had  the  capital,  I 
would  go  to  France  and  see  the  thing  done,  of 
making  beets  into  sugar  and  paper,  and  then 
start  it  here.  I  am  quite  sure  that  there  is  no 
place  where  there  is  a  greater  per  centage  of  su- 
gar in  the  beet,  and  but  few  where  it  is  so  large, 
as  in  the  free,  sandy  soils  of  Plymouth  county. 
I  have  not  a  doubt  it  would  be  a  paying  business, 
combining  Yankee  ingenuity  with  French  expe- 
rience. 

Please  keep  the  "ball  in  motion"  until  capital- 
ists can  see  that  they  can  make  money  in  pro- 
ducing clean  sugar  for  our  own  use,  sugar  that  has 
not  been  through  the  careless,  slatternly  hands 
of  persons  who  have  no  interest  in  making  it  or 
keeping  it  clean.  Caleb  Eates. 

Kingston,  May  9,  1859. 

GRASS   ROOTS   AND   "S'U'ARD   WORMS." 

As  your  paper  is  made  a  medium  through 
which  the  ignorant  can  display  their  ignorance 
and  the  learned  impart  their  knowledge  to  oth- 
ers, I  wish  to  make  a  little  inquiry. 

I  have  a  field  the  soil  of  which  is  a  deep,  dark- 
colored,  firm,  moist  loam,  free  from  rocks,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  granite  boulders.  After 
having  been  laid  down  to  grass  about  three 
years,  the  grass  roots  are  entirely  destroyed, 
leaving  but  little  sward  on  the  field,  and  destroy- 
ing the  grass  crop  almost  entirely.  From  the 
fact  that  there  are  great  numbers  of  large  white 
worms,  known  as  "sward  worms,"  to  be  found  in 
the  soil,  I  have  been  led  to  suppose  that  it  is 
this  worm  that  commits  the  depredation.  If  you, 
or  any  of  your  correspondents,  have  had  any  ex- 
perience similar  to  this,  or  have  seen  anything 
of  the  kind,  and  can  give  or  suggest  a  remedy, 
it  will  be  gratefully  received  through  your  paper. 

Greene,  Me.,  April,  1859.       Androscoggin. 

HOW  TO   RAISE   CABBAGE. 

Make  a  hole  in  the  ground  three  or  four  inches 

deep  with  a  stick,  and  put  about  a  teaspoonful 

of  fine  salt  at  the  bottom  of  the  hole ;  rattle  a 

little  dirt  in   on  to  the  salt,  and  then   set  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


315 


plant.  About  a  week  after  the  cabbage  has  been 
set,  taken  root  and  begun  to  grow,  put  as  much 
salt  in  a  circle  two  or  three  inches  from  the 
plant  on  top  of  the  ground  ;  take  care  that  no 
salt  comes  in  direct  contact  with  the  roots.  Do 
not  put  much  manure  under  the  plants,  but  leach 
the  manure  and  put  the  liquor  round  them  at 
sundry  times.  Do  this,  and  I  will  warrant  good 
cabbages.  Washington  Hall. 

Brewer,  April,  1859. 

LAW  REGULATING   THE   SALE   OF   MILK. 

Does  it  render  farmers  liable  for  delivering 
milk  to  the  milk-venders  who  provide  unsealed 
cans  for  its  reception  ? 

How  does  it  afiect  existing  contracts? 

If  under  present  contracts  milk-venders  refuse 
to  provide  sealed  cans,  what  is  the  farmer's  rem- 
edy ?     Shall  he  refuse  to  deliver,  as  heretofore 
contracted,  or  shall  he  deliver  as  usual,  and  ob 
tain  satisfaction  by  process  of  law  ? 

When  does  the  act  take  effect? 

Remarks. — We  refer  our  correspondent  to  the 
entire  law  given  in  the  Farmer  of  April  23,  and 
which  will  be  found  in  the  monthly  for  June. 

WIRE   FOR   FENCES. 

V."hat  kind  of  wire  is^best  for  a  fence  ?     What 
is  the  cost  of  it,  and  wlrere  may  it  be  obtained? 
Samuel  B.  Bird. 
Framingliam,  May,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  think  number  six  wire  the 
best  size  for  a  M-ire  fence,  though  some  persons 
use  a  much  larger  size.  It  costs  about  six  cents 
a  pound. 

Mr.  Bird  has  some  of  the  long  red  potatoes 
for  sale,  recently  inquired  for.  Price  60  cts.  per 
bushel.  

potatoes. 

The  potatoes  I  send  are  a  variety  raised  from 
the  seed  about  fifteen  years  ago  ;  they  are  an  ex- 
cellent, early  potato.  By  your  description  of 
those  sent  you  by  ]\Ir.  Hazeliine,  of  Straflbrd,  I 
think  this  may  answer  his  inquiry,  as  I  gave  some 
to  a  man  that  lived  in  Straflbrd  some  years  ago. 

Thetjord,  Vt.,  May,  1859.     A.  C.  Howard. 

Remarks. — Mr.  Howard  has  our  thanks  for 
the  nice  potatoes  sent  us.  They  are  not  the  color 
or  form  of  those  sent  by  Mr.  Hazeltine.  We 
?;ill  plant  and  test  them. 

TRANSPLANTING   PINES. 

Can  you  or  any  of  your  subscribers  inform  me, 
through  your  columns,  the  best  time  of  year  to 
transplant  pine  trees  from  the  woods  to  decorate 
grounds  around  one's  house,  &;c.  Also,  if  any 
particular  care  is  needed  as  to  their  transplant- 
ing? I  wish  to  learn  where  I  can  obtain  a 
"Muscova  Drake"  and  two  "Muscova  Ducks,"  of 
the  best  breed  known.  Where  may  I  be  able  to 
obtain  them,  and  at  what  price  ?  Any  reply  will 
be  appreciated  by  your  faithful  reader  and  old 
subscriber,  "Oak  Uill." 

May  12,  1859. 


MAPLE   SUGAR. 

Damon  Bridgman,  of  Soutk  Hardwick,  Vt., 
has  made  this  season  7,100  lbs.  of  tip-top  maple 
sugar. 

Joseph  S'evens,  of  East  Hardwick,  has  made, 
I  understand,  over  four  tons.  Beat  this  you 
Chinese  cane  breakers,  if  you  can,  at  the  same 
cost.  F.  J. 

Hardwick,  April,  1859. 

PLUM  TREES. 

I  have  some  red  plum  trees  which  blossom  full 
every  year,  but  do  not  bear  much  ;  I  have  some 
white  ones,  also,  which  are  set  with  the  red  ones, 
which  bear.  I  have  tried  a  great  many  things 
which  have  not  done  any  good,  and  would  in- 
quire if  there  is  anything  that  would  make  them 
bear  ?     The  trees  are  very  thrifty. 

Bethel,  VI.  A  Subscriber. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PLANTS  WITHOUT  LEAVES. 

Messrs.  Editors  :— Having  seen  in  the  month- 
ly Farmer,  February,  1859,  page  59,  an  article 
entitled  "Roots  cannot  grow  without  leaves,"  and 
thinking  the  writer  in  error,  I  will  state  my  opin- 
ion. It  is  a  known  fact  that  there  are  numerous 
exceptions  to  the  general  rule ;  for  instance, 
there  is  the  plant  found  growing  in  wet  places, 
known  as  the  bulrush  ;  it  shoots  up  numerous 
spikes  or  stems,  that  are  from  one  to  three  feet 
in  height,  and  from  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter downwards,  without  leaves,  or  the  appear- 
ance of  leaves,  for  the  first  four  or  six  weeks, 
when  it  throws  out  the  short  stem  on  which  the 
seed  grows,  but  not  any  leaves.  If  any  one  doubts 
its  having  roots,  try  to  pull  one  up  !  There  is 
the  button  rush,  with  a  stem  of  the  thickness  of 
a  goose  quill,  or  larger,  but  it  has  no  leaves. 
There  is  the  house  leech,  or  live  forever,  the  top 
of  which  will  grow  any  length  of  time,  severed 
from  the  roots,  and  suspended  by  a  string.  A 
good  way  to  kill  the  Canada  thistle  is  to  cut  off 
the  top,  close  to  the  ground  when  in  blossom, 
when  the  stalk  is  hollow.  When  it  rains,  the 
water  runs  down  the  stalk,  and  rots  the  roots. 
The  absence  of  leaves  will  not  do  it,  for  without 
hoUowness  of  stalk,  you  may  cut  them  from  July 
to  December,  clip,  or  burn  as  you  please,  but 
without  effect.  Regulus. 

Eipton,  Vt.,  April,  1859. 


For  the  Netc  Enj^land  Farmer. 

WINTER  WHEAT. 

Hundreds  of  farmers  in  this  State  do  not  raise 
this  grain,  simply  because  they  think  they  can- 
not. I  have  tried  both  upland  and  intervale,  and 
find  it  does  best  on  upland  where  I  never  man- 
ure it.  I  always  select  good,  warm  pasture 
land,  (the  older  the  better,)  free  from  strong 
winds  and  standing  water,  and  where  the  snow 
remains  on  as  long  as  on  any  part  of  the  farm. 
Break  it  up  any  time  in  July  or  August.  Sow 
from  the  20th  of  August  to  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber, at  the  rate  of  one  and  a  half  bushels  per 
acre.  Get  it  in  two  or  three  inches  deep,  if  pos- 
ble,  with  a  plow  or  cultivator.    After  it  is  up  a 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


JULT 


coating  of  plaster,  lime  or  guano,  will  help  it 
very  much,  especially  if  dry.  Prepare  the  seed 
the  same  as  for  spring  wheat.  Wash  thorough- 
ly, pickle  in  strong  brine  twelve  hours  or  more, 
and  mix  with  ashes  or  slaked  lime. 

In  this  way  I  get  from  twelve  to  fifteen  bush- 
els per  acre,  and  think  it  doing  well  without 
manure.  Have  never  tried  manure  on  upland, 
but  presume  it  would  do  well. 

The  kind  of  wheat  called  the  White  [Winter  ? 
Ed.]  Blue  Stem  stands  winter  best.  I  have 
rnised  the  above  quantity,  per  acre,  without  ap- 
])lving  anything  but  dry  wheat  and  simply  har- 
rowing it  in,  N.  F.  Morrill. 

Sanbornton,  N.  H.,  May,  1S59. 

Remarks. —  Excellent,  plain,  and  seasonable 
suggestions.  Try  them.  By  applying  a  moder- 
ate quantity  of  well  rotted  nranure  to  the  pasture 
land  spoken  of,  we  have  no  doubt  the  crop 
would  be  increased  from  twelve  and  fifteen  bush- 
els to  twenty  bushels  per  acre. 


CLAY"  AS  AN  AMENDMENT  TO  SANDY 
SOILS. 

Soils  void  of  clay,  or  containing  it  in  too  small 
a  relative  proportion,  are  materially  improved  by 
a  top-dressing,  and  particularly  when  the  clay 
finds  its  way  to  the  soil  through  the  compost 
heap.  In  such  case  it  exercises  its  peculiar  pow- 
er of  absorbing  ammonia  and  other  products  of 
decay,  and  afterward-a  yields  up  to  plants  the  ma- 
terials thus  absorbed.  While  the  clay  is  thus 
performing  an  useful  office,  itself  is  changed  in 
condition  so  as  to  lose  its  greater  tenacity,  only 
hQuling  this  property  in  a  sufRc  ent  degree  to  add 
firmness  to  sandy  soils  after  its  addition.  The 
quantity  of  clay  required  to  amend  a  sandy  soil 
incapable  of  retaining  manures,  and  indeed  when 
even  blowey,  is  not  as  large  as  many  suppose. 
One  thousand  bushels  per  acre  is  sometimes  quite 
suificient,  if  evenly  spread  and  left  on  the  surface 
for  a  time,  before  being  plowed  in,  so  that  rains 
and  dews,  assisted  by  sun  and  air,  may  cause  the 
division  to  become  more  perfect.  It  is  not  the 
clay  alone  which  corrects  blowey  sands,  but  in 
addition  to  its  own  effects  directly,  the  roots  of 
crops,  grown  by  its  assistance,  lend  their  aid. 
When  clay  and  vegetable  mould  can  both  be  added 
to  sandy  soils,  as  in  the  vicinity  of  muck  depos- 
its, then  the  amendment  is  still  more  perfect. 

The  value  of  this  kind  of  amendment  is  its  per- 
manency ;  for  as  the  clay  is  not  appreciably  used 
by  plants,  it  continues  forever  to  imbue  the  sand, 
and  each  year  to  re-perform  its  function  of  re- 
taining gases,  abstracting  valuable  constituents 
from  solutions,  in  addition  to  its  mechanical  use 
in  giving  the  necessary  solidity  and  adhesiveness 
to  the  soil. 

Many  are  not  aware  that  some  sandy  soils, 
notwithstanding  the  peculiar  light  couditien  of 
^  the  dry  surface,  are  still  more  difficult  to  disin- 
tegrate deeply  by  a  sub-soil  plow  than  heavier 
soils,  settling  by  rains  like  a  sea  beach;  in  such 
sands  many  kinds  of  clay  seem  to  act  as  a  lubri- 
cator to  the  surface  of  their  particles,  and  after 
being  clayed,  they  may  be  the  more  readily  plow- 
ed.— Working  Farmer. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOBSKS. 

Too  much  vigilance  is  seldom  known  on  the 
part  of  proprietors  of  mares,  in  selecting  a  horse 
to  breed  from.  Hundreds  of  horses  are  offered, 
and  urged  as  breeding  stallions,  a  large  number 
of  which  are  objectionable  by  way  of  sad  blem- 
ishes, bad  proportions,  or  age.  Their  proprie- 
tors have  a  smooth  story  to  tell.  If  his  feet  are 
contracted,  small  and  of  course  weak,  that  is 
nothing,  he  was  stabled  too  young.  This  stock 
will  be  just  as  good  as  though  he  had  good  sized 
and  strong  feet.  If  his  knees  are  sprung,  small, 
and  of  coarse  weak,  the  story  will  be,  he  was  put 
into  a  stall  of  some  peculiar  form,  that  caused 
his  knees  to  be  so.  But  that  will  not  affect  his 
stock.  And  so  of  all  other  weaknesses,  dispro- 
portions and  blemishes.  Old  horses,  or  mares, 
are  objectionable  for  breeders,  from  the  liability 
of  their  stock  to  possess  the  debilitating  effects 
consequent  upon  age,  which  may  not  be  discov- 
ered until  labor  is  required  of  them. 

Stallions  are  taken  to  the  premises  of  persons, 
and  many  good  qualities  asserted  and  urged  to 
induce  patronage.  I  would  say,  hesitate,  look 
for  yourself,  if  you  have  confidence  in  your  own 
judgment,  if  not,  take  some  friend  who  is  un- 
biased, to  assist  you.  Generally,  the  best  horses 
are  not  taken  around  the  country  for  customers. 
If  a  horse  has  a  reputation  at  home,  he  may  stay 
there  and  save  his  proprietor  much  labor  and  ex- 
pense. I  would  select  a  horse  to  breed  from 
with  every  good  quality  possible,  combined,  viz  : 
feet,  which  should  not  be  contracted  or  flat ;  legs 
which  should  not  be  too  slim  or  clumsy,  but  wide 
and  sinewy ;  well  spread  knees,  and  prominent 
hocks;  cords  large,  and  highly  developed  mus- 
cles ;  full  in  the  flank,  deep  in  the  chest ;  round 
barrel,  a  well  placed  shoulder,  neck  long  enough 
so  that  he  can  put  his  head  up  or  down  ;  not  too 
thick  under  the  joles,  well  proportioned  head, 
and  active  ears. 

If  I  wished  to  raise  horses  to  sell  in  the  city 
markets  at  high  prices,  I  would  select  a  stallion, 
the  nearer  thorough-bred  the  better,  about  153 
or  16  hands  high,  with  the  above  qualities, 
weii,hing  about  1100  pounds,  and  possessing  ac- 
tion of  the  highest  degree.  It  is  a  fact  that  farm- 
ers may  increase  their  interests  in  horse-raising 
to  a  very  great  extent,  by  judiciously  selecting 
stallions  and  mares,  the  former  of  which  k  very 
much  more  unde**  our  control  than  the  latter. 
A  N.  E.  Farmer. 


For  the  Netc  Ensland  Farmer. 
KAISING  GRAPES. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — Within  a  few  days  I  have 
become  possessed  of  information  in  the  culture 
of  the  grape,  which  is  new  to  me.  It  may  be  so 
to  some  others  who  would  like  to  grow  the  Ca- 
tawba and  Isabella  in  perfection,  but  are  deterred 
by  repeated  failures. 

A  distinguished  horticulturist  residing  within 
hail  of  Plymouth  rock,  told  me  a  neighbor  of  his 
was  enabled  to  ripen  his  Isabellas  in  perfection, 
having  built  a  coping  ef  some  two  feet  on  the 
top  of  his  trellis.  Confirmatory  of  the  above,  I 
give  you  an  extract  of  a  letter,  received  from 
Bridgeport,  Conn.,  a  few  days  since.     "I  find  no 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


31: 


mildew  on  my  vines  when  they  are  trained  under 
a  projecting  cornice  of  my  barns,  so  that  they 
get  no  rain  or  drip.  I  have  on  a  western  expo 
sure  the  most  perfect  Catawba  and  Isabellas 
when  thus  protected  ;  while  part  of  the  same 
vines  which  are  not  so  protected,  but  which  con- 
tinued beyond,  are  ruined  in  fruit  and  leaves. 
This  has  occurred  for  several  years  in  succession. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  vines  on  a  lofty  trellis  or 
■wall,  with  a  coping  of  two  orjthree  feet,  would  be 
entirely  free."  Eben.  Wight. 

Dedham,  May  2. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
IT  liOOKS  VERT  LIKE  A  SHAM ! 

Messrs,  Editors  : — I  have  before  me,  and  1 
presume  many  of  our  friends  have  received  the 
same,  a  stylish  circular,  which  calls  upon  all  cre- 
ation and  his  brother  to  save  trees,  plants,  vines, 
and  millions  of  dollars  a  year,  simply  by  the 
purchase  of  a  certain  magical  powder,  M'hich 
works  in  a  magical  sort  of  a  way,  throwing  all 
the  wonders  of  the  ancient  necromancy,  far  into 
the  shade.  The  author  tells  us  a  great  many 
wonderful  things  in  this  circular.  It  appears 
that  this  powder  of  his  has  only  to  be  tucked  un- 
der the  bark  of  any  tree,  to  give  marching  orders 
to  every  insect,  from  buds,  leaves,  bark,  wood  or 
fruits.  Mirabile  didu:  The  theory  of  the  man 
who  controls  this  wonder-worker,  is,  that  the  tree 
has  some  way  of  swallowing  the  jpowder,  and  dis- 
seminating it  throughout  its  "fe'tt-ucture.  Being 
but  an  inquiring  Yankee,  I  would  like  to  ask  him 
a  question  or  two.  Just  to  give  him  convenient 
standing-room,  we  will  assume  that  the  tree  will 
take  this  powder  into  its  circulation  when  thus 
applied ;  now,  with  the  perpetual  circulation  of 
the  sap  during  the  growing  season,  and  the  con- 
tinual change  of  raw  material  into  organic  struc- 
ture, by  what  magic  is  it  proposed  to  keep  the 
vii'tues  of  this  poAvder  permanently  in  the  tree, 
BO  that  every  new  bud,  leaf  and  twig,  as  it  de- 
velops, may  receive  its  quota  of  the  marvelous 
protective  power  ?  If  it  is  a  fair  inference  that 
the  protection,  which  he  says,  is  the  results  of  its 
application,  turns  on  some  disagreeable  flavor 
given  to  the  buds,  leaves,  fruit,  &c.,  whereby  the 
marauding  insects  become  disgusted  with  their 
food  ;  may  not  we,  poor  pigmies,  be  permitted  to 
indulge  the  hope  that  at  some  very  early  day  this 
great  patent-powder  man  will  extend  the  area  of 
his  benevolent  operations,  and  enable  each  of 
us  to  flavor  our  fruits  to  suit  our  palates  ?  What 
a  capital  thing  it  will  be  to  have,  say  a  patent 
"sweet  apple  powder,"  subject  to  our  dimes,  by 
clapping  which  under  the  bark,  all  our  savage 
old  crabs  will  forthwith  be  compelled  to  set  their 
internal  laboratories  in  action,  and  manufacture 
sugar  to  order,  instead  of  vinegar  !  When  these 
halcyon  days  dawn,  farewell  to  budding  and  graft- 
ing, relics  of  primitive  ignorance ;  I  shall  then  have 
merely  to  shake  a  paper  of  the  patent-powder 
on  my  old  choke  pear  stalks,  when,  lo  !  this  one, 
despite  any  natural  aversion  to  the  contrary, 
must  yield  Bartletts,  and  that  one  must  yield 
Seckles  ;  all  opposition  will  be  utterly  useless  ; 
Mr.  Patent-powder  says  so,  and  therefore  old 
"choke"  can't  help  itself. 

"^here  is  one  other  question  I  would  like  to 


ask  this  public  benefactor,  whom,  I  trust,  the 
grateful  public  will  not  permit  to  wilt  away  like 
so  many  neglected  geniuses  of  this  class:  Was  it 
his  great-grandfather,  or  was  it  his  great-great- 
grandfather, that  aroused  a  slumbering  world, 
about  a  century  or  so  back,  by  the  wonderful  dis- 
covery that  all  vermin  ^nd  diseases  of  every 
kind  might  be  expelled  from  our  fruit  trees,  sim- 
ply by  boring  holes  into  the  trunk  and  filling 
said  holes  with  good  New  England  rum  ?  And 
was  it  not  his  great-uncle  who  discovered,  some- 
what later  in  the  day,  that  the  enemies  of  our 
noble  elm  would  be  easily  repelled  upon  boring 
like  holes  and  filling  with  quicksilver  ?  I  feel  a 
great  interest  in  making  these  inquiries  ;  I  al- 
ways love  to  look  twice  on  the  physician  who 
tells  me  he  is  the  seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son, 
and  am  somewhat  anxious  to  know  whether  our 
patent-powder  man  is  not  one  of  the  same  dis- 
tinguished class. 

There  is  one  other  miracle  which  he  claims  for 
his  powder,  and  that  is,  if  one  table-spoonful  be 
dissolved  in  a  gallon  of  water,  and  any  variety  of 
garden  seed  be  soaked  in  the  solution,  the  plants 
which  spring  from  these  seed,  will  be  preserved 
from  the  inroads  of  insects  !  Whew  !  Where 
is  Mr.  Mayor  Tieman  about  these  days  ? 

A  few  years  ago  another  distinguished  friend 
of  the  farmer,  (perhaps  another  relative  of  this 
philanthropist,)  asserted,  that  after  a  pilgrimage 
of  darkness  and  doubt,  lo !  these  many  years,  he 
had  suddenly  found  light,  and  discovered  a  sure 
preventive  of  the  black  knot  on  our  plum  trees, 
offering  to  reveal  the  same,  for  a  consideration. 
Recently,  I  visited  his  grounds  and  looked  with 
curiosity  for  the  results,  when,  lo  !  the  stumps 
of  many  plum  trees  were  to  be  seen,  but  one  or 
two  trees  remained  ;  and  alas,  for  human  conceit, 
there  stood  thevillanous  black  wart;  there  could 
be  no  mistake  about  it. 

Now,  I  presume  our  patent-powder  man  has 
an  extensive  area,  abounding  with  trees,  shrubs, 
vines,  &c.,  &c.,  all  fully  protected  by  his  patent- 
powder,  and  open  to  public  inspection,  in  proof 
of  the  perfect  success  of  this  original  wonder- 
maker. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  warn  all  friends,  who 
may  have  proposed  to  themselves  to  invest  in 
this  thing,  that  powder  is  sometimes  a  very  dan- 
gerous article,  and  that  many  a  man  has,  before 
this,  burnt  his  fingers  in  the  handling  of  it.  5t 
may  be  that  even  Mr.  Discoverer  himself  will 
get  no  gentle  hoist  before  the  public  are  through 
with  it.  J.  J.  H.  Gregory. 

Marblehead,  Mass. 


Kidney  Worms. — Swine  are  often  troubled 
with  a  disease  denominated  by  veterinarians,  the 
"kidney  worm."  Corn,  soaked  in  very  strong 
lye  made  of  wood  ashes,  is  said  to  be  an  infalli- 
ble remedy.  Salt  and  brimstone,  in  small  quan- 
tities, is  a  preventive,  and,  indeed,  the  only  one 
known.  Comfortable  quarters  and  good  food  are 
of  really  more  importance  in  the  successful  man- 
agement of  these  animals  than  many  are  inclin- 
ed to  suppose,  and  should  never,  on  any  account, 
be  neglected. 


318 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


For  the  New  England  Fanner. 
BEAUTY  IN  TREES. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  have  been  led  to  write  under 
the  above  heading,  on  observing  treatment  of  a 
beautiful  promising  grove  in  the  cemetery  of  a 
thrifty  town  not  far  from  Boston. 

A  young  growth  of  white  pines  and  white 
birch,  mixed,  from  15  to  20  feet  high,  appeared 
as  though  some  wood  choppers  had  been  in- 
structed to  cut  the  birches  clean  and  all  the  pine 
limbs  they  could  reach.  If  the  birches  had  be- 
gun to  interfere  with  the  pines,  they  should  have 
been  cut  in  August,  to  prevent  their  starting 
again.  But  the  pines,  with  their  fresh  and  vig- 
orous branches,  cut  smooth  to  the  butts,  looked 
as  though  they  had  fallen  into  the  care  of  those 
who  could  not  find  any  beauty  in  trees. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  check  to  the  growth, 
how  their  trunks  will  look !  For  a  year  they 
will  present  a  mass  of  flowing  turpentine,  drip- 
ping and  oozing  like  a  cancer.  Live  branches 
should  never  be  removed  from  pines,  if  it  can  be 
helped  ;  but  if  the  limbs  must  be  cut,  take  them 
off  one  foot  from  the  butt,  and  let  the  stub  die  a 
natural  death — then  trim  close,  and  no  turpentine 
will  run.  One  blow  of  an  axe^can  remove  a  love- 
ly branch,  but  the  wealth  of  the  world  cannot  re- 
place it  if  it  proves  a  mistake. 

The  white  pine,  when  it  stands  at  the  best  dis- 
tances to  make  a  good  forest,  keeps  a  live  cone 
about  twenty-five  years  ;  that  is,  the  limbs  live 
about  twenty-five  years,  and  at  that  age  it  com- 
mences to  have  limbs  die  at  the  bottom  as  new 
ones  form  at  the  top.  On  cutting  the  tree  across, 
no  matter  whether  one  foot  from  the  ground  or  for- 
ty, if  below  the  live  cone,  you  will  observe  about 
twenty-five  large  growths,  from  one-quarter  to 
one-half  inch ;  the  largest  Avhen  the  branches  were 
in  their  greatest  vigor.  Then  at  the  death  of  the 
branch  a  sudden  reduction  of  the  growth  to  per- 
haps an  eighth  of  an  inch.  By  this  beautiful  ar- 
rangement the  tree  rises  to  a  great  height,  M'ith 
but  little  taper  to  its  trunk. 

I  think  the  beauty  in  the  white  pine  is,  to  let 
its  branches  alone  until  they  die. 

Kingston,  March,  1859.  Caleb  Bates. 


OATS  LODGING. 

Why  do  oats  lodge  ?  We  have  sometimes 
heard  farmers  boast  that  their  ground  was  in 
such  excellent  heart  that  the  oats  would  lodge, 
inferring  therefore  that  the  crop  of  oats  was  ex- 
traordinarily large,  so  large  that  the  straw  could 
not  hold  them  up.  We  would  argue  that  no  real 
practical  farmer  ever  met  with  this  difficulty. 
The  soil  cannot  be  said  to  be  in  perfect  heart, 
merely  because  it  contains  an  excessive  quantity 
of  barn-yard  manure.  To  be  in  heart,  it  should 
be  in  such  exact  balance  that  every  part  of  the 
plant  can  appropriate  what  it  requires  to  secure 
its  strength,  as  well  as  its  quantit}'.  The  materi- 
al which  gives  strengtli  to  the  oat  straw,  is  sili- 
cate of  potash,  silex  combined  with  potash.  Who- 
ever knew  a  crop  of  oats  to  lodge  when  grown  on 
soils  containing  a  fair  amount  of  wood  ashes  ? 
Whoever  knew  any  crop  to  show  rust  when  grown 
en  a  soil  fairly  charged  with  phosphates,  of  pot- 
ash, soda,  and  lime  ?  Can  a  plant  be  in  a  healthy 
condition  when  the  silicious  coating  which  gives 


it  strength  is  deficient  in  quantity  ?  The  plant 
cannot  avail  of  silex  simply  because  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  sand.  There  must  be  some  alkali 
present  to  attach  the  surface  of  the  particles  of 
the  sand,  and  to  render  the  silex  soluble  in  wa- 
ter. With  that,  the  capillary  action  of  the  plant 
may  elevate  this  soluble  silex,  and  deposit  it  in 
such  portions  as  require  strength.  This  action 
upon  the  particles  of  sand,  at  the  same  time  frees 
all  the  other  constituents  which  go  to  make  up 
its  mass  to  the  depth  of  the  removal  of  the  silex, 
the  particles  becoming  smaller,  and  being  so 
roughened  at  their  surfaces  by  the  chemical  ac- 
tion of  the  alkali,  as  to  prevent  their  settling  by 
rains  and  dews  so  as  to  be  too  compact.  All  this 
is  assisted  in  degree  by  the  decay  of  roots  in  the 
soil ;  for  these  yield  up  among  other  constitu- 
ents, alkalies,  and  of  so  progressed  a  kind  as  to 
have  superior  chemical  power  in  the  disorgani- 
zation of  the  pent-up  inorganic  materials  contain- 
ed in  every  particle  of  the  soil.  Let  no  practical 
farmer  then  pride  himself  on  having  his  land  out 
of  condition,  and  thus  losing  his  oats  for  want  of 
strength  in  the  straw. — Working  Fanner. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
EUTA  BAGA  AND  COBN  CROPS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  your  number  for  May,  I 
notice  a  communication  from  Mr.  Cruickshank, 
on  the  raising  of  ruta  bagas,  and  he  is  pleased  to 
give  us  his  name  and  place  of  residence  at  the 
close  of  it.  He  thinks  them  a  remunerating  crop, 
and  asks  the  reason  why  I  should  be  in  doubt  of 
it.  I  have  been  requested  by  others  to  give  my 
experience  in  the  cultivation  of  them.  Influenced 
by  them,  and  respect  due  Mr.  C.  for  his  experi- 
ence and  location,  I  am  induced  to  state  the  rea- 
son for  my  doubts,  for  they  are  not  removed,  nor 
do  I  see  that  my  questions  are  answered. 

Thirty-five  years  ago,  I  planted  as  good  a  piece 
of  land  as  I  had  with  ruta  bagas,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  satisfying  myself  as  to  profit  of  their  cul- 
ture. I  had  a  fine  and  plentiful  crop  ;  at  the  rate 
of  more  than  1,000  bushels  to  the  acre,  worth  in 
our  market  12A  cts.  per  bushel.  Corn  was  planted 
beside  on  land  as  good,  and  all  alike  prepared, 
and  produce  75  bushels  per  acre,  worth  $1  per 
bushel ;  gr^ain  and  stover  I  put  down  at  $75. 

Well,  sir',  this  looks  well  for  bagas  ;  $125  per 
acre,  and  corn  on  like  soil  at  $85  per  acre,  mak- 
ing a  difference  in  favor  of  bagas  of  $40  per  acre. 
But  let  the  next  crop  speak.  This  was  barley 
and  grass.  Where  corn  had  grown  the  barley 
leaf  was  broad  and  green  ;  where  the  bagas  had 
grown,  the  leaf  was  sorrowfully  weak  and  yellow, 
and  appeared  to  regret  ever  having  made  its  ap- 
pearance. The  seedtime  result  was  35  bushels 
of  barley  per  acre  where  corn  had  grown,  and 
15  bushels  where  bagas  had  grown,  worth  in  our 
market  80  cts.  per  bushel.  This  I  call  $1G  loss  to 
the  bagas.  The  next  crop  M^as  grass  ;  the  hay 
was  not  weighed,  but  would  compare  well  with 
the  crop  of  barley,  and  so  I  charge  the  bagas 
with  $1(3  more.  Here  my  estimates  ended,  but 
not  the  effect  of  the  bagas,  for  that  is  visible  yet. 
This  experience  is  confkmed  by  yearly  observa- 
tion, and  the  experience  of  many  in  this  region, 
if  not  all,  who  have  raised  them. 

In  conversation  with  the  Hon.  Mr.  Brooks,  of 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


319 


Princeton,  he  admitted  his  experience  was  much 
the  same,  but  that  a  liberal  supply  of  phosphate 
•would  restore  the  soil  to  its  usual  fertility  ;  but 
he  says,  too,  "This  will  cost  too  much.  Yes,  sir, 
it  costs  too  much  to  raise  ruta  bagas  to  justify 
their  cultivation  in  this  region."  1  might  multi- 
ply cases  like  my  own  experience.  While  I  am 
constrained  to  differ  from  Mr.  C.  in  relation  to 
the  profit  in  raising  ruta  bagas,  I  cordially 
agree  with  him  in  the  killing  effects  of  a  luxuri- 
ant crop  of  them.  They  will  do  the  work  pretty 
thoroughly.  My  saddest  experience  has  been  a 
Bandy  loam  and  gravel  subsoil.  On  stifler  soil 
this  effect  has  not  been  as  bad.  Yet  there  it  has 
been  to  me  a  bad  crop.  Let  me  have  3  acres  of 
corn,  with  a  good  hay-cutter,  and  I  am  perfectly 
willing  any  one  else  should  have  the  acre  of  ba- 

fas.  As  to  their  value  for  the  growth  of  stock, 
admit  they  are  good.  But  when  fed  to  cows  in 
milk,  I  should  much  prefer  to  sell  the  milk,  though 
I  confess  I  should  have  misgivings  even  then, 
for  the  cows  would  lose  their  credit,  or  I  should 
my  own. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  you  have  my  experience  and 
views  in  relation  to  the  rutabaga  crop,  and   of 
course  my  re,ason  for  doubts  as  the  profit  of  rais 
ing  them.  Otis  Bkigham. 

Wtsiborp\  May,  1859. 


Foi'  die  New  England  Farmer. 

EABNS  AND   LOAM-.-PACTS  AND  FIG- 
UBES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  always  enjoy  reading  the  N. 
E.  Farmer.  Not  that  I  always  agree  with  the 
w  iters,  but  still,  I  am  hardly  the  less  interested 
.  reading.  Sometimes  I  take  my  pencil,  and  fig- 
ure up  the  cost  of  the  propositions  therein  pro- 
posed as  improvements. 

This  week  John  II.  Constantine  proposes  a 
new  arrangement  for  a  barn ;  said  barn  is  to  be 
from  80  to  100  feet  square,  with  a  cellar  under 
the  whole,  10  feet  deep.  My  calculation  on  100 
feet  square,  makes  the  cost  more  than  $3000,  if 
built  well,  with  a  good  stone  basement  on  three 
eides.  For  a  poor  farmer,  $3000 — "I  promise 
to  pay,"  is  an  ugly  customer  to  jjay.  The  inter- 
est, taxes  and  repairs  are  more  than  $200  a  year! 

When  he  gets  his  barn  built,  and  his  stalls,  12 
by  12,  all  ready,  he  is  going  to  cart  in  his  marl, 
&c.,  for  winter  use.  Before  he  puts  his  stock 
into  the  pens,  he  is  going  to  put  into  each  stall 
one  foot  in  depth  of  his  marl,  &c. ;  i.  e.,  144 
feet.  I  took  the  stock  I  had  wintered  the  last 
year,  to  see  what  it  would  cost  me.  I  must  have 
40  stalls  for  my  stock  ;  144  x  40=5700  solid  feet, 
or  45  cords,  or  135  common  ox-cart  loads.  That 
is  to  fill  the  stalls  once. 

Now  if  a  man  will  dig  and  cart  into  my  barn- 
yard, what  will  make,  when  dry,  six  loads  a  day, 
I  will  be  satisfied  with  his  day's  work, — 135  di- 
vided by  6=22i  days.  Thus  it  will  take  a  man 
and  a  team  22^  days  to  draw  the  first  laying. 
He  })roposes  to  change  this  one  a  month — say 
eix  times  ;  then  it  would  take  a  man  and  team 
135  days  to  draw  the  marl,  &c.,  for  winter  use, 
— at  $2  a  day,  $270.  When  you  add  the  drop- 
ping of  the  stock,  it  will  cost  about  the  same  to 
cart  it  on  to  the  land,  unless  the  farm  is  close  to 
his  barn,  say,  $270. 


Now,  he  proposes  t®  have  45  cords,  or  135 
loads,  shovelled  over  once  a  week,  and  once  a 
month  to  take  out  what  is  in  the  stalls,  and  put 
in  fresh  marl,  &c.  This  is  rather  hard  to  calcu- 
late, as  I  do  not  know  how  he  proposes  to  make 
the  exchange  ;  but  I  will  venture  to  guess  that 
it  would  take  three  hands  all  the  time ;  at  $20  a 
month  for  labor  and  board  six  months,  this 
would  amount  to  $360,  making  an  aggregate  of 
$900. 

Some  farmers  may  be  so  situated  that  they 
can  make  the  above  experiment  for  less  ;  and  it 
would  cost  others  more.  But  I  still  find  another 
difficulty.  Where  am  I  to  get  marl,  &c.,  say  810 
loads  a  year,  for  winter  use  ?  It  would  soon 
make  my  meadows  all  fish-ponds !  If  a  man  is 
rich  enough,  he  may  go  into  such  experiments; 
but  woe  to  the  farmer  worth  from  $3000  to  $4000 
who  should  try  it.  When  Mr.  Constantine  gets 
his  barn  built,  I  shall  call  and  see  it,  if  I  can. 

Eollis,  N.  n.,  1859.  Ed.  Emerson. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
NUMBER  OF  TILES  TO  THE  ACBE. 

The  following  rule  for  ascertaining  how  many 
tiles  per  acre  will  be  required  for  drains  at  a  cer- 
tain distance  apart,  may  be  found  convenient,  and 
is  easily  remembered. 

In  estimating,  to  include  main  drains,  divide 
48000  by  the  distance  apart  in  feet.  Thus :  if 
the  drains  are  to  be  30  feet  apart, 

30  \4800O 

1600   the  number  required. 
If  forty  feet  apart, 

40  \4800O 

1200   the  number  required. 

Unless  the  drains  are  to  be  laid  at  an  odd  dis- 
tance apart,  the  division  may  be  made  mentally 
in  a  moment. 

The  percentage  of  tile  to  be  used  in  the  main 
drains  varies  with  the  length  of  the  laterals  and 
v/ith  their  distances  apart.  The  above  given  rule 
supposes  the  laterals  to  be  forty  feet  apart,  and 
to  have  an  average  length  of  about  four  hundred 
feet  each. 

If  it  is  required  to  know  how  many  tiles  would 
be  used  for  lateral  drains  only,  divide  43,560  by 
the  distance  apart.  Thus  :  for  lateral  drains,  36 
feet  apart, 

36\A35f)0 

1210   the  number  required. 

These  estimates  suppose  the  available  length 
of  tiles  to  be  one  foot  each,  and  in  using  those 
which  are  cut  from  the  machine  in  lengths  of  14 
inches  each,  it  will  be  found  that  about  one  thous- 
and in  number  are  required  to  lay  one  thousand 
feet  in  length.  This  is  owing  to  the  shrinkage 
of  the  clay  in  burning,  to  breaknge  in  transpor- 
tation, and  to  the  rejection  of  imperfect  tile. 

Boston,  May,  1859.      J.  Herbert  Siiedd. 


Cattle  Show  and  Fair.  —  The  Martha's 
Vineyard  Cattle  Show  and  Fair  will  be  held  at 
West  Tisbury,  on  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  Oct. 
11  and  12,  1859. 


320 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


DESIGN  FOR  A  COUNTRY  SCHOOL-HOUSE. 


Perhaps  we  cannot  better  subserve  the  inter- 
est of  the  reader,  in  one  issue,  than  by  present- 
ing him  a  pleasant  and  convenient  design  of  a 
country  school-house.  We  think  our  people,  at 
present,  are  a  little  inclined  to  show  and  extrav- 
agance in  the  construction  of  their  school-houses, 
and  sometimes  burdtin  themselves  with  taxes 
that  are  7iot  fully  paid  by  the  feeling  of  gratifica- 
tion, or  pride,  which  they  realize  in  the  view,  or 
contemplation  of  their  handsome  building.  It 
Is  evidently  economical  to  erect  a  substantial  and 
well-arranged  school-house,  as  well  as  an  evi- 
dence of  a  high  degree  of  good  taste,  of  civili- 
zation, and  a  desire  for  progress  in  what  ennobles 
and  makes  man  better.  But  when  we  go  beyond 
this,  and  add  fanciful  decorations  that  are  some- 
what questionable,  and  certainly  expensive,  we 
build  monuments  of  folly,  and  load  the  commu- 
nity with  burdens  which  they  ought  not  to  bear. 

We  copy  this  design  by  consent,  from  JoHON- 
NEt's  country  school-houses,  published  by  Icison 
&  Pliinney,  New  York,  and  suggest  to  those  en- 
gaged in  building  or  altering  school-houses  to 
send  for  the  book. 


Soap  Suds  for  Currant  Bushes. — A  cor- 
respondent of  the  Indiana  Farmer  says  :  "I 
have  found  the  cultivation  of  currants  to  be  very 
profitable.  By  care  and  attention  I  greatly  in- 
creased the  size  of  the  bushes  and  the  quality 
of  the  fruit.  My  bushes  are  now  about  six  or 
eight  feet  in  height,  and  are  remarkably  thrifty. 
The  cause  of  this  large  growth,  I  attribute  in  a 
great  measure  to  the  fact  that  I  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  pouring  soap  suds  and  chamber  lye 
around  their  roots  during  the  summer  season. 
I  am  satisfied  from  my  own  experience  and  that 


of  some  of  my  neighbors,  that  this  treatment 
will  produce  a  most  astonishing  effect  upon  the 
growth  and  product  of  the  bushes,  and  would 
advise  others  to  give  it  a  trial." — Ohio  Valley 
Farmer. 

BOI.LES'  PATENT  EOCK  LIFTER. 

This  famous  machine  was  in  operation  at  the 
Shaker  Village  in  Harvard,  on  Tuesday,  May  31, 
and  we  had  the  curiosity  to  look  at  its  operations 
again,  to  see  whether  its  achievements  would  cor- 
roborate our  former  good  opinion  of  it.  On  arriv- 
ing upon  the  ground  we  found  the  machine  in  op- 
eration, and  it  only  required  a  few  moments'  ob- 
servation to  satisfy  us  that  no  question  with  re- 
gard to  its  ability  was  left  open — it  did  all  that 
was  required  of  it,  in  so  brief  and  quiet  a  manner, 
that  no  opportunity  was  given  for  doubt  or  ex- 
citement. So,  after  looking  at  it  for  an  hour,  we 
hurried  off  to  a  machine-shop  to  catch  a  little  ex- 
citement among  trip-hammers,  turning-lathes 
and  morticing-machines,  leaving  the  Rock-Lifter 
to  an  admiring  crowd  of  men  and  women  who 
wore  few,  if  any,  hoops !  They  stood  aghast  to 
see  rocks  of  five  tons'  weight  exhumed  at  the 
rate  of  six  or  eight  per  hour,  and  probably  won- 
dered "what  in  natur'  would  happen  next."  It 
was  said  by  good  judges  present,  that  the  ma- 
chine, aided  by  three  men,  a  pair  of  oxen  and  a 
horse,  accomplished  more  in  one  day,  than  six 
men  and  two  pairs  of  oxen  could  have  done  in  a 
week.     We  believe  they  were  correct. 

We  are  under  obligations  to  Deacon  Augus- 
tus Grosvenor  for  "the  key  to  his  office,"  and 
for  pleasant  invitations  to  "take  tea"  within  his 
neat  and  orderly  precincts. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


321 


POETHAIT  OF  AN  ANTI-BO OK-FABMEB, 
The  following  very  readable  remarks  we  ex- 
tract from  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  new  book, 
"Plain  Talks  to  Farmers,"  to  be  published  June 
4th,  by  Messrs.  Brown,  Taggard  &  Chase,  of  this 
city  : 

Whenever  our  anti-book-farmers  can  show  us 
better  crops  at  a  less  expense,  better  flocks,  and 
better  farms,  and  better  owners  on  them,  than 
book-farmers  can,  we  shall  become  converts  to 
their  doctiines.  But,  as  yet,  we  cannot  see  how 
intelligence  in  a  farmer,  should  injure  his  crops. 
Nor  what  difference  it  makes  whether  a  farmer 
gets  his  ideas  from  a  sheet  of  paper,  or  from  a 
neighbor's  mouth,  or  from  his  own  experience, 
so  that  he  only  gets  good,  practical,  sound  ideas. 
A  farmer  never  objects  to  receive  political  in- 
formation from  newspapers  ;  he  is  quite  willing 
to  learn  the  state  of  markets  from  newspapers, 
and  as  willing  to  gain  religious  notions  from 
reading,  and  historical  knowledge,  and  ali  sorts 
of  information  expept  that  which  relates  to  his 
business.  He  will  go  over  and  hear  a  neighbor 
tell  how  he  prepares  his  wheat-lands,  how  he  se- 
lects and  puts  in  his  s-^t-d,  how  he  deals  with  his 
grounds  in  spring,  in  harvest  and  after  harvest- 
time  ;  but  if  that  neighbor  should  write  it  all 
down  carefully  and  put  it  into  paper,  it's  all  poi- 
son !  its  book-farming  1 

"Strange  such  a  difference  there  should. b« 
'Twixt  tweedledum,  and  tweedledee."  ' 

If  we  raise  a  head  of  lettuce  surpassing  all 
that  has  been  seen  hereabouts,  every  good  farmer 
that  loves  a  salad  would  send  for  a  little  seed, 
and  ask,  as  he  took  it,  "How  do  you  contrive  to 
raise  such  monstrous  headsj*  you  must  have 
some  secret  about  it."  But  if  my  way  were  writ- 
ten down  and  printed,  he  would  not  touch  it. 
"Poh,  it's  bookish  !" 

Now  let  us  inquire  in  what  States  land  is  the 
best  managed,  yields  the  most  with  the  least  cost, 
where  are  the  best  sheep,  the  best  cattle,  the  best 
hogs,  the  best  wheat  ?  It  will  be  found  to  be  in 
those  States  having  the  most  agricultural  papers. 

What  is  there  in  agriculture  that  requires  a 
man  to  be  ignorant  if  he  will  be  skilful  ?  Or 
why  may  every  other  class  of  men  learn  by  read- 
ing except  the  farmer  ?  Mechanics  have  their 
iournals ;  commercial  men  have  their  papers^  re- 
ligious men,  theirs;  politicians,  theirs;  there  are 
magazines  and  journals  for  the  arts,  for  science, 
for  education,  and  why  not  for  that  grand  pur- 
suit on  which  all  these  stand  ^}  We  really  could 
never  understand  why  farmers  should  not  wish 
to  have  their  vocation  on  a  level  with  others  ; 
why  they  should  feel  proud  to  have  no  paper, 
while  every  pursuit  is  fond  of  having  one. 

Those  who  are  prejudiced  against  book-farm- 
ing are  either  good  farmers,  misinformed  of  the 
design  of  agricultural  papers,  or  poor  farmers 
•who  only  treat  this  subject  as  they  do  all  others, 
with*blundering  ignorance.  First,  the  good  far- 
mers ;  there  are  in  every  county  many  industri- 
ous, hard-working  men,  who  know  that  they  can- 
not afford  to  risk  anything  upon  wild  experi- 
ments. They  have  a  growing  family  to  support, 
taxes  to  pay,  lands  perhaps  on  which  purchase 


to  make  their  crops  build  a  barn,  that  the  barn 
may  hold  their  crops.  They  suppose  an  agricul- 
tural paper  to  be  stuffed  full  of  wild  fancies,  ex- 
pensive experiments,  big  stories  made  up  by  men 
who  know  of  no  farming  except  parlor-farming. 
They  would,  doubtless,  be  surjn-ised  to  learn  that 
ninety-nine  parts  in  a  hundred  of  the  contents 
of  agricultural  papers  are  written  by  hard-work- 
ing practical  farmers  !  that  the  editor's  business 
is  not  to  foist  absurd  stories  upon  credulous 
readers,  but  to  sift  stories,  to  scrutinize  accounts, 
to  obtain  whatever  has  been  abundantly  proved 
to  be  fact,  and  to  reject  all  that  is  suspected  to 
be  mere  fanciful  theory.  Such  papers  are  design- 
ed to  prevent  imposition  ;  to  kill  off  pretenders 
by  exposing  them  ;  to  search  out  from  practical 
men  whatever  they  have  found  out,  and  to  pub- 
lish it  for  the  benefit  of  their  brethren  all  over 
the  Union  ;  to  spread  before  the  laboring  classes 
such  sound,  well-approved  scientific  knowledge 
as  shall  throw  light  upon  every  operation  of  the 
farm,  the  orchard  and  the  garden. 

The  other  class  who  rail  at  book-farming  ought 
to  be  excused,  for  they  do  not  treat  book-farm- 
ing any  worse  than  they  do  their  own  farming; 
indeed,  not  half  so  bad.  They  rate  the  paper 
with  their  tongue ;  but  cruelly  abuse  their  ground, 
for  twelve  months  in  the  year,  with  both  hands. 
I  will  draw  the  portrait  of  a  genuine  anti-book- 
farmer  of  this  last  sort. 

He  plows  three  inches  deep,  lest  he  should 
turn  up  the  poison  that,  in  his  estimation,  lies  be- 
low ;  his  wheat-land  is  plowed  so  as  to  keep  as 
much  water  on  it  as  possible ;  he  sows  two  bush- 
els to  the  acre  and  reaps  ten,  so  that  it  takes  a 
fifth  of  his  crop  to  seed  his  ground  ;  his  corn- 
land  has  never  any  help  from  him,  but  bears  just 
what  it  pleases,  which  is  from  thirty  to  thirty-five 
bushels  by  measurement,  though  he  brags  that 
it  is  fifty  or  sixty.  His  hogs,  if  not  remarkable 
for  fattening  qualities,  would  beat  old  Eclipse  at 
a  quarter-race;  and  were  the  man  not  prejudiced 
against  deep  plowing,  his  hogs  would  work  his 
grounds  better  with  their  prodigious  snouts  than 
he  does  with  his  jack-knife  plow.  His  meadow- 
lands  yield  him  from  three-quarters  of  a  ton  to  a 
whole  ton  of  hay,  which  is  regularly  spoiled  in 
curing,  regularly  left  out  for  a  month,  and  very 
irregularly  stacked  up,  and  left  for  the  cattle  to 
pull  out  at  their  pleasure,  and  half-eat  and  half- 
trample  underfoot.  His  horses  would  excite  the 
avarice  of  an  anatomist  in  search  of  osteological 
specimens,  and  returning  from  their  range  of 
pasture,  they  are  walking  herbariums,  bearing 
specimens  in  their  mane  and  tail  of  every  weed 
that  bears  a  bur  or  a  cockle.  But,  O,  the  cows  ! 
If  held  up  in  a  bright  day  to  the  sun,  don't  you 
think  they  would  be  semi-transparent  ?  But  he 
'ells  us  that  good  milkers  are  always  poor  !  His 
cows  get  what  Providence  sends  them,  and  very 
little  beside,  except  in  winter,  then  they  have  a 
half-peck  of  corn  on  ears  a  foot  long  thrown  to 
them,  and  they  afford  lively  spectacles  of  anima- 
ted corn  and  cob-crushers — never  mind,  they 
yield,  on  an  average,  three  quarts  of  milk  a-day ! 
and  that  milk  yields  varieties  of  butter  quite  as- 
tonishing. 

His  farm  never  grows  any  better,  in  many  re- 
spects it  gets  annually  worse.  After  ten  years' 
work  on  a  good  soil,  while   his  neighbors  have 


money  is  due,  or  they  are  straining  every  nerve  Igrown  rich,  he  is  just  where  he  started,  only  his 


322 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


house  is  dirtier,  his  fences  more  tottering,  his 
soil  poorer,  his  pride  and  his  ignorance  greater. 
And  when,  at  last,  he  sells  out  to  a  Pennsylva- 
nian  that  reads  the  Farmer's  Cabinet,  or  to  some 
Nevt-  Yorker  with  his  Cultivator  packed  up  care- 
fully as  if  it  v.-ere  gold,  or  to  a  Yankee  with  his 
Neiv  England  Farmer,  he  goes  off  to  Missouri, 
thanking  Heaven  that  he's  not  a  book-farmer  ! 

Unquestionably,  there  are  two  sides  to  this 
question,  and  both  of  them  extreme,  and  there- 
fore both  of  them  deficient  in  science  and  in 
common  sense.  If  men  were  made  according  to 
our  notions,  there  should  not  be  a  silly  one  alive  ; 
but  it  is  otherwise  ordered,  and  there  is  no  de- 
partment of  human  life  in  which  we  do  not  find 
the  weak  and  foolish  men.  This  is  true  of  farm- 
ing as  much  as  of  any  other  calling.  Buf  no  one 
dreams  of  setting  down  the  vocation  of  agricul- 
ture, because,  like  every  other,  it  has  its  propor- 
tion of  stupid  men. 

Why  then  should  agricultural  icriters,  as  a 
class,  be  summarily  rejected  because  some  of 
them  are  visionary  ?  Are  we  not  to  be  allowed 
our  share  of  fools  as  well  as  every  other  depart- 
ment of  life  ?     We  insist  on  our  rights. 

A  book  or  a  paper  never  proposes  to  take  the 
place  of  a  {sLvmer's  judgment.  Not  to  read  at  all 
is  bad  enongh;  but  to  read,  and  swallow  every- 
thing without  reflection,  or  discrimination,  this  is 
even  worse.  Such  a  one  is  not  a  book-headed 
but  a  block-headed  farmer.  Papers  are  designed 
to  assist.  Those  who  read  them  must  select, 
modify,  and  act  according  to  their  own  native 
judgment.  So  used,  papers  answer  a  double  pur- 
pose ;  they  convey  a  great  amount  of  valuable 
practical  information,  and  then  they  stir  up  the 
reader  to  habits  of  thought ;  they  make  him  more 
inquisitive,  more  observing,  more  reasoning,  and, 
therefore,  more  reasonable. 

Now,  as  to  the  contents  of  agricultural  papers, 
■whose  fault  is  it  if  they  are  not  practical  f  Who 
are  the  practical  men  ?  who  are  daily  conversant 
•with  just  the  things  a  cultivator  most  needs  to 
know?  who  is  stumbling  upon  difficulties,  or  dis- 
covering some  escape  from  them  ?  who  is  it  that 
knows  so  much  about  gardens,  orchards,  farms, 
cattle,  grains  and  grasses  ?  Why,  the  very  men 
who  won't  write  a  tcord  for  the  paper  that  they 
read,  and  then  complain  that  there  is  nothing 
practical  in  it.  Y'es,  there  is.  There  is  practical 
evidence  that  men  are  more  willing  to  be  helped 
than  to  help  others  ;  and  also  that  men  some- 
times blame  others  for  things  of  which  they 
themselves  are  chiefly  blameworthy. 


For  the  New  England  Famier. 

MO"WINQ  MACHINES. 

I  am  frequently  asked  what  kind  of  mowing 
machine  had  I  better  obtain  for  the  cutting  of  the 
grass  on  a  farm  of  about  one  hundred  acres — fif 
ty  of  which  are  upland  mowing  ?  A  mower  moved 
by  one  horse  should  be  sufficient  for  such  a  farm  ; 
though  if  two  or  more  adjoining  farmers  could 
unite  in  purchasing  a  machine  to  be  moved  by 
two  horses,  the  work  would  be  better  done.  The 
best  way  you  can  fix  it,  it  requires  power,  and 
considerable  of  it,  to  carry  through  a  swarth 
three  and  a  half  or  four  feet  wide,  where  there  is 
a  burden  of  grass  of  two  tons  to  the  acre ;  and 


no  enterprising  farmer  should  remain  sfttisfied 
with  a  crop  less  than  this,  on  land  of  fair  quality. 
I  know  that  the  average  product,  throughout 
the  State,  is  less  than  one  ton  to  the  acre  ;  but 
this  does  not  prove  that  it  ought  not  to  be  two 
tons  ;  it  only  proves  that  the  present  state  of 
culture  is  far  below  what  it  ought  to  be.  So 
many  have  practised  skinning  their  land,  by  run- 
ning the  plow  only  four  or  five  inches  deep,  and 
scrimping  it  by  dealing  out  their  manure  with  a 
small  shovel — that  the  small  crop  mentioned  is 
the  consequence.  EssEX. 

May  2,  18o9. 


COTTAGE  SONG. 

BT  JOHN    8.    ADAJJ8. 

We've  a  cottage  clothed  with  roses, 

Near  a  wood, 
Where  the  singing  birds  of  summer 

Nest  and  brood  ; 
There  in  early  spring  the  daises 

Gem  the  sod, 
Looking  up  to  heaven  above  them, 

And  to  God. 

There  in  holy  calm  we  worship 

One  above, 
Through  His  works  that  all  around  ns 

Speak  His  love  ; 
Bead  we  there  His  will  in  every 

P.ock  and  tree, 
While  His  blessings  fall  upon  us, 

Kich  and  free. 

Beautiful  the  morning  sunlight 

Cometh  there, 
Crowning  Nature  at  her  early 

Morning  prayer  ; 
And  at  eTening,  when  the  twilight 

Closeth  round, 
Still,  devoutly  at  her  worship, 

la  she  found. 

We  are  not  alnne,  for  angels 

Come  and  go, 
Walking  often  through  our  cottage 

To  and  fro  ; 
Promising  to  guide  and  guard  us 

With  their  love, 
Till  we  go  to  live  among  them, 

Up  above. 

Simple  life  is  ours);  we  follow 

Nature's  way, 
Learning  of  her  truthful  lessons 

Day  by  d&y ; 
Striving  to  fulfil  our  miission, — 

Doing  good : 
Living  happy  in  our  cottage 

Near  the  wood. 


Sour  Milk  in  Greece. — Dr.  Landerer  states 
that  the  Greeks,  as  well  as  the  Turks,  are  great 
lovers  of  milk,  especially  sour  milk,  called  by 
the  former  xynagalon,  and  by  the  latter  Jagusii. 
Immense  quantities  of  this  sour  milk  are  brought 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Attica  to  Alhens, 
and  every  one  hastens  to  purchase  it  in  tne  be- 
lief of  its  wholesome  qualities.  And,  in  fact, 
this  xynogalon,  which  exhibits  a  gelatinous  co- 
agulum,  is  a  very  cooling  and  nutritious  article. 
It  is  consumed  with  almost  every  dish.  The 
shepherds  prepare  it  either  with  rennet  or  from 
some  of  the  dried  coagulum  of  the  milk  itself  j 


1859. 


iNTEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


323 


but  the  milk-sellers  of  the  town  employ  alum  for 
the  purpose,  or  place  in  the  ■\\arm  milk  an  old! 
Spanish  coin,  supposed  to  be  of  peculiar  efficacy 
in  securing  coagulation. 


EXTBACT8  AND  HEPLIES. 

AKTICHOKES   FOR   COWS — ^yIIITE   SPECKS   IN 
BUTTER. 

"Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  inform  me  through 
the  columns  of  your  paper,  vrhether  or  no  arti- 
chokes are  useful  to  give  cows. 

I  Jhave,  for  years,  occasionally  noticed  white 
specks  in  butter,  and  have  made  inquiry  for  the 
cause,  but  no  one  can  tell.  If  you  rinse  the  but- 
ter, many  of  those  white  particles  will  float  on 
the  top  of  the  water,  but  it  is  impossible  to  get 
them  all  out.  If  you  can  tell  me  the  cause  or 
preventive,  you  will  favor  one  who  is  interested 
in  your  journal. 

"^Vhat  soil  is  best  for  white  blackberries,  and 
what  will  make  them  productive.  T. 

Felchville,  VL,  ISj'J. 

Remarks.  —  Artichokes  are  good  for  cows, 
given  in  proper  quantities. 

In  churning,  as  soon  as  the  butter  begins  to 
come,  all  the  particles  of  cream  that  have  been 
thrown  to  the  top,  or  any  other  part  of  the  churir, 
should  be  carefully  scraped  down.  If  they  are 
left,  they  will,  more  or  less  of  them,  mingle  with 
the  butter,  and  make  white  spots.  Sometimes, 
however,  butter  will  have  white  streaks  through 
it.  This  may  be  occasioned  by  collecting  the 
cream  at  many  different  times,  so  that  in  churn- 
ing some  of  it  is  quite  fresh  and  does  not  "come" 
so  readily  as  the  rest.  The  cream,  while  being 
collected,  should  be  salted  a  little,  and  carefully 
stirred  every  day.  

OBSTRUCTED   MILK. 

I  have  a  valuable  cow  which  calved  about  ten 
days  ago  ;  she  has  an  obstruction  in  one  of  her 
hind  teats.  The  milk  will  only  flow  in  a  very 
small  fine  stream  and  takes  as  long  to  milk  it  as 
it  would  two  cows.  The  teat  or  udder  does  not 
swell,  no  appearance  of  garget ;  but  there  ap- 
pears to  be  a  small  hard  bunch  in  the  teat  in  the 
milk  passage  close  up  to  the  udder.  Can  you, 
or  any  of  your  readers,  tell  me  what  to  do  for  it  ? 

Atkinson,  A^,  II.,  May,  1859.  L.  Keen. 

Remarks. — Take  one-half  of  a  small  pair  of 
scissors,  and  grind  down  to  a  sharp  edge  on  both 
sides,  and  running  down  to  a  small  point.  Hold 
the  teat  firmly  in  the  left  hand  and  thrust  the  in- 
strument up  the  teat,  gently,  so  as  to  make  an 
incision  one-sixteenth  or  one-eighth  of  an  inch 
wide.  If  you  find  the  stream  obstructed  in  a 
day  or  two,  repeat  the  operation. 

TO   SAVE   VINES   FROM   BUGS. 

The  most  sure  remedy  is  to  go  over  the  hills 
early  in  the  morning,  and  kill  all  you  can  find; 
get  some  old  shingles  or  bits  of  board,  put  a  lit- 
tle tar  on  one  side,  and  lay  it  so  the   bugs  can 


crawl  under,  by  the  side  of  the  hill ;  they  can 
then  be  readily  found  about  the  middle  of  the 
day  and  killed.  1  sometimes  use  a  mixture  of 
three  parts  flour,  two  of  sulphur,  one  black  pep- 
per, and  sprinkle  a  little  on  and  around  the 
vines.  Last  season,  I  entirely  gained  the  victory 
over  the  bugs  in  three  days.  Perhaps  some  may 
think  my  mode  requires  a  deal  of  labor,  but  one 
hour  in  the  morning  and  another  at  noon  for  a 
few  days  will  save  an  acre,  that  is,  if  the  bugs  do 
no  worse  than  heretofore. 

Shaker  Village,  N.  U.     Henry  J.  Durgin. 

RECLAIMING   LAND. 

I  have  a  small  piece  of  wet  land  that  was  cov- 
ered with  brakes  and  small  brush,  and  bore  little 
worth  anything.  In  August,  1855,  I  mowed  it 
with  a  bush  scythe,  and  let  it  dry  well,  and  then 
burned  it.  After  which  I  took  a  team  and  plow 
and  tore  it  up,  and  let  it  rest  until  the  next  June, 
1857  ;  then  I  took  a  bog-hoe,  and  levelled  it,  and 
dug  a  ditch,  and  sowed  herds-grass,  red-top  and 
clover  seed  and  a  few  ashes.  In  1858,  I  cut  two 
crops  of  hay;  the  first  was  as  large  as  I  could 
well  dry  on  the  land.  I  have  tried  a  number  of 
pieces  in  the  same  way  with  equal  success. 

Asliby,  Mass.,  1859.  A.  Taylor. 

GREEN   WORMS — INCH   WORMS. 

Last  year  the  currant  and  gooseberry  bushes 
of  this  place  were  stripped  of  their  leaves,  by  a 
green  worm  about  an  inch  long  when  full  grown, 
by  some  called  the  inch-worm.  When  the  bush 
is  jarred,  it  will  suspend  itself  by  a  web  some  six 
or  eight  inches  long,  and  then  return  to  its  work 
of  destruction.  They  are  so  numerous  in  some 
localities  that  it  would  be  an  endless  job  to  pick 
them  off"  by  hand.  Can  you  tell  of  some  more 
expeditious  method  of  ridding  our  gardens  of  this 
pest  ?  They  commence  their  work  about  the  last 
of  May  or  first  of  June.  I.  G.  J. 

Great  Falls,  May  16,  1859. 

Remarks.—  AVe  know  of  no  remedy,  as  the 
common  application  of  whale  oil  soap,  &c.,  would 
be  quite  likely  to  spoil  the  fruit. 

ROOT  crops. 

Having  read  considerable  discussion  in  the 
Farmer  the  past  winter,  on  "Root  Crops,"  I 
would  refer  you  to  an  article  written  by  myself 
at  your  request,  printed  in  the  Fanner  of  April 
0,  1856,  on  the  first  page,  in  regard  to  "Root 
Crops." 

I  wish  to  say  that  I  have  practiced  the  same 
mode  of  farming  with  equal  success,  and  that  I 
now  have  a  cow  five  years  old  that  weighs  2360 
lbs.,  being  300  lbs.  heavier  than  either  of  those 
I  had  at  the  United  States  fair  at  Boston. 

I  wish  to  have  it  understood  that  her  principal 
extra  feed  during  the  winters  has  been  roots.    ' 
JosiAii  Bennett. 

Westmoreland,  N.  H.,  April,  1859. 

cockroaches. 

Can  you,  or  any  of  the  readers  of  your  valua- 
ble paper,  inform  me  what  will  exterminate  cock- 
roaches ?  A  Subscriber. 


324 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
STRAIGHT  COMB. 

Mr.  Editor,: — I  fully  agree  M-ith  Mr.  Quinby 
as  to  the  advantage  of  the  movable  comb  hive. 
Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  any  one 
•who  has  given  it  a  fair  trial  could  come  to  any 
other  conclusion.  Mr.  Quinby  says  that  he  should 
be  pleased  to  have  all  admit  that  the  triarKjular 
guide  was  public  property.  I  understand  that  it 
is,  and  that  any  one  has  a  right  to  use  it.  Soon 
after  I  commenced  keeping  bees  in  the  Lang- 
stroth  hive,  Mr.  Clark's  partner  or  agent  called 
on  me,  and  forbid  my  using  the  guide.  I  subse- 
quently learned  from  the  Patent  Office  that 
neither  Mr.  Clark  nor  Mr.  Langstroth  had  ob- 
tained a  patent  for  this  part  of  the  hive.  Which 
of  the  claimants  is  entitled  to  the  invention  is  a 
matter  of  little  interest  to  me,  as  I  do  not  now 
use  it,  and  consider  it  of  no  value. 

Mr.  Clark's  partner  or  agent  did  not  succeed 
in  forcing  me  to  pay  him  five  dollars  for  his  pre- 
tended patent,  but  he  did  succeed  in  calling  my 
attention  to  the  possibility  that  there  might  be 
other  ways  of  securing  straight  comb  quite  as 
good,  and  perhaps  better.  I  shall  now  endeavor 
to  describe  a  plan  so  easy  in  its  arrangement,  so 
certain  in  its  results,  that  I  doubt  if  a  better  can 
be  desired. 
•  Take  M-orker  comb  one  or  two  years  old  and 
cut  it  into  strips  one  and  a  half  or  two  cells  wide. 
With  a  small  brush,  coat  the  under  side  of  the 
top  strip  of  the  frame  with  melted  rosin  and 
bees  wax,  and  immediately  lay  on  one  of  the 
pieces  of  cut  comb,  placing  it  so  that  the  divis- 
ions between  the  bottom  of  the  cells  will  form  a 
line  through  the  centre  of  the  top  piece  of  the 
frame  from  end  to  end.  If  the  comb  is  crooked 
it  can  be  straightened,  and  as  it  adheres  firmly  to 
the  wood,  it  will  remain  so.  One  frame  full  of 
comb  will  cut  enough  for  several  hives.  As  the 
comb  does  not  cut  smooth  and  neatly  with  a  cold 
knife,  I  make  use  of  a  plan  by  which  the  knife 
is  always  kept  warm,  cutting  the  comb  so 
smooth  that  the  bees  take  up  the  cells  where  the 
Knife  leaves  them,  and  proceed  with  their  work 
without  cutting  away  any  of  the  comb.  This  ar- 
rangement for  obtaining  straight  comb  costs  less 
than  the  triangular  guide,  is  more  reliable,  and 
is  free  to  all.  E.  A.  Brackett. 

Winchester, 


For  the  Nev>  England  Farmer. 
HOTW  CUT  NAILS  WERE  INTRODUCED. 

Mr.  Editor: — In  your  paper  of  March  12, 
under  the  head  of  "American  Inventions,"  is  a 
communication  from  Caleb  Bates,  Kingston, 
Mass.,  upon  the  invention  of  screw  augers  and 
cut  nails.  I  have  some  facts  in  regard  to  the  first 
invention  of  cut  nails,  received  mainly  from  the 
Hon.  John  Folsom,  formerly  of  Chester,  once 
well  known  in  various  public  offices,  and  as  the 
keeper  of  a  public  house,  which  I  will  relate  per- 
haps more  in  detail,  and  be  more  personal  than 
will  be  generally  interesting,  but  I  think  will  in- 
terest many  individuals. 

Mr.  Folsom  told  me  that  his  father,  David 
Folsom,  was  the  first  inventor  of  cut  nails.  The 
idea  was  suggested  to  him  by  seeing  some  person 
cutting  with  a  pair  of  shears,  some  pieces  off  the 


end  of  an  iron  hoop.  He  commenced  cutting 
nails  with  shears,  and  heading  them  in  acommoa 
vise.  He  then  improved  by  having  his  cutting 
ap[)aratus  operated  by  a  crank  motion  with  a  fly 
wheel,  and  a  treadle  operated  by  the  foot.  Iq 
heading,  the  vise  was  superseded  by  dies,  a  sta- 
tionary one  fastened  to  a  bench,  and  a  movable 
one  attached  to  a  lever,  and  drawn  together  by 
the  foot.  When  this  was  first  invented,  every 
nail  was  taken  from  the  dies,  as  well  as  pui  in, 
with  the  fingers.  They  soon  bored  a  hole  through 
the  bench,  so  that  the  nails  could  drop  out  by 
their  own  gravity. 

The  introduction  of  the  business,  I  think,  was 
at  Tamworth,  N.  H.,  or  that  vicinity.  My  infor- 
mant was  born  in  1776,  and  I  think  that  Avhen 
he  was  eleven  years  old,  which  would  be  about 
17S7,  his  father  removed  with  his  family  to  Har 
risburgh.  Pa.,  and  there  set  up  the  business,  but 
died  in  a  few  months,  leaving  another  son,  Wil- 
liam Johnson  Folsom,  some  four  or  five  years 
older  than  John,  and  they  carried  on  the  business 
there  until  John  was  about  sixteen,  or  about  1793, 
when  they  removed  back  to  Tamworth,  and  se4 
up  the  business. 

In  April,  1794,  Hon.  Joseph  Blanchard,  of 
Chester,  N.  H.,  who  owned  the  mills  at  what  ia 
now  Auburn  village,  married  the  widow  Folsom, 
who  was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  William  John- 
son, of  West  Newbury,  Mass.,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  year,  the  young  Folsoms  removed  there,  and 
carried  on  the  business,  and  after  a  while,  com- 
menced cutting  by  water,  but  still  heading  by 
hand. 

After  tlie  New  Hampshire  State  Prison  was 
established,  nails  were  cut  there  and  carried  to 
Concord  to  be  headed  by  the  prisoners,  but  the 
self-heading  machines  having  come  into  use,  it 
became  a  losing  business,  and  was  given  up. 

Auburn,  N.  U.,  May  3,  1859.         B.  Chase. 


MIDDLESEX   AGRICULTURAL    SOCIETY. 

This  Society,  although  the  oldest  county  soci- 
ety in  the  State,  is  still  hale  and  hearty.  Its  af- 
fairs are  systematically  managed.  Its  officers 
are  energetic  men,  and  the  programme  of  its  last 
exhibition  was  promptly  carried  out.  The  sum 
awarded  in  premiums  was  .$708,30. 

Their  last  Transactions  has  several  valuable 
reports  of  committees.  One  on  heifers  con- 
tains several  useful  suggestions  to  breeders. — 
The  paper  by  Asa  Clement,  of  Dracut,  is  both 
witty  and  instructive,  and  tells  the  truth  plainly 
about  dwarf  pears.  The  result  of  this  depart- 
ment of  fruit  culture  has  not  hitherto  proved 
very  satisfactory.  We  think  there  has  been 
money  enough  expended  in  it,  and  we  cannot,  in 
conscience,  recommend  it,  except  in  localities 
that  have  been  found  peculiarly  favorable. 

The  report  by  Samuel  H.  Riioades,  of  Con- 
cord, on  stallions,  is  a  good  one.  That  upon 
bread,  by  MixoT  Pratt,  of  Concord,  shows  that 
he  both  knows  what  good  bread  is,  and  how  to 
make  it.  Several  of  the  statements  by  competi- 
tors for  premiums  are  rather  meagre.  We  should 


1859. 


KEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


325 


be  glad  to  see  them  more  full  and  particular. 
The  two  most  important  papers  in  the  report 
are  a  story  by  the  Secretary,  Dr,  Joseph  Rey- 
nolds, designed  to  illustrate  farm  management 
— and  the  address  at  the  table  by  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson.  These  are  both  interesting,  and  both 
suggestive  of  thought.  Mr.  Emerson's  address 
is  in  his  own  peculiar  style.  He  has  a  wonderful 
faculty  of  clothing  old  ideas  in  a  new  garb,  so  as 
to  make  them  appear  original  and  impressive. 
He  can  say  more  in  a  few  words  than  most  men, 
and  he  takes  a  philosophical  view  of  everything 
he  looks  at.  We  heard  of  a  remark  with  regard 
to  the  story  upon  farm  management  from  one  of 
the  best  farmers  in  the  county,  which  we  think, 
will  afford  the  author  more  pleasure  than  the 
premium  he  received  for  it.  It  was  this.  The 
farmer  said  if  he  had  a  son  who  was  going  to 
farming,  he  knew  of  nothing  he  would  sooner 
put  into  his  hands,  tRan  that  simple  story.  Both 
the  story  and  the  address  have  been  extensively 
copied,  not  only  by  the  agricultural  press,  but 
other  papers  also. 

We  do  not  notice  any  premiums  awarded  for 
flowers,  or  for  farms,  or  experiments.  We  would 
recommend  the  offer  of  premiums  for  experi- 
ments in  reclaiminsf  pasture  lands,  as  a  subject 
of  great  importance  in  Middlesex  county, — the 
greatest  milk-raising  county  in  the  State.  The 
pastures  in  Middlesex  are  very  much  exhausted, 
and  if  anything  can  be  done  to  restore  them,  it 
will  be  of  immense  value  to  the  county. 

There  is  much  experience  in  this  county  with 
respect  to  feeding  stock,  which  if  it  could  be 
brought  out,  might  result  in  securing  much  lar- 
ger products  from  the  same  means. 


For  tlie  New  England  Farmer. 
SECOND  MARKET  DAY  FOB  ESSEX. 

This  came  off  near  Sutton's  Mills,  in  North  An- 
dover,  yesterday.  The  gathering  was  large,  the 
animals  presented  of  superior  character,  and 
trading  brisk  and  satisfactory.  So  well  satisfied 
were  the  trustees  of  these  markets  that  they  de- 
termined to  hold  a  third  at  Georgetown,  on  Tues- 
day, the  21st  of  June,  1859.  The  probability  is, 
double  this  number  would  have  been  at  Andover 
had  it  not  have  been  for  the  rainy  aspect  of  the 
skies  ;  but  the  rain  did  not  essentially  mar  the 
utility  of  the  fair. 

I  was  pleased  to  see  on  the  ground  a  mower, 
to  be  moved  by  one  horse ;  and  wheels  for  guid- 
ing the  plow  without  hands  ;  and  corn  cultiva- 
tors, said  to  do  the  needful,  without  disturbing 
the  roots  of  the  plants.  1  have  entire  confidence, 
that  market  fairs  are  to  be  one  of  our 

3Iay  18,  1859.  Yankee  Notions. 


Agricultural  Books.  —  Messrs.  Crosby 
Nichols  &  Co.,  Washington  Street,  Boston, 
keep  a  large   assortment  of  agricultural  books 


which  they  offer  at  low  prices.  A  good  farmer 
cannot  afford  to  be  without  good  agricultural 
books,  as  he  will  find  his  profits  increased  by 
their  perusal. 

A  NEW  PLO"WMAN. 


Labor-saving  implements  and  machinery  are 
desirable,  we  believe,  on  every  account ;  at  least, 
we  know  not  what  possible  disadvantage  is  con- 
nected with  any  good  labor-saving  machine. — 
If  they  are  useful  and  profitable  under  our  pres- 
ent mode  of  culture,  they  will  be  likely  to  re- 
main so  until  superseded  by  something  still 
more  useful  and  profitable. 

Under  existing  circumstances,  where  so  large 
a  portion  of  the  farm  labor  of  New  England  is 
performed  by  our  trans-Atlantic  brethren,  we 
want  one  of  two  things — machines  that  will 
think,  so  as  to  perform  all  this  labor  in  the 
cheapest  and  best  manner,  or  some  person  must 
put  his  own  thoughts  into  machines,  and  so  con- 
trive them  as  to  make  them  work  without 
thought,  when  the  motive  power  is  applied  to 
them! 

The  farmer  will  surely  be  disappointed,  who 
expects  to  conduct  his  aff"airs  satisfactorily  with 
only  the  heads  and  hands  of  these  excellent 
brethren  in  their  way,  to  whom  we  have  alluded. 
They  have  broad  shoulders  and  strong  hands, 
with  some  impulse  and  great  persistency  in  la- 
bor, but  nothing,  or  little,  to  guide  it.  They 
must  pass  many  more  years  yet  in  a  course  of 
preparation,  aided  constantly  by  Yankee  teach- 
ing and  examples  of  aptitude,  before  they  will 
become  qualified  to  take  the  lead  in  our  agricul- 
tural operations. 

The  Plowman,  introduced  at  the  head  of  this 
article,  is'^  machine  of  the  latter  description. 
Hitch  it  to  your  motive  power,  set  it  in  place, 
and  your  men,  without  heads,  or  at  least,  heads 
innocent  of  much  thought,  will  perform  for  you 
a  good  work.  The  Plowman,  like  most  good 
contrivances,  is  a  very  simple  affair — merely  a 
triangle  of  cast  iron,  with  a  M'heel  at  one  point- 
It  is  attached  to  the  beam  of  the  plow  by  bolts 
or  screws,  and  is  not  easily  broken  or  put  out 
of  place.  In  company  with  Mr.  J.  M.  Whitney, 
of  Bolton,  Mass.,  the  inventor,  we  took  it  to  the 
field  and  set  it  in  motion.  When  once  in  place, 
and  properly   adjusted,  it  kept  on  its  way  un- 


326 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


touched  by  any  one,  and  did  work  that  would 
do  credit  to  the  best  workmen.  Its  employ- 
ment will  save  the  labor  of  one  hand,  in  many 
instances,  and  a  saving  may  be  made  in  a  single 
week  sufheient  to  pay  for  it.  Look  at  it,  and  if 
it  seems  comely  to  you,  test  it. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
AGKICULTUKE. 

Mr.  Epitor  : — In  order  to  obviate  some  of 
the  prejudices  which,  unfortunately,  exist  among 
farmers  against  hook  knowledge,  I  wish  to  say  a 
few  words  \i\)ox\scientiJic,  experimental  &nA. prac- 
tical agriculture. 

Scieniijic  agriculture,  as  I  understand  it,  ex- 
plains the  various  methods  of  cultivating,  improv- 
ing and  beautifying  the  earth,  so  as  to  render  it 
more  productive  and  delightful.  The  term  ag- 
riculture,  it  derived  from  "ager,"  a  field,  and  "cul- 
tura,"  culture,  so  that,  according  to  its  etymology, 
it  means,  field- culture.  In  a  restricted  sense,  it 
is  confined  to,  and  explains,  the  different  opera- 
tions required  in  the  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment of  arable  and  grass  lands,  and  whatever  ap- 
pertains to  the  same  ;  the  cultivating  and  pre- 
serving ditierent  kinds  of  crops,  fruits,  kc.  In  a 
more  extensive  sense,  it  includes  the  breeding, 
rearing,  feeding  and  management  of  all  kinds  of 
stock,  and  the  disposal  of  the  same.  And  it  is 
the  particular  province  of  5cj'e«^//?c  agriculture  to 
explain  the  reasons  why  things  should  be  done 
thus  and  so,  and  not  in  a  different  manner.  Sci- 
ence means  knowledge  ;  and  he  who  possesses  it, 
is  master  of  his  subject,  and  is  competent  to  ex- 
plain it.  But,  as  it  is  human  to  err,  and  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  human  perfection,  it  frequent- 
ly happens,  that  our  most  scientific  men  are  mis- 
taken in  some  points,  and  therefore  are  not  per- 
fectly reliable  in  all  their  statements  ;  and  the  rea- 
son is  obvious,  either  because  they  have  been  de- 
ficient in  scientific  knowledge,  or  I)ecause  they 
have  carelessly  overlooked  some  of  the  causes 
which  have  contributed  to  produce  a  certain  re- 
sult, or  have  attributed  the  result  to  wrong  causes. 
In  either  case,  it  does  not  prove  the  uselessness 
or  the  worthlessness  of  science,  or  book-know- 
ledge, but  directly  the  reverse  ;  for,  if  the  most 
knowing  and  scientific  sometimes  make  mistakes, 
the  least  scientific,  that  is,  the  most  ignorant,  will 
be  the  most  likely  to  make  the  most  frequent 
mistakes.  Errors  of  this  kind  are  the  result  of 
ignorance,  and  not  of  science  or  knowledge  ;  and 
their  frequency  is  generally  in  proportion  to  the 
degrees  of  ignorance  which  prevail.  Ignorant  peo- 
ple on  this  subject,  are  like  narroM'-necked  bot- 
tles, the  less  they  have  in  them,  the  more  noise 
they  make  in  pouring  it  out.  They  seem  to  think 
that  "a  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing," 
especially  if  it  be  derived  from  books.  At  least, 
they  think  it  quite  unnecessary  for  farmers  to 
trouble  themselves  much  about  book  knowledge, 
or  to  try  to  educate  themselves  beyond  their  im- 
mediate labor  in  the  field.  They  seem  almost  to 
entertain  a  prejudice  against  one  who  devotes 
much  attention  to  subjects  of  art,  or  science,  or 
general  literature,  as  though  such  studies  were 
inconsistent  with  the  ordinary  business  of  a 
thrifty  farmer.    Very  few  farmers  are  so  burdened 


with  work,  that  they  cannot  find  one  or  two  hours 
each  day  for  other  studies  besides  those  which  re- 
late to  agriculture.  The  objects  of  all  our  pri- 
vate studies  should  be  the  better  to  qualify  our- 
selves for  our  work,  to  make  us  more  intelligent, 
more  skilful,  more  scientific,  and  thus  to  raise 
ourselves  above  mere  serfs  and  laborers,  to  a  po- 
sition of  influence  and  growing  usefulness. 

Experiment alai^ncnXiuve  differs  in  some  respects 
from  the  scientific,  inasmuch  as  it  consists  in  en- 
deavoring to  find  out  by  a.  series  of  experiments, 
what  science  already  knows  and  is  prepared  to 
teach  systematically.  All  experiments  are  more 
or  less  expensive.  It  may  cost  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  dollars  to  test  and  to  make  sure 
what  we  desire  to  know.  To  accomplish  our 
purpose,  time  and  money  and  labor  are  required. 
But,  when  we  have  once  obtained  our  knowledge 
by  well  tried  experiments,  and  printed  the  re- 
sults in  a  book,  it  then  ceases  to  be  experimental, 
and  is  so  much  added  to  our  present  stock  of 
scientific  knowledge.  Every  one  who  tries  ex- 
periments should  be  a  man  of  thought  and  re- 
flection, who  knows  how  to  combine  elements,  so 
as  to  make  wheat,  corn,  roots  and  other  vegeta- 
bles grow,  upon  which  man  and  beast  subsist.  He 
should  be  a  reader  of  agricultural  books  and  pe- 
riodicals, a  careful  observer  of  nature,  a  close 
thinker,  a  correct  reasoner,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
draw  correct  conclusions.  In  making  experiments, 
he  should  do  it  at  first  on  a  small  scale,  and  ac- 
cording to  his  means,  and  repeat  them  a  sufficient 
number  of  times  to  establish  their  certainty.  But, 
then,  there  would  be  less  need  of  his  making  ex- 
periments, if  he  read  more  and  understood  bet- 
ter the  experiments  of  others.  Books  should 
be  "the  man  of  his  counsel  and  the  lamp  to  bis 
feet  to  guide  him  in  the  path  of  duty,"  because 
books  contain  the  experiments  and  the  experi- 
ence of  others.  Still  he  should  not  believe  in 
the  truth  of  every  statement  which  he  finds  in 
agricultural  books  and  papers,  especially  in  the 
latter,  because  many  of  the  writers  in  the  agri- 
cultural papers  are  uneducated  men,  honest  and 
truthful,  but  they  do  not  know  the  whole  truth, 
and  are  liable  to  make  wrong  statements.  For 
instance,  in  the  use  of  salt,  quicklime,  potash,  &c., 
for  agricultural  purposes,  great  caution  is  neces- 
sary, however  strongly  they  may  be  recommen- 
ded ;  because,  when  improperly  used,  or  in  wrong 
quantities,  they  are  very  destructive  to  vegetation. 
It  is  chiefly  owing  to  the  mistakes  which  have 
been  made  in  the  use  of  these  and  such  like  ar- 
ticles, that  so  many  prejudices  exist  against  book 
knowledge. 

Practical  agriculture  is  founded  on  science, 
experiment  and  experience  ;  in  other  words,  it 
is  practical  knowledge  applied  to  farming,  wheth- 
er that  knowledge  be  derived  from  books  con- 
taining the  result  of  other  men's  experience,  or 
from  our  own  thoughts,  study  and  experience.  At 
any  rate,  it  is  not  visionary  or  theoretical,  but 
practical.  It  consists  in  applying  the  well-know  " 
and  well-established  principles  in  the  science  o. 
agriculture  to  the  cultivation  and  improvement 
of  the  soil,  in  rendering  it  more  productive  and 
better  fitted  for  the  support  and  accommodation 
of  man  and  beast.  We  have  many  practical  far- 
mers who  do  not  pretend  to  be  very  scientific,  ov 
much  given  to  experiment,  but  whose  pi«cllce 
works  to  a  charm.     They  read  and   think  ?.nd 


1S59. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


327 


judge  for  themselves,  and  apply  in  practice  what- 
ever appears  to  be  right  and  reasonable.  They 
are  not  only  practical,  but  progressive  far- 
mers. They  are  continually  learning  more  and 
more,  and  doing  better  every  year.  They  go  on 
from  one  degree  of  improvement  to  another,  so 
that  you  may  know  them  by  their  good  fruits,  as 
well  as  by  their  good  Avorks. 

John  Goldsbuet. 


For  the  Nete  England  Fanner. 
TASTE  AMONG  FAKMEBS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — There  seems  to  be  a  great 
want  of  taste  among  many  of  our  farmers.  They 
appear  to  think  that  taste  is  of  no  importance 
whatever — something  which  they  have  nothing 
to  do  with — and  if  they  only  attend  to  the  impor- 
tant duties  of  the  farm,  they  care  nothing  for 
appearances. 

One  way  in  which  they  show  want  of  taste,  is 
in  the  surroundings  of  their  dwellings  ;  they  will 
leave  an  ox-cart,  sled  or  hay-rigging,  in  the  door- 
yard,  or  in  close  proximity  to  the  house,  rather 
than  be  at  the  trouble  of  removing  it  a  rod  or 
two  farther,  where  it  would  not  be  so  unsightly. 

Some  will  have  piles  of  manure,  heaps  of 
stones  or  huge  piles  of  wood,  left  where  they 
give  an  air  of  slovenliness  to  the  homestead,  no 
matter  how  new  or  handsome  the  buildings  may 
be. 

There  are  eome  farmers  who  limit  their  shade 
trees  to  a  few  so  situated  that  they  cannot  damage 
land  which  they  care  anything  about,  making  that 
the  standarfl,  and  sacrificing  a  noble  elm,  or  hand- 
some oak,  or  maple,  because  they  draw  the  juic- 
es of  the  soil,  and  they  fear  they  shall  have  a 
few  less  hills  of  potatoes  or  corn,  if  they  let  them 
remain. 

Perhaps  some  will  say,  well,  my  buildings  are 
old,  and  1  don't  think  it  makes  much  diflerence 
what  I  have  around  them  ;  but  /say  it  does  make 
a  great  difference.  What  if  the  buildings  are 
old  ?  if  there  is  an  air  of  thrift  and  neatness  about 
them,  they  will  not  look  one-half  so  unsightly. 
Who  would  not  see  a  difference  between  even  a 
hovel  without  a  shade  tree  or  a  rosebush,  and 
one  precisely  like  it  with  rosebushes  and  wood- 
bines, climbing  up  its  «veather-beaten  walls,  cov- 
ering its  numerous  imperfections,  and  with  the 
addition  of  one  or  two  shade  trees,  making  the 
spot  look  really  attractive  ?  It  makes  nearly  as 
much  difference  as  there  is  between  neatness  and 
negligence,  in  the  interior  of  a  dwelling. 

Think  not  that  I  believe  all  farmers  show  a 
want  of  taste,  for  many  a  farmer's  home  exhibits 
an  appreciation  of  the  tasteful  and  beautiful 
highly  creditable  to  the  proprietor.  Let  not  the 
farmer  think  it  is  beneath  him  to  attend  to  such 
things,  nor  consider  that  time  lost,  which  he 
spends  in  making  the  surroundings  of  his  house 
tasteful  and  attractive. 

"Let  the  green  tree  wave  by  thy  cottage  door, 

And  the  rose  in  thy  garden  bloom  ; — 
With  them  shall  the  planter's  memory  soar, 

Whfn  he  rests  in  the  quiet  tomb  : — 
And  oft  shall  the  travellers  yiause  to  view 

The  works  of  thy  patriot  hands, — 
The  rose  and  the  tree — the  elm  or  the  yew, 

That  now  by  thy  door- way  stands." 


Concord,  Mass.,  Feb.,  1859. 


Taste. 


For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 
PRUNING  AND  RAISING  APPLE  TREES. 

My  attention  was  called  to  make  this  commu- 
nication by  seeing  one  signed  by  Thomas  Ellis, 
of  Rochester,  in  the  N.  E.  Farmer,  monthly, 
vol.  10,  page  539, 

I  have  got  into  the  same  dilemma  myself  that 
the  writer  of  that  article  did.  I  have  tried  for  a 
number  of  years  to  raise  an  orchard,  and  have 
succeeded  in  getting  about  a  dozen  trees  to  bear 
about  as  many  apples  each,  and  a  small  nursery 
for  my  own  use  of  about  one  hundred  trees  large 
enough  to  set,  all  grafted.  Now  I  am  willing  to 
confess  I  pruned  my  trees  the  wrong  season  of 
the  year. 

About  a  year  ago  I  examined  articles  on  pru- 
ning in  the  N.  E.  Farmer,  from  vol.  2  to  that 
time,  and  with  more  light,  as  I  thought,  than  I 
had  possessed  before,  made  up  my  mind  to  prune 
my  trees  about  the  middle  of  June,  althougii  the 
editor  quoted  in  one  place  from  Downing,  that 
"small  branches  may  be  taken  off  any  month  in 
the  year  with  safety."  This  can't  be  so,  and  I 
did  not  believe  it  when  I  read  it,  but  did  think 
it  would  be  safe  to  prune  about  the  middle  of 
June.  I  began  to  prune  some  the  11th  of  June, 
but  did  the  most  of  it  just  after  the  middle.  I 
covered  the  wounds  M'ith  cement,  but  they  soon 
commenced  bleeding,  and  I  could  not  stop  them. 
I  thdtf'ght  of  searing  them  with  a  hot  iron,  but 
had  never  seen  that  recommended.  If  they  run 
very  much,  the  tree  is  ruined  ;  it  makes  it  sickly, 
and  soon  dies  ;  the  sap  running  down,  kills  the 
bark  and  rots  the  tree.  I  have  lost  a  number  of 
trees  by  haying  them  injured  by  cultivating 
among  them,  by  breaking  the  branches  off,  or 
otherwise  maiming  them.  And  with  all  the  light 
of  the  present  day,  probably  not  one  tree  out  of 
four  lives  to  grow  up  a  healthy  tree.  A  great 
many  orchards  are  killed  by  pruning,  some  by 
mice,  some  by  cattle,  so  that  the  chances  for  get- 
ting an  orchard  are  small.  From  what  little  ex- 
perience and  observation  I  have  had,  it  is  my 
opinion  that  any  farmer  may  set  an  orchard  on 
good  ground  with  trees  grafted  or  budded,  then 
cultivate  yearly,  and  in  ten  jears  from  the  time 
the  trees  are  set,  not  more  than  one  in  four  will 
be  worth  what  it  cost  when  set. 

We  think  the  present  age  is  an  enlightened 
one  ;  that  our  forefathers  were  "old  fogies."  It 
may  be  so,  in  some  instances,  but  is  it  so  gener- 
ally ?  I  think  not.  Even  in  orcharding,  farmers 
took  great  pains  to  get  trees  ;  some  carried  them 
miles  on  their  shoulders  to  set  orchards,  selecting 
the  best  situation,  preferring  a  side-hill.  After 
being  set,  they  were  left  to  grow,  not  torn  up  by 
the  roots  with  a  plow,  or  barked  by  the  ox-yoke 
or  the  harrow,  nor  pruned  to  death.  Grafting 
and  budding  were  not  practised  as  now,  it  is 
true  ;  the  object  was  then  to  raise  apples/or  the 
family,  and  apples  for  cider.  This  they  did  to  a 
good  purpose.  It  is  true  they  did  not  have  so 
good  a  variety  as  at  the  present  day,  but  many 
of  our  best  apples  are  from  the  "native"  trees. 

The  editor,  in  his  remarks  on  Mr,  Ellis'  com- 
munication, when  speaking  of  our  fathers,  says : 
"They  probably  pruned  apple  trees  in  March  or 
April,  because  it  more  was  convenient,  and  as 
they  did  not  graft  nor  bud  and  produce  as  many 
valuable  trees  as  we  do  now,  they  cared  less  if 


328 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


they  did  die,  and  would  supply  their  places  with 
Bfiother  set  of  natural  fruit."  Here,  in  the  cold 
State  of  Maine,  March  is  the  hest  time  to  prune. 
I  have  known  trees  for  thirty  years  that  had  been 
pruned  in  ^larch  that  are  now  healthy  trees. 
Three  years  ago  I  had  small  trees  in  my  nursery 
trimmed  by  the  snow  settling  in  March.  The 
branches  were  broken  off,  so  as  to  leave  a  cavity 
in  the  main  stem,  and  I  never  saw  trees  heal  so 
quick,  and  that  were  so  smooth  where  the  branch 
came  off,  as  they  are  now.  E.  G.  C. 

Canaan,  Me.,  May,  lSo9. 

Remarks. — Trees  are  governed  by  natural 
laws  just  as  much  as  animals,  or  the  winds  or 
rains.  If  the  land  of  "Canaan,"  where  our  cor- 
respondent dates,  is  so  cold  and  backward  a  re- 
gion as  he  intimates,  then  July  would  be  the 
time  to  prune,  according  to  our  theory. 


MIDDLESEX  SOUTH  AGRICUIiTUBAL 
SOCIETY. 

This  society  appears  to  be  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition. It  is  in  the  hands  of  energetic  and  pro- 
gressive men.  The  address  of  Hon.  Emery 
Washburn  contains  many  useful  suggestions. 
The  dinner  was  enlivined  by  the  presence  and 
remarks  of  several  eloquent  gentlemen.  This  so- 
ciety has  usually  been  fortunate  in  the  selection 
of  guests  which  have  honored  their  board. 

The  various  statements  of  the  poultry  fanciers 
are  an  interesting  feature  in  the  reports,  and 
show  what  can  be  done  in  this  department  of  the 
farm,  by  care  and  judicious  management. 

The  only  premiums  awarded  for  horses,  were 
for  farm  and  working  horses.  Such  premiums 
clearly  come  within  the  range  of  farm  premiums. 
As  the  labor  of  horses  is  fast  taking  the  place  of 
ox  labor,  we  should  be  glad  to  see  the  breeding 
of  this  class  of  horses  encouraged.  Several  pre- 
miums were  awarded  for  cut  flowers  and  bouquets. 
These  add  much  to  the  beauty  of  the  exhibition 
in  the  hall,  and  their  culture  is  a  source  of  much 
pleasure,  and  a  gratification  to  any  person  of 
taste,  and  we  hope  all  our  county  societies  will 
offer  premiums  for  their  exhibition.  We  notice 
that  several  have  done  so  this  past  season. 

Awards  were  made  for  apple  orchards,  for  pear 
trees,  for  peach  orchards,  for  grain  crops,  root 
crops,  and  for  reclaimed  meadows.  Many  soci- 
eties confine  their  awards  to  articles  exhibited  at 
the  tables — the  products  of  the  garden  and  the 
field.  •  We  doubt  the  expediency  of  this.  The 
skill  of  the  cultivator  is  better  exhibited  in  the 
culture  of  the  trees  in  the  field,  than  in  the  dish 
of  apples  or  other  fruit,  which  may  often  be  the 
result  of  accident,  or  of  the  skill  of  some  one  who 
hag  owned  and  cultivated  the  trees  before  him. 
But  the  man  who  has  planted  and  brought  into 
bearing  a  fine  growth  of  trees,  gives  proof  of  his 
own  skill,  and  has  made  some  permanent  im- 


provement of  his  farm.  Premiums  for  entire 
crops  are  more  satisfactory,  and  we  think  more 
useful  than  for  samples.  Such  premiums  bring 
out  statements  of  the  methods  of  cultivation  on 
different  soils,  and  in  different  localities,  that  are 
often  highly  interesting  and  valuable.  We  think 
the  trustees  of  this  society  have  shown  much 
sound  judgment  in  the  selection  of  the  objects  of 
their  awards.  There  are  many  other  subjects 
deserving  their  attention,  and  we  doubt  not  they 
will  receive  it  in  due  season. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

AQRICULTUBAIi  BOOKS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  following  remarks  were 
read  a  few  evenings  since  before  the  Concord 
Farmers'  Club.  At  your  request,  I  send  you  a 
copy.  Yours,  &c.,  j.  R. 


A  new  department  of  literature  has  been  ere 
ated  within  a  few  years.  We  have  books  or 
soils,  on  manures,  on  horticulture,  on  field  cul- 
ture, on  tree  culture,  on  fruit  culture,  on  cattle-, 
on  horses,  sheep,  swine,  draining,  farm  imple- 
ments, &c.  &c.  These  may  be  considered  chief- 
ly scientific.  Then  we  have  a  wide  range  of 
what  may  more  properly  be  called  agricultural 
literature,  consisting  of  agricultural  papers,  pe- 
riodicals, transactions,  addresses,  reports  and 
essays,  relating  to  agriculture  or  collateral  sub- 
jects. All  these  constitute  a  great  body  of  read- 
ing. INIen  are  better  educated  than  formerly, 
and  read  more  on  all  subjects.  No  man  is  now 
satisfied  with  the  knowledge  of  his  own  business 
which  he  gains  by  his  own  experience.  He  avails 
himself  of  the  knowledge  of  others  as  well.  He 
must  do  so,  to  keep  up  with  the  progress  of  the 
times.  This  is  as  true  in  agriculture,  as  in  any 
other  pursuit.  Farming  is  progressive.  Prin- 
ciples must  be  understood,  and  their  application 
varied  according  to  circumstances.  To  do  this, 
principles  must  be  studied,  and  the  circumstances 
which  require  their  varied  application  must  be 
studied.  Young  farmers  all  read,  and  find  their 
views  enlarged,  and  their  stock  of  ideas  increased 
by  it.  They  thus  acquire  food  for  thought,  and 
learn  to  reason.  The  interchange  of  ideas  by 
means  of  books,  is  like  the  interchange  of  prod- 
ucts by  means  of  commerce.  It  contributes  to 
the  wealth  and  prosperity  and  comfort  of  all  par- 
ties engaged  in  it.  This  interchange  of  ideas 
is  the  great  means  of  civilization  and  refinement. 
The  man  of  ideas  is  the  man  of  power.  But  hia 
ideas  are  chiefly  obtained  from  others  ;  for  no 
one  man  originates  more  than  a  few  ideas.  If 
he  did,  he  would  become  too  powerful,  and  would 
swallow  up  his  neighbors.  Reading  serves  to 
distribute  and  equalize  the  amount  of  existing 
ideas,  as  commerce  serves  to  distribute  and  equal- 
ize wealth.  Before  commerce  was  established,  a 
few  men  had  the  wealth  and  power,  and  the  rest 
were  dependent.  Before  booKS  were  made,  and 
men  learned  to  read  them,  a  few  men  had  the 
knowledge,  and  the  rest  were  their  tools — their 
hands. 

There  is  no  subject  that  requires  a  knowledge 
of  so  many  things  as  agriculture,  unless  it  be 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


829 


medicine.  No  one  man  has  the  time,  even  if  he 
had  the  means,  to  work  out  all  the  various  kinds 
of  knowledge  which  he  needs  ;  it  would  take  a 
lifetime.  We  must^jbe  content  to  take  it  from 
others  ;  and  thus  in  a  short  time  we  can  get  more 
knowledge  by  reading,  than  we  could  get  in  a 
whole  life,  without  it.  The  demand  for  books 
oil  agriculture,  has  increased  greatly  of  late. — 
The  facilities  of  communication  in  the  vicinity 
of  cities  has  led  many  business  men  to  live  in 
the  country,  and  thus  made  a  great  many  ama- 
teur farmers.  They  want  agricultural  knowledge 
for  immediate  application ;  they  have  not  time 
to  acquire  it  by  experience ;  they  go  to  work  as 
they  do  in  other  business,  and  consult  those  who 
profess  to  teach  the  knowledge  they  want,  just 
as  they  consult  an  architect,  a  mechanic  or  a  sea- 
man ;  they  read  books,  and  apply  the  knowledge 
they  get ;  it  may  not  always  be  the  best,  but  it 
is  thQ  best  they  can  gei ;  it  is  better  than  none. 
This  class  of  men  create  quite  a  demand  for 
books  of  many  sorts  ;  this  is  a  good  class  of  men, 
— in  fact  the  best  class  ;  they  are  active  and  en- 
ergetic, and  therefore  successful  ;  they  are  pub- 
lic spirited,  and  make  good  citizens  in  the  towns 
in  which  they  reside.  Notwithstanding  the  farm- 
ers sometimes  laugh  at  their  operations,  they 
impart  a  portion  of  their  business  energy  to  the 
farmers,  and  make  experiments  for  them,  which 
they  would  never  try  for  themselves ;  and  if  they 
fail,  they  teach  the  farmer  what  cannot  be  done, 
as  well  as  what  can  be. 

At  the  present  day,  a  periodical  which  keeps 
a  man  posted  up  in  matters  relating  to  his  par- 
ticular calling,  is  necessary  to  success.  The  min- 
ister, the  physician,  the  lawyer,  the  mechanic,  the 
merchant,  the  sportsman,  the  military  man,  must 
each  have  a  magazine  which  contains  the  latesi 
inventions,  discoveries,  and  information  relating 
to  his  business  or  profession  ;  without  this  he  can- 
not keep  pace  v/ith  his  competitors.  This  is  no  less 
true  in  agriculture  ;  hence,  agricultural  papers 
have  become  a  necessity.  If  a  farmer  can  read  but 
one  thing,  let  him  read  an  agricultural  paper ; 
but  papers  are  for  the  most  part  filled  with  short 
articles,  hints,  suggestions,  single  facts  and  ex- 
periments. If  a  man  wishes  to  study  a  subject 
more  fully,  he  must  read  books.  Books  upon 
agriculture,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  have 
rapidly  multiplied,  and  are  sold  at  a  very  low- 
price.  Libraries  have  been  established,  by  means 
of  which  farmers  may  refer  to  a  great  number 
of  books  for  a  small  sum.  For  those  who  can 
afford  it,  I  think  the  best  way  is  to  own  and  al- 
ways have  at  hand  a  few  good  books,  and  then 
add  to  the  number  one  or  two  good  books  an- 
nually. I  think  they  will,  in  this  way,  read  and 
digest  them  better  than  when  they  are  in  a  li- 
brary at  some  distance,  and  they  can  keep  them 
but  a  week  or  two,  when  they  get  them.  Many 
eay  most  good  agricultural  books,  are  books  to 
be  referred  to  frequently,  rather  than  to  be  read 
at  once.  Still,  it  is  well  to  have  a  library,  con- 
taining many  more  books  than  one  can  afford  to 
own. 

Many  of  our  agricultural  books  an  of  very 
little  value ;  some  of  them  are  worse  than  noth- 
ing, l)ecause  they  mislead  those  who  rely  upon 
them  ;  many  are  published  by  book  manufactur- 
ers, and  are  mere  compilations  from  other  works, 
made  by  men  who  have  neither  saffident  judg- 


ment or  experience  to  correct  the  errors  and 
misstatements  they  contain.  When  I  take  up  a 
book,  and  find  it  a  mere  compilation,  by  some 
man  in  the  employment  of  a  publishing-house,  I 
shut  it  up  ;  I  have  not  time  to  read  such  a  book. 
But  when  I  find  a  book  which  is  written  by  a 
man  because  he  has  something  to  say,  I  general- 
ly find  that  it  pays  for  reading.  I  have  frequent- 
ly thought  it  would  be  a  good  thing,  if  some 
competent  man  would  set  himself  to  review  the 
principal  agricultural  books  in  the  market,  and 
point  out  their  excellences  and  defects,  and  pub- 
lish the  results  of  his  investigation  in  some  of 
the  leading  agricultural  papers.  Probably  a 
good  many  authors  and  publisher^  would  not 
thank  him  for  his  labor ;  until  such  a  review  has 
been  made,  I  will  not  attempt  to  point  out  a  list 
of  books,  which  I  would  recommend  to  our  young 
farmers. 

For  the  New  England  Farnier, 
MIWIBTEK  (WIWTBB)  APPLE. 

This  New  England  fruit  was  introduced  to  no- 
tice by  the  late  Kobert  Manning,  of  Salem.  It 
originated  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Saunders,  of  Row- 
ley, in  this  State.  The  fruit  is  large  and  oblong, 
resembling  in  form  the  Yellow  Bellflower,  of  Nev; 
Jersey,  readi'ly  identified  from  its  beautiful  stripes 
of  red  from  stem  to  eye  ;  it  has  been  confounded 
with  another,  Rowley  Seedling,  which  has  been 
sold  for  the  above.  The  true  Minister  apple, 
when  gathered  in  the  fall,  is  quite  acid,  but  if 
kept  into  spring,  becomes  one  of  the  finest  fruits 
of  its  season.  The  skin  of  this  apple  is  very  thin, 
hence  it  requires  to  be  gathered  with  the  great- 
est care  to  prevent  its  being  bruised.  With  that 
precaution,  it  will  keep  into  IVIay.  I  have  one 
before  me,  raised  irpon  the  farm  of  R.  S.  Rodg- 
ers,  Esq.,  of  South  Danvers,  in  the  most  perfect 
keeping,  with  its  fine  aroma.  I  have  always 
found  this  variety  to  be  a  great  bearer  on  alight 
and  warm  soil,  as  well  as  upon  one  of  a  more  re- 
tentive nature.  J.  M.  I. 

Salem,  May,  1859. 


UNDERDRAIM  IliTQ. 


Some  good  land  requires  underdraining,  to  in- 
sure good  crops.  We  might  instance  fiome  of 
the  land  near  Cleveland,  which  is  a  warm,  sandy 
soil,  but  too  swampy  for  cultivation,  until  drained 
of  its  surplus  water.  Soils  which  contain  standing 
water  within  thirty  inches  of  the  top,  must  be  un- 
derdralned,  or  they  will  not, produce  well.  On 
such  land,  there  is  a  consvant*  drainage  of  water 
to  the  surface,  as  in  a  flower-pot,  when, the  wa- 
ter is  placed  in  a  saucer  at  the  bottom,  but  soon 
moistens  to  the  top.  Constant  evaporation  keeps 
the  soil  and  air  cold,  and  excludes  the  air  from 
the  soil,  which  is  wanted  there,  that  the  oxygen 
in  it  may  decompose  the  vegetable  matter  in  the 
soil,  and  change  the  juiisonous  protoxide  of  iron 
into  the  beneficial  peroxyde.  This  kind  of  land 
is  composed  of  a  hard  clay  sub-soil,  on  the,,top 
of  which  is  a  layer  of  sand.  If  the  water  can- 
not penetrate  the  clay,  it  is  held,  as  in  a  saucer, 
and  unless  drained  off,  its  only  way  of  escape  is 
liy  rising  to  the  surface  and  evaporating.  This 
will  soon'drown  out  everything  but  water-grass 
and  pond  lilies. — Ohio  Farmer. 


330 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


A8HEB  AGAINST  PLASTER. 

Many  farmers  -will  expend  money  freely  for 
plaster,  and  consider  it  a  profitable  investment, 
but  at  the  same  time  thrcv  or  give  away  their 
wood  ashes  !  At  least,  such  has  been  the  case. 
This  is  poor  economy.  While  we  regard  plaster 
as  a  valuable  article,  we,  at  the  same  time,  rank 
wood  ashes  much  higher  in  the  scale  of  fertili- 
zers. It  is  true  that  no  very  accurate  experi- 
ments have  as  yet  been  made  to  ascertain  pre- 
cisely the  specific  value  of  plaster  and  ashes  ;  yet 
every  one  who  has  applied  them  to  his  soil  and 
gromng  crops  must  have  seen  enough  to  con- 
vince him  that  both  are  serviceable,  and  especial- 
ly that  ashes  should  always  be  collected  and  pre- 
served with  care.  In  the  ^'Buckeye  Floivhoy," 
some  years  since,  a  writer  apparently  desirous  of 
placing  this  subject  in  its  proper  light,  but  with 
somewhat  less  minuteness  of  detail  than  is  per- 
haps requisite  to  the  consummation  of  such  an 
undertaking,  details  a  single  experiment  insti- 
tuted by  himself  as  follows  : 

"I  took  three  rows  in  a  small  piece  of  corn  by 
the  side  of  my  garden,  and  put  a  handful  of  ashes 
on  each  hill  of  one  row,  a  teaspoonful  of  plaster 
on  each  hill  of  another,  and  the  third,  left  with- 
out putting  on  any  of  either.  I  cultivated  them 
all  alike,  hoeing  them  twice.  During  the  season 
some  pigs  got  in  and  rooted  up  one  end  of  the 
rows,  leaving  but  about  five  rods  of  each  that 
came  to  maturity.  In  the  fall  I  husked  the  rows, 
as  far  as  they  had  not  been  injured,  and  weighed 
the  ears  of  each  : 

Weight  of  the  ashed  row 49,^  lbs. 

Weight  of  the  plastered  row 48^  " 

Weight  of  the  row  which  was  neither  ashed  nor 

plaatered 41 J  lbs. 

The  ground  was  green-sward,  turned  over  in 
the  spring,  the  soil  clay,  inclined  to  loam." 

We  present  the  following  analysis  of  the  ashes 
of  the  sapwood  of  white  oak,  (Quercusalba.) 

Potash 13.41 

Soda O.f.2 

Sodium 2.78 

Chlorine 4.24 

Sulphuric  acid 0.12 

Phosphate  of  Peroxide  of  Iron,    ) 

Pliosphate  of  Lime,  > 82.2-5 

PhosphnUj  of  Magnesia,  J 

Carbonic  Acid S  95 

Lime 30.8a 

Silica 0  21 

Magnesia 0.36 

Soluble  Silica O.SO 

Organic  matten 5.70 


Silica 9.5C0 

Alkaline  and  earthy  Phosphates 35.500 

Lime 0.160 

Magnesia 2.410 

Potash 23.920 

Soda 22  590 

Chlorine 0.405 

Sulphuric  Acid 4.385 

Organic  matter 0.367 


99.2SJ7 


Analysis  of  the  ai?hes  of  the  leaves  : 

Silica 53.550 

Earthy  Phosphates 19.250 

Lime : 6.092 

Magnesia 1.2-50 

Potash 12.762 

Soda 8.512 

Chlorine 9.762 

Sulphuric  Acid ' 4.185 


Analysis  of  the  ashes  of  the  cob  ; 


115.363 


Silica ^ • 13  600 

Earthy  Phosphates 23.924 

Lime 0.-300 

Masnesia 0.900 

Potash 35.802 

So<la 5.914 

Chlorine 0.132 

Sulphuric  Acid  0..345 

Organic  matter. 2.314 

Carbonic  Acid 6.134 


89.365 


The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  how  largely 
those  elements  prevail  which  are  the  most  im- 
portant to  nearly  all  plants,  such  as  the  earthy 
phosphates,  the  potash,  soda,  and  silica,  or  sand. 
He  will  observe,  too,  that  they  are  far  from  be- 
ing insignificant  even  in  the  coal  ashes.  If  this 
analysis  is  correct — and  we  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  it — coal  ashes  ought  to  be  more  generally 
preserved  and  used  as  a  fertilizer. 

The  ashes  of  all  wood  are  composed  very  near- 
ly of  the  same  materials,  and  so  far  as  effects  up- 
on vegetation  are  concerned,  it  is  of  very  little 
consequence  whether  they  are  from  oak,  elm, 
maple,  or  any  other  variety.  Ashes  from  soft 
wood  are  said  to  be  less  valuable  ;  but  we  have 
high  authority  that  the  ashes  of  the  hardest  oak 
and  the  softest  pine  vary  but  a  trifle  in  the  ma- 
terials_which  compose  them. 


100.19 


M<iny  analyses  have  been  made  of  the  corn 
crop,  and  the  following,  embracing  the  ashes  of 
the  kernel,  leaves  and  cob,  we  give,  in  order  bet- 
ter to  enable  the  reader  to  understand  ivhy  ashes 
applied  to  this  vegetable,  as  a  manure,  must  ne- 
cessarily be  productive  of  beneficial  effects. 

Analysis  of  the  ash  of  the  kernel  of  white  flint 
corn,  "grown  on  a  sandy  soil,  and  manured  in 
part  with  coal  ashes." 


jpor  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  PIONEEH  FABMBKS'  CLUB. 

Mr.  Editor: — Some  little  time  since,  as  we 
were  about  taking  measures  to  institute  a  Farm- 
ers' Club,  I  sent  a  request  that  you  would  offer 
some  suggestions  in  regard  to  its  formation. 
You  very  kindly  complied  by  an  article  just  suit- 
ed to  our  peculiar  necessities.  If  the  result  of 
our  effort  will  be  of  any  interest  to  you  and  any 
encouragement  to  others  to  form  similar  associ- 
ations, I  will  briefly  describe  our  success,  hoping 
that  it  may  not  exclude  more  important  matter 
from  the  columns  of  that  weekly  visitor,  which, 
to  use  the  words  of  a  grey-headed  neighbor  of 
mine,  "tells  more  about  farming  every  week  than 
we  ever  knew." 

Having  completed  such  an  organization  as  our 
circumstances  required,  our  President  visited  Mr. 
Secretary  Flint,  and  obtained  a  package  of  books 
which  laid  the  foundation  for  a  valuable  library. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


331 


Other  volumes  have  since  been  purchased  from 
the  funds  of  the  Club,  and  we  have  now  a  re- 
spectable little  library,  which  has  been  repeatedly 
consulted  and  referred  to  by  those  who  have  ta- 
ken part  in  the  discussions,  and  from  which  a 
great  amount  of  useful  information  has  been  de- 
rived. 

The  discussions  have  been  animated,  and  have 
laid  bare  a  vein  of  thought  which  has  hitherto 
been  little  worked. 

Even  the  ladies,  without  whose  aid  no  good 
cause  has  ever  prospered,  have  been  constant  at- 
tendants at  the  meetings,  and  have  contributed 
to  their  interest  by  reading  a  manuscript  paper 
entitled  "  The  Fanners^  News."     Gentlemen  of  no 

fjrofessed  literary  talent  have  prepared  and  de- 
ivered  addresses,  which,  if  not  in  beautiful  sen- 
tences and  well  turned  periods,  in  practical 
though  and  useful  principles  would  bear  a  favor- 
able comparison  with  those  delivered  at  the  din- 
ner tables  of  the  exhibitions  of  some  of  our  coun- 
ty societies.  At  a  recent  meeting,  a  full  grown 
apple  tree  borer  which  had  been  preserved  alive, 
and  without  food,  for  a  period  of  more  than  three 
weeks,  was  exhibited,  and  his  habits  explained 
by  a  gentleman  present.  An  antiquated  looking 
spade  which  had  been  known  among  men  a 
hundred  years,  and  which  presented  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  well-finished  implements  of  mod- 
ern days,  was  exhibited  by  another  gentleman. 

But  I  should  occupy  altogether  too  much  space 
should  I  attempt  to  tell  one-half  that  is  interest- 
ing concerning  this  little  institution,  which  has 
been  to  us,  and  something  similar  to  which 
would  be  to  every  neicrhborhood,  an  invaluable 
means  of  acquiring  practical  information  in  re- 
gard to  that  profession  which  has  been  honored 
by  such  men  as  Cincinnatus  and  Virgil  of  ancient, 
and  Washington  and  Webster  of  modern  times. 
G.  A.  Adams,  Secretary. 
Hopkinton,  May  11,  18.59. 


been  placed  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  or  so  ;  place 
it  in  the  tree,  and  place  a  small  glass  globe  lamp 
in  the  middle  of  the  pan,  which  permit  to  burn 
all  night.  In  darting  towards  the  light,  the  cur- 
culios  strike  the  glass,  and  are  precipitated  into 
the  liquid,  from  which  they  are  iinable  to  extri- 
cate themselves. — Homestead. 


FARM  DRAINAGS. 


TO  BAISS  POTATOES. 

A  correspondent — Wm.  Aldridge,  of  Goreland, 
Ind. — writing  to  the  Prairie  Farmer,  states  that 
having  noticed  how  potatoes  were  interrupted  in 
their  growth,  and  invariably  pined  away  and  died 
if  disturbed  and  bruised  when  wet  with  dew  or 
rain,  he  selected  a  patch  of  a  potato  field,  the 
whole  of  which  was  good  soil,  and  in  good  order 
to  try  an  experiment.  This  patch  he  only  plowed 
once,  and  then  loosened  the  soil  with  the  hoe 
■when  the  vines  were  above  ground,  and  in  the 
heat  of  the  day  when  they  were  perfectly  dry. 
He  never  touched  them  afterward  until  they  were 
dug  in  October  last  year.  These  vines  kept  green 
throughout  the  season,  and  the  yield  of  potatoes 
was  very  large.  The  other  portion  of  this  same 
potato  field  was  purposely  worked  three  times, 
when  the  vines  were  wet  with  dew.  These  blight- 
ed early,  did  not  produce  half  a  crop,  and  the 
potatoes  were  of  a  very  inferior  quality.  The 
ground,  seed,  and  time  of  planting  in  both 
patches,  were  the  same. — Scientific  American. 


CuRCULio. — A  remedy  for  this  peet  is  pro- 
posed in  the  Ohio  Valley  Farmer,  by  Mr.  Wal- 
ker, of  Kentucky.  As  soon  as  the  fruit  is  at- 
tacked, take  a  tin  pan  into  which  soapsuds  has 


We  cannot  too  earnestly  call  the  attention  of 
readers  to  the  subject  of  draining  their  lands. — 
We  ask  them  to  make  a  single  practical  test,  in 
a  proper  manner,  on  a  small  piece  of  land,  and 
then  they  will  be  able  to  decide  for  themselves 
whether  draining  will  not  save  them  a  great  deal 
of  hard  labor,  and  at  the  same  time  greatly  in- 
crease their  crops.  Believing  this  ivill  be  the  re- 
sult, we  shall  present  such  portions  of  Judge 
French's  excellent  work  on  "Farm  Drainage," 
as  we  think  will  induce  them  to  commence  the 
good  work. 

An  acre  or  two  of  land  which  we  thoroughly 
underdrained  two  years  ago,  laying  the  pipes 
down  four  feet  below  the  surface,  has  been  affect- 
ed about  as  much  as  though  the  season  had  been 
lengthened  some  three  weeks,  or  the  land  had 
been  removed  south  as  far  as  New  Jersey. 

Below  we  give  an  extract  from  the  recent  work 
on  Drainage  spoken  of  above : 

Drainage  is  a  new  subject  in  America,  not  well 
understood,  and  we  have  no  man,  it  is  believed, 
peculiarly  fitted  to  teach  its  theory  and  practice ; 
yet  the  farmers  everywhere  are  awake  to  its  im- 
portance, and  are  eagerly  seeking  for  information 
on  the  subject.  Many  are  already  engaged  in 
the  endeavor  to  drain  their  lands,  conscious  of 
their  want  of  the  requisite  knowledge  to  effect 
their  object  in  a  profitable  manner,  while  others 
are  going  resolutely  forward,  in  violation  of  all 
correct  principles,  wasting  their  labor,  uncon- 
scious even  of  their  ignorance. 

In  New  England,  we  have  determined  to  dry 
the  springy  hillsides,  and  so  lengthen  our  sea- 
sons for  labor  ;  we  have  found,  too,  in  the  val- 
leys and  swamps,  the  soil  which  has  been  washed 
from  our  mountains,  and  intend  to  avail  our- 
selves of  its  fertility  in  the  best  manner  practi- 
cable. On  the  prairies  of  the  West,  large  tracts 
are  found  just  a  little  too  wet  for  the  best  crops 
of  corn  or  wheat,  and  the  inquiry  is  anxiously 
made,  how  can  we  be  rid  of  this  surplus  water. 

There  is  no  treatise,  English  or  American, 
which  meets  the  wants  of  our  people.  In  Eng- 
land, it  is  true,  land-drainage  is  already  reduced 
to  a  science  ;  but  their  system  has  grown  up  .by 
degrees,  the  first  principles  being  now  too  fami- 
liar to  be  at  all  discussed,  and  the  points  now  in 
controversy  there,  quite  beyond  the  comprehen- 
sion of  beginners.  America  wants  a  treatise 
which  shall  be  elementary,  as  well  as  thorough 
— that  shall  teach  the  alphabet,  as  well  as  the 
transcendentalism,  of  draining  land — that  shall 
tell  the  man  who  never  saw  a  drain-tile  what 
thorough  drainage  is,  and  shall  also  suggest  to 
those  who  have   studied   the  subject  in  English 


332 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


books  only,  the  differences  in  climate  and  soil, 
in  the  prices  of  labor  and  of  products,  which 
must  modify  our  operations. 

With  some  practical  experience  on  his  own 
land,  with  careful  observation  in  Europe  and  in 
America  of  the  details  of  drainage  operations, 
with  a  somewhat  critical  examination  of  pub- 
lished books  and  papers  on  all  topics  connected 
with  the  general  subject,  the  author  has  endeav- 
ored to  turn  the  leisure  hours  of  a  laborious  pro- 
fessional life  to  some  account  for  the  farmer. 
Although,  as  the  lawyers  say,  the  "presumptions" 
are,  perhaps,  strongly  against  the  idea,  yet  a  pro- 
fessional man  may  understand  practical  farming. 
The  profession  of  the  law  has  made  some  valua- 
hle  contributions  to  agricultural  literature.  Sir 
Anthony  Fitzherbert,  author  of  the  "Boke  of 
Husbandrie,"  published  in  1523,  was  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  Common  Pleas,  and,  as  he  says,  an 
'■^expcyenced  farmer  of  more  than  40  years."  The 
author  of  that  charming  little  book,  "Talpa,"  it 
is  said,  is  also  a  lawyer,  and  there  is  such  wisdom 
in  the  idea,  so  well  expressed  by  Emerson  as  a 
fact,  that  we  commend  it  by  way  of  consolation 
to  men  of  all  the  learned  professions :  "All  of 
us  keep  the  farm  in  reserve,  as  an  asylum  where 
to  hide  our  poverty  and  our  solitude,  if  we  do 
not  succeed  in  society." 

Besides  the  prejudice  against  what  is  foreign, 
we  meet  everywhere  the  prejudice  against  what 
is  new,  though  far  less  in  this  country  than  in 
England.  "No  longer  ago  than  1835,"  says  the 
Quarterly  Beview,  "Sir  Robert  Peel  presented  a 
Farmers' Club,  at  Tamworth,  with  two  iron  plows 
of  the  best  construction.  On  his  next  visit,  the 
old  plows,  with  the  wooden  mould-boards,  were 
again  at  work.  'Sir,'  said  a  member  of  the  club, 
'we  tried  the  iron,  and  we  be  all  of  one  mind, 
that  they  make  the  weeds  grow  !'  " 

American  farmers  have  no  such  ignorant  pre- 
judice as  this.  They  err  rather  by  having  too 
much  faith  in  themselves,  than  by  having  too  lit- 
tle in  the  idea  of  progress,  and  will  be  more 
likely  to  "go  ahead"  in  the  wrong  direction,  than 
to  remain  quiet  in  their  old  position. 


and  hard.  The  luxuriant  but  distasteful  herbage 
is  constantly  increasing,  and  in  time  crowds  out 
the  finer  kinds,  already  lessened  by  being  cropped 
so  closely  and  continually.  Another  advantage 
is,  that  stock  are  more  quiet,  and  consequently 
feed  better  and  keep  in  better  health. 

The  succession  of  the  various  kinds  of  stock 
must  be  regulated  by  the  circumstances  of  the 
owner.  _  Thaer  says,  that  in  spring  the  best  pas- 
turage is  often  given  to  ewes,  because  it  is  need- 
ed to  increase  their  supply  of  milk,  and  give 
them  strength  to  nurse  their  lambs.  The  graz- 
ing of  lands  with  sheep  in  spring,  if  not  allowed 
too  long,  has  a  tendency  to  thicken  the  growth 
of  grass.  But  they  cannot  be  followed  by  cattle 
immediately,  with  advantage ;  at  least  three 
weeks  should  intervene,  to  allow  the  smell  of 
their  dung  to  dissipate,  and  the  grass  to  get  a 
fresh  start. — Country  Gentleman. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 


FEEDING-  OFF  PASTUBE  LAND. 

"It  is  certainly  advantageous  to  pastures,"  says 
Thaer,  "to  remove  the  cattle  from  them  now  and 
then,  in  order  that  the  grass  may  have  time  to 
recover  itself.  For  this  reason,  on  the  best  con- 
ducted farms,  the  pasture  land  is  divided  into 
separate  parts.  The  animals  which  require  the 
most  succulent  and  nourishing  food  are  first 
turned  to  each  separate  division,  and  after  they 
are  removed,  the  other  kinds,  which  need  a  small- 
er quantity  of  nutriment,  are  fed  there.  By  this 
means  the  whole  of  the  grass  is  eaten,  those  kinds 
to  which  cattle  are  least  partial  with  the  rest 
The  herbage  is  then  left  to  recover  itself  for  a 
sufficient  time,  and  afterwards  the  first  herd  is 
again  allowed  to  feed  upon  it." 

This  system  possesses  decided  advantages  over 
tlie  practice  of  suffering  the  cattle  to  wander  over 
the  whole  extent  of  pasture  ground.  If  the 
space  is  large,  a  great  deal  of  herbage  is  spoiled 
or' destroyed  by  the  trampling  of  the  cattle  ;  the 
pasturage  is  never  uniformly  eaten  off,  but  some 
iiortions   ai-e  left  to  grow  until  it  becomes  dry 


ORNITHOLOGY. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  do  not  see  as  any  of  the  ad- 
vocates for  the  preservation  of  robins  advance 
one  idea  in  their  favor,  except  their  singing ;  no 
injurious  insect  do  they  prove  that  they  destroy. 
I  will  admit  that  for  fructiferous  birds  nature  re- 
quires some  animal  food,  but  the  robin  never 
takes  any  except  the  angle-worms,  where  they  can 
be  found. 

In  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  angle-worms 
are  very  scarce  ;  in  many  places  in  these  neigh- 
borhoods one  square  foot  Avill  contain  more  of 
these  insects  than  hundreds  of  acres  in  those 
States.  Trout  fishers  know  well  that  one  dollar 
per  gill  is  the  standard  price  at  the  White  Moun- 
tains for  them  to  be  used  for  bait.  Such  scarcity 
will  account  for  writers  in  these  States  asserting 
that  they  eat  grubworms,  which,  under  those  cir- 
cumstances, I  will  not  dispute.  But  where  angle- 
worms abound,  grubworms  need  procure  no  life 
insurance. 

To  my  mind,  the  robin  possesses  no  taste ;  it 
selects  and  takes  its  food  to  the  fancy  of  its  eye  ; 
for  we  observe  them  eating  every  variety  o£ 
fruit,  selecting  the  most  beautiful  and  mellow, 
including  all  kinds,  from  the  strawberry  to  the 
most  sour  apple,  providing  it  is  yellow  and  hand- 
some ;  but  after  these  are  gone,  they  eat,  with 
apparent  relish,  the  cedar  and  buckthorn  seeds, 
though  intensely  bitter.  Sometimes  I  am  led  to 
think,  when  I  see  him  attack  an  angle-worm,  and 
gulp  him  down  his  throat,  as  if  he  loathed  him ; 
like  a  child  taking  Epsom  salts,  he  is  only  grati- 
fying his  vicious  destructiveness. 

The  two  lower  counties  of  New  Jerseyare  al- 
most entirely  covered  with  wintergreen  loaded 
with  berries.  Extracting  essential  oil  from  the 
plant  is  the  employment  of  many  of  the  inhabi- 
tants. Those  extended  wastes  are  the  home  of 
the  robin,  in  winter,  living  exclusively  on  the 
berries  of  that  plant.  That  locality  is  the  robin's 
northern  winter  limit,  extending  fiom  there 
south  to  the  Gulf  cf  Mexico. 
I  Our  statute  law  fines  us  two  dollars  each  for 
every  robin  which  we  may  put  in  a  pot-pie  ;  so  a 
Lrespectable  sized  pie  may  cost  us  fifty  dollars, 
j  beside's  the  materials,  the  fine  to  go  to  any  re- 


lSo9. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


333 


vengeful  scape-goat  who  may  enter  the  com- 
plaint. 

I  inquire  where  the  committee  appointed  by 
the  wisdom  of  the  State  is  ?  I  saw  th6ir  report 
of  the  habits  of  the  robin  before  the  fruit  sea- 
eon  ;  they  reasoned  that  they  were  not  a  fruit- 
eating  bird ;  where  is  the  basis  for  such  reason- 
ing ?  Neither  are  our  convicts  confined  in  prison 
rum-drinkers  while  there,  simply  because  they 
cannot  gratify  that  appetite.  Who  ever  heai-d 
of  robins  eating  fruit  in  March,  April  or  May  ? 

Legislation  talks  about  insect  defalcation,  de- 
predation and  destruction.  Their  microscopic 
eyes,  however,  never  discern  the  ravages  of  the 
gilded,  cov>'ardIy  robin,  whose  cowardice  induces 
him  to  locate  near  dwellings,  that  his  craven 
spirit  may  never  be  aroused  to  defend  his  domi- 
cil  from  the  depredation  of  his  kind,  fleeing,  like 
the  one  whose  protege  he  is,  when  no  one  pur- 
sueth.  N. 

South  Danvers,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THANKSGIVING  DAY  AT  THE  SAND- 
WICH ISLANDS. 

Masawao  Maui,  Hawaiian  Islands,  ) 
*  December  SO,  1S6S.  \ 

Editors  Farmer  :  — Gentlemen,  —  Reminded 
by  the  closing  year  of  my  delinquency  in  writing 
3^ou,  I  hasten  to  devote  a  part  of  this  day  of  pub- 
lic thanksgiving  to  this  purpose.  The  occasion 
will  suggest  a  subject  of  interest  to  you  and  your 
readers,  as  Thanksgiving  day,  though  at  a  dis- 
tance, will  remind  them  of  scenes  in  which  they 
all  delight  to  participate. 

"Hawaiian  Thanksgiving  !"  do  I  hear  you  ex- 
claim ?  with  the  remark,  "You  can  be  as  thankful, 
certainly,  as  any  of  us,  and  God,  who  is  no  respect- 
er of  persons,  will  accept  your  gratitude.  But  as 
for  the  Thanksgiving  supper,  with  tables  groaning 
with  New  England  luxuries,  around  which  gather 
hosts  of  friends,  this,  of  course,  you  know  noth- 
ing about.  A  dish  of  poi  and  a  baked  dog  or 
raw  fish  spread  on  a  clean  mat,  or  on  some  fresh 
ferns,  will  doubtless  constitute  your  Thankgiv- 
ing  repast."  Well,  friends,  I  mean  to  take  in 
good  part  this  specimen  of  banter  which  I  have 
supposed  you  might  employ  when  hearing  that 
the  king  and  chiefs  of  Hawaii  are  so  far  adopt- 
ing the  customs  of  New  England,  as  to  appoint  a 
day  of  thanksgiving  and  prayer  to  God,  for  His 
kindness  to  the  nation  during  the  past  year. 
Nor  will  I  deny  that  both  chiefs  and  people  are 
calculating  somewhat  largely  on  thrusting  their 
fingers  into  the  poi  dish,  and  thence  to  their 
mouths,  ere  the  day  closes  ;  nor  do  I  doubt  that 
many  a  fat  and  sleek  animal  of  the  canine  spe- 
cies is  now  in  an  oven  of  hot  stones  remunerat- 
ing in  part  the  expense  of  feeding.  I  am  not 
horrified  in  relating,  and  I  hope  you  will  not  be 
in  hearing,  that  dogs  are  often  strangled  and 
eaten  by  chiefs  and  people.  Foreigners,  gener- 
ally, universally  perhaps,  cry  out,  shame,  shame, 
at  the  practice.  I  know  not  that  any  of  them, 
knoicinyly,  eat  of  this  dish,  though  I  shrewdly 
guess  that  more  than  one  gentleman  from  en- 
lightened lands  when  dining  with  the  chiefs  of 
Hawaii,  have  eaten  with  a  gusto  from  a  creature 
whose  vernacular  was  bow-wow,  instead  of  baa, 
as  they  supposed.     I  know  not  as  I  have  ever 


tasted  dogs'  flesh.  I  have  no  particular  desire  to 
[do  so.  Still,  I  see  no  moral  wrong  about  it,  nor 
!%o  I  feel  like  dissuading  my  people  from  such  a 
I  practice.  l)e  giistihus  non  ditfpntandum  est,  or,  let 
there  be  no  disputing  about  tastes,  is  a  maxim 
[which  is  worthy  of  consideration.  Most  heartily 
do  I  wish  that  the  men  from  our  country  would 
do  nothing  worse  than  eat  dogs'  flesh. 
I  But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  Thanksgiving 
j  supper,  which  seems  to  be  a  sine  qva  non  in  the 
lidea  of  a  Puritan  Thanksgiving.  I  am  glad  that 
you  feel  a  doubt  of  our  ability  to  get  up  a  sup- 
per on  this  occasion,  which  will  at  all  compare 
I  with  yours,  as  in  laboring  to  remove  this  doubt, 
I  shall  be  able  to  tell  you  of  the  change  in  ov.r 
j  circumstances  since  March,  1828,  when,  as  one 
of  the  second  reinforcement,  some  eight  years 
after  the  establishment  of  the  mission,  I  landed 
at  Honolulu. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  Thanksgiving  days 
appointed  by  the  government,  and  had  there 
been  we  could  not  have  got  up  much  of  a  sup- 
per. Our  flour  was  very  poor,  sour,  and  often 
musty.  Butter  and  cheese,  fresh  beef  and  m.ut- 
ton  we  rarely  tasted.  Salmon  from  Oregon  we 
could  obtain,  but  without  Irish  potatoes  and 
butter,  this  scarcely  relished.  Molasses  we  used 
for  our  tea  and  coff'ee.  We  had  an  occasional 
fowl,  but  as  we  bought  them  of  the  natives,  they 
were  lean  and  unsavory.  Of  vegetables  we  had 
kalo  and  sweet  potatoes — of  fruit,  bananas  or 
plantains — also,  melons.  These  were  our  facil- 
ities in  1828  for  getting  up  a  Thanksgiving 
supper.  In  1829  no  flour  having  arrived  from 
Boston,  there  was  much  suffering  in  the  Mission 
families  at  Honolulu,  and  the  health  of  not  a  few 
individuals  was  greatly  afi'ected.  Since  that 
time  there  has  been  a  gradual  improvement  in 
the  means  of  living  so  that  to-day,  Ave  can  have  a 
Thankgiving  supper  purely  Hawaiian,  composed 
of  the  following  dishes,  viz.:  Baked  beef  and 
j  lamb,  both  beautifully  fat  and  tender,  and  good 
enough  for  John  Bull  himself;  fine  large  and  fat 
turkey  and  baked  fowl ;  excellent  mullet  Irom 
'fresh  water  ponds ;  roasted  pig  fed  on  milk,  ten- 
der and  savory;  potatoes,  both  Irish  and  sweet; 
kalo,  of  which  the  poi  is  made,  but  which  boiled 
'  or  roasted  is  excellent ;  bananas  or  plantains 
cooked  in  almost  as  many  ways  as  your  apple, 
and,  on  the  whole,  an  excellent  substitute  ;  bread 
fruit,  onions,  beans  and  lettuce,  Indian  corn,  to- 
matoes and  cabbage.  To  these  vegetables,  there 
can  be  added  at  some  of  our  stations,  turnips, 
beets  and  carrots.  Bread,  of  course,  at  Maka- 
wao,  must  not  be  forgotten.  This  we  have  plen^ 
[  tifully,  made  of  coarse  meal  ground  in  our  hand- 
mills  or  fine  bolted  at  our  steam  mill  at  Honolu- 
lu. With  these  ingredients  we  can  have  chick- 
en pie  ;  also,  custards,  as  sugar,  eggs  and  milk 
,  are  abundant ;  pumpkin  and  banana  pies  like- 
j  wise.  Butter  and  cheese,  with  fig,  guava  and 
iOhelo — Hawaiian  whortleberry — preserves.  Pia 
jor  arrow-root  puddings,  Hawaiian  coff'ee  with 
cream  and  sugar.  A  part  or  all  of  these  v/e  can 
furnish  for  our  supper  this  evening — also  mel- 
ons, oranges,  guavas  and  figs.  Or  if  our  friend, 
Dr.  Alcott,  will  sup  with  us,  he  shall  have  good 
baked  potatoes  and  bread,  pia,  also,  with  figs  and 
1  oranges.  Please  recollect,  gentlemen,  that  1  did 
j  not  spread  this  table  to  cause  a  surfeit,  but  to 
[show  you  what  a  change  the  blessing  of  God  on 


334 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMER. 


July 


industry  has  wrought  in  our  circumstances  of  liv- 
ing since  182B. 

Erening. — I  have  just  returned  from  the  house 
of  God,  where  I   addressed  our  people   on  ihej 
goodness  of  their  heavenly  Benefactor  during  the 
year  which  is  near  its  close.     It  has  been,  on  tke 
whole,  a  year  of  prosperity  to  the  Hawaiian   na- 
tion.    Health  has  prevailed  as  a  general  thing. 
Peace  has  blessed  the  nation  with  its  balmy  in- 
fluence.    The  earth  has    yielded  her  usual    in- 
crease, so  that  to-day  we  may  justly  speak  of  the 
watcliful  care  of  a  benignant  Providence,  and  of! 
the  loving  kindness  of  God  to  us  all.     In  addi- 1 
tion  to  the  products  of  the  earth  purely  Hawaiian, ' 
there  have  been  sown  and  reaped  a  larger  num- 
ber of  acres  of  wheat  in  this  district  than  ever  be- 
fore, and   though   a  good  deal  of  this  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  caterpillar,  still  some  1(3,000  bush- 
els were  secured  and  sold,  besides   a  good  deal  J 
reserved  for  seed.     Considerably  many  oats  werej 
raised,  also  corn   and  beans.     Besides   these  es-j 
sentials,  the  islands  are  fast  developing  their  ca-' 
pabiJities  of  ])roducing  fruit.     Oranges  are   be-| 
coming  increasingly  plenty.     Peaches,  also,  wilL 
soon  become  abundant.   Figs  have  long  been  so,' 
also   guavas  and    custard   apple.     I  have   not  a' 
doubt  that  Hawaii  will  become  famous  as  a  fruit- : 
growing  country.     In  this  prospect  I  greatly  re- 1 
joice,  and  I  am    exhorting  the    people   to  turnj 
their  attention  more  to  fruit-growing.     Oranges 
and  figs  eaten  freely  would  conduce  much  to  the 
physical   health    and    enjoyment   of   all    classes 
among  us.  Some  of  them  are  beginning  to  think 
more  favorably  of  this  department  of  labor  and 
enterprise.     The  growing  of  wheat,  however,  at 
present  secures  most  of  their  attention.   Though 
it  is  not  a  very  profitable   branch  of  enterprise 
still  multitudes  wish  to  try  their  hands  at  it,  and 
as  the   Hawaiian  Steam  Flouring   Company  pay 
cash  for  wheat,  an  increasing  number  are  thrust- 
ing in  the  plow,  and    scattering  the  seed  over 
the  furrowed  fields.     One  benefit  the  people  are 
certainly  deriving  from  the  introduction  of  wheat 
into  their  country, — they  are   forming  habits  of 
industry.    In  this  I  greatly  rejoice.    Of  the  suc- 
cess of  their  labors  I  will  tell  you  in  my  next 
communication. 

Yours  with  respect,  J.  S.  Green. 


Fur  the  New  Ensland  Farmer. 
THB  APIARY— BEE  HIVES. 
Mr.  Editor: — In  the  Farmer  of  January  7 
I  noticed  an  article  concerning  bee  hives,  which 
has  led  me  to  give  a  description  of  a  hive  of  my 
own  construction.  In  the  first  place,  make  a  sim- 
ple box  twelve  inches  square  inside,  and  tv/elve 
or  fourteen  inches  high,  as  the  apiarian  may  de- 
termine. The  top  board  should  be  fastened  on 
■with  screws.  The  sticks  to  support  the  combs 
should  run  crosswise  of  the  hive,  and  made  a  lit- 
tle shorter  than  the  width  of  the  inside,  and 
fastened  by  nails  driven  through  the  sides  of  the 
hive,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  easily  drawn  with 
a  hammer.  Now  whenever  it  becomes  necessary 
to  take  out  the  contents,  you  have  only  to  sever 
the  comb  from  the  inside  of  the  hive,  draw  out 
the  nails  from  the  sticks  that  support  the  combs, 
and  take  out  the  screws  from  the  top,  then  raise 
ihe  contents  all  out  whole,  cleaving  to  the  top 
board  without  injuring  the  hive. 


Having  explained  the  why  and  wherefore,  I 
will  go  on  with  the  construction.  Now  make  a 
passage  crosswise  through  the  top  board  the 
whole  width  of  the  inside  of  the  hive,  one-half 
inch  in  width,  for  the  bees  to  pass  up  into  the 
boxes.  Nail  flat  bars  one  inch  in  width  on  the 
under  side  of  the  top  board  lengthwise,  or  from 
front  to  back.  To  cause  the  bees  to  build  in  the 
centre  of  the  bars,  stick  a  piece  of  comb  on  to 
each  bar  by  dipping  it  into  melted  wax,  and  ap- 
plying it  immediately. 

I  prefer  the  flat  bars,  because  there  is  no  pa- 
tent claimed  on  them,  and  then  it  is  less  work  to 
stick  on  the  combs  than  to  make  the  bevel  bar 
of  the  Union  Hive.  And  the  passage  through 
the  top  when  the  boxes  are  inverted,  answers  the 
purpose  of  the  hollow  roosts  of  the  Union  Hive. 
The  boxes  are  made  with  holes  bored  in  the  bot- 
tom. 1  usually  make  two  passage  ways  across 
the  top  of  the  hive,  with  a  hole  in  each  end  of 
the  boxes  exactly  over  the  passage.  I  prefer 
holes  in  the  boxes  to  a  long  passage  to  corres- 
pond with  the  passage  in  the  top  board,  because 
the  queen  will  not  be  so  liable  to  enter  the  boxes 
and  deposit  her  eggs  there,  thereby  converting  the 
contents  into  brood  comb.  At  the  same  time,  the 
bees  can  pass  up  between  all  the  combs  into  the 
passage  way,  thenco  to  the  holes  in  the  boxes. 

Now  for  a  contrivance  for  your  correspondent 
from  Leominster.  Bore  two  holes  in  the  front 
of  the  hive  under  the  top  board,  exactly  in  line 
with  the  holes  in  the  boxes  ;  to  be  closed  by  a 
button,  and  opened  when  the  bees  are  at  work  in 
the  boxes,  and  for  purposes  of  ventilation. 

The  cap  to  cover  the  boxes  is  made  to  shut 
over  the  outside  of  the  hive,  and  rests  on  cleats, 
and  to  fit  the  bottom  as  well  as  the  top  of  the 
hive,  for  the  purpose  of  wintering  bees  in  the 
house;  the  cap  should  also  have  a  ventilator. 
Now  invert  the  cap  and  raise  the  hive  from  the 
stand ;  set  it  into  the  cap  resting  on  cleats  upon 
the  outside  of  the  hive,  then  carry  it  to  some 
dark  closet,  open  the  ventilator  and  take  off  the 
boxes,  and  your  bees  will  come  out  dry  and  clean 
in  the  spring.  N.  K.  i,. 

Otter  Biver,  May,  1859. 


To  KEEP  Moths  from  Furs  and  Wool- 
lens.— Shake  and  beat  them  well,  then  tie  them 
up  tight  in  a  cotton  or  linen  bag,  and  hang  them 
in  a  dry  place,  or  put  them  into  a  chest.  Noth- 
ing else  is  necessary.  This  process  is  effectual, 
because  the  miller  cannot  get  in  to  deposit  its 
eggs.  It  shuns  camphor,  tobacco,  or  anything 
else  of  the  kind,  as  much  as  a  hungry  boy  would 
a  good  apple.  We  once  deposited  some  nice  furs 
in  the  centre  of  a  cask  of  tobacco  ;  but  the  moth 
cared  as  little  for  it  as  for  a  cask  of  rose  leaves, 
and  ruined  our  furs.  Tie  up  the  furs,  and  they 
will  be  safe. 

Wheel  Hoes. — Every  person  who  has  half  an 
acre  in  carrots,  parsnips,  onions,  &c.,  all  told, 
ought  to  have  a  wheel  hoe.  He  can  raise  ten 
bushels  of  carrots  or  onions  as  easily  with  one, 
as  he  can  Jive  without  one.     Wont  that  pay  ? 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


335 


MOWING-  MACHINES. 

The  favorable  weather  of  May  and  early  June 
has  brought  the  grass  forward  with  wonderful 
rapidity,  so  that  by  the  25th  instant  many  fields 
will  be  ready  to  harvest.  Our  friends  will  do 
well  during  the  haying  season  to  cut  a  portion 
of  their  grass  quite  early,  ancf  then  in  feedfng  it 
out  during  the  winter,  observe  what  the  compar- 
ative value  is  of  grass  cut  early  and  made  into 
hay,  and  that  cut  when  more  mature.  We  have 
the  impression  that  the  early  cut  grass  is  much 
the  most  valuable  ;  that  is,  cut  in  its  early  bloom. 
It  is  sweeter,  less  hard  and  wiry,  and  cattle,  so 
far  as  our  observation  has  extended,  eat  it  with 
a  greater  relish  than  they  do  later  cut  grass. 

Another  query  is,  whether  a  large  portion  of 
OMX  hay  is  not  cured  too  much — that  is,  over- 
made,  dried  until  it  is  almost  juiceless,  brittle, 
hard  and  innutritious.  Grass  cut  just  at  night, 
and  well  fended  during  a  bright  July  day,  can  be 
sufficiently  dried  to  go  in,  by  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon — and  if  a  gentle  breeze  is  moving,  even 
earlier. 

Those  whose  lands  will  admit  the  use  of  a 
mowing  machine,  and  whb  have  not  yet  used  one, 
have  not  realized  the  "aid  and  comfort"  they 
may  derive  from  the  use  of  a  good  one.  Ketch- 
um's,  we  believe  was  the  first  introduced  on  our 
Massachusetts  farms.  This  has  been  re-modelled 
•  and  greatly  improved,  and  one  has  been  recently 
conistructed  for  one  horse,  which  we  gave  a  cut 
of  some  weeks  since.  Manny's  has  been  quite 
extensively  used,  has  been  much  improved,  and 
is  now  fitted  for  one  horse,  and  seems  to  us  cal- 
culated to  do  good  work.  We  have  not  seen  it 
in  motion.  Then  there  is  Allen's,  Russell's,  the 
Buckeye,  Wood's,  Thompson's,  Gore's,  &c.,  of 
which  we  have  no  particular  knowledge,  and  can 
give  no  opinion  of  them.  Some  of  those  already 
constructed,  we  feel  quite  confident,  will  work  well 
enough  to  pay  their  cost  in  a  few  years,  so  that, 
although  they  may  not  be  perfect,  there  will  be 
no  loss  in  purchasing  and  using  them. 


HORSE  RAKES  AND  HAY  TENDERS. 

The  prejudice  against  the  use  of  Horse  Rakes 
in  haying  has  gradually  yielded  as  they  have  been 
more  generally  brought  into  use.  There  are  sev- 
eral kinds,  the  poorest  of  which  are  worthy  of 
introduction,  in  preference  to  the  sole  use  of  the 
hand  rake.  The  "Revolver"  works  clean  and 
well,  is  cheap,  not  liable  to  get  out  of  order,  and 
requires  little  room  when  not  in  use.  But  it  or- 
dinarily takes  two  persons  to  use  it,  or,  if  only 
one,  one  of  the  best  hands  in  the  field,  and  is  a 
hard  and  exhausting  labor.  The  spring  tooth 
rakes  clean,  too  clean,  usually  takes  two  hands 
to  work  it,  and  is  hard  work  for  man  and  beast. 


It  is  sometimes  mounted  upon  wheels,  so  that 
the  operator  can  ride,  and  in  that  form  is  said  to 
be  a  good  rake.  We  have  not  used  it.  The 
"Delano,  or  Independent  Aetion"  rake,  when 
well  constructed,  rakes  clean,  is  easy  for  the  op- 
erator and  the  horse,  and  performs  the  work  with 
great  rapidity.  A  stout  boy  of  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years,  will  rake  after  as  many  carts  as  half  a  doz- 
en men  can  load  at  one  time,  and  a  skillful  man- 
ager can  do  all  the  heavy  part  of  cocking  with 
one,  after  he  has  got  the  hay  into  winrows. 

We  understand  that  Messrs.  NouRSE,  Masox 
&  Co.  have  in  process  of  construction  a  Bay 
Spreader  made  in  connection  with  a  Horse  Rake, 
so  that  either  can  be  used  at  will.  Those  who 
are  competent  to  judge,  inform  us  that  it  will  be 
a  capital  machine.  We  await  its  advent  with 
Home  impatience. 


I^or  the  New  England  Farmer. 

VALUE  OF  CARROTS  FOR  MILK 
PURPOSES. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — I  observe  that  the  value 
of  roots  for  stock  is  considerably  agitated  of 
late.  A  thorough  discussion  of  this  subject  must 
comprehend  three  departments  of  utility,  viz., 
their  value  in  increasing  the  quantiiy  #f  milk, 
their  value  in  improving  the  quality  of  the  milk, 
and  lastly,  in  what  comparative  co?idition  the  ex- 
periment leaves  the  stock.  As  all  neat  stock  is 
destined  in  the  end  for  the  shambles,  no  experi- 
ment can  be  fully  satisfactory  under  either  of  the 
two  first  heads,  that  does  not  also  state  how  far 
it  promoted  this  end  ;  still,  as  far  as  such  an  ex- 
periment goes,  it  has  its  value,  but  the  limits  of 
its  teachings  should  be  noted.  Of  the  value  of 
carrots  for  milk  purposes,  one  of  our  enterpris- 
ing farmers,  Mr.  Mason  Courtis,  recently  nar- 
rated to  me  the  result  of  an  experiment  of  his, 
which,  as  it  was  made  with  care,  and  the  result 
made  a  memorandum  of,  at  the  time  the  experi- 
ment was  made,  appears  to  be  well  worthy  of 
record. 

On  Christmas  last,  he  began  to  feed  four  cows 
with  cut  carrots,  of  the  orange  variety,  giving 
two  pecks  daily  to  each  animal,  which  was  con- 
tinued until  the  20lh  of  jNIarch,  as  long  as  the 
carrots  held  out.  During  this  period,  the  yield 
of  milk  from  the  four  averaged  forty  quarts  dai- 
ly. Immediately  after  the  carrots  were  gone, 
the  cows  fell  oft'  regularly  and  rapidly  in  their 
yield  of  milk,  and  in  thirteen  days  had  fallen  off 
eleven  quarts,  when  they  yielded  a  constant  sup- 
ply for  a  fortnight,  after  which,  being  fed  with  a 
daily  proportion  of  meal,  they  increased  their 
yield. 

In  the  whole  course  of  the  experiment,  they 
were  fed  with  second  crop  hay,  the  hay  having 
been  proportionally  increased  after  the  carrots 
were  exhausted.  They  were  regularly  watered 
and  always  milked  by  the  same  person. 

Marhlehead,  June,  1859.  J.  J.  H.  Gregory. 


CI*"  There  are  six  or  spven  generations  of  gnats 
in  a  summer,  and  each  lay  250  eggs. 


336 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


HAY  CAPS. 


Those  of  our  friends  who  procure  and  use  half.  Something  was  said  last  summer  of  a  patented 
a  dozen  Hay  Caps,  in  getting  their  hay  and  grain  ^hay-cap,  and  permission  was  given  us  by  the  in- 
the  present  summer,  will  be  quite  sure  to  treble,  ventor,  Mr.  Dinsmoor,  of  Auburn,  N.  H.,  to  try 
or  quadruple  the  number  next  summer.  If  the  sea- 1  them.  We  did  so,  and  found  them  much  supe- 
son  should  prove  a  "catching  one,"  they  will  save!  rior  to  any  we  had  before  seen.  The  right  to 
their  cost  on  their  present  crops.  Never  mind  i  make  and  sell  these  is  now  entirely  invested  in- 
what  disaffected  grumblers  say,  who  are  deter-  Messrs.  Chases  &  Fay,  Boston,  whose  cut  above, 
mined  not  to  "haw"  or  "gee"  only  as  the  antedi-;  illustrates  the  manner  in  which  caps  are  used, 
luvians  did, — but  get  a  few  and  try  them.     Let  | They  also  make  caps  from  prepared  cloth,  which 


old  fogydom  go  to  mill  on  a  drag,  if  it  pleases, 
while  you  sit  on  a  well-stuffed  seat  and  eliptic 
springs.  You  will  find  your  grist  none  the  less 
sweet,  or  coarser,  for  bringing  a  little  art  to  your 
aid.     But  try  the  hay  caps,  for  several  reasons  : 

1.  You  can   make  hay  much   faster  with  them, 

even  in  good  weather. 

2.  Your  hay  will  be  better  partially  made  in  the 

cock,  under  caps,  than  it  would  be  made  en- 


they  say  will  not  mildew. 


Clean  Milking. — It  is^a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance that  the  milk  should  all  be  drawn  from 
the  cow's  udder.  Careful  experiments  made  in 
England  show,  that  "the  quantity  of  cream  ob- 
tained from  the  last  drawn  cup,  from  most  cows, 
exceeds  that  of  the  first  in  a  proportion  of  twelve 
Thus   a  person  who  carelessly  leaves 


to   one 
.     1     .      ,  -n  ,  ,      ,      but  a  teacup  full  of  milk  undrawn,  loses  in  reali- 

tirely  mthe  sun.  Persons  who  put  up  herbs  ij^y  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^ould  be  afforded  by 

for  medicinal  purposes,  where   it   becomes! four   or  six  pints  at  the  beginning;    and  loses, 


too,  that  part  of  the  cream  which  gives  the  rich- 
ness and  high  flavor  to  the  butter. —  Country  Oen- 
tleman. 


necessary  to  retain   all  their  virtues,  never 
dry  them  in  the  sun. 

3.  As  the  haying  season  is  short,  you  can  have 

more  grass  down  at  once  by  the  uie  of  c»p8, 

and  thus  get  through  haying  quicker.  ,  Remedy  for   the    Striped   BuG.-Having 

,    ~,  1-        /.  ,  ,  ,  .,1  but  few  boards  at  hand  suitable  tor  makmgirames, 

4.  The  quality  of  your  hay  made  under  caps  willi,^^^  ^^j^^^^  ^f  ^1^   ^^^,^^^^^  j  ^^^^  ^  wheelbarrow 

be  10  per  cent,  better;  it  will  be  sweeter,  |  load  of  the  latter,  and  stood"  four  or  five  of  them 
brighter,  less  dusty,  and  go  farther  in  feed-  on  edge  around  each  hill  of  melons,  etc.,  as  soon 
ing  out,  provided  the  season  is  unfavorable  I  as  the  young  plants  made  their  appearance  ;  and 
for  makino-  ^°  *-^^  days'  trial  I  have  not   found  a  bug   inside 

5.  You  will  save  their  entire  cost  in  obviating 


the  necessity  of  cocking  and  spreading  out 


these  little  pens,  while  some  plants  left  outside 
were  entirely  devoured  by  them.  The  bricks 
also  promote  the  growth  of  the  young  plants,  by 
again,  quantities  of  hay  which  you  can  thor-j protecting  from  winds,  and  giving  out  heat  at 
oughly  make  with  their  aid.  pight  absorbed  during  the  As.^\— Exchange. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARRIER. 


337 


BENEFIT  OF   DROUGHTS. 

It  may  be  a  consolation  to  those  who  have  felt 
the  influences  of  long  and  protracted  dry  weather, 
to  know  that  droughts  are  one  of  the  natural 
causes  to  restore  the  constituents  of  the  crops, 
and  renovate  cultivated  soils.  The  diminution 
of  the  mineral  matter  of  cultivated  soils  takes 
place  from  two  causes. 

First.  The  quantity  of  mineral  matter  carried 
off  in  crops  and  not  returned  to  the  soil  in  ma- 
nure. 

Second.  The  mineral  matter  carried  off  by  rain 
water  to  the  sea  by  means  of  fresh  water  streams. 

These  two  causes,  always  in  operation  and 
counteracted  by  nothing,  would  in  time  render 
the  earth  a  barren  waste,  in  which  no  verdure 
would  quicken,  no  solitary  plant  take  root.  A 
rational  system  of  agriculture  would  obliterate 
the  first  cause  of  sterility,  by  always  restoring  to 
the  soil  an  equivalent  for  that  which  is  taken  off 
by'the  crops,  but  as  this  is  not  done  in  all  cases, 
Providence  has  provided  a  way  of  its  own  to 
counteract  the  tkriftlessness  of  men,  by  institu- 
ting droughts  at  periods,  to  bring  up,  from  the 
deep  parts  of  the  earth,  food  on  which  plants 
might  feed  when  rains  should  again  fall.  The 
manner  in  which  droughts  exercise  their  bene- 
ficial influence  is  as  follows  :  during  dry  weather, 
a  continual  evaporation  of  v.-ater  takes  place  from 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  which  if  not  supplied 
by  any  from  the  surface  creates  a  vacuum,  (so  far 
as  the  water  is  concerned,)  which  is  at  once  filled 
by  the  water  rising  up  from  the  subsoil  of  the 
land  ;  the  water  from  the  subsoil  is  replaced  from 
the  next  below,  and  in  this  manner  the  circula- 
tion of  water  in  the  earth  is  the  reverse  of  that 
which  takes  place  in  wet  weather.  This  progress 
to  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  earth  manifests 
itself  most  strikingly  in  the  drying  up  of  springs 
and  rivers,  and  of  streams  which  are  supported 
by  springs.  It  is  not,  however,  only  tlie  water 
which  is  brought  to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  hut 
also  all  that  tcJiich  the  icatcr  holds  in  solution. 
These  substances  are  salts  of  lime  and  magnesia, 
of  potash  and  soda,  and  indeed,  whatever  the 
subsoil  of  deep  strata  of  the  earth  may  contain. 
The  water,  on  reaching  the  soil,  is  evaporated, 
and  leaves  behind  the  mineral  salts  which  I  will 
here  enumerate,  viz  :  lime,  as  air  slacked  lime  ; 
magnesia,  as  air  slacked  magnesia;  phosphate  of 
lime,  or  bone  earth;  sulphate  of  lime,  or  plaster 
of  paris  ;  carbonate  of  potash  and  soda,  with  si- 
licate of  potash  and  soda,  and  also  chloride  of  so- 
dium or  common  salt:  all  indispensable  to  the 
growth  and  production  of  plants  which  are  used 
for  food.  Rain  water,  as  it  falls  from  the  clouds, 
would  dissolve  but  a  very  small  proportion  of 
some  of  these  substances  ;  but  when  it  becomes 
soaked  into  the  earth,  it  there  becomes  strongly 
imbuded  with  carbonic  acid  from  the  decomposi- 
tion of  vegetable  matter  in  the  soil,  and  thus  ac- 
quires the  property  of  readily  dissolving  minerals 
on  which  it  before  could  have  very  little  influence. 
I  was  first  led  to  the  consideration  of  the  above 
matter  from  a  perusal  of  a  lecture  of  Professor 
Johnston,  on  this  subject,  and  on  a  re-examina- 
tion of  some  soils  which  were  analyzed  some 
years  since,  there  was  perceptible  a  larger  quan- 
tity of  a  particular  mineral  substance  than  was 
first  found.     And  as  none  had  been  applied  in  the 


meantime,  the  thing  was  difficult  of  explanation, 
until  I  remembered  the  late  long  protracted 
drought.  I  then  also  remembered  that  in  sever- 
al of  the  provinces  in  South  America,  soda  was 
obtained  from  the  bottoms  of  ponds,  which  Avere 
dried  in  the  dry,  and  again  filled  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son. As  the  above  explanation  depended  on  the 
principles  of  natural  philosophy,  experiments 
were  at  once  instituted  to  prove  the  truth.  Into 
a  glass  cylinder  was  placed  a  small  quantity  of 
chloride  of  barium  in  solution  ;  this  was  then 
filled  wilh  dry  soil,  and  for  sometime  exposed  to 
the  dkect  rays  of  the  sun  on  the  surface.  The 
soil  on  the  surface  of  the  cylinder  was  now  treated 
with  sulphuric  acid,  and  gave  a  copious  precip- 
itate of  sulphate  of  baryta.  The  ex])eriment  was 
varied  by  substituting  chloride  of  lime,  sulphate 
of  soda,  and  carbonate  of  potash,  for  the  chloride 
of  barium  ;  and  on  the  proper  resolving  agents 
being  applied,  in  every  instance  the  presence  of 
these  substances  were  detected  in  large  quanti- 
ties on  the  surface  of  the  soil  in  the  cylinder. 
Here  then  is  proof  positive  and  direct,  by  plain 
experiment  in  chemistry,  and  natural  philoso- 
phy, cf  the  agency,  the  ultimate  beneficial  agency 
of  droughts. 

We  see  therefore  in  this,  that  even  those  things 
which  we  look  upon  as  evils,  by  Providence,  are 
blessings  in  disguise  ;  and  that  we  should  not 
murmur  even  when  dry  seasons  afflict  us,  for  they 
too,  are  for  our  good.  The  early  and  the  later 
rain  may  produce  at  once  abundant  crops  ;  but 
dry  weather  is  also  a  beneficial  dispensation  of 
Providence,  in  bringing  to  the  surface  food  for 
future  crops,  which  otherwise  would  be  forever 
useless.  Seasonable  weather  is  good  for  the 
present ;  but  droughts  renew  the  storehouses  of 
plants  in  the  soil,  and  furnish  an  abundant  supply 
of  nutriment  for' future  crops. — Geo.  Teow- 
BRIDGE,  Camden,  N.  Y.,  in  Ohio  Valley  Farmer. 


THE  SEASON". 

The  promise  is  at  present  strong  for  abundant 
crops.  The  hot  days  which  we  had  about  the 
middle  of  May  brought  the  plants  forward  with 
great  rapidity, — but  the  cooler  weather  since  has 
given  them  a  desirable  check,  so  that  they  have 
grown  stocky  and  strong,  instead  of  aspiring  to 
reach  the  skies.  . 

The  apple  blossom  has  been  full  in  this  region 
The  cherry  blossom  only  moderate,  while  we 
have  met  only  two  farmers  who  have  seen  a  peach 
blossom  this  spring ! 

A  copious  rain  fell  here  on  the  night  of  the 
31st  of  May,  and  the  ground  is  well  wet  below, 
— so  that  if  little  or  no  rain  should  fall  before 
haying,  the  grass  crop  will  be  an  average  one. 
Hay  still  commands  a  somewhat  high  price,  how- 
ever, in  consequence,  we  suppose,  of  the  high 
price  of  grain,  as  it  brings  readily  in  our  mark- 
et, from  $1,00  to  $1,15  per  hundred  pounds,  ac- 
cording to  its  quality. 

Planting  was  somewhat  delayed  by  the  north- 
east storm  which  occurred  in  the  last  half  of 
May  ;  but  the  crops  were  got  in  seasonably,  not. 


338 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMEB. 


July 


withstanding,  and  the  grain  crops  are  up  and 
appearing  well.  Corn  has  come  up  promptly, 
and  looks  well,  and  so  do  many  fields  of  potatoes. 

Winter  rye  and  winter  wheat  are  of  good  height, 
and  fine  color,  and  have  a  fine  start  for  rich  har- 
vests.    Spring  wheat  also  looks  well. 

As  the  season  progresses,  the  fatal  eff'ects  of  the 
winter  are  more  and  more  obvious.  A  gentle- 
man informs  us,  that  of  one  hundred  peach  trees 
that  have  been  in  bearing  two  or  three  years,  not 
one  is  left  to  be  of  any  value,  while  one  hundred 
£ind  fifty  trees  that  have  not  yet  come  into  bear- 
ing are  not  in  the  slightest  degree  injured.  Grape 
vines,  quince  bushes,  and  various  shrubs  that 
have  shown  no  signs  of  starting  until  within  a 
few  days,  are  now  pushing  buds,  and  possibly 
may  recover  from  the  palsying  stroke  which  they 
received.  Grass  has  been  badly  winter-killed, 
■which  leaves  many  fields  with  rather  a  leprous 
appearance. 

'What  has  been  the  cause  of  this  widely-spread 
destruction  ?  Who  can  tell  us  ?  Was  it  ex- 
treme and  sudden  variations  in  temperature,  the 
great  depth  to  which  the  frost  penetrated,  or 
did  the  impenetrable  covering  of  ice,  which,  rest- 
ing upon  the  surface  during  a  good  portion  of 
the  winter,  cut  off  a  certain  aeration  or  breath- 
ing, necessary  to  the  plants  ?  Who  will  solve 
these  mysteries  for  us,  and  enable  us,  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  enlightened  art,  to  protect  ourselves 
against  future  ravages  of  a  similar  nature  ?  Sure- 
ly, the  farmer  needs  the  best  native  ability,  the 
most  varied  and  abstruse  learning,  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  ripest  judgment,  to  penetrate  the 
arcana  of  nature,  and  tell  us  how  to  avoid  the 
losses  which  are  perpetually  occurring. 

On  Friday  morning,  June  3d,  there  was  a  brisk 
thunder  shower  in  this  region,  the  first  of  the 
season. 

For  the  New>  England  Parmer. 
ABOUT  PKUNING. 

Mr.'  Editor  : — I  had  seen,  in  the  New  Eng- 
land Farmer,  many  articles  on  the  pruning  of 
trees.  I  believe  it  is  time  that  the  subject,  and 
the  discussion  of  the  subject,  should  be  pruned. 
As  you  and  your  May  number  appear  to  be  al 
most  cloyed  with  the  subject,  I  feel  some  hesi- 
tancy in  undertaking  it,  with  my  dull  tools.  But 
in  doing  it,  I  pledge  myself  that  the  sap  shall 
not  ilow  very  copiously  from  m>y  head,  nor  from 
my  pen. 

The  object  of  pruning  is  to  rid  the  tree  of  its 
Bupeifiuous  branches.  The  right  time  of  prun 
ing  is,  when  the  sap  is  gone  up,  and  is  elab 
orating,  by  vegetable  process,  in  the  formation 
of  a  pulpy  substance,  (camhicam,)  which  be- 
comes wood ;  and  adds  one  grain  to  the  tree 
If  a  limb  be  cut  off'  at  this  time,  the  new  wood 
forms  between  the  bark  and  that  part  of  the 
limb  which  remains.  Thus  a  covering  begins  to 
be  formed  over  the  naked  wood,  where  the  am 


putation  was  made ;  and  this  process  goes  on 
from  year  to  year,  till  the  whole  is  covered  ;  the 
wound  is  healed. 

If  it  be  asked,  when  does  this  pulpy  substance 
between  the  bark  of  the  wood  commence  in  fruit 
trees,  I  shall  not  answer  by  giving  the  date ;  for 
there  is  more  than  three  Aveeks  difference  in  dif- 
ferent seasons.  But  I  am  prepared  to  say,  it 
takes  place  about  the  time  the  blossom  bud  is 
ready  to  open.  DiS'erient  kinds  of  trees  require 
different  times  for  pruning.  The  pine  should  be 
pruned  about  the  middle  of  June.  I  make  these 
remarks,  not  with  the  expectation  of  convincing 
any  one  who  has  expressed  a  different  opinion, 
but  to  relieve  my  own  mind  of  an  item  of  knowl- 
edge, which  I  have  had  on  hand,  and  in  hand, 
many  years. 

Now  I  recommend  it  to  any  one,  and  to  every 
one,  who  feels  interested  in  the  subject,  to  make 
the  following  experiment.  At  the  middle  of  each 
month  in  the  year,  take  a  limb  from  tlie  same 
tree,  or  from  trees  of  the  same  class,  and  notice 
definite  and  minutely  the  result.  Knowledge 
gained  in  this  way  is  one's  own  knowledge,  and 
it  is  as  much  better  than  borrowed  knowledge, 
as  earned  capital  is  better  than  borrowed  capital. 

Milford,  N.  H.,  May  24,  1859.  H.  M. 


For  the  New  England  Farmej^ 
"BUTA  BAGA  AND  COHN  CBOPS." 

I  fully  concur  with  Mr.  Brigham,  (in  your  pa- 
per of  the  28th  of  May,)  in  relation  to  the  culture 
of  the  ruta  bagas  or  any  of  the  turnip  tribe. 
From  a  long  experience  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  I  am  convinced  that  the  turnip  is  one  of  the 
most  exhausting  crops  that  the  farmer  cultivates. 
I  say  exhausting,  for  it  takes  a  longer  time  and 
costs  more  to  renovate  the  soil  after  raising  a 
crop  of  turnips,  than  any  other  crop  I  cultivate. 
My  experience  is  similar  to  Mr.  Brigham's  in  the 
succeeding  crops.  I  think  the  deterioration  is 
fully  one-half.  Many  argue  that  the  turnip  crop 
is  not  exhausting,  as  the  broad  leaves  receive 
their  nourishment  from  the  atmosphere  and  the 
dews.  If  that  be  the  case,  and  the  food  of  plants 
is  not  imbibed  by  them  in  undue  proportions, 
then  I  would  suggest  that  they  draw  from  the  at- 
mosphere poisonous  substances  and  impregnate 
the  soil  with  its  deadly  exudations.  All  I  ask  is, 
let  the  sticklers  of  the  turnip  crop  make  a  fair 
experiment,  (as  Mr.  Brigham  has  done,)  side  by 
side  with  other  crops,  and  I  opine  they  will  aban- 
don its  culture  as  a  field  crop.  I  trust  the  day  is 
not  distant,  when  all  prudent  farmers  will  aban- 
don its  cultivation,  for  as  the  Hon.  Mr.  Brooks 
very  truly  says,  "It  costs  too  much  to  raise  ruta 
bagas  to  justify  their  cultivation  in  this  region.'* 

There  are  other  root  crops  less  exhausting  or 
less  poisonous  to  the  soil,  and  as  easily  cultivated, 
containing  more  nutriment,  and  more  palatable  to 
our  stock,  viz.,  carrots,  mangold  wurtzel,  beets, 
parsnips,  &c.  ike,  that  the  farmers  may  find  it  for 
their  interest  to  raise,  and  without  any  percepti- 
ble exhaustion  of  the  soil.  I  think  it  would  be 
wise  in  our  legislators  to  withhold  the  bounties 
of  the  State  from  those  county  agricultural  soci- 
eties that  offer  premiums  for  the  turnip  crops. 

The  individual  may  think  he  can  plant  an  acre 
of  turnips  with  impunity,  and  never  realize  his 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


339 


loss  by  deterioration  of  his  soil,  nor  care  for  its 
effects,  so  long  as  he  reaps  a  bountiful  harvest 
and  present  profit,  but  let  him  not  "lay  the  pleas- 
ing unction  to  his  soul,"  that  it  is  an  honest  op- 
eration, for  he  must  surely  feel  some  twinge  of 
conscience  to  leave  to  his  progeny  an  exhausted 
and  barren  soil  (as  an  inheritance,)  made  so  by 
the  avarice  of  their  progenitor. 

Therefore,  I  submit,  that  the  evils  of  turnip 
culture  (in  a  moral  or  pecuniary  point  of  view,) 
are  far  greater  than  the  equestrian  performances 
of  the  ladies  at  our  agricultural  fairs.  c. 

North  Pembroke,  Mass.,  May  30,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SCIENCE  FOB  FARMEH.S. 

Mr.  Editor  :  — We  poor  ignorant  clodhoppers, 
who,  away  out  in  the  country,  plod  over  our 
farms,  have  little  time  to  study  the  profoundly 
Tfise  sayings  of  those  who  write  big  books  and 
agricultural  articles  in  the  newspapers.  We  are 
in  the  habit  of  believing  everything  we  find  in 
these  big  books,  when  we  have  time  to  read 
them.  But  we  are  sometimes  a  little  puzzled, 
when  these  wise  writers  disagree,  to  know  which 
to  believe.  We  desire,  in  all  humility,  to  believe 
both  sides,  but  cannot  always  reconcile  the  state- 
ments made  so  as  to  make  that  possible.  What 
shall  we  do  in  such  cases  ?  Must  we  be  at  the 
trouble  of  using  a  little  common  sense — if  we 
happen  to  have  it  ?  I  suppose  you  will  say, 
"Use  your  common  sense,"  But  have  we  no 
right  to  demand  that  those  who  pretentiously 
made  statements  with  scientific  gravity,  should 
be  careful  to  declare  only  that  which  they  know  ? 

The  getter-up  of  the  agricultural  department 
of  Harper's  Weekly  for  May  14th,  has  given  his 
readers  what  he  calls  an  analysis  of  the  grain, 
leaves  and  cob  of  the  "white  flint  corn."  He 
says : 

"An  analysis  of  the  grain  of  white  flint  corn 
will  give,  of 

Phosphates about  35  per  cent. 

Potash "      25        " 

"The  leaves  will  give,  of 

Silex about  53  per  c«Bt. 

Phosphates "      19         " 

Lime "       6        " 

Potash "      12        " 

Soda "        g        << 

Chlorine "      10        " 

"The  cob  will  give,  of 

Silex about  3  3  per  cent. 

Pho.^phatea "      23        " 

Potash "      35        " 

Soda "        5        '« 

"We  give  the  above  figures  of  some  the  most 
important  elements  for  those  who  are  curious  in 
relation  to  the  composition  of  the  Indian  corn 
plant." 

Now,  this  looks  a  little,  a  very  little,  like  a 
statement  made  by  a  person  who,  ignorant  of  the 
subject  on  which  he  writes,  undertakes  to  prepare 
himself  by  "reading  up"  for  the  occasion,  but 
does  not  do  it  carefully.  There  must  be  some 
mistake  about  it,  or  else  some  of  us  put  a  good 
deal  oi  potash  into  our  stomachs  in  the  course  of 
a  year.  I  believe  I  average  not  far  from  a  pound 
of  Indian  meal  a  day,  taken  in  some  form  as 
food.     Do  I  then  eat/bwr  ounces  of  potash  each 


day — or  over  ninety-one  pounds  in  a  year  ?  that 
would  be  enough  to  made  four  barrels  of  good 
strong  soft  soap.  I  humbly  trust  I  am  not  so 
full  of  lie  as  this  would  make  me. 

Then  again,  to  think  that  the  leaves  of  the  corn 
plant  contain  53  per  cent,  of  silex ;  one  might 
well  imagine  that  our  cows'  teeth  v/ouid  soon 
wear  out,  if  called  upon  to  grind  much  of  it.  As 
to  the  cobs,  too — 35  per  cent,  of  potash  in  them  ! 
Why  have  not  soap-makers  used  them  instead  of 
ashes?  More  than  one-third  potash  !  llow  rap- 
idly, too,  the  potash  would  be  taken  from  the 
soil  at  this  rate.  A  crop  of  50  bushels  to  tho 
acre,  reckoning  the  potash  at  this  rate  in  the 
grain,  leaves  and  cob,  would  use  up  not  far  from 
1400  pounds.  The  agencies  that  decompose  and 
dissolve  the  rocks  would  have  to  be  pretty  busy 
in  order  to  keep  up  a  supply,  at  this  rate  of  con- 
sumption, 

I  have  no  reliable  analysis  of  the  grain  or 
leaves  of  Indian  corn  now,  by  me  ;  but  on  refer- 
ence to  Dr.  Jackson's  analysis  of  the  cobs  of  sev- 
eral different  varieties  of  corn,  it  appears  that  in 
his  specimens  the  percentage  of  potash  varied 
from  2581-10000  to  6430-10000  of  one  per  cent. 
The  analysis  given  by  the  writer  in  Harper's 
Weekly  was  no  doubt  that  of  the  ashes  of  the 
different  parts  of  the  plant,  instead  of  the  whole 
substance  of  those  parts.  My  attention  was 
drawn  to  this  statement  more  particularly  from 
having  recently  seen,  in  Liebig's  Agricultural 
Chemistry,  Indian  corn  classed  with  plants  that 
"contain  either  no  potash,  or  mere  traces  of  it." 
This  appears  to  be,  at  best,  a  careless  statement ; 
for,  if  Dr.  Jackson's  analysis  is  to  be  relied  upon, 
(and  I  have  never  heard  his  accuracy  called  in 
question,)  the  cob  analyzed  by  him  averaged 
nearly  a  half  of  one  per  cent. ;  while  dry,  hard 
wood,  according  to  an  authority  quoted  by  Dr. 
Dana,  in  his  Muck  Manual,  contains  but  a  utile 
more  than  a  fourth  of  one  per  cent,  of  potash 
and  soda  united. 

This  is  a  matter  of  much  importance  to  us  far- 
mers, as  a  knowledge  of  the  constituent  elements 
of  plants  may  guide  to  an  economical  use  of  fer- 
tilizers ;  and  as  few  have  either  the  ability  or  the 
means  to  make  chemical  analyses  ourselves,  we 
must  depend  on  those  who  have,  or  ought  to 
have,  both  ;  and  we  have  a  right  to  demand  that 
what  is  told  us  shall  be  reliable — have  we  not  ? 

Slackville,  May  25,  1859.        J.  Doolittle. 


Remarks. — Good,  Mr.  Doolittle.  You  live 
anywhere  but  in  "Slackville."  Some  of  the  "big 
papers"  of  our  land  are  recently  attempting  to 
enlighten  their  "rustic"  readers  in  scientific  mat- 
ters relating  to  agriculture.  We  often  notice  in 
them  the  most  inconsistent  statements,  as  well 
as  the  most  extravagant  nonsense.  Such  "loose 
expectorations"  are  better  suited  to  the  gather- 
ings of  ceVtain  zealots,  who  love  their  country 
terribly  just  before  an  election!  "Shoe-maker, 
stick  to  thy  last,"  is  an  old  adage,  and  is  a  good 
one.  Some  of  our  cotemporaries  would  do  well 
to  treasure  up  its  sentiment. 


Draining. — Some  people  think  that  it  is  all 
a  matter  of  useless  expense  to  drain  land.    But 


340 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


it  is  probably  not  so.  Col.  Whipple  has  dug, 
stoned  and  covered  some  two  hundred  rods  of 
drains  on  his  land  ;  one  effect  of  which  was  shown 
last  season  in  the  fact  that  he  cut  twenty  tons  of 
hay  on  six  acres  of  land  where  formerly  only  a 
Bmall  crop  was  produced. — N.  II.  Democrat. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPIilES. 

OX   KAISING   MILLET. 

Can  you  give  me  any  information  in  regard  to 
raising  millet?  Is  it  a  good  fodder  for  milch 
cows  ?  Will  it  do  to  sow  it  upon  green-sward  and 
sow  grass  seed  with  the  same  ?  IIow  much  seed 
will  it  take  per  acre,  and  when  should  it  be  sown  ? 
What  soil  is  best  adapted  to  raising  it  ? 

Bedford,  1859.  J.  o.  D. 

Remarks. — Millet  makes  a  good  crop  for 
green  or  dry  fodder,  and  may  be  fed  to  milch 
cows  with  advantage.  It  may  be  put  on  sward 
land  if  it  has  been  deeply-plowed  and  well  pul- 
verized— but  it  grows  too  thick  and  rank  to  al- 
low grass  seed  to  do  well  with  it.  Any  good 
corn  land  is  suitable,  and  eight  quarts  of  seed 
per  acre  is  enough.  Sow  from  first  to  middle  of 
June.  

POTATO    BLIGHT. 

In  going  from  Hartford  to  Waterbury,  in  1846 
at  the  time  of  the  blight,  there  was  only  one  field 
that  looked  healthy,  and  that  one  was  over- 
topped with  buckwheat,  so  that  if  the  blight  came 
from  the  atmosphere,  that  it  kept  it  from  the 
the  potato.  One  farmer  informed  me  that  a  day 
or  two  before  the  blight  he  kept  his  wagon  in 
his  potato  field,  and  a  few  bundles  of  straw  were 
thrown  out  of  the  wagon  upon  the  potatoes,  and 
remained  about  a  week,  when  he  dug  the  pota- 
toes. Those  that  M'ere  covered  were  not  diseased, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  field  would  not  pay  for 
digging.  I  think  that  early  potatoes  and  early 
planting  will  be  more  successful  than  late  plant- 
ing, as  far  as  my  experience  goes. 

I  will  give  you  a  receipt  for  curing  a  ring-bone, 
as  it  was  given  to  me  by  one  that  told  me  he  had 
cured  quite  a  number  by  this  application. 

Take  a  pair  of  scissors  and  cut  the  hair  from 
the  bone,  or  around  the  hoof,  then  apply  the  oil 
of  ambre,  let  it  remain  about  two  hours,  then  ap- 
ply the  soap  palmoil;  this  do  once  every  day, 
and  in  3  or  G  weeks  the  bone  will  disappear. 

ROSE-BUGS. 

June,  the  month  of  roses,  will  soon  be  along, 
and,  as  is  usual,  I  expect  to  see  rose-bugs  come 
in  large  numbers  ;  they  not  only  spoil  the  roses 
but  the  grape  vines  also  suffer  by  their  eating 
tlte  blossoms.  I  know  of  no  way  to  get  rid  of 
them.     Who  can  tell  ?        Henry  M.  Falls. 

North  Wrerdham,  May  30, 1859. 

A   LAME   COLT. 

Can  you  tell  me  what  will  cure  the  stiffness  of 
the  fort  legs  of  a  colt  that  was  caused  by  stand- 
ing in  the  stable  and  eating  too  much  grain?  It 
appears  to  be  in  the  joints.  H.  M.  A 

Cliarlestown,  N.  H.,  1859. 


VALUE   OF  RUTA  BAGAS. 

I  noticed  in  one  of  your  papers  a  piece  from 
Mr.  Otis  Brigham,  of  this  town,  on  root  crops. 
It  was  answered  by  a  gentleman,  the  next  week, 
who  did  not  exactly  agree  with  him.  He  thought 
that  ruta  bagas  were  as  profitable  a  crop  as  any. 
I  have  raised  them  until  I  am  satisfied  that  they 
are  not  worth  the  trouble  of  raising.  You  can 
raise,  on  good  land,  from  600  to  1000  bushels 
per  acre,  but  what  corn  you  can  raise  on  the 
same  land  will  be  worth  four  times  as  much  for 
feed  to  cows,  as  the  turnips.  They  will  make 
milk  enough,  but  it  is  good  for  nothing  after  il 
is  made.  The  turnips  taste  in  the  milk,  butter 
and  cheese,  and  even  the  pigs  turn  their  nosea 
up  when  it  is  fed  to  them.  Besides  this,  they 
injure  the  land  so  that  you  can  raise  nothing  on 
it  after  them.  J.  L.  T. 

Westhoro\  May,  1859. 

PREMIUMS. 

Abstract  of  premiums  awarded  in  the  several 
towns  in  which  exhibitions  were  holden  in  1858 : 

Essex,  Dan  vers $291.63 

Middlesex,  Concord 2-12.00 

Middlesex  South,  Framingham 293.61 

Middlesex  North,  Lowell 335.37 

Worcester,  Worcester 340.50 

Worcester  West,  Barre 240  99 

Worcester  North,  Fitohburg  329.44 

Worcester  South,  Sturbridge , 108.00 

nnmpshire  South,  Northampton 216.00 

Hampshire,  Amherst 152.68 

Hampden,  Springfield 264.8i2 

Hampden  Eabt,  Palmer 195  75 

Franklin,  Shelburn 205  00 

Berkshire,  Pittsfield 344.50 

Hnusatonic,  Great  Harrington 251.00 

Norfolk,  Dedham 135  00 

Plymouth,  Bridge  water 314.76 

Bristol,  Taunton 350  75 

Barnstable,  Barnstable 360.75 

Nantucket,  Nantucket 157.00 

$5149.44 

The  whole  amount  awarded  is  believed  to  have 
been  about  $12,000.  Truly  there  is  something  in 
locality,  where  20  towns  out  of  300  get  nearly 
half  the  whole  amount  awarded.  These  facts 
present  matters  for  deliberate  consideration. — 
Conclusions  are  left  to  tbose  disposed  to  make 
them.  P. 

Jmie  \st,  1859.  

TO  PREVENT  THE  YELLOW  BTRIPED  BUG  FROM 
DESTROYING   WATERMELON   VINES. 

Take  feathers  from  a  hen's  wing,  or  take 
sticks  and  split  them  and  put  in  cotton,  which  ia 
about  as  good,  dip  them  in  spirits  of  turpentine, 
and  stick  them  into  the  hill  in  an  oblique  or 
slanting  position  a  little  above  the  vines ;  two 
or  three  will  be  sufficient  for  a  hill,  and  as  often 
as  it  loses  its  strength,  dip  them  over,  and  after 
every  shower.  I  have  taken  boards  five  inches 
wide,  made  boxes  and  covered  them  with  milli- 
net,  and  put  them  over  the  hills  ;  the  vines  would 
run  up  tall,  like  growing  in  the  shade,  and  come 
to  take  the  boxes  off  they  would  not  do  well ; 
but  put  spirits  of  turpentine  around  the  hills,  and 
they  will  do  well.  n.  s. 

East  Thetford,  Vt.,  1859. 

TRANSPLANTING   WHITE   PINES. 

If  your  correspondent,  "Oak  Hill,"  will  give 
me   his  address,  I  will   write  and  inform   him 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


341 


when  and  how  I  have  succeeded  best  in  trans- 
planting white  pines  and  other  evergreen  trees. 
1  have  now  growing  about  my  house  some  forty 
pines  and  one  very  fine  hemlock,  the  latter  meas- 
ures O-i  inches  in  circumference  and  over  20  feet 
fiigh.  This  is  the  second  year  since  transplanting, 
and  it  is  "coming  out"  finely. 

Samuel  Raymond. 
Korih  Andover,  May  21,  1859. 

FI5E3 — RASrBERRIES — GRAPES. 

What  is  the  best  season  for  transplanting  the 
•white  pines  ?  Should  the  top  be  cut  in  ?  Where 
can  the  Ohio  Ever-bearing  Raspberry  be  obtained 
— and  what  are  some  of  its  prominent  character- 
istics ? 

Is  it  ever  desirable  to  shorten  lateral  grape 
vine  shoots  while  growing,  in  order  to  strength- 
en fruit  buds  at  their  base  for  the  succeeding 
years?  AN  Attentive  Reader. 

New  Bedford,  May,  18o9. 

Remarks. — Transplant  the  white  pine  in  June 
Take  up  the  sod  with  the  roots,  and  keep  the 
roots  from  the  sun  and  wind.  Do  not  cut  the 
tree  anywhere. 

We  know  nothing  of  the  "Ohio  Everbearing 
Raspberry." 

It  is  quite  a  common  practice  to  shorten  later- 
al grape-vine  shoots  after  the  fruit  is  partly 
grown,  in  order  to  benefit  the  fruit,  but  not  to 
our  knowledge,  so  early  as  to  strengthen  the 
buds.  

APPLE     ORCHARDS. 

If  apple  seeds  are  planted,  and  the  young  trees 
budded  or  grafted  vrhere  they  are  permanently 
to  remain,  the  orchard  will  be  worth  twice  as 
much  as  though  it  were  managed  in  the  usual 
way.  The  trees  will  live  as  long  again,  and  bear 
twice  as  many  apples,  which  will  be  larger,  fairer, 
and  will  keep  altogether  better,  especially  if  they 
are  gathered  as  soon  as  they  have  got  their 
growth,  but  before  they  are  fully  ripe.  They  will 
be  fine-flavored  in  June  and  July,  and  conse- 
quently be  valuable. 

Apple  trees  grafted  from  scions  that  are  two 
years  old  will  bear  every  year,  as  a  one  year  old 
scion  has  only  half  come  to  maturity,  and  conse- 
quently bears  only  half  the  time. 

Corn  for  planting  should  be  selected  from  an 
equal  number  of  male  and  female  ears,  shelling 
and  mixing  them  together.  Plant  in  drilte  and 
let  the  spears  stand  six  inches  apart,  and  the 
yield  will  be  three  times  as  much  as  to  plant  in 
hills,  with  the  manure  in  the  hills. 

S.  P.  Baker,  now  83  years  old. 

Ipswich,  Mass.,  1859. 

Remarks. — These  statements  are  worthy  of 
being  tested. 

TO    STOP   cows   FROM   KICKING. 

Put  her  into  the  stancheon  and  put  a  rope 
around  her  horns  and  over  the  top  of  the  stan- 
cheon, and  draw  her  head  up  so  that  her  back  will 
be  hollow  ;  fasten  the  rope,  and  she  cannot  kick. 

East  Thetford,  It.,  1859.^  H.  s. 


KING  BONE. 

Can  your  readers  give  me  information  through 
the  Farmer,  what  will  cure  ring  bone,  or  the  ^- 
pearance  of  one,  coming  on  a  yearling  colt  ? 

Mason,  N.  H.,  May,  1859.     S.  H.  Wheeler. 


For  the  XeiT  England  FarmeTi. 
THE  SPIBIT  OF  PSOGHSSS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Among  the  great  discoveries 
in  our  day  are  the  steamas  which  crowd  their 
way  through  stormy  seas,  the  railroads  which 
bind  whole  continents  together,  the  telegraphic 
?t'i?YS  which  run  their  electric  network  through  the 
air  ;  these  are  the  great  nerves  of  human  sympa- 
thy, and  are  destined  to  the  high  office  of  uniting 
the  whole  human  race  in  one  common  brother- 
hood, if  not  to  the  greater  work  of  revolutionia- 
ing  the  whole  world. 

Surely,  this  is  an  age  of  progress  and  improve- 
ment; and  no  power  on  earth  can  arrest  its  on- 
ward march.  Our  country  is  already  dotted  all 
over  with  improvements.  No  undertaking  is  too 
difficult,  no  obstacle  insurmountable,  no  sacrifice 
too  great  for  the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  age. 
Directed  by  the  skill  of  human  genius,  steam  and 
electricity  already  cross  our  rivers  and  climb  our 
mountains  ;  and  our  railroads  will  soon  extend 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ;  and  with  the  tele- 
graph, holding  hourly  conversations  with  the  dif- 
ferent extremes  of  the  Union,  from  sea  to  sea. 
This  spirit  of  progress,  this  onward  march  of 
science  and  improvement,  of  civilization  and  free- 
dom, can  not  be  arrested;  for  the  people  who  are 
engaged  in  this  movement  will  roll  on  the  car  of 
civilization  and  improvement,  tillthe  whole  Amer- 
ican continent  forms  one  vast  Republic. 

This  onward  march  of  the  spirit  of  improve- 
ment is  destined  ere  long  to  produce  equally 
great  and  important  results  in  our  agricultural 
pursuits.  It  has  already  brought  forth  its  mow- 
ers, its  reapers,  its  threshing-machines,  its  horse- 
rakes,  its  stump-pullers,  its  seed-sowers,  ita 
horse-hoe,  its  harvesters  and  its  corn-shellers ; 
and  it  will  soon  introduce  the  steam-ploiv  into  all 
our  great  valleys,  into  the  cotton  fields  and  rice 
fields  of  the  South,  and  into  the  great  prairies  of 
the  West>.;  and  thus  it  will  supersede,  in  a  great 
measure, 'the  use  of  slave  labor,  and  cause  the 
shout  of  freedom  to  be  heard  throughout  the 
American  continent ;  because  one  sieam-})low  can 
do  more  and  better  work  than  a  hundred  and  fif- 
ty slaves  ;  so  that  these  United  States  will  soon 
be  as  greatl}'  distinguished  for  their  agricultural 
pursuits,  as  they  are  now  for  the  means  of  inter- 
communication. 

Tell  me  not,  that  two-hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand  slave-holders  will' put  their  veto  upon 
my  steam-plow  ;  for  I  know  better ;  because  I 
know,  that  they  understand  their  own  interests 
too  well  to  do  this.  Tell  me  not,  that  the  igno- 
rant and  the  wicked,  fearing  the  eftects  of  all 
these  improvements  upon  their  own  daily  labors 
and  income,  will  combine  together  as  they  have 
done  in  some  instances  already,  and  burn  down  all 
our  steam-bakeries  and  machine-shops  through- 
out the  land,  and  thus  burn  their  own  fingers,  put 
out  their  own  eyes  and  starve  their  own  families  ; 
for  I  will  not  believe,  that,  in  this  land;  of  light 
and  progress,  of  churches  and  schools  and  mis- 


342 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


sionary  eiforts,  any  considerable  number  of  per- 
sons can  be  found,  so  ignorant,  so  short  sight- 
ed, and  so  vicious  !  No  ;  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  are  right  upon  this  subject.  Their  course 
is  onward  and  upward.  Their  progress,  if  not  so 
rapid  as  could  be  desired,  is  still  in  the  right  di- 
rection. "Having  put  their  hands  to  the  plow, 
thej^  will  not  look  back,"  but  will  press  forward 
in  the  work  of  improvement  till  every  mountain, 
hill  and  valley  shall  be  improved  and  beautified; 
every  field  rendered  productive ;  and  every  hu- 
man dwelling  shall  be  pleasant  to  behold,  neat, 
beautiful  and  attractive.      John  Goldsbury. 


PRUSSIAN  SHEEP. 


The  Merinoes  were  introduced  into  Germany, 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
the  advantageous  change  they  effected  every- 
where they  were  introduced,  could  not  be  disput- 
ed. Notwithstanding  this,  Mr.  Fink — to  whom 
Germany  owes  much  in  regard  to  sheep-culture 
— unwilling  to  give  up  altogether  the  native 
breeds,  purchased  in  17G8  some  Saxon  Merinoes, 
and  though  his  breed  was  much  improved,  yei 
bis  object  did  not  seem  accomplished,  and  in 
1778  he  imported  some  pure  Merinoes  from 
Spain.  He  took  as  the  guide  of  all  his  experi- 
ments, that  which  is  now  received  as  an  axiom 
among  breeders,  that  the  fineness  of  the  fleece, 
and  to  a  great  degree  the  value  of  the  carcass, 
too,  are  far  more  attributable  to  the  inherent 
quality  of  the  animal  than  to  any  influence  of 
climate  or  soil.  Uniformly  acting  on  this  fun- 
damental principle,  and  being  most  particular  in 
the  selection  of  the  animals  from  which  he  bred, 
he  improved  his  own  native  flocks  to  a  consider- 
able extent,  and  he  succeeded  to  a  degree  which 
he  dared  not  anticipate,  in  naturalizing  a  still 
more  valuable  race  of  animals.  His  success  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  Prussian  government ; 
and  Frederick  H.,  in  1786,  imported  one  hundred 
rams  and  two  hundred  ewes  from  Spain.  Mr. 
Fink  was  subsequently  commissioned  by  the  gov- 
ernment to  purchase  one  thousand  of  the  choicest 
Merinoes  ;  agricultural  schools  were  established, 
and  at  the  head  of  one  of  them  was  placed  Mr. 
Fink — the  most  competent  of  all  persons — the 
first  improver  of  the  Prussian  sheep.  The  follow- 
ing was  Mr.  Fink's  mode  of  management : 

He  properly  maintains,  that  free  exposure  to 
the  air  is  favorable  to  the  quality  of  the  wool, 
and  therefore,  although  the  sheep  are  housed  at 
the  beginning  of  November,  yet  whenever  it 
freezes,  and  the  ground  is  hard,  even  although  it 
may  be  covered  with  snow,  the  sheep  are  driven 
to  the  wheat  and  rye  fields,  where  they  meet 
with  a  kind  of  pasturage  exceedingly  wholesome, 
and  while  they  feed  they  are  likewise  benefiting 
the  crop.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  see 
a  flock  of  valuable  sheep  scratching  away  the 
snow  with  their  feet,  in  order  to  arrive  at  the 
short  wheat  or  rye  beneath.  When  the  weather 
will  not  permit  their  being  taken  out,  they  are 
fed  on  hay,  aftermath,  and  chopped  straw  of  vari 
ous  kinds.  The  kind  of  straw  is  changed  as 
often  as  possible,  and  wheat,  barley,  and  oat- 
straw,  and  pea-haulm  follow  each  other  in  rap- 
id succession.  The  oat-straw  is  sparingly  given, 
and   the  pea-haulm   is  preferred  to  the  wheat 


and  barley-straw.  Oil-cake,  at  the  rate  of  six  or 
seven  pounds  per  hundred  sheep,  and  dissolved 
in  water  is  also  allowed  when  the  flock  cannot  be 
turned  on  the  young  wheat. 
•  Three  or  four  weeks  before  lambing,  an  addi- 
tional allowance  of  hay  and  straw  is  given  to  the 
ewes  ;  and  while  they  are  suckling,  a  little  oat- 
meal is  mixed  with  the  solution  of  oil-cake. 
When  the  weather  will  permit  the  turning  out  of 
the  ewes,  the  lambs  are  still  kept  in  the  houses, 
and  the  mothers  brought  back  to  them  at  noon 
and  night ;  after  that  the  lambs  are  not  permitted 
to  graze  with  the  ewes,  but  are  turned  on  the 
fallows  or  the  clover  of  the  preceding  year  ;  for 
it  is  supposed  that  they  unnecessarily  fatigue 
themselves  by  running  with  their  mothers,  and 
almost  incessantly  trying  to  suck,  and  that  on 
this  account,  they  refuse  the  herbage  on  which 
they  are  placed,  and  take  less  nourishment  than 
when  quietly  kept  on  separate  pastures.  A  few 
barren  ewes  are,  however,  placed  Avith  the  lamba 
for  the  purpose  of  guiding  them,  and  perhaps 
teaching  them  to  select  the  best  and  most  whole- 
some food.  More  lambs  are  saved  than  are  ne- 
cessary to  keep  up  the  flock,  and  when  they  are 
two  years  old  they  are  inspected — one-third  of 
the  best  of  them  are  kept,  and  the  remainder 
sold.  The  lambs  are  never  shorn,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  better  able  to  endure  the  cold  and 
rain  of  autumn. 

The  Prussian  sheep-dogs,  like  almost  all  on 
the  continent,  are  trained  to  obey  the  shepherds, 
and  are  skilful  in  guiding  the  sheep,  but  they 
never  worry  or  bite  them.  There  is  no  natural 
necessity  for  it  anywhere  ;  and  if  flocks  are  occa- 
sionally wild  and  intractable,  bad  management 
and  bad  treatment  have  made  them  so. — FouatL 


For  ike  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  MAQQOT  IN  ONIONS. 

Friend  Browx  : — I  am  pleased  to  see,  by 
your  paper  of  this  date,  a  further  explanation  of 
Mr.  Emerson's  theory  of  the  destruction  of  the 
onion  maggot,  by  the  application  of  guano.  1 
find  no  fault  with  his  facts,  but  with  the  inferen- 
ces he  draws  from  them,  and  beg  leave,  respect- 
fully to  say,  that  his  facts  do  not  warrant  his 
conclusion. 

I  repeat,  what  I  have  before  stated,  that  no 
method  of  destroying,  or  even  checking  the  pro- 
gress of  the  maggot,  has  yet  come  to  my  knowl- 
edge ;  and  that  1  have  no  confidence  at  all  that 
this  can  be  done  by  the  application  of  guano. 
Such  is  the  opinion  of  many  practical  men  of 
sound  judgment,  who  have  had  a  hundred  times 
as  much  experience,  in  the  culture  of  onions,  as 
Mr.  E.  has  ;  who  have  grown  thousands  of  bush- 
els annually,  for  the  last  twenty  years ;  and  who 
now  discontinue  the  culture,  by  reason  of  their 
fearful  apprehension  of  the  ravages  of  this  de- 
stroyer. 

I  am  pleased  to  know  that  the  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Agriculture  is  directing  his  atten- 
tion to  this  subject.  I  would  not  have  impugned 
Mr.  E.'s  assertions,  if  he  had  not  unnecessarily 
commenced  the  attack,  I  commend  his  spirit 
of  inquiry,  but  caution  him  not  to  think  he  knows 
as  much  about  the  culture  of  onions,  from  the 
growing  a  small  bed  in  his  garden,  as  those  who 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


343 


have  grown  acres,  annually,  for  many  years.  I  ^  The  means  hitherto  employed  for  subduing  these, 
know  one  gentleman,  of  Marblehead,  Mr.  H.' are,  laying  soot  over  the  beds,  or  incorporating 
Ware,  who  last  year  grew  ten  acres,  yielding,' it  with  the  soil,  applying  salt  in  the  same  man- 
fit  for  market,  more  than  4000  bushels.  Messrs.  ner,  AVitering  with  lime-water,  gas  tar,  stale  soap- 
Buxton,  Huntington,  Watson,  Bushby,  Osborn,' suds,  soot  water,  stale  urine  and  old  tobacco  wa- 
and  others,  cultivated  in  like  manner — all  of  ter.  Their  power  of  reproduction  is  so  great, 
which  crops  came  under  my  observation.  jthat  unless  they  are  destroyed  the  moment  they 


J.  W.  Proctor, 
South  Danvers,  May  21,  1859. 

N.  B.  I  thank  you  for  the  just  notice  taken 
of  our  annual  publication.  Mr.  Secretary  Dodge 
is  entitled  to  much  credit  for  the  compilation. 


Fvr  the  New  England  Fanner. 
ONION  CULTUEB,  MAGGOT,  &c. 


Onion  Fly. — Anthomyia  Ceparum,  (greatly  magnified.) 


are  discovered  to  have  attacked  the  crop,  (which 
is  known  by  the  drooping  and  yellow  leaves,) 
their  total  eradication  becomes  next  to  impossi- 
ble ;  all  other  means  exce])t  carefully  pulling  up 
every  diseased  plant  and  burning  it,  can  only  be 
regarded  as  exceedingly  superficial  in  their  ef- 
fects. Deep  trenching,  and  frequently  turning 
over  the  soil,  are  of  great  advantage,  in  the  one 
case,  burying  the  pupa  too  deep  for  its  again 
reaching  the  surface,  and  in  the  other,  disturbkig 
it  during  its  transformation,  and  probably  pre- 
venting that  change  from  taking  place. 

Sowing  onions  year  after  year,  on  the  same 
ground,  is  a  very  certain  way  of  multiplying 
these  insects,  and  might  be  carried  to  the  extent 
of  literally  stocking  the  ground  with  them.  In- 
sects peculiar  to  any  plant,  seldom  attack  the 
crop  during  the  first  year,  after  being  planted  in 
land  not  previously  occupied  with  the  same  kind 
of  crop,  because  the  soil  has  not  yet  become  fur- 
nished with  the  pupa  of  the  insect  peculiar  to  the 
plant ;  hence  some  advantage  arises  from  sowing 
onions  after  celery,  and  vice  versa,  cabbages  after 
potatoes,  &c. 

Spirits  of  tar  is  of  great  use,  if  applied  in  suf 


"The  male  of  this  fly  is  of  an  ashy  color,  roughish,  with  black 
bristles  and  hairs  ;  the  eyes  are  contiguous  and  reddish,  the  face!  ficient  quantity  tO  the  Soil   immediately  after  the 
silvery  white ;   horns  black;   there   are  faint   lines  down  theL  •      ^pjv,nvVrl        Thp    follnwino-    hn<s    bppn  nn- 

trunk,  and  a  line  of  long  blackish  spots  down  the  centre  of  the i  '^^PP,  '^    remov^Q.      1  ne    lOUOWing    nas    Oeen  ap- 
body,  more  or  less  visible  in  different  lights.     Tie  female  fly  is  plied  to  an  Onion  Crop,  even  after   the  lUSect   haS 
of  an  ashy  grey  color,  clothed  with  black  bristles  and  hairs  ;  the:  commenced  his  work  : 
eyes  are  reddish  and  remote,  with  a  light  chestnut  stripe  be-' 
fcween  them  ;  face,  yellowish  white." 


Mr.  Editor: — This  vegetable,  worshipped  by 


To  20  gallons  of  water,  1  peck  unslacked  lime, 
h.  peck  soot,  2  gallons  of  urine,  1  pound  soft  soap 
and  2  pounds  hour  of  sulphur.     After  the  above 


the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  the  want  of  which  was  I  mixture  is  settled,  it  is  then  sprinkled  over  the 
so  lamented  by  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness,! bed  through  the  nose  of  a  watering  pot.  "Pow- 
has  within  a  few  years,  in  many  localities  here,!dered  charcoal  has  been  used,  but  is  not  found 


been  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  the  maggot 
or  grub  of  the  onion  fly,  so  called  by  one  of  the 
best  entomological  writers  of  England.  He  says, 
•*T'he  common  onion  fly,  Anthomyia  Ceparum, 
attacks  the  plants  in  their  young  state,  and  con- 
tinues feeding  on  them  during  the  whole  sum- 
mer ;  sometimes  they  attack  the  crop  generally, 
causing  a  total  failure,  at  other  times  attacking 
them  in  patches  only,  the  eft'ects  being  most  ob- 
servable in  dry  weather,  the  leaves  turning  yel- 
lowish, and  the  plants  at  last  falling  over  and  de- 
caying.    On  removing  the'  outer  coating  or  skin 


so  efficacious  as  soot.  Branconnet  has  shown 
that  a  watery  infusion  of  soot  is  eminently  anti- 
septic, preventing  the  rottenness  to  which  the 
onion  is  extremely  liable  when  attacked  by  the 
grub."  J.  M.  Ives. 

Salem,  June,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
"WHITE  SPSCKS  IN  BUTTER. 
Mr.  Editor  : — 1  noticed  in  the  iV.  E.  Farmer 
last  week,  your  theory  about  churning  to  prevent 
of  the  plants  destroyed,  the  cause  will  be  discov-' white  specks  in  butter.  Havingdevoted  my  whole 
ered  in  the  presence  of  a  small  grub,  which  eats  |  time,  for  the  last  five  years,  in  the  manufacture 
its  way  into  the  very  heart  of  the  onion.  The  |  and  sale  of  the  Fyler  churn,  and  spent  much  time 
eggs  of  the  fly  are  deposited  on  the  leaves  when,  among  the  dairies  of  Vermont  and  northern ^lew 
in  a  very  young  state,  and  close  to  the  earth  ;  as  i  York,  I  venture  to  diff"er  with  you  in  theory  on 
soon  as  the  maggots  are  hatched,  which  takes  |  that  subject.  You  say  as  soon  as  the  butter  be- 
place  about  the  time  the  plants  are  the  size  of  a  gins  to  come,  scrape  carefully  down  all  the  cream 


email  quill,  they  bore  their  way  through  the  out- 
er leaf  and  penetrate  the  onion  at  its  base,  feed- 
ing chiefly  on  the  bottom  part  of  the  bulb,  caus- 
ing it  to  separate  from  the  root,  and  occasionally, 
a  mass  of  mouldiness  familiar  to  every  cultiva- 
tor. 

These  grubs  generally  attain  their  full  size  in 
about  fourteen  days,  they  then  descend  into  the 
earth  to  undergo  their  transformation,  when  they 
become  a  reddish  brown  pupa  of  an  oval  form. 


that  is  thrown  to  any  part  of  the  churn,  and  has 
escaped  its  share  of  ehurning.  I  say  never  scrape 
the  cream  down  into  the  churn  after  it  begins  to 
come  ;  if  scraped  at  all,  scrape  't  into  the  cream 
pot  and  save  it  for  a  new  churning,  and  not  into 
the  churn  to  form  those  very  specks  you  wish  to 
avoid.  Those  white  specks  are  usually  caused  by 
uneven  churning. 

The  true  principle  of  churning  is,  to  have  the 
dasher  of  the  churn  so  adapted  to  the  inside  of 


344 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


July 


the  cylinder  as  to  act  on  all  the  cream  alike,  and 
if  so 'adapted,  and  the  cream  has  heen  properly 
cared  for,  and  you  churn  quite  slow  till  it  is  per- 
fectly mixed,  and  then  faster,  till  the  sacks  con- 
taining the  hutter  begin  to  break,  and  then  will 
scrape  what  is  on  the  lid  into  the  cream  pot,  you 
will  not  be  troubled  about  those  white  specks 
that  spoil  one-half  the  butter  made  in  this  coun- 
try. 

To  carry  out  your  theory,  suppose  you  try  an 
experiment ;  churn,  say  nine  quarts  of  cream  on 
my  principle,  and  see  how  much  })utter,  then  take 
the  same  quantity  and  churn  till  it  begins  to 
come,  or  until  you  have  churned  one-half  the 
time  required  ;  now  put  in  another  quart  of 
cream,  and  1  will  be  bound,  you  will  either  have 
plenty  of  white  specks,  or  your  buttermilk  -will 
be  enriched  with  about  the  value  of  one  pound 
of  butter.  Henry  Holmes, 

Proprietor  of  O.  R.  Fyler's  Butter  Working  Cburn 

Grafton,  Vt.,  May  30,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  have  no  doubt  that  the  prac- 
tice which  our  correspondent  suggests,  is  the 
true  one — although  careful  butter  makers  seldom 
experience  any  trouble  in  scraping  the  cream 
down,  as  we  suggested.  We  have  the  Fyler  churn 
in  constant  use,  and  after  having  tried  several 
other  kinds,  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  it  is  the 
best  churn  we  ever  used.  We  hope  all  butter- 
makers  will  adopt  the  practice  of  our  correspon- 
dent, rather  than  ours,  for  in  that  no  risk  what- 
ever is  run.  He  has  our  thanks  for  his  prompt 
and  timely  notice  of  the  matter,  and  we  hope  to 
hear  from  him  again  on  the  important  subject 
of  butter-making,  packing,  and  keeping. 


integrated  and  fitted  up  for  the  life  of  man.  All 
classes  of  men  affirm  this.  Sydney  Smith  says 
to  public  speakers,  that  if  they  would  walk  twelve 
miles  before  speaking,  they  would  never  break 
down.  In  English  Universities,  boat  races,  horse- 
back rides,  and  ten-mile  walks  are  a  part  of  the 
educational  means  for  physical  development. — 
Plato  says  a  walk  in  the  open  air  will  almost  cure 
a  guilty  conscience. — Emerson. 


A  Remedy  for  Poisoned  Sheep. — Give  them 
a  table-spoon  twice  full  of  weak  lye,  and  it  will 
raise  them  in  fifteen  minutes  after  given.  One 
morning  I  found  fifteen  or  twenty  sheep  poisoned 
by  eating  ivy  the  day  before.  Some  of  them 
when  found  were  flat  on  their  sides ;  others 
frothed  at  the  mouth,  grated  their  teeth,  and 
staggered  about  badly  from  the  effects  of  the 
ivy.  Those  that  were  not  feund  sprawling  were 
cured  by  putting  a  gag  in  their  mouths,  which 
■would  keep  the  sheep  from  swallowingthe  poison, 
but  let  it  rise  and  run  out  of  their.mouths.  After 

J^fhad  lost  three  out  of  six,  that  could  not  hold  up 
heir  heads,  and  appeared  lifeless,  one  of  my 
neighbors  recommended  weak  lye  as  a  sure  cure  ; 
it  was  given  them,  and  in  ten  minutes  one  of  the 
3heep  was  eating  rowen.  It  had  the  same  effect 
on  the  other  two,  and  the  whole  three  are  now  as 
lively  as  any  of  the  flock. —  Yirginia  Farm  Jour- 
nal. 

Walking  and  Pure  Air. — Anaximines  taught 
that  air  is  mind.  Some  one  else  says  air  is  the 
hiddLMi  food  of  life.  Plutarch  seems  to  incline 
to  Anaximines'  opinion,  remarking  that  perhaps 
the  reason  why  there  is  a  sympathy  of  feeling  on 
various  subjects,  arises  from  breathing  the  eame 
air.  Air  is  an  exhalation  of  all  the  minerals  of 
the  globe ;  the  most  elaborately  finished  of  all 
the  works  of  the  Cj.'eator — the  rock  of  ages  dis- 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


HOW  THSY  MAKE    COFFEE  IN  FSANCE. 

A  cup  of  French  coffee  seems  to  have  the  ef- 
fect to  put  Americans  into  ecstacies ;  yet  few  of 
them  are  thoughtful  enough  to  obtain  from  their 
French  brethren  the  process  by  which  the  deli- 
cious beverage  is  decocted.  Of  this  few  is  a 
IJuckeye  writing  from  Paris,  under  date  of  Nov. 
9th,  who  supplies  the  desired  information  : 

"While  at  Mr.  Moriols,  his  good  lady  kindly 
initiated  me  into  the  art  of  coflee-making.  In 
the  first  place  it  is  scorched  in  a  hollow  cylinder, 
which  is  kept  constantly  revolving  over  a  slow 
fire,  and  not  a  grain  of  it  allowed  to  burn.  Sec- 
ondly, it  is  ground  very  fine,  and  thirdly,  when 
it  is  to  be  used,  a  portion  of  this  is  placed  in  a 
finely  perforated  pan  or  cup,  which  exactly  fits 
into  the  top  of  the  boiler,  coffee-pot,  or  any  ves- 
sel you  wish  to  use.  Boiling  hot  water  is  then 
poured  on,  and  it  percolates  gradually  through, 
carrying  with  it  all  the  essential  principles  of  the 
coffee.  As  soon  as  percolation  is  completed,  the 
pan  is  removed  containing  all  the  grounds,  and 
then  boiling  hot  milk  is  added  to  the  infusion, 
and  your  coffee  is  made.  It  is  brought  on  the 
table  in  bowls,  with  a  knife  and  spcon,  and  a  lit- 
tle willow  basket  of  bread.  The  servant  then 
places  by  your  plate  a  tea-dish,  on  which  are  two 
or  three  lumps  of  white  sugar  always  of  a  cer- 
tain size,  and  you  sweeten  to  your  liking.  In  no 
instance  is  your  coffee  boiled,  and  this  is  one  rea- 
son the  cafe  au  lait  and  cafe  noir  are  so  much 
admired  by  those  who  take  them.  If  you  try 
this  mod^,  I  am  sure,  in  a  few  experiments  you 
will  succeed  in  getting  it  right,  and  possess  your- 
self of  a  luxury  which  will  add  very  much  to  a 
bieakfast  on  a  cold  morning — try  it." 


A  Lady  of  the  Olden  Time. — Mrs.  Troupe, 
the  accomplished  wife  of  a  captain  of  the  British 
navy,  gives  a  lively  account  of  a  call  she  with 
two  other  ladies  made  upon  Mrs.  AVashington, 
who,  like  her  husband's  mother,  was  distinguish- 
ed for  her  management  of  household  affairs.  "As 
she  was  said  to  be  so  grand  a  lady,"'  says  Mrs, 
Troupe,  "we  thought  we  must  put  on  our  best 
bibs  and  bands.  So  we  dressed  ourselves  in  our 
most  elegant  ruffles  and  silks,  and  were  intro- 
duced to  her  ladyship.  And  don't  you  think  we 
found  her  Initting,  and  iciili  a  cJieck  apron  on! 
She  received  us  very  graciously  and  easily,  but 
after  the  compliments  were  over,  she  resumed 
her  knitting.  There  we  were,  without  a  stitch  of 
work,  and  sitting  in  state  ;  but  General  Washing- 
ton's lady  with  her  own  hands  was  knitting  stock- 
ings for  her  husband." 


DEVOTED  TO  AGRICULTUKE    AND    ITS  KINDBED   ARTS  AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  AUGUST,  1859. 


NO.  8. 


NOraSE,  EATON  &  TOLMAN,  Proprietors.      cTTvrmvr  •RT?nwTiir    ftittot? 
OFFiCE...k  Merch.^5ts  Row.  SIMON  BROWN,  EDITOR. 


FRED'K  HOI.BROOK,  )  Associats 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  (  Editoes. 


c 


CALENDAR  FOB  AUGUST. 

"The  Dog-Star  rages." 

u  G  u  s  T  ,  like  every 
other  mpnth  in 
the  year,  has  its 
distinctive  peculi- 
arities. July  may 
have  been  hot,  but 
now  the  pave- 
ments seem  to 
glow  with  an  in- 
tense heat,  the 
rows  of  brick 
'  3^^  houses  throw  back 


i^y^ 


S(fi. 


■l!l 


the  rays  of  the 
vertical  sun,  unre- 
iieved  by  a  single  shadow — the 
trees  are  covered  with  dust,  and 
you  breathe  in  an  atmosphere 
which  seems  to  arise  from  some 
fiery  furnace.  The  omnibus  horses, 
t^^^  \  which  never  have  a  vacation,  still 
^"-^^-^  plod  along,  looking  dejected  and  un- 
happy, and  you  are  inclined  to  believe 
that  in  this  form,  some  poor  human  soul  is  work- 
ing out  its  second  probation.  Saving  said  omni- 
bus horses,  business  men,  and  the  dwellers  in 
lanes  and  back  streets,  the  city  is  well  nigh 
emptied  of  its  inhabitants. 

Let  us  follow  the  multitude,  and  flee  into  the 
country.  Even  here  the  freshness  of  summer  has 
departed.  The  grass  which  was  waving  so  grace- 
fully a  few  weeks  ago,  is  lying  in  heaps,  while 
the  hay-caps  scattered  over  hill  and  valley,  look 
like  the  tents  of  a  Lilliputian  army.  The  sun 
sinks  down  in  the  West,  and  rises  again  in  the 
East,  with  the  same  lurid  glow.  He  is  entirely 
shorn  of  his  beams — a  mere  red  ball  of  .fire.  Lis- 
ten, and  you  will  hear  the  grasshopper  singing 
from  morning  to  night,  as  he  vaults  gaily  about 
among  the  short  grass.  He  enjoys  himself,  and 
would  not  give  a  fig  to  have  it  cooler.     The  rob- 


in and  the  thrush  still  sing  in  the  woods,  but  the 
whippoorwill,  whose  plaintive  note  is  the  sweet- 
est of  all,  we  shall  hear  no  more  till  another 
summer.  He  only  comes  out  in  the  night,  and 
there  is  a  superstition  that  he  foretells  death  or 
misfortune  to  any  household  he  may  visit.  Like 
most  other  superstitions  which  are  handed  down 
from  one  generation  to  another,  it  is  difficult  of 
proof — for  we  have  known  him  to  serenade  a 
whole  village  night  after  night — enough  to  have 
foretold  a  pestilence  at  least,  and  yet  nothing  un- 
usual seemed  to  follow. 

Down  in  the  meadow  and  by  the  brook,  you 
will  find  the  cardinal  flower,  which  takes  its  name 
from  its  brilliant  scarlet  blossoms, — and  the  cle- 
matis now  trails  its  vine  over  the  alder  bushes 
by  the  way-side.  The  May  flower,  the  June  pink, 
the  cinnamon  rose,  the  damask  and  the  blush, 
have  all  had  their  day.  The  apple  tree  hung  out 
its  blossoms,  and  the  horse-chestnut  put  on  its 
thick,  green  leaves  and  gorgeous  flowers,  grew 
furiously  for  a  few  weeks,  and  then  settled  quietly 
down  for  the  remainder  of  the  summer — so  that 
even  now,  while  this  glowing  heat  is  upon  us, 
there  are  many  voices  that  tell  us  summer  is  go- 
ing— sad  voices  they  are  too — who  ever  listened 
to  them, 

"Nor  cast  a  longing,  lingering  Isok  behind  ?" 

A  few  words  about  the  horse-chestnut,  by  the 
way.  It  is  in  reality  a  hardy  tree  of  rapiS  growth, 
but  it  has  not  the  "aspect  of  a  citizen  of  New  Eng- 
land. When  in  full  bloom,  it  has  the  appearance 
of  a  hvige  bouquet  of  tropical  flowers.  It  is,  more- 
over, even  when  in  its  proper  place,  standing 
alone  on  some  hill-side,  or  open  place  of  an- ex- 
tensive lawn,  entirely  ornamental,  its  fruit  heing 
bitter  and  uneatable.  Fifty  years  ago,  in  some 
portions  of  the  country,  every  house  had  its  row 
of  poplars,  but  either  from  the  fact  that  it  is  nat- 
urally a  short- lived  tree,  or  because  our  climate 
did  not  agree  with  them,  they  began  to  die  out, 
and  to  look  ragged  and  old.  Now  you  will  scarce- 


346 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMER. 


Aug. 


ly  find  a  solitary  specimen  any  where.  In  their 
places  are  elms,  maples,  horse-chestnuts,  &c. 
People  say  the  poplar  is  not  a  graceful  tree. 
True,  it  has  a  firmness  of  aspect  not  in  accor- 
dance with  modern  ideas  of  expansive  luxuriance, 
but  how  perfectly  it  seems  adapted  to  the  early 
days  of  New  England,  when  little  children  were 
duly  washed,  whipped,  and  catechised  every  Sat- 
urday night — were  taught  to  make  courtesies  to 
passers-by,  and,  tradition  says,  to  say  "yes  sir," 
and  "no  sir,"  to  their  elders !  Then  ladies  wore 
skirts  without  gather  or  plail;^  and  bonnets  that 
actually  covered  their  heads.  But  a  time  of  great- 
er latitude  in  dress,  manners  and  morals  came 
about,  and  the  old  tree  fell  out  of  place,  and 
quietly  stepped  out,  with  the  good  old  grand- 
mothers who  used  to  sit  under  its  branches.  It 
may  be  a  precise,  puritanical  tree,  but  there  are 
some  in  whose  eyes  it  will  always  be  beautiful — 
to  whom  it  will  tell  more  tales  than  the  fabled 
leaves  of  the  Sybil.  South  of  us,  on  some  of  the 
old  estates  of  Virginia,  the  poplar  may  still  be 
seen,  broken  and  decayed,  fitting  monuments  of 
the  old  aristocratic  families  who  planted  them. 

Doubtless,  the  march  of  improvement  is  on- 
ward, but  it  is  not  without  a  pang  that  one  sees 
the  ancient  land-marks  removed.  It  is  astonish- 
ing how  quickly,  now-a-days,  customs  are  trans- 
ferred from  the  heart  of  life  and  business  to  the 
extremities  of  the  great  body  of  humanity.  We 
have  in  our  mind  a  certain  village  away  up  among 
the  hills  of  New  Hampshire.  The  nearest  rail- 
way station  is  six  miles  distant,  and  the  steam 
•whistle  comes  softened  and  modified  through 
the  forests,  till  it  loses  its  harsh,  business-like 
sound — here  the  very  birds  are  suffered  to  sing 
nothing  newer  than  "Old  Hundred"  or  "St.  Mar- 
tin's," and  from  time  immemorial  the  same  white 
houses  with  green  blinds  have  gleamed  pic- 
turesquely among  the  abundant  foliage  ;  but  this 
summer  we  took  a  look  at  this  conservative  spot, 
and  behold,  the  old  tavern-stand,  which  had 
stood  a  hundred  years,  looking  meekly  out  of  its 
dormer-windows  upon  the  world  below,  has  come 
©ut  in  a  new  fawn-color  suit  with  dark  trim- 
mings !  Should  the  ghost  of  its  builder,  who  lies 
near  by,  come  out  to  view  his  possessions,  some 
moonlight  night,  what  a  surprise  awaits  him  ! 

"O  !  tempora,  O  !  Mores,"  won't  they  leave  us  a 
spot  anywhere  "sacred  to  the  memory"  of  old  as 
sociations  !  Must  civilization  go  ruthlessly  strid- 
ing over  our  hills  and  valleys,  building  up  and 
levelling  down  till  the  world  is  all  made  after  one 
pattern  ? 

Bayard  Taylor  says — "Piano?  in  Lapland,  Pa- 
risian dresses  among  the  Lofodens,  billiard-ta- 
bles in  Hammerfest — whither  shall  we  turn  to 
find  the  romance  of  the  North  !"  Already  the 
"glowing  fireside"  has  become  a  tradition,  and 


the  "chimney  corner"  and  the  "old  arm-chair" 
only  pleasant  figures  of  speech. 

With  the  loss  of  some  things  which  seem  poet- 
ic and  picturesque,  however,  we  have,  undoubted- 
ly, many  comforts  of  which  our  fathers  never 
dreamed.  There  is  a  greater  attention  to  the 
beautiful  in-doors  and  out,  and  with  increased 
facilities  for  performing  mechanical  labor,  we 
must  find  more  time  for  its  cultivation. 

It  is  not  wise  to  hamper  one  generation  too 
much  with  the  notions  of  the  preceding — for,  to 
close  in  the  same  spirit  with  which  we  com- 
menced, "Every  dog  must  have  its  day." 


For  the  Nere  England  Farmer. 
IRON  OK  METALLIC  BARBELS. 

A  few  nights  since,  while  nearly  all  the  people 
were  in  their  deepest  slumbers,  fire  was  discov- 
ered in  an  eating-saloon.  No.  25  Ann  St.,  New 
York, 'caused  by  ashes  put  into  a  wooden  barrel, 
the  day  or  evening  previous.  My  attention  of 
late  has  been  called  to  several  instances  of  the 
same  kind.  To  my  mind,  many  subjects  of  less 
importance  are  brought  before  the  public,  while 
this  is  left  unnoticed,  although  of  the  utmost 
consequence  to  the  safety  of  our  lives  and  prop- 
erty. Why  should  we  sufi'er  such  a  devouring 
enemy  as  fire  to  moulder  and  feed  among  the 
ashes  contained  in  a  vessel  suited  to  its  element, 
ready  to  break  out  in  the  stillness  of  the  night, 
and  threaten  such  fearful  consequences?  Have 
we  not  learned  to  confine  the  lions  and  tigers  in 
iron  cages,  and  with  iron  chains,  where  they  can- 
not gnaw  and  break  away  ?  Should  we  not  then 
do  so  with  that  monster  who  serves  us  well  when 
controlled,  and  is  so  destructive  when  allowed  to 
reign  ? 

I  have  often  noticed,  when  walking  through 
the  streets  of  New  York  and  Boston,  good  coal 
and  ashes  together,  set  out  for  the  city  carts,  in 
wooden  barrels  and  vessels  of  a  combustible  na- 
ture, with  now  and  then  an  iron  barrel,  made  so 
thin  and  weak,  without  being  guarded  and 
strapped,  that  it  will  not  sustain  its  own  weight, 
while  being  emptied  over  the  rave  of  the  cart. 
In  such  a  city  as  this,  subject  every  moment  to 
conflagration,  we  ought  to  have  every  means  of 
safety  and  good  order  preserved.  Suppose  ev- 
ery person  be  provided  with  a  good  iron  barrel, 
with  name  and  number  printed  on  it,  and  they 
keep  their  ashes  in  nothing  else,  how  long  would 
it  be  before  a  handsome  dividend  would  be  re- 
mitted from  their  insurance  policies  ?  Please 
inform  us  where  such  are  made,  and  the  best 
kind  of  sifters  suited  to  them. 

A  Friend  to  Saving  Life  and  Property. 


Melons,  Cucumbers,  etc. — These  are  mate- 
rially improved  by  pinching  off  the  runner  bud 
after  the  third  rough  leaf  has  been  formed.  This 
practice  will  always  insure  a  number  of  young 
shoots  instead  of  a  few,  and  the  fruit  sets  early 
and  near  the  centre  of  the  hill  so  as  to  perfect  it- 
self, instead  of  giving  small  results  at  the  ends 
of  straggling  long  vines. — Working  Farmer. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


347 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LETTERS  FKOM  MAINE— No.  1. 

As  the  Netc  England  Farmer  is  fast  growing 
into  favor  among  the  farmers  of  Maine,  I  wish  to 
make  it  a  medium  of  communication  for  some 
facts — the  result  of  experiment  and  observation 
— which  may  be  both  interesting  and  useful. 

I  will  begin  with  some  observations  more  par- 
ticularly applicable  to  the  latitude  of  Maine,  than 
to  that  of  Massachusetts,  but  the  facts  I  shall  re- 
cord may  suggest  a  test  of  certain  theories  and 
principles  relative  to  fruit  culture,  which  would 
be  more  likely  to  escape  notice  in  a  warmer  lati- 
tude, and  which  may  still  be  of  essential  impor- 
tance to  the  fruit  culturist  in  the  location  of  mil- 
der winters. 

The  last  winter  has  proved  to  be  a  disastrous 
one  to  fruit  trees  in  the  interior  of  Maine.  Not 
that  the  average  coldness  of  the  winter  was  in 
any  sense  peculiar  or  remarkable,  but  from  the 
fact  that  on  the  intervales,  and  generally  in  the 
valleys,  in  all  the  central  and  northern  parts  of 
the  State,  on  one  occasion,  the  mercm-y  sunk  to 
the  point  of  congealation,  40°  below  zero. — 
This  circumstance  affords  an  opportunity  to  test 
the  capacity  of  different  varieties  of  fi'uit  trees  to 
resist  the  effects  of  climate.  It  may  likewise  ena- 
ble us  to  decide  what  varieties  may  be  generally 
ventured  upon  with  safety. 

The  past  winter  has  proved  that  the  Baldwin 
is  the  most  tender  variety  of  the  apple  yet  intro- 
duced into  general  cultivation  in  Maine. 

Some  ten  or  fifteen  years  since,  the  universal 
popularity  of  the  Baldwin  apple  induced  its  wide- 
spread introduction  into  the  State.  It  was  in- 
troduced by  grafting  on  the  tops  of  trees  that  had 
attained  maturity,  and  the  first  observed  results 
seemed  to  promise  unlimited  success.  Nor  has 
this  part  of  the  experiment,  up  to  this  time  proved 
a  failure,  for  immense  sums  of  money  have  been 
brought  into  Maine,  for  Baldwins  exported  which 
have  been  produced  on  new  tops  furnished  to  old 
trees. 

But  notwithstanding  the  measure  of  success 
which  has  attended  this  experiment,  orchardists 
have  suffered  material  loss  by  the  winter-killing 
of  one  after  another  of  the  branches,  and  occa- 
sionally of  whole  trees.  This  has  been  generally 
attributed  to  too  hard  pruning.  And  undoubtedly 
thousands  of  valuable  trees  might  have  been 
saved  if  more  science  had  been  called  into  requi- 
sition in  pruning  ;  but  the  past  winter  has  proved 
that  no  care  in  this  respect  can  prove  an  absolute 
security  for  the  Baldwin  in  our  high  northern 
■atitude.  Excessive  pruning  always  endangers 
the  winter-killing  of  the  tree,  and  in  proportion 
to  the  coldness  of  the  climate.  A  tree  in  New 
Jersey  will  receive  no  injuiry  from  the  pruning 
that  would  invariably  prove  fatal  in  Maine,  and 
one  of  the  lessons  I  wish  to  impress  upon  the  rea- 
der, is  that  less  interference  with  nature  must  be 
practiced  as  the  fruit  culturist  approaches  the 
north.  A  much  larger  amount  of  leaves  are  re- 
quired to  mature  the  sap  for  resisting  the  frosts 
of  high  northern  latitudes,  than  is  found  to  be 
necessary  where  frosts  are  less  severe.  Hence  in 
all  attempts  to  cultivate  less  hardy  varieties  of 
fruit  in  colder  regions,  much  caution  must  be  used 
in  pruning  so  as  to  reduce  the  quantity  of  leaves. 

Another  fact,  proved  by  observation  is  that  the 


Baldwin  is  less  liable  to  winter-kill  when  grafted 
at  a  considerable  hight  above  the  ground,  and  on 
the  slowest  growing  trees. 

In  fact  all  attempts  to  raise  new  orchards  from 
Baldwin  trees  grafted  at  or  near  the  ground  are 
likely  to  prove  failures  in  all  parts  of  Maine.  The 
last  winter  has  destroyed  tens  of  thousands  of 
Baldwin  trees  in  our  state,  and  swept  ofi"  almost 
the  whole  Baldwin  departments  of  nurseries, 
i  while  many  other  varieties  have  escaped  in  the 
same  locations,  bidding  defiance  to  the  tempera- 
ture that  causes  mercury  to  congeal. 

Money  enough  has  already  been  sqandered  in 
the  attempt  to  raise  young  Baldwin  orchards  in 
this  State,  and  we  must  either  seek  a  substitute 
in  some  hardier  variety,  or  lose  most  of  the  ben- 
efit to  be  derived  from  the  crop  second  only  in  im- 
portance to  one  other  of  the  crops  of  our  latitude. 

In  my  next  I  propose  to  detail  some  observa- 
tions npon  the  relative  capacities  of  different  va- 
rieties of  fruit  trees  to  resist  the  extreme  temper- 
ature of  winter.  Sandy  River. 


For  the  New  Ensland  Farmer. 


THE  SEASON—ONIONS- 
HIES. 


STRAWBER- 


Mr.  Brovv'n  : — Ml/  Dear  Sir, — The  last»week 
of  May  and  three  days  of  this  month,  the  1st,  3d 
and  4th,  have  been  abundant  in  rain,  with  chilly 
east  winds,  and  on  the  night  of  the  3d  and  4th 
there  were  two  drenching  thunder  showers,  the 
lightning  frequent  and  vivid,  and  the  thunder 
powerful.  Yesterday,  the  oth,  required  overcoats 
out  doors,  and  fires  within.  The  thermometer 
at  4^  o'clock  this  morning,  6th  June,  stood  at  35° 
and  white  frost  was  seen  on  the  top  boards  of 
fences,  but  vegetation  has  here  been  uninjured. 
The  prospect  for  grass  and  spring  grains,  thus 
fai',  is  promising. 

Accidentally  I  have  found  strawberries  flour- 
ish best  upon  a  stony,  gravel  bed,  south  of  a 
stone  wall  terrace.  The  adjacent  ground  was 
cleared  of  pebble-stones,  thrown  and  raked  up  to 
the  wall,  and  then  levelled  for  a  walk  of  two  feet 
in  width.  Finding  that  a  row  of  strawbery  plants 
might  be  inserted  at  the  foot  of  the  wall,  I  placed 
them  in  that  unpromising  position,  to  take  care 
of  themselves,  if  they  would,  but  hoping  little 
from  them,  stones  alone  being  their  companions. 
They  took  root  and  produced  some  fruit,  and 
from  year  to  year  extending  their  runners,  they 
form.ed  new  plants  among  the  stones  by  sending 
down  roots  from  the  joints  of  the  runners,  in  the 
interstices  of  the  stone-pebble  walk,  till  the  sur- 
face was  nearly  covered.  No  grass  or  weeds  in- 
terfered with  their  growth,  and  the  size  and 
amount  of  the  fruit  now  exceeds  that  which  I  can 
raise,  upon  the  same  area,  elsewhere  upon  my 
premises,  and  it  matures  a  week  earlier  than  in 
other  positions.  The  ground  cultivated,  above 
the  terrace,  with  roots  and  peas,  descends  gently 
to  the  terrace  wall,  and  rains  wash  rich,  manured 
soil  in  some  degree  into  the  pebbled  bed  below, 
and  this  doubtless  feeds  the  strawberry  roots. 
Yet  I  am  satisfied  that  if  a  gardener  has  such  an 
amount  of  pebble  stones  that  he  hardly  knows 
how  else  to  dispose  of  them,  he  may,  by  a  moder- 
ate intermixture  of  rich  earth,  form  them  into 
productive  strawberry  beds.  The  propagation  of 
the  plants  by  the  runners  whose  roots  will  get 


348 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Auo. 


into  the  earth,  among  obstacles  that  impede  weeds 
and  common  grass,  is  a  fact  very  observable,  and 
one  that  can  be  turned  to  good  account,  in  giv- 
en localities. 

For  one  or  two  seasons  past,  an  inexplicable 
blight  of  my  onion  crop  has  come  on  when  the 
tubers  are  but  half-grown.  The  best  manuring 
and  tillage  of  mine  does  not  prevent  it.  It  comes 
on  in  August,  with  a  decay  of  the  tops  of  the 
plants,  when  the  extremities  turn  white.  This 
symptom  extends  to  all  the  crop,  and  increases, 
till  the  tubers  cease  expanding,  and  their  tops 
wither  down  and  die.  The  onions  gathered  rot 
in  the  winter,  and  few  remain  sound  till  spring, 
whether  traced  up,  or  spread  out  in  the  cellar. 
These  facts  I  have  not  seen  stated  in  the  Farmer, 
and  therefore  mention  them,  that  if  they  have 
been  witnessed  by  others,  they  may,  peradven- 
ture,  be  explained,  and  the  cause  and  cure  be  as- 
signed. 

The  apprehension  that  a  species  of  butterfly, 
observed  in  the  summer  of  last  year,  a  specimen 
of  Avhich  I  sent,  was  parent  of  a  destructive  for- 
e*st  insect,  a  migrating  worm,  that  infested  our 
forests  in  1857,  was  happily  not  verified  by  ob- 
servation. Still,  numerous  worms  appeared  upon 
our  hard  maples,  in  our  street,  and  consumed 
the  foliage  fast,  in  August.  They  seemed  not 
travellers,  like  those  of  the  preceding  season, 
and  generally  were  seen  more  clustered  together. 
They  disappeared  earlier  than  those  of  1857,  and 
our  friends,  the  chipping  birds,  were  so  numerous 
and  industrious,  that  very  probably  they  stopped 
their  depredations. 

Many  cherry  trees  decay  here  ;  peaches  are  de- 
spaired of,  and  for  some  cause,  vines,  the  Isabel- 
la especially,  are  greatly  damaged  by  the  winter 

Salisbury,  Conn.,  June  6,  1859.         J.  Lee. 


there  are  two  estimated  values  of  hay  given,  the 
highest  of  which  is  less  than  the  present  current 
value. 

Mr.  N.  Fessenden  made  a  trial  Avith  5  cows 
for  one  day,  fed  as  usual,  with  the  following  re- 
sult.    The  provender  consumed  was, 

English  Hav,  86  ft,3.,  al  $17  ^  ton $  ,73 

Sail  Hay,  20  fts.,  at  $11  ^  ton ,11 

Oil  Meal,  9  lbs.,  1^  cts.  p-  ft ,13 

Rice  Meal,  8  fts.,  IJ  cts.  ^  ft, ,10 

Husks,  quantity  and  value  guessed  at OS 

25\$l,15/,046 
Per  can $322 

The  quantity  of  milk  produced  was  25  quarts. 
The  mean  time  since  dropping  their  calves  is  8 
months.  Three  will  come  in  again  in  a  mean 
time  of  4  months  ;  the  other  two  are  farrows. 

Lexington. 


For  the  New  En^lancl  Farmer. 
COST  AND  PKICE  OF  MILK. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Lexington  Farmers' 
Club,  the  question  under  discussion  was  whether 
pure  milk  could  be  afforded  in  this  town  for  less 
than  25  cents  per  can.  The  general  impression 
was  that  it  could  not  be  afforded  at  that  price 
in  winter,  but  none  had  exact  estimates  as  the 
result  of  experiments,  except  Messrs.  Reed  and 
Fessenden. 

Mr.  N.  Reed  had  made  a  trial  with  20  cows  by 
carefully  ascertaining,  one  day  in  each  week  for 
three  successive  weeks,  the  amount  of  provender 
fed  to  them,  and  also  the  amount  of  milk  produced 
by  them,  and  by  dividing  the  amount  by  three 
he  obtained  the  mean  result  for  one  day  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 

Estimated  value.        Estimated  value. 

Oil  Meal,  30  fts $  ,54 $  .54 

Shorts,  43  fcs ,43 ,43 

Fine  Feed,  20  fts ,27 ,27 

Roots,  5  bush 1,00 1,00 

English  Hay,  300  fts 1,95 2,40 

Meadow  Hay,  200  fts ,»0 ,60 

Depreciation  of  stock,  22c  ^  day.  ,22 ,22 

iBtereet  and  taxes,  15c  ^  day...  ,15 ,15 


140\5,06/-,i 
P«rcan $  ,252 


,036  ^  qt. 
7 


140  \5,61/4 


$  ,2S 


The  amount  of  milk  produced  in  one  day  was 
found  to  be  140  quarts.  It  will  be  perceived  that 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

MASSACHUSETTS  SOCIETY  FOR  PRO- 
MOTING AGRICULTURE. 

BY   JUDGE  FRENCH. 

When  a  man  has  lived  so  long  and  so  faithful- 
ly, in  this  thankless  world,  that  he  has  become, 
at  length,  content  to  labor  quietly  and  constant- 
ly, to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men,  re- 
ceiving and  expecting  no  other  reward  than  that 
which  an  approving  conscience  may  afford,  he 
has  become  once  more  "but  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels."  As  the  elder  Mr.  Weller  remarked, 
by  way  of  consolatory  reflection,  on  the  death  of 
his  wife,  such  a  person  is  almost  "too  good  a 
creetur  for  this  place,"  and  might  be  translated 
with  no  great  change  to  a  better  sphere. 

It  is  true  of  most  machinery  that  the  more 
perfect  its  workmanship,  the  less  noise  it  makes. 
It  is  the  friction,  and  not  the  power,  that  attracts 
common  notice.  The  big  engine  that  propels 
the  ocean  steamer  Vanderbilt,  with  a  power  equal 
to  that  of  thirty  thousand  horses,  makes  less 
noise  than  a  single,  idle,  braying  jackass. 

"Stillest  streams,  oft  water  fairest  meadows, 
And  the  bird  that  flutters  least, 
li  longest  on  the  wing." 

The  Massachusetts  Society  for  Promoting  Ag- 
riculture, ever  since  the  7th  of  March,  1792,  has 
been  modestly,  quietly,  but  steadily  keeping  the 
even  tenor  of  its  way,  like  the  steamship,  re- 
gardless of  the  shifting  breeze  and  the  incon- 
stant waves,  straight  onward,  by  her  compass. 
And  now  at  the  end  of  almost  threescore  years 
and  ten  of  its  life-voyage,  we  have  an  abstract 
of  its  log-book,  in  a  modest  pamphlet  of  149 
pages,  from  the  hand  of  its  accomplished  secre- 
tary, Richard  S.  Fay  ;  given  to  the  World,  not 
in  a  spirit  of  boasting,  to  show  how  much  good 
this  Society  is  now  doing,  or  proposing  to  do, 
but  rather  as  a  memorial  of  the  worth  and  un- 
selfish labors  of  those  who  have  "finished  their 
course"  on  earth. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


349 


So  little  was  known  of  the  operations  of  this 
Societjs  that  at  a  publia  meeting  at  the  State 
House,  in  Boston,  on  the  5th  of  February,  1857, 
for  taking  measures  to  form  a  new  State  Agricul- 
tural Society,  one  gentleman  said  of  it,  that  "it 
had  a  respectable  existence,  he  believed,  in  State 
Street,  and  was  likely  to  be  a  money-making  con- 
cern. The  State  paid  it  $600  a  year,  and  some 
said  it  was  spent  in  good  dinners !"  A  very  brief 
discussion,  however,  dispelled  all  such  delusions, 
and  it  was  unanimously  voted  inexpedient  to 
form  a  new  society.  A  decent  respect  for  the 
dead,  as  well  as  the  living,  seemed  then  to  de- 
mand of  the  Society  some  exposition  of  its 
transactions,  and  we  have  in  this  little  volume, 
in  a  simple  statement  of  facts,  a  vindication  of 
its  course,  alike  creditable  to  the  present  and  for- 
mer members  of  the  Society,  and  to  the  country. 

For  nearly  seventy  years,  men  of  the  highest 
social  and  political  position,  in  aristocratic  Bos- 
ton, and  neighboring  towns,  men  whose  time  and 
business  talent  could  coin  them  money  in  all  de- 
partments of  life,  have  laid  aside  their  everyday 
cares,  and  met  regularly,  to  take  counsel  togeth- 
er, for  what  they  rightly  deemed  the  great  and 
fundamental  interest  of  their  country.  Among 
the  great  names  of  early  members  of  this  Soci- 
ety, we  find  Samuel  Ada:\5:s,  John  Lowell, 
Fisher  Ames,  Thomas  Russell,  Christopher 
Gore,  James  Sullivan,  Martin  Brimmer, 
Theodore  Lyman,  Thomas  L.  Winthrop, 
Aaron  Dexter.  In  1805,  John  Adams,  ex- 
president  of  the  United  States,  was  chosen  Pres- 
ident, in  place  of  Gov,  Strong,  and  Dudley 
Tyng  and  Josiaii  Quincy  were  elected  trustees. 

In  1821,  Rev.  Mr.  Coleman  delivered  the  ad- 
dress, and  the  next  year.  Col.  Timothy  Picker- 
ing rendered  the  same  service.  In  1828,  Hon. 
Thomas  L.  Winthrop  was  elected  President, 
and  Col.  Thomas  H.  Perkins  a  Vice  President. 
Further  on,  we  find  among  the  officers,  Peter 
C.  Brooks,  Dr.  James  Jackson,  Daniel  Web- 
ster, Elias  Phinney,  J.  P.  Gushing,  Josiah 
Quincy,  Jr.,  Dr.  John  C.  Warren,  Abbott 
Lawrence  and  Edward  Everett.  George 
W.  Lyman  was  President  in  1858,  and  Charles 
G.  Loring  and  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Vice 
Presidents,  Thomas  Motley,  Jr.,  Treasurer. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  the  i-ecords  of  any  agri- 
cultural society  in  the  world  can  show  a  list  of 
more  distinguished  names  among  its  officers. 
And  its  records  of  what  it  has  done,  are  worthy 
of  the  names  of  its  members.  An  article  by  the 
editor,  in  the  monthly  JV.  E.  Farmer  for  Marcli, 
1859,  gives  a  list  of  some  of  its  more  important 
premiums,  and  notices  its  valuable  importations 
of  live  stock  of  approved  breeds,  from  time  to 
time,  commencing  with  Merino  sheep  in  1802, 
including  Hereford,  and  Alderney  cattle. 


In  1820,  it  appears  that  a  stallion  of  the  breed 
known  as  the  Suffolk  Punch,  bred  in  England, 
was  presented  to  the  Society.  Of  this  breed  of 
horses,  we  had  an  excellent  opportunity,  while  in 
England,  to  form  an  opinion,  which  has  been  al- 
ready expressed  in  this  paper.  Our  belief  is, 
that  the  world  does  not  afford  another  breed  cf 
horses,  so  well  adapted  to  farm  labor  and  general 
purposes  of  heavy  draft,  as  the  Suffolk  Punch, 
and  we  have  some  curiosity  to  know  what  has 
beeome  of  the  posterity  of  this  hoi'se. 

Verily,  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun. 
In  this  record,  in  1801,  we  find  a  proposition  fci" 
holding  market  fairs  "on  Cambridge  Common," 
in  May  and  October,  and  this  seed  has  just  veg- 
etated, after  fifty-eight  years,  into  market  fairs  in 
Essex  county,  which  will  now  spring  up  every- 
where, with  great  advantage  to  the  farmer. 

In  1800,  a  seed-sowing  machine  was  exhibited 
to  the  trustees.  In  1812,  the  model  of  a  double 
plow  was  ordered  to  be  procured. 

In  1827,  a  letter  was  received  fromN.  Biddle, 
Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  describing  a  mowing  ma- 
chine. 

In  1820,  a  pistol  was  exhibited,  so  constructed 
as  to  discharge  seven  balls  successively,  with 
once  loading  and  priming,  but  the  committee  say 
that  they  do  not  deem  themselves  authorized  to 
recommend  any  premium  for  it,  "it  not  being  an 
instrument  of  use  in  agriculture,  and  having  no 
certificate  of  its  having  been  used  and  improved 
by  any  practical  farmer  !" 

Corn-shellers,  straw-cutters  and  threshing  ma- 
chines were  shown  and  discussed  nearly  a  half 
century  ago,  in  this  Society,  and  a  Iiay-making 
machine  was  presented  to  the  Society  in  1823, 
an  implement  which  we  have  seen  at  work  in 
England,  and  which  should,  and  soon  will,  be 
found  on  every  hay  farm  in  our  country. 

There  is  hardly  a  new  implement  that  has  l>een 
introduced,  or  a  valuable  breed  of  animals,  or  a 
new  and  valuable  plant  or  root  or  seed,  or  a  hint 
as  to  a  plan  for  aiding  the  interests  of  agricul- 
ture in  any  way,  that  may  not  be  traced  back  to 
the  influence  of  this  Society. 

From  tim'e  to  time,  men  who  are  "tired  of  hear- 
ing Aristides  caijid  the  Just,"  have  cried  out 
against  its  members,  as  book  farmers,  and  gen- 
tlemen farmers,  and  as  an  aristocracy,  and  no- 
body can  deny  that  all  these  appellations  belong 
to  them.  For  ourselves,  we  have  no  antipathy 
to  books  or  gentlemen,  and  only  wish  the  aris- 
tocracy of  learning  and  benevolence  and  public 
spirit  could  be  largely  increased  in  numbers. 

The  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  is  the 
model  State  of  the  world,  at  this  moment.  No- 
where is  she  excelled  in  the  general  edification 
of  her  people,  in  the  true  spirit  of  freedom  in 
the  hearts  of  her  citizens,  in  the  equal  and  just 


350 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


administration  of  law,  in  liberality  towards  the 'few  seasons.  The  older  land  is  now  much  worn, 
poor,  the  blind,  the  deaf,  and  the  unfortunate  of'^^d  when  too  poor  to  grow  corn  and  rye  profita- 

every  class,  or  in  general  prosperity  in  every  i^^^' ^\d^^°*^'^  to  buckwheat.  We  see  no  rea- 
,       •' ,      „  ,      .  -TP-i'-  ■'son  why,  eventually,  the  whole   of  these   plains, 

branch  of  business.  In  fostering  the  interests  j,,.;!!  ^^^^  be  reduced  to  near  barrenness,  if  this 
of  agriculture,  she  stands  at  the  head  of  the  j  system  of  improving  them  (rather  misimproving) 
States  of  our  Union,  doing  for  the  rest  what  less;  is  continued;  namely  carrying  away  the  crop, 
ability  or  enterprise   prevents   their   doing  for  ^"d  returning  nothing  to  the  land,  which  well 

deserves  the  epithet  of  the  "skinning  system." 
The  grain  is  sold,  and  generally  but  little  more 
stock  is  kept  than  is  necessary  for  convenience, 
so  that  manuring  extensively  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. These  plains  are  happily  interspersed,  how- 
ever, with  brooks,  runs,  and  low  plats,  besides 
now  and  then  a  hill,  with  the  hard-pan  subsoil 
before  mentioned,  which  '"urnishes  all  the  mow- 
ing-land, and  accordingly  receives  the  manure. 

There  are  generally  taken  from  the  p]ain-field$ 
two  crops  in  every  five  or  six  years,  which,  of 
course,  draws  severely  upon  the  natural  resources 
of  the  soil,  originally  scantily  supplied  with  veg- 


themselves. 

Long  may  the  old  Massachusetts  Society  con- 
tinue to  prosper,  diffusing,  through  the  press  and 
the  quiet  example  of  its  members,  the  light  of 
science  by  which  alone  all  progress  is  securely 
made. 


For  the  Hew  England  Farmer. 

SANDY  LANDS—MUCK— THE  "SKIM- 
NINQ"  METHOD  OF  FAKMIWG. 

In  what  is  called  the  Connecticut  valley,  be- 


tween the  Connecticut  and  the  gneitic  hills  some  gtable  matter,  and  nothing  is  done  to  restore 'it 
ten  miles  to  the  east,  is  a  large  tract  of  light,  Lgajn.  This  land,  on  account  of  dryness  of  the 
plain  land,  about  which,  and  its  management,  I  surface,  is  hard  to  stock  with  clover,  or  the  grass- 
propose  to  say  a  few  words,  especially  that  injes,  and  unless  the  season  is  unusually  wet,  the 
this  btate,  south  of  the  green-stone  range  of Leed  sown  is  generally  wasted.  Hundreds  of 
Holyoke  and  its  sister  mountains.  Geologically,  j  acres  I  have  in  mind,  which,  when  not  in  crops, 
it  IS  drift,  overlying  new  red  sandstone,  which  j  are  covered  with  weeds,  wild,  useless  herbs,  and 
sometimes  crop  out,  or  is  within  a  few  feet  of  the  low  briars,  (nchus  canadensis;)  these,  de- 
the  surface.  _  The  soil  is  naturally  thm,  and  the  Laying  on  the  ground,  are  all  the  nourishment 
timber  principally  pine,  except  along  streams  and' received  by  the  land. 

occasional  hills,  where  the  ground  is  more  moist,!  That  this  system  of  farming  "pays," as  a  pres- 
and  the  subsoil  a  red,  hard-pan.  Dryness  at  all  gnt  investment,  is  not  doubted  by  those  engaged 
seasons  of  the  year  is  a  characteristic  of  this  soil;;in  it;  but  that  they  do  not  sometimes  think  of 
and  in  summer,  after  a  ram  or  a  heavy  shower,! ^hat  it  must  lead  to  is  quite  improbable;  still, 
the  farmers  can  resume  their  hoes  within  a  few  | guano  is  often  applied,  and  though  it  generally 
hours,  with  C.ut_  slight  inconvenience  from  mois-, produces  larger  crops,  undoubtedly  draws  the 
ture ;  but  notwithstanding  this,  no  land  is  found: harder  upon  the  land. 

that  suffers  less  during  a  drought.  It  seems  to  be  a  settled  fact  in  people's  mind, 

Ihese  plains  are  generally  divided  into  farms! at  least  hereabouts,  that  manuring  on  dry,  sandy 

of  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  acres,  and  devoted  hand  hardly  pays,  and  though  it  works  quick,  and 

largely  to  the   raising  of  grain,  rye    and  corn  ;j  produces  satisfactory  crops,  immediately  after  its 


thirty  acres  in  each  crop  being  not  unusual,  with 
the  larger  farmers.  The  yield  is  not  large  ;  from 
five  to  twelve  bushels  of  rye   per  acre   and  fif- 


application,  it  does  not  seem  to  last  in  the  land. 
And  again,  such  a  large  surface  of  land  is  im- 
proved each  season,  that  it  is  next  to  an  impossi- 


teen  to  twenty  of  corn ;  but  the  land  tills  easy ;  -  bility  to  manure  it  all ;  but  doubtless  it  would 
so  that  a  man  can  easily  hoe  from  one  to  two  |  be  better,  taking  into  account  the  continued  crop- 
or  three  acres  a  day;  at  least  it  is  passed  over,  |  ping  to  which  the  land  must  be  subjected,  to  corn- 
but,  perhaps,  sometimes  "hoed  at"  rather  thanjmence  the  business  of  permanently  improving 
^^~'  ,.  .  these  soils,  and   raise   more   grain  on  half  the 

Ihe  present  condition  of  these  light  plains,  |  around, 
under  their  present  management,  does  not  pre- j"  :\'ature  has  supplied  the  necessary  means,  in 
sent  a  very  flattering  prospect  for  the  "rising, large  reservoirs  of  muck,  in  pond-holes,  conve- 
generation."  "Money"  not  only  "makes  the  mare  Liently  interspersed,  and  accessible,  either  by 
go,"  but  with  the  New  England  Yankee,  is,  to  a  drainage,  or  in  dry  weather,  and  large  beds  of 
far  too  great  extent,  the  great  incentive  of  life,  pgat,  in  many  of  the  swamps.  Some  farmers 
Under  this  spur,  the  high  price  of  wood  in  this  here,  we  are  happy  to  say,  are  beginning  to  ap- 
vicinity  for  the  la^t  five  or  six  years,  has  induced  predate  these  mines  of  wealth,  and  have  com- 
the  cutting  off  of  hundreds  of  acres  of  wood  menced  the  application  of  muck  to  their  sand- 
every  winter,  until  the  market  became  clogged  -       --      - 


with  the  article ;  but  not,  we  are  sorry  to  say,  till 
the  greater  part  of  the  Avoodland  has  been  cut 
over ;  nearly  all  the  old  growth ;  and  now  the 
effects  of  the  north-west  wind,  as  it  sweeps  across 
the  knolls,  is  seen  in  bare  sand-blows,  which -ev- 
ery fall  and  spring  are   increased  in  size.     The 


knolls,  but  generally,  merely  as  experiments. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  loads  to  the  acre,  on  the 
poorest  of  these  sandy  fields,  would  produce  a 
good  soil,  that  would  produce  double,  and  even 
treble  the  crops  it  now  does,  and  last,  probably, 
with  judicious  management,  ten  or  a  dozen  years, 
without  further   outlay,  or  good  crops  of  grain, 


land  where  the  wood  was  cut,  not  being  allowed  I  every  season,  for  five 'years.'  The  muck  can  be 
to  grow  wood  again,  because  it  requires  time,  is  drawn  at  any  season  of  the  year,  when  there  is 
broken  up,  and  two,  three  or  more  crops  of  rye,  leisure,  by  a  little  calculation  before  hand.  Ac- 
and  one  or  more  of  corn  or  millet,  are  succes-  Lording  to  the  old  saying,  "Where  there  is  a  will 
3ively  taken  off,  when  it  is  permitted  to  rest  a | there  is  a  way;"  but  if  where  there  was  a  way 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


351 


there  fv'as  a  will,  in  this  matter  of  muck  versus 
sand-blows,  two  or  three  acres  might  be  thus  im- 
proved by  almost  any  farmer,  every  year. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  briefly  give  a  history  of 
an  experiment  in  this  line,  though  I  cannot  give 
as  precise  data  as  I  would  like.  Some  six  years 
ago,  in  converting  an  alder-swamp  into  mowing- 
land,  I  had  occasion  to  bog  considerably,  taking 
off  the  whole  crust  an  inch  or  two  in  depth  be- 
tween the  bogs.  This  crust,  consisted,  in  part, 
of  grass  bogs,  but  principally  of  loose  ham- 
mocks, abounding  in  brake  roots,  or  "nigger- 
heads,"  as  commonly  called.  An  acre  of  meadow 
was  treated  in  this  manner  in  August,  and  the 
bogs  packed  into  heaps,  and  in  the  following  win- 
ter, were  drawn  to  a  sand-knoll,  some  thirty  rods 
distant,  covering  about  the  same  surface  there. 
In  the  following  spring,  the  bogs  were  plowed 
under  as  well  as  possible,  and  the  land  planted 
with  corn.  The  crop  was  more  than  treble  the 
usual  yield  of  the  land,  and  the  succeeding  rye 
crop  was  bountiful,  far  exceeding  the  yield  of  the 
remainder  of  the  piece,  which,  before  treatment 
with  muck,  was  much  more  fertile.  After  rest- 
ing one  year  the  bogs  were  sufficiently  rotted  to 
knock  to  pieces  easil}',  and  the  piece  was  again 
plowed,  and  planted  to  potatoes,  the  Mercer  va- 
riety. The  neighbors  thought  it  foolish  to  think 
of  raising  potatoes  in  that  dry  sand ;  but  the 
yield  in  the  fall,  though  less  than  on  moist,  ma- 
nured ground,  surprised  them.  A  fair  crop  of 
oats  followed,  and  this  spring  we  have  planted 
the  same  piece  to  corn. 

I  am  confident  that  peat  alone,  after  a  year's 
exposure  to  the  weather,  will  increase  the  crops 
of  light  land  two  or  three  fold,  if  bountifully  ap- 
plied. J.  A.  A. 

Springfield,  May,  1859. 


entertaining  and  instructive — and  witn  tne  pres  ■ 
ence  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Grennell,  Mr.  Fay, 
of  the  Massachusetts  society.  Dr.  LoRlXG,  Mr. 
Davis,  of  Plymouth,  and  Gen.  Whitnei,  they 
could  not  be  otherwise. 

This  comparatively  young  society  is  in  the 
hands  of  practical,  energetic  men,  and  is  doing 
much,  to  develop  the  agricultural  capacities  of 
that  portion  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut. 


PBANKLIN  COUNTY  AQRIOTTLTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

The  report  of  this  Society  for  the  year  1858, 
is  an  interesting  document,  and  is  prepared  with 
the  usual  a])ility  of  Mr.  Grennell,  the  accom- 
pKshed  Secretary.  The  thousand  head  of  stock 
on  the  grounds  must  have  made  a  magnificent 
show.  There  are  no  finer  cattle  to  be  found  in 
the  State,  if  in  the  country,  than  the  Short-horns 
and  grades  of  the  hill  and  river  towns  in  Frank- 
lin. The  hills  aS'ord  sweet,  rich  grass  for  the 
summer,  and  the  intervales  abundant  crops  of 
good  hay  for  the  winter.  We  have  seen  some 
samples  of  their  four  year  olds,  weighing  4000 
pounds  per  yoke.  They  are  splendid  animals, 
and  the  cows  look  as  though  this  county  should 
be  the  very  focus  of  good  butter. 

There  are  some  very  fine  flocks  of  sheep  in  the 
county.  Mr.  Field's  South  Downs  and  Cots- 
wolds  are  hard  to  beat,  and  together  with  his 
ox  weighing  3,.300  pounds,  shows  that  he  knows 
how  to  make  good  stock. 

The  show  in  the  other  departments  was  high- 
ly creditable  to  the  society. 

The  address,  by  Dr.  Loring,  was  both  able 
and    interesting,    and  the  services  in   the  hall 


For  the  Neto  England  Farmer. 
ON  "WOEKING  OXEN. 

Read  before  the  Concord,  llass.,  Farmers'  Club, 
BY   CHARLES   A.   HUBBARD. 

Till  oxen  are  four  years  old,  they  are  usually 
called  steers,  afterwards  oxen.  The  signs  of  a 
good  ox  for  work,  according  to  my  experience 
and  observation,  are  these  ;  long  head,  broad  and 
level  between  the  eye,  and  the  eye  full,  keen, 
and  pleasant.  Such  marks  indicate  ability  to  re- 
ceive instructions,  and  a  willingness  to  obey.  An 
ox  with  very  large  horns  near  the  head,  is  apt  to 
be  lazy,  and  he  will  not  endure  heat  well  ;  for- 
ward legs  straight,  toes  straight  forward,  hoofs 
j  broad,  not  peaked,  and  the  distance  short  between 
I  the  ankle  and  the  knee ;  these  properties  ena- 
ble an  ox  to  travel  on  pavements  and  hard  roads. 
If  the  ox  toes  out,  the  strain  comes  on  the  inside 
I  claw,  and  when  travelling  on  hard  ground,  he 
I  will  be  lame  at  the  joint  between  the  hoofs  and 
the  hair  ;  when  the  toes  turn  out,  the  knees  bend 
in,  and  an  ox  with  crooked  knees  is  apt  to  be- 
come lame  by  holding  heavy  loads  down  hill ; 
full  breast,  straight  on  the  back,  round  rihs,  pro- 
jecting out  as  wide  as  the  hip  bones  ;  these  are 
signs  of  strength  and  a  good  constitution.  The 
best  colors  are  brown,  dark  red  and  brindle. 
When  an  ox  has  completed  his  eighth  or  ninth 
year,  he  shouldjae  fattened. 

TRAINING   OXEN. 

A  word  on  training  oxen.  I  have  found  that 
by  far  the  best  time  to  train  steers  is  when  they 
are  calves,  say  the  first  winter.  Oxen  that  are 
trained  when  quite  young,  are  much  more  plia- 
ble and  obedient,  and  this  adds  much  to  their 
value.  Steers  that  run  until  they  are  three  or 
four  years  old,  are  dangerous  animals  to  encoun- 
ter. They  are  always  running  away  with  the 
cart  or  sled  whenever  there  is  a  chance  for  lliem, 
and  often  serious  injury  is  the  result.  I  would 
not  recommend  working  steers  hard,  while  young, 
as  it  prevents  their  growth  ;  there  is  a  difl^erenee 
between  working  them  and  merely  training  them. 
I  have  observed  that  very  little  attention  is  paid 
by  our  farmers  to  train  their  steers  to  back,  but 
as  they  become  able  to  draw  a  considerable  load 
forward,  they  are  often  unmercifully  beaten  on 
the  head  and  face,  because  they  will  not  back  a 
cart  or  sled  with  as  large  a  load  as  they  can  draw 
forward,  forgetting  that  much  pains  has  been  ta- 
ken to  teach  them  to  draw  forward,  but  none  to 
teach  them  to  push  backward.  To  remedy  the 
occasion  of  this  thumping,  as  soon  as  I  have 
taught  my  steers  to  be  handy,  as  it  is  called,  and 
to  draw  forward,  I  place  them  on  a  cart  where 
the  land  is  a  little  descending  ;  in  this  situation 
they  will  soon  learn  to  back  it.  Then  I  place  them 


352 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


on  level  land,  and  exercise  them  there.  Then  I 
teach  them  to  back  a  cart  up  land  that  is  a  lit- 
tle risin,'^,  the  cart  having  no  load  in,  as  yet. 
When  I  have  taught  them  to  stand  up  to  the 
tongue  as  they  ought,  and  back  an  empty  cart,  I 
Hext  either  put  a  small  load  in  the  cart,  or  take 
them  to  where  the  land  rises  faster,  which  an- 
swers the  same  purpose  ;  thus  in  a  few  days  they 
can  be  taught  to  back  well,  and  know  how  to  do 
it,  which,  by  a  little  use  afterward,  they  will 
never  forget.  This  may  appear  of  little  conse- 
quence to  some,  but  when  it  is  remembered  how 
frequently  we  want  to  back  a  load,  when  we  are 
at  work  with  our  cattle,  and  how  convenient  it  is 
to  have  our  cattle  back  well,  why  should  we  not 
teach  them  for  the  time  when  we  want  them  thus 
to  lay  out  their  strength?  Besides,  it  often 
saves  blows  and  vexations,  which  is  considerable 
when  one  is  in  a  hurry.  I  never  consider  a  pair 
of  oxen  well  broke  until  they  will  back  with  ease 
any  reasonable  load,  and  I  would  give  a  very 
considerable  sum  more  for  a  yoke  of  oxen  thus 
tutored  thanJor  a  yoke  not  thus  trained. 

MANAGING   AND   FEEDING   WORKING  OXEN. 

The  following  is  from  the  Yankee  Farmer. 
Oxen  working  on  a  stone-drag,  on  the  foot  of  a 
plow,  on  the  sled-tongue,  cart  spire,  or  twitching 
stones  or  timber,  should  carry  their  heads  well 
up,  as  this  will  enable  them  to  do  this  work  much 
easier ;  those  that  work  as  leaders,  forward  of 
other  oxen,  should  carry  their  heads  low,  and 
have  the  yoke  the  right  length,  let  the  bows  suit 
the  neck ;  the  yoke  and  bows  to  the  leaders 
should  set  a  little  snugger  than  to  the  nib  oxen. 
Never  use  the  whip  but  from  necessity.  When 
about  to  strike  the  young  steer  or  ox,  ask  your- 
self, "Will  he  know  what  I  strike  him  for  ?"  Let 
each  ox  have  a  name,  and  be  sure  he  knows  his 
name.  Never  speak  a  word  to  an  ox  without 
meaning;  have  a  particular  word  to  start  your 
team  by,  that  all  may  pull  together.  Never  hurry 
your  oxen  while  riding  behind  them,  lest  they 
learn  to  haul  apart.  Oxen  should  be  shod  with 
a  broad  shoe,  to  travel  on  hard  roads  ;  the  shoe 
on  the  fore  foot,  should  set  back  at  the  heel, 
nearly  half  an  inch  further  than  the  hoof  bears 
upon  it.  Oxen  are  frequently  lame  by  reason  of 
short  shoes.  The  best  feed  for  oxen  at  hard 
work,  is  to  give  to  each  two  quarts  of  meal,  wet, 
mixed  with  good  chopped  hay,  three  times  a  day, 
and  as  much  hay  as  he  will  eat  ;  this  is  the  high- 
est feed  working  oxen  ought  to  have,  and  on  this 
they  W'ill  work  every  day. 

SIZE   OF   VVORKIN'G   OXEN. 


to  do  it.  I  accordingly  purchased  a  large  pair  of 
Durham  cattle  which  weighed  thirty-six  hundred 
pounds,  paid  a  great  price  for  them,  and  put  them 
at  work,  and  a  more  miserable  yoke  of  oxen  I 
never  owned.  If  they  did  a  day's  work,  it  took, 
them  three  to  get  over  it.  I  then  purchased  a 
pair  of  medium  size,  which  weighed  about  twen- 
ty-six hundred  pounds  ;  they  proved  well,  went 
through  the  job  in  good  shape,  and  were  ready 
for  another. 

As  to  the  particular  breeds  of  cattle  for  work, 
I  know  of  none  better  than  our  native  race.  The 
Devons  make  very  pretty  workers,  but  as  far  as 
my  experience  goes,  they  are  generally  a  little 
too  high-strung.  The  Durhams,  on  the  contrary, 
I  believe  to  be  rather  slow  of  motion  as  a  gener- 
al thing,  and  want  high  keeping.  The  Ayrshire, 
Hereford,  and  various  other  breeds,  I  am  not  a* 
all  conversant  with. 


MASSACHUSETTS  SOCIETY. 
The  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to  an  ar- 
ticle in  another  column,  by  Judge  French,  upon 
the  "Massachusetts  Society  for  Promoting  Agri- 
culture," in  which  he  glances  at  the  operations 
and  influences  of  the  society,  since  its  founda- 
tion. The  Judge  has  our  thanks  for  this  timely 
and  just  notice  of  a  society  whose  life  has  been 
crowded  with  good  deeds.  We  have  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  very  few  of  its  members,  and 
speak  of  it  entirely  from  what  we  know  of  its 
works.  Its  published  Transactions  we  have  read 
from  their  commencement,  with  care,  and  have 
been  instructed  by  them,  and  whenever  the  soci- 
ety has  been  assailed,  have  said  whatever  we 
could  to  make  its  past  action  and  its  objects  bet- 
ter understood.  We  hope  it  will  keep  on  its  ac- 
customed course,  form  "no  entangling  alliance" 
with  other  associations,  and  continue  to  promote 
the  interests  of  agriculture  in  the  future  as  much 
as  it  has  promoted  them  in  the  past. 


A  word  as  to  the  particular  size  of  working 
oxen.  A  yoke  of  oxen  weighing  twenty-eight 
hundred  pounds,  I  consider  heavy  enough  for  all  [read  by  every  farmer  who  has  an  acre  of  land  to 


Farm  Dr.ainage. — The  above  work,  a  hand- 
some volume  of  400  pages,  will  be  sent  post-paid, 
to  any  subscriber  to  the  .V.  E.  Farmer  v/ho  will 
send  $1,00  to  this  office  by  mail  or  otherwise. 
The  author  is  Judge  French,  our  well-known 
Associate,  and  the  book  gives  practical  direc- 
tions for  draining  land  with  stones,  wood  and 
tiles,  in  the  cheapest  and  best  manner,  with  100 
engravings  of  implements,   &c.     It    should   be 


practical  purposes.  It  depends  something  on 
what  a  person  wants  to  use  them  for,  but  for 
travelling  on  the  road,  or  for  most  any  part  of 
farm  labor,  cattle  of  this  size  are  heavy  enough. 
There  is  a  prevailing  opinion  among  farmers  who 
use  oxen,  that  they  must  have  a  very  large,  heavy 
pair,  in  order  to  get  along  well ;  but  as  a  general 
thing,  large,  heavy  cattle  are  very  apt  to  be  slow 
of  motion,  and  much  more  liable  to  be  lame,  be 
sides  more  expensive  in  keeping 


drain. 


Profitable  Sheep. — I  will  give  you  a  state- 
ment of  a  little  flock  of  sheep  that  I  have  raised 
in  two  years.  I  bought  three  ewes,  two  years 
ago  this  spring — two  of  them  had  four  ewe 
lambs  ;  and  last  year  six  of  them  had  eight  ewe 
lambs,  making  in  all  fifteen  ewes  ;  they  have  never 


had  a  buck  lamb.     I  consider  it   a  pretty  good 
Two  or  three  jincrease.     I  had  .$14  for  the  first  purchase,   and 
years    ago.  I  had  a  heavy  job  of  work  on  hand,  I  the  wool  has  about  paid  for  keep,  and  I  have  just 
and  thought  I  must  have  a  heavy  yoke  of  oxen  I  sold  the  flock  for  $15.— Country  Oenileman. 


1859. 


NEAV  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


353 


For  ihe  New  England  Farmer, 
THE  LITTLE  SUBBOILEB. 
BY   JUDGE   FRENCH. 

When  we  plant  early,  and  heavy  rains  follow, 
the  earth  packs  down  so  hard  between  our  rows 
of  corn,  potatoes  and  roots,  that  we  frequently 
repent  of  our  haste  in  putting  in  the  seed,  and  de- 
clare that  we  will  never  be  guilty  of  such  folly 
again. 

My  friend.  Professor  Hoyt,  now  Chancellor  of 
Washington  University,  at  St.  Louis,  once  em- 
ployed a  man  to  fork  up  the  earth  between  his 
potato  hills.  His  land  was  sandy,  and  had  set  like 
the  sea  beach,  as  hard  as  a  very  soft  grindstone. 
The  professor  said  he  knew  the  potatoes  could  not 
breathe  in  so  tight  a  place  as  that.  Often  we  see 
gardeners  loosen  the  earth  round  their  plants 
with  a  spade  or  trowel,  after  a  hard  storm,  and 
every  man  of  common  sense  knows  that  in  gen- 
eral, the  more  freely  plants  are  supplied  with 
air,  heat  and  moisture  in  the  natural  soil,  the 
better  they  thrive. 

Now  we  have  an  implement  (figured  above) 
that  supplies  the  want  thus  indicated,  in  the 
shape  of  a  small  subsoil  plow  drawn  by  a  single 
horse  or  mule.  The  use  of  a  subsoil  plow  is  to 
break  up  and  loosen  the  subsoil,  without  bringing 
it  to  the  surface.  I  have  used  the  little  subsoiler 
with  great  satisfaction ;  the  present  season  my 
corn  was  planted  May  2oth,  on  land  drained  with 
tiles,  part  of  it  heavy  clay;  it  came  up  well,  al- 
though the  season  was  wet.  As  soon  as  the  rows 
could  be  well  traced,  on  the  i:3th  June,  the  little 
subsoiler  was  put  through  twice  in  a  row,  about 
ten  inches  deep,  which  raised  up  the  soil  as  light 
as  if  just  plowed.  Then  came  the  rain  and  as 
every  body  knows,  it  has  kept  raining  ever  since, 


but  down  goes  the  water  to  the  depth  of  this  cut, 
instanter,  and  the  drains  are  doing  their  best  be- 
low, and  the  water  is  out  of  sight,  though  the 
three-inch  drains  often  run  full. 

On  the  19th  we  finished  hoeing  it,  and  my 
man  James,  and  I,  think  we  saved  the  cost  of  the 
little  plow  on  this  one  and  one-third  acres  of 
corn.  On  our  mangolds,  three-fourths  of  an 
acre,  we  have  also  used  it,  running  between  the 
drills  as  soon  as  the  rows  are  visible,  and  we  are 
ready  to  recommend  it  without  hesitation  for 
general  use  in  corn,  potatoes,  mangolds,  turnips, 
carrots,  and  the  like. 

Prof.  Mapes,  I  think,  is  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  introducing  the  use  of  the  subsoiler  in  this 
way,  and  the  pattern  of  the  best  subsoil  plows  in 
use  was  furnished  by  him,  and  he  calls  it  a  soil- 
lifter.  Send  to  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.  for  sub- 
soil plow  No.  0.  It  is  of  steel,  and  well  made, 
and  the  price  $8.  After  the  little  subsoiler  has 
gone  through,  use  the  best  kind  of  cultivator. 
Reader,  do  you  know  what  is  the  best  kind  ? 

James  says  that  "at  home,"  that  is,  in  Ireland, 
I  they  use  a  small  plow  with  the  mould-board  re- 
moved, running  between  the  potato  drills,  to 
loosen  the  soil  before  turning  the  earth  up  to  the 
potatoes  with  the  common  plow,  and  he  joyfully 
recognizes  in  the  use  of  this  little  implement  the 
process  there  so  familiar. 

Exeter,  N.  H.,  June  22,  1859. 


Pratt's  Patent  Self- Ventilating  Cover- 
ed Milk-Pan. — One  of  these  pans  was  left  with 
us  a  week  or  two  since,  and  was  at  once  trans- 
ferred to  the  dominions  of  the  women,  where  it 
was  put  to  a  practical  test,  and  pronounced  a 
good  article,  but  not  one  adapted  to  the  dairy- 
woman's  use.    It  is  not  broad  enough   as  milk 


354 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


should  be  set  shallow,  in  broad  bottomed  pans. 
It  would  require  too  much  time  to  adjust  the 
cover.  It  is  too  expensive.  But  for  use  in  large 
towns  and  cities,  where  people  set  only  a  gallon 
or  two  of  milk,  and  where  rats,  cockroaches,  flies 
and  other  interesting  vermin  invade  their  eata- 
bles, it  must  prove  an  excellent  article,  and 
would  not  be  too  expensive.  It  is  a  capital  ven- 
tilator and  cooler. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HUNQARIAIf  GRASS. 

Mr.  Editor: — When  I  was  a  lad,  some  fifty- 
five  years  ago,  I  distinctly  recollect  of  hearing 
an  old  gentleman  declare,  (sportively,)  that,  the 
farmer  who  would  make  two  spears  of  grass  grow 
where  only  one  grew  before,  and  would  make  a 
yearling  steer  weigh  as  much  as  an  ox,  was  enti- 
tled to  much  credit,  and  would  most  assuredly 
get  a  feather  in  his  cap. 

When  I  read  the  communication  in  the  last 
Farmer  from  Mr.  Richard,  of  Richmond,  relat- 
ing to  his  Hungarian  grass,  I  w.as  led  to  feel 
that  he,  too,  was  entitled  to  much  credit,  for  he 
most  positively  declares  that  he  prepared  his 
ground,  and  between  the  fifteenth  and  twentieth 
days  of  June,  '58,  sowed  thereon  twenty-nine 
quarts  of  Hungarian  grass  seed  ;  the  product 
of  which,  he  informs  us,  was  seven  and  one-half 
tons  of  hay  secured,  and,  moreover,  from  the  hay 
he  threshed  out  eighty-five  bushels  of  well-ri- 
pened Hungarian  grass  seed ! 

If  Mr.  Richard,  (in  some  future  number  of  the 
Farmer,)  will  be  so  obliging  as  to  give  the  actual 
measurement  of  the  land  from  which  he  took  so 
large  and  valuable  a  crop  of  grass  and  seed,  the 
character  of  the  soil,  and  the  manner  in  which 
he  prepared  the  ground  for  the  seed,  whether 
by  top-dressing  or  otherwise,  he  will  confer  a  fa- 
vor upon  every  farmer  who  takes  delight  in  see- 
ing fat  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills,  and  all  those 
who  are  most  willing  to  learn  the  science  where- 
by two  spears  of  grass  may  be  made  to  grow, 
(throughout  the  farm)  where  only  one  grew  be- 
fore. A.  Brow>'E. 

Dalton,  Mass.,  June  13,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

APPLES  AND  APPLE  TBEES. 

In  your  paper  of  June  11,  your  correspondent, 
"S.  P.  Baker,"  says  that  apple  seeds  planted 
where  they  are  to  stand  permanently,  will  be 
worth  twice  as  much,  and  will  live  as  long 
again,  bear  twice  as  many  apples,  &c.  I  consid- 
er his  remarks  partly  true,  but  not  wholly  so.  In 
my  own  mind,  an  orchard  will  do  better  to  have 
the  seed  planted  where  they  are  to  stand,  as  then 
the  tap-root  goes  directly  down,  and  on  dry  land 
the  tree  will  stand  the  drought  better,  and  will,  I 
think,  live  longer;  but  to  say  they  will  live  twice 
as  long,  and  bear  twice  as  much  fruit,  is,  I  think, 
a  mistake.  My  opinion  from  long  experience  is, 
that  the  flavor  of  fruit  is  aflected  by  the  soil,  and 
very  little  generally  by  the  tree.  Putting  the 
Baldwin  on  a  warm,  dry  soil,  the  flavor  is  richer 
and  more  melting.    It  ripens  earlier,  but  will  not 


keep  so  long.  On  low  land  it  does  not  ripen  so 
early  and  the  pulp  is  more  firm,  and  the  flavor 
not  so  pleasant  to  the  taste. 

From  one  paragraph  of  your  correspondent 
from  Ipswich  I  disagree  wholly.  "Apple  trees 
grafted  from  scions  that  are  two  years  old  will 
bear  every  year,  as  a  one  year  old  scion  has  only 
half  come  to  maturity,  and  consequently  bears 
only  half  the  time."  I  have  grafted  with  my 
own  hand  and  taken  the  scions  myself  from  one 
year  old,  to  two,  three,  and  four,  but  more  gen- 
erally from  two,  repeated  it  every  year,  and  the 
cases  are  very  rare  that  the  Baldwin  will  bear 
every  year  ;  there  are  some  kinds  of  apples  that 
will  bear  every  year,  but  it  is  not,  in  my  opinion, 
because  the  scions  were  one  or  two  years  old. 

In  consequence  of  a  very  fine  apple  that  orig- 
inated in  Sherborn,  where  I  lived  seventy  years, 
running  out  or  failing  to  produce  fair  and  hand- 
some fruit,  which  was  esteemed  by  every  lover 
of  good  fruit,  and  was  fit  for  the  table  from  Octo- 
ber to  April,  my  father  before  me  had  grafted 
probably  a  hundred  trees  of  that  kind,  and  up  to 
1810  produced  as  handsome  and  fine  fruit  as  I 
have  ever  seen.  Since  that  year  it  has  not  been 
worth  raising.  That  settles  the  question  that 
some  apples  have  and  will  run  out.  I  tried  every 
way  I  could  think  of  to  restore  them  by  pruning 
and  cultivation,  but  they  grew  worse  by  it.  Some 
writers  have  supposed  that  the  flavor  of  fruit  is 
influenced  by  the  stocks  on  which  they  are  graft- 
ed, but  I  have  thought  more  by  the  soil. 

Daniel  Leland. 

East  Holliston,  June  13,  1859. 


For  the  New  Engl«md  Farmer. 
ONION  AND  TURNIP  CROPS. 

Mr.  Editor: — Mr.  Proctor  does  not  believe 
there  is  any  remedy  for  the  onion  maggot.  Has 
he  tried  the  guano  and  did  it  fail  him  ?  If  he 
will  fix  a  little  bed  in  his  garden,  and  sprinkle 
the  plants  with  guano  when  about  three  inches 
high,  and  again  when  they  are  setting  for  bot- 
toms, and  the  maggot  meddles  with  them,  they 
will  do  difi"erent  with  him  than  they  have  done 
with  me.  I  have  now  a  little  bed  in  my  garden 
of  about  ten  square  yards  of  as  handsome  onions 
as  I  have  ever  seen  at  this  time  in  the  year.  They 
have  had  two  coats  of  ashes  and  one  of  guano. 

I  see  I  am  not  alone  on  the  turnip  crop.  My 
experience  has  been  the  same  as  your  correspon- 
dents, "C."  and  "J.  L.  T."  I  never  had  a  good 
crop  of  anything  after  a  crop  of  turnips  till  I  had 
manured  the  ground.  Ed.  Emerson. 

Mollis,  June  11,  1859. 


The  Slaughter  which  Sustains  us. — When 
we  ride  we  sit  upon  the  skin  of  the  pig  ;  when 
we  walk,  we  treak  upon  tho  skin  of  the  bullock  ; 
we  wear  the  skin  of  the  kid  upon  our  hands,  and 
the  fleece  of  the  sheep  upon  our  backs.  More 
than  half  the  world  are  human  beings  in  sheep's 
clothing.  We  eat  the  flesh  of  some  creatures,  of 
some  we  drink  the  milk  ;  upon  others  we  are  de- 
pendent for  the  cultivatioH  of  the  soil ;  and  if  it 
is  a  pain  for  us  to  suffer  hunger  and  cold,  we 
should  scrupulously  avoid  inflicting  wanton  mis- 
ery upon  the  animals  by  which  we  are  warmed 
and  fed. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


355 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SHEEP  SHEAEING. 

Mr.  Editor: — In  your  last  number  I  noticed 
a  remark  on  sheep  shearing,  where  it  says,  "when 
the  oil  has  been  secreted  after  washing."  In 
washing  sheep  in  cold  water  the  "yolk"  or  oil, 
cannot  be  started,  it  is  only  the  filth  and  dirt, 
that  can  be  washed  away,  and  as  soon  as  the 
sheep  are  dry  they  are  fit  to  be  shorn ;  two  fine 
days  is  amply  sufficient  after  washing,  getting 
them  under  cover  for  the  first  part  of  the  day  for 
shearing. 

Putting  up  wool  for  market  is  just  the  same 
as  any  other  commodity.  If  wool  is  not  washed 
well,  either  for  the  sake  of  gain,  or  through  neg- 
ligence, it  will  certainly  diniinish  the  price,  or  its 
real  value,  and  make  room  for  fault-finding, 
PUTTING   UP   THE   FLEECE. 

In  my  practice  of  upwards  of  forty  years,  I 
find  a  great  deal  of  wool  bungled  up,  in  the  fleece, 
which  much  deteriorates  its  value.  After  the 
fleece  is  off",  bring  the  wool  outside  up,  then 
shuck  it  up  as  near  its  natural  size  as  possible  ; 
then  double  the  sides  over  (not  roll)  till  about  a 
foot  wide,  then  turn  the  rump  half  way,  and 
bring  the  head  part  to  meet  it. 

Roll  the  fleece  half  way  over,  and  then  the  oth- 
er half.  Have  two  strings,  each  two  yards  long. 
Use  one  around,  and  the  other  end-wise,  bring- 
ing it  up  tight,  and  in  good  shape.  As  manufac- 
turers of  wool  are  scattered  all  over  the  New  Eng- 
land States,  sell  your  wool  to  them,  and  you  will 
be  more  likely  to  get  its  real  value,  as  many 
speculators  don't  have  the  practical  knowledge 
in  ])urchasing.  Ja:\iks  Townsend. 

Marlboro',  N.  II.,  June,  ISuO. 


ALIilGATOKS. 


You  have  heard  of  these  interesting  reptiles, 
in  books,  and  perhaps  seen  astuff'ed  specimen  in 
some  cabinet  of  curiosities.  You  can  behold 
here,  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  ni  situ.  They 
are  just  beginning  to  show  themselves  in  consid- 
erable numbers.  In  summer  they  swarm  by  thou- 
sands. They  lie  on  top  of  the  logs  sunning  them- 
selves, very  much  like  mud  turtles.  There  is  one 
middling  sized  animal,  perfectly  sun-dried,  and 
brown  as  the  log  he  rests  on,  his  mouth  gently 
opened,  with  a  m.ost  benevolent  smile.  His  air 
is  so  meek  and  languishing,  that  he  would  not 
apparently  hurt  one  of  the  thousand  flies  around 
him.  They  walk  in,  delighted  with  the  apartment. 
Snap  !  those  amiable  jaws  are  only  an  ingenious 
fly-trap,  enticing  myriads  of  hapless  beings  to 
their  undoing.  But  catching  flies  is  only  the  pas- 
time of  the  alligator.  His  tail  is  a  handy  blud- 
geon, with  which  he  knocks  over  larger  game. 
He  is  fond  of  pig,  both  "long"  and  "short,"  and 
if  any  of  the  stray  shoats  do  not  return  at  night- 
fall, the  owner  never  thinks  it  worth  while  to 
look  for  him  the  next  day.  They  seldom  attack 
men,  that  kind  of  game  not  being  particularly 
abundant  in  these  parts. — Letter  from  Louisiana 
in  Hartford  Homestead. 


A  Certain  Cure  for  Botts  in  Horses. — 
When  you  find  your  horse  complaining,  and  look- 
ing around  at  his  side,  and  lies  down  pretty  often, 


and  is  not  swollen,  you  may  very  readily  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  he  has  the  botts.  Lose  no 
time  in  giving  him  a  quart  of  sweet  milk  and 
molasses,  and  just  as  soon  as  you  let  his 
head  down,  after  he  swallows  the  drench,  slap 
him  several  times  on  the  side  of  which  he  com- 
plains most,  with  a  paddle  about  two  feet  long, 
six  inches  wide  and  one  inch  thick,  striking  him 
pretty  hard  ;  this  process  jars  the  botts  loose 
from  him,  and  they  take  hold  of,  and  feed  on  the 
milk  and  molasses.  In  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  af- 
ter striking  him  with  the  paddle,  give  him  a  quart 
or  half  gallon  drench  of  strong  sage  tea  ;  this  ac-^ 
complishes  the  object  by  killing  the  botts,  and 
the  horse  is  relieved. — Livery  Keeper  in  Ky.  Far- 
mer. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BAIN  AT  THE  "WEST. 

This  is  a  fine  country  for  farming  in  many  re- 
spects, and  though  once  in  ten  years  a  little  too 
dry  in  summer,  is  also,  some  years,  rather  wet. 
The  year  1857,  to  the  first  of  August,  was  dry, 
and  up  to  April  Sth,  1858,  was  so  beautiful  that 
farmers  could  plow  every  month.  The  great 
rains  began  at  that  date,  and  abated  June  lOth, 
30  inches  having  fallen.  To  this  date  wheat 
looked  fine,  and  two  weeks' good  weather  seemed 
likely  to  insure  a  good  crop.  But  excessive  heat 
and  rain,  showers  and  storms,  like  eastern  dog- 
days,  soon  ruined  the  wheat  by  black  blight,  and 
farmers'  hopes  also.  Great  showers  in  July  and 
August.  From  October  23d  to  December  6th 
almost  incessant  wet — at  one  time  the  sun  was 
not  seen  for  nine  days.  From  April  8,  1858,  to 
the  same  date,  1859,  84  inches  of  rain  fell ;  of 
course  the  ground  was  wet,  there  being  six  inch- 
es in  March..  April  had  11  storms,  and  twice 
when  snowing  there  was  thunder  ;  in  fact,  elec- 
tricity seems  to  abound,  whether  cold  or  warm — 
though  there  has  been  very  little  warm  weather 
yet.  There  has  been  a  great  amount  of  thunder 
and  lightning,  sometimes  of  the  most  vivid  and 
terrific  character,  for  six  or  eight  hours  in  almost 
constant  succession.  In  view  of  all  these  things, 
and  the  fact  that  the  soil  is  soaked,  and  that  the 
sun  shines  but  little,  as  my  record  will  show  you, 
what  may  be  expected  for  crops  this  season  ?  In 
this  section  we  may  be  doomed  to  drowning, 
while  at  the  East  you  are  burning. 

Last  year,  in  eight  months  from  the  Sth  of 
April,  we  had  72  inches  of  rain — nine  inches  per 
month  ;  and  this  year  bids  fair  to  be  about  equal 
to  it,  as  the  month  of  May  is  very  wet. 

It  is  altogether  premature  to  form  an  opinion 
of  the  wheat  crop  in  the  whole  West ;  but  one 
thing  is  certain,  as  Iowa  sows  but  a  little  winter 
grain,  and  as  that  of  spring  is  a  small  sowing, 
and  as  what  there  is  stands  thin,  and  is  back- 
ward, this  State  will  have  little  if  any  surplus 
this  year.  Considerable  corn  is  planted,  and 
some  of  it  needs  weeding,  as  New  Englanders 
say,  but  the  ground  is  so  drenched  with  rain 
that  it  cannot  be  done. 

In  March  last  we  had  eight  fair  days,  five  part 
fair,  four  hazy  and  fourteen  cloudy — rain  six  and 
one-fourth  inches. 

In  April,  eight  fair  days,  five  part  fair,  seven- 
teen cloudy,  eleven  stormy — rain  three  inches. 

In  May,  ten  fair  days,  six  about  half  fair,  fif- 


356 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAIllMER. 


Aug. 


teen  cloudy,  fifteen  days  rain — amount  six  and 
one-half  inches.  I  could  give  you  the  direction 
of  the  wind  every  day  for  three  months,  but  the 
range  of  the  thermometer  would  be  more  than 
you  wish  to  print,  or  your  readers  to  peruse  ; 
though  worth  more  than  it  costs  to  me.  Though 
not  a  subscriber,  I  read  your  valuable  paper,  and 
appreciate  it  highly  though  not  all  adapted  to 
this  region. 

June  1st,  another  smart  shower. 

With  such  an  amount  of  rain  and  cloudy 
weather  on  your  sandy  soil  in  Massachusetts,  you 
might  cultivate  the  ground  quite  well ;  but  here, 
6n  the  rolling  or  flat  prairies,  with  a  fine  adhe- 
Bive  soil,  more  or  less  clayey,  and  all  limey,  rest- 
ing on  a  clay  subsoil,  it  is  altogether  different, 
and  allowance  must  be  made  to  farmers,  if  in 
such  excessively  wet  seasons  we  cannot  pay  all 
our  debts.  IvERS  Taylor, 

A  Bay  State  Man. 

Denmark,  Lee  Co.,  Iowa,  June  1,  1859. 


EXTKACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
A    GOOD   CALF. 

I  am  now  raising  a  heifer  calf  that  is  consid- 
ered by  myself  and  neighbors  a  very  good  one. 
It  is  ten  months  old  to-day.  When  eight  months 
and  a  half  old,  it  weighed  700  lbs.  Think  it 
•would  now  weigh  800.  It  is  five  feet  and  two 
inches  in  girth,  and  is,  according  to  its  length  and 
weight,  proportionally  small  where  measured  for 
the  girth.  It  is  of  the  no-horned  breed,  and  of 
a  bright  Devon  color.  Until  within  a  few  days 
it  has  had  the  milk  of  one  cow,  and  has  been  fed 
some  besides.  Yours,  Szc,      B.  F.  Fletcher. 

Dej-by,  Vt,  Hay  25,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  suppose  the  writer  means  by 
"no-horn  breed,"  what  are  termed  "Polled  cattle," 
by  graziers.  Ayrshire  and  Dumfries,  in  Scot- 
land, with  two  or  three  other  places,  once  formed 
the  ancient  province  of  Galloway,  and  the  polled, 
or  no-horned  cattle,  were  natives  of  that  prov- 
ince. By  "Devon  color,"  he  means  the  dark  ma- 
hogany color  which  always  distinguishes  the  true 
Devon.  

WHITE   SPECKS   IN   BUTTER. 

I  would  say  in  answer  to  "T.,"  of  Felchville, 
Vt.,  that  white  specks  in  butter  are  caused  by 
getting  sour  milk  in  with  the  cream  when  skim- 
ming, which  becomes  hard  like  cheese  ;  to  pre- 
vent white  specks  in  butter,  stir  the  cream  thor- 
oughly after  skimming,  and  should  there  be 
specilvs  then,  rinse  in  cold  water. 

Ludlow,  Vt.,  1859.  MRS.  L.  E.  n. 

OIL   SOAP   FOR   BORERS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  saw  in  one  of  your  papers 
within  the  last  six  months — I  do  not  now  remem- 
ber the  date  of  it —  a  communication  in  which 
the  writer  stated  that  he  had,  for  several  years, 
used  oil  of  soap  to  prevent  the  depredations  of 
borers  in  apple  trees.  I  would  like  to  know  if 
it  is  the  oil  of  soap  such  as  is  used  by  fullers  in 
scouring ;  and,  if  so,  what  is  the  time  of  apply- 
ing it  ?  What  quantity  is  used,  and  in.what  man- 
ner is  it  applied  ?     If  you,  or  some  of  your  sub- 


scribers, will  give   me  the  desired  information 
through  your  columns,  it  will  greatly  oblige 

Samuel  Parks. 
Rock  Bottom,  Mass.,  June  4,  1859. 

Remarks. — Perhaps  the  person  who  recom- 
mended it  may  give  Mr.  P.  some  information — 
we  have  never  used  oil  soap  for  that  purpose. 
We  suppose  it  is  the  common  whale  oil  soap. 

kicking  cows. 

Place  the  animal  by  the  side  of  a  stall  or  par- 
tition, and  confine  her  head  with  a  rope,  so  she 
will  not  be  able  to  step  back,  and  then  put  a  bar 
the  other  side,  having  a  place  beside  her  head  ts 
put  one  end  of  the  bar  in,  and  fetch  the  other 
end  of  the  bar  down  as  low  as  you  can  conve- 
niently ;  milk  under  the  bar,  and  make  it  so 
tight  that  she  cannot  change  her  position.  If  she 
should  kick  she  can  do  no  hurt,  and  she  will 
soon  relinquish  her  old  trick.  I  have  tried  it 
with  good  success.  E.  E.  Robinson. 

Sunderland,  Mass.,  1S59. 

I  have  just  lost  a  valuable  South  Down  buck, 
and  on  examination,  found  worms  in  his  head, 
which  probably  caused  his  death.  Can  you,  or 
any  of  your  correspondents,  tell  me  the  cause 
and  cure  ?  Where  can  I  obtain  another  pure 
blood  South  Down  buck  ?  N.  P.  RiNES. 

Concord,  JV.  H.,  June  6,  1859. 

Remarks. — Worms  in  the  head  of  sheep  are 
caused  by  the  "gad-fly."  Read  "Morrell's  Amer- 
ican Shepherd."  

to   PREVENT   A    COW   FROM   KICKING. 

Having  noticed  in  the  Farmer  of  this  month  a 
plan  suggested  by  "J.  Y.  N."  for  the  purpose  of 
curing  kicking  cows,  allow  me  to  suggest  one 
which  is,  perhaps,  equally  as  good.  Take  a  rope 
long  enough  to  go  round  the  cow,  commencing 
at  her  forward  legs,  and  tie  it  over  her  shoulders. 
Now  take  a  stick,  and  twist  the  rope  tolerably 
tight,  which  will  prevent  her  from  using  her 
hind  legs  ;  she  cannot  stir  them  an  inch. 

Boston,  June,  1859.     A  Belmont  Farmer. 


SCABS  CROWS. 


This  is  the  time  of  year  for  our  corn-fields  to 
exhibit  all  sorts  of  artistic  ingenuity,  in  the  shape 
of  old  clothes  statuary,  and  a  very  odd  and  ex- 
pressive tableaux,  as  well  as  a  great  extent  of 
never-ending  twine — glittering  pieces  of  tin  hung 
on  poles,  by  ever  twisting  and  twisting  strings — 
old  coffee  pots,  and  dilapidated  hats  ;  all  to  in- 
timidate that  very  sable,  but  sagacious  bird,  the 
crow.  Mr.  Crow  generally  laughs  in  his  sleeve 
at  all  this  expenditure  of  cast-off  toggery,  and 
takes  M'hat  corn  he  wants  before  the  farmer  is 
up,  or  in  the  house  at  his  meals,  or  gone  to  meet- 
ing, or  absent  from  the  premises  from  any  other 
cause.  The  best  mode  that  we  ever  adopted,  to 
keep  this  inveterate  old  preacher  from  pulling 
up  our  corn,  was  to  surround  him  with  assailants 
of  his  own  kind.  Make  bird  fight  bird.  We  once 
set  up  a  couple  of  martin-boxes  on  poles  in  our 
corn-field.     These  were  occupied  by  families  of 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


357 


martins;  and  woe  fell  upon  every  crow'ei, poor 
devoted  head  that  dared  to  show  itself  anywhere 
near  the  premises.  They  were  out  as  early  as 
Mr.  Crow  himself,  and  ready  to  give  hattle  all 
summer,  or,  until  their  young  had  flown,  and 
they  got  ready  to  migrate  South.  There  was 
many  a  battle  fought  over  the  field,  but  no  corn 
was  pulled  up  that  year. — Maine  Farmer. 


"WEVEB  PUT  OFF  TILL  TO-MOKKOW." 

Now  ia  the  time  to  be  busy. 

Now  ig  the  season  for  toil : 
Work  while  'tis  Spring,  and  the  Autumn 

Will  bring  you  the  fruits  of  the  soil. 
There's  no  time  for  work  like  the  present. 

Let  idlers  not  lead  you  astray  ; 
For  "never  put  off  till  to-morrow 

The  thing  you  can  do  to-day  !" 

Be  up  with  the  dawn  of  the  morning. 

In  time  to  your  labor  repair  ; 
And  though  you  do  ever  so  little, 

Be  sure  that  you  do  it  with  care. 
And  should  the  world  tell  you  to  linger, 

And  join  for  a  moment  in  play. 
Mind,  "never  put  off  till  to-morrow 

The  thing  you  can  do  to-day  !" 

So  youth  is  the  time  for  progressing 

la  wisdom's  deligbtful  road. 
That  age,  at  the  end  of  the  journey, 

May  find  a  repose  with  God. 
Then  remember,  while  youth  is  in  splendor 

(Not  when  you're  old  and  grey,) 
To  "never  put  off  till  to-morrow 

The  good  you  can  do  to-day  '." 


For  the  Now  England  Farmer. 

GBAWD  DIVISIONS  IN  THE  ANIMAL 
KINGDOM. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  greatest  impediment 
to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  by  the  press,  or  by 
scientific  lecture,  is  to  be  found  in  the  persistent 
rejection, by  the  farmer,  of  scientific  terms.  "But," 
I  am  frequently  asked,  "why  not  use  common 
terms?"  I  answer,  because  in  some  cases  we 
have  no  common  or  familiar  term  to  express  the 
idea,  but  more  frequently  we  use  the  scientific, 
rather  than  the  common  term,  because  the  com- 
mon term  is  indefinite,  and  the  scientific  term  is 
precise,  in  its  meaning.  If  the  lecturer  use  the 
com.mon  term  to  express  his  definite  scientific  idea, 
his  different  hearers  will  interpret  it  differently. 
I  meet  with  men  every  day  who  use  indifferently 
the  words,  species,  order,  class,  genus,  tribe  and 
family,  to  express  the  same  idea.  These  things 
ought  not  so  to  be.  It  seems  to  me  a  truism 
that  without  precision  of  language,  no  definite 
idea  can  be  conveyed.  Is  it  not,  then,  the  farm- 
er's first  duty  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  Ian 
guage  of  science  ?  I  do'  not  propose  to  write  a 
lexicon,  but  to  give  the  proper  idea  to  be  at 
tachfcd  to  a  few  terms  found  in  each  of  the  de 
partments  of  science  in  which  the  farmer  must 
te  interested.  I  shall  dilute  the  article  some,  to 
keep  it  from  being  dry,  but  wish  it  understood 
that  ^ach  scientific  term,  however  frequently  used 
has  but  one  meaning — the  same  in  every  place. 

I  commence  with  the  animal  kingdom.  All 
animals  have  been  formed  by  the  Creator,  on 
four  great  plans,  as  distinct  as  the  Gothic,  Ionic 
Doric  and  Corinthian  orders  of    architecture  ; 


consequently,  naturalists  say,  that  there  are  four 
grand  divisions  in  the  animal  kingdom.  In  the 
order  of  their  rank,  commencing  with  the  lowest, 
they  are  the  Radiates,  Mollusks,  Articulates  and 
Vertebrates.  The  Radiates  are  so  called  becaus 
their  organs,  especially  their  nervous  systems, 
are  arranged  around  and  diverge  from  a  centre, 
like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  The  star  fish,  (As- 
terias,)  is  the  type  of  this  style  of  animals.  But 
in  every  division,  the  general  plan  is  greatly  mod- 
ified, producing  classes,  orders,  genera  and  spe- 
cies, and  giving  that  beauty  and  variety  in  which 
the  Creator  seems  everywhere  to  delight.  This 
division  mostly  inhabits  the  sea,  and  is  of  little 
economical  importance  to  the  farmer. 

The  second  division  is  that  of  shell  fish.  They 
are  called  Mollusks — the  word  signifying  soft. 
Most  Mollusks,  though  soft  animals,  are  covered 
with  a  hard  shell,  as  in  the  case  of  the  clam,  oys- 
ter and  snail,  and  are  said  to  be  testacious. — 
Squids  and  slugs  have  no  visible  shell,  only  a 
rudimentary  one  under  the  cuticle.  Slugs  are 
often  found  under  old  logs  and  stones,  and  are 
thought  to  be  snails,  which  have  crept  away  from 
shells — a  natural  but  a  false  notion. 

The  third  division  is  said  to  be  Articulate,  be- 
cause the  animals,  for  the  most  part,  have  an  ex- 
ternal skeleton  composed  of  rings  articulated  or 
joined  together,  as  in  the  lobster  and  the  wasp. 
The  earthworm  and  the  leech  have  no  hard  skel- 
eton, but  their  rings  are  visible,  and  their  style 
of  organism  of  the  articulate  type,  their  nerves 
being  distributed  in  two  lines  along  the  lower 
part  of  the  body,  with  ganglia  or  modular  masses 
at  each  ring.  Insects,  caterpillars  and  spiders 
belong  to  this  division.  The  farmer's  hopes  and 
his  fears,  his  success  and  his  failures,  are  fre- 
quently intimately  connected  with  these  animals. 

The  fourth  division  is  that  of  Vertebrates — 
animals  with  a  spine  or  back  bone.  The  plan 
of  this  division  reverses  that  of  the  last.  The 
skeleton  of  this  is  on  the  inside  and  the  muscles 
on  the  outside.  The  nervous  system  is  on  the 
upper  side  of  the  body,  and  contamed  in  the  back 
bone.  The  jaws  work  vertically — those  of  the 
articulate  work  horizontally.  In  this  division 
are  included  fishes,  snakes,  turtles,  lizards,  alli- 
gators, monkeys  and  men.  MoKE  Anon. 

Wilbraham,  18o9. 


Remakks. — Excellent.  You  point  out  a  path 
in  which  thousands  of  our  readers  ought  to  tread, 
and  take  observations. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BOTS  IN  HOKSES. 

Mr.  Brown  : — I  noticed  in  a  recent  number  of 
the  Farmer  an  account  of  the  sick  colt,  written 
by  "O.  T.  Willard."  He  called  the  disease  bots, 
which  I  thought  was  impossible,  although  his 
description  answered  to  a  case  recently  before 
me.  But  my  colt  was  so  far  gone  when  friend 
Willard  intimated  that  it  was  bots,  that  it  seemed 
useless  to  doctor  for  them.  I^ad  been  told  if 
my  colt  died  and  I  examined  him,  I  should  not 
detect  the  cause,  for  all  horses  have  some  bots. 
]My  colt  died  this  week.  I  got  my  brother,  and 
into  the  examination  we  went,  expecting  to  find 
the  truoble  in  the  spinal  column.     But  if  it  was 


358 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


there,  its  traces  were  so  delicate  that  we  could 
not  detect  it. 

In  the  region  of  the  heart  and  lungs  there  ap- 
peared serious  trouble ;  they  were  very  dark 
colored  ;  the  lungs  swollen  to  a  monstrous  size  ; 
as  we  had  got  our  hand  in,  we  thought  we  would 
look  in  to  the  stomach  or  maw,  and  entrails.  On 
opening  the  stomach  it  seemed  literally  coated 
with  bots.  We  commenced  counting,  scraping  off, 
or  cutting  them  from  the  maw,  until  we  counted 
in  round  numbers,  five  hundred  bots,  as  large  as 
a  bee ;  his  maw  was  literally  eaten  out  of  him. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  this  case,  hop- 
ing to  draw  some  instruction  from  you  or  some 
of  your  correspondents.  Have  given  this  colt 
the  past  three  months,  while  unable  to  stand, 
some  laudanum,  brandy  and  molasses,  and  a 
great  quantity  of  new  milk.  I  had  supposed  the 
bots  to  be  a  quick  disease.  Was  it  the  milk  and 
molasses  that  made  him  linger  thus  long? 

Some  one  that  knows,  I  wish  would  inform  me 
how  many  bots,  or  how  many  hundreds  of  them, 
a  healthy,  full  grown  horse  usually  has  in  the 
maw  ?  Was  the  number  in  my  colt  a  common 
or  an  uncommon  number  ?  I  think  it  uncommon. 
Friend  Willard  advised  me  to  doctor  for  the 
bots,  but  I  want  a  prescription  for  killing  those 
five  hundred  bots,  without  injury  to  the  colt. 
Wharton  D.  Sear. 

Southampton,  June,  1859. 


HOEING. 

One  of  the  most  important  items  of  business 
on  the  farm  is  hoeing.  So  much  depends  upon 
this  particular  process  of  crop-getting,  that  a 
farmer  may  cover  broad  acres  of  fertile  land  with 
manure  and  seed,  work  it  in  the  most  approved 
and  careful  manner,  keep  off  all  beasts  and  in- 
sects, and  then,  neglecting  to  hoe  timely  and 
properly,  fail  to  receive  anything  like  a  remuner- 
ative crop.  It  is  one  of  the  weakest  pieces  of  fol- 
ly in  which  the  farmer  indulges,  and  is  the  next- 
door  neighbor  to  cultivating  and  raising  a  fine 
crop  with  assiduous  labor  and  pains,  and  then 
neglecting  to  harvest  it.  Another  look  at  it, 
shows  that  the  folly  is  even  greater  than  this. 
Why? 

A  neglect  in  hoeing  allows  weeds  to  grow  and 
perfect  their  seeds.  These  are  annually  shed 
upon  his  own  ground,  stocking  it  for  years  to 
come,  and  these  annual  sowings  are  so  many  an- 
nual accessions  of  new  crops  of  rank  weeds,  to 
torment  and  exhaust  the  energies  of  the  culti- 
vator, in  his  attempts  to  make  them  give  place  to 
the  plants  which  he  wishes  to  rear.  But  this  is 
not  all  the  wrong  he  does. 

Nature  is  always  at  work  to  hide  her  blemish- 
es (as  we  look  upon  them)  with  something  grate- 
ful and  beautiful  to  our  eyes — some  drooping 
bell-shaped  flower  with  large  green  leaves  covers 
the  otherwise  bald  roadside,  where  excavations 
have  been  made,  or  patches  of  fresh  grass,  or 
rushes,  or  sedge,  or  shrubs,  cover  the  earth  laid 


bare  by  accident  or  by  man.  In  order  to  accom- 
plish this,  she  has  given  many  seeds  locomotive 
power,  and  they  fly  or  float  away,  perhaps  long 
distances,  in  vast  numbers,  to  settle  a  new  colo- 
ny wherever  they  may  alight. 

Is  it  right,  then,  for  one  farmer  to  raise  a  crop 
of  pernicious  plants  and  perfect  their  seeds,  that 
they  may  invade  the  premises  of  another,  and 
cause  him  years  of  painful  labor  from  which  he 
derives  no  profit  ?  It  certainly  is  not  right,  and 
the  good  husbandman  will  consider  well  what 
his  duty  is  in  relation  to  this  matter. 

Hoeing  has  other  advantages  beside  that  of 
keeping  the  weeds  down.  It  has  something  the 
effect  of  thorough  draining.  Well  drained  land 
becomes  light  and  porous,  is  prepared  to  receive 
the  air  and  warmth  of  the  sun's  rays,  and  the  fer- 
tilizing properties  contained  in  rain  water  and  in 
the  dews.  Lands  well  hoed  are  placed  in  a  con- 
dition much  like  this,  and  will  produce  a  much 
larger  crop  than  lands  left  unhoed.  Neglected 
hoeing  brings — 

1.  An  unsightly,  slovenly  field,  which  is  a 
shame  to  its  possessor. 

2.  A  hard,  unyielding  soil,  that  makes  what 
hoeing  is  done  doubly  expensive. 

3.  Tons  of  weeds  to  rob  the  soil  and  deprive 
the  crop  of  its  natural  source  of  support. 

4.  Crops  of  seeds  that  perpetuate  the  evil,  and 
an  infliction  of  wrongs  upon  others  that  we  have 
no  right  to  inflict. 

5.  Loss  of  reputation  as  a  good  farmer  and  an 
upright  man. 

G.  Loss  of  labor,  loss  of  crop,  and  what  is 
more  than  all,  loss  of  that  heavenly  feeling  of 
duty  done,  that  approbation  spoken  by  every 
well-tended  tree  and  plant  and  flower,  "Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  thou  shalt  have 
thy  reward." 

Better  neglect  haying  than  hoeing — better  ne- 
glect planting,  even,  than  hoeing  !  But  it  is  too 
hot  to  say  any  more  about  it  now.  It  is  cooler 
and  more  pleasant  to  hoe  on  such  a  day  as  this 
sixteenth  day  of  June,  than  to  sit  at  the  desk 
and  write  about  it. 


Salt  and  Ashes  for  Cows. — On  turning  my 
cows  to  pasture,  in  the  spring,'  I  provide  several 
small  tubs,  and  having  fixed  them  firmly  in  the 
soil  to  prevent  them  being  overturned,  put  into 
each  tub  one  quart  of  salt  and  three  quarts  of 
sifted  wood-ashes,  previously  well  mixed  by  stir- 
ring. The  cows  partake  freely  of  this  mixture. 
It  prevents  injury  from  the  sudden  change  from 
dry  to  green  food,  and  has,  besides,  a  most  in- 
vigorating effect  upon  the  general  system.  Some 
assert  that  salt  should  be  given  only  as  often  as 
once  a  week,  as  its  more  frequent  use  would  be 
injurious.  But  when  supplied  in  this  way,  no  ap- 
prehension need  be  entertained. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


359 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
A  SIMPLE   PLOWMAN. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  noticed  in  a  late  number  of 
the  JV.  E.'Farmer  a  diagram  and  description  of 
a  "New  Plowman,"  to  take  the  place  of  one  of  the 
sons  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  which  I  have  no  doubt 
•will  do  the  work  full  as  well  as  he.  But  it  is  a 
privilege  which  the  Yankee  farmer  highly  prizes 
to  purchase  that  which  is  simple  and  cheap,  rath- 
er than  that  which  is  more  complicated  and  ex- 
pensive, provided  it  will  do  as  good,  or  better 
■work.  Hence,  I  propose  to  give  you  a  descrip- 
tion of  an  implement  designed  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, which  the  farmers  in  this  vicinity  have  been 
using  for  some  years  past.  It  is  manufactured, 
and  I  suppose  was  invented,  by  H.  Strickland, 
Esq.,  a  plow  manufacturer,  at  Bradford,  Vt. 

It  is  simply  a  wheel,  fixed  to  a  cast-iron  bow, 
similar  in  shape  to  those  commonly  used  for 
holding  plow-wheels,  which  is  fastened  to  the 
land-side  of  the  plow  by  bolts.  There  is  a  mor- 
tice through  one  end  of  the  bow,  so  that  the 
■wheel  can  be  raised  or  lowered  at  pleasure.  On 
land  that  is  comfortably  even  and  free  from  stones 
this  wheel  will  hold  the  plow  more  even  and 
steady  than  most  men. 

In  order  that  a  machine  of  this  kind  should 
work  perfectly,  it  is  necessary  that  the  surface  of 
the  ground  where  the  wheel  and  plow  runs  should 
correspond  ;  for  if  the  wheel  drops  into  a  hollow, 
it  will  run  the  plow  off;  or  if  it  rises  over  a  knoll, 
it  will  run  it  to  land.  Hence,  I  should  think  this 
■wheel  would  work  better  than  the  Plowman,  in- 
asmuch as  the  ground  would  be  more  likely  to 
correspond  at  a  distance  of  only  three  or  four 
inches  from  the  furrow  than  it  would  as  many 
feet  from  it.  The  description  of  the  Plowman 
does  not  give  the  length  of  the  triangle,  but  by 
the  diagram  it  appears  to  be  as  long  as  the  dis- 
tance from  the  colter  to  the  end  of  the  beam, 
which  must  be  nearly  three  feet,  which  I  should 
think  would  not  only  render  it  useless,  but  some- 
what troublesome,  when  the  land  was  nearly  fin- 
ished, and  when  plowing  back  furrows  near  a 
fence.  s. 

Faiiiee,  Vt.,  June  7,  1859. 


tered  in  every  section  of  the  district,  within  the 
limits  of  the  Society  ?  These  hints  are  thrown 
out,  if  possible,  to  bring  forth  a  more  equitable 
and  less  exceptionable  distribution  of  this  bounty, 
which  is  admitted  to  be  quite  liberal.  p. 

June  10, 1859.         

Remarks. — Glad  attention  is  called  to  the  sub- 
ject. We  do  not  think,  however,  that  the  pre- 
miums are  awarded  in  the  town  where  the  show 
is  held,  by  any  management  of  "those  who  regu- 
late the  Shows,"  but  because,  it  being  convenient, 
so  many  more  persons  contend  for  the  premiums 
when  the  show  is  to  be  in  their  own  town.  We 
believe  the  records  of  every  society  in  the  State 
will  show  that  a  considerable  portion  of  all  the 
premiums  are  awarded  to  the  people  of  the  town 
where  the  exhibition  takes  place,  or  to  persona 
from  towns  in  its  immediate  neighborhood. 


Tot  the  New  England  Farmer. 
STATE  BOUNTY. 

Mr.  Editor: — In  the  tabular  statement  of 
premiums  awarded  from  the  funds  given  by  the 
State  for  the  encouragement  of  agriculture,  it 
appears  that  nearly  half  the  whole  amount  is 
paid  and  distributed  in  the  towns  in  which  the 
shows  are  holden.  This  will  do  in  those  coun- 
ties where  there  is  a  rotary  plan  of  exhibitions, 
but  in  those  where  the  exhibitions  year  after  year 
are  stationary  in  the  same  place,  it  seems  to  he  a 
limited  and  partial  use  of  the  bounty  of  the  State. 
Without  doubt,  the  purpose  in  giving  it  is,  that 
the  benefit  shall  be  generally  diffused  through  the 
■whole  community  ;  and  not  that  a  few  individuals, 
who  regulate  the  shows,  should  so  manage  the 
same,  as  to  pocket  near  all  the  bounties. 

Would  not  this  difficulty  be  in  a  measure  cor- 
rected by  awarding  more  for  farm  management, 
or  experiments  in  culture,  instead  of  animals  ex- 
hibited ?  or  might  it  not  be  done  by  having  com- 
mittees to  examine  such  claims,  as  may  be  en- 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  WEATHER  OF  THE  SPRING 

MONTHS,  1859. 

Marcli  came  in  nvther  roughly,  with  disagreea- 
ble winds  and  low  sunrise  temperatures,  but  af- 
ter the  first  few  days  the  weather  was  uniformly 
mild,  and  the  whole  month  much  resembled  what 
April  usually  is.  The  frost  left  the  ground  very 
early  ;  the  snow  disappeared  on  the  plains  during 
the  first  ten  days,  and  from  the  mountains  before 
the  close  of  the  month,  and  by  the  2Uth,  the 
roads  were  quite  dry.  The  ponds  were  early 
cleared  of  ice,  and  on  the  22d,  the  frogs  croaked 
merrily.  Many  of  the  early  spring  birds  came  in 
the  fore  part  of  the  month,  the  blue  birds  arriv- 
ing on  the  6th,  and  large  flocks  of  wild  geese 
passed  over  on  the  10th  and  11th,  and  other  flocks 
followed  on  the  loth  and  25th.  The  thermome- 
ter frequently  indicated  50°  in  the  shade,  and 
there  was  Gjery  indication  of  a  very  forward  sea- 
son. The  last  week  of  the  month  was  very  fine, 
though  there  was  Remarkably  strong  north-west 
wind  during  the  last  twenty-four  hours. 

But  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  month 
was  the  large  number  of  heavy  rain  storms,  and 
consequent  heavy  floods.  The  highest  water  in  the 
Connecticut  was  on  Sunday,  the  20th,  when  the 
river  at  Springfield  was  twenty  and  one-half  feet 
above  low  water  mark,  and  at  Hartford  twenty- 
six  feet  above,  while  the  water  was  thirteen  feet 
jdeep  on  the  Holyoke  dam.  Many  of  the  bridges 
over  the  Connecticut  and  its  tributaries  were  car- 
ried away,  and  a  large  amount  of  other  serious 
damage  done,  the  flood  ranking  in  hight  as  the 
I  fourth  of  the  century,  falling  but  two  inches  be- 
low that  of  1845,  a  foot  below  that  of  1801,  and 
two  feet  one  inch  below  the  great  flood  of  1854, 
the  highest  ever  known  on  the  Connecticut. 

April  followed,  with  the  first  week  cold  and 
rough,  there  being  out  of  the  first  nine  days  eight 
of  strong  north-west  wind.  About  the  middle  of 
the  month,  there  were  several  cold  rain  storms ; 
while  it  rained  here,  snow  falling  on  the  moun- 
tains and  at  the  north  ;  but  generally  the  weath- 
er was  very  even,  and  marked  by  no  severe 
extremes.  The  latter  part  of  the  month  was  uni- 
formly mild,  and  generally  fine ;  and  at  the  close 


350 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


of  the  month,  vegetation  was  considerably  ad- 
vanced, rye  being  several  inches  high,  mowing 
lands  and  pastures  green,  and  the  buds  on  the 
trees  just  bursting  into  leaves,  even  then  some 
poplars  and  birches  being  quite  green.  During 
the  last  few  days,  swallows,  brown  thrushes,  che- 
■wicks,  whippoorwills,  and  a  host  of  warblers  and 
fly-catchers,  made  their  appeai'ance. 

May,  though  warm  and  generally  favorable  for 
vegetation,  and  consequently  for  the  farmer,  was 
divided  into  about  three  distinctly  marked  sec- 
tions of  fair  weather  and  rainy  weather.  The  first 
eight  days  were  remarkably  clear,  and  exceeding- 
ly warm  for  the  season,  thermometers  ranging 
from  84°  to  94°  in  the  shade.  The  weather  about 
this  time  for  nearly  two  weeks  was  very  dry  ; 
fires  raged  in  the  woods  in  various  quarters,  and 
a  dense  smoky  haze  threw  a  disagreeable  aspect 
over  the  landscape,  hemming  in  the  view  to  a 
few  miles  in  extent,  and  veiling  everything  dis- 
tant in  a  forbidding  indistinctness.  On  the  9th, 
after  great  heat  in  the  forenoon,  a  great  change 
in  the  weather,  in  consequence  of  thunder  show- 
ers, occurred,  the  temperature  falling  thirfi/  de- 
grees in  eight  hours.  Heavy  rains  followed  on 
the  10th  and  11th,  and  the  weather  was  more  or 
less  cloudy,  excepting  perhaps  one  or  two  days 
about  the  15th,  with  indications  of  rain,  and  more 
or  less  of  rain  fell,  till  the  22d,  a  cloudy  term  of 
six  days,  during  which  the  sun  hardly  shone,  en 
ding  on  the  22d.  There  Avas  heavy  rain  on  the 
night  of  the  18th,  and  more  or  less  on  the  19th, 
20th,  21st  and  22d.  The  remainder  of  the  month 
was  clear  and  fine,  with  rather  too  cool  nights, 
however,  and  a  heavy  fall  of  rain  on  the  night  of 
the  3 1st. 

In  short,  the  spring  opened  very  early — the 
ground  being  in  condition  for  plowing  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  March,  continued  very  forward,  and 
as  a  whole  was  very  fine.  The  trees  "arrayed 
themselves  in  green"  with  more  than  usual  ra- 
pidity ;  cherry  trees  were  in  full  bloom  on  the 
9th,  and  apple  trees  by  the  18th,  at  least,  a  week 
in  advance  of  last  year,  ten  days  ahead  of  1857, 
and  three  days  earlier  than  the  avtrage  for  the 
last  half  century.  Much  planting  was  done  quite 
early,  and  at  the  close  of  May,  corn  and  potatoes 
were  several  days  in  advance  of  what  they  usu- 
ally are  at  the  same  date. 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  spring  months 
was  4o.80;  of  March,  ST.H'^;  of  April,  42.94^; 
of  jNIay,  57.31'^.  The  mean  temperature  at  sun- 
rise was  39.80'^;  at  noon,  51. 35""';  and  at  sunset, 
48.35'^;  of  March,  at  sunrise,  34°;  at  noon, 
41.71°;  at  sunset,  39.51°;  of  April,  at  sunrise 
38.4°;  at  noon,  47.73°;  at  sunset,..46.05°;  of  May, 
at  sunrise,  47.2°;  at  noon,  65.52°;  at  sunset, 
69.490. 

The  warmest  day  was  the  8th  of  May,  the  mean 
temperature  being  72.5°;  the  coldest  was  the  2d 
of  March,  with  a  mean  of  1(3.17°.  The  warmest 
day  of  March  was  the  18th,  witli  a  mean  of 
40.07°;  of  April,  the  30th,  with  a  mean  of  55.17°; 
of  May,  the  8th,  with  a  mean  of  72.5°.  The  cold 
est  day  of  March  was  the  2d,  with  a  mean  of 
16.17°;  of  April,  the  5th,  with  a  mean  of  32.5°; 
of  May,  the  11th,  with  a  mean  of  43.17°. 

The  highest  temperature  was  88°,  (by  my 
Fahrenheit  thermometer,  well  adjusted,)  though 
some  thermometers  indicated  94°  at  two  P.  M. 
on  the  Sth  of  May,  and  the  lowest  was  4°,  afr  sun- 


rise on  the  2d  of  March.  The  highest  in  March 
was  54°,  on  the  2SLh ;  in  April,  71°  on  the  30th; 
in  May,  86°,  on  the  Sth.  The  lowest  in  March 
was  4°,  on  the  2d  ;  in*  Ajiril,  27°,  on  the  10th ;  in 
May,  35°,  on  the  16th. 

The  spring  months  were  2.2°  (two  and  two- 
tenths)  warmer  than  in  1858,  and  4.58°  warmer 
than  in  1857.  Only  two  frosts  occurred  in  May 
— on  the  morning  of  the  16th  and  22d — and  both 
were  generally  light,  doing  but  slight  injury  to 
crops. 

Of  the  ninety-two  days  of  spring,  twenty-two 
were  clear,  twenty-two  tolerably  clear — the  sun 
shining  the  greater  part  of  each  day — twenty- 
eight  cloudy,  and  twenty  others  in  which  the 
clouds  predominated,  as  follows  ;  in  March,  four 
clear  days,  eight  tolerably  clear,  twelve  cloudy, 
and  seven  quite  cloudy  ;  in  April,  six  clear  days 
nine  tolerably  clear,  seven  cloudy,  and  eight  quite 
cloudy;  in  May,  twelve  clear  days,  five  tolerably 
clear,  nine  cloudy,  and  five  quite  cloudy. 

Rain  fell  on  twenty-six ;  on  nine  days  in 
March,  including  five  heavy  falls  ;  on  five  days 
in  April,  and  on  eleven  in  May. 

The  only  snow  storm,  save  a  few  squalls  in  the 
fore  part  of  April,  occurred  on  the  3d  of  March, 
with  a  fall  of  five  inch":  s  ;  but  frozen  rain  or  sleet 
fell  about  the  middle  of  April,  and  snow  at  the 
same  time  on  the  mountains. 

The  only  thunder  shower  occurred  on  the  9th 
of  May. 

There  were  fifty- three  days  of  wind  from  a 
northerly  quarter,  and  thirty-six  from  a  souther- 
ly ;  as  follows  :  Twenty-seven  from  the  north- 
west, twenty-three  from  the  north-east,  and  three 
from  the  north  ;  eighteen  from  the  south-west, 
thirteen  from  the  south,  and  five  from  the  south- 
east. In  March,  ten  from  the  north-west,  five 
from  the  north-east,  one  from  the  north,  four 
from  the  south,  eight  from  the  south-west,  and 
three  from  the  south-east.  In  April,  fifteen  from 
the  north-v/est,  seven  from  the  north-east,  two 
from  the  north,  one  from  the  south,  three  from 
the  south-west,  and  two  from  the  south-east.  In 
May,  but  two  from  the  north-west,  eleven  from 
the  north-east,  eight  from  the  south,  seven  from 
the  south-west,  and  three  in  which  the  wind  was 
light,  and  there  was  no  steady  current  from  any 
point. 

There  were  eleven  haloes  ;  six  in  March,  three 
in  April  and  two  in  May.  Four  displays  of 
Northern  Lights  were  noticed  ;  two  each  in 
March  and  April.  Three  rainbows  were  observed 
in  May,  and  one  on  the  19th  was  attended  by  th« 
unusual  phenomenon  of  supernumerary  bows. 

Sprinyjield,  June  8,  1859.  j.  A.  A, 


BAISE  FRUIT  AND  EAT  IT. 

This  is  a  fruit  country.  Nearly  all  farmers  may 
raise  their  own  fruit.  Strawberries,  raspberries, 
currants  and  gooseberries  grow  or  will  grow  al- 
most everywhere.  They  can  be  canned,  and  so 
preserved  the  whole  year.  Apples,  pears,  peaches, 
cherries,  can  be  raised  on  most  farms.  There  is 
no  good  reason  why  fruit  should  not  be  as  plenty 
as  corn  or  wheat. 

This  is  a  bilious  country — that  is,  the  people 
who  live  here  are  especially  liable  to  bilious  dis- 
eases.   There  is  perhaps,  no  better  preventive  of 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARIMER. 


361 


bilious  diseases,  than  the  constant  use  of  fruit  as 
a  part  of  the  diet.  It  corrects  the  acids  and  juices 
of  the  stomach,  and  assi.^ts  digestion.  It  keeps 
the  bovt'els  properly  active,  and  prevents  that 
sluggishness  and  torpidity,  which  promote  bilious 
derangements.  Fruit,  to  do  its  best  office  in  the 
diet,  should  be  cooked  and  eaten  as  a  part  of  the 
regular  meal.  Thus  used,  how  delicious  it  is ! 
How  it  adds  to  the  pleasure  of  a  meal  to  have  it 
etiriched  with  so  delicate  and  agreeable  an  article 
of  diet !  And  how  chaste  and  elevating  is  the 
tendency  of  such  a  diet,  compared  with  one  of 
Bolid  meat  and  bread.  So  it  is.  The  best  diet 
is  really  the  pleasantest.  Therefore  let  fruit  grow- 
on  all  our  farms,  and  adorn,  and  make  pleasant 
all  our  tables. —  Valley  Farmer. 


WEW  PUBLICATIONS. 

HtSrs  TO  HonsE  Keepers,  A  Complete  Manual  for  Horsemen  ; 
embraciD*  How  to  Breed,  Buy,  Break,  Use,  J'eed,  Physic, 
Grooru,  Drive  and  Ride  a  Hor?e.  And  Cbapters  on  Mules  and 
Ponies.  By  the  late  IlENiiT  William  Hekbert  ;  with  addi- 
tion?, including  "Rarey's  Ifethod  of  Horse  Taming,"  and 
Baucher's  System  of  Horsemanship  ;  "  also,  giving  directions 
for  the  selection  and  care  of  Carriages  and  Haintts  of  every 
description,  and  a  Memoir  of  the  Author.  Beautifully  Illus- 
trated.   A.  O.  MooEE  &  Co.  140  Fulton  Street,  N.  Y. 

One  of  the  fine  boc^ks  of  this  celebrated  pub- 
flshing  house.  It  has  a  full  index,  which  will  re- 
fer you  to  all  you  will  ever  wish  to  know  about 
the  horse.  The  type  of  the  book  is  large  and 
fair,  and  its  mechanical  execution  is  every  way 
attractive.  In  tpeaking  of  the  importance  of  the 
mare  that  is  to  be  bred  from,  one  of  the  off-hand 
dashing  paragraphs,  of  which  the  book  is  full,  is 
as  follows  : 

"We  now  come  to  another,  and  by  no  means, 
secondary  part  of  the  business  ;  that  is  to  say,  to 
the  choice  of  the  mares.  And  here  we  say  that 
the  first  thing  to  be  looked  for  is,  not  blood  nor 
performances,  but  size  and  symmetry,  accompa- 
nied, as  a  matter  of  course,  by  constitutional  and 
structural  soundness.  Blood  from  the  sire,  beau- 
ty from  the  dam,  is  the  golden  rule  of  the  breed- 
er. "VVe  know  it  is  commonly  said  by  farmers, 
concerning  some  miserable,  undersized,  ewe- 
necked,  cat-hammed  wretch  of  a  mare,  broken- 
winded,  ring-boned  and  spavined,  'O,  she  will 
o  to  raise  a  colt  out  of!'  So  she  will!  But 
what  will  the  colt  be  ?  The  breeder  had  better, 
for  all  purposes,  have  shot  her  at  once,  for  the 
colt  will  not  be  worth  the  mare's  grass." 

The  twenty-second  chapter  of  the  work  is  de- 
voted to  Veterinary  Homoeopathy,  and  gives  it 
much  value.  The  merits  of  the  book  will  abun- 
dantly justify  any  lover  of  the  horse  to  pay  its 
price  for  it,  $1,25;  and  its  faults,  if  it  have  any, 
■we  leave  for  the  reader  to  find  out  for  himself. 

Country  Lite.  A  Handbook  of  Agriculture,  Horticulture  and 
Landscape  Gardening.  By  R.  MoaEli  Copeland.  Boston : 
John  P.  Jewelt  &  Co. 

This  is  a  book  of  over  800  pp.,  on  fine  paper, 
elegantly  printed,  and  embellished  with  numer- 
ous engravings.  The  complete  index  shows  that 
scarcely  a   topic  embraced  in  the  subjects  an- 


nounced in  the  title  page,  have  been  omitted. 
The  author  is  an  acute  observer,  a  deep  thinker 
and  an  ardent  votary  to  the  useful  art.  The 
work,  indeed,  is  a  library  in  itself,  upon  the  sub- 
jects which  it  discusses,  and  the  most  uninformed 
could  scarcely  fail  of  finding  in  it  all  that  is  nec- 
essary for  his  guidance  in  any  of  the  departments 
of  farm  management,  or  in  the  more  attractive 
pursuit  of  landscape  gardening.  Pressing  du- 
ties have  not  permitted  us  to  examine  all  the 
principles  laid  down,  or  all  the  practices  which 
are  commended, — but  we  have  seen  sufficient  to 
make  us  admire  the  fine  taste  and  great  indus- 
try of  the  writer,  and  to  induce  us  to  wish  that 
each  of  our  readers  may  have  a  copy  of  this  book 
on  his  table. 

Wells's  Natcral  Philocopht;  for  the  use  of  Schools,  Acade- 
mies and  Private  Students.  Introducing  the  latest  results  of 
Scientific  Discovery  and  Research ;  arranged  with  special 
reference  to  the  practical  application  of  Physical  Science  to 
the  Arts  and  E.xperiences  of  every-day  life.  With  376  En- 
gravings. By  David  a.  Wells,  A.  M.  Fifteenth  edition. 
New  York:  Ivison  &  Phlnny. 

This  is  not  only  a  suitable  book  for  schools 
and  academies,  but  is  a  capital  hand-book  for 
the  family — that  is,  reference  to  its  pages  would 
afford  explanation  to  a  thousand  queries  such  as 
are  always  arising  in  the  minds  of  an  intelligent 
family.  If  such  queries  go  unanswered,  there  is 
little  if  any  progress  in  scientific  knowledge, — 
but  if  such  a  book  as  this  is  often  referred  to, 
and  its  subjects  are  under  frequent  discussion, 
the  family  using  it  will  soon  be  distinguished  for 
its  valuable  attainments.  The  book  is  printed 
handsomely,  has  a  full  index,  and  ought  to  be 
upon  the  shelf  of  every  person  who  cares  to  know 
anything  of  natural  philosophy. 

Country  ScnooL-HousEs:  Containing  Elevations,  Plans,  and 
Specificatioat,  with  Estimates,  Directions  to  Builders,  Sug- 
gestions as  to  School  Grounds,  Furniture,  Apparatus,  &c., 
and  a  Treatise  on  School-House  Architecture.  By  James 
JoHONNOT  With  numerous  designes  hy  S.  E.  Hewes.  New 
York  :  Iviton  &  Pcinney,  321  Broadway.  Chicaijo :  S.  C. 
Griggs  &  Co. 

Every  town  in  New  England,  about  to  rebuild 
its  school-houses,  ought  to  be  in  possession  of 
this  book.  It  will  afford  so  many  suggestions, 
and  point  the  way,  step  by  step,  so  closely,  as  to 
make  any  intelligent  committee,  master  of  the 
subject  they  have  in  hand.  It  is  an  important 
point  gained  in  building,  to  know,  ourselves, 
what  we  want,  and  how,  and  for  what  prices,  it 
ought  to  be  done.  The  work  is  handsomely  il- 
lustrated with  numerous  designs,  and  floor-plans, 
together  with  the  furniture  of  the  school-rooms, 
inkstands,  book-cases,  &c.  The  book  should  be 
in  every  town  library  in  the  State. 


Books  in  Japan. — Whoever  walks  through 
the  streets  of  a  Japan  town  or  village,  will  be 
surprised  to  notice  the  number  of  books  exposed 
for  sale  in  almost  every  shop.  On  looking  inside 
he  will   probably  find  one  or  more  of  the  atten- 


362 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


dants,  if  otherwise  disengaged,  busily  reading,  or 
listening  to  something  being  read  by  one  of  the 
conapany.  In  walking  through  the  outskirts  of 
the  town,  it  is  not  unlikely  he  will  come  sudden- 
ly on  a  knot  of  children,  seated  in  a  snug  corner 
out  of  the  sun,  all  intensely  engaged  in  looking 
through  some  story-book  or  other,  they  have 
just  bought  at  a  neighboring  stall,  and  laughing 
right  heartily  at  the  comical  pictures  which  adorn 
the  narrative.  The  conviction  is  thus  brought 
home  to  a  man's  mind  that  the  Japanese  are  a 
reading  people. — London  JVews. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

LETTEia  FHOM  THE  SANDWICH 
ISLANDS. 

Makawao  Maui,  Hawaiian  Isunbs,  ) 
February  12,  1859.  J 

Messrs.  Editors: — Gentlemen,  —  Dec.  30th 
being  our  Hawaiian  thanksgiving  day,  I  wrote 
you  giving  some  account  of  the  increase  of  our 
comforts  for  the  physical  or  outward  man  since  I 
took  up  my  residence  at  the  islands  in  1828.  Let 
me  now  speak  of  other  things  pertaining  to  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  islands  up  to  the 
present  time,  beginning  at  Hawaii,  the  most 
southern  of  the  group,  and  ending  at  Kauai,  the 
most  northern,  as  you  will  see  by  looking  on  a 
map. 

Hawaii  is  much  the  largest  of  these  islands.  I 
have  resided  on  that  island  and,  have  travelled 
around  it.  But  for  its  being  the  seat  of  Pele's 
dreadful  reign,  it  would  be  the  most  important 
island,  having  the  largest  forests,  the  loftiest 
mountains,  most  extensive  fields  for  cultivation, 
the  greatest  variety  of  climate,  and  spacious  bays. 
But  we  have  some  fears  on  account  of  the  late 
eruption  of  the  volcano  on  Mauna  Loa.  In  1855 
we  trembled  when  intelligence  from  Hilo  reached 
us  lest  one  item  should  be  that  that  beautiful  vil- 
lage had  been  destroyed  by  the  rivers  of  molten 
lava  which  rolled  their  burning  waters  till  some 
six  or  eight  miles  only  remained  between  them  and 
Hilo.  Had  they  reached  this  village,  they  would 
have  disgorged  themselves  into  Byron's  Bay, 
destroying  probably  the  most  spacious  harbor  on 
the  islands.  God  spared  our  friends  their  vil- 
lage and  harbor,  seemingly  saying  to  the  burn- 
ing liquid,  "Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  but  no  farther, 
and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  staid." 

January  23,  only  about  three  weeks  ago,  our 
friends  of  Hilo  were  again  startled  by  the  sight 
of  the  burning  lava  gushing  from  the  same  place 
apparently  as  in  1855.  It  was  at  first  supposed 
that  it  would  pursue  the  course  of  the  former 
one,  and  make  for  the  Bay  of  Hilo,  But  it  is 
now  well  nigh  certain  that  the  flow  is  toward  the 
west  or  Kona  side.  But  more  of  the  doings  of 
Pele  at  some  other  time.  I  am  to  tell  you  of 
the  agricultural  interests  of  the  island. 

At  Kau,  the  southern  district  of  the  island,  at 
the  station  occupied  by  Rev.  Mr.  Shipman,  the 
people  have  during  the  year  engaged  in  the  busi- 
ness of  wheat  raising.  A  few  hundred  bushels 
have  been  produced  and  sold,  and  the  hopes  of 
the  farmers  are  raised  that  the  product  thus 
gathered  will  be  profitable.  From  my  recollec- 
tions of  this  district,  from  having  once  passed 
thrnwgh  it,  I  should  say  there  is  a  widp  field  for 
this  enterprise.     I  am  now  writing  to  Mr.  Ship- 


man,  making  various  inquiries  respecting  the  ex- 
tent of  this  district,  and  the  prospects  of  wheat- 
growers,  and  I  may  speak  to  you  again  respect- 
ing this  portion  of  Hawaii.  Other  than  this  com- 
mencement of  wheat  growing,  I  have  heard  of  no 
new  agricultural  enterprise  on  that  island.  There 
have  all  along  been  many  important  native  pro- 
ductions carried  to  Honolulu,  such  as  Pia,  or 
arrow-root,  Olona  or  Hawaiian  hemp,  suitable  for 
fish-nets  and  rope,  Pula,  a  material  much  used 
for  bedding,  potatoes,  yams,  coffee,  oranges,  &c. 
The  latter  fruit  of  an  excellent  quality  is  rapidly 
increasing,  and  it  is  said  that  American  applea 
are  being  raised  on  that  island. 

On  Maui,  wheat  is  becoming  one  of  our  staple 
productions.  In  my  former  letter  I  told  you  of 
the  number  of  bushels  raised  the  past  year. 
Much  more  land  is  being  sown  this  year,  and 
unless  the  cut-worm  shall  destroy  more  than  in 
ordinary  years,  the  amount  of  wheat  will  be  much 
larger  than  ever  before.  We  have  a  small  mill 
at  length,  at  Wailuku,  some  ten  or  twelve  miles 
distant  from  our  wheat  fields,  where  we  can  pro- 
cure grinding  for  toll.  This  is  a  favor.  Other 
things  of  an  agricultural  nature  on  Maui  are 
much  as  they  have  been  for  many  years.  But  for 
the  cut  worm  the  labors  of  agriculturists  would 
rapidly  increase  ;  but  the  ravages  of  this  insect 
are  most  discouraging,  and  we  know  of  no  rem- 
edy. For  a  while  we  cherished  the  hope  that 
frequent  and  thorough  cultivation  would  do  the 
business  for  this  implacable  enemy  of  wheat, 
corn,  beans  and  garden  vegetables ;  but  such  is 
not  our  experience.  Can  any  reader  of  the  Far- 
mer tell  us  how  we  can  escape  this  scourge  ? 

The  best  gardens  on  the  group  are  at  Lahaina 
and  Honolulu.  I  know  not  how  gentlemen  there 
protect  their  tender-springing  vegetables  from 
the  ravages  of  insects  ;  but  I  am  glad  to  report 
the  raising  by  them  of  fine  beeta,  turnips,  and 
other  comforts,  such  as  New  England  gardens  fur- 
nish. I  am  confident  that  our  island  home  will, 
ere  long,  abound  in  fruits  of  an  excellent  quality. 
Last  year  I  had  in  my  garden  alone  some  ten  bar- 
rels of  peaches,  and  there  were  as  many  more  in 
three  other  gardens  in  the  neighborhood.  We 
abounded,  also,  in  figs,  had  a  few  oranges,  guav- 
as,  citrons,  chirimoya  or  custard  apple  and  water 
lemon.  A»  yet,  I  have  not  succeeded  with  the 
American  apple,  and  much  fear  that  this  fruit  will 
not  do  well  on  Maui.  Still,  we  shall  not  give  up 
the  hope  without  further  trial.  I  am  hoping  to 
see  the  orange  and  peach  flourishing  in  native 
gardens.  The  orange  and  fig  are  both  nutritive 
and  exceedingly  healthy.  Just  now  there  is 
nothing  like  wheat  in  the  estimation  of  my  peo- 
ple, but  they  will  learn,  ere  long,  that  the  culti- 
vation of  fruit  is  a  cheaper  method  of  obtaining 
a  living.  Oranges,  too,  can  be  exported  to  San 
Francisco,  and  will  be  profitable,  I  think.  On 
Kauia  the  natives  have  made  the  raising  of  sweet 
potatoes,  for  a  few  years  past,  quite  profitable. 
They  have  exported  them  to  San  Francisco,  and 
have  had  very  fair  returns.  Sugar  and  cofl'ee 
have  been  exported  from  this  island,*  but  these 
are  produced  by  the  capital  of  foreigners,  and  I 
do  not  take  them  into  account  in  this  report. 

In  my  letter  of  Feb.  11,  1857,  which  you  gave 
your  readers  in  the  July  monthly  Farmer,  I  re- 


*  So  on  Maui,  largely. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


363 


ferred  to  my  old  neighbor  and  associate,  Mr. 
Bailey,  of  Wailuku,  whom  I  had  requested  to 
write  you.  On  seein*  it  in  print,  I  fear  that 
either  Mr.  Bailey  or  his  friends  will  mistake  my 
meaning.  I  spoke  of  his  having  developed  a 
state  of  mind  which  foi-bids,  I  think,  all  hope  of 
his  writing  for  any  periodical.  I  should  have  al- 
luded to  the  cause,  failure  of  health,  which  af- 
fected his  mind,  and  I  should  have  qualified  my 
hope  of  his  writing  for  any  periodical,  by  adding, 
unless  his  health  shall  be  restored.  Just  as  1 
write  of  my  own  excellent  wife  at  the  present 
time — she  has  developed  a  state  of  mind  which 
forbids  her  writing  to  her  own  relatives.  With 
Mr.  Bailey  I  have  lived  many  years  on  terms  of 
affectionate  intercoui'se  ;  and  I  utterly  deny  hav- 
ing written  the  paragraph  from  a  wish  of  casting 
a  reflection  on  him  as  a  man  or  a  Christian;  no 
such  thought  entered  my  mind.  He  has  lately 
visited  the  United  States,  and  I  hear  he  is  re- 
turning to  his  island  home  in  renewed  health. 
This  I  rejoice  to  hear,  and  I  hope  he  will  be 
spared  long  to  labor  for  his  people  and  to  aid  in 
developing  the  resources  of  the  country.  If  you 
think  these  letters  worthy  of  being  published, 
please  give  your  readers  what  I  say  of  Mr.  Bailey 
in  this  closing  communication,  and  greatly 
oblige  your  unseen  friend  at  Makawao. 

J.  S.  Green. 
P.  S. — I  will  give  j'ou,  if  spared,  something 
more  ere  very  long,  concerning  Pele,  and  the  ef- 
fects of  the  late  disturbance  on  Hawaii  from  the 
outpouring  of  the  molten  floods.  Many  from 
Oahu  and  Maui  had  gone  thither  to  gaze  on  the 
wonderful  displays  of  divine  power  now  being 
there  exhibited.    With  respect  yours,       J.  s.  G. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
lilTTIiE  THINGS: 

Or,  a  Walk  in  My  Garden.... No.  18. 

I  have  been  transplanting  some  tomatoes  to- 
day from  the  house  to  the  garden.  It  has  been 
quite  a  little  study  with  me  to  ascertain  the  best 
method  of  starting  different  plants  in  the  house, 
and  then  transplanting  them  to  the  garden  with- 
out disturbing  their  roots.  I  have  hit  on  a  plan 
partly  original  with  me,  or  else  I  have  forgotten 
how  I  came  by  my  knowledge  of 

TRANSPLANTING   PLANTS. 

Take  common  saucers,  and  fill  them  just  full 
with  rich  earth ;  then  cut  circular  slices  of  tur- 
nip an  inch  in  thickness,  but  not  quite  so  large 
over  as  the  top  of  the  saucer,  cut  a  hole  an  inch 
in  diameter  through  the  turnip,  lay  it  on  the 
earth  in  the  saucer,  fill  the  hole  with  the  same 
soil  as  in  the  saucer,  plant  your  seeds  in  the  hole, 
water  the  earth  by  pouring  it  into  the  saucer  ; 
capillary  attraction  will  carry  the  water  to  the 
plant. 

Now  for  the  beauty  of  the  thing  ;  when  you 
wish  to  transfer  to  the  garden,  prepare  your  hills, 
and  slip  all  the  contents  of  the  saucer  with  a 
case-knife  into  the  hill,  slice  down  the  turnip  on 
two  sides,  and  let  it  remain,  or  take  it  away,  as 
you  please.  Squashes,  cucumbers  and  melons 
can  be  transplanted  in  this  way  without  being 
checked  at  all  in  their  growth.  The  whole  pro- 
cess is  so  simple  and  so  efifectual,  that  I  recom- 


mend it  with  entire  confidence.  The  turnip  serves 
to  prop  up  the  plant,  while  it  prevents  the  evap- 
oration of  the  water.  You  do  less  injury  to  the 
plant  by  pouring  the  water  into  the  saucer,  than 
by  pouring  it  on  the  plant  itself,  while  the  fibrous 
roots  have  so  incorporated  themselves  with  the 
earth  that  it  may  be  slid  out  of  the  saucers  in  a 
mass.     Try  it  next  year. 

SPROUTING  POTATOES. 
I  accidentally  learned  a  new  lesson  the  past 
spring  in  sprouting  potatoes.  I  put  them  into  a 
cask,  and  placed  some  earth  on  the  top  of  them, 
but  did  not  mix  it  with  them,  and  poured  on  a 
little  water  and  set  them  in  a  warm  room.  They 
sprouted  in  a  short  time,  and  when  ready  to 
plant,  I  sawed  off  the  hoops  and  let  the  potatoes 
out,  when  I  found  that  although  the  sprouts  were 
quite  long,  the  rootlets  had  not  started  at  all,  so 
that  I  could  place  them  in  the  hills  without 
breaking  the  sprouts,  as  is  very  apt  to  be  the 
case  when  they  are  sprouted  in  earth,  where  they 
form  a  perfect  matting  of  roots. 

PEAR  AND  APPLE  TREES. 
While  walking  in  my  garden  the  other  day,  I 
was  led  to  notice  a  half-dozen  pear  trees  of  as 
many  diff'erent  kinds,  that  stood  the  winter  per- 
fectly well,  while  several  seedling  young  apple 
trees  in  the  same  situation  were  killed  to  the 
ground.  Why  this  in  favor  of  the  pear  trees,  I 
cannot  tell. 

GRAFTING. 

Apple  trees  that  I  grafted  on  a  warm  day,  be- 
fore the  snow  was  off  the  gi-ound,  have  taken 
finely,  while  those  I  grafted  the  last  of  April, 
seem  to  have  been  aflfected  by  the  extreme  warm 
weather  the  first  of  May.  I  believe  there  is  no 
danger  of  grafting  apple  trees,  (I  speak  of  large 
trees,)  as  early  in  the  spring  as  possible,  provid- 
ed there  be  weather  sufficiently  warm  to  make 
the  wax  adhere  to  the  trees.^.  Such  has  been  my 
experience  for  ten  years  past.       'N.  T.  True. 

Bethel,  Maine,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Parmer. 

AW  UNUSUAL   PHENOMENON". 

Thursday,  the  19th  of  May,  was  cloudy  and 
very  threatening,  a  little  rain  falling  at  ten  in 
the  forenoon,  and  at  sunset.  At  sunset,  there 
was  a  very  beautiful  rainbow,  the  primary  bow 
continuing  unbroken  and  very  bright  for  about 
fifteen  minutes;  but  the  secondary  was  quite  dim. 
Within  the  primary,  were  two  distinct  arches 
of  red,  with  a  green  one  visible  between  them 
at  times.  These  arches,  called  in  meteorology 
supernumerary  or  supplementary  bows,  extended 
the  greater  part  of  the  length  of  the  primary 
bow,  and  were  visible  for  ten  minutes,  even  till 
after  the  sun  had  passed  below  the  horizon. — 
This  phenomenon  is  spoken  of  as  occurring  V(>ry 
rarely  by  meteorologists.  I  have  observed  it  but 
twice  before.  On  the  14th  of  August,  1857,  there 
was  the  most  beautiful  rainbow  I  ever  witnessed, 
occurring  after  a  thunder  shower.  At  about  ten 
minutes  before  sunset,  these  supernumerary  bows 
appeared,  one  after.another,  till  five  were  visible 
in  the  highest  part  of  the  arch,  within  the  primary 
bow,  continuing  till  after  the  sun  was  just  below 
the  horizon.     Those   nearest  the   primary  bow 


364 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMER. 


Aug. 


■were  broadest  and  brightest ;  the  others  succes- 
sively fading,  shortening  in  length,  and  becom- 
ing narrower.  These  were  red,  the  first  and  second 
\ieing  with  the  colors  of  the  priEiary  bow,  with 
a  green  arch  between  them.  I  never  saw  them 
■when  the  sun  was  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  min- 
utes high ;  and  its  nearness  to  the  horizon  prob- 
ably has  something  to  do  -with  its  formation. 
Sprinfjjield,  May,  ISoO.  j.  A.  A. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LAB  OB-SAVING  MACHINES. 

Messes.  Editors  : — I  believe  no  industrial 
class  in  the  world  is  capable  of  more  real  enjoy- 
ment and  independence  than  the  farmers  of  New 
England,  and  yet  many  farmers  among  us  avoid 
an  agricultural  journal,  or  a  labor-saving  ma- 
chine on  their  farms,  or  in  their  farm-houses,  as 
if  of  no  possible  use. 

Now,  brother  farmers,  why  do  we  so  ?  Can 
any  of  us  really  afford  to  do  without  the  agricul- 
tural experience  of  our  best  and  most  enlightened 
cultivators  of  the  soil  ?  I  am  one  of  those  who 
are  obliged  to  study  economy,  and  have  to  ask 
concerning  this  or  that  new  thing,  which  is 
crowded  into  public  notice,  "Will  it  pay  ?"  It  is 
not  always  easy  to  distinguish  between  a  good 
thing  and  a  humbug.  Thus,  for  instance,  when 
the  mowing  machine  came  into  notice,  I  doubted 
a  year  or  two,  then  purchased  a  Ketchum's  ;  it 
paid  well,  (though  others  may  be  belter.)  I  get 
more  grass,  get  it  quicker,  and  get  it  better. 
Delano's  Independent  Horse  Hake  has  frequent- 
ly nearly  paid  for  itself  in  one  day  just  before  a 
shower  or  rain  storm.  Then  in  the  house  !  How 
much  annoyance  from  green  wood,  want  of  con- 
veniences, want  of  suitable  implements,  &:c.  &c. 

Now,  then,  in  the  house,  he  who  regards  his 
wife's  strength,  health  and  comfort,  let  him  pro- 
cure a  metropolitan  washing  machine,  and  on 
Monday,  when  he  comes  home  to  dinner,  wash- 
tubs,  soap-suds,  a  cold  dinner  and  ill-humor  will 
be  among  past  recollections.  If  that  implement 
does  not  pay  in  saving  labor  and  saving  clothes, 
I  do  not  know  what  will.  In  this  I  speak  from 
nearly  two  years'  experience.  Have  any  of  your 
readers  ever  purchased  ready-made  clothing,  and 
soon  after  found  by  inspection  that  it  was  only 
very  nicely  basted  together  ?  Have  they  ever 
heard  their  wives  say,  "I  find  it  very  difficult  to 
do  all  my  sewing."  Do  they  sometimes  sit  up 
very  late  at  night  to  accomplish  it  ? 

A  year  ago,  I  examined  all  the  machines  for 
sewing,  which  stand  in  favor,  and  after  much 
consideration  bought  one  of  Wheeler  &  Wilson's, 
and  made  a  very  fortunate  selection  ;  it  pays 
well.  It  sews  any  thing,  from  a  muslin  to  a  bed- 
quilt,  and  a  stitch  alike  on  both  sides.  It  is  the 
admiration  of  the  household,  and  male  and  female 
alike  use  it  successfully.  For  those  of  moderate 
means,  the  $50  cheap  style  are  probably  most  de- 
sirable, as  they  do  the  same  work  with  the  same 
speed.  All  inferior  machines  will  eventually  find 
a  place  in  one  corner  of  the  garret.  Therefore, 
if  you  desire  to  please  your  wife,  either  get  a 
good  "Wheeler  &  Wilson,"»or  a  "Singer,"  or  a 
"Grover  &  Baker ;"  but  for  family  sewing,  we 
prefer  the  Wheeler  &  Wilson  machine. 

Middlefield,  Ct.,  1859.  P.  M.  Augur. 


TKANSACTIONS  OF  THE  WOBCESTEB 
NORTH  AGRICUIiTUKAL  SOCIETY. 

The  first  remark  suggested  by  looking  over 
this  report,  is,  that  the  statements  are  full  and 
particular,  and  contain  many  practical  suggestions 
by  men  competent  to  make  them.  The  state- 
ments upon  Plowing  show  that  the  importance 
of  this  leading  operation  of  the  farm  is  fully  ap- 
preciated. The  statements  of  the  competitors 
upon  stock  and  poultry  are  full  and  distinct.  That 
by  JonN  Brooks,  Jr.,  upon  feeding  stock,  is  the 
marked  feature  of  the  report.  His  experiments 
were  obviously  conducted  with  care  and  accuracy, 
and  the  results  are  of  much  interest  to  all  feeders 
of  milch  cows.  We  are  glad  to  see  such  experi- 
ments encouraged.  The  society  deserves  praise 
for  offering  a  premium  for  this  object.  AVe  hope 
many  such  experiments  will  be  made  in  all  parts 
of  the  State.  The  plan  pursued  by  Mr.  Brooks 
is  a  model  for  others  to  follow.  We  should  judge 
that  there  must  have  been  a  fine  exhibition  of 
fruit,  and  are  glad  to  see  that  the  flowers  were 
not  forgotten.  Seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  were 
awarded  for  flowers,  and  we  had  occular  proof  at 
the  time  of  how  much  they  added  to  the  pleasure 
of  the  show,  and  tended  to  give  a  stimulus  to  this 
most  delightful  branch  of  garden  culture.  The 
most  strenuous  objector  to  women's  rights,  cer- 
tainly cannot  object  to  her  right  to  cultivate  flow- 
ers, and  exhibit  them  too. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  farms  and  the 
statement  of  Mr.  Hartwell,  respecting  the  cul- 
tivation and  products  of  his  farm,  are  valuable 
papers.  The  report  of  the  committee  on  orchards, 
and  the  statements  of  C.  C.  Field,  Jabez  Fisher, 
the  President,  and  John  Minott,  show  what  may 
be  done  in  this  department.  We  commend  these 
papers  to  all  engaged  in  cultivating  the  apple. 

We  are  particularly  pleased  to  see  that  numer- 
ous and  liberal  premiums  were  awarded  for  grain 
crops.  The  statements  upon  these  subjects  are 
valuable,  and  encouraging,  showing,  as  they  do, 
that  large  crops  of  corn,  rye  and  wheat  may  be 
raised  by  proper  care  and  attention.  The  offer 
of  premiums  for  the  same  objects  for  the  next 
year,  show  that  the  society  duly  appreciates  their 
importance.  The  report  shows  the  society  to  be 
in  a  prosperous  condition. 


POTASH~S  AND—PHO  SPHOBUS. 

No  vines  can  produce  fruit  without  potash. 
Dye-woods  and  all  color-giving  plants  owe  their 
vivid  dyes  to  potash.  Without  it  we  cannot  have 
a  mess  of  peas.  Where  it  exists  in  a  natural 
state  in  the  soil,  there  we  find  liguminous  plants 
growing  wild,  and  in  such  places  only  we  find 
wild  grapes.  All  the  cereals  require  potash,  phos- 
phate of  magnesia  and  silica,  which  is  dissolva- 
ble in  a  solution  of  potash.  It  is  this  dissolved 
sand  that  forms  the  hard  coat  of  stalks,  and  gives 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


365 


them  the  strength  to  stand  up  against  the  blasts 
of  wind  and  rain  while  ripening.  It  is  this  sub- 
stance that  gives  bamboos  their  strength,  and 
beards  of  grain  and  blades  of  grass  their  cutting 
sharpness.  No  cereal  ever  came  to  perfection  in 
a  soil  devoid  of  potash,  silica,  phosphate  of  lime, 
carbonic  acid  and  nitrogen. — Maine  Farmer. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

VALUE  OP  HUT  A.  BAG  A— THE  ONIOM" 
CHOP  AND  THE  MAGGOT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — A  correspondent  in  your  pa- 
per of  the  11th  of  June  says  that  he  has  raised 
ruta  bagas  until  he  is  satisBed  "that  they  are  not 
worth  the  trouble  of  raising."  This  is  truly  a 
sweeping  condemnation  of  a  root,  which  is  con- 
sidered the  most  important  one  raised  in  Great 
Britain,  the  failure  of  which  for  a  single  year  in 
that  country,  would,  according  to  a  very  high 
authority,  be  a  greater  calamity  than  the  failure 
of  the  Bank  of  England,  I  would  suggest  with 
all  due  respect,  whether  such  an  article  should 
find  a  place  in  an  agricultural  newspaper,  with- 
out a  simultaneous  comment  from  the  editor ;  a 
word  of  caution,  at  least,  to  the  unreflecting.  We 
all  know  that  many  believe,  and  are  influenced 
in  their  belief,  by  any  statement  they  see  in  print. 
Ink  in  the  form  of  type  is  gospel  to  many  read- 
ers. I  should  like  to  have  had  you  say,  "The  re- 
marks of  our  valued  correspondent  on  the  subject 
«f  ruta  bagas  are  startling  and  novel ;  they  con- 
flict with  the  experience  of  half  a  century,  and 
with  the  recorded  wisdom  of  our  most  scientific 
agriculturists.  We  should  like  to  have  our  cor- 
respondent furnish  us  with  the  data  which  has 
led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  this  "root  is  not 
worth  raising." 

Your  esteemed  correspondent,  J.  W.  Proctor, 
in  the  same  paper,  in  speaking  of  the  maggot  in 
onions,  says  that  no  method  has  yet  come  to  his 
knowledge  of  checking  its  progress.  Now  there 
are  some  secrets  in  agriculture  as  well  as  in  trade ; 
and  perhaps  it  may  be  that  some  growers  are  suc- 
cessful) because  they  have  discovered,  but  have  not 
divulged  the  reasons  for  their  success — they  may 
not  be  aware  themselves,  why  it  is  that  they  do 
succeed.  Permit  me  to  off"er  a  remedy ;  it  will 
do  no  harm  to  try  it.  Soak  the  onion  seed  for 
thirty-six  hours  before  sowing,  in  strong  soap 
suds,  and  I  do  not  believe  a  single  maggot  will 
be  found  in  the  plants.  It  is  not  too  late  to  try 
the  experiment  the  present  season,  though  too 
late  to  plant  for  a  crop.  I  do  not  speak  positive- 
ly ;  at  the  same  time,  if  I  had  ten  acres  of  land 
ready  for  onions,  I  should  plant  the  whole  of  it, 
without  fear  of  the  maggot,  soaking  the  seed  as 
I  have  suggested.  Essex  Co. 


Remarks. — We  adopt,  with  pleasure,  the  lan- 
guage suggested  by  our  correspondent.  AVe  of- 
ten refrain  from  remarks  upon  the  articles  of  our 
friends,  because  we  do  not  wish  to  present  the 
appearance,  even,  of  being  an  infallible  teacher. 
We  stand  in  doubt,  every  day,  in  regard  to  some 
things,  and  earnestly  desire  not  to  be  over-posi- 
tive in  any  assertion.  But  that  ruta  bagas  can 
be  raised  with  permanent  advantage  to  most  of 
our  farmers,  we  have  no  doubt. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

EFFECTS   OF   FROST. 

After  the  last  frost,  June  5th,  I  observed  that 
a  row  of  corn  next  my  wheat  piece,  and  parallel 
with  the  same,  was  completely  killed,  while 
other  portions  of  the  field,  even  near  the  water, 
were  hardly  damaged.  Can  you  explain  why 
this  is  so  ?  N.  Dearborn. 

Deerjield,  Me.,  June  11,  1859. 

PiEMARKS. — The  water,  near  the  corn,  having 
stored  up  heat  from  the  sun's  rays  during  the 
day,  was  warmer  than  the  atmosphere.  The 
warm  evaporations  from  the  water  were  probably 
carried  over  the  corn  plants,  and  kept  the  tem- 
perature just  above  the  freezing  point.  ,We 
have  observed  this  result  several  times  during 
the  present  month,  on  the  banks  of  a  stream. 
Near  the  stream  and  on  the  low  grounds,  there 
was  a  mist  or  fog  and  no  frost,  while  on  contig- 
uous land,  a  little  higher,  vegetation  was  frost- 
bitten.   

CROPS   IN   MAINE. 

The  weather  here  has  been  warm  and  delight- 
ful since  the  first  of  May  ;  grass  and  grain  look 
extremely  well,  just  rain  enough  to  suit  all  round, 
and  but  four  cloudy  days  in  the  last  six  weeks. 
The  farmers  have  got  in  a  very  large  quantity  of 
oats,  potatoes,  barley  and  other  spring  crops, 
which  are  all  up  finely.  I  have  corn  up  and  as 
forward  as  I  used  to  have  it  in  Massachusetts. 
This  is  truly  a  fine  grazing  country,  this  is  a  good 
country  for  farmers  of  all  classes,  either  rich  or 
poor,  soil  cheap  and  productive,  climate  healthy, 
water  the  best  in  the  world,  timber  cheap,  and 
everything  to  make  home  pleasant  and  happy. 
The  pastures  are  dotted  with  cattle,  sheep  and 
horses,  the  fields  and  meadows  with  waving 
grain,  and  the  woods  with  evergreens,  and  the 
lakes  with  trout,  red  sides  and  blue  backs. 

Rajigeley,  Me.,  June,  1859.         J.  Crowlet. 

CULTURE  OF  THE  FRENCH  TURNIP. 

I  am  in  want  of  some  fertilizer  for  French  tur- 
nips. Which  shall  I  use,  guano,  superphosphate, 
or  poudrette?  How  much  to  the  acre  to  produce 
a  good  crop  by  sowing  it  broadcast ;  and  also, 
whose  make  ?  Where  I  use  a  machine  for  sow- 
ing the  seed,  must  the  land  be  plowed,  cultiva- 
ted or  harrowed  in  order  to  get  the  manure  near 
the  roots  ?  I  find  when  the  manure  is  near  the 
surface  they  are  apt  to  be  spongy  and  ugly  shaped 
things.  '     S.  Denham. 

South  Hanson,  June  4,  1859. 

Remarks. — After  a  liberal  dressing  of  barn- 
manure  well  mixed  with  the  soil,  we  have  found 
good  superphosphate  of  lime,  300  to  500  pounds 
per  acre,  more  advantageous  than  anything  else 
for  a  turnip  crop.  Prof.  Mapss  manufactures  a 
good  article,  so  does  Coe,  and  perhaps  others. 
The  land  should  be  well  pulverized  and  the  seed 
sowed  on  ridges  of  eight  or  ten  inches  in  height, 
— but  that  must  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the 
soil. 


366 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMEE. 


Aug 


A   NEW   TRANSPLANTER. 

I  forward  for  your  inspection  an  instrument  I 
have  invented  for  transplanting  vegetables  or 
flowers  without  disturbing  the  earth  around  their 
roots.  A  gentleman  in  this  city  removed  over 
100  strawberry  plants  in  full  bloom  the  other 
day,  and  he  says  they  did  not  wilt  at  all.  If  it 
meets  with  your  approbation,  you  will  much 
oblige  a  constant  subscriber  to  your  valuable 
monthly  by  a  friendly  notice  of  it  in  your  paper. 

John  Burgun. 

Concord,  N.  H.,  June,  1859. 

Remarks. — Certainly,  friend  Burgun,  you 
shall  have  a  friendly  notice,  or  rather  the  "Trans- 
planter" shall,  because  it  is  a  labor-saving,  as 
well  as  plant-saving,  and  very  convenient  article. 
The  house  you  mention  is  a  good  one  to  sell  for 
you.  

PROSPECTS   FOR   FRUIT. 

The  peach  crop  is  an  entire  failure  this  year. 
Apples  now  look  well,  and  I  hope  were  not  in- 
jured by  the  frost  of  the  5th  inst.  Pears  look  well. 
Strawberries,  (now  ripe,)  in  abundance.  A  fine 
prospect  for  a  large  crop  of  Lawton  blackberries. 
Currants  and  gooseberries  full.  Grapes  were 
somewhat  injured  by  the  winter — about  half  a 
crop.  We  have  had  a  fine  spring  for  the  growth 
of  all  crops,  and  the  prospects  are  good  for  the 
farmers.  Sylvesteh. 

Lyons,  JVew  Yorh,  June  8,  1859. 

a  colt's  hind  foot. 

I  have  a  yearling  colt  which  has  a  bunch  on  the 
fore  part  of  hind  foot,  between  fetlock  joint  and 
hoof.  It  appeared  March  1st,  has  increased  to 
three  fingers'  width,  and  extends  nearly  round 
the  foot. 

Can  you  or  any  of  your  correspondents  sug- 
gest a  remedy  ?  E.  P.  Chase. 

Deerfield,  Me.,  June  11,  1859. 

CISTERNS. 

I  wish  to  inquire  through  your  excellent  pa- 
per the  best  and  cheapest  way  to  construct  a  cis- 
tern for  the  purpose  of  watering  farm  stock.  I 
think  you  published  an  article  about  a  year  since, 
in  which  the  writer  recommended  digging  in  the 
same  manner  as  wells  are  dug,  and  then  simply 
lining  it  up  with  cement,  puting  on  two  or  three 
coats.  Can  one  be  made  in  that  way  and  be 
durable,  or  will  it  be  necessary  to  brick  it  up 
and  then  cement  on  to  them  ? 

Haverhill,  Mass.,  June,  1859.  N.  P. 


that  what  is  sometimes  called  winter-killed,  pro- 
ceeds from  causes  that  operated  before  the  com- 
mencement of  winter. 

This  is  no  trifling  effect  on  some  fields,  extend- 
ing to  a  quarter  or  more  of  the  expected  crop.  I 
should  be  gratified,  Mr.  Editor,  if  you,  or  some 
of  your  experienced  correspondents,  would  ex- 
plain this  matter.  As  has  been  before  remarked, 
the  farmers  of  this  county  realize  more  money 
from  the  hay  they  send  to  market,  than  from  any 
other  product  of  their  farms.  Whatever,  there- 
fore, diminishes  their  prospect  of  income  one- 
fourth  part,  becomes  an  essential  consideration 
in  their  farm  management.  Essex. 

June  13, 1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
■WINTER-KILLING  OF  GRASS. 

On  all  hands,  I  learn,  the  prospect  for  a  crop 
of  grass  is  good,  where  it  was  not  winter-kiiled. 
What  is  to  be  understood  by  this  phrase?  Is  it 
simply,  where  the  ice  had  so  formed  as  to  adhere 
closely  to  the  grass,  and  in  yiis  way  to  destroy 
the  vegetating  power  of  the  plant,  or  is  it  some 
other  operation  or  process  P 

I  have  witnessed  this  effect  on  fields  of  rye,  to 
a  considerable  extent.  I  have  a  strong  suspicion 


For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 
THE  BEST  MOWEH. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Permit  me  to  avail  myself  of 
the  medium  furnished  by  the  columns  of  your 
useful  and  impartial  agricultural  sheet,  for  the 
purpose  of  saying  a  few  words  to  the  farmers,  to 
whose  homes  it  makes  its  weekly  visit,  concern- 
ing mowing  machines. 

Our  little  town  was  all  astir  yesterday,  with  ex- 
citement occasioned  by  an  exhibition  and  trial 
of  mowers,  on  the  farm  of  Capt.  Lambert  Lam- 
son.  Though  your  correspondent  intends  to 
speak  principally  of  this  occasion,  he  »vould  say 
that  he  has  often  witnessed  the  operations  of 
some  of  the  rival  mowers  used  in  this  section  of 
the  country,  and  consequently  whatever  opinions 
he  may  advance,  are  not  based  entirely  upon  the 
proceedings  at  this  trial. 

The  machines  put  upon  trial  were  Ketchum'a 
improved  patent,  1859,  mower,  both  one  horse 
and  two  horse,  manufactured  by  Nourse,  Mason 
&  Co.,  Boston  and  Worcester.  Manny's  patent 
mower,  also  one  and  two  horse,  maile  by  Alzirus 
Brown,  Worcester,  and  a  one  horse  Ketchum 
mower,  made  down  in  Connecticut.  The  trial 
was  first  between  the  one  horse  machines,  each 
of  which  cut  two  swarths  on  the  side  of  the  field. 
The  Manny  began,  followed  by  a  Ketchum  ma- 
chine from  Connecticut,  and  then  by  the  Ketch- 
um machine  from  Nourse,  Mason  &;  Co.  The 
Manny  mower  did  its  work  well,  but  its  swarth 
lacked  the  evenness  and  smoothness  of  the  Wor- 
cester Ketchum's  when  raked.  It  cut  a  swarth 
three  feet  six  inches  wide.  The  Ketchum  (mean- 
ing always  the  Worcester  machine)  cut  a  swarth 
four  feet  wide,  and  its  work  was  satisfactory  to 
all  the  spectators.  I  understand  that  this  ma- 
chine, cutting  four  feet,  was  strictly  a  two  horse 
mower,  but  placed  upon  trial  as  a  one  iiorse  ma- 
chine by  the  proprietors,  in  the  complete  confi- 
dence of  success.  The  regular  one  horse  mower, 
I  was  told,  cuts  three  feet,  six  inches.  Another 
circumstance  worthy  of  notice,  is  the  fact,  that 
the  horse  used  with  the  Manny  mower  was  ta- 
ken fresh  from  the  barn,  and  harnassed  to  the 
machine,  whereas  the  horse  used  with  Ketch- 
um's had  cultivated  corn  all  the  forenoon  at 
Worcester,  and  had  been  driven  ten  miles  since 
one  o'clock,  and  was  harnessed  to  the  machine  at 
two  and  a  half  o'clock.  Yet,  notwithstanding  its 
advantages  in  shortness  of  cutting-bar,  and  fresh- 
ness of  horse,  the  Manny  mower  was  inferior  to 
the  Ketchum. 


1859. 


XEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


367 


After  the  different  one  horse  machines  had 
each  cut  two  swarths  on  the  side  of  the  field,  it 
was  proposed  that  they  should  cut  a  double 
Bwarth,  and  the  Ketchum  immediately  entered 
the  middle  of  the  grass,  and  performed  its  work 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  its  superiority  still 
more  striking.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  beauti- 
ful manner  in  which  this  perfect  little  mower  ac- 
complished its  task,  and  by  the  almost  unani- 
mous consent  of  the  unprejudiced  portion  of  the 
spectators,  it  was  acknowledged  to  be  the  best 
and  most  complete  one  horse  machine  on  the 
field,  or  in  the  market.  Although,  for  many  im- 
portant reasons,  the  trial  of  the  two  horse  mow- 
ers was  an  event  of  loss  interest  than  the  trial  of 
the  one  horse  machines,  still  I  would  not  deny 
to  them  their  just  amount  of  attention. 

Whatever  superiority  the  one  horse  Ketchum 
mower  may  have  possessed  over  its  rivals,  when 
I  say  that  in  less  than  five  minutes,  it  was  trans- 
formed into  a  two  horse  machine,  cutting  a  swarth 
four  feet,  six  inches  wide,  (the  only  change  be- 
ing the  substitution  of  a  pole  for  the  shafts,  and 
the  longer  bar  for  the  short  size)  it  must  be  evi- 
dent to  all,  that  the  same  superiority  remained 
with  it,  and  the  superiority  of  the  two  horse 
Ketchum  mower  was  no  less  apparant,  and  no 
less  appreciated,  than  in  the  case  of  the  one  horse 
mower.  In  fact,  would  it  not  be  a  good  idea  for 
some  of  our  farmers  to  have  the  machine  arranged 
for  one  or  two  horses  ?  I  presume  they  could  do 
60,  cheaply. 

But  the  greatest  novelty  of  the  occasion  re- 
mains to  be  mentioned.  The  proprietors  of  the 
Worcester  Ketchum,  not  content  with  the  suc- 
cess of  their  one  and  two  horse  machines,  de- 
eired  permission  to  mow  with  one  of  somewhat 
heavier  build,  cutting  a  swarth  six  feet  wide. 
The  attempt  was  not  only  another  success,  but 
an  agreeable  surprise  to  the  numerous  specta- 
tors. I  did  not  see  that  the  horses  labored  much 
harder  with  this,  than  with  the  other  machines 
of  less  capacity.  It  presented  a  truly  noble  ap- 
pearance, as  the  tottering  grass  came  tumbling 
down,  and  having  finished  its  double  swarth,  the 
opening  of  twelve  feet  of  cut  grass  presented 
quite  a  gap  to  the  eye.  I  would  sum  my  account 
of  this  trial,  by  saying  that,  upon  the  whole,  its 
result  was  a  decided  triumph  of  the  Ketchum  im- 
proved patent  mower  of  1859,  manufactured  by 
Nourse,  Mason  &  Co. 

Permit  me  to  consider  now,  for  a  moment, 
Bome  particulars  which  it  would  be  well  for  a  far- 
mer to  notice  in  buying  a  mower.  When  he  is 
unable  to  make  up  his  mind  as  to  which  mower 
18  best,  he  naturally  inquires  the  cost,  weight, 
draught  and  other  characteristics  of  the  rival 
machines,  respectively.  I  was  able  to  gather 
these  facts  concerning  the  machines  exhibited, 
from  the  circulars  and  politeness  of  the  proprie- 
tors of  each. 

The  Ketchum  two  horse  mower  cuts  a  swarth 
of  four  feet,  six  inches  wide,  weighs  480  pounds, 
and  costs  $85.  The  two  horse  Manny  mower 
cuts  a  swarth  four  feet,  four  inches  wide,  (two 
inches  narrower  than  the  Ketchum,)  weighs  750 
pounds,  (270  pounds  more  than  the  Ketchum,) 
and  costs  $110, — $25  more  than  the  Ketchum. 
My  experience  teaches  me  that  the  Ketchum 
mower  has  the  least  draught.  I  was  also  im- 
pressed very  favorably  with  the  simplicity  and 


durability  of  its  construction.  Being  entirely  of 
iron,  the  parts  are  much  lighter,  at  the  same 
time  stronger  and  more  durable,  than  those  of 
the  Manny,  which  are  principally  of  wood.  In 
conclusion,  I  would  confidently  recommend  to 
the  farmers  of  New  England,  as  the  result  of 
careful  observation,  the  Ketchum  improved  pa- 
tent 1859  mower,  as  the  best  in  the  market.  Ad- 
ding that  these  ideas,  though  well  founded,  are 
hastily  put  on  pa|)er.  TRUTH  AND  Justice. 
Boylston,  June  15, 1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
A  SICK  COLT— STAGGERS. 

Mr.  Editor: — In  looking  over  the  .Y.  E. 
Farmer  to-day  I  noticed  a  communication  from 
"W.  D.  Sear,"  describing  the  case  of  his  colt, 
which  I  understand  to  be  what  is  generally  de- 
nominated staggers,  which  arises  from  conges- 
tion of  the  brain  and  lungs,  with  loss  of  tone  in 
the  digestive  organs  and  very  unequal  circulation 
of  blood. 

I  had  a  work-horse  badly  affected  this  spring, 
and  within  the  last  eight  years  have  seen  perhaps 
a  dozen  in  all  stages  of  the  disease.  I  have  di- 
rected to  keep  the  animal  warm  and  dry,  to  rub 
the  limbs  twice  a  day  with  common  spirit  and 
cayenne  pepper,  and  gave  them  a  quarter  of  a 
pound  of  a  deobstruent  powder,  to  be  given  one 
teaspoonful  in  bran  or  oats  wet,  three  times  a 
day,  or  if  the  horse  was  down  and  would  not  eat, 
put  the  powder  in  a  junk  bottle  of  warm  water 
and  pour  it  down,  saying,  if  it  cures  your  horse, 
give  me  a  dollar,  and  I  have  always  got  my  dol- 
lar. Lawson  Long,  M.  D. 

P.  S. — A  moderate  bleeding  from  the  nose  is 
proper. 

HolyoTce,  Mass.,  June,  1859. 


HINGING  THE  GSAPE  VINE  FOR  FRUIT. 

The  practice  of  ringing,  or  cutting  oft'  the  bark 
of  the  branches  of  trees  bearing  fruit,  for  the 
purpose  of  enlarging  and  improving  the  quality 
of  the  fruit,  is  beginning  to  be  better  understood 
and  more  practised.  At  Bordeaux,  in  France, 
there  was  recently  exhibited  portions  of  a  vine  of 
the  Chasselas  variety,  which  had  bunches  of  very 
unequal  size  and  quality.  The  bearing  shoots 
which  had  been  left  to  themselves,  had  only 
bunches  of  grapes  in  the  common  condition, 
while  the  contiguous  ringed  shoots  each  bore  a 
superb  bunch  of  magnificent  grapes,  each  twice 
as  large  as  the  grapes  borne  by  the  same  piece 
of  wood  that  had  not  been  ringed.  This  was  the 
case  in  every  instance  where  one  shoot  had  been 
ringed  and  the  other  had  not.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  exhibitor,  the  advantages  of  ringing,  are  a 
fortnight's  earliness,  finer  berries,  and  better 
quality.  The  practice  of  ringing,  consists  in  re- 
moving a  ring  of  bark  something  less  than  half 
an  inch  wide,  just  below  the  insertion  of  the 
bunch  to  be  experimented  upon.  The  only  dif- 
ficulty to  be  encountered  is  the  danger  of  cutting 
too  deep.  The  time  for  ringing,  is  when  the  vine 
is  about  to  flower.  The  shoots  selected  for  this 
operation  are  those  bearing  ones  which  should 
be  pruned  oft"  next  season,  as  the  ringing  of  course 
destroys  the  branch  wiih  the  maturity  of  the 
fruit. — Michigan  Farmer. 


368 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


Field's  Horse-Po-wbr  Machint?. 


For  the  ffew  England  Parmer. 
FIELD'S  HOHSE-POWEH  MACHINE. 

Mr.  Editor: — Knowing  your  deep  interest 
in  everything  pertaining  to  the  farmer,  and  es- 
pecially in  improvements  which  tend  directly  to 
lessen  the  labor  of  farming,  I  send  for  publica- 
tion in  your  valuable  periodical  a  few  items  in 
regard  to  a  horse-power  machine  which  is  manu- 
factured by  Mr.  William  Field  of  this  city.  This 
machine  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  doing  the  fol- 
lowing kinds  of  work. — threshing,  shelling  corn, 
sawing  wood,  grinding,  pumping  water,  (fcc. 

It  might  be  useful  also,  in  materially  lessen- 
ing the  labor  which  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  fe- 
males on  large  farms.  With  the  aid  of  a  rotary 
washing  machine  a  day's  washing  could  be  ac- 
complished in  an  hour ;  and  by  a  very  simple 
and  cheap  arrangement  the  same  power  might  be 
made  to  do  the  churning. 

These  machines  are  durable  and  compact,  sim- 
ple in  their  construction,  and  being  made  entire- 
ly of  iron  and  steel,  are  easily  kept  in  order. 
They  can  be  operated  by  any  number  of  horses, 
from  one  to  eight,  according  to  their  capacity ; 
size  adapted  to  one  or  two  horses,  weight  about 
eight  hundred  pounds  ;  measures  a  little  more 
than  two  by  three  feet  square,  and  costs  one 
hundred  dollars,  including  either  the  horizontal 
or  perpendicular  connecting  shaft  and  gear.  The 
upright  power  is  preferable  when  it  is  to  be  used 


lin  a  building  where  there  are  timbers  OTerhead 
to  which  the  shafting  can  be  secured.  For  out- 
door work  the  horizontal  power  is  required.  A 
j  space  of  twenty  feet  in  diameter  is  required  for 
the  sweep  of  the  levers  and  a  travelling  space 
'for  the  horse.  A  shed  divided  into  several  apart- 
ments to  accommodate  the  various  kinds  of 
j  work,  and  a  horizontal  shaft  geared  into  the  per- 
pendicular shaft,  (as  shown  in  the  cut  above,) 
extending  through  the  building,  and  connected 
by  pulleys  and  belting  with  the  machinery  in 
each  room  would  be  a  convenient  arrangement. 

Nearly  every  farmer  cultivating  twenty-five 
or  fifty  acres  would  find  the  horse-power  a 
profitable  investment,  as  he  would  be  enabled  by 
!the  above  arrangement  to  accomplish  in  a  single 
'day  the  work  of  six  days.  This  would  enable  the 
farmer  to  get  his  produce  to  market  much  soon- 
er, in  better  order,  and  cheaper  than  formerly. 

These  last  considerations  have  induced  me  {to 
forward  the  above  article.       Yours, 

Providence,  June  25, 1859.       B.  D.  Bailey. 


To  Correspondents.— Thanks  for  numerous 
articles  from  correspondents.  If  some  of  them 
are  delayed  a  little,  it  may  be  because  others  are 
upon  subjects  a  little  more  applicable  to  the  sea- 
son. But  most  that  are  received  will  be  forth- 
coming in  good  time. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


369 


For  the  New  Engiand  Farmer. 
POTATO  BOT. 


theory."  I  deny  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as 
"theory"  touching  insect  depredation,  and  the 
influence  of  insects,  causing  this  malady.  The 
occular  demonstration  of  their  ravages  at  the 
Mr.  Editor  :— I  have  read  with  some  interest  roots  dispels  all  "theory."  Occular  facts  set 
the  communication  of  "S.  H.  P.,"  in  your  paper  i^j^jg  g^g^y  idea  of  "theory." 
of  May  14th.  The  subject  to  which  he  refers,  is  i^^g  subject  thus  known  and  settled  by  facts, 
still  one  of  absorbing  interest  to  agriculturists  ;  i^gcomes  definite,  real,  unanswerable.  Therefore, 
and  the  various  agricultural  journals  throughout  l^^,  "theory"  cnn  be  connected  with  the  question, 
this  continent  are  discussing  the  question,  ao  ijy-gj^her  speculation  or  argument  can  rebut  facts, 
long  an  open  one,  of  the  cause,  and  for  the  rem-  Qccular  facts  show  that,  the  disease  in  the  stalk 


edy  of  this  wide  spread  malady.  In  answering 
••S.  H.  P.,"  I  believe  I  can  place  before  your 
readers  some  facts,  which  will  throw  ncAV  light 
upon  this  subject.  He  says  he  never  has  seen 
•'any  statement  of  the  symptoms"  of  the  potato 
blight  and  rot.  The  "symptoms"  that  blight  and 
disease  vviil  appear  in  the  potato  crop,  are  re- 
vealed first  by  the  indications,  and  the  fact  that 
the  eggs  of  the  aphis  are  found  in  perforations 
in  the  epidermis  of  the  potato,  and  in  the  eye 
socket  and  bud-part  of  the  sprouts,  at  the  time 
the  potatoes  are  dug,  and,  as  are  easily  seen,  be- 
fore the  tubers  are  planted.  He  says,  "The  dis- 
ease commences  its  ravages  the  last  half  of  Au- 
gust, or  from  Ist  to  10th  of  September."  The 
causes  of  this  disease,  may  be  traced  to  the  at- 
tack of  insects.  They  begin  their  destruction  of 
the  vines,  at  the  vital  neck  joint  of  the  stalk, 
nearest  to  the  seed  tuber,  under  ground,  and  at 
such  time,  earlier  or  later,  as  influenced  by  the 
warmth  of  solar,  or  artificial  heat,  to  sprout  the 
tubers.  This  elementary  action,  animates  the  in- 
sect's eggs,  when  a  living,  active,  voracious  ene- 
my commences  sucking  the  sap,  extracting  the 
vitality  and  nourishment,  which,  if  retained  by 
the  vines,  (as  was  the  case  thirty  or  forty  years 
ago,)  would  cause  a  continued  growth  of  the 
plant,  long  beyond  the  "last  of  August,  or  10th 
of  September."  This  shows  that  the  "mischief  is 
not  done  very  suddenly."  A  slow  poison  spreads 
from  the  point  where  these  insects  make  their  at- 
tack, and  that  is  the  remote  cause  of  sudden  de- 
cay, by  cutting  off  the  nourishment. 

The  insects,  in  their  larva  or  grub  age,  (in 
their  secluded  position  under  ground,)  communi- 
cate the  "poison  to  the  juice  of  the  top,"  which 
poison  is  admitted  by  "S.  H.  P."  He  "theorises" 
for  "poison."  I  point  out  the  enemy,  and  tell 
where  to  find  him  while  communicating  the 
"poison."  Let  me  here  ask,  if  this  fact  of  insect 
ravages  is  not  far  more  reasonable  to  believe  as 
the  cause  of  the  "poison,"  than  to  theorize  about 
the  "temperature  at  76"  to  SO'',  or  southerly  or 
Bouth-west  winds  blowing  briskly,  or  more  or  lees 
rain,  or  heavy  mist,  or  fog."  Is  it  possible  that, 
this  "wind  blowing  briskly"  can  be  seen  on  the 
potato  or  plant,  so  as  to  be  recognized,  definitely, 
as  a  "symptom"  of  disease  ? 

What  have  these  various  influences  which  have 
always  existed,  to  do  now  in  causing  the  potato 
blight,  that  they  did  not  exercise  forty  years 
ago  ?  Why  does  this  "atmospheric  influence  or 
epidemic."  act  so  destructively  upon  the  potato 
now,  and  leave  the  corn,  beans,  tomatoes  and 
other  vegetables  in  perfect  health  and  vigorous 
growth,  the  same  as  forty  years  ago  P  You,  and 
all  must  admit,  that  something  acts  upon  this 
plant  now,  that  did  not  seriously  affect  it  previ- 
ous to  1813.  "S.  H.  P."  asserts  that,  "if  this 
poison  in  the  top  is  correct,  it  upsets  the  bug 


'commences  at,  and  spreads  from  the  point  at  the 
iroot  where  the  larva  aphis  makes  the  attack ; 
I  and  no  brown  rust,  or  poison  appearance,  can  be 
[found  on  the  stalk,  or  at  the  roots,  except  on 
vines  where  these  insects  are  found  subsisting. 

By  dissecting  such  stalks,  at  the  more  miture 
stage  of  their  growth,  commencing  at  the  end 
next  to  the  old  parent  tuber,  a  brown,  rusty  ap- 
pearance is  found,  and  a  withered  appearance  of 
that  end  of  the  vine.  From  this  point,  the  brown 
rust  can  be  traced,  with  the  natural  vision,  into 
the  capillaries  of  the  stalks,  and  thence  the  pois- 
son  is  re-transmitted  through  the  stem  to  the 
growing  tubers,  and  is  imbibed  in  the  latter,  in 
proportion  to  the  virulence  of  the  attack.  It  min- 
gles with  the  healthy,  vital,  life-sustaining  ele- 
ment of  the  plant.  Its  progress  and  the  result  may 
be  compared  to  a  reptile's  poison  flowing  from 
the  spot  where  the  poison  fang  is  placed,  through 
the  veins  to  the  vitals  of  the  unfortunate  object 
attacked.  The  blight  in  the  plant  follows  the  in- 
sect's attack.  The  vines  above  the  ground  and 
tubers  at  their  roots  sympathetically  show  the 
influence  ;  the  principle  being  the  same  as  death 
to  a  human  being  from  the  poison  fang  of  the 
reptile.  The  insects  deposit  their  eggs  in  the 
epidermis,  the  sprout,  or  bud-part,  while  the  tu- 
ber is  very  young  and  growing,  and  are  firmly 
imbeded  in  the  trunk  or  embryo  of  the  vine  for 
next  year.     In  this  nidus,  they  are  hibernated. 

When  the  tuber  is  planted,  as  before  describ- 
ed, the  insects  start  into  life,  and  by  the  instinct 
of  the  parent,  placed  where  surrounded  by  juice, 
or  sap,  they  pump  or  draw  it  from  the  vine. 
Thus,  while  subsisting  in  a  suctorial  manner  on 
their  natural  element,  they  poison  and  deteri- 
orate the  plant.  The  secret  source  of  this  mala- 
dy is  found  here — these  secluded  enemies  inhe- 
rently transmit  this  world-wide  disease  from  one 
generation  of  tu'^ers  to  those  of  the  succeeding 
year's  growth.  Microscopic  research  unfolds  the 
mysterious  works  of  the  Great  Creator.  By  thus 
viewing,  with  microscopic  power,  the  minute 
particles  of  dust,  (as  seen  by  the  natural  vision,) 
we  learn  facts  revealing  His  power,  and  showing 
our  own  superficial  knowledge.  Year  after  year, 
scientific  men  and  agricultural  laborers,  have 
tasked  their  utmost  talent  and  powers  to  little 
purpose  in  revealing  the  cause  of  this  wide-spread 
malady.  But  more  recently,  the  microscope  has 
revealed  the  botanical  condition  of  the  tuber, 
showing  clearly  the  entomological  connection, 
and  the  cause,  and  thus  pointing  out  the  foun- 
tain from  which  this  malady  springs.  The  array 
of  insects  at  the  roots  of  the  plants  is  an  occular 
demonstration,  that  no  theorizing  or  arguments 
can  repel.  It  is  no  "bug  theory."  There  is  a 
real  aphis  sucking  the  vitals  of  the  plant.  Their 
eggs  and  the  definite  embryo  have  been  searched 
out,  and  made  visible  with  the  microscope,  as  be- 


870 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


fore  described,  in  the  very  skin,  sprout  and  bud- 
part  of  the  tubers. 

Who  ever  doubts  this  assurance,  or  attempts  to 
repel  the  fact,  may  as  well  attempt,  at  noon-day, 
to  disprove  the  existence  of  the  sun.  I  "advance" 
this  fact  of  identity  with  "confidence,"  that  occu- 
lar  proof  will  baflle  the  exertion  of  those  who 
may  declare  it  a  fallacy,  or  attempt  its  "over- 
throw." 

"S.  H.  P.,"  says,  "The  advocates  of  this  the- 
ory will  ask,  why  the  atmosphere  did  not  affect 
the  crop  previous  to  184:3."  I  have  previously 
referred  to  this,  and  I  want  "S.  H.  P."  to  answer 
it  himself.  I  reply  to  his  "Yankee-fashioned" 
question,  that,  the  insects  are  doubtless  descen- 
dents  from  the  garden  of  Eden. 

Natural  causes  and  fixed  facts,  arising  from 
changing  events,  in  connection  with  our  philo- 
sophical judgment,  will  furnish  abundant  an- 
swers as  to  the  phenomenon  why  "such  bugs" 
are  now  found  on  the  potato.  By  inherent  trans- 
mission, year  after  year,  from  tuber  to  tuber, 
these  insects,  by  their  extraordinary  powers  of 
fecundity,  have  multiplied,  and  become  legion. 
They  are  so  minute,  when  first  stai-ting  into  mo- 
tion, as  not  to  be  seen  with  the  natural  human 
vision,  on  the  point  of  a  cambric  needle,  there- 
fore their  eggs  are  little  indeed.  A  microscopic 
demonstration  which  I  made  on  the  24th  of  April 
last,  with  six  achromatics  and  other  glasses 
united,  revealed  in  a  cavity  in  the  skin  of  the  po- 
tato— space,  size  of  the  head  of  a  shingle  nail — 
a  spawn  or  roe  appearance,  and  I  counted  dis- 
tinctly more  than  four  hundred  eggs  in  this  little 
cavity.  This,  in  some  degree,  answers  "S.  H.  P," 
that  "every  eft'ect  must  have  its  adequate  cause," 
and  "can  so  small  a  thing  produce  such  effects 
as  to  cause  thousands  of  bushels  of  potatoes  to 
rot?"  I  reply,  emphatically,  that,  these  myriads 
upon  myriads  of  insects,  in  their  larva  age,  as 
found  upon  the  roots  of  potatoes  under  ground, 
are  capable  of  doing  all  this  mischief.  Week  af- 
ter week,  they  are  sucking,  poisoning  and  cutting 
off  the  sap,  thus  changing,  gradually,  the  natural 
health  of  the  sustaining  element  and  life  of  the 
plant. 

Carry  out  the  acknowledged  principle  and 
statement  of  "S.  H.  P."  which  is  a  fact,  that,  from 
my  own  observations  and  experiments,  I  can  cor- 
roborate,) which  was  fully  admitted  by  the  Prus- 
sian government  in  18.34,  after  their  three  years' 
experiments,)  that,  "this  poison  in  the  top  (or 
vine)  descends  to  the  tubers,"  and  I  show  the 
cause  that  "produces  this  disease  and  decay." 
"S.  H.  P."  speaks  of  animalcula.'.  His  allusion 
to  that  part  of  zoology  has  no  connection  what- 
ever with  this  "bug,"  the  aphis.  The  former,  in 
its  zoological  order  belongs  to  infusoria  ;  the 
latter  to  entomology ;  and  they  are  as  widely 
different  from  each  other  as  fish  and  fowl.  One, 
as  he  says,  "floats  in  the  water,"  the  other  in- 
habits tVie  earth,  and  I  know  positively,  feast  in 
their  larva  age  on  the  fresh  sap  of  the  roots  of 
tiie  potatoes  and  other  plants,  and  in  their  pupa 
and  imago  ages  move  on  their  wings  in  the  air. 
Animalcula?  cannot  be  found  upon,  or  in  the  po- 
tato. Atmospheric  influence  is  not  a  predispos- 
ing or  definite  cause  of  this  malady.  The  occu- 
lar  demonstrations  revealed  by  microscopic  re- 
searches, clearly  settles  the  question,  that,  myri- 
ads of  entomological  insects,  by  their  ravages, 


and  voracious  appetites,  in  their  larva  age  under 
ground,  are  the   secret,  and   heretofore  hidden, 
predisposing    or    definite    cause    of    the   potato 
blight  and  rot.     This  fact  cannot  be  repelled. 
June  30,  1859.  The  Farmer  Boy. 


HIGH  FARMING  VS.  INSECTS. 
Speaking  of  the  insects  infesting  the  wheat 
crop  in  this  and  the  old  country,  the  Mark  Lane 
Express  thinks  that  the  production  of  insects  is 
greatly  promoted  by  the  defective  system  of  ag- 
riculture in  this  country,  remarking  that  "when 
the  average  produce  of  wheat  in  England  was 
only  two  and  a  half  quarters  per  acre,  the  rav- 
ages of  insects  were  far  more  general  and  de- 
structive than  they  are  now  that  the  average  haa 
risen  to  four  quarters  and  a  half.  Pligh  farming 
is  as  destructive  to  vermin  as  to  weeds,  and  it  is 
rarely  that  the  devastation  committed  on  highly- 
cultivated  land  is  very  serious." 

Remarks. — We  think  other  causes  must  be 
looked  for,  for  the  increase  of  insects,  rather  than 
the  "defective  system  of  agriculture."  Increase 
follows  supply  in  the  insect  world,  as  well  as  the 
vegetable.  Feed  the  land  well  and  it  will  pro- 
duce abundant  crops ;  so  with  insects.  High 
farming  produces  an  abundance  of  succulent  and 
tender  plants  admirably  adapted  to  insect  wants, 
such  as  the  leaves  of  beets,  turnips,  onions,  cab- 
bage, celery,  tomato,  parsnips,  roses,  egg-plant, 
&c.  The  leaves  of  our  budded  and  grafted  ap- 
ple trees  are  far  more  tender  and  sweeter  than 
those  of  apple  trees  in  a  natural  condition,  and 
probably  more  congenial  to  the  tastes  and  habits 
of  our  predatory  neighbors. 

We  are  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  on  sterile 
tracts  of  land,  one's  squashes,  cucumbers  and 
melons  would  be  much  safer  from  the  depreda- 
tions of  insects,  than  those  in  the  midst  of  a 
highly-cultivated  district.  We  kindly  supply  in- 
sects with  the  food  they  need,  in  the  variety  and 
richness  of  the  plants  we  cultivate,  so  that  they 
have  a  good  time,  and  have  little  else  to  do  but 
to  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth  with  their 
kind. 

Having  brought  the  plants  to  a  state  of  great 
perfection,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  devise  the 
means  of  keeping  off  their  invaders,  so  that  a 
fair  share  shall  reward  the  labor  of  the  cultiva- 
tor. This  affords  us  an  opportunity  for  the  exer- 
cise of  our  patience  and  ingenuity,  and  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  is  a  blessing  rather  than  a  curse. 


A  Trap  for  Catching  Sheep-Killing  Dogs. 
— Make  a  pen  of  fence  rails,  beginning  with  four, 
so  as  to  have  it  square,  and  as  you  build  it,  draw 
in  each  rail  as  you  would  the  sticks  of  a  partridge 
trap,  until  your  pen  is  of  sufficient  height,  say 
five  feet.  In  this  way  you  will  construct  a  pen 
that,  when  finished,  will  permit  a  dog  to  enter  at 
the  top  at  pleasure,  but  out  of  which  he  will  find 
it  difficult  to  escape,  should  he  have  the  agility 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


371 


of  an  antelope.  All  that  you  have  to  do  to  catch 
the  dog  that  has  killed  your  sheep,  is  to  construct 
the  trap,  where  a  dead  sheep  is  left,  as  directed, 
as  soon  as  possible  after  an  attack  has  been 
made  on  your  flock,  put  a  part  or  the  whole  of  a 
sheep  that  has  been  killed,  in  it,  and  remove  the 
balance  to  some  other  field.  In  a  majority  of 
cases,  the  rogue  and  murderer  will  return  the 
succeeding  night,  or  perhaps  the  next,  and  you 
will  have  the  gratification  next  morning  of  find- 
ing him  securely  imprisoned. — Southern  Planter. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CAUSE  OP  LOSS  OP  APPLB  TREES. 

l^EAR  Sir  : — Will  you  allow  me  to  say  a  word 
in  answer  to  an  article  in  your  paper  of  the  21st 
of  May,  written  by  C.  A.  Hewins,  West  Roxbury  ? 
Mr.  Hewins  and  yourself  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  underdraining  of  the  land  saved  the  ap- 
ple trees.  I  believe  the  underdraining,  if  it  proves 
anything,  proves  that  the  trees  made  a  more  vig- 
orous growth  where  the  land  was  not  under- 
drained. 

The  occasion  of  the  injury  to  the  trees  was, 
the  land  being  too  rich  and  the  trees  growing  too 
fast.  The  fall  of  1830  I  suppose  to  be  the  warm- 
est that  ever  was  known  in  this  country.  Pump- 
kins and  other  vines  were  growing  all  October 
and  into  November,  and  we  had  no  frost  to  stop 
the  growth  of  anything  until  Wednesday  or 
Thursday  after  Thanksgiving,  and  then  winter 
set  in,  in  earnest.  I  thought  nothing  of  it  until 
March,  1831. 

Jdhn  Lowd,  who  was  then  living,  and  engaged 
in  cultivating  trees,  and  a  distinguished  horticul- 
turist, living  in  Roxbury,  wrote  an  article  in  the 
New  England  Farmer,  saying  we  shall  have  no 
more  fruit  for  ten  years  to  come.  On  reading 
the  article  I  went  into  the  nursery  where  I  had 
peach,  cherry  and  apple  trees,  and  I  believed, 
on  examination,  that  it  was  true. 

The  result  was,  that  trees  that  were  growing 
fast  were  killed,  thousands  and  thousands  of 
them,  while  those  that  were  making  but  little 
growth  were  not  injured. 

I  was  then  in  the  nursery  business.  I  took  up 
two  hundred  handsome  Baldwin  apple  trees,  as 
fine  trees  as  you  will  see,  that  were  dead.  I  had 
sold  to  Joshua  Staver,  of  West  Roxbury,  I  think, 
a  lot  of  nice  Baldwin  trees,  which  he  nursed  fine- 
ly, and  every  one  was  killed.  It  will,  therefore, 
be  seen  that  there  is  danger  of  making  trees  grow 
too  fast.  In  the  case  before  us  the  frost  that 
came  on  the  10th  of  November  did  the  injury. 

The  question  then  is,  is  there  any  remedy  ?  In 
^831  the  injury  was  not  half  as  serious  as  I  ex- 
pected at  first.  I  went  to  many  trees  and  found 
the  bark  started  from  the  tree,  but  where  it  did 
not  crack  open  to  let  in  the  air,  the  sap  went  up  ; 
but  where  the  bark  cracked  open  and  let  in  the 
air,  it  was  hindered,  and  did  not  get  up.  Trees 
have  been  dying  from  that  day  to  this,  as  I  now 
see  trees  almost  dead  that  were  injured  that  win- 
ter. I  believe  that  had  Mr.  Hewins,  if  he  saw  it 
in  January,  taken  a  piece  of  old  oil  cloth  and 
covered  the  crack,  and  wound  it  with  rope  yarn, 
so  that  the  air  would  have  been  kept  out,  the 
trees  would  have  lived.  I  draw  this  conclusion 
from  what  I  saw  in  1831. 


Again,  I  have  saved  trees  injured  by  the  mice, 
by  covering  early  with  clay  mortar,  made  soft  so 
as  to  fit  close  to  the  tree,  and  then  cover  with 
earth  to  prevent  the  air  from  dryifig  the  tree. 
There  are  within  forty  rods  of  me  three  or  four 
large  trees  capable  of  bearing  four  or  five  barrels 
each,  that  are  spoiled  and  partly  dead,  and  the 
remainder  will  die,  by  being  driven  too  fast. 
Daniel  Leland. 

East  HoUiston,  June  14, 1859. 


Remarks. — Apple  trees,  as  well  as  men,  are 
quite  often  ruined  by  feeding  them  too  fast. 
They  become  purient,  gouty,  burst,  and  die.  We 
have  often  cautioned  our  readers  against  over- 
feeding fruit  trees.  The  safe  way  with  apple 
orchards  is  to  manure  highly,  cultivate  thorough- 
ly, and  take  off  a  crop  from  the  land  every  year, 
during  the  first  fifteen  years'  growth  of  the 
trees.  Such  trees  will  not  have  the  gout.  We 
have  seen  an  entire  orchard  of  the  finest  trees, 
entirely  ruined  by  high  manuring  and  cultivation 
without  cropping  the  land. 


For  the  New  Eytgland  Farmer. 
MOWING  MACHINES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  noticed  an  article  cop- 
ied from  the  Flouglimaii,  on  farm  work  for  June, 
in  which  the  venerable  editor  of  that  paper  says 
that  it  is  but  one-third  of  the  labor  of  haying  to 
cut  the  grass,  and  if  the  machine  saves  half  the 
labor  of  cutting,  it  does  not  save  but  one-sixth 
of  the  whole  labor.  I  think  he  has  never  had 
a  good  machine  in  practical  operation  on  his  own 
farm,  or  he  would  have  mentioned  another  im- 
portant item  in  hay-making,  Miiich  is  saved  by 
the  machine ;  that  is,  spreading  the  swaths  and 
turning  the  grass  once. 

From  my  experience  with  a  machine,  I  think 
that  grass,  where  there  are  two  tons  to  the  acre, 
cut  with  a  machine  after  the  dew  is  partly  oflT, 
will  be  as  dry  at  two  o'clock,  P.  M.,  as  that 
Avhich  was  cut  with  the  scythe  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  the  swaths  spread  at  ten  o'clock,  and 
turned  again  at  noon  ;  here  is  a  saving  of  labor 
just  at  the  time  when  it  is  of  the  most  value  in 
the  whole  year. 

He  speaks  of  those  who  are  bred  on  a  farm, 
as  delighting  in  mowing.  I  know  there  is  some- 
thing pleasing  and  exciting  on  a  dewy  morn  in 
swinging  the  well-ground  scythe  through  the 
well-grown  timothy,  and  see  the  pollen  rise  at 
each  stroke,  and  scatter  its  fragrance  in  all  di- 
rection ;  but  with  me,  the  poetry  is  all  gone,  long 
before  the  field  is  mowed.  Then  comes  the  dull 
prose,  and  the  sweating  and  sighing  for  some 
easier  mode,  and  tired  nature  yields  to  the  hot 
sun,  and  I  like  to  hang  my  scythe  where  the 
farmer  of  Marshfield  hung  his,  when  in  his  boy- 
hood his  father  told  him  to  go  and  hang  it  to 
suit  himself! 

But  the  inquiry  arises,  can  the  small  farmer 
afford  to  buy  a  machine  ?  If  to  secure  his  hay, 
and  do  his  other  work  upon  the  farm,  he  annually 
hires  fifteen  days'  work  extra  in  July,  which  will 
cost  him  in  this  county  twenty-five  dollars,  bv 
using  the  machine  he  can  do  his  haying  as  well, 


372 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


and  his  other  work  better  than  he  would  do  with 
fifteen  days'  extra  labor,  is  it  not  better  for  him 
to  pay  the  interest  of  what  the  machine  costs, 
and  work,  hts  horse,  than  to  pay  out  so  much 
money  annually  for  extra  labor  in  haying  time, 
which,  my  experience  has  taught  me,  is  the  poor- 
est of  all  help  if  told  to  do  anything  but  work 
at  haying?  He  says  that  it  is  but  one-third  of 
the  labor  to  cut  the  hay  ;  this  may  be  true,  but 
on  many  farms  it  is  difficult  to  get  this  third 
done  ;  some  have  not  the  strength,  and  more 
have  not  skill  enough  to  do  it  advantageously. 
He  says,  "good  mowers  will  cut  down  two  acres 
per  day,  and  be  pleased  with  the  job."  It  is  easy 
to  tell  what  we  can  do  at  mowing,  and  what  we 
have  done  when  we  were  young,  and  what  a 
man  ought  to  do,  but  the  most  practical  question 
is,  how  much  do  hired  men  mow,  per  day  ?  I 
think  the  farmers  in  this  county  pay  for  more 
days'  work  at  mowing  than  they  mow  acres. 
Dmwers,  June  15,  1859.     Wm.  R.  Putnam. 

Remarks. — It  is  our  opinion,  that  taking  low 
land  and  high,  thick  grass  and  thin,  the  average 
ground  gone  over  by  the  farmers  of  Essex  coun- 
ty, or  any  other  county  in  the  State,  does  not  ex- 
ceed one  acre  per  day.  We  never  have,  and 
never  expect  to  hire  men  to  mow,  who  will  make 
a  greater  average  than  this,  taking  all  kinds  of 
mowing  into  account. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

TBANSPLANTINQ  WHITE  PINES  AND 
HEMLOCKS. 

Mk.  Editor  : — I  have  received  letters  from 
many  gentlemen  in  your  vicinity  requesting  me 
to  inform  them,  or  publish  in  your  paper,  my 
method  of  transplanting  white  pines,  hemlock 
and  other  evergreen  trees.  After  having  tried 
and  failed  to  a  great  extent  in  all  other  ways,  1 
determined  to  try  winter  transplanting.  I  pro- 
ceed as  follows,  viz  : — Late  in  the  fall  of  the  year 
I  drive  a  stake  where  I  wish  the  tree  to  stand, 
make  a  circle  around  it  five  feet  in  diameter,  take 
off  the  sod  and  lay  it  out  of  the  way  and  cover 
the  hole  well  over  with  refuse  hay  or  straw  to 

firevent  freezing ;  it  might  perhaps  be  better  to 
eave  the  sod  on,  as  the  grass  affords  much  pro- 
tection against  frost.  I  then  select  such  a  tree 
as  I  wish  to  transplant,  preferring  those  about  10 
or  12  feet  high,  limbing  close  to  the  ground  and 
thick  in  foliage,  make  a  circle  about  it  four  feet 
in  diameter,  dig  a  trench  outside  of  it  the  width 
of  the  blade  of  the  spade,  and  about  a  foot  deep, 
cutting  down  square  and  smoothly,  fill  the  trench 
with  leaves,  hay  or  straw,  leave  until  the  ground 
is  frozen  five  or  six  inches  deep,  (if  any  snow  falls 
clear  it  off,)  then  clear  out  the  trench.  Apply 
a  stout  lever,  and  raise  the  ball  of  earth  suffi- 
ciently to  run  under  a  couple  of  short  planks,  one 
end  of  which  rest  on  a  stone  drag ;  apply  the 
lever  on  the  opposite  side  to  free  the  ball  there, 
pass  a  chain  around  it,  and  with  the  team  slide  it 
carefully  on  the  drag,  and  unload  in  the  same 
way.  Be  careful  that  no  spaces  are  left  under 
the  tree  ;  make  a  good  pit  and  fill  in  the  earth 
around  the  edges.  If  the  situation  is  very  much 
exposed,  three  or  four  large  stones  may  be  placed 


about  the  tree,  or  what  is  still  better,  increas« 
the  size  of  the  ball,  and  not  only  will  the  same 
object  be  effected,  but  the  tree  will  suffer  less  by 
the  removal. 

In  all  operations  of  this  kind  it  is  important 
that  they  should  be  carefully  and  well  done,  and 
if  possible,  the  owner  should  give  his  peisonal 
attention  to  the  subject ;  having  done  so,  I  ven- 
ture to  assert  that  not  one  tree  in  fifty  will  fail 
to  grow  the  next  year. 

The  size  of  the  hemlock,  in  my  communication 
published  in  your  paper  of  June  11th,  is  9-3  in- 
ches in  diameter  instead  of  cirrumfcrence,  and  I 
find  by  measurement,  that  it  is  30^  feet  high  ;  the 
frozen  ball  in  this  instance  was  9  feet  across. 
Samuel  Raymond. 

J\'orth  Andover,  Mass.,  June  20,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
APPLE  OECHAHDS. 

Thanks  to  S.  P.  Baker  for  speaking  out  on  this 
subject,  in  the  Farmer  of  the  lltli  inst.  I  have 
no  doubt  but  his  experience  and  observation  will 
substantiate  all  he  says.  At  any  rate  common 
sense,  (which  has  become  quite  too  uncommon  a 
quality  in  our  days,)  is  on  his  side.  Common  ob- 
servation, also,  will  sustain  him  in  the  main  dec- 
laration, that  the  seeds  should  be  planted  where 
the  trees  are  to  remain,  to  make  healthy,  long- 
lived  trees.  Transplanting  and  root  pruning  may 
help  forward  an  early  productiveness  and  short- 
en the  life  of  the  tree,  which,  in  order  to  have 
durability,  provides  itself  with  just  so  many  roots 
as  it  needs  for  its  special  benefit. 

Many  of  the  best  and  healthiest  specimens  of 
modern  apple  trees  may  be  found  in  those  that 
have  sprung  up  from  accidental  planting  by  some 
wall,  or  in  the  corners  of  fences  by  the  wayside. 
They  sprung  up  by  chance,  and  have  grown  by 
neglect,  at  least  by  letting  alone.  Their  tap  root 
has  never  been  taken  off.  Their  side  roots  have 
never  been  shortened.  There  they  stand,  firm 
as  young  oaks  ;  if  disease  attacks  them  they  have 
a  constitution  to  baffle  with  it.  The  borer  sel- 
dom takes  quarters  in  them  ;  worms  may  weave 
their  web  there,  but  these  are  easily  destroyed. 
In  old  fields  we  see  the  same  facts  illustrated. 
How  many  thousand  trees  there  may  be  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, scattered  in  a  higglety  pigglety  way 
over  meadows,  we  know  not,  but  there  are  prob- 
ably many  more  than  there  are  in  young  orchards. 
We  sometimes  see  them  slow  growing,  shrubby 
things,  and  well  they  may  be,  for  they  stand  in 
places  where  ordinary  crops  give  labor  but  a 
poor  remuneration — in  exhausted,  shallow  soils, 
where  they  cannot  grow,  though  they  live  on,  and 
show  a  good  disposition  to  do  so.  They  are  the 
offspring  of  neglect.  Cattle  browse  there,  still 
they  live.  The  borer  sometimes  attacks  them, 
but  very  seldom,  for  if  it  preyed  upon  them  as  it 
does  on  cultivated  trees,  thousands  of  them  would 
long  ago  have  been  clean  gone  forever.  I  have 
looked  upon  the  teaching  of  nature  and  have  re- 
ceived instruction,  and  the  deductions  I  make 
correspond  with  the  suggestions  of  the  man  who 
has  rounded  his  fourscore  years.  If  we  would 
have  healthy  trees,  and  leave  them  for  posterity, 
we  must  plant  the  seed  where  the  tree  is  to  re- 
main. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


373 


.  To  raise  trees  from  seed  the  ground  should  be 
well  prepared,  the  soil  made  deep  and  well  pul- 
verized, thoroughly  drained,  and  put  and  kept  in 
as  good  condition  as  though  corn,  wheat  or  any 
other  paying  crop  was  put  upon  it.  The  seeds 
should  then  be  selected  from  fair  fruit,  for  I  am 
confident  that  for  grafting  purposes  a  good, 
healthy  stock  is  desirable.  I  know  not  why  dis- 
eases and  other  objectionable  qualities  may  not 
be  hereditary  in  trees  as  well  as  animals.  Select, 
then,  the  plumpest  seeds  from  the  best  fruit  for 
planting,  and  if  half  a  dozen  are  planted  where 
you  wish  a  tree,  no  harm  if  they  all  start.  Let 
them  grow  one  season,  and  then  select  the  most 
promising  for  the  future  tree,  (removing  all  oth- 
ers,) and  bud  or  graft  it  with  the  desired  variety 
as  early  as  may  be.  I  have  no  doubt  but  an 
orchard  may  be  raised  in  this  way  as  cheap  and 
of  a  great  deal  better,  longer  lived  trees,  than  by 
any  other  course.  It  may  require  mere  care  for 
a  year  or  two  than  is  necessary  for  trees  started 
in  the  nursery,  but  in  the  end  I  firmly  believe  it 
will  be  better. 

A  tree,  like  an  animal,  is  an  organic  being,  and 
a  perfect  tree,  like  a  perfect  animal,  has  all  its 
parts  furnished  by  a  provision  of  nature.  Take 
away  any  of  those  parts,  and  you  deprive  nature 
of  its  perfection.  Who  would  think  of  giving  a 
drawing  of  a  horse  divested  of  its  tail,  mane  or 
ears,  or  of  a  bird  with  its  vv'ings  clipped,  or  of  a 
man  with  either  hand  divested  of  a  finger,  or 
minus  an  eye  ?  In  such  a  case,  the  drawing  would 
represent  the  object  claimed,  in  perfection,  but  in 
a  mutilated  form,  divested  of  a  part  essential  to 
its  perfection  as  the  object  represented,  and  ne- 
cessary to  its  growth  and  healthfulness.  We  have 
no  members  we  would  willingly  dispense  with, 
none  but  what  contribute  to  our  success.  They 
are  all  provided  by  the  God  of  Nature  for  useful 
purposes.  So  with  a  tree ;  it  has  its  parts  and 
proportions  adapted  to  its  circumstances. 

Of  the  thousands  of  apple  trees  that  have  been 
t-ransplanted  for  the  last  dozen  years,  the  num- 
ber now  living  is  discouragingly  small,  and  those 
actually  promising  to  make  good  and  durable 
trees  is  still  less.  In  most  instances,  these  fail- 
ures have  been  attributed  to  want  of  care  in  the 
cullivators,while  the  unfortunate  purchasers  have 
laid  the  blame  to  the  localities  from  which  their 
trees  were  originated.  In  some  instances,  proba- 
bly, the  failures  have  been  justly  given  to  right 
causes.  But  there  are,  no  doubt,  other  and  more 
tangible  reasons  operating  collaterally  with  these. 
I  have  heard  of  a  practice  among  some  nursery 
men  of  dividing  roots  to  an  indefinite  extent  pro- 
portioned by  the  quantity  of  them,  and  grafting 
and  making  a  tree  of  each  of  the  parts.  Of 
course,  these  would  make  but  part  of  a  tree  and 
a  sickly,  short-lived  part  at  that,  for  a  piece  of  a 
root  can  never  make  a  full  root  to  sustain  and 
nourish  the  plant.  Another  cause  has  probably 
been  that  very  ma.ny  trees  have  been  sold  by 
travelling  agents,  whose  trees,  to  say  nothing  of 
their  quality  when  standing  in  the  nursery,  are 
often,  judging  from  the  scantiness  of  root,  dug 
with  great  haste  and  little  care,  and  hurried  off 
to  their  destination.  If  they  fail,  where  is  the 
responsibility  ?  Not  in  the  nurseryman.  He  fills 
the  orders  sent  in  by  Mr.  A.  for  so  many  trees. 
He  has  them  of  every  quality,  and  like  every  one 
else,  is  anxious  to  dispose  of  his  wares.     There 


are  some  poor  trees,  which  he  is  not  willing  to 
lose — they  must  go  with  the  rest.  He  does  not 
know  who  will  have  them,  so  he  is  not  responsi- 
ble. Mr.  A.  has  ransacked  the  country  to  sell 
trees,  and  agrees  to  furnish  Mr.  B.,  Mr.  C,  and 
so  on,  so  many  each.  Each  purchaser  must  sign 
the  contract,  but  the  vender  of  wares  is  left  on 
his  word  to  bring  such  a  number  of  trees,  the 
very  best,  of  course.  What  arrangement  he 
makes  with  the  nurseryman  I  know  not,  but  I 
have  seen  more  than  one  sorry  looking,  almost 
rootless  bundle  of  trees,  brought  on,  and  the  pur- 
chaser must  take  them.  It  is  not  strange  that 
they  die. 

When  trees  are  purchased,  it  is  better  for  the 
buyer  to  deal  direct  with  the  nurseryman.  It 
will  save  the  percentage  that  the  middle  man 
works  for,  and  as  we  may  well  suppose,  secure 
better  trees ;  for  what  nurseryman  will  fill  an 
order  for  reliable  trees  with  an  inferior  article  ^ 
No  one  who  has  any  regard  for  reputation.  I 
have  sent  orders  to  nurserymen  direct,  with  cash 
accompanying,  three  hundred  miles,  and  were  as 
well  accommodated  as  though  I  had  been  on  the 
ground  and  made  my  selection  and  taken  up  the 
trees  myself.  I  should  not  hesitate  to  do  the 
same  again,  but  I  should  hesitate,  twice  at  least, 
before  I  purchased  of  a  travelling  vender,  un- 
less he  gave  me  a  warrantee,  signed  and  sealed, 
that  the  tree  should  stand  on  the  full  roots  of  a 
seedling  stock,  carefully  taken  up  and  delivered 
in  a  good  condition.  William  Bacon. 

Bichmond,  Mass.,  June  20,  1859. 


For  the  Neu)  England  Farmer. 

WHITE  SPECKS  IN  BUTTER. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Your  correspondent  "T.,"  asks, 
"What  makes  the  white  specks  in  butter  ?"  I 
answer,  they  are  occasioned  by  the  milk  being 
"set"  where  there  is  a  current  of  air,  as  from  an 
open  window,  or  by  the  milk-room  being  too 
warm,  so  that  the  surface  of  the  cream  in  the  pans 
before  skimming  becomes  dry,  and  in  the  process 
of  churning  does  not  mingle  with  the  rest  of  the 
cream,  but  remains  in  the  butter  and  butter-milk 
in  the  form  of  specks. 

In  your  "Remarks"  appended  to  "T.'s"  inqui- 
ry, you  say  that  the  white  streaks  in  butter  may 
be  occasioned  by  some  of  the  cream  being  more 
recently  taken  off",  and  not  come  so  readily  as 
that  does  that  has  been  taken  off  longer.  My 
theory  is,  that  they  are  caused  by  the  salt  being 
imperfectly  worked  in  at  the  time  of  salting,  the 
white  streaks  are  not  so  salt  as  the  rest  of  the 
butter. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  read  the  com- 
munication of  Henry  Holmes.  He  says,  "if  you 
scrape  what  cream  there  is  on  the  lid  of  the  churn 
into  the  cream-pot,  you  will  not  be  troubled  with 
those  white  specks."  The  cream  on  the  lid,  or  in 
the  corners  of  the  churn  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  specks  or  streaks  in  butter,  and  had  Mr. 
Holmes  spent  the  last  five  years  in  person,  churn- 
ing, working,  and  putting  down  butter  for  mar- 
ket, or  so  much  of  the  time  as  would  have  been 
requisite  to  taking  care  of  a  good  dairy,  in- 
stead of  "manufacturing  and  selling  churns,"  he 
would  have  learned  that  fact.  II.  Blake. 

Hardwick,  Vt.,  June,  1859. 


374 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Auo. 


For  the  Netc  England  Farmer. 
TREAL  OP  MOWING  MACHINES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Dear  Sir, — I  notice  in  your  is- 
sue of  June  25  an  article  on  mowing  machines, 
signed  "Truth  and  Justice,"  in  which  the  writer 
labors  to  convince  the  public  that  Ketchum's  im- 
proved mower  is  the  best  machine  in  the  market, 
and  that  it  proved  itself  such  at  the  trial  of  mow- 
ers in  Boylston  some  ten  days  since.  There  are 
several  statements  made  in  that  article  which  are 
erroneous.  The  first  which  I  will  notice,  is,  that 
"the  work  of  the  Manny  mower  lacked  that  even- 
ness of  cut  which  characterized  the  work  of  the 
Ketchum  ;"  the  opposite  of  this  was  evident  to 
most  who  examined  the  work  of  the  different 
machines  impartially,  especially  in  that  of  the 
Connecticut  machine,  whose  swath,  in  many 
parts,  was  a  complete  wave.  It  was  claimed  for 
the  Ketchum  that  it  wotild  cut  closer  than  the 
Manny,  that  it  would  not  clog,  would  cut  lodged 
grass  better,  would  start  easier  in  heavy  grass, 
and  had  less  side  draft  than  the  Manny  machine. 
These,  I  think,  were  refuted  by  the  working  of 
the  Manny  machine.  "Truth  and  Justice"  claims 
as  a  reason  for  the  fatigued  appearance  of  the 
horse  which  drew  the  Ketchum,  (which,  by  the 
Way,  is  from  200  to  300  lbs.  heavier,  and  I  should 
say  quite  a  number  of  years  younger  than  the 
Manny  horse,)  that  he  had  been  worked  all  the 
forenoon  at  Worcester,  then  driven  ten  miles  and 
put  on  the  machine.  Admit  this — but  was  that 
the  case  on  another  occasion  when  the  writer 
saw  the  same  horse  on  the  common  in  Worces- 
ter, drawing  the  same  machine,  and  exhibiting 
even  greater  fatigue  than  on  the  occasion  in 
question  ? 

The  operation  of  the  two-horse  machines  was 
quite  as  opposite  in  its  results  to  what  "Truth 
and  Justice"  claims,  as  was  the  case  with  the  one- 
horse  mowers.  To  the  Ketchum  machine,  with 
a  six-foot  bar,  were  attached  two  powerful  horses 
driven  by  one  of  the  best  operators  of  mowers  in 
the  State,  and  with  this  strong  team  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  the  horses  could  draw  the  machine, 
and  at  the  same  time  be  kept  clear  of  the  stand- 
ing grass,  so  great  was  the  direct  and  side  draft, 
the  pole  of  the  machine  swaying  against  the  off 
horse  nearly  the  whole  distance  cut ;  this  fact, 
perhaps,  was  not  noticed  by  your  disinterested  (?) 
correspondent,  "Truth  and  Justice,"  but  it  was 
noticed  and  spoken  of,  not  only  by  the  writer, 
but  by  many  others  in  his  vicinity,  among  them 
one  or  two  of  the  most  experienced  operators  of 
mowing  machines  in  the  country. 

The  fact  that  both  Manny  machines  exhibited 
were  sold  on  the  ground,  and  that  five  or  six 
have  been  sold  since  to  parties  who  were  present 
at  this  trial,  proves  that  all  the  farmers  there  as- 
sembled did  not  form  the  same  opinion  as  to  the 
merits  of  the  two  machines,  which  "Truth  and 
Justice"  asserts  that  they  did. 

Since  the  above  trial  there  have  been  trials  at 
Georgetown,  Lowell  and  Sutton,  in  all  of  which 
the  Manny  has  proved  itself  to  be  the  most  reli- 
able and  practicable  machine.  At  Sutton  a  trial 
came  off  on  Friday  last,  although  the  weather 
■was  such  that  according  to  previous  arrange- 
ment it  should  not  have  taken  place.  The  ma- 
chine was  put  into  wet,  heavy  grass,  and  the 
Ketchum  proved  an  entire  failure,  clogging  and 


slipping  over  the  grass,  cutting  it  anywhere  but 
close  to  the  ground.  The  Manny  did  its  work 
well,  cutting  the  wet  grass  closely  and  evenly 
We  are  straining  every  nerve  to  supply  our  cus- 
tomers as  fast  as  their  orders  are  sent  in,  and  at 
this  time  our  supply  of  one-horse  machines  is 
exhausted,  except  what  we  are  able  to  turn  out 
from  day  to  day. 

With  these  statements  of  the  truth  of  the  mat- 
ter I  leave  the  public  to  judge  which  is  the  best 
machine,  and  how  much  consistency  there  is  in 
your  correspondent  subscribing  himself  "Truth 
and  Justice."  Alzirus  Brown. 

Worcester,  June  27, 1859. 


Remarks. — We  were  somewhat  reluctant  to 
publish  the  article  in  our  last  signed  "Truth  and 
Justice,"  lest  it  might  open  a  controversy  not  in 
accordance  with  the  design  of  our  paper.  Know- 
ing the  writer  however,  not  only  to  be  what  is 
called  a  fair  man,  but  a  man  of  the  strictest  in- 
tegrity, a  man  of  sound  judgment,  and  of  ac- 
knowledged reputatation  wherever  known,  and 
listening  to  his  argument  that  the  people  ought 
to  learn  the  result  of  such  a  trial,  we  admitted 
the  article. 

For  the  Neu?  England  Farmer 
KICKING  OOWB  AND   ORCHARDS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  your  issue  of  last  week  I 
notice  two  methods  recommended  to  prevent  a 
cow  from  kicking.  Of  course,  it  is  not  Mr. 
Beecher's  brindle,  "All  Saint."  "A  Belmont 
Farmer"  says :  "Take  a  rope  long  enough  to 
go  round  the  cow,  commencing  at  her  forward 
legs,  and  tie  it  over  her  shoulders.  Now  take  a 
stick  and  twist  the  rope  tolerably  tight,  which 
will  prevent  her  from  using  her  legs."  Query. 
Is  the  rope  to  surround  the  cow  longitudinally 
or  latitudinally  ?  If  the  former,  we  don't  see 
how  it  can  be  tied  over  her  shoulders.  If  the 
latter,  i.  e.,  as  a  girt  is  put  on  a  horse,  we  don't 
see  how  it  can  prevent  the  use  of  her  hind  legs. 
We  once  had  an  awfully  bad  kicking  cow. 
She  kicked  so  badly  that  it  really  made  us  mad 
at  her ;  and  we  foolishly,  I  allow,  undertook  to 
lick  it  out  of  her ;  but  it  was  of  no  use ;  the 
more  we  licked,  the  more  she  kicked.  O,  we 
had  a  terrible  time  of  it,  at  least  the  cow  did. 
You  can  lick  or  choke  a  bad  habit  out  of  ahorse, 
but  out  of  a  cow  never ;  they  don't  know  enough. 
But  to  the  method  to  prevent  kicking. 

Take  a  rope,  say  a  yard  long,  and  with  a  sin- 
gle knot  tie  it  in  its  centre,  just  above  the  hoof 
of  the  rear  forward  foot.  Pull  upon  the  ends  of 
the  rope  a  little,  and  she  will  raise  her  foot.  Hold 
the  foot  up  and  tie  the  ends  of  the  rope  around 
the  leg  above  the  knee,  which  keeps  the  foot  up, 
and  she  has  to  stand  on  three  feet.  If  she  floun- 
ders a  little  at  first,  never  mind  it ;  she  will  come 
all  right  soon.  After  doing  this  a  few  times,  she 
will  raise  her  foot  as  easily  as  a  horse  to  be  shod, 
and  you  can  have  simply  a  noose  to  slip  over  the 
knee  as  she  doubles  it  up,  and  effectually  prevent 
all  kicking. 

I  have  a  few  acres  of  apple  orchard  now,  from 
seven  to  ten  years  old,  and  for  a  few  years, 
trimmed  it  in  the  spring;  as  some  writers  on 


859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


375 


trimming  advise  to  trim  at  any  season  when  you 
see  a  limb  that  needs  cutting  off.  By  so  doing 
I  found  my  trees  to  bleed  badly,  for  two  or  three 
years,  and  to  turn  the  bark  black.  I  now  trim 
not  till  after  the  trees  get  well  leaved  out ;  say 
the  last  of  June  or  later,  and  they  do  not  bleed. 
Is  that  right  ?  CiT. 

Lowell,  Mass.,  June  20,  1859. 


Remarks. — Certainly.  If  you  must  trim,  do 
it  when  it  ■will  cause  the  least  injury;  and  that 
is  when  the  sap  has  passed  up  and  is  elaborated 
into  the  substance  that  increases  the  size  of  the 
tree.  From  the  middle  of  June  to  the  middle 
of  July  is  a  good  time.  It  may  also  be  safely 
done  when  the  leaves  have  fallen  in  autumn,  and 
the  tree  is  in  a  comparative  state  of  rest.  Al- 
ways cover  the  wounds  with  shellac  dissolved  in 
alcohol. 

EXTBACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

SEASON    AND   CROPS   IN    WESTERN   MASSACHU- 
SETTS. 

Our  season  has  some  beautiful  and  some  dis- 
couraging features.  I  never  knew  so  severe  a 
winter  on  fruit  trees  as  the  last — not  from  exces- 
sive low  temperature,  but  severe  and  rapid 
changes.  How  can  trees  survive,  when,  as  in 
Januai-y,  the  mercury  falls  50"  in  twenty-four 
hours  ?  Peaches  may  be  considered  used  up  ; 
quinces  have  suffered  badly ;  the  last  year's 
growth  of  the  apple  was  in  many  instances  killed, 
and  some  trees  that  just  survived  are  very  late  in 
showing  verdure,  I  have  seen  apple  blossoms  on 
such  trees  June  15.  The  pear  was  decidedly  the 
hardiest  tree,  at  any  rate  it  suffered  least. 

We  have  had  three  frosts  in  June,  neither  of 
which,  from  my  locality,  has  injured  me,  while  a 
mile  distant  corn  is  cut  down,  potato  tops  nipped, 
pompions  and  beans  killed.  We  have  frequent 
and  heavy  rains,  giving  grass  and  grains  a  fine 
appearance.  W.  Bacon. 

llidimond,  Mass.,  June,  1859. 

THE    SEASON   IN   NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

The  first  half  of  the  present  month  has  been 
colder,  here,  according  to  the  testimony  of  elder- 
ly residents,  than  the  corresponding  season  of 
any  previous  year  since  1816.  From  the  first  to 
the  twelfth  day  of  the  month  there  were  five 
frosts,  doing  great  damage  to  corn  and  other  ten- 
der field  crops  and  to  gardens.  Much  of  the  corn 
in  low  grounds  is  entirely  killed.  Farmers,  in 
some  instances,  have  planted  again  with  an  ear- 
ly kind ;  and  some  have  plowed  up  their  fields. 
In  some  particular  localities  and  in  some  fields  the 
corn  has  escaped,  when  in  other  fields  but  a  few 
rods  distant,  and  of  a  less  northern  exposure,  it 
has  been  entirely  destroyed.  My  attention  was 
called  to-day  to  a  field  which  had  been  planted 
with  corn,  all  at  the  same  time,  in  part  of  which 
the  corn  had  been  almost  entirely  destroyed,  while 
that  in  the  other  part  appeared  to  have  been  but 
little  affected.  The  field  was  level,  and  the  line 
of  division  between  the  part  that  was  destroyed 
and  that  which  was  s])ared  was  most  distinctly 
marked  and  straight  for  several  rods.     What  is 


further  remarkable  in  this  case,  is,  that  the  part 
of  the  field  in  which  the  corn  escaped  was  fully 
exposed  on  the  north  side,  while  the  other  part 
was  sheltered  by  buildings.  1  should  like  to 
know  how  these  facts  can  be  accounted  for. 

R.  M.  Fuller. 
Lempster,  JV.  H.,  June  16,  1859. 

the  curculio. 

Experimental  knowledge  is  the  most  reliable 
knowledge  in  the  world.  Mr.  Weston,  of  Read- 
ing, told  me  that  he  had  succeeded  in  ridding  his 
orchard  of  the  curculio  by  turning  his  swine  in- 
to it  in  June,  accompanied  by  his  fowls.  The 
swine  ate  all  the  diseased  apples  fallen  from  the 
trees,  and  the  fowls  acted  as  gleaners,  following 
in  the  rear  of  the  rooting  pigs  and  devouring 
all  the  worms  and  other  small  animals  which  es- 
caped the  hogs  in  their  rooting  operations.  He 
kept  his  hogs  and  fowls  in  his  orchard  till  Sep- 
tember, or  till  apples  were  ripe.  He  had  an 
idea  that  hogs  alone  were  not  sufficient  to  spy 
out  all  the  worms,  and  therefore  their  extermi- 
nation required  the  assistance  of  the  fowls. 

Silas  Brown. 

North  Wilmington,  June,  1859. 

WORMS   in   HORSES. 

I  wish  to  inquire  of  you,  through  your  paper, 
what  the  symptoms  are  of  worms  in  horses  ? 
Also,  a  remedy  for  the  same.  H.  D. 

Lisbon,  M  IL,  June  14,  1859. 

Remarks. — Symptoms  of  worms  are  a  tight 
skin  and  rough  coat ;  the  horse  will  sometimes 
stand  with  a  sort  of  vacant  look,  and  at  others 
seek  to  rub  the  hind  parts  against  the  boards  of 
the  stall.  Other  symptoms  are  an  irritation 
about  the  fundament,  and  small  white  lines  of 
mucus  around  the  anus.  You  will  not  be  likely 
to  mistake  this  symptom.  An  easy,  and  what 
we  have  always  found  a  certain  remedy,  is  to 
take  clean,  fine  wood  ashes,  mix  a  gill  of  it  with 
wet  oats  or  cut  feed,  and  give  the  horse  every 
other  day  till  these  symptoms  disappear. 

crops   and   WEATHER   IN   VERMONT. 

We  have  had  pretty  sharp  frosts  this  month, 
of  the  consequences  you  can  judge — have  had 
cool  weather  for  nearly  two  months  ;  our  grass 
was  very  much  injured  by  the  severe  cold  last 
winter  ;  it  has  been  dry  until  about  two  weeks 
ago,  and  now  we  are  having  a  wet  time.  Crops 
are  looking  middling  well.  The  greater  part  of 
our  corn  had  not  shot  out  of  the  ground  when 
the  frosts  came.  We  have  few  sheep  compared 
with  what  we  had  twenty-five  years  ago.  I  think 
the  farmers,  generally,  mean  to  get  45  to  50  cts. 
for  their  wool.  We  have  more  old  corn  on  hand 
than  is  usual  at  this  season  of  the  year. 

W.  F.  Goodrich. 

Middlebury,  Vt.,  June  18,  1859. 

PRESERVING   CANS. 

Our  correspondent  at  West  HenniJcer,  N.  H., 
who   inquires  about  preserving  cans,  may  find 


876 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug, 


plenty  of  tin  ones  at  Haynes  &  Foss's,  Black- 
stone  Street,  Boston.  If  he  do  not  like  tin,  take 
any  glass  jars,  put  the  fruit  in  hot,  or  exhaust 
the  air  in  some  other  way,  then  tie  over  a  thin 
piece  of  India  rubber  or  rubber  cloth.  There  are 
various  kinds  of  cans  in  the  market. 

WEATHER   IN   VERMONT. 

The  prospects  of  the  farmers  here  are  gloomy 
enough.  The  season,  thus  far,  has  been  very 
dry  and  cold,  with  frequent  frosts.  Last  Friday 
quite  rainy,  and  to-day  also.  Much  corn  has 
been  killed  with  frosts,  and  worms  are  injuring 
corn  and  other  grains.  M.  8. 

Cambridge,  It.,  June  13, 1859. 

COW  LEAKS   HER   MILK. 

Can  you,  or  any  of  the  readers  of  the  Farmer, 
tell  what  will  stop  a  cow  from  leaking  her  milk  ? 
I  have  tried  liquid  cuticle,  and  a  neighbor  has 
tried  white  oak  bark  boiled  down  and  alum,  with- 
out stopping  the  leak.  E.  BU  w. 

Charlotte,  Vt.,  June,  1859. 

CURE  FOR   GARGETY   COWS. 

I  have  found  horse  radish,  cut  and  fed  in  po- 
tatoes the  same  as  garget  root,  a  good  remedy 
for  gargety  cows.  E.  P.  Chase. 

Deerjidd,  JV.  H.,  June  18,  1859. 


LETTEBS  PHOM  MAINE— ITo.  2. 

Ih  my  last,  I  referred  to  the  disastrous  effects 
of  the  last  winter  upon  young  Baldwin  trees,  in 
Maine  ;  and  the  facts  stated  seemed  to  me  to 
prove  that  no  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  the 
Buccess  of  the  culture  of  the  Baldwin,  where  there 
is  a  liability  of  the  occasional  sinking  of  the 
thermometer  to  the  point  of  congealation  of  the 
mercury. 

With  us,  whenever  the  mercury  has  approached 
within  ten  degrees  of  the  point  of  congealation, 
almost  all  Baldwin  trees  which  were  grafted  near 
the  ground,  or  which  were  subjected  to  high  cul- 
ture, when  grafted  higher,  have  been  entirely 
destroyed,  or  received  irre])arable  injury. 

Next  to  the  Baldwin,  the  Tolman  Sweeting  suf- 
fers the  most  severely,  and  the  Rhode  Island 
Greening  is  unsafe  with  the  thermometer  thirty 
degrees  below  zero.  The  Spitzenburg  is  not  safe 
in  Maine.  When  severe  cold  may  not  kill  the 
tree,  it  has  an  injurious  effect  upon  the  fruit.  The 
New  York  Russet  is  nearly  worthless  with  us. 
Too  much  dependence  has  "been  placed  upon  va- 
rieties of  the  apple  which  have  proved  valuable 
in  the  latitude  of  New  York,  while  too  little  at- 
tention has  been  bestowed  upon  varieties  origin- 
ating in  higher  northern  latitudes.  ^luch  has 
been  said  about  the  introduction  of  trees  raised 
in  New  York  nurseries  into  Maine,  and  it  is  now 
generally  believed  that  trees  from  the  South  can- 
not be  made  to  thrive  in  our  latitude,  but  with 
me  the  variety  has  had  more  to  do  with  the  har- 
diness of  the  tree  than  the  location  in  which  it 
was  raised. 


brought  from  the   same  nurseries,  seems  to  hs 
proof  against  our  coldest  winters. 

The  Black  Oxford,  a  native  of  Maine,  a  slow 
grower,  a  great  bearer,  and  an  excellent  apple, 
received  not  the  least  injury  from  the  winter, 
when  the  mercury  freezes. 

The  past  winter  has  proved  fatal  to  the  Black 
Heart  Cherry  when  growing  on  its  own  root, 
but  the  heart  cherries,  when  grafted  on  the  wild 
or  bird  cherry  stock,  appear  to  be  proof  again^ 
the  effects  of  frost. 

Almost  all  the  damson  trees  within  the  reach 
of  my  observation  have  been  killed,  and  so  have 
the  Lombard  plum  trees,  but  the  Imperial  Gage 
proves  hardy  enough  for  our  climate. 

Sandy  River. 


For  the  Netc  England  Farmer, 

MOWING  MACHINES. 

Much  disappointment  v/as  manifested  at  fli« 
late  fair  in  Georgetown,  at  the  imperfect  exhibi- 
tion of  the  power  of  these  implements.  I  con- 
fess to  have  shared  in  this  disappointment,  Not 
that  there  was  not  a  sufficiency  of  good  machines 
on  the  ground,  but  at  the  combination  of  circum- 
stances that  tended  to  prevent  their  operating  ad- 
vantageously. First,  there  was  no  order  in  this 
movement,  each  one  going  into  the  field  just 
when  and  where  he  pleased,  and  continuing  more 
or  less  as  he  pleased,  therefore  affording  no  op- 
portunity to  compare  the  operations  of  the  ma- 
chines with  each  other.  Second,  the  imperfect 
growth  of  the  grass,  it  not  being  fit  to  cut.  Third, 
the  uncontrollable  movements  of  the  multitude 
through  the  grass  in  all  directions.  For  these 
and  other  reasons,  the  committee  acted  wisely  in 
not  expressing  any  opinion  of  the  implements 
presented.  I  was  quite  surprised  not  to  find  on 
the  field  our  old  favorite  implement — the  Allen 
machine.  What  has  this  done  to  be  jjlaced  ho}'3 
du  combat  7  I  had  supposed  the  principles  in- 
volved in  the  structure  of  all  these  machines,  to 
be  so  simple  and  so  common,  that  any  one  might 
use  them  as  they  pleased.  This  carrying  patent 
privileges  to  an  extreme,  is  not  promotive  of  pub- 
lic good.  Give  us  honest  effort  and  sound  com- 
mon sense  in  all  these  movements.        Essex. 


For  the  Neta  England  FarmeB' 

ONION  MAGGOT  AND  GUANO. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  reply  to  the  inquiry  of  Mr. 
Emerson  in  your  paper  of  June  25,  "Has  Mr. 
Proctor  tried  the  guano,  and  did  it  fail  him  ?"  I 
answer,  that  I  have  not  myself  tried  it ;  but  my 
neighbors  have  tried  it,  viz.,  Messrs.  Buxton,  Wil- 
son, Bushby,  Bodge,  Huntington,  and  others,  all 
of  them  extensive  cultivators;  and  each  and  all 
of  them  have  assured  me,  since  the  publication 
by  Mr.  Emerson  of  his  experience,  that  they 
have  no  confidence  whatever  in  the  curative  qual- 
ities of  guano.  I  have  the  same  assurance  from 
Mr.  H.  Ware,  of  Marblehead,  who  in  ihe  season 
of  1858  raised  and  soldJJre  thousand  bushels  of 
onions  ;  and  who  now  has  twelve  acres  planted 
with  onions,  from  which  he  hopes  to  obtain  stx 

provided   their 


hundred   bushels   to  the   acre 
While  all  investments  in   varieties  [growth  shall  not  be  interrupted  by  the  maggot 


of  the  Baldwin  type  brought  from  the  Rochester  or  rust.  J.  W.  Proctoii 

nurseries  have  proved  total  loss,  the  PomegrisI     South  Danvers,  June  25,  1859. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


377 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HEAD  OH  HUB. 

Every  system  which  is  self-sustaining  is  justly 
to  be  compared  to  a  circle  and  a  wheel.  Such, 
if  a  system  of  farming,  has  its  hub,  or  item  of 
prime  and  indispensable  importance.  Men  have 
their  systems  of  farming  which  are  successful,  as 
systems  of  money-making  ;  which  ought  not  to 
be  called  self-sustaining,  because  the  farmer's 
money  is  obtained  by  the  exhaustion  of  the  land. 
Sucjh  systems  have  a  head — some  leading  and 
governing  idea — but  they  have  no  hub. 

He  who  makes  himself  rich  by  making  the 
land  poor,  robs  the  ne.Kt  generation  of  the  means 
of  subsisting  comfortably,  by  honorable  industry, 
as  farmers.  Such  a  man  is  a  great  sinner  against 
God  who  gave  the  earth,  or  soil,  for  a  perpetual 
blessing  to  the  cultivator  ;  he  heaps  heavy  bur- 
dens upon  unborn  generations  ;  he  is  a  scourge 
and  curse  upon  the  land,  in  his  day,  and  leaves 
the  blight  of  barrenness  to  those  who  may  be 
born  after  he  dies.  His  march  through  time  is 
like  that  of  the  warrior.  He  makes  money,  and 
this  is  all  his  aim.  Men  give  him  the  glory  which 
they  give  a  conqueror  ;  because  he  has  gotten  to 
himself  riches.     But  desolation  fills  his  track. 

God  gave  the  soil  to  be  fruitful,  and  to  grow, 
more  and  more  fruitful  by  continued  culture, 
only  enjoying  its  Sabbaths.  Man  must  ever  be 
dependent  upon  the  fruitfulness  of  the  soil  for 
the  means  of  a  corafortable  subsistence.  Fishing 
may  feed  a  few,  hunting  may  abate  some  hunger, 
but  the  farm  must  feed  the  multitude. 

How  can  the  farm  be  made  to  produce  more 
and  more  for  homo  consumption,  and  at  the  same 
time  more  and  more  for  foreign  market?  He 
who  can  strike  that  idea,  in  a  true  answer,  will 
hit  the  hub  of  the  wheel.  He  will  know  upon 
what  part  of  his  system  everything  else  depends, 
and  around  which  everything  else  revolves. 

The  man  who  only  thinks  to  increase  the  con- 
tributions for  market,  without  a  proportional  in- 
crease of  consumpion  on  the  farm,  will  be  found 
to  swindle  the  soil. 

Upon  some  farms  a  few  cows  will  be  the  hub 
of  the  wheel  in  a  self-sustaining  and  an  improving 
system  of  farming.  Cows  produce  calves  ;  calves 
grow  into  cattle  ;  cows  produce  milk  ;  milk  'pro- 
duces pork  ;  milk  produces  butter  ;  milk  makes 
cheese.  A  prime  article  for  the  life  and  prosper- 
ity of  man,  is  milk. 

To  a  good,  grass-growing  farm,  a  cow  is  justly 
entitled  to  the  crown  as  queen  of  the  realm  ;  she 
has  proved,  to  many  a  man,  the  mother  of  money. 
Sometimes  she  has  proved  almost  the  mother  of 
men  ;  she  contributes  to  the  compost  heap  ;  she 
nourishes  the  calf  that  grows  and  contributes  to 
the  compost,  also  ;  she  feeds  the  pig  with  her  milk, 
while  he  grows  at  less  cost,  and  adds  by  work 
and  contribution  to  the  compost  heap.  Thus 
does  Mully  make  a  threefold  contribution  to  the 
compost  heap  ;  in  herself,  through  her  offspring, 
and  through  the  thriving  grunter  in  the  pen.  The 
size  of  the  manure  heap  will  mostly  settle  what 
is  in  future  to  happen  on  the  farm,  by  way  of 
corn-crops,  clover-cuttings,  handsome  cattle,  &c. 
She  contributes  a  calf — the  father  of  an  ox  or 
cow — too  important  a  friend  of  the  farm  to  be 
bailed  to  the  butcher  without  hesitation.  She 
contributes  more  for  the  growth   of  piggy  than 


could  be  gathered  from  a  half-acre  of  poor  c  irn. 
She  giver  a  large  portion  of  her  value  yearly  in 
golden  butter,  or  in  nourishing  cheese. 

Now,  it  is  a  matter  of  some  moment  to  the  far- 
mer, that  the  cows  he  keeps  should  be  good  ones. 
Such  will  cost  no  more  care,  no  more  keeping  ; 
and  yet  they  will  be  worth  more,  and  they  will 
pay  for  more. 

See,  friendly  farmer,  if  the  hub  of  your  wheel 
is  sound.  Your  carrii:ge  v*'ill  "go  to  smash,"  if 
it  is  not. 

There  is,  as  I  believe,  some  just  and  proper  sys- 
tem to  be  pursued  on  every  peculiarity  of  soil, 
which  shall  at  the  same  time  prove  a  blessing  to 
the  soil  and  a  source  of  profit  to  him  who  culti- 
vates it.  I  do  not  believe  that  even  in  these  ma- 
terial matters  the  governing  law  of  a  true  system 
can  be  such  that  labor  and  life  tend  to  destruc- 
tion. 

I  have  already  spun  this  thread  so  long  that  I 
must  cut  it  short  at  once.  c. 

Lee,  N.  H.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
AGRICaiiTUBAIj  MARKET  FAIBa. 
BY   WILSON   FLAGG. 

The  agriculture  of  a  State  cannot  be  prosper- 
ous or  productive  in  the  highest  degree,  unless 
every  district  has  an  easy  and  ready  access  to  a 
good  market.  It  is  the  expected  rule  of  one's 
prudence  that  urges  him  to  raise  more  than  he 
wants  for  his  ov/n  consumption ;  and  the  hope 
of  making  his  business  profitable,  stimulates  him 
to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  it,  and  to  learn  the 
best  methods  of  rendering  his  lands  productive. 
Good  markets,  therefore,  exert  more  influence  in 
the  education  of  the  farmer  than  is  generally  at- 
tributed to  them.  While  their  labor  in  the  field 
teaches  them  experimentally  how  every  process 
is  to  be  performed,  their  observation  at  the  mar- 
ket encourages  them  to  increase  their  efforts,  and 
to  attempt  new  things.  Let  it  be  demonstrated 
to  any  young  farmer  of  sober  habits  and  intelli- 
gent mind,  who  occupies  a  farm  which  is  badly 
situated  for  the  sale  of  its  produce,  and  who  has 
neglected  his  business  because  he  saw  no  chance 
of  making  it  profitable;  let  it  be  made  evident 
to  him  that  in  a  new  market  lately  opened,  he 
could  find  a  good  sale  for  every  thing  his  farm 
would  produce,  and  he  immediately  becomes  en- 
terprising and  industrious.  Inspired  with  the 
hope  of  increasing  his  wealth,  he  feels  a  new  in- 
terest in  his  occupation,  and  immediately  sets  his 
mind  at  work  to  learn  all  the  valuable  improve- 
ments in  farming.  He  overleaps  his  prejudices 
in  the  ardor  of  his  pursuit  of  fortune.  He  be- 
comes more  studious  as  well  as  more  active,  and 
takes  a  sudden  start,  like  a  healthy  young  tree, 
that  has  been  transplanted  from  a  dry  and  barren 
declivity  to  a  deep  soil  and  an  open  situation. 

Whenever  a  body  of  farmers  are  unsupplied 
with  good  markets,  as  we  observe  in  certain  re- 
mote and  isolated  districts,  they  commonly  unite 
their  employment  with  some  mechanical  art ;  and 
under  such  circumstances  the  state  of  agriculture 
is  low.  The  intelligent  members  of  their  com- 
munity are  belter  informed  upon  other  subjiccts 
than  upon  agriculture,  which  offers  them  no  op- 
portunities of  improving  their  condition.     If  the 


378 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


construction  of  a  rail-ro&d  through  one  of  these 
remote  districts  suddenly  creates  a  market  for 
agricultural  produce,  or  renders  a  distant  market 
accessible,  an  immediate  impulse  is  given  to  the 
agriculture  of  the  place.  The  present  inhabitants 
are  stimulated  to  greater  activity,  and  other  in- 
dividuals of  superior  skill  and  enterprise  are  in- 
duced to  join  them  in  the  occupation  of  farming. 
Instances  of  agricultural  improvement  arising 
from  this  cause  have  been  observed  by  all. 

We  will  now  suppose  another  example,  in  which 
the  market  was  created,  not  by  a  change  in  the 
system  of  public  travelling,  not  by  what  might 
be  called  an  accident,  but  by  a  premeditated 
scheme,  originating  with  the  inhabitants  of  one 
of  these  isolated  districts.  The  farmers  of  this 
section  may  be  supposed  capable  of  producing  on 
their  lands  the  value  of  half  a  million  more  than 
they  now  produce.  Outside  of  it,  the  people  of 
other  occupations  buy  the  products  of  distant 
parts,  from  which  they  can  easily  obtain  them 
through  the  great  throroughfares.  The  farmers 
of  the  district  above  mentioned,  having  become 
aware  of  these  facts,  and  led  on  by  some  capable 
individual,  resolve  to  establish,  outside  of  the 
district,  a  depot  for  all  their  productions,  and 
they  agree  to  send  them  to  this  place  which  is 
■very  accessible  to  the  whole  neighboring  country, 
whose  inhabitants  are  mostly  non-agricultural. 
The  consequence  of  such  an  arrangement,  if  the 
management  of  the  business  and  the  sales  are 
conducted  by  an  honest  and   capable   body   of 


for  the  farmer,  one  of  two  things  must  be  accom- 
plished. Either  the  non-agricultural  population 
must  be  increased,  or  the  present  number  must 
be  induced  to  purchase  of  the  farmers  in  their 
vicinity.  The  first  is  often  done  by  the  establish- 
ment of  manufactories,  and  by  opening  new  ave- 
nues of  trade.  The  second  object  may  be  accom- 
plished to  a  limited  extent,  by  rendering  the  me- 
dium of  communication  between  these  two  class- 
es more  easy  and  practicable,  and  by  demon- 
strating to  each  the  methods  by  which  they  could 
advantageously  trade  with  one  another.  Each  of 
these  ends  may  be  promoted  by  the  establish- 
ment of  markets  and  depots  for  agricultural 
products,  and  by  making  the  farmers  acquainted 
with  the  extent  of  their  ability  to  compete  with 
distant  producers,  who  have  formerly  supplied 
the  wants  of  the  people.  This  knowledge  they 
would  soon  obtain  by  observation  and  experience 
at  the  markets. 

Markets  may  be  regarded  as  of  two  sorts : 
first,  those  of  a  general  nature  to  supply  the  mis- 
cellaneous wants  of  commerce  ;  second,  those 
established  to  accommodate  the  members  of  a 
particular  branch  of  business.  All  great  cities, 
towns  and  manufacturing  villages  afi'ord  markets 
of  the  first  description.  Markets  of  the  second 
sort  are  commonly  the  result  of  agreement  be- 
tween the  parties  to  be  accommodated,  like  the 
trade  sales  among  pul)lishers  and  book-sellers. 
Such,  also,  are  many  of  the  agricultural  fairs  es- 
tablished  in  all  parts  of  Europe,  and  which  are 


agents,  is  an  immediate  change  in  the  condition  [attended  by  the  farmers  and  peasantry,  to  save 
of  the  people.  The  inhabitants  of  the  adjoining  the  trouble  and  expense  of  going  to  a  general 
villages  purchase  many  of  their  commodities  at  j  market  to  buy  and  sell.  They  are  instituted 
this  depot,  in   preference  to  their  former  method |  chiefly  for  the  benefit  and  accommodation  of  ag- 


of  supplying  their  wants,  because  a  near  market, 
other  things  being  equal,  is  always  preferred  to 
a  distant  one. 

The  farmers  being  urged,  thereby,  to  raise 
more  produce,  are  able  to  live  in  better  style,  to 
enjoy  superior  comforts,  and  gradually  acquire 
additional  wants.  The  manufacturers  who  buy 
their  products  find  a  ready  sale  for  their  own  ar- 
ticles, for  the  children  of  the  farmers  who  for- 
merly went  bare-footed  now  wear   shoes  ;    both 


ricultural  producers. 

Agricultural  fairs  in  this  country  ace  premium 
shows  ;  they  are  not  markets  like  those  of  Eu- 
rope. They  have  not  been  without  their  utility, 
but  they  are  attended  with  great  expense  ;  and 
though  this  expense  is  contributed  for  the  im- 
provement of  agriculture,  yet,  if  the  same  ends 
could  be  accomplished  by  another  system,  in 
which  this  expense  would  be  avoided,  so  much 
money  would  remain  to  be  usefully  appropriated 


men  and  women  use  better  clothing,  better  house-j  in  other  ways.  Our  annual  shows  are  used  to 
hold  furniture  and  improved  agricultural  imple-i  some  extent  as  markets  ;  but  they  do  not  bear 
ments  ;  they  consume  more  luxuries,  both  in  the  this  character,  and  no  man  attends  them  for  the 


parlor  and  the  kitchen,  at  the  table  and  the  toi- 
let. They  become  more  liberal  and  ambitious, 
and  both  willing  and  able  to  support  other  occu- 
pations. Every  branch  of  business  receives  a 
healthy  and  extraordinary  impetus,  by  the  volun- 
tary establishment  of  this  market.  Yet  this  was 
the  effect  of  a  forced  arrangement — of  a  combi- 
nation of  the  inhabitants  of  a  dull  place,  to  re- 
suscitate it,  and  to  improve  their  circumstances 
by  supplying  a  want,  v/hich  was  not  supplied  by 
the  accidents  of  commerce.  By  means  of  it,  they 
are  brought  into  commercial  intercourse  with  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  the  intelligence  of  the  far- 
mers improves  as  rapidly  as  their  prosperity. 

The  prosperity  of  agriculture  must  be  depen- 
dent on  the  extent  of  the  non-agricultural  popu- 
lation that  needs  to  be  supplied  with  its  products. 
But  the  farmers  of  a  particular  district,  while 
surrounded  by  a  large  non-agricultural  commu- 
nity, may  still  be  unprosperous,  if'the  wants  of 


mere  purpose  of  buying  and  selling.  Regular 
agricultural  markets  are  established  throughout 
the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain.  Some  of  these 
are  monthly,  others  are  semi-monthly  or  weekly. 
They  are  held  in  the  most  convenient  places,  and 
many  of  them  were  founded  by  the  exertions  of 
some  wealthy  land-proprietor,  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  the  value  of  his  estates.  In  some  places, 
it  has  been  the  landlord's  practice  to  give  a  din- 
ner to  all  purchasers  who  attended  the  market, 
and  to  afford  all  possible  facilities  both  to  buyers 
and  sellers.  So  much  expense  would  not  be  lav- 
ished, without  reasonable  expectation,  at  no  dis- 
tant period,  of  profitable  returns.  In  these  cases, 
the  landlord  undertakes,  at  his  own  expense,  the 
work  which,  in  one  of  our  supposed  examples, 
the  farmers  accomplished  by  associations  for 
their  mutual  benefit.  At  different  times,  there 
seems  to  have  been  considerable  competition 
among  landlords  in  relation  to  these  enterprises. 


the  latter  are  supplied  from  other  sources.  When,! Their  eff'orts,  in  connection  witli  other   riv^'um- 
therefore,  it  is  proposed   to  create  new   markets! stances,  have  ended  in  the  general  establishment 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


379 


of  agricultural  fairs  in  the  British  Islands. — 
It  cannot  reasonably  be  doubted  that  these  lo- 
cal institutions  have  exerted  the  best  influence 
on  British  agriculture.  They  have  brought  mar- 
kets for  the  farmer  up  to  his  very  doors  ;  and 
they  are  so  general  and  so  frequent,  that  one  sel- 
dom fails  to  dispose  of  his  produce  or  his  stock. 
If  he  does  not  sell  his  products  to-day,  at  the 
market  in  which  he  has  oflered  them,  he  immedi- 
ately adjourns  to  the  next  fair,  that  happens  to- 
morrow, in  some  adjacent  town.  It  is  unnecessa- 
ry to  enumerate  any  of  these  fairs  ;  but  we  would 
remark  that  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  severally 
used  for  the  sale  of  products  or  stock,  of  one  de- 
scription alone.  There  are  fairs  respectively  for 
horses,  for  oxen,  for  cows,  and  for  particular 
breeds  of  each  of  these  animals.  There  are  Iamb- 
fairs,  fairs  for  rams  and  for  ewes,  and  for  lamb- 
ing ewes.  At  some  of  the  principal  fairs  in  Scot- 
land, the  number  of  sheep  exhibited  is  from 
70,000  to  80,000,  and  the  number  of  cattle  is 
from  20,000  to  o0,000.  Some  of  these  are  of  a 
description  called  character  markets,  at  which  no 
sheep  or  wool  is  shown.  The  quality  of  the  sheep 
stock,  and  the  nature  of  the  clip  of  wool,  from 
each  farm,  are  known  by  experience  or  reputation 
to  the  purchaser,  as  flour  is  known,  in  this  coun- 
try, by  the  brand  of  the  manufacturer. 

Such  markets,  were  they  to  become  general, 
would  serve,  in  great  measure,  to  diminish  the 
evil  of  fluctuation  in  prices,  which  is  caused  by 
unsteadiness  either  in  the  demand  or  in  the  cir- 
culation of  goods.  The  first  cannot  be  controlled  ; 
the  last  may  be  checked,  in  part,  by  increasing 
and  multiplying  the  facilities  for  internal  com- 
merce. There  is  often  a  demand  for  corn  in  the 
Eastern  States,  when  there  is  a  great  surplus  at 
the  West.  The  railroad  communications  are  not 
sufficient  to  preserve  an  undeviating  regularity 
in  the  exchange  of  commodities  between  these 
two  sections  of  the  country.  Were  it  as  easy  in 
Massachusetts  to  obtain  corn  from  Illinois  or 
Tennessee  as  from  New  York  city,  the  fluctua- 
tion in  its  prices  would  be  chiefly  caused  by  an 
increase  or  diminution,  either  in  the  production 
or  the  demand,  as  they  could  not  proceed  from 
the  imperfect  character  of  the  conveyances.  The 
same  reasoning  applies  to  the  commerce  of  more 
limited  districts  or  sections.  The  commercial  in- 
tercourse of  the  farmers  of  Massachusetts,  with 
its  non-agricultural  population,  maybe  so  imper- 
fectly systematized,  as  to  render  it  difficult  to 
sell  half  the  quantity  of  produce  which  might  be 
readily  sold  under  a  good  system  of  commercial 
opportunities. 

Our  farmers  do  not  raise  many  products  for  a 
distant  market,  because  the  State  contains  a  large 
population  which  is  not  agricultural,  whose  wants 
are  more  than  our  domestic  agriculture  could 
supply.  Hence  their  principal  trade  is  carried  on 
with  the  inhabitants  of  their  own  State,  and  do- 
mestic markets  are  almost  the  only  ones  that  are 
available  to  them.  It  is,  therefore,  highly  impor- 
tant that  these  should  be  sufficient  in  number, 
that  they  should  be  widely  distributed,  and  placed 
under  wise  and  efficient  regulations.  They  might, 
thenceforth,  become  the  most  valuable  aids  to 
our  domestic  agriculture,  and  stimulants  to  its 
activity.  The  increased  sales  of  every  commodity 
always  tend  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  la- 
bor employed  in  producing  it;    and  the  necessity 


for  greater  efficiency  tends  to  improve  the  skill 
and  awaken  the  enterprise  enlisted  in  the  busi- 
ness. Our  farmers  will  improve  in  skill  and  in- 
telligence, not  as  we  multiply  the  direct  means 
for  their  instruction,  but  rather  as  we  increase 
their  facilities  for  bringing  their  products  to  a 
good  market. 

It  was  recommended,  therefore,  some  time  since, 
by  R.  S.  Fay,  Esq.,  to  establish  periodical  Mar- 
ket Fairs  in  some  imjiortant  town  in  each  county 
of  the  State,  for  the  improvement  of  commercial 
intercourse  between  the  agricultural  and  the  non- 
agricultural  classes  of  our  inhabitants.  These 
fairs  were  proposed  to  be  a  sort  of  Farmers'  Ex- 
changes, where  they  would  be  accommodated,  no'" 
only  in  buying  and  selling,  but  in  conversing 
with  their  fellow-citizens  upon  all  topics  of  inter- 
est. It  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  one  or  two 
days  in  a  season,  devoted  to  these  occasions, 
would  be  of  more  value  than  one  or  two  days' 
labor  to  the  general  agricultural  interest,  as  well 
as  to  the  individual  interest  of  those  who  attend- 
ed them.  They  would  greatly  relieve  the  monot- 
ony of  the  farmer's  life,  by  providing  periodical 
holidays,  if  they  may  be  so  called,  where  business 
might,  to  a  certain  extent,  be  joined  with  recrea- 
tion ;  and  while  the  parties  were  making  bar- 
gains for  their  mutual  benefit,  they  would  learn 
from  each  other  the  state  of  the  crops,  the  de- 
mands of  the  markets,  the  prospects  of  the  sea- 
son, and  the  means  of  improving  their  farms. 

In  accordance  with  the  views  and  recommen- 
dations of  Mr.  Fay,  the  Secretary  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture,  this 
association  offered  a  prize  of  $150  for  the  best 
essay  on  this  subject.  Allen  W.  Dodge,  Esq., 
was  the  successful  competitor.  In  conformity 
with  the  plan  recommended  in  the  essay,  and  to 
carry  out  the  original  design  of  Mr.  Fay,  the  Es- 
sex County  Agricultural  Society  have  set  the 
first  example  to  the  public,  by  their  late  Market 
Fair  in  Danvers.  This  is  said  to  have  been  very 
successful,  and  the  society  have  voted  to  hold 
the  next  fair  in  North  Andover,  on  the  third 
Tuesday  in  May  ;  and  it  is  their  intention  to  hold 
one  annually  in  the  same  place.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  farmers  will  see  the  tendency  of 
these  institutions  to  promote  their  general  and 
individual  interest,  and  that  they  will  contribute 
their  endeavors  to  assist  Mr.  Fuy  in  carrying  in- 
to execution  his  patriotic  enterprise,  the  mere 
preliminaries  for  which  have  required  no  ordina- 
ry amount  of  energy  and  ability. 


For  the  New  England  Faimer. 
THE  TURNIP  CHOP. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Can  it  be  that  the  turnip  is  so 
worthless  as  Mr.  B.  of  W.,  and  Mr.  C.  of  P.,  in 
your  last  issue,  represent?  I  have  long  consid- 
ered it  an  exhausting  crop,  as  compared  with 
many  other  vegetable  products,  but  not  so  bad 
as  they  represent. 

If  my  recollection  is  right,  the  great  Mr.  Web- 
ster, on  his  return  from  lingland,  spoke  of  the 
culture  of  the  turnip  as  engrossing  a  large  share 
of  the  attention  of  English  farmers.  I  am  quite 
sure  their  books  on  culture  speak  of  the  turnip, 
as  the  principal  crop  for  the  feed  of  their  flocks 
of  sheep,  permitting  them  to  gnaw  them  in  tb 


580 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


Aug. 


field,  without  being  harvested.  Is  their  soil  so 
different  from  ours,  that  this  crop  will  do  well 
there,  and  not  at  all  well  with  us  ?  I  have  known 
1600  bushels  of  English  turnips  to  be  gathered 
from  an  acre,  estimated  to  be  worth  for  the  feed 
of  stock  20  or  25  ots.  per  bushel.  I  supposed 
this  to  be  a  better  yield  than  7<5  bushels  of  In- 
dian corn  from  the  same  land — both  demanding 
like  dressings  of  manure. 

I  do  not  believe  Mr.  A.,  of  P.,  will  agree  with 
his  townsman  C.  in  this  matter — nor  do  I  believe 
will  Mr.  D.,  of  P.,  all  of  whom  have  had  the 
honor  of  being  Presidents  of  the  Plymouth 
County  Society.  If  my  recollection  is  right,  in 
the  last  speech  I  heard  from  him,  and  he  always 
speaks  forcibly  and  to  the  point,  he  spoke  en- 
couragingly of  the  culture  of  ruta  bagas  and  oth- 
er turnip  crops.  Essex. 

June  13, 1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

lilTTLE  THINGS: 

Or,  a  Walk  in  My  Garden....No.  19. 

While  watering  some  plants  the  other  day,  I 
was  led  to  notice  some  of  the 

SIGNS    OF   A   STORM. 

My  dog.  Carlo,  has  occasionally  a  fit  of  eating 
grass.  Now  I  suppose  others  have  noticed  the 
same  fact  in  dogs ;  but  I  never  yet  saw  one  eat- 
ing grass  whose  act  was  not  followed  by  rain 
within  twenty-four  hours.  Others  may  have 
met  with  an  exception,  but  I  have  not. 

The  instincts  of  animals  with  reference  to  the 
weather  have  been  noticed  from  the  earliest  an- 
tiquity; and  I  believe  the  time  has  arrived  when 
a  careful  collection  of  facts  should  be  made  re- 
specting the  behavior  of  plants  and  animals  as 
indicative  of  the  weather. 

EARLY   AND   LATE   FROSTS. 

"While  noticing  a  white  frost  in  ray  garden 
where  I  had  hoed  a  few  potatoes,  I  was  led  to  in- 
quii-e  why  it  should  be  so  severe  there  ;  when  a 
sensible-looking  neighbor  told  me  that  ground 
recently  hoed  in  spi-ing  was  more  liable  to  frost, 
but  when  hoed  in  the  fail  it  would  prevent  a 
frost.  The  reason  was  at  once  obvious.  In  the 
spring  the  earth  has  not  been  warmed,  and  evap- 
oration is  increased,  and  cold  results,  as  a  conse- 
quence, sufficient  for  a  frost ;  but  in  the  fall,  when 
the  ground  is  warm,  stirring  it  causes  an  evap- 
oration of  warm  air  and  moisture. 

It  was  a  beautiful  evening,  and  while  taking  a 
walk  down  the  garden  I  was  meditating  on  the 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MOON  ON  THE  TEMPERA- 
TURE. 

Physicists  are  not  inclined  to  attach  much  im- 
portance to  the  influence  of  the  moon  upon  the 
weather,  but  it  seems  to  be  a  well-established 
fact  that  when  the  moon  runs  high,  as  farmers 
say,  it  is  colder  than  at  other  times.  It  is  the 
dread  of  the  farmer  that  he  shall  have  a  frost  on 
the  full  of  the  moon,  either  late  in  the  spring  or 
early  in  the  autumn.  He  always  looks  for  it  at 
that  time,  and  no  other.  Farmers  in  Maine  know 
that  if  they  can  get  safely  by  the  frosts  on  the  full 
moon  in  September,  they  will  not  be  likely  to 
have  a  severe  frost  till  the  next  full  moon  in  Oc- 


tober. Farmers  have  long  noticed  that  when  the 
moon  runs  low  in  the  summer  months,  the  nights 
are  very  warm.  Here,  I  believe,  is  an  interest- 
ing field  of  inquiry,  requiring,  to  be  sure,  a  long 
series  of  observations,  but  which  will  result  in 
something  important  to  the  cause  of  science  and 
of  scientific  agriculture. 

While  painting  over  the  wounds  on  my  apple 
trees,  this  week,  I  was  pleased  to  see  the  apples 
well  set  for  a  crop,  and  was  led  to  reflect  on  the 

EFFECTS  OF  COLD  ON  APPLE  TREES. 

I  have  for  several  years  been  led  to  doubt  the 
generally  received  opinion  of  farmers  in  regard 
to  the  causes  of  a  failure  of  fruit  after  blossom- 
ing full.  The  present  season  has  been  remarka- 
ble for  two  weeks  of  the  coldest  weather  ever 
known  in  June  in  this  vicinity.  Water  has  been 
frozen  the  thickness  of  a  dollar.  The  leaves  of 
locust,  beech  and  sumach  trees  are  all  killed — 
grape  vines  ditto.  On  three-fourths  of  an  acre 
of  corn  on  my  land,  probably  not  a  hundred  hills 
can  be  found  which  are  not  killed  to  the  kernel, 
and  past  recovery,  yet  the  apple  trees  adjacent 
are  heavily  set  with  fruit.  A  year  ago  my  or- 
chard was  a  mass  of  blossoms,  and  we  had  no 
very  cold  weather,  yet  I  did  not  gather  but  six 
barrels  where  I  should  have  expected  fifty.  I 
think  I  can  explain  the  reason.  Two  years  ago 
my  orchard  bore  heavily.  The  fall  season  was 
favorable  for  the  development  of  the  fruit  buds 
the  next  year,  and  when  the  next  year  came,  blos- 
soms were  abundant,  but  the  trees,  except  a  few 
in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  were  not  in  a  con- 
dition to  bear  fruit.  They  had  been  exhausted 
the  year  before  ;  I  think  the  weather  had  but  lit- 
tle to  do  with  them.  The  present  year  they  have 
recovered  their  energy,  and,  frost  or  no  frost,  I 
shall  have  a  good  crop. 

RHUBARB   FOR   GREENS. 

I  did  not  know  till  the  other  day,  when  a  lady 
told  me,  that  the  leaves  of  rhubarb  make  excel- 
lent greens.  They  are  as  tender  and  delicate  as 
anything  I  have  ever  eaten.  I  think  this  fact  is 
not  generally  known. 

But  as  your  readers  may  see  that  I  commenced 
this  article  rather  (Zo^'-matically,  I  fear  they  may 
think  that  I  shall  close  it  crt^-egorically.  So 
enough  of  little  things,  till  50U  hear  again  from 

Bethel,  Me.,  June  20,  1859.  N.  T.  T. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  LAW  IN  SEGARD  TO  THE  SALE  OF 
MILK. 

Mr.  Editor  : — It  is  well  known  that  a  law 
was  passed  last  winter  that  milk  should  be  sold 
and  bought  by  wine  measure,  and  that  it  is  in  force 
in  our  cities  many  persons  will  be  ready  to  tes- 
tify who  have  keenly  felt  the  diff'erence  between 
the  quart  they  used  to  receive  and  the  one  thai 
is  now  dealt  out  to  them. 

But  I  am  confident  that  the  law  is  not  as  strict- 
ly adhered  to  by  those  who  buy  milk  at  whole- 
sale, as  it  is  by  those  who  sell  at  retail,  and  I 
know  that  in  many  instances  milk  is  bought  of 
farmers  in  the  country  for  sixteen  and  seventeen 
cents  per  can,  the  cans  holding  seven  quarts  beer 
measure,  making  the  price  per  quart,  beer  rneas- 


1859. 


^^EW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


381 


ure,  two   and    one-half  cents,  while  the  milk  is  |  ripe,  as  the  ear  generally,  except  in  late  seasons, 
sold  in  our  cities   for  five  cents   a  quart,  wine  ripens   before  the   entire  of  the  straw  ;  and  it  is 


measure,  which  any  one  can  see  at  a  glance  is 
giving  the  dealers  an  enormous  profit,  while  the 
farmer  is  not  receiving  enough  for  his  milk. 

Now,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  old  adage,  "It 
is  a  poor  rule  that  will  not  work  both  ways,"  is 


observable   that  the  first  reaped  usually  affords 
the  heaviest  and  fairest  sample." 

Careful  observation  will  show  that  "the  indi- 
cations of  ripeness  in  wheat  are  few  and  simple. 


applicable  in  this  case  ;  and  that  if  milk  is  sold  by  '  When  the  straw  exhibits  a  bright  golden  color 
wine  measure,  it  ought  to  be  bought  by  wine  jfj-Qj^  the  bottom  of  the  stem  nearly  to  the  ear. 
measure  of  the  farmer. 


I  am  not  a  farmer,  and  sell  no  milk,  yet  a 
sense  of  the  injustice  done  to  those  who  do  sell, 
prompted  me  to  write  this,  hoping  that  it  would 
call  attention  to  the  subject,  and  that  something 
would  be  done  about  it. 

Knowing  that  your  valuable  paper  has  an  ex- 
tensive circulation  among  the  very  class  of  per- 
sons most  interested  in  this  matter,  I  send  this 
article  to  you  for  publication.  J. 

Concord,  Mass.,  June  27,  1859. 


or  when  the  ear  begins  to  bend  gently,  the  grain 
may  be  cut.  But — as  the  whole  crop  will  not 
be  equally  ripe  at  the  same  time — if,  on  walking 
through  the  field,  and  selecting  the  greenest 
heads,  the  kernels  can  be  separated  from  the 
chaff  when  rubbed  through  the  hands,  it  is  a  sure 
sign  that  the  grain  is  then  out  of  its  milky  state, 
and  may  be  cut  with  safety;  for  although  the  straw, 
may  be  green  to  some  distance  downwards  from 
the  ear,  yet  if  it  be  quite  yellow  from  the  bottom 


Remarks. — We  have  a  good  law  for  regulat-  j     ^l  •    \  ^         c    ^.-u 

,    °  „      ,,,  ,  ..^,         upwards,  the  grain  then  wants  no  further  nour 

mg  the  purchase  and  sale   or  muk,  and  it  taose  .  '  ,,         *;,  ^i        j  -e  i     u 

*        ,f      .,,    ,        ,  .  '     .  ,         ishment  from  the  earth,  and,  ir  properly  harvest- 

V7ho  sell  muk  by  the  quantity  are   disposed  toi    ,  .^     .,,       ,    ,    •   i     r^u        ..  i  -n  u    *        i 

.  •'.  ,,  J,  ed,  it  will  not  shrink,   ihese  tokens  will  be  lound 


submit  to  the  exactions  of  others,  and  transgress 
the  law  of  the  State  every  day,  let  them  suffer 
the  consequences.  Thank  you  for  calling  atten- 
tion to  the  matter. 


HARVli&TIWQ  THE  GRAIK  CHOP. 

In  making  a  tour  of  two  or  three  hundred 
miles  last  summer,  while  our  farmers  were  har- 
vesting their  crop  of  small  grains,  we  became 
convinced  that  much  negligence  and  waste  still 
prevail,  even  with  some  who  mean  to  be  tidy  and 
economical  farmers. 

In  harvesting  these  grains  we  suppose  the  first 
Important  consideration  to  be,  the  time  of  cut- 
ting. When  is  the  proper  time  to  cut  wheat, 
barley  and  oats  ?  Some  persons  do  not  com- 
mence until  the  leaves  on  the  stem  are  dead,  and 
the  berry  or  kernel  is  so  far  advanced  as  to  be 
considerably  dry.  Under  this  practice  there  must 


be  considerable  loss   experienced   in  both  grain 

and  straw.     At  this  advanced  stage  the  head  has 'shocking   and   after-handliug,  the   bundles   are 


to  sufficiently  indicate  the  ripeness  of  wheat, 
barley  and  oats ;  but  that  of  rye  arises  from  the 
straw  losing  some  of  its  golden  hue,  and  becom- 
ing paler.  The  usual  practice  in  England  is  to 
cut  down  all  grain  before  it  is  quite  ripe,  and  to 
leave  it  in  shocks  until  the  grain  is  perfectly  ma- 
tured and  hardened." 

This  extract,  which  we  take  from  an  excellent 
English  work,  does  not  precisely  agree  with  our 
remarks  in  relation  to  the  appearance  of  the 
stem,  as  the  latter,  we  have  often  observed,  may 
appear  nearly  dry  for  a  few  inches  immediately 
below  the  ear,  while  the  rest  of  the  stem  is  quite 
green.  But  the  suggestions  we  have  quoted  are 
valuable,  and  will  aid  many  cultivators  in  decid- 
ing at  what  particular  moment  to  cut  their  grains. 

Another  loss  in  this  harvest  is  occasioned  hy 
the  careless  manner  in  which  grain  is  gathered 
and  tied  up,  being  brought  into  bundles  uneven 
at  the  ends  and  of  irregular  size,  so  that  in  the 


become  dry,  and  the  little  scales  which  encircle  i  burst,  and  the  ears  broken  off.  The  stooking, 
and  hold  the  grain  are  separated  from  it,  so  that  i or  shocking,  is  often  so  badly  done  that  they  do 
at  every  touch  it  shatters  out  and  is  lost.     The  I  not  shed  the  rain,  or  protect  the  bundles  from 


process  has  also  gone  too  far  to  permit  the  grain 
to  produce  as  much  flour  and  nutriment  as  it 
would  if  the  harvesting  were  done  at  an  earlier 
day. 

As  wheat  or  barley  approaches  maturity,  the 
careful  observer  will  notice  that  the  stem,  imme- 
diately below  the  head  of  grain,  shrivels,  and  has 
the  appearance  of  having  partially  become  dry. 
When  this  appearance  has  covered  about  six  inch- 
es of  the  stem  immediately  below  the  head,  we 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  cutting  these  grains  ; 
the  kernel  is  then  glazed  and  just  going  out  of 
the  milky  state.  "If  not  reaped  until  the  straw 
is  wholly  yellow,  the   grain  will  be  more   than 


dews,  and  are  upset,  and  scattered  by  the  wind. 
They  are  often  left  uncovered,  so  that  in  wet 
weather,  as  was  the  case  at  the  last  harvest,  the 
loss  must  be  considerable  in  the  quantity  of  grain, 
and  more  still  by  a  depreciation  of  its  quality. 
We  were  gratified  to  notice  in  our  ramble  last 
summer  that  in  some  districts,  caps,  or  coverings 
of  cotton  cloth,  were  used  on  stocks  of  grain  in 
the  field.  It  had  been  raining  for  three  days — a 
part  of  the  time  heavily — and  yet  most  of  the 
stooks  so  covered  had  received  no  damage  what- 
ever— all  their  upper  portions  being  entirely  di7. 
We  thought  that  about  three  farms  out  of  four 
along  a  range  of  towns  in  south-eastern  New 


382 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


Hampshire,  were  using  these  coverings.     There 

can  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  saving  by  their 
use  in  a  single  season  like  the  past,  nearly  paid 
their  cost. 

It  is  a  great  loss  to  hurry  over,  or  to  perform 
indifferently,  the  labor  of  harvesting,  because 
then  the  crop  has  matured,  and  only  needs  one 
step  more  to  return  to  the  cultivator  its  profit. 
The  gathering  in,  and  stowing  away  in  the  barn, 
should  be  conducted  with  great  care,  to  prevent 
waste  of  grain,  to  protect  it  from  vermin,  and  to 
give  it  proper  ventilation,  so  that  it  shall  not  heat 
and  start  the  germ  of  the  seed. 


fered,  there  are  a  greater  number  of  named  pears 
than  would  be  give  by  the  generality  of  our  most 
experienced  cultivators  ;  for  out  of  the  hundreds 
that  have  been  introduced,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  name  over  20  that  we  should  commend  for 
general  culture.  J.  M.  IVES. 

Salem,  May  25,  1859. 


For  the  Hew  England  Farmer. 
ESSEX  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

In  the  "Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture,"  I  find  the  gentleman  who 
■was  appointed  to  visit  the  fall  exhibition  of  our 
society,  speaks  of  the  show  of  fruits,  which 
he  says  was  "very  large  and  ])erfect  specimens, 
both  of  apples  and  pears,"  but  that  he  was 
"somewhat  disajjpointed  in  the  comparatively 
small  number  of  dishes  of  fruit  presented,  and 
that  upon  inquiry,  learned  that  premiums  were 
only  offered  for  certain  varieties,  and  that  all 
others  were  excluded."  He  is  right  when  he 
says,  "This  course  has  been  adopted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  keeping  out  a  flood  of  ordinary  and  infe- 
rior varieties  which  would  otherwise  crowd  the 
tables."  But  when  he  goes  on  to  say,  "that  it 
is  only  by  comparing  the  good  with  the  bad 
that  the  superior  qualities  of  the  one  and  the 
imperfection  of  the  other  are  brought  out,"  I 
would  ask  him,  "how  long  are  we  to  lumber  our 
tables  with  worthless  varieties  ?  At  what  time 
shall  we  commence  this  reform  ?"  I  apprehend 
that  when  a  variety  of  pear  or  apple  has  been 
grown  by  various  individuals,  and  they  all  uni- 
formly consider  it  as  worthless,  or  at  any  rate, 
not  at  all  comparable  with  other  and  vastly  bet- 
ter sorts,  the  time  has  arrived  when  this  expur- 
gation should  begin.  Regarding  the  "small  num- 
ber of  dishes  of  fruit,"  I  would  inquire  of  him,  at 
what  county  Agricultural  Society  he  saw  exhibi- 
ted the  past  season,  more  than  was  seen  at  Dan- 
vers  ?  Nearly  one  tlioiisond  dislie"  and  plates ! 
The  premiums  were  offered,  not  by  "a  certain  ar- 
bitary  standard,  nor  for  the  consideration  of  the 
amateurs,"  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  farmers  of 
Essex  county,  that  they  may  be  induced  to  cul- 
tivate those  varieties  which  may  be  most  remu- 
nerative. Ours  is  not  a  horticultural,  but  an 
agricultural  society,  and  in  additon  to  the  list 
of  premiums,  we  award  gratuities  for  any  "ac- 
knowledged superior  fruit"  or  new  varieties  pre- 
sented. 

He  says,  "there  were  some  important  omis- 
sions of  generally  acknowledged  superior  fruits." 
If  he  means  by  this,  superior  flavored  pears,  we 
admit  that  there  are  fine  sorts  which  may  suc- 
ceed in  the  sheltered  gardens  of  our  cities,  that 
will  not  flourish  in  open  farm  culture.  Then, 
again,  there  are  others  ;  the  St.  Michael  and  St. 
Germaine,  that  are  still  cultivated  at  the  South, 
that  blast  all  over  New  England.  Regard;ng  the 
number  of  varieties  for  which   premiums  are  of- 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
WHITE    SPECKS   IN   BUTTEIi. 

I  would  say  in  reply  to  Mr.  Holmes,  of  Graf- 
ton, Vt.,  that  he  is  correct  in  regard  to  keeping 
the  cream  which  adheres  to  the  churn  and  covers 
during  the  process  of  churning  entirely  from  the 
butter ;  but  in  order  to  avoid  it  in  your  next  churn- 
ing be  equally  as  careful  to  keep  it  from  your 
cream-pot,  or  you  will  not  only  have  plenty  of 
the  said  specks,  but  an  unpleasant  flavor  to  the 
butter.  It  need  not  be  lost,  as  every  good  house- 
wife knows  well  how  to  enrich  her  biscuit  with  it, 
or  whatever  she  chooses. 

Mrs.  "L.  E.  H.,"  of  Ludlow,  Vt.,  is  on  the  right 
track,  but  I  hope  by  my  own  experience  and  that 
of  others,  to  help  her  along  one  pace  more.  I 
agree  with  her  in  saying  it  is  the  same  milk 
which  adheres  to  the  cream  in  the  process  of 
skimming,  but  instead  of  stirring  each  day,  would 
say,  not  stir,  but  let  each  day's  gathering  of  cream 
be  put  on  the  top  and  remain  so,  thus  keeping 
more  closely  the  air  from  the  older  cream,  which 
is  very  necessary  to  promote  a  fine  flavor  to  your 
butter,  and  thereby  exclude  the  necessity  of  rins- 
ing butter,  which  should  never  be  done  without 
washing  until  the  water  is  perfectly  clear.  Please 
try  the  experiment  in  saving  cream,  and  riiy  word 
for  it,  you  will  not  be  troubled  with  white  sjjccks 
Keep  the  cream-pot  covered  close,  to  avoid  both 
white  and  black  specks.  11.  E.  c. 

Fulney,  Vt.,  1859.       

PATENT  KOCK   LIFTER. 

Can  you  inform  me  who  is  the  proprietor  of 
the  Rock  Lifter,  recently  employed  by  the  Shak- 
ers at  Harvard,  Mass.  ?  Was  that  the  same  ma- 
chine, the  operation  of  which  you  describe  in  the 
JST.  E.  Farmer,  sometime  last  summer  or  fall  ? 
Can  it  be  used  to  advantage  for  pulling  stumps  as 
well  as  lifting  rocks  ? 

Remarks. — Thomas  Ellis,  Esq.,  Rochester, 
Mass.,  or  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.,  Boston,  sell  the 
machine.  Some  persons  who  have  tried  it  say  that 
it  pulls  moderately  sized  stumps  well.  Price, 
$2'2o.     We  have  sent  youa-  letter  to  Mr.  Ellis. 

A   GOOD   COW. 

Mr.  Secretary  Dodge  informs  me  that  he  has  a 
cow,  which  he  purchased  five  years  since,  for  .$37. 
He  has  kept  her  for  his  own  family  u^e,  and  fed 
her  as  good  cows  should  be  fed.  Since  the  1st 
of  May,  there  has  been  made  from  her  milk  77 
pounds  of  butter,  over  and  above  the  milk  and 
cream  needed  for  family  use.  He  is  entirely  con- 
fident, if  all  her  milk  could  have  been  used  for 
the  making  of  butter,  she  would  have  yielded  at 
least  two  pounds  of  butter  per  day.  While  such 
butter  stock  can  readily  be  found  on  our  own 
native  hills,  there   will  be   no   occasion   to   go 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


383 


abroad  for  butter.  At  a  recent  visit  to  the  Tread- 
wU  farm,  I  learned  it  took  more  than  twelve 
quarts  of  the  milk  of  the  Ayrshire  stock,  there 
fed,  as  it  ordinarily  flows,  to  yield  a  pound  of 
butter.  Ten  quarts,  or  twenty  pounds  of  the 
milk,  from  Mr.  Dodge's  cow,  will  do  this. 
June  27,  IBM.  _  Essex. 

PROFIT    OF   HENS. 

As  there  is  considerable  talk  about  the  profits 
of  keeping  hens,  I  thought  1  would  give  you  a 
bit  of  experience.  A  little  over  one  year  ago  I 
commenced  keeping  debt  and  credit  with  a  few. 
I  had  but  11  hens  and  1  rooster  ;  I  kept  the  ac- 
count one  year,  and  it  stands  thus : 

Cr.  by  120  tlozen  eggs  at  13 J  cents $1^,20 

Cr.  by  19  pounds  chickens  at  9  cents \.'!\ 

$17,91 
Dr.  to  feed.,  worth 6-21 

Balance  in  favor  of  hens $11,70 

They  were  fed  in  the  summer  with  corn, 
oats  and  wheat  screenings,  with  occasionally  a 
mess  of  warm  dough  or  potatoes,  boiled  and 
mashed  and  given  to  them  warm.  They  did  not 
have  a  very  good  chance,  as  we  had  to  keep  them 
shut  up  a  while  in  the  spring  on  account  of  the 
crops.  In  the  winter  they  were  kept  in  a  rather 
cold  stable.  Some  of  the  hens  are  full  blooded 
black  Polands,  the  rest  a  mixture  of  the  Poland, 
bantum  and  what  we  call  the  old-fashioned  hens. 
I  think  the  Polands  are  as  good  layers  as  there 
are.  Black  Poland. 

Monipelier,  Vi.,  June,  1859. 

SEED   CORN. 

In  the  Farmer  of  June  1st,  I  noticed  the  fol- 
lowing :  "Corn  for  planting  should  be  selected 
from  an  equal  number  of  male  and  female  ears, 
shelling  and  mixing  them  together."  Signed,  S. 
P.  Baker.  I  believe  that  plants  have  sex  as  well 
as  animals,  but  being  no  botanist,  permit  me  to 
ask  a  few  questions. 

If  you  plant  a  kernel  of  corn  alone  in  a  field, 
•why  does  the  stalk  ever  "ear"  at  all?  In  a  pile 
of  ripe  corn,  how  can  the  male  and  female  ears 
be  distinguished  ?  Will  you  or  Mr.  Baker,  who, 
from  an  experience  of  eighty-three  years,  is 
doubtless  well  posted,  inform  me  upon  the  sub- 
ject? What  is  the  most  convenient  size  for  hay- 
caps  ?  A  Farmer's  Boy. 

Charlemont,  Mass.,  June  22,  lSo9. 

Remarks. — Two  yards  square  for  hay  caps. 

STUMP-FOOTED    CABBAGE. 

Can  you  tell  me  what  maizes  cabbages  grow 
stump  or  clump-footed,  and  what  is  a  remedy  ? 
I  have  often  seen  large  pieces  nearly  entirely  lost 
from  this  cause,  for  a  clump-footed  cabbage  will 
not  head.  Albertus. 

Remarks. — We  have  heard  it  said  that  cab 
bage  seed  raised  from  the  stumps — that  is,  where 
the  head  has  been  cut  off  and  the  stump  set  out 
—  will  produce  clump-footed  cabbages.  The 
whole  plant,  head  and  all,  should  be  set,  to  raise 
seed  from. 


hedges. 

I  have  a  hedge  in  progress,  part  of  which  has 
arrived  to  the  height  desired.  Will  you  or  some 
of  your  correspondents  inform  me,  through  your 
columns,  at  what  time  and  how  often  it  should 
be  pruned  ?  and  oblige,  Hedge. 

Derry,  N.  E.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Prune  it  now,  and  if  the  growth 
continues  luxuriant,  prune  again  in  six  or  eight 
weeks.  

shedding  milk. 

I  wish  to  be  informed  of  the  liquid  that  has 
been  recommended  by  some  for  the  suppression  of 
milk  from  the  cow's  udder  where  the  cow  sheds 
her  milk. 

Cambridge,  Vt.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  trouble  is  probably  organic  ; 
some  of  the  muscles  or  other  parts  not  acting 
with  sufficient  force.  The  liquid  to  which  you 
refer  may  be  glycerine  or  liquid  cuticle,  but  we 
doubt  whether  its  use  would  prove  efficacious. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PASTURING— COWS— 'ViTOODIjAND. 

Mr.  Editor: — If  any  one  thing  is  neglected, 
forgotten,  and  left  to  take  care  of  itself,  it  is  the 
old  farm  pasture  of  New  England.  How  many 
farmers,  and  good  farmers,  too,  that  crowd  to 
the  ridge-poles  their  barns  with  hay  ;  that  fill  to 
overflowing  their  corn  and  grain  bins,  all,  (ex- 
cepting wheat,  to  their  shame,)  still  trusting  to 
the  same  old  pasture,  unassisted,  unnourished  ; 
their  flocks  and  herds  feed  there  ;  generations  for- 
gotten and  living,  still  pull  down  the  old  pasture 
bars  ;  perhaps  fifty  to  one  hundred  acres  is  the 
"area  of  freedom,"  for  fifteen  or  twenty  cattle ; 
they  ramble,  (poor  creatures,)  grub  and  nip  all 
the  day  long,  to  carry  home  their  scanty  messes 
and  empty  stomachs.  Now  summer  has  ended, 
they  have  gained  a  little  vitality  of  the  skin,  and 
all  they  have  lost  is  their  old  shaggy  coats,  aid- 
ed by  a  long  tail,  and  plenty  of  bushes  in  rubbing 
it  ofl'.  What  a  preparation  this,  for  another  win- 
ter's campaign  ;  to  enter  the  leanto  thin,  and 
come  but  thinner,  in  spring.  There  is  no  money 
in  this  operation. 

The  pasture  should  be  the  fattening  ground  ;_^ 
the  farmer  enriches  his  land  to  make  his  hay  to 
feed  his  winter's  stock  ;  why  should  he  not  make 
rich  ten  or  fifteen  acres  of  his  good  old  pasture, 
and  make  it  produce  more  fattening  feed  than 
seventy-five  to  one  hundred  acres  of  the  old 
mossy  mounds,  that  time  has  affixed  to  decaying 
nature  ?  The  advantages  are,  a  self-manuring 
process ;  it  necessarily  becomes  so,  the  range  be- 
ing made  small ;  animals  inclined  to  be  breachy 
are  contented  to  graze  in  good  feed,  and  lie  down 
quietly  in  their  own  enclosure.  This  is  the  place 
to  give  the  calves  and  colts  a  start ;  the  young 
stock,  growth  and  sleekness ;  the  faithful  ox, 
muscle  and  fat;  the  noble  cows,  flesh  and  full 
udders,  to  increase  the  business  of  the  "milk- 
man," to  better  fill  and  enrich  the  cream-pot,  and 
sweeten  the  butter  for  a  better  price  in  market. 
Dollars  and  cents  come  of  good  pastures.     Ilav- 


384 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Arc. 


ing  established  your  pasture  lots  in  proportion 
to  your  farm  v/ants,  which  can  always  be  kept  in 
a  high  grazing  condition,  and  at  little  expense, 
convert  the  balance  into  woodland,  and  a  few 
years  will  give  you  a  forest  of  great  value.  The 
dead  pasture  waste,  sometimes  half  of  the  farm 
territory,  seems  to  me  one  of  the  great  farming 
oversights  of  the  more  populous  parts  of  New 
England.  How  often  do  we  see  the  "axe  laid  at 
the  root  of  the  tree,"  to  make  more  "tillage  land," 
while  the  old,  cleared  acres,  are  suffering  for  want 
of  the  plow.  The  pasture  lies,  a  bald,  grimmy 
waste,  perhaps,  and  probably,  the  best  soil  on 
the  homestead.  Neither  spade  or  plow  has 
opened  its  surface  since  the  removal  of  its  pri- 
meval forest.  Within  its  bosom,  may  be  found 
rocks  enough  to  lay  your  walls,  and  at  odd  jobs, 
with  small  expense,  a  great  and  permanent  work 
can  be  accomplished. 

Mr.  Editor,  I  humbly  trust  you  and  every  farm- 
er will  subscribe  to  my  doctrine  ;  and  my  only 
regret  is,  my  inability  to  do  the  subject  greater 
justice.  li.  Poor. 

Brooklyn,  L.  1.,  June  12,  1859. 


With  regard  to  this  insect  travelling  along  under 
the  ground,  I  think  this  doubtful ;  they  may,  and 
they  undoubtedly  do,  enter  all  the  roots  in  near 
proximity,  but  farther  than  this,  they  probably 
do  not  progress  until  the  next  season,  when  the 
perfect  insect  emerges  in  the  spring. 

I  received  two  ounces  of  the  Weathersfield  red 
onion,  last  spring,  part  of  v/hich  I  sov/ed,  and 
the  bed  is  well  filled  v/itli  the  worm.  The  balance 
of  this  seed  is  that  with  which  I  have  made  these 
experiments  of  soaking.  J.  M.  IVES. 

Salem,  July,  1859. 


THS  RIV^H  OF  LIFE. 


For  the  AVa>  England  Farmer. 
ONION  FIiT. 

A  correspondent  in  your  last  Farmer  recom- 
mends soaking  onion  seed  "36  hours  in  strong 
soap-suds  before  sowing,"  with  the  impression 
that  the  eggs  of  this  insect  are  laid  upon  the  seed. 
In  this  I  apprehend  that  he  is  entirely  mistaken. 
I  have,  by  the  strictest  examination  with  the  mi- 
croscope, before  and  after  soaking,  been  unable 
to  detect  eggs  or  germs  of  any  kind  in  the  seed. 
Another  quite  as  strong  proof  that  the  eggs  are 
not  found  upon  the  seed,  is,  that  one  cultivator 
this  spring,  who  sowed  three  pounds  of  the 
Weathersfield  red  onions,  has  not  as  yet  been  able 
to  detect  a  single  instance  of  the  worm  in  his 
patch,  while  another,  who  sowed  two  pounds  of 
seedy)-om  the  same  lot,  has  already  lost,  or  near- 
ly so,  his  whole  bed  by  this  destructive  worm. 

Regarding  the  various  methods  adopted  in 
England  for  the  destruction  of  this  pest  which  I 
forwarded  to  you  some  days  since.  I  would  par- 
ticularly recommend  the  trcncliing  or  deep  ploio- 
ing  of  the  land  in  the  faF.,  or  just  before  winter, 
believing  that  the  chrysalis  of  the  insect,  if 
buried  deep,  will  be  unable  to  develop  itself,  par- 
ticularly if  thus  buried  below  the'  influence  of  the 
sun  and  air  of  spring.  In  this  matter,  however, 
I  am  instituting  experiments  by  transplanting 
these  onions  carefully,  without  disturbing  them, 
into  boxes  of  vaiious  depths,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain how  deep  they  descend  to  undergo  this 
transformation.  I  imagine  that  this  insect,  like 
the  canker  worm,  has  its  period  of  growth,  and 
also  its  desent  into  the  ground.  I  have,  upon  a 
small  bed,  applied  tobacco  water  without  effect, 
and  more  recently  tar-water  and  soot ;  this  latter 
has  a  better  effect.  As  regards  guano,  there  have 
been  various  opinions,  and  it  has  occurred  to  me 
that  these  conflicting  accounts  have  been  in  con- 
sequence of  this  insect  appearing  on  one  part,  (it 
may  be  the  corner  of  his  plat,)  and  then  applying 
guano  over  the  whole  bed,  and  this  worm  not  ex- 
tending itself  that  season  over  the  whole  bed,  he 
assumes  that  he  stopped  his  farther  progress. 


Blood  is  the  mighty  river  of  life,  the  mysteri- 
ous centre  of  chemical  and  vital  actions  as  won- 
derful as  they  are  indispensable.  It  is  a  torrent 
impetuously  rushing  through  every  part  of  the 
body,  carrying  by  an  elaborate  net  work  of  ves- 
sels, which,  in  the  course  of  the  twelve  months, 
convey  to  the  various  tissues  not  less  than  three 
thousand  pounds  weight  of  nutritive  material,  and 
convey  from  the  various  tissues  three  thousand 
pounds  weight  of  waste.  At  every  moment  of 
our  lives  there  is  nearly  ten  pounds  of  this  fluid 
rushing  in  one  continuous,  throbbing  stream, 
from  the  heart  through  the  great  arteries,  which 
branch  and  branch  like  a  tree,  the  vessels  becom- 
ing smaller  and  smaller  as  they  subdivide,  till 
they  are  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  then  they 
are  called  capillaries,  hair-like  vessels — although 
they  are  no  more  to  be  compared  to  hairs  than 
hairs  are  with  cables. 

These  vessels  form  a  net  work  finer  than  the 
finest  lace,  so  fine,  indeed,  that  if  we  pierce  the 
surface  at  almost  any  part  with  the  point  of  a  nee- 
dle, w-e  open  one  of  them,  and  let  out  its  blood. 
In  these  vessels  the  blood  yields  some  of  its  nu- 
trient materials,  and  receives  in  exchange  some 
of  the  wasted  products  of  tissue  ;  thus  modified, 
the  stream  continues  its  rapid  course  back  to  the 
heart,  through  a  system  of  veins,  which  com- 
mence in  the  myriad  of  capillaries  which  form  the 
termination  of  the  arteries.  The  veins,  instead 
of  subdividing  like  the  arteries,  become  gradual- 
ly less  and  less  numerous,  their  twigs  entering 
branches,  and  their  branches  trunks,  till  they 
reach  the  heart.  No  sooner  has  the  blood  poured 
into  the  heart  from  the  veins,  than  it  rushes 
through  the  lungs,  and  from  them  back  again  to 
the  heart  and  arteries,  thus  completing  the  circle 
or  circulation. 

This  wonderful  stream,  constantly  circulating, 
occupies  the  very  centre  of  the  vital  organism, 
midway  between  the  functions  of  nutrition  and 
excretion,  feeding  and  stimulating  the  organs  in- 
to activity,  and  removing  from  them  all  their 
useless  material.  In  its  torrent,  upwards  of  for- 
ty different  substances  are  hurried  along  ;  it 
carries  gases,  it  carries  salt — it  even  carries  met- 
als and  soaps!  Millions  of  organized  cells  float 
in  its  liquid  ;  and  of  these  cells,  which  by  some 
are  considered  organized  entities,  twenty  mil- 
lions are  said  to  die  at  every  pulse  of  the  heart, 
to  be  replaced  by  other  millions.  The  iron  which 
it  washes  onward  can  be  separated.  Professor 
Berard  used  to  exhibit  a  lump  of  it  in  his  lecture 
room — nay,  one  ingenious  Frenchman  has  sug- 
gested that  coins  should  be  struck  from  the  met- 
al extracted  from  the  blood  of  great  men. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMEK. 


385 


<#' 


i^,-.: 


-^li^ 


DESIGN  FOR  A  SUBURBAN  COTTAGE. 


In  accordance  ■with  an  announcement  made  at 
the  commencement  of  the  year  to  furnish  new 
and  useful  illustrations  to  the  Farmer,  we  pre- 
sent to-day  another  of  the  chaste,  simple  and  yet 
very  beautiful  designs  by  Mr.  G.  E.  Harney,  of 
Lynn.  Those  already  given,  Nos.  1  and  2,  have 
been  very  favorably  received,  and  we  are  confi- 
dent that  No.  3  will  afford  valuable  suggestions 
that  will  be  made  practical  by  many  individuals. 

The  sketches  which  we  now  offer  comprise  a 
design  and  plan  for  a  cottage  suitable  for  a  sub- 
urban or  village  lot.  Though  the  exterior  is 
somewhat  ornamental  in  its  character,  there  is 
nothing  about  it  costly  or  difficult  of  execution — 
no  detail  which  cannot  easily  be  wrought  by  any 
ordinary  house  carpenter. 

It  is  designed  to  be  of  wood,  and  covered  in 
the  usual  vertical  and  battened  manner.  The 
roof  projects  two  feet  and  a  half,  and  is  support- 
ed on  brackets.  The  house  should  rest  on  a 
foundation  projecting,  at  least,  three  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  ground.  The  first  story  is  10  ft. 
high  in  the  clear,  and  the  second  G  ft.  at  the 
eaves  and  10  ft.  high  at  the  ceiling.  The  plan 
comprises 

No.  1,  gallery,  5  ft.  wide.  No.  2,  hall,  7d  ft. 
wide  and  20  ft.  long,  containing  stairs  to  cham- 
ber and  cellar. 


From  the  hall  we  enter  No.  3,  the  parlor,  18 
ft.  square,  in  the  front  of  which,  and  forming  its 
principal  feature,  is  a  bay  window  overlooking 
the  front  yard. 

No.  4,  is  15  ft.  square,  and  may  be  used  either 
as  abed-room  or  living-room.  No.  5,  the  kitchen, 
is  15  ft.  by  16  ;  it  contains  a  large  closet,  and  con- 
nects with  a  pantry,  No.  6,  v/hich  opens  upon  a 
gallery.  No.  7,  leading  to  the  yard.  Under  this 
gallery  is  the  outside  entrance  to  the  basement. 

The  second  floor  contains  4  chambers,  each 
furnished  with  a  large  clothes-press  ;  two  of  these 
chambers  are  lighted  by  dormer  windows. 

Cost,  about  SIGOO  near  Boston. 


The  Teeth. — The  teeth  are  divided  into  three 
classes,  each  class  fitting  us  for  a  different  kind 
of  food :  First,  The  incisors,  or  cutting  teeth, 
being  eight  in  numl)er,  four  top  and  bottom  ; 
those  of  the  upper  jaw  being  larger,  and  falling 
over  the  under  ones  in  closing  the  mouth.  The 
office  of  these  teeth  is  for  dividing  and  cutting 
the  food,  by  bringing  it  between  the  surfaces  of 
the  sharp  edges.  Second,  The  canine  teeth,  so 
called  from  their  resemblance  to  the  dog's  tooth, 
are  placed  on  each  side  of  the  incisors,  making 
two  in  each  jaw.  The  intention  of  these  teeth  is 
to  lay  hold  of  substances,  and  are  peculiar  to  all 
carnivorous  animals,   and  of  which  man  is  con- 


386 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Atjg. 


GROUND   FLOOR   PLAN. 


eidered  the  most  harmless.  Third,  The  molars, 
or  grinders,  are  ten  in  each  jaw,  and  serve  to  fit 
the  food  for  the  stomach,  by  dividing  it  into  mi- 
nute portions,  or  pulp.  Thus,  it  will  be  seen 
that  nature  designed  man  should  partake  of  each 
of  the  foods  common  to  the  carnivorous,  herbiv- 
orous, and  granivorous  animals.  There  are 
other  teeth,  appearing  late  in  life,  called  "wis- 
dom teeth ;"  but  frequently  these  are  not  to  be 
met  with  at  all. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

EFFECT  OF  "WEATHER  ON  FBUIT 
TREES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  reading  the  article  of  your 
"Sandy  River"  correspondent, 'it  suggested  to  my 
mind  some  thoughts  that  may  be  a  benefit  to  him 
and  others.  He  says,  "The  last  winter  has  proved 
to  be  a  disastrous  one  to  fruit  trees  in  the  inte- 
rior of  Maine  ;  in  one  instance  the  mercury  fall- 
ing to  40  below  zero.  This  circumstance  affords 
an  opportunity  to  test  the  capacity  of  diff'erent 
varieties  of  fruit  trees  to  resist  the  effects  of  cli- 
mate." I  had  supposed  the  question  nearly  set- 
tled that  it  was  not  the  coldness  of  the  winters 
that  destroys  our  fruit,  but  other  circumstances, 
•which,  perhaps,  we  may  find  out  by  looking  on 
all  sides  of  the  question. 

The  winter  of  'oo'-i56,  and  'o6'-57,  was  colder 
than  1858-9;  the  mercury  fell  lower  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  I  think  the  papers  gave  it  lower  in 
Maine.  But  I  do  not  recollect  hearing  anything 
in  particular  of  the  injury  done  the  fruit  trees. 

He  SHVS,  "The  past  winter  has  proved  the  Bald- 
win is  the  most  tender  variety  of  the  apple  yet 
introduced  i.  ^u  Maine."     The  reason  is  obvious ; 


there  is  no  tree  that  has  ever  been  cultivated  In 
our  nurseries,  that  will  make  wood  so  fast  as  the 
Baldwin,  hence  its  tenderness.  Notice  his  ex- 
pression, "grafted  at  considerable  height  above 
ground,  and  on  the  slowest  growing  trees," 

There  is  no  danger  of  the  Baldwin,  if  you  do 
not  grow  them  too  fast.  Now  let  me  show  you 
an  instance  in  my  own  experience  :  In  1822  or 
1823  I  set  out  twenty-five  Baldwins  and  twenty- 
four  russets,  (and  one  greening  by  mistake,)  and 
as  I  said  to  you  in  my  other  communication,  the 
winter  of  1830  and  '31  killed  the  twenty-four 
russets,  and  not  one  of  the  Baldwins !  Now 
what  was  the  reason  of  this  ?  The  russets  were 
set  on  the  richest  soil,  and  grew  the  most ;  the 
greening  was  set  on  the  richest  spot,  and  made 
more  wood  than  either  of  the  russets,  and  is  a 
fine  tree  now  ;  so  are  all  the  twenty-five  Baldwins. 
Now  I  would  like  to  know  why  the  greening  tree 
escaped  the  injury  the  others  felt ;  is  it  more  har- 
dy ?  It  is  a  settled  question  in  my  own  mind, 
that  it  depends  upon  the  growing  of  the  trees 
late  in  the  fall,  and  of  our  having  gentle  or  light 
frosts  at  first  to  check  the  growing  of  trees,  and 
preparing  them  for  winter,  that  prevents  the  in- 
jury, and  not  the  severity  of  the  winter  that 
causes  it. 

If  it  is  true  that  Maine  has  suffered  the  past 
year,  I  doubt  whether  they  have  as  much  as  Mas- 
sachusetts did  in  1831.  I  do  not  recollect  of 
hearing  that  Maine  suflfered  at  that  time.  Maine 
has  its  advantages  and  its  disadvantages.  In 
1834,  Maine  had  more  apples  than  all  the  rest  of 
the  States.  The  frost  cut  off  almost  all  the  fruit 
in  the  other  States,  but  in  Maine,  the  season  be- 
ing later,  escaped  the  fe"ost.  In  Maine  the  ap- 
ples are  later,  do  not  ripen  so  early,  do  not  ripea 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAR:MER. 


387 


so  perfectly,  do  not  decay  so  soon,  and  will  make 
better  cider,  generally,  than  Massachusetts  ap- 
ples. I  would  not  be  discouraged  with  the  Bald- 
win ;  we  may  not  see  another  season  like  the 
past  for  a  lorg  time  to  come. 

N.  B. — I  was  in  Maine  in  the  fall  of  1834  ; 
bought  cider  and  apples  ;  saw  many  of  their  orch- 
ards, and  noticed  their  fruit  generally,  and  be- 
lieve that  where  the  fruit  of  Maine  is  as  well 
cared  for  as  in  Massachusetts,  it  will  keep  as  well 
or  better.  Daniel  Leland, 


GRAY'S  BOTANICA.Ii  SERIES, 

Professor  Asa  Gray,  the  author  of  the  bo- 
tanical works  referred  to  above,  has  devoted  his 
life  to  the  exposition  of  the  delightful  science  of 
botany,  and  has  achieved  a  success  not  only  hon- 
orable to  himself  as  an  individual,  but  honorable 
to  his  Alma  Mater,  and  his  native  State. 

The  study  of  plants,  with  their  beautiful 
and  infinitely  varied  forms  and  properties,  adapt- 
ing each  to  its  peculiar  location  and  life,  the 
wonderful  provision  made  for  the  preservation 
and  propagation  of  each  species,  their  growth 
from  seeds,  buds,  roots,  tubers  and  cuttings, 
— their  fruits  designed  principally  to  furnish 
protection  and  nourishment  for  their  germs, 
and  secondarily  to  furnish  food  for  all  animal 
life,  cannot  but  awaken  in  the  mind  of  the  stu- 
dent, wonder,  reverence  and  love  for  their  Crea- 
tor, as  he  witnesses  the  proofs  of  his  inexhausti- 
ble resources,  his  infinite  skill,  and  his  boundless 
benevolence. 

To  this  proper  effect  of  his  studies,  Mr.  Gray 
has  obviously  yielded  his  own  mind,  while  at  the 
same  time  his  enthusiasm  in  his  chosen  pursuit 
nas  carried  him  onward  through  all  the  difficul- 
ties and  intricacies  of  the  science,  until  he  has 
become  the  most  accurate  and  accomplished  bo- 
tanical teacher  in  the  country.  His  statements 
are  always  clear  and  reliable,  and  the  student 
feels  that  he  is  guided  by  the  hand  of  a  master. 
Many  of  the  educational  books  of  the  present 
day  are  mere  compilations,  soulless  skeletons, 
and  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  refreshing  to  find 
an  author  who  speaks  right  on,  telling  us  what 
he  does  know,  and  instructing  us  out  of  the  ac- 
cumulated treasures  of  his  own  mind.  Such  an 
author  is  Prof.  Gray.  He  imparts  to  his  leaders 
a  portion  of  his  own  enthusiasm,  and  keeps  up 
in  their  minds  an  unflagging  interest,  while  they 
follow  his  clear,  concise  and  consecutive  state- 
ments, and  almost  before  they  are  aware,  they 
find  themselves  enlightened  with  some  rays  of 
that  light  which  had  shone  so  clearly  in  the  mind 
of  the  author.  What  was  before  confused  and 
mysterious,  and  little  more  than  a  dark  mass, 
gradually  arranges  itself  into  clear  and  well-de- 
fined forms,  which  become  instinct  with  beauty 
and  life,  as  when  the  morning  sun,  rising  above 


some  distant  mountain  crest,  illuminates,  and 
distinguishes  the  organic  and  inorganic  forms, 
that  seemed  but  one  confused  mass,  while  the 
shadow  of  the  mountain  rested  upon  them. 

Prof.  Gray  follows  the  order  of  nature  in  his 
classification,  and  thus  has  an  unerring  guide, 
which  all  may  follow  with  perfect  confidence. 

Botany,  like  zoology,  has  to  deal  with  an  infi- 
nite number  of  individuals,  and  as  the  latter  has 
reduced  all  animals,  whether  inhabiting  the  air, 
the  water  or  the  land,  into  four  classes,  so  the 
former  includes  in  a  few  groups,  the  countless 
varieties  of  vegetable  forms,  which  spring  from 
the  earth's  surface.  The  laws  of  development 
are  adopted  as  the  basis  of  correct  classification. 
Plants  are  grouped  into  classes.  These  are  di- 
vided into  orders,  and  orders  into  genera,  and 
genera  into  species,  and  these  into  varieties.  To 
describe  the  principles  according  to  which  indi- 
viduals are  arranged  into  these  grovips,  to  point 
out  the  structure  and  the  organs  of  plants,  to 
show  how  they  are  developed  from  their  gern- 1, 
and  to  teach  the  laws  by  which  this  development 
is  governed,  is  the  object  of  botanical  science. 
The  great  difficulty  in  the  study  of  botany,  has 
hitherto  been  the  use  of  technical  terms,  and  un- 
pronounceable names,  as  though  botanists  in- 
tended, like  the  hierarchs  of  Egypt,  to  confine 
their  knowledge  to  men  of  their  own  class. 

Prof.  Gray  has  succeeded  admirably  in  his  two 
elementary  books,  in  conveying  a  knowledge  of 
the  principal  parts  in  botany,  in  language  that 
can  be  readily  comprehended  by  every  intelligent 
child.  They  are  illustrated  by  a  multitude  of 
drawings,  which  are  among  the  most  perfect  and 
best  executed  cuts  that  we  have  ever  met  with  in 
any  educational  book.  They  are  printed  on  good 
paper,  and  with  a  clear  type,  and  are  highly  credit- 
able to  the  press — that  of  Messrs.  Toison  &  Fhin- 
7iey,  New  York — from  which  they  have  issued. 

We  cannot  doubt  that  the  little  book,  "How 
Plants  Grow,"  and  the  "First  Lessons,"  will  soon 
take  the  place  of  all  other  books  on  the  subject, 
in  our  schools.  The  larger  books  will  meet  the 
wants  of  more  advanced  students. 


Hen  Manure. — The  excretia  of  birds  of  all 
kinds  is  valuable  as  manure,  and  if  properly  used, 
will  invariably  pay  for  the  pains-taking.  Lime, 
ashes  or  other  alkalies,  should  never  ))e  mixed 
with  hen  manure  ;  such  treatment  throws  out  the 
ammonia,  and  forms  other  compounds  of  lessened 
value.  When  dry  muck,  chai'coal  dust,  woods- 
earth,  or  other  cheap  divisor,  can  be  procured, 
compost  hen  manure  with  it,  and  if  wetted  with 
dilute  sulphuric  acid,  so  much  the  better ;  this 
will  fix  the  ammonia  as  a  sulphate,  which  is  solu- 
ble, but  not  volatile,  like  the  carbonate  of  am- 
monia. No  farmer  can  afford  to  sell  his  hca  ma- 
nure to  morocco  dressers,  even  at  four  tiaics  the 
usual  market  price. — Working  Farmer. 


388 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug. 


For  the  New  England  Farmei , 
SSIiBCnON  OF  SmA-WSaKBIES. 
STATEMENT    OF    W:,I.    R.    PRINCE. 

American  Institute — Farmers'  Club — June  20tli. 

The  great  point  in  all  culture  is  economy  and 
its  results,  and  the  true  test  of  the  strawberry  is 
farm  culture,  with  or  without  cutting  off  the  run- 
ners. 

The  following  I  consider  the  best  varieties  for 
field  cultivation,  where  the  plants  are  to  cover  the 
entire  ground,  thus  avoiding  extra  labor  and  ex- 
pense, and  making  the  whole  of  the  soil  availa- 
ble. 

Scarlet  2Iagnate,  the  heaviest  of  all  strawber- 
ries. 

Diadem,  splendid  scarlet,  very  productive ; 
Mr.  M.  Bergen,  of  N.  J.,  stated  that  he  had  not 
deemed  it  possible  for  so  large  a  crop  of  fruit  to 
grow  on  a  given  space  as  he  saw  growing  on  this 
variety. 

Eclypse,  early,  bright  scarlet,  upright,  clean 
and  b&autiful. 

Minerva,  estimable  quality,  produces  more 
than  twice  AVilson's  Albany. 

Imperial  Scarlet,  large,  bright  scarlet,  upright, 
firm  for  market. 

Perfumed  Pine,  seedling  of  Burr's  Pine,  ob- 
tuse cone,  very  large,  bright  scarlet,  sweet,  juicy, 
high  flavor,  vigorous,  very  productive,  combines 
more  valuable  qualities  than  any  other  berry. 

Hoceij,  qualities  well  known. 

Malvina,  same  qualities  as  Hovey,  but   more 

firoductive,  brighter  color,  higher  flavor  and  ear- 
ier. 

Florence,  very  large,  conical,  splendid  scarlet, 
fine  flavor,  vigorous,  very  productive,  valuable. 

Globose  Scarlet,  large,  rounded,  very  produc- 
tive. 

Prince's  Globose,  a  late  variety,  large,  scarlet, 
moderate  flavor,  very  productive  and  vigorous, 
ripens  twelve  days  after  the  general  crop,  and 
therefore  valuable  as  a  late  market  fruit. 

■  Six  best  staminate  varieties  for  field  culture, 
requiring  to  be  cultivated  in  stools,  and  the  run- 
ners to  be  cut  off,  thus  however  occasioning  ad- 
ditional expense,  besides  leaving  much  of  the 
ground  unoccupied, — Scarlet  Prize,  Wilson's  Al- 
bany, Sirius,  Barry's  Extra,  Primate,  Montrose. 

Varieties  preferable  for  families,  being  of  fin- 
est flavor, — Le Baron,  Ladies'  Pine,  McAvoy's 
Superior,  Sirius,  Longworth's  Prolific,  Ward's 
Favorite,  Globose  Swainstone,  Fragrant  Scarlet, 
Hooker,  Imperial  Crimson,  Perfumed  Pine,  Mi- 
nerva, Scarlet  Prize. 


HOOT  CROPS — FODDER. 

We  are  glad  to  see  a  return  to  the  culture  of 
roots,  fuch  as  turnips,  ruta  bagas,  mangel  wurt- 
zels  and  carrots,  among  us.  Not  that  they  have 
ever  been  wholly  abandoned,  but  the  culture  of 
them,  for  the  last  ten  years,  has  fallen  off  very 
much.  People  talk  about  the  comparative  value 
of  these  things. 

We  all  know  that  there  is  great  difierence  in 
the  nutritive  power  of  the  articles  which  we  use, 
not  only  for  our  own  food,  but  for  the  food  of 
our  domestic  animals  ;  and  we  also  know,  that 
■we,  as  well  as  our  animals,  are  so  constituted  as 


to  require  this  same  variety  for  the  continuance 

of  health  and  activity.  Keep  yourself  on  one 
single  article  of  concenti-ated  food,  and  you  may 
perhaps  grow  fat,  but  you  will  also  become  sick, 
or  languid  and  spiritless.  Sailors  know  this. 
When  they  get  into  situations  where  they  are 
obliged  to  live  on  one  kind  of  food,  they  find 
their  health  decline,  and  their  strength  and  vital 
powers  to  flag,  and  they  finally  have  to  "give  up 
the  ship."  It  is,  therefore,  a  duty  to  cultivate  a 
variety  of  articles  to  be  used  as  fodder  for  our 
stock,  during  our  long  winters.  Good  hay  is  the 
staple  crop  for  this  purpose.  It  is  to  cattle  what 
bread  is  to  their  owner,  the  staff  of  their  lives. 
But  roots  of  different  kinds  make  an  agreeable 
and  a  profitable  variety.  In  olden  times,  when 
the  potato  rot  was  unknown,  the  potato,  be- 
ing the  easiest  raised  and  preserved,  was  much 
used  for  cattle  food.  The  potato  rot  put  a  veto 
on  this  root  as  stock  food. — Maine  Farmer. 


For  the  New  England  Fanner. 
BIHDS  VS.  FHUITS. 

Regarding  the  service  or  injury  of  birds,  of 
whicJi  so  much  is  now  written,  I  am  aware  that 
they  destroy  considerable  fruit,  much  more  than 
at  the  time  of  Wilson.  I  think  that  all  animala 
acquire  a  taste  ;  for  example,  the  domestic  pigeon 
will  now  eat  the  acid  currant.  Some  years 'since 
I  obtained  of  Col.  Jaques,  of  Charlestown,  a  pair 
of  Bremen  geese  for  a  farm  ;  these  birds  I  kept 
for  a  fortnight,  and  during  that  time  their  food 
was  grass  ;  corn  they  would  not  eat.  Some  twelve 
months  after  this  I  saw  these  birds  on  a  farm  in 
Danvers,  and  was  then  told  that  they  were  great 
eaters  of  corn.  I  say  above  that  in  the  time  of 
Wilson  birds  could  not  have  been  called  such 
plunderers.  In  his  description  of  the  purple 
grakle  or  crow  blackbird  and  the  common  crow, 
(these  of  all  birds  considered  the  most  destruc- 
tive to  the  corn,)  he  thought  that  they  more  than 
compensated  for  their  depredations,  by  "follow- 
ing in  the  furrow  of  the  plow,  and  that  their  ser- 
vices in  the  spring,  in  destroying  grubs  and  lar- 
va, of  which  they  eat  prodigious  quantities  be- 
fore, and,  as  if  to  compensate  for  the  grain  they 
take,  in  the  fall." 

In  the  first  edition  of  Manning's  Book  of 
Fruits  I  inserted  an  article  on  this  subject  from 
which  I  take  the  following  extract : 

"In  speaking  of  the  annoyances  sustained  from 
birds,  I  am  persuaded  that  these  plunderers  as 
they  are  sometimes  called,  more  than  compen- 
sate for  their  inroads  upon  our  orchards  by  their 
services  in  the  spring,  and  during  their  incuba- 
tion, in  destroying  insects  :  in  the  breeding  sea- 
son we  see  them  constantly  flying  from  the  nest 
for  a  supply,  and  returning  with  a  grub  or  a 
worm.  I  have  seen  the  ampelis,  or  cherry  bird, 
that  remarkably  silent  and  dove-like  species,  upon 
my  apple  trees,  when  the  canker  worm  was  about 
half  grown,  destroying  them  in  numbers,  and  al- 
though called  plunderers,  they  are,  in  fact,  bene- 
efactors  likewise. 

"Public  economy  and  utility,  says  one,  no  less 
than  humanity,  plead   for  the  protection  of  the 
feathered  race,  and  the  wanton   destruction  of^ 
birds,  so   useful,   beautiful  and  amusing,  if  not 
treated  as  such  by  law,  ought  to  be  considered 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


889 


as  a  crime,  by  every  moral,  feeling  and  reflecting 
mind." 

If  we  should  make  war  upon  the  crow,  black- 
bird and  blue  Jay,  particularly  the  last  named,  it 
would  be  for  their  thievish  propensities  in  de- 
stroying the  eggs  of  our  truly  insectivorous  birds. 

Salem.  I. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

BUPPORTINQ    DWAKF    PBAES— PROPA- 
GATING GRAPE  VINES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  the  last  number  of  the 
monthly  Farmer  I  find  an  article  on  supporting 
transplanted  trees,  from  the  pen  of  your  able  cor- 
respondent, "J.  M.  I."  I  like  the  plan  which  he 
describes  very  much,  and  it  has  occurred  to  me 
that  it  would  be  valuable  as  a  permanent  sup- 
port for  dwarf  pear  trees,  which  are  liable  to  be 
swayed  to  and  fro  by  the  wind,  especially  in  the 
spring  and  fall,  when  the  ground  has  been  soft- 
ened from  heavy  rains. 

Now  if  a  large,  strong  stake  of  some  durable 
kind  of  wood  were  used,  it  would  last  for  a  long 
time,  and  if  it  were  well  coated  with  gas  tar,  it 
would  be  much  more  durable.  It  need  not  rise 
more  than  a  foot  above  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
and  if  the  tree  were  kept  bound  to  it,  it  would 
certainly  hold  the  tree  firmly  in  its  place.  Such 
a  support  would  be  of  much  service  to  dwarf 
pear  trees  standing  in  places  exposed  to  high 
winds. 

On  another  page  of  the  Farmer  for  June,  may 
be  found  an  article  on  the  $100  grape  premium 
offered  by  a  gentleman  in  N.  H.  The  writer  says 
that  roots  are  preferred,  but  that  cuttings  two 
inches  in  length  will  answer.  As  the  premium 
is  to  be  awarded  in  tv>'o  years  after  the  roots  are 
planted,  1  suppose  that  these  short  cuttings  are 
to  bear  fruit  the  second  year.  Will  some  one 
posted  on  such  matters  tell  us  how  such  cuttings 
are  treated,  to  make  them  produce  fruit  so 
early  ?  If  by  grafting,  give  us  the  mode  of  doing 
it,  as  I  have  tried  the  ways  given  in  the  books, 
but  never  could  make  them  succeed  ;  they  v.'ould 
grow  an  inch  or  two,  and  then  die.  I  should  be 
very  glad  to  learn  how  to  graft  the  grape  suc- 
cessfully. 

Can  you  tell  me  how  to  distinguish  the  An- 
gers quince    from   the  Orange  ?     Is    there  any 
difference  in  the  leaves  of  the  two  varieties  ? 
An  Old  Subscriber. 

Clinton,  June,  1859. 


Remarks. — We  do  not  know. 


The  College  Journal  of  Medical  Sci- 
ence.— This  work  is  published  monthly  at  Cin- 
cinnati ;  is  a  magazine  of  48  pages,  has  six  edi- 
tors, and  is  well  spoken  of  by  the  press  of  the 
country.  It  has  many  medical  terms,  of  course, 
but  the  plain,  common  sense  that  pervades  its 
pages  is  refreshing.  We  like  it,  especially  for 
its  liberality,  and  thank  the  editors  for  their  man- 
ly defence  of  Dr.  Curtis,  of  Hartford.  Carry 
out  the  principles  laid  down  in  your  article  on 
"lUiberality,"  and  you  will  not  fail  to  make  your 
journal  popular  and  useful. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

"WHY  DO  YOU  MOT  PURCHASE  A  MOVP"- 
INQ  MACHINE  ? 

Mr.  Editor  : — If  the  above  question  were  put 
to  many  of  our  farmers,  they  would  respond  by 
saying,  "That  the  manufacturers  are  continually 
making  improvements,  and  I  intend  to  wait  until 
I  can  get  the  best." 

Now  let  us  examine  this  reply  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, and  see  if  it  will  abide  the  test  of  sound 
reasoning.  I  presume  that  I  have  your  assent  to 
this  proposition  :  That  until  recently,  nearly  all 
the  inventive  genius  that  has  been  expended,  has 
been  in  the  line  of  producing  and  cheapening  our 
apparel  and  our  equipage  instead  of  our  food, 
the  most  important  article.  Therefore,  the  time 
has  fully  come  when  the  latter  should  receive  its 
full  share  of  inventive  talent.  To  make  this  most 
effective,  it  is  manifest  that  on  the  part  of  both 
manufacturer  and  practical  farmer,  there  should 
be  mutual  sympathy  and  cordial  effort.  I  hold, 
that  there  is  no  ingenuity,  skill,  or  theory,  appli- 
cable to  some  agricultural  implements,  which 
will  not  utterly  fail  when  tested  by  putting  the 
same  on,  or  into  the  ground,  by  a  practical  far- 
mer. Hence  it  is  the  duty,  I  think,  of  farmers  to 
co-operate  with  the  manufacturer  in  his  efibrts  to 
improve  and  perfect  agricultural  machines  and 
implements.  Should  he  not,  therefore,  purchase 
and  use  those  machines,  although  imperfect,  and 
in  the  process  of  using  them,  report  to  the  maker 
of  them  their  failings,  or  suggest  improvements  ? 
In  this  way,  I  am  satisfied  that  such  labor-saving 
machines  may  be  obtained  as  shall  very  much 
facilitate,  and  render  farming  attractive  in  New 
England.  If  this  reasoning  is  correct,  the  above 
observations  will  apply  with  peculiar  force  to 
mowing  machines.  The  practical  utility  of  a  ma- 
chine for  cutting  grass  is  now  a  question  past 
controversy,  or  discussion.  It  is  only  a  question 
of  time  to  prepare  the  surface  of  our  mowing 
lands,  and  the  machine  best  adapted  to  do  the 
work.  I  do  not  propose  to  enter  the  partizan 
controversy  respecting  mowing  machines.  I  do 
not  profess  to  be  a  special  advocate  for  ei'her  of 
them,  and  have  refused  to  be  a  paid  agent  for  the 
sale  of  them  from  two  establishments. 

I  was  present  at  the  trial  of  mowers  in  Boyls- 
ton  (June  14,)  and  saw  the  operation  of  the  "five 
machines,  and  for  the  first  time  saw  the  working 
of  the  Manny  machine.  I  have  also  read  in  the 
N.  E.  Fanner  the  report  of  the  trial  by  "Truth 
and  Justice,"  and  the  reply  by  Mr.  Brown.  Af- 
ter carefully  reading  these  statements,  I  appre- 
hend they  may  not  be  an  exception  to  the  gener- 
al rule  in  such  cases  that  the  exact  truth  is  to  be 
found  "between  them."  If  I  were  called  upon 
to  correct  them,  I  should  say  that  "Truth  and 
Justice"  had  not  given  sufficient  credit  for  the 
cutting  of  the  Manny  machine,  and  Mr.  Brown 
had  overstated  the  difference  of  draft  between 
the  two.  While  I  do  not  profess  to  be  a  partizan 
in  this  matter,  I  do  confess  that  I  am  much 
pleased  with  the  working  of  the  Kctchum  patent, 
as  now  manufactured  by  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co. 
It  is  also  my  impression,  confirmed  by  six  years, 
experience,  that  in  order  to  be  adapted  to  New 
England  farms  as  we  find  them,  and  to  be  popu- 
lar throughout  New  England,  every  machine 
must  be  reduced,  substantially,  to  the  construe- 


390 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Aug 


tion  of  the  Ketchum  mower.  The  manufacturers 
of  the  various  machines  will  call  this  a  sweeping 
observation,  and  demand  my  reasons. 

The  mowing  lands  of  New  England  will  always 
present  obstacles,  more  or  less,  to  the  mower, 
such  as  apple  trees,  boulders,  stumps,  uneven 
surfaces,  &c.  We  are  bound,  nevertheless,  to 
have  a  machine  which  will  work,  notwithstanding 
these  obstacles.  But  under  these  circumstances, 
the  demand  is  imperative  that  we  have  a  mower 
in  its  construction  simple,  strong,  compact,] 
"handy  ;"  one  into  which  we  can  readily  insert 
cutters  of  different  length,  from  a  three  foot  to  a 
six  foot,  according  to  the  condition  of  the  grass, 
surface  or  obstacles.  This  idea  of  changing  cut- 
ters carries  with  it  an  importance  which  farmers 
do  not  yet  appreciate.  My  own  experience  ena- 
bles me  to  say  that  it  is  a  most  happy  arrange- 
ment by  which  I  accommodate  my  machine  to 
the  grass  to  be  cut,  and  the  work  to  be  done,  to 
the  capacity  of  my  team.  I  may  be  mistiken,  but 
I  apprehend  that  I  am  correct  in  saying  there  is 
now  no  machine  capable  of  meeting  the  above 
demands  but  the  Ketchum  patent. 

The  labor  of  taking  apart  and  of  re-adjusting 
is  a  consideration  with  me  in  favor  of  the  small 
iron  machine.  Last  fall,  a  neighbor  came  to  me 
for  my  machine  to  cut  his  rowen  ;  said  that  he 
had  been  to  three  owners  of  the  Manny,  and  they 
refused  because  their  machines  were  taken  apart, 
and  it  was  too  much  work  to  "rig  up."  The 
Ketchum,  occupying  four  square  feet  in  the  cor- 
ner of  my  tool  room,  was  ready  for  action  in  less 
than  ten  minutes. 

When  my  first  machine  had  more  than  paid 
for  itself,  and  when  the  manufacturers  of  both 
kinds  had  made  great  improvements,  I  sent  it 
back  with  directions  to  send  me  their  best  mow 
er,  and  give  me  what  they  could  afford  for  the  old 
one.  To  this  last,  I  have  added  the  improve 
ments  as  they  have  come  out,  and  yesterday  I 
cut  a  piece  of  grass  sixty  rods  long,  and  three 
wide,  (one  and  one-eighth  acre)  in  less  than  an 
hour,  the  town  clock  bearing  testimony.  And 
yet  my  horses  gave  no  evidence  of  the  least  extra 
labor.  Now,  sir,  if  you  do  not  consider  this  suf- 
ficiently expeditious,  come  and  see  me,  and  to- 
morrow I  will  slip  in  a  six-footer,  and  cut  an  acre 
by  the  side  of  it  in  thirty  minutes,  and  yet  my 
horses  will  not  labor  harder  than  they  did  with 
the  old  machine  with  a  four  foot  cutter. 

I  do  not  profess  to  have  any  scientific  guage 
by  which  I  can  discover  the  amount  of  power  re- 
quired to  overcome  a  given  amount  of  resistance, 
but  from  careful  observation,  I  have  reached  this 
conclusion  :  That  the  two  horse  machine  as  now 
manufactured  by  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.,  requires 
no  more  power  to  work  it  with  a  six  foot  cutter, 
than  the  machine  did  with  a  four  foot  cutter  made 
five  years  since.  Also,  that  the  one  horse  ma^ 
chine,  with  a  three  and  one-half  foot  cutter,  is  no 
harder  for  one  horse,  than  it  would  be  for  the 
same  horse  by  the  side  of  another  in  the  old  ma- 
chine with  a  four  foot  cutter.  For  this  statement, 
however,  you  have  only  my  own  judgment,  based 
upon  the  evidence  I  had  at  Boylston. 

Nearly  all  the  interest  manifested  in  mowing 
machines  in  this  part  of  the  county,  appears  to 
be  in  behalf  of  the  one-horse  machines.  This  is 
to  be  expected,  inasmuch  as  probably  nine-tenths 
of  our  farmers  keep   but  one  horse.     These  are 


just  now  being  introduced,  and  remain  to  be 
tested.  At  the  trial  at  Boylston,  their  working 
was  very  gratifying  to  me,  and  I  think  they  come 
within  the  ability  of  most  farmers'  horses  to  work 
them. 

The  manufacturers  of  these  mowers  need  no 
circulars  from  me,  certifying  that  they  are  "hon- 
orable men,"  and  I  will  only  say  to  those  who 
purchase  of  them  that  they  seem  anxious  to  sup- 
ply all  improvements  as  fast  as  discovered,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  with  the  aid  and  patronage 
of  farmers,  they  will  give  us  a  machine  of  such 
price  and  quality,  that  every  man  who  has  twelve 
or  fifteen  aci-es  to  cut,  will  find  it  for  his  interest 
to  buy.  Chas.  Humphrey. 

Lancaster,  July  1,  1859. 


MOWING  MACHINES. 

A  trial  of  two  mowing  machines  took  place  on 
the  farm  of  Mr.  Lynde,  in  Melrose,  on  Tuesday 
of  last  week,  which  we  had  the  pleasure  of  wit- 
nessing. The  machines  used  were  the  "Buckeye" 
and  the  "New  Englander,"  the  first  with  two 
horses,  and  the  latter  with  one.  The  Buckeye 
took  a  swath  four  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and  the 
New  Englander  four  feet.  Each  cut  its  acre 
handsomely  in  forty-two  minutes.  The  grass  was 
light,  and  the  ground  every  way  favorable,  so 
that  the  labor  for  the  horses  was  not  severe, — 
that  of  drawing  the  one  horse  machine  was  not 
a  heavier  draft  than  is  required  in  the  use  of  a 
common  cultivator  in  working  corn. 

After  this  trial,  each  machine  was  put  into 
heavier  grass,  where  there  were  some  patches  of 
thick  clover,  and  some  of  it  lodged.  The  New 
Englander  led  the  way,  cutting  the  grass  finely 
and  turning  a  handsome  double  swath.  The 
Buckeye  also  cut  a  double  swath,  and  did  it  well. 

Since  this  trial,  we  hare  used  Ketchum's  and 
Manny's  one  horse  machines  in  a  very  heavy 
growth  of  clover  on  our  own  farm.  The  field 
was  on  a  hill-side,  was  encumbered  with  apple 
trees  twenty-five  feet  apart,  and  the  clover  in 
many  places  badly  lodged,  but  both  machines  cut 
it  as  well  as  could  be  reasonably  expected.  It 
seems  to  us  that  the  draft  on  the  Manny  was 
the  lightest,  but  that  the  Ketchum  had  more  fa- 
cility in  turning,  and  could  be  moved  over  the 
cut  grass,  to  go  from  place  to  place,  with  greater 
ease.  Where  a  person  cuts  fifty  tons  of  hay  an- 
nually, either  machine  will  pay  for  itself  in  three 
years. 

Many  trials  of  machines  are  taking  place,  and 
the  public  mind  seems  at  last  to  be  aroused  to 
something  like  a  proper  appreciation  of  their 
merits. 

Oiling  Harness — Leather,  &c. — Oils  when 
applied  to  dry  leather,  invariably  injure  it,  and 
if  to  leather  containing  too  much  water,  the  oil 
cannot  enter.  Wet  the  harness  over  night,  cover 
it  M'ith  a  blanket,  and  in  the  morning,  it  will  be 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


391 


damp  and  supple,  then  apply  neats-foot  oil  in 
small  quantity,  and  with  so  much  elbow-grease 
as  will  insure  its  disseminating  itself  throughout 
the  leather.  A  soft,  pliant  harness  is  easy  to 
handle,  and  lasts  longer  than  a  neglected  one. 
Never  use  vegetable  oils  on  leather,  and  among 
the  animal  oils,  neats-foot  is  the  best. — ]Vorki7ig 
Fanner. 

TIMES  GO  BY  TURN'S, 

An  English  Jesuit,  Robert  Southwell,  wrote  the  following  lines 
of  much  merit,  two  centuries  and  a  lialf  ago.  The  philosophic 
Strain  pervading  the  piece  is  worthy  of  admiration. 

The  lopped  tree  in  time  may  grow  again, 
Most  naked  plants  renew  both  fruit  and  flower ; 

The  sorriest  wight  may  find  relief  from  pain, 
The  dryest  soil  sucic  in  some  moistening  shower. 

Times  go  by  turns  and  chances  change  by  course. 

From  foul  to  fair,  from  better  hap  to  worse. 

The  sea  of  fortune  doth  forever  flow. 
She  draws  her  favors  to  the  lowest  ebb  ; 

Her  tides  have  equal  limes  to  come  and  go, 
Her  loom  doth  weave  the  fine  and  coarsest  web 

No  joy  so  great  but  runneth  to  an  end, 

No  hap  so  hard  but  may  in  time  amend. 

Not  always  fall  of  leaf,  nor  even  spring; 

No  endless  night,  nor  j'et  eternal  day  ; 
The  saddest  birds  a  season  find  to  sing, 

The  roughest  storm  a  calm  may  soon  ally. 
Thus  with  succeeding  turns  God  tempereth  all, 
That  man  may  hope  to  rise,  yet  fear  to  fall. 

A  chance  may  win  that  by  mischance  was  lost ; 

That  net  that  holds  no  great,  takes  little  fish  ; 
In  some  things  all,  in  all  things  none  are  crossed  , 

Few  all  thy  need,  but  none  have  all  they  wish. 
Unmingled  joys  here  to  no  man  befall; 
Who  least  have  some  ;  who  most,  hath  never  all. 


For  the  i\'iiic  En/^land  Farmer. 
MOWING  MACHINES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — 1  noticed  in  a  recent  number 
of  the  Farmer  a  communication  describing  a  re 
cent  trial  of  mowers  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Lamson, 
in  Boylston  ;  the  writer  signs  himself  "Truth  and 
Justice."  His  comparison  of  the  relative  condi- 
tion of  the  horses  does  not  prove  the  inferiority 
of  Manny's  mower,  for  every  teamster  knows 
that  a  horse  in  high  condition  works  better  after 
half  a  day's  exercise,  than  a  fresh  horse,  especial- 
ly if  the  latter  is  unused  to  the  work,  which  was 
the  case  in  this  instance. 

"Truth  and  Justice"  says  that  in  cutting  the 
double  swath  the  superior  e.xcellence  of  the 
Ketchum  machine  was  still  more  apparent.  The 
truth  is,  all  the  machines  performed  their  work 
admirably,  nor  could  any  unbiased  spectator  de- 
cide which  cut  the  closest,  smoothest,  orevenest. 
'•Even  "Truth  and  Justice,"  himself,  could  not 
have  selected,  on  the  next  day,  the  swath  cut  by 
the  Ketchum,  except  by  measurement,  and  this 
boasted  length  of  cutting- bar  is  no  merit  in  a 
mower,  unless  there  is  a  commensurate  gain  in 
the  power  applied.  For  instance,  if  the  six  feet 
cutting  bar,  which  made  such  an  "awful  gap  in 
the  tottering  grass,"  requires  one-third  more 
power  than  Manny's,  cutting  four  feet,  then  give 
us  the  latter  ;  for  horse-flesh  is  too  expensive  to 
waste  for  raerp  display,  unless  we  can  have  the 
profits  of  mowing  machines  for  compensation. 


But  the  real  question  with  our  farmers — most 
of  whom  have  but  one  horse — is  this :  can  we 
have  a  mowing  machine  which  will  work  in  all 
kinds  of  grass  and  grain,  which  will  adapt  itself 
to  uneven  land,  which  will  keep  in  repair,  and 
which  can  be  worked  by  an  ordinary  farm-horse  ? 
The  trial  on  the  field  of  Mr,  Lamson  did  not  de- 
cide any  of  these  points.  The  draft  was  through 
a  half-grown  crop,  and  down  a  smooth  inclined 
plane.  "Truth  and  Justice"  says  the  decision  of 
those  who  witnessed  the  trial  was  in  favor  of 
Ketchum's.  In  reply,  I  answer,  that  several  of 
Manny's  patent  were  sold  on  the  spot ;  while  I 
know  of  none  of  Ketchum's  that  were  disposed 
of.  Honesty. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BTHIPE3  AHD  SPECKS  IN  BUTTEB. 

Mr,  Editor  : — With  an  experience  of  twenty- 
five  years  in  butter,  I  believe  Mr.  Holmes  to  be 
wholly  mistaken  as  to  the  true  cause  of  stripes 
and  white  specks  in  making  it,  as  I  always  prac- 
tised scraping  down  the  cream  that  is  thrown 
about  the  churn  in  churning,  as  soon  as  the  but- 
ter began  to  come,  and  never  have  striped  but- 
ter. If  the  butter  is  thoroughly  churned,  and  well 
worked  after  churning,  it  will  never-  be  striped. 
I  believe  the  cream  that  is  scraped  down  from 
the  sides  and  lid  of  the  churn,  most,  if  not  all  of 
it,  comes  to  butter ;  if  not,  it  goes  in  with  the 
butter-milk,  which  only  makes  it  the  better  for 
biscuit. 

The  white  specks  in  butter  are  caused  by  get- 
ting milk  in  with  the  cream  when  skimming, 
which  is  suff"ered  to  lie  still  until  it  becomes  hard 
like  cheese  ;  to  prevent  this,  stir  the  cream  thor- 
oughly after  skimming  it  off  the  milk  ;  this  will 
generally  prevent  there  being  specks  in  the  but- 
ter. If  the  cream  is  strained  after  skimming  it 
off,  there  will  never  be  specks.  If  my  theory  be 
correct,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  idea  of  cream 
making  stripes  or  specks  in  butter  is  incorrect. 

N.  B, — Good  butter-makers  rarely  have  stripes 
or  specks  in  their  butter  ;  if  they  do,  they  attrib- 
ute the  cause  to  the  neglect  of  duty  in  not  tak- 
ing proper  care  of  the  cream,  and  properly  work- 
ing the  butter.  H. 

Ludlow,  Vt.,  June  25,  18-59. 


SUMMER  PRUNING. 

A  Mr.  Sweet,  of  Triftonburgh,  Mass.,  writes  to 
\^\el^ofi\.QXi  Cultivator :  "Trees  should  never  be 
pruned  in  the  fall,  for  the  reason  that  the  stock 
(hies  up,  the  bark  curls  from  the  stock,  lets  in 
water,  and  injures  the  tree,  and  it  never  heals  so 
well  as  when  removed  at  the  proper  time.  To 
prune  in  early  spring  is  belter,  but  not  the  best 
time.  Limbs  removed  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  when  the  sap  first  begins  to  start,  also  in- 
jures the  trees,  for  the  sap  rushes  v.-ith  great 
power  to  every  part  of  the  tree,  which  will  cause 
the  wound  to  bleed.  The  tree,  or  limb,  will  turn 
black,  and  often  the  tree  will  die.  I  am  satisfied 
that  the  best  time  to  prune  apple  trees  is  from 
the  last  of  June  to  the  last  of  July.  At  this  sea- 
son of  the  year,  that  strong  flow  of  sap  begins  to 
subside,  the  tree  is  covered  with  foliage,  which 
is  a  great  help  to  the  wound  in  preventing  its 
drying  and  cracking." 


392 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMEE. 


Aug. 


BUSINESS  CHANGE. 
On  the  first  of  July  a  change  was  made  in  the 
business  management  of  the  Farmer,  by  the  re- 
linquishment by  Mr.  NoURSE  of  a  third  interest 
each  to  Mr.  Russell  P.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Albert 
TOLMAN.  Mr.  Eaton  assumes  the  general  edi- 
torial charge  of  the  weekly  Farmer,  while  Mr. 
Tolman  will  conduct  the  business  affairs  of  the 
firm.  No  change  whatever  is  made  in  the  editor- 
Bhip  of  the  monthly  Farmer,  or  in  the  manner 
of  carrying  on  the  general  business  of  the  estab- 
lishment. The  announcement  of  the  new  firm 
will  be  found  upon  the  cover  of  this  month's  is- 
sue. 


lime.     I  have  a  few  of  these  insects,  taken  from 
some  young  pears  some   days  since  ;  they  had 
eaten  holes  in  the  fruit  the  size  of  a  small  pea. 
Salem,  June,  1859.  j.  ii.  I. 


Fur  Vie  New  England  Farmer. 
MOWIJfQ  MA.CHIiVE3. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  cut  about  seventy-five  acres 
of  land,  and  you  will  readily  see  that  haying,  with 
me,  has  been  a  long  and  tedious  business.  I 
tried  several  mowing  machines,  and  found  none 
that  gave  satisfaction,  as  a  great  part  of  our  land 
is  low,  clay  meadow,  laid  in  beds  four  rods  M'ide, 
and  no  machine  would  operate  on  this  land,  only 
one  whose  knife-bar  played  up  and  down,  inde- 
pendent of  the  driving  wheel.  I  was  induced  to 
try  the  Manny  mower — and  this  has  accom- 
plished the  work  so  near  perfection  that  I  have 
purchased,  and  am  fully  satisfied  with  its  opera- 
tion. I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  new  ma- 
chines, but  I  understand  that  this  year  there  are 
many  new  and  very  good  ones.  One  advantage 
that  I  notice  in  my  machine  is,  the  instant  the 
grass  is  cut,  the  reel  removes  it  from  the  finger- 
bar,  while  I  have  noticed  that  on  machines  that 
have  no  reel,  when  going  with  the  wind,  the  grass 
Btops  upon  the  finger-bar.  Upon  close  examina- 
tion I  have  found  that  the  grass  in  great  quan- 
tities was  cut  as  fine  as  powder,  and  good  for 
nothing  or  wasted.  'Sly  advice  to  farmers  that 
have  twenty  or  more  acres  of  land  to  mow,  is,  first 
to  find  a  good  machine  and  then  buy.  Perhaps  I 
am  not  at  liberty  to  say  the  ''Manny"  is  the  best, 
but  will  say  that  it  is  a  good  machine,  and  in  the 
experiment  of  last  year  1  saved  nearly  the  price 
of  the  machine.  Joseph  Brown. 

Kensington,  K.  11. ,  July,  1859. 


!^"Each  plant,  w'hile  growing,  throw?  off  cer- 
tain matters  which  are  not  favorable  to  the 
growth  of  successive  crops  of  the  same  plant. 
Plants  in  this  respect  are  somewhat  like  animals, 
which  always  avoid  their  own  excrements.  Now, 
other  plants  may  use  these  matters.  Hence  a  ro- 
tation is  profitable,  because  one  crop  may  take  up 
what  another  throws  off. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 

THE  PEAB  MOTH. 

The  worm  of  the  pear  moth  {Tortrix  angustio- 
rana)  is  now  busy  in  some  localities  upon  the 
young  fruit  of  the  pear,  attacking  it  immediately 
under  the  crown  or  eye.  This  worm  is  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  long,  of  a  dirty  green  color, 
and  reddish  brown  down  the  back.  As  a  means 
of  destroying  this  insect,  it  has  been  suggested  to 
search  for  the  maggots  in  the  eye  of  the  fruit, 
but  the  most  rational  way  is  to  collect  the  leaves 
in  autumn  and  burn  them,  as  it  is  more  proba- 
ble that  they  lay  their  eggs  upon  these,  or  that 
the  caterpillars  spin  webs  in  the  chinks  of  the 
bark  to  undergo  their  transformations.  If  they 
hybernate  in  the  latter,  the  best  method  to  de- 
stroy them  would  be  to  paint  over  the  bark  with 
a  mixture   of  strong  soft  soap  and  air-slaked 


TO  MAKE  CamiANT  WINE. 

For  several  years  v/e  have  made  a  ten  gallon 
keg  of  currant  wine,  M-hich  is  of  as  good  quality 
as  any  we  have  tasted,  and  is  generally  so  pro- 
nounced by  those  who  have  had  an  opportunity 
to  judge.  The  mode  of  manufacture  is  simple, 
and  can  be  easily  followed  by  any  family  having 
the  currants  and  the  disposition  to  make  the 
wine.  For  general  information  we  give  the  re- 
ceipt, and  cordially  recommend  it. 

The  currants  should  be  fully  ripe  when  picked  ; 
put  them  into  a  large  tub,  in  which  they  may  re- 
main a  day  or  tv»-o  ;  then  crush  them  with  the 
hands,  unless  you  have  a  small  patent  cider-press, 
iin  which  they  should  not  be  pressed  too  much, 
;or  the  stems  will  be  bruised  and  impart  a  disa- 
(greeable  taste  to  the  juice.  If  the  hands  are 
.used,  put  the  crushed  fruit,  after  the  juice  has 
I  been  poured  off,  in  a  cloth  or  sack  and  press  out 
Ithe  remaining  juice.  Put  the  juice  back  in  the 
:tub  after  cleansing  it,  where  it  should  remain  for 
i  about  three  days,  until  the  first  stages  of  fermen- 
Itation  are  over,  and  removing  once  or  twice  a 
,  day  the  scum  copiously  arising  to  the  top.  Then 
put  the  juice  into  a  vessel — a  demijohn,  keg  or 
;  barrel — of  a  size  to  suit  the  quantity  to  be  made, 
jand  to  each  quart  of  juice,  add  three  pounds  of 
the  best  brown  sugar,  (we  prefer  this  to  the  loaf,) 
and  water  sufficient  to  make  a  gallon. 

Thus,  ten  quarts  of  juice  and  thirty  pounds  of 
sugar,  will  give  you  ten  gallons  of  wine,  and  so 
on  in  that  proportion.  The  cask  must  be  full,  and 
the  bung  or  stopper  left  off  till  fermentation 
ceases,  which  will  be  in  twelve  or  fifteen  days. 
Meantime  the  cask  must  be  filled  uj)  daily 
with  water,  as  fermentation  throws  out  the  im- 
pure matter.  When  fermentation  ceases,  rack 
the  wine  off  carefully,  either  from  the  spigot  or 
by  a  syphon,  and  keep  running  all  th6  time. 
Cleanse  the  cask  thoroughly  with  boiling  water, 
then  return  the  wine,  bung  up  tightly,  and  let  it 
stand  for  four  or  five  months,  when  it  will  be  fit 
to  drink,  and  can  be  bottled  if  desired. 

All  the  vessels,  casks,  &c.,  should  be  perfectly 
sweet,  and  the  whole  operation  should  be  done 
with  an  eye  to  cleanliness.  In  such  event,  every 
drop  of  brandy  or  other  spirituous  liquors  added 
will  detract  from  the  flavor  of  the  wine,  and  will 
not  in  the  least  degree  increase  its  keeping  qual- 
ities. Currant  wine  made  in  this  way  will  keep 
for  an  age,  unless  it  \&— drank. —  Germantown 
Telegraph. 


DEVOTED  TO  AGRICULTURE    AND    ITS   KINDRED   ARTS  AND    SCIENCEiS. 


VOL.  XL 


BOSTON,  SEPTEMBER,  1859. 


NO.  9. 


NOmSE,  E  \TON  &  TOLMAN,  Proprietors.      cTT\/rm\T  tj-powtvt    -pnTTriTj  FRED'K  HOI.BROOK,  )  Associate 

Office.. .34  Mercuaxts  Row.  SIMON  BR0W3M,  ±,DITOR.  HEXKY  F.  FRE.NX'n,  (  Editors. 


SEPTEMBER. 

To  him  who,  in  the  love  of  nature,  holds 

Communion  with  the  visible  forms,  she  speaks 

A  various  language.    For  his  gayerhoura 

She  has  a  voice  of  gladness,  and  a  smile 

And  eloquence  of  beauty;  and  she  glides 

Into  his  darlser  musings  with  a  mild 

And  gentle  j.vmpatby,  but  steals  away 

Their  sharpness,  ere  he  is  aware.  Bryant. 


^-^^feO. 


its  name  from  Sep- 
'\  tum,  a  Latin  word 
meaning  seven,  be- 
cause formerly  the 
Aij  year     began    with 
^   March    instead    of 
January —  making 
September  the  sev- 
enth month  of  the 
year. 

September  is 
■^^^^  called  a  fall  month,  but  it 
Jlj'"^^  seems    more    properly   to 
_,  be  a  connecting  link   be- 
^^  tween  summer  and  fall. — 

Its  first  days  are  as  warm  and 
calm  as  those  of  June — not  to 
speak  of  the  month  of  June,  eigh- 
teen hundred  and  fifty-nine,  when 
it  rained,  and  rained,  till  man- 
kind almost  feared  a  second  deluge — but  of  June 
such  as  it  should  be — such  as  it  was  in  our  mem- 
ories, and  on  the  page  of  the  poet.  It  is  true,  we 
miss  the  long,  sweet  twilights  of  early  summer — 
and  a  few  yellow  leaves  gleam  from  among  the 
abundant  foliage,  like  the  first  gray  hairs  that  tell 
of  departing  youth.  We  can  see,  too,  that  the  sun 
sets  a  little  further  to  the  south,  but  his  beams 
areas  ardent  as  ever,  and  as  yet  we  have  no  need 
to  put  by  our  light  garments,  or  to  close  our  win- 
dows and  doors  against  the  outer  world. 

But  presently  comes  the  "equinoctial   storm" 
— and  the  bright,  brief  vision  of  a  northern  sum- 


mer is  over !  How  the  wind  wrestles  with  the 
trees,  and  strips  off  the  leaves,  still  green,  in 
showers  !  Now  we  are  glad  to  gather  about  the 
fire  again,  and  to  beguile  our  evenings  with  books 
and  work  in  winter  fashion.  When  the  storm 
has  spent  its  fury,  it  will  pass  by,  but  not  again 
shall  we  look  out  upon  a  landscape  having  the 
semblance  of  summer.  Decay  is  everywhere  vis- 
ible. Even  the  birds  have  heard  a  mysterious 
voice  telling  them  that  winter  is  coming,  and 
warning  them  to  seek  a  warmer  climate.  Man 
however,  is  not  nomadic.  It  seems  strange  that, 
when  "the  world  is  all  before  them,"  human  be- 
ings should  voluntarily  subject  themselves  to  the 
inconveniences  of  extreme  heat  and  cold.  But 
such  is  man's  attachment  to  home,  that  he  will 
endure  almost  anything  rather  than  cut  loose 
from  old  associations,  and  wander  over  the  world 
seeking  a  place  of  rest.  If  necessity  compel 
him  to  this,  he  presently  takes  root  in  his  new 
abode — and  gathers  his  household  goods  about 
him.  As  one  by  one  his  friends  pass  away,  here 
he  buries  his  dead,  and  more  than  one  harsh 
wind  will  blow  over  him,  before  he  will  volunta- 
rily surrender  the  comforts  and  delights  of  a  per- 
manent home.  One  would  think,  too,  that  the 
dwellers  in  the  most  beautiful  lands  would  have 
the  strongest  attachment  to  home  and  country, 
— but  such  is  not  the  case.  The  Frenchman 
loves  his  "vine-clad"  France,  and  the  Italian  his 
sunny  Italy,  but  the  Switzer  on  duty  in  a  foreign 
country,  must  not  even  hear  his  familiar  Banz 
des  Vaches,  or  he  can  no  longer  be  restrained 
from  returning  to  the  hills  and  glaciers  of  his 
own  native  land.  Even  the  Esquimaux  and  Ice- 
lander, were  they  transported  to  the  orange-groves 
of  the  South,  would  sigh  for  the  huts  where  they 
had  burrowed  with  wife  and  children,  and  per- 
haps said  wife  and  children  are  just  as  beautiful 
in  their  eyes,  clad  in  robes  of  bear-skin,  as  those 
of  their  more  luxurious  neighbors  in  their  silks 
and  muslins.     Well,  "every  man  to   his  taste." 


394 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


Let  us  be  thankful  that  we  are  born  at  least 
among  the  appliances  of  civilization — that  if  it 
is  our  destiny,  in  a  general  way,  to  put  out  our 
branches  very  near  the  spot  where  we  first  took 
root,  let  us  rejoice  that  this  spot  did  not  happen 
to  be  the  summit  of  an  iceberg.  Yet  in  this  cu- 
rious ordering  of  nature,  we  see  a  wise  purpose. 
Were  it  otherwise,  the  tendency  would  undoubt- 
edly be  toward  the  temperate  portions  of  the 
globe,  giving  them  an  undue  population,  while 
the  rest  of  the  world  would  be  thinned  of  its  in- 
habitants. One  sees  at  a  glance  how  the  arts 
and  sciences  would  suffer,  and  how  many  com- 
forts we  should  be  deprived  of,  which  flow  di- 
rectly from  an  intercourse  with  people  of  differ- 
ent climates,  habits  and  customs. 

Doubtless  some  adventurous  Dr.  Kane  would 
still  pay  a  visit  to  the  North  Pole,  but  if  there 
were  no  human  beings  in  that  region,  native  to 
the  soil,  his  sojourn  would  be  likely  to  be  more 
desolate  than  any  explorations  we  have  yet  heard 
of.  But,  to  use  another's  language,  "Where  no 
trees  grow,  where  no  vegetables  come  to  matu- 
rity, and  gales  from  every  quarter  of  the  Icy  Sea 
beat  the  last  faint  life  out  of  nature,  men  will 
still  persist  in  living,  in  apparent  defiance  of  all 
natural  laws." 

"Well  is  it  for  us,  that  there  are  people  whose 
ideal  of  life  consists  merely  in  possessing  a  suf- 
ficient quantity  of  whale  oil,  blubber  and  seal 
skins,  with  a  warm  den  underground.  To  the 
torrid  zones  we  are  still  more  indebted.  Our 
finest  fruits,  our  precious  woods,  are  all  brought 
from  countries  about  the  equator. 

But  we  have  got  upon  a  subject  involving  too 
many  considerations  to  be  fully  dealt  with  here. 
One  inference  strikes  us, — that  what  at  a  first 
glance  seems  mere  accident,  will  be  found,  on  a 
closer  view  of  the  subject,  to  be  the  result  of  a 
special  design.  It  is  so  in  this  case,  and  we  be- 
lieve it  will  always  be  found  to  be  so,  where  our 
own  limited  faculties  do  not  stand  in  the  way  of 
full  investigation.     So  may  we  always 

"Look  from  Nature,  up  to  Nature's  God." 


potash  and  soda,  all  of  which  are  known,  when 
separately  applied,  to  produce  a  good  effect  on 
clover  crops,  and  to  constitute  an  important  part 
of  the  food  of  all  grasses. 

The  following  experiment  by  an  English  far- 
mer, may  shed  some  light  on  the  subject:  The 
ground  selected  contained  three  percius  (rods) 
of  clover  ;  the  first  had  no  manure,  and  produced 
ttiirty-eight  pounds  when  cut  in  fall  head;  the 
second,  where  four  quarts  of  sifted  coal  ashes, 
which  had  not  been  exposed  to  the  weather, 
were  applied,  the  produce  was  fifty  pounds ; 
on  the  third  perch,  one  quart  of  plaster  was 
sown,  and  the  crop  weighed  fifry-four  pounds. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  ashes  increased  the  clo- 
ver nearly  one-quarter  above  that  on  which  no 
manure  was  applied,  which  goes  to  prove  that 
this  substance  is  a  valuable  fertilizer.  Coal  is 
said  to  be  of  vcgatable  origin  ;  therefore,  we  can 
see  no  reason  why  its  ashes  should  not  contain 
the  food  of  phints.  Experiments  on  various  soils 
and  crops  might  be  made  by  any  farmer  at  a  small 
txpense,  as  coal  is  employed  as  fuel  in  nearly 
every  town. — Ex. 


COA.L  ASHES  AS  A  MANUBE. 

But  few  experiments  have  been  made  by  Amer- 
ican farmers,  says  a  writer,  to  test  the  fertilizing 
pro])erties  of  coal  ashes.  While  we  are  import- 
ing guano  and  other  m?inures  from  foreign  lands 
in  enormous  quantities,  and  at  great  expense,  it 
may  be  well  to  employ  substances  nearer  home, 
which  are  now  neglected  and  cast  aside  as  worth- 
less. Thousands  of  tons  of  ashes  might  be  ob- 
tained in  cities  where  coal  is  extensively  em- 
ployed for  fuel,  which,  when  applied  to  the  soil, 
would  doubtless  greatly  augment  its  productive 
powers.  It  is  stated  in  "Faulkner's  Farmers' 
Manual,"  an  English  publication  on  manures,  that 
coal  ashes  contain  sulphate   of  lime,  with   some 


FARM  DRAINAGE. 

Everybody  has  heard  of  F.  O.  J.  Smith,  as  one 
of  the  pioneers  in  telegraphing,  as  a  politician 
who  generally  prophesies  correctly,  arid  a  thor- 
ough going  business  man. 

It  may  not  be  so  generally  known  that  Mr. 
Smith  is,  also,  always  interested  in  agricultural 
affairs,  residing  upon  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
and  beautiful  estates  in  New  England,  known  as 
Forest  Home,  near  Portland,  Me.,  where  he 
amuses  his  leisure  hours  with  his  thorough-bred 
stock  and  the  high  culture  cf  his  broad  acres. 
Thus  he  speaks  in  the  Eastern  Argus  of  Drain- 
age, and  Judge  French's  treatise  on  that  subject. 
A   BOOK   FOR    FARMERS. 

Of  all  departments  of  agricultural  science,  that 
which  teaches  the  value,  and  best  methods  of 
THOROUGn  DRAINAGE  of  lands  for  cultivation, 
has  no  rival  in  practical  usefulness.  No  other  is 
marked  more  distinctly  in  its  results,  when  lis- 
tened to  and  properly  obeyed  in  its  teachings.  It 
is  the  base  line  of  all  wise  agricultural  improve- 
ment upon  a  major  part  of  all  lands  on  this  con- 
tinent. 

Ditching  grounds  is  the  rude,  superficial  and 
temporary  reir.edy  of  a  positive  evil. 

Drainage  is  the  perfection  of  ditching,  reduced 
to  a  system  of  lasting  effects. 

One  is  the  scratching  of  the  scab  which  ap- 
pears on  the  surface,  and  for  temporary  relief; 
while  the  other  is  the  cure  of  the  disease  which 
produces  the  scab. 

That  farmer  has  a  good  look  towards  advan- 
itages,  W'ho  ditches  his  grounds  extensively. 
I      But  that  farmer  marches  far  in  advance  of  the 
first,  vvho  appreciates   and  executes  a    well  stu- 
I  died  system  of  drainage. 

In  this  country  quite  too  little  importance  has 
,  been  attached  by  farmers  in  general  to  either 
j ditching  or  drainage;  although  many  have  un- 
I  stood  and  practised  them  well. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


395 


Most  men  have  been  inclined  to  seek  lands  for 
cultivation  that  seemed  to  require  neither  ditch- 
ii'i^  or  drainage.  And  yet,  the  most  valuable  of 
all  lands  for  improvement  and  when  iuiproved, 
are  those  which  require  these  agencies,  and 
draining  in  particular,  and  extensively.  And  for 
the  reasons  that  they  are  susceptible,  under  such 
system,  of  commanding,  with  most  cert  linty  of 
all  lands,  all  the  fertilizing  elements  of  nature, 
and  of  using  them  in  exactly  the  best  propor- 
tions, and  at  the  right  times,  and  of  throwing  off 
the  redundancies  of  each,  as  may  be  best  for  the 
growth,  or  support,  or  protection  of  the  desired 
crop. 

As  a  marked  and  instructive  illustration  of  the 
effects  of  drainage,  I  recollect  of  noting  in  my 
readings  some  years  since,  the  following  state- 
ments from  an  English  paper  : 

"There  is  a  field  on  the  estate  of  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  at  Longford,  in  this  country,  which 
some  years  ago  was  occupied  by  Mr.  John  Sher- 
rat,  and  brought  forth  rushes  in  such  abundance, 
that  the  occupier  gave  leave  to  any  body  to  carry 
them  away,  who  would  be  at  the  trouble  to  mo^^' 
them.  Three  years  ago,  the  field  was  drained, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  T.  Harper  Foster,  and 
this  year,  we  are  told,  the  present  occupant,  Mr. 
T.  Robinson,  has  cut  three  tons  an  acre  of  as 
nice  herbage  as  ever  grew." 

Judge  Henry  F.  French,  of  New  Hampshire, 
through  Messrs.  A.  &  O.  MooRE,  Agricultural 
Book  Publishers,  New  York  City,  has  produced 
the  most  complete,  instructive,  readable  and  en- 
tertaining manual  upon  Farm  Drainage  that 
has  been  given  to  this  reading  and  progressive 
world. 

It  contains  a  greater  variety  of  details,  of  clear 
and  comprehensive,  practical  and  practised  re- 
sults, of  rules,  and  of  reasons  of  rules,  and  of 
modes  and  agencies  to  be  employed  in  this  de- 
partment of  agricultural  economy,  than  all  other 
books  extant,  and  substantially  comprehending 
all  other  books  on  the  suliject. 

As  the  incidents  of  thorougJi  drainage,  and 
proper  to  be  understood,  the  legal  rights  of 
flowage  and  drainage,  pertaining  to  land  owners 
— average  annual  rainfalls  ;  snows,  dews,  frosts, 
composition,  filtration,  absorption,  and  their  af- 
finities, are  discussed  and  illustrated  in  a  style 
alike  entertaining  and  instructive,  and  more  than 
one  hundred  engravings  are  interspersed  to  make 
clear  to  the  eye  whatever  the  pen  might  have 
failed  to  render  clear  to  the  commonest  under- 
standing. 

And,  what  is  especially  praiseworthy  in  an 
author,  he  has  furnished  not  only  an  elaborate 
table  of  contents,  but  a  capitally  minute  index, 
■without  which  the  best  of  books  is  only  as  a 
lighted  candle  under  a  half-bushel  measure. 

Judge  French  is  himself  a  practical  farmer  as 
well  as  jurist,  and  a  constant  writer  on  the  theo- 
ries and  practice  of  agriculture,  being  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  New  England  Farmer. 

Besides  personal  practice  and  extensive  read- 
ing and  writing  on  this  science,  he  has  treated 
himself  to  extensive  personal  observation  of  the 
practice  of  others,  in  both  our  own  and  foreign 
lands.  He  visited  Europe  a  year  since  with  a 
special  reference  to  his  own  improvement  in  his 
study  and  practice  of  agriculture. 

With  a  mind  naturally  active,  vigorous,  search- 


ing and  discriminating — with  an  ambition  to  ren- 
de  himself  personally  useful  to  others,  concur- 
rently with  a  rational  enjoyment  of  life — with  an 
acquisition  of  advantages  in  education  and  soci- 
ety tending  directly  to  the  success  of  these  en- 
dowments and  personal  aims — it  would  be 
strange  if  in  attempting  to  produce  a  book  rang- 
ing within  the  chosen  field  of  his  chiefest  labors 
he  should  have  failed. 

He  his  not  failed.  And  no  man  who  obtains 
the  book  and  reads  it  will  feel  otherwise  than  re- 
joiced in  the  possession  of  it.  No  man  owning 
an  acre  of  ground  should  be  without  a  copy  of  it. 
It  is  the  book  for  distribution  by  our  Agricultu- 
ral Societies  as  premiums  at  their  shows.  Even 
the  housewife,  who  is  privileged  to  learn  by  study 
in  doors,  what  the  prudent  husbandman,  and  his 
sons  and  workmen,  ought  to  understand  how  best 
to  execute  out-doors,  will  find  this  volume  both 
readable  and  interesting  in  its  lively  style  and 
manifok?  details.  And  she,  too,  may  be  left  to  the 
struggles  of  a  desolate  widowhood,  in  the  manage- 
ment of  a  heritage,  until  her  youthful  sons  can  re- 
lease her  of  the  painful  responsibility,  and  until 
then  she  will  need  to  know  how  to  instruct  those 
sons  in  the  judicious  modes  which  the  father  would 
have  pursued  if  present,  first  with  this  field  and 
then  with  that,  to  secure  the  greatest  improve- 
ment and  derive  from  it  the  greatest  advantage. 
In  all  that  relates  to  redeeming  lands  from  the 
waste  of  a  superabundance  of  waters,  Judge 
French's  book  will  be  found  a  faithful  counsel- 
lor in  her  solitude  and  cares. 

It  is  seldom  I  find  leisure,  or  feel  an  inclina- 
tion, to  praise  a  book.  It  is  generally  labor 
enough  to  read  them  thoroughly.  But  I  deem 
this  production  of  Judge  French  so  deserving, 
and  so  calculated  to  be  useful  to  the  agricultural 
community,  I  hesitate  not  to  risk  all  the  censures 
which  any  intelligent  person  who  may  procure 
and  carefully  read  it,  may  feel  disposed  to  bestow 
upon  me,  for  commending  it  to  him. 

Frances  O.  J.  Smith. 

Forest  Home,  Westbrook,  July  27,  1859. 


STATE  FAIHS  FOR  1859. 
We  publish  below  a  list  of  the  various   Sta's 
and  Provincial  Fairs  to  be  holden  the   coming 
fall,   as   nearly  perfect  as  we  can   make  it   from 
the  information  in  our  possession. 

State.  Place.  Time. 

Alabama Montgomery November  15 — 18 

Califorcia Sept.  27— Oct.  6. 

Canada  West Kingston September  27 — 30. 

Connecticut New  Haven Octolxr  11 — 14. 

Illinois Freepv^rt September  5 — 9. 

Indiana New  Albany ?ept.  2o — Oct  1. 

Iowa, Occaloosa September  27 — SO. 

Kentucky Lexington September  13—17. 

Main  ■ Augusta September  20—23. 

Maryland Frederick  City October  25 — 28. 

Michigan Detroit October  4 — 7. 

New  ilaiapshire..  ..Dt.ver October  5 — 7. 

New  .Ji-rsey Elizabeth September  13 — 16. 

New  York Albany October  4—7. 

Ohio Zanesville September  20—23. 

Pennsylvania Philadelphia September  27 — 30. 

Southern  Central  Asricultural  Society, 

Atalanta,  Ga October  24—24. 

St.  Loui3  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association, 

St.  Louis Sept.  26— Oct.  1. 

Tennessee Nashville October  o — 7. 

United  States Chicaco September  12 — 17. 

Vermont Burlinpton September  13 — 16 

Wisconsin Milwaukie September  26 — .34 


396 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAUMER. 


Sept. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
AGKICULTUKAL  KNO^^^LEDGE. 

Mr.  Editor  : — It  appears  to  me  that  the 
means  of  obtaining  agricultural  knowledge  is  not 
so  easy  as  it  ought  to  be.  The  State  money  which 
is  distributed  annually  among  the  several  coun- 
ty societies,  can  and  ought  to  be  so  managed  that 
knowledge  will  accrue  from  it  to  the  great  mass 
of  the  farming  interests  of  the  State,  instead  of 
doling  it  out  in  premiums,  to  a  fortunate  few. 

I  have  recently  been  perusing  the  pages  of  the 
"Transactions  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  for 
Promoting  Agriculture,"  which  is  a  new  series 
just  issued,  and  I  find  that  from  its  foundation, 
its  managers  have  been  zealous  in  getting  agri- 
cultural knowledge  in  some  form  or  other  before 
the  people  ;  they  resorted  to  such  expedients  as 
were  available,  which  were  widely  different  from 
the  collection  of  such  matter  and  resources  for 
its  dissemination  now.  It  appears  if  there  was 
that  interest  taken  in  the  diffusion  of  agricultu- 
ral knowledge  at  the  present  time,  that  there  has 
been  formerly,  it  would  materially  change  the 
aspect  of  many  rural  homes.  "Knowledge  is 
power."  Its  effects  have  produced  wonderful 
changes.  May  it  be  applied  to  the  important 
science  of  agriculture  in  such  a  manner,  as  to 
give  it  a  new  impetus.  It  may  be  said,  we  have 
a  large  number  of  agricultural  works  and  news- 
papers ;  this  is  all  very  well,  but  it  does  not  suf- 
fice. We  want  a  system  by  which  the  communi- 
ty may  be  drawn  together  to  have  a  talk,  or  hear 
occasionally  a  lecture  on  agriculture. 

Winchester,  Feb.  8,  18^9.  D.  w.  J. 


I  asked  him  which  he  preferred,  a  single  or  two- 
horse  mower.  He  said  he  would  not  take  a  one- 
horse  implement,  and  work  it  through  the  sea- 
son, if  any  one  would  give  it  to  him.  That  one 
horse  was  not  adequate  to  the  performance  of 
this  work.  This  so  entirely  accorded  with  the 
impression  that  I  had  formed,  that  I  was  pleased 
to  hear  it ;  and  now  mention  it  for  the  informa- 
tion of  those  who  are  willing  to  learn  the  best 
mode  of  cutting  grass — of  which  there  is  at  pres- 
ent a  prospect  of  so  great  an  abundance.  I  do 
not  pretend  to  be  an  instructer  myself,  any  fur- 
ther than  I  learn  from  good  authority. 

J.  W.  Proctor. 
South  Danvers,  June  30,  1859. 


Remarks. — Certainly.  We  have  given  premi- 
ums a  fair  trial — let  us  now  try  something  else. 
When  you  have  got  farmers  to  talk  and  compare 
notes  among  themselves,  in  public  gatherings, 
you  will  at  once  inspire  them  with  a  new  love 
and  interest  in  their  calling  ;  and  then  they  are 
in  a  condition  to  receive  benefit  from  lectures, 
books,  and  the  discussions  of  more  scientific  men. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

UNDERDH.AINING— MOWING  MA- 
CHINES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  this  morning  visited  the  farm 
of  Mr.  Franklin  Alley,  of  Marblehead,  who, 
wherever  he  is  known,  is  regarded  as  good  au- 
thority as  any  other  man,  on  subjects  to  which 
his  attention  has  been  given.  My  particular  ob- 
ject was  to  witness  the  improvements  he  has 
made  by  underdraining.  For  many  years  the 
farm  he  occupies  has  been  known  as  one  of  the 
most  productive  hay  farms  in  the  county.  He 
now  uses  about  half  of  it  for  the  growing  of  veg- 
etables. On  this  he  has  laid  about  3000  feet  of 
underdrains — on  an  average  about  2i  feet  deep. 
By  so  doing,  he  thinks  his  crops  have  been 
doubled.  My  attention  was  first  called  to  this, 
by  the  extraordinary  crop  grown  on  his  land,  an 
account  of  which  was  given  in  our  transactions. 
Mr.  Alley  is  a  practical  farmer,  without  preten- 
sions, no  mistake.  While  looking  at  his  lands,  I 
saw  about  two  acres  of  grass  that  had  been  cut 
with  the  Buckeye  Mower,  moved  by  two  horses. 


LOOKING  IN  THE  WINE  CUP. 

"Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  cap  when  it  is  red,  when  it 
fiiveth  liis  color  in  the  cup,  when  it  movotli  itself  aright.  At  the 
last  it  biteth  like  a  serptnt  and  stingeth  like  an  adder." — Prov- 
erbs 2Z:  31,32. 

Hiram  Cox.M.  D.,  of  Cincinnati,  has  made  the 
following  statement : 

"I  analyzed  a  lot  of  liquors  for  some  conscien- 
tious gentlemen  of  our  own  city,  who  would  not 
permit  me  to  take  samples  to  my  office,  but  in- 
sisted upon  my  bringing  my  chemicals  and  ap- 
paratus to  their  store,  that  they  might  see  the 
operation.  I  accordingly  repaired  to  their  store, 
and  analyzed  samples  of  sixteen  different  lots. 
Among  tliem  were  Port  wine,  Sherry  wine  and 
Madeira  wine.  The  wines  had  not  one  drop  of 
the  Juice  of  the  grape.  The  basis  of  the  Port 
wine  was  diluted  sulphuric  acid,  colored  with  el- 
derberry juice,  with  alum,  sugar,  and  neutral 
spirits. 

The  basis  of  the  Sherry  wine  was  a  sort  of  pale 
malt,  sulphuric  acid,  from  the  bitter  almond  oil, 
with  aper  centage  of  alcoholic  spirits  from  brandy. 

The  basis  of  the  Madeira  was  a  decoction  of 
hops  with  sulphuric  acid,  honey,  spirits  of  Ja- 
maica rum,  &c.  The  same  week,  after  analyzing 
the  above,  and  exhibiting  the  quality  and  charac- 
ter of  the  liquor  to  the  proprietors,  a  sexton  of  one 
of  our  churches  informed  me  he  had  purchased 
a  gallon  of  the  above  Port  wine,  to  be  used  in 
his  church  on  the  next  Sunday  for  sacramental 
purposes,  and  that,  for  this  mixture  of  sulphuric 
acid,  rum  and  elderberry  juice,  he  paid  $2,75  a 
gallon." 

Prof.  C.  A.  Lee,  of  New  York,  makes  the  fol- 
lowing statement : 

"A  cheap  Madeira  is  made  here,  by  extracting 
the  oils  from  common  whisky,  and  passing  it 
through  carbon.  There  are  immense  establish- 
ments in  this  city  where  the  whisky  is  thus 
turned  into  M-ine  ;  in  some  of  those  devoted  to 
this  branch  of  business,  the  whisky  is  rolled  in  in 
the  evening,  but  the  wine  goes  out  in  the  broad 
daylight,  ready  to  defy  the  closest  inspection." 

Prof.  Lee  further  states,  "The  trade  in  empty 
wine  casks  in  this  city,  (N.  Y.)  with  the  Custom 
House  mark  and  certificate,  is  immense  ;  the 
same  casks  being  replenished  again  and  again, 
and  always  accompanied  by  that  infallible  test  of 
genuineness,  the  Custom  House  certificate.  I  have 
heard  of  a  pipe  being  sold  for  twelve  dollars." 

"There  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  York 
an  extensive  manufactory  of  wine  casks,  which 
are  made  so  closely  to  imitate  the  foreign,  as  to 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


397 


deceive  experienced  dealers.  The  Custom  House 
marks  are  easily  counterfeited,  and  certificates 
are  never  wanting." 

"I  have  heard,"  says  Dr.  Lee,  "dealers  relate 
instances  in  which  extensive  stores  had  been 
filled  with  these  artificial  wines,  and  when  mer- 
chants from  the  country  have  asked  for  genuine 
wines,  these  have  been  sold  them  as  such,  with 
assurances  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  their 
purity." 

The  late  Rev.  T.  P.  Hunt,  of  Wyoming,  Pean., 
■wrote:  "While  I  lectured  in  Philadelphia,  I  be- 
came acquainted  with  a  man  who  was  engaged  ex- 
tensively in  making  wines,  brandy,  &c.  Through 
my  influence  he  abandoned  the  horrid  traffic. 
He  informed  me,  that  in  order  to  produce  the 
"nutty  flavor"  for  which  Madeira  was  so  much 
admired,  he  put  a  bag  of  cockroaches  into  the 
liquor  and  let  it  remain  there  until  the  cock- 
roaches were  dissolved.  I  have  been  informed  by 
several  that  this  is  no  uncommon  practice.  If 
any  wine  drinker  doubts  it,  he  can  soon  settle 
the  question  by  experiment.  Cockroaches  ai-e 
plenty,  and  many  much  more  nauseous  and  pois- 
onous substances  are  known  to  be  employed  by 
the  makers  and  venders  of  intoxicating  drinks.  I 
would  give  you  the  name  of  the  person  who  gave 
the  recipe  for  using  cockroaches,  but  he  gave  it 
in  confidence,  and  is  now  occupying  a  much 
more  moral  and  useful  station  than  that  of  pois- 
oning his  customers." 

Says  President  Nott,  in  his  admirable  lectures, 
"I  had  a  friend  who  had  been  himself  a  wine 
dealer,  and  having  read  the  startling  statements, 
some  time  since  made  public,  in  relation  to  the 
brewing  of  wines,  and  the  adulteration  of  other 
liquors  generally,  I  inquired  of  that  friend  as  to 
the  verity  of  these  statements.  His  reply  was: 
'God  forgive  what  has  passed  in  my  own  cellar, 
but  the  statements  made  are  true — all  true,  I  as- 
sure you.' " 

"That  friend,"  says  President  Nott,  "has  since 
gone  to  his  last  account,  as  have  doubtless  many 
of  those  whose  days  on  earth  were  shortened  by 
poisons  he  dispensed.  But  I  still  remember,  and 
shall  long  remember,  both  the  terms  and  the 
tone  of  that  laconic  answer,  'The  statements 
made  are  true — all  true,  I  assure  you.' " 

"But  not  on  the  evidence  of  that  friend  does 
the  evidence  of  these  frauds  alone  depend. 
Another  friend  informed  me  that  in  examining, 
as  an  assignee,  the  papers  of  a  house  in  that  city, 
which  had  dealt  in  wine,  and  which  had  stopped 
payment,  he  found  evidence  of  the  purchase, 
during  the  preceding  year,  of  hundreds  of  casks 
of  cider,  but  none  of  wine  ;  and  yet  it  was  not 
cider,  but  wine,  which  had  been  supposed  to  have 
been  dealt  out  by  that  house  to  its  confiding  cus- 
tomers."— Michigan  Farmer. 


Westfield  Academy.— We  notice  this  insti- 
tution with  pleasure  because  it  has  an  Agricultu- 
ral Department.  The  late  Stephen  Harrison, 
(we  will  cherish  his  memory,)  of  Westfield,  be- 
queathed $5000  for  endowing  this  department, 
and  the  town,  with  great  good  sense,  contributed 
an  additional  sum  of  $5000. 

The  course  of  instruction  in  this  department, 
we  learn,  is  eminently  practical,  and  includes  al- 


most every  topic  connected  with  agriculture  and 
horticulture.  We  have  heretofore  spoken  of  the 
Institution  at  Bernardston,  Mass.,  conducted 
upon  similar  principles.  These  are  among  the 
encouraging  indications  of  the  progress  of  agri- 
culture. The  course  of  study  at  Westfield  in- 
cludes. 

Recitations  in  Scientific  Agriculture. 

Agricultural  Chemistry. 

Special  Topics  in  Chemistry  and  Agriculture. 

Theory  of  Fertilizers. 

Discussions  of  Questions  relative  to  Crop!,  Mode*  of  Culture, 
Agricultural  Implements,  etc. 

Feeding  and  Treatment  of  Stock. 

Directions  for  conducting  Experiments  in  Agriculture. 

Discussion  uf  Agiicaliural  bLdiisucs. 

Principles  of  Land  Surveying. 

Horticulture. 

Fruits  and  Modes  of  Culture. 

General  Principles  of  Taste,  with  Applications  to  Landscape 
Gardening  and  Rural  Architecture. 

Joseph  B.  Holland,  M.  A.,  Principal. 


■WORCESTER  AGRICULTURAIj  SOCIETY. 

FoKTiETO  Annual  Report. 

This  report  contains  the  award  of  premiums, 
statements  of  committees  and  competitors,  the  by- 
laws of  the  society,  and  a  list  of  the  members 
from  its  origin.  The  premiums  awarded  amount- 
ed to  $979  50.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  fine 
show  of  neat  stock,  and  this  is  always  expected 
in  Worcester,  for  there  is  no  finer  stock  to  be 
found  in  the  State,  than  in  Worcester  county. 
Horses  were  obviously  a  prominent  feature  at 
the  exhibition,  and  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole 
amount  of  premiums  awarded  was  for  horses. 
Two  premiums  of  $50  each  were  given  to  one 
person  for  two  fast  horses  !  We  notice,  also,  that 
$331  were  received  for  the  use  of  the  track.  This 
we  suppose  was  for  a  purpose  not  contemplated 
in  the  act  incorporating  the  society,  or  for  any 
thing  that  would  tend  to  promote  the  art  of  agri- 
culture. We  presume,  however,  that  the  opera- 
tions on  the  track  were  not  carried  on  under  the 
immediate  supervision  and  patronage  of  the  so- 
ciety, but  only  with  its  knowledge  and  consent, 
and  the  society,  must  therefore  share  in  whatever 
credit  and  honor  may  be  attached  to  them. 

We  notice  that  the  society  has  a  heavy  debt 
of  nearly  $16,000,  the  interest  on  which  absorbs 
a  large  portion  of  its  income.  We  fear  it  will  be 
a  long  time  before  the  profit  derived  from  the 
track  will  pay  this  debt.  We  believe  the  true 
policy  of  all  our  societies  is  to  invest  as  little  as 
may  be  in  real  estate,  and  keep  their  funds  so  in- 
vested that  they  will  yield  an  annual  income, 
which  may  be  used  for  the  legitimate  purposes  of 
the  organization.  When  money  is  invested  in 
buildings,  insurance  must  be  paid,  and  they  con- 
stantly require  repairs,  which  absorb  no  small 
portion  of  the  income  of  the  society.  A  cheap, 
substantial  hall,  that  will  accommodate  the  exhi- 
bition, when  suitable  accommodations  cannot  be 
procured  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  is  justi- 


398 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


liable.  The  purchase  of  grouncf  and  the  erection 
of  buildings,  fixes  the  annual  meeting  at  the 
place  where  the  estate  is  located,  and  however 
gratifying  it  may  be  to  the  people  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity,  leads  to  the  division  of  county  so- 
cieties into  district  societies.  This  has  been  the 
case  in  Worcester  and  Middlesex,  and  will  be  the 
case  in  other  counties,  whereas,  if  the  annual 
exhibitions  could  be  held  alternately  at  two  or 
three  towns  in  the  county,  the  county  societies 
might  continue  unbroken,  and  have  strength  and 
friends  enough  to  devise  and  execute  many  use- 
ful and  efficient  plans  for  the  promotion  of  agri- 
culture, which  cannot  be  accomplished  under  the 
existing  order  of  things. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
WHITE   SPECKS   IN   BUTTER. 

I  noticed  in  the  Farmer  of  June  11,  an  article 
written  by  Henry  Holmes,  on  "White  Specks  in 
Butter."  I  never  manufactured  or  sold  churns,! 
but  have  used  churns  more  than  forty  years;  1 
have  had  white  specks  in  my  butter,  but  it  was  | 
not  caused  by  uneven  churning,  or  by  scraping 
down  the  cream  while  churning.  The  cream 
should  be  put  down  as  soon  as  it  thickens,  and 
before  the  buttermilk  appears,  or  you  lose  the 
cream,  but  it  will  not  cause  white  specks  in  the 
butter  ;  dried  cream  is  the  cause  of  white  specks. 
It  is  dried  in  summer  by  a  current  of  air  blow- 
ing across  the  pans.  Since  I  altered  my  milk- 
room,  and  put  on  a  blind  to  prevent  the  wind 
from  blowing  directly  across  the  pans,  I  have 
got  rid  of  the  dried  cream.  If  your  cream  is 
dried,  you  can  soak  it  in  the  cream-pot  and  pre- 
vent the  specks  in  the  butter;  it  should  be 
soaked  twenty-four  hours  before  churning,  and 
stirred  well,  and  if  thick,  some  milk  added  to 
soak  it;  but  if  you  churn  it  as  soon  as  skimmed, 
in  Tyler's  churn,  or  any  other  churn,  you  will 
have  white  specks  in  the  butter. 

An  Old  Farmer. 

Mo7iij)elier,  Vt.,  July  4,  18o9. 

A   YOUNG   NON-BEARING  ORCHARD. 

I  have  a  young  and  thrifty  orchard,  from  which 
I  receive  little  or  no  fruit.  The  trees  are  about 
12  inches  in  diameter,  and  in  a  rich  soil,  facing 
the  sun ;  the  ground  has  been  cultivated  every 
year  and  a  crop  taken  off,  since  the  trees  were 
set,  12  years  ago.  As  trees  in  good  bearing 
yield,  I  have  enough  for  one  hundred  barrels  of 
apples.  What  can  be  done  to  procure  a  crop  of 
apples?  Will  you,  or  some  of  your  correspon- 
dents, answer  this  question  ?  E. 

Remarks. — Hard  to  tell  you.  Let  it  go  to 
grass  two  or  three  years,  clover,  and  then  plow 
it  again  shallow,  and  see  what  the  result  will  be. 

MR.   REED   AND   HIS   BUGS. 
In  the  summer  of  1858,  my  attention  was  ar- 
rested by  the  grand  microscopic  discovery  made 
by  Mr.  Lyman   Reed,  of  Baltimore,  of  the  bug 
that  destroyed  the  potato.     I  received  from  him 


notice  of  his  patent  right  for  the  remedy,  and  an 
earnest  solicitation  to  participate  in  the  benefit, 
simply  by  remitting  a  small  sum  in  advance — 
but  time  passed  on,  and  the  bugs  with  it,  and  I 
have  heard  nothing  of  them  since.  I  have  a 
strong  suspicion  that  the  bug  discovered  was  of 
the  humbug  order ;  whether  it  will  be  found  in 
the  latest  work  on  insects,  I  am  not  able  to  say. 
I  am  in  hopes  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  with 
their  entomologist  from  Christian  Hill,  in  Ando- 
ver,  will  be  able  to  tell  us  about  it,  when  they 
next  publish  a  treatise  on  onion  maggots.    *»*. 

Remarks. — We  know  Mr.  Reed,  and  believe 
him  to  be  an  ardent  and  sincere  inquirer  after 
truth.  

EGGS  OF  INSECTS  ON  GRAPE  VINES. 

I  herewith  send  you  by  a  friend,  a  small  slip 
from  my  grape  vine,  cut  in  March  last.  It  con- 
tains, as  you  will  perceive,  either  an  insect,  or  the 
larviB  of  some  insect.  My  vines  have,  for  some 
years,  been  nearly  covered  with  it.  When  plump 
and  fresh,  it  presents  a  disgusting  appearance ; 
has  the  small  red  insect  called  lady  bug  anything 
to  do  with  it?  Will  you  please  inform  me 
through  your  paper  what  it  is,  or  what  comes 
from  it?  D. 

Lynn,  July,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  are  unable  to  shed  any  light 
upon  the  inquiries  of  our  correspondent.  Sever- 
al persons  have  examined  the  pl','ce  of  vine  sent, 
but  without  giving  us  any  knowledge  of  what 
occasions  its  singular  appearance. 

TO  kill  cockroaches. 

In  your  July  number  of  the  Farmer  "A  Sub- 
scriber" asks  what  will  exterminate  cockroaches. 
In  reply — Equal  ])arts  of  dry  red  lead  and  sugar, 
well  mixed,  is  a  certain  and  sure  exterminator  of 
cockroaches,  black  and  red  ants,  and  other  like 
pests.  A  Reader. 

TO  "oak  hill" — pines  and  ducks. 

For  the  information  of  "Oak  Hill,"  please  say 
the  best  time  for  transplanting  the  pine,  spruce, 
&c.,  is  from  the  fir.st  to  the  middle  of  June.  The 
same  care  is  needful  in  transplanting  them  as  in 
other  trees. 

He  will  obtain  the  Muscovy  ducks  he  inquires 
for  by  sending  four  dollars  for  the  three  to 

South  Wilbraham,  Mass.     Nelson  Mowry. 

grasses. 

Will  you  please  give  me  the  names  of  the  en- 
closed grasses  ?  E.  T.  Wheeler. 
Berlin,  Mass.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  parcel  marked  "No.  1,"  is 
the  true  Fowl  Meadow  Grass.  "No.  2,"  is  the 
Italian  Rye  Grass.  "No.  3,"  is  the  Blue  Joint. 
"No.  4,"  is  a  grass  entirely  unknown  to  us. 

good  opinions. 
Thanks  to   "O.  P.  L,"   Pembroke,  Mass  ,  for 
the  good  opinions  he  expresses  for  the  Farmer. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


399 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CORN  AND  CORN  FODDER. 

In  the  monthly  Farmer  for  March  is  an  article 
on  "Corn  and  Corn  Stalks,"  by  W.  Bacon.  I 
^ully  endorse  his  preference  for  the  "old  fogy" 
way  of  topping  the  corn,  both  on  account  of  the 
grain  and  the  fodder,  and  also  the  labor  of  har- 
vesting. 

I  have  tested  the  matter  to  my  entire  satisfac- 
tion by  cutting  up  at  the  roots  and  shock'ng  a 
part  of  my  corn  each  year  for  several  years  past. 
When  severe  frost  is  ap])rehended,  the  "new 
way"  may  be  advisable,  but  in  all  other  cases  I 
much  prefer  that  my  corn  should  ripen  the  "nat- 
ural way." 

I  place  a  high  estimate  upon  the  value  of  corn 
'"odder  for  stock,  and  much  has  been  said  and 
written  upon  the  best  mode  of  curing  it.  The 
,,ay  which  I  prefer  and  practice  is  this: — when 


heard  my  mother  remark  that  she  looked  upon 
ihdil  first  crop  of  corn,  when  in  the  field  and  in 
the  chamber,  with  more  satisfaction  than  upon 
any  succeeding  crop,  though  many  times  as  large. 
While  many  of  our  crops,  from  causes  known 
and  unknown,  deteriorate  as  the  land  grows  old- 
er, the  corn  crop,  from  improved  cultivation,  has 
continued  to  improve,  until  reports  of  80,  90,  or 
even  100  bushels  to  the  acre,  have  ceased  to  cre- 
ate surprise. 

"y%e  golden,  corn"  has  drawn  inspiration  from 
some  of  our  most  talented  poets,  but  even  a 
Longfellow  cannot  give  it  a  richer  dress  than  its 
own  bright  hue.  J.   Wood. 

Itoyalstou,  July,  LS59. 


For  the  Neiv  Kngland  Farmer. 
LETTERS  FROM  MAINE — No.  3. 


.he  tassel  has  become  dry  and  the  kernel  well  '*W''«^-'^'"'^«  ^''''''*"''Tr^^is°to  Grow''*i'r  ^''""^^'^  '"*''"■''  ""* 
glazed,  I  cut  off  the  stalk  above   the  ear,  laying! 

the  stalks  of  two  hills  together.  When  wilted  Ij  I  read  with  much  interest  the  observations  and 
bind  and  pike  them  in  the  field,  letting  them  re- 1  speculations  of  several  correspondent-;  of  the 
main,  if  the  weather  be  favorable,  ten  or  \.-w^\\e^  Fanner,  who  seem  to  be  devoting  particular  at- 
days,  then  cart  to  the  barn,  hanging  them  on  Mention  to  the  subject  of  fruit  culture.  I,  too, 
poles  or  setting  up  under  the  roof.  i  would  show  my  opinion,  and  propose  in  my  pres- 

I  find  that  my  cattle    eat  them  better  if  cured;  ent  communication  to  discuss  the  subject  of  ap- 
in  this  way,  than  if  hung  up  in  the  barn  as  soon! pie-tree  philosophy. 
as  bound,  or  if  dried  wholly  in  the  field.  j      One  writer  contends  that  apple  trees  ought  to 

As  I  husk  my  corn  mostly  evenings,!  begin  so! be  planted  in  the  seed  where  they  are  designed 
early  in  the  season  that  the  husks  and  butts  to  grow,  as  transplanting  injures  the  tree  and 
would  mould  too  much,  if  I  did  not  mix  with  makes  it  shorter  lived.  This  theory  he  supports 
them  a  quantity  of  straw  or  poor  hay.  I  also  |  by  the  fact  that  trees  which  came  up  accidental- 
salt  them  freely.  jly  by  the  sides  of  fences,  &c.,  prove  to   be  more 

]\ly  cattle  being  judges,  the  fodder  is  better  I  healthy  and  longer-lived  than  those  which  are 
cured  in  this  way  than  when  all  is  cut  up  togeth-' raised  in  nurseries  and  transplanted  into  orch- 
er  and  exposed  to  the  weather  the  usual  time  al-iards. 

lowed  in  such  cases.  Perhaps  it  is  because  theyj  I  will  noi  dispute  the  fact  alleged,  but  I  will 
have  failed  to  "get  the  hang  of  it,"  which  I  am  I  account  for  it  in  a  diff"erent  manner.  Trees  which 
sometimes  told  is  the  reason  why  I  think  the  la-  come  up  accidentally  in  the  situation  alluded  to 
bor  greater  to  harvest  corn  which  is  shocked,  grow  very  slowly  for  a  number  of  years,  and  al' 
than  that  which  is  topped.  jslow  growing  trees  are  hardier  than  those  which 

While  I  agree  with  your  correspondent  in  soigrow  more  rapidly.  Even  if  such  trees,  after  a 
many  things,  I  must  dissent  from  his  opinion  j  while,  become  rapid  growers  they  preserve  the 
that  it  is  better  to  feed  out  all  the  corn  stover  in  i  peculiar  condensed  cellular  texture  of  wood  and 
early  winter,  to  the  exclusion  of  other  fodder.  I  bark  which  was  at  first  the  result  of  slow  growth. 
Fed  out  exclusively  it  is  too  laxative,  and  noth-'When  an  apple  seed  germinates  and  sends  forth 
ing  but  the  husks  will  be  eaten ;  but  a  few  fod-|its  first  leaves,  or  perhaps  the  first  ten  or  twelve 
derings  a  week,  from  November  to  Aj)ril  will: Waves,  it  has  a  tender  herbaceous  stalk,  and  if 
tend  to  keep  the  bowels  of  the  cattle  in  a  looselthe  soil  or  culture  force  the  growth,  while  'v,  this 
and  healthy  condition,  especially  if  you  have] state,  the  sap  cells  become  large,  and  when  the 
much  straw  or  poor  hay  to  feed  out.  A  few  corn! stem  hardens  to  wood  this  peculiarity  is  pre- 
butts,  through  the  winter  and  spring,  occasional- j  served  and  transmitted  to  every  succeeding  part 
ly,  will  be  chewed  with  a  relish.  of  the  tree,  and   even  to  the    fruit.     Hence  the 

From  my  own  experience  I  am  led  to  believe  j  fact  that  trees  from  some  nurseries  will  produce 
that  the  well  secured  fodder  from  loO  to  200j fruit  of  different  average  size  and  flavor  from 
bushels  of  corn,  fed  out  judiciously,  to  a  stock  of  those  which  are  raised  in  another  nursery.  Nur- 
25  head,  is  nearly  as  valuable  as  an  equal  weight  series  which  are  not  forced  the  first  year  will  pro- 
of medium  quality  hay.  duce  trees  of  firmer  wood,  slower  growth,  hardi- 

It  is  often  and  truly  said,  that  the  value  of  the  er  character,  smaller  fruit,  and  fruit  of  finer  grain 
turn  crop  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  It  is  ajthan  the  average  of  forced  nurseries, 
native  grain,  and,  on  a  large  proportion  of  ourj  Will  not  this  account  for  the  longer  life  of  ap- 
soils,  the  surest  crop  which  can  be  cultivated,  pie  trees  which  originate  under  disadvantageous 
The  farm  on  which  I  have  always  resided,  was,  circumstances  ?  Another  cause  may  likewise  have 
purchased  by  my  father  when  covered  with  its  a  share  in  producing  the  effects  under  considera- 
native  forest.  He  was  told  that  he  must  not  ex-  tion.  The  mechanic  knows  that  "pasture  oaks" 
^  ect  to  raise  corn  ;  and  when,  after  a  few  years,! — as  lone  trees  growing  in  fields  and  pastures  are 
he  ventured  to  plant  a  small  patch,  and  succeed- [sometimes  called — make  tougher  timber  than 
ed  in  raising /i/ifeert  bushels  of  ears,  he  felt  that  trees  taken  from  groves.  The  firmer  texture  of 
his  land  had  an  unexpected  value.     I  have  often  I  the  wood  is  the  result  of  the  shaking  and  bend- 


400 


XEAV  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


NICHOLS  AND  INGALL'S  PATENT  STEAM  "WARMING  APPARATUS. 


Within  the  extended  circle  of 
our  readers  there  is  a  large  class 
of  persons  living  in  cities,  or 
populous  towns,  who  are  not 
farmers,  and  who  use  coal,  prin- 
cipally, as  fuel.  This  class,  pro- 
bably, numbers  some  thousands. 
They  are  among  our  prompt 
and  steady  supporters,  and  we 
feel  inclined  to  say  and  do  some- 
thing occasionally  for  their  es- 
pecial benefit.  In  noticing  the 
Steam  Heater,  however,  we  are 
far  from  believing  that  it  may 
not  yet  be  introduced  into  a 
large  number  of  farm-houses, 
heated  with  wood  as  fuel,  and 
keep  the  entire  house  warm  with 
a  less  expense  than  is  now  in- 
curred. We  had  it  in  use  all 
last  winter  and  spring  until 
warm  weather,  and  enjoyed  the 
luxury  of  a  tropical  climate,  if 
we  desired  it,  or  kept  the  house 
at  any  temperature  v/e  pleased. 
For  warming  three  rooms,  each 
fifteen  feet  square,  and  a  little 
more  than  nine  feet  high,  three 
rooms  of  the  same  size  and 
eight  feet  high,  and  two  halls, 
each  thirty  feet  long,  we  used 
o-i  tons  coal,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$40, — and  we  think  this  more 
-f^  than  would  have  been  required, 
\^  had  we  thoroughly  understood 
how  to  manage  it  from  the  first. 
During  the  extreme  cold  of  the 
eleventh  of  January,  when  the 
thermometer  fell  to  22"  below 
ing  which  the  tree  receives  from  the  winds  in  z^'""-  "^  more  coal  was  used  than  usual,  but  the 
its  exposed  situation.  Apple  trees  which  stand  rooms  on  the  north  side  of  the  house  were  shut 
alone  or  in  exposed  situations  will  possess  the  up,  so  that  the  halls  and  chambers  in  use  could 
same  characteristics  ;  and  I  believe   the  fact    is  ^^^-^^    ^^  ^     ^  ^p  ^^  qqo  ^j.  g^o^  ^nd  the  sitting- 

now  ffenerallv  conceded,  that  orchards  planted  in  u-  u  .u     <■  ™-i  ,  ^„„.,,.w,,i  *„  tqo   „,ut,  ,^„, 

'^.  1  »    .1        •   J  1  11  room  which  the  lamily  occupied  to  /j",  witnper- 

situfitions  exposed  to  the  winds  are  longer  lived  ^  ^  '^ 

and  better  bearing  orchards  than  those  which  are  '^^^  ease. 

located  in  sheltered  situations.  At  least,  I  think  i      R  is  simple  in  its  construction,  and  in  no  way 

this  is  the  case  in  high  northern  latitudes.  j  j^^^^  jj^j^jg  ^^  ^^^  ^m  ^f  ^j-der  than  a  common 

Sandy  River,      j^^^^^g^     j^  j^  self-feeding,  both  as  respects  a  sup- 

_,      ,   .      ,  <.  1     ,  •        •       1.     nlv  of  coal  and  water,  and  controls  the  air-draft 

1^^  Truth  IS   the  most  powerful  thing  in  the  ^-         ,  ,         ^      ,        mi  •        .         •      i 

world,  since  even  fiction  itself  must  be  governed  Promptly  and  perfectly.  There  is  not  a  single 
oy  it,  and  can  only  please  by  its  resemblance,  pulley,  float  valve,  chain  or  pump  connected 
The  appearance  of  reality  is  neces-ary  to  make  with  it,  and  there  are  no  tubes,  flues  or  valves  in 
any  passion  agreeably  represented,  and  to  be  ^j^g  ij^jigy  ^q  ijggoQie  obstructed  or  get  out  of  or- 
able  to  move  others,  we  must  be  moved  ourselves,    , 

or  at  least  seem  to  be  so,  upon  some   probable  l       '  .  ,  i  ,  .. 

grounds.  ^^^  apparatus  is  as  portable  as  a  house  stove, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


401 


and  can  be  put  up  in  a  basement,  hall  or  parlor, 
as  may  be  desired.  It  requires  no  more  than 
ordinary  skill  in  its  management,  and  may  safe- 
..y  be  intrusted  to  servants  who  can  attend  upon 
an  air  furnace. 

It  receives  a  supply  of  fuel  in  the  morning 
sufficient  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  the  steam 
does  not  vary  in  amount  night  or  day. 

The  steam  is  condensed  in  the  radiators  in  the 
rooms,  and  runs  back  to  the  boiler  through  the 
same  pipe  that  conveys  it  from  the  boiler.  If 
there  is  no  escape  of  steam  or  no  leakage,  the 
same  water  j}ut  into  the  boiler  in  the  autumn  will 
he  found  there  in  the  spring,  undiminished  in 
quantiti/.  There  is  a  simple  device  for  feeding 
water,  if  it  is  wanted. 

The  amount  of  fuel  required  is  very  small,  not 
more  than  half  the  amount  used  in  hot  air  fur- 
naces. 

EXPLANATION   OF   THE   CUT. 

A,  are  the  water  cocks  to  show  the  height  of  the 

water  in  the  boiler. 

B,  the  fire  pot.     The  fire  is  built  in  the  boiler,  by 

taking  off  the  cover  at  B,  and  putting  in 
the  coal. 
C  C,  are  pipes  for  conveying  steam  to  the  radi- 
ators. 

D,  is  a  safety  valve. 

E,  a  water  vessel  sliding  upon  a  tube  to  open 

and  close  the  air-draft  valves  at  F. 
G,  shows  the  position  of  the  ash  pit. 
H,  an  opening  into  the  space  around  the  boiler. 
I,  the  handles  to  the  grate. 

It  is  not  so  much  our  purpose  now  to  speak  of 
the  advantages  of  this  arrangement  in  regard  to 
health  as  to  the  economy  of  the  matter  ;  but  the 
great  superiority  of  steam  heat  over  that  got  by 
stoves  or  hot  air  furnaces,  is  very  generally  un- 
derstood and  conceded.  Health  and  safety  ought 
to  be  the  first  consideration, — but  a  saving  of 
dollars  will  be,  by  a  majority. 

A  six  months'  use  of  this  steamer  has  con- 
vinced us  that  we  can  save  the  whole  cost  of  the 
apparatus  in  a  few  years  in  the  item  of  fuel 
alone.  Then  there  is  a  great  saving  of  time,  as 
it  does  not  require  half  the  time  to  fend  it  to 
warm  the  whole  house,  that  it  does  to  tend  a 
stove  to  warm  a  single  room !  Another  item  of 
saving  is  in  sweeping.  There  is  no  dust  from  it, 
either  of  ashes  or  coal,  so  that  very  little  sweep- 
ing of  carpets  or  floors  is  required. 

It  is  ornamental,  durable,  economical,  abso- 
lutely safe,  as  it  is  impossible  for  it  to  explode, 
and  gives  an  elastic,  wholesome  air  to  breathe, 
warmed  up  to  65°  or  75°,  without  depriving  it 
of  any  of  its  vital  powers,  or  adding  anything 
hurtful  to  it.  When  the  thermometer  stands  at 
70  in  the  room,  the  air  has  a  cool  and  fresh  feel- 


ing, like  that  blowing  upon  a  person  standing  in 
the  shade  in  a  hot  summer  day. 

Those  who  are  building  may  introduce  this 
steamer  at  a  very  cheap  rate,  as  but  one  chim- 
ney will  be  found  necessary  in  the  house. 

For  further  particulars  inquire  of  Messrs.  Bra- 
man,  Perham  &  Co.,  8  Charlestown  Street,  Bos- 
ton. 

THE  NEW  MOWJSr  HAT. 

BY   CHARLES   MACKAT. 

When  swallows  dart  from  cottage  eaves. 
And  farmers  dream  of  barley  sheaves  ; 
When  apples  peep  amid  the  leaves 

And  woodbines  scent  the  way — 
We  love  to  fly  from  daily  care, 
To  breathe  the  country  buxom  air — 
To  join  our  hands  and  form  a  ring — 
To  laugh  and  sport — and  dance  and  sing, 

Amid  the  new  mown  hay. 

A  stranger  comes  with  eyes  of  blue  ; 
Quoth  he,  '-I'm  Love,  the  youth  and  true ; 
I  wish  to  pass  an  hour  with  you, 

This  pleasant  summer  day." 
"Come  in  !  coite  in  !  you  saucy  elf ! 
And  who's  your  friend '"  "  Tis  friendship's  self." 
"Come  each — come  both,  our  sports  to  share  ; 
There's  welcome  kind,  and  room  to  spare, 

Amid  the  new-mown  hay." 

The  ring  is  formed  ;  but  who  are  these.' 
"Come,  tell  your  errand,  if  you  please  ; 
You  look  so  sour  and  ill  at  ease, 

You  dim  the  face  of  day." 
"Ambition!"  "Jealousy!"  and  "Strife!" 
And  "Scorn !"  and  "Weariness  of  Life  !" 
"If  such  your  names,  we  hate  your  kin  ; 
The  place  is  full,  you  can't  come  in 

Amid  the  new-mown  hay." 

Another  gu«st  comes  bounding  by, 
With  brow  unwrinkled,  fair  and  high — 
With  sun -burnt  face  and  roguish  eye, 

And  asks  your  leave  to  stay. 
Quoth  he,  "I'm  Fun,  your  right  good  friend!" 
"Come  in  !  come  in  ;  with  you  we'll  end !" 
And  thus  we  frolic  in  a  ring — 
And  thus  we  laugh,  and  dance,  and  sing, 

Amid  the  new-mown  hay. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
INSTINCT  OP  ANIMALS, 
Messrs.  Editors: — For  the  specimen  of  your 
valuable  paper  under  the  new  firm,  I  thank  you. 
Most  animals  have  some  peculiarities  indicative 
of  a  change  in  the  weather,  beside  the  grass-eat- 
ing dog.  The  goose,  for  instance,  that  usually 
may  be  found  sitting  about  the  farmer's  door,  in 
the  summer  time,  in  pleasant  nights,  however 
pleasant  the  afternoon  and  evening  may  be,  if  it 
is  to  be  rainy  or  stormy  before  morning,  will 
most  certainly  take  shelter.  Yet  they  have  not 
the  least  idea  of  perpendicular  distance,  for  they 
will  quite  as  lowly  bow  the  head  in  passing  un- 
der the  great  doors  of  the  barn  as  under  the  low- 
est rail  of  a  fence.  Swine,  especially  those  with 
families  of  pigs,  will  indicate  a  change  of  weather, 
and  quite  surely  before  a  thunder  storm,  by  the 
great  fear  they  manifest  in  their  uneasiness.  A 
litter  of  pigs  at  sea,  are  as  valuable  as  a  barom- 


402 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


SePT: 


eter, — and  at  the  end  of  the  week,  more  so,  as 
they  serve  as  a  fresh  mess  for  poor  Jack. 

Most  of  the  papers,  particularly  agricultural 
ones,  abound  in  advertisements  of  artificial  ma- 
nures— they  are  well  enough  for  use  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  large  cities,  where  manures,  proper,  can- 
not be  so  well  made  ;  but  for  the  country,  where 
farming  is  pursued  as  a  business,  to  make  it 
profitable,  the  fertilizers  used  must  be  made  up- 
on the  premises.  Agricola. 

Augusta,  Maine,  July  10,  18^»9. 


jr  Fur  the  New  England  Farmer. 

CULTIVATION  OF  CORN  AND  OATS. 

BY    FREUERICK   HOLBROOK. 

Benefits  of  Cross  Cultivating — Effects  of  different  Fertilizers — 
Corn  not  calculated  to  follow  Turnips  or  Buckwheat — Guano 
for  Oats — Oats  and  Grass — Guano  on  Grass. 

My  Friend  Mr.  Brown  : — I  have  been  look- 
ing about  in  the  fields  here  to-day,  observing  the 
modes  of  cultivation,  c^-c,  and  now  send  you  a 
few  notes  about  such  things  as  most  interested 
me  in  the  course  of  my  tramp. 

In  passing  through  five  or  six  cornfields,  I  was 
impressed  anew  with  the  advantages  one  derives 
from  having  the  rows  of  corn  marked  out  both 
ways  of  the  field,  so  as  to  use  the  horse  and  culti- 
vator each  way  between  the  rows,  at  hoeing  time. 
Indeed,  if  the  land  gets  foul  with  grass  and 
weeds,  or  is  at  all  inclined  to  be  heavy  and  to 
pack  close,  or  to  crust  over  after  a  rain,  the  horse 
and  cultivator  may  be  advantageously  used  twice 
in  a  row,  each  way,  at  each  hoeing.  13y  using  the 
horse  and  cultivator  thus  thoroughly,  the  land  is 
worked  up  fine  and  mellow,  the  labor  of  hand- 
hoeing  is  very  much  lessened,  and  the  young 
corn  grows  ail  the  more  rapidly,  and  is  more 
"stocky"  and  healthy,  for  having  the  soil  thus 
completely  stirred  up  and  its  particles  changed 
about  and  mixed  anew,  or  if  the  manure  is  near 
the  surface,  within  reach  of  the  cultivator,  having 
that  stirred  about  and  brought  in  contact  with 
other  or  diflFerent  particles  of  the  soil.  The  horse 
and  cultivator  can  do  very  much  more  for  the 
crop,  in  the  way  of  mellowing  and  enlivening  the 
soil,  and  effectually  rooting  up  grass  and  weeds 
between  the  hills,  than  can  be  done  by  man  with 
the  hand-hoe.  The  hand-hoe  is  indeed  quite 
necessary  for  dressing  out  the  hills  and  shaping 
the  earth  properly  about  the  young  corn-plants, 
out  beyond  that  the  horse  and  cultivator  are  the 
most  serviceable  to  the  crop.  So  far  as  I  can 
form  an  estimate,  from  considerable  particular 
observation  of  the  effects  of  cultivating  or  thor- 
ougl  ly  stirring  the  ground,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  one  may  realize  from  five  to  ten  bushels 
more  of  corn  to  the  acre,  by  the  thorough  use  of 
the  horse  and  cultivator  between  rows  running 
each  way  of  the  field,  than  he  would  obtain  if  he 
worked  the  land  only  one  way,  all  other  things, 
as  to  land,  manure,  Ike.,  being  equal.  The  gain 
in  the  crop  by  thoroughly  working  both  ways, 
over  what  could  be  realized  by  working  only  one 
way  of  the  field,  will  be  somewhat  in  proportion 
to  the  natural  tendency  of  the  land  to  pack  close- 
ly and  crust  on  the  surface,  or  to  bear  weeds  and 
grass  between  the  hills.  In  any  case,  however, 
let  the  character  of  the  land  be  as  it  may,  the 
saving  of  expense  in  cultivation  will  be  consider- 


able by  working  the  land  both  ways,  with  the 
horse  and  a  good  sharp  cultivator,  rather  than  by 
digging  so  much  between  the  hills  of  corn  with 
the  hand-hoe,  as  must  necessarily  be  done  if  the 
cultivator  is  used  only  one  way  of  the  field. 

I  have  repeatedly  observed  in  my  own  corn- 
fields that  where  they  happened  to  run  out  at 
either  end  in  a  long  triangular  point,  so  that  the 
narrowest  part  was  too  narrow  to  bother  with 
so  short  rows  crosswise  the  field,  and  therefore 
this  end  was  only  worked  with  the  horse  and 
cultivator  the  long  way,  while  the  rest  of  the  field 
was  worked  in  rows  both  ways,  the  corn  on  the 
narrow  end  would  not  grow  so  fast  the  first  ol 
the  season,  nor  yield  so  large  ears  at  harvest,  as 
that  on  the  rest  of  the  field. 

Notwithstanding  the  fine  theory  that  may  be 
stated  as  to  the  advantages  of  level  cultivation  of 
the  ground  for  the  corn  crop,  I  must  still  say  that 
I  do  like  good  broad  hills, — especially,  if  the 
land  is  inclined  to  pack,  or  to  crust  over.  A  well 
shaped,  mellow  hill,  not  raised  too  high  and 
peaked,  operates  to  send  the  corn  forward  rapid- 
ly, and  make  it  stocky  and  stout. 

Several  corn-fields  have  been  examined  to-day, 
which  have  a  dressing  of  superphosphate  of  lime 
in  the  hills.  My  neighbor,  R.  Bradley,  Esq., 
has  several  acres  of  corn,  dressed  v.ith  a  heavy 
coat  of  manure,  broad-cast,  and  a  table-spoonful 
of  superphosphate  in  each  hill.  His  corn  is  large 
and  vigorous  for  the  season,  and  of  splendid  col- 
or. On  one  field  he  used  superphosphate  in  a 
part  of  the  hills,  unleached  ashes  in  another  part, 
and  plaster  in  the  remainder.  That  portion  of 
the  corn  dressed  with  tlie  superphosphate  is  de- 
cidedly superior  in  size  and  color  to  those  por- 
tions dressed  with  ashes  and  plaster ;  and  it  ap- 
pears now  as  if  this  superiority  might  hold  out 
through  the  season.  Coe's  superphosphate  was 
used.  It  seems  to  be  a  very  strong  manure,  and 
needs  a  good  covering  of  earth  before  dropping 
the  seed-corn  over  it.  Occasionally,  in  a  hill, 
where  the  superphosphate  did  not  happen  to  get 
well  covered  before  planting  the  seed,  the  corn 
was  dilatory  about  coming  up  and  growing,  a^ 
first, — the  superphosphate  being  in  too  close  con- 
tact with  it  and  eating  off  the  little  tap  roots  as 
fast  as  they  shot  out.  But  at  length  the  lateral 
roots  pushed  oat  beyond  the  superphosphate, 
and  the  ground  also  absorbed  and  modified  its 
qualities,  so  that  the  downward  tending  roots 
could  run  through  it,  and  now  the  corn  in  these 
hills  is  growing  well,  and  may  perhaps  catch  up 
in  size  with  that  which  had  a  more  favorable 
starting. 

I  next  came  to  a  corn-field  of  my  own,  well 
manured  broad-coast,  and  in  addition  dressed 
with  a  shovel-full  of  manure  in  each  hill,  on  half 
of  the  field,  and  a  table-spoonful  of  superphos- 
phate in  each  hill  on  the  remainder.  The  corn 
has  been  cut  pretty  hard  by  frost  at  three  differ- 
ent times  ;  but  it  has  survived  all  hindrances,  and 
is  now  growing  fast.  On  the  half  that  has  su- 
perphosphate in  the  hills,  the  corn  is  taller  and 
of  a  deeper  green  color  than  that  which  has  the 
manure  in  the  hills.  This  goes  to  show  that  the 
superphosphate  has  the  quality  certainly  of  forc- 
ing the  corn  along  fast  through  the  first  of  the 
season.  Whether  it  will  hold  out  in  good  works 
as  well  as  the  manure,  can  be  better  determined 
by-and-bye. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


403 


Mr.  CiiAKLES  Lawrence  has  three  acres  of] 
corn  which  is  well  manured  broad-cast,  and  has 
a  table-spoonful  of  superphosphate  in  each  hill. 
The  corn  is  of  good  size  for  the  season,  and  its 
color  as  good  as  can  be.  Here,  too,  Coe's  su- 
perphosphate was  used,  and  there  are  occasion- 
ally hills  where  it  came  too  near  the  corn,  delay- 
ing its  growth  at  first,  the  same  as  in  Mr.  Brad- 
ley's field ;  but  the  roots  have  at  length  got 
good  loot  hold,  and  the  corn  in  these  hills  is  now 
growing  well. 

I  next  looked  at  Mr.  RuFUS  Pratt's  corn- 
field, which  also  is  manured  well  broadcast,  and 
on  a  part  of  the  field  the  hills  are  each  dressed 
■with  a  shovelful  of  rotten  manure,  and  on  the  re- 
mainder with  a  table-spoonful  of  a  mixture  of 
Mapes's  superphosphate  with  plaster,  about  half- 
and-half  of  each.  Here  the  corn  planted  on  the 
compost  manure  is  the  tallest  as  yet,  but  that 
planted  on  the  superphosphate  and  plaster  has 
rather  the  deepest  green  color.  As  a  whole,  Mr. 
Pratt's  corn  stands  remarkably  even,  and  gives 
promise  of  a  fine  crop. 

I  next  examined  Mr.  RuFUS  Clark's  corn. 
He  has  several  pieces  which  are  dressed  in  the 
hill  Vv-ith  a  compost  of  Mapes's  superphosphate 
with  old  rotten  muck,  a  handful  to  each  hill,  and 
about  a  tal)le-spoonful  of  superphosphate  includ- 
ed in  each  handful.  The  land  is  also  manured 
broad-cast.  He  has  also  one  or  two  pieces  with 
a  shoveliul  of  manure  in  each  hill,  instead  of 
the  superphosphate  and  muck.  As  a  general 
thing,  the  corn  planted  on  the  superphosphate 
and  muck  has  a  deeper  green  color  than  that  on 
the  manure,  but  there  is  little  or  no  difference 
between  the  two  as  yet  as  to  size  of  stalks.  On 
one  of  the  fields  the  superphosphate  and  muck 
mixture  was  omitted  in  two  of  the  rows  of  corn, 
while  the  remaining  rows  had  a  handful  in  each 
hill.  The  corn  in  these  two  rows  is  quite  small 
and  pale,  as  compared  with  the  rest  of  the  piece, 
and  shows  one,  at  a  single  glance,  the  value  of 
the  dressing  in  the  hills,  for  starting  the  young 
corn  forward  vigorously. 

Mr.  Clark's  practice  of  mixing  superphosphate 
with  dry  finely  pulverized  muck,  appears  to  me 
to  be  an  excellent  one.  The  superphosphate,  thus 
diffused  and  modified  by  mixture  with  the  muck, 
is  not  likely  to  cut  ofl'  the  young  tender  corn- 
roots  in  the  hill ;  and  the  muck,  which  is  a  superior 
absorbent,  imbibes  enough  from  the  superphos- 
phate to  sweeten  and  prepare  it  for  use,  and  thus 
furnishes  a  little  finely  pulverized  vegetable  food 
to  nourish  the  young  corn,  and  makes  a  little 
mellow  hill  or  place  for  the  roots  to  work  in. 
The  proportion  of  muck  to  superphosphate  may 
be  such  as  to  enable  one  to  use  say  a  large  hand- 
ful of  the  compost  in  each  hill,  and  not  include 
more  than  about  a  moderate  tabh-spoonful  of  su- 
per])hosphate  in  each  handful  of  the  compost.  Per- 
haps even  a  smaller  quantity  of  superphosphate 
would  have  a  marked  effect  on  the  corn,  espe- 
cially if  the  mixture  was  made  up  a  week  or  two 
previous  to  planting  time,  and  the  compost  kept 
in  a  dry  place,  under  cover.  The  older,  drier 
and  more  finely  divided  the  muck  is,  the  better 
the  superphosphate  will  mingle  with  it,  and  the 
better,  every  way,  the  quality  of  food  the  com- 
post will  make  for  the  young  corn. 

I  noticed,  to-day,  a  field  of  corn  which  last 
year   produced   root-crops — a  part    potatoes,  a 


part  carrots,  and  the  remainder  turnips  The  land 
is  of  uniform  quality,  and  well  and  equally  man- 
ured, broadcast,  this  spring.  There  is  not  much 
diflference  in  tlie  growth  and  color  of  the  corn  on 
the  portions  of  the  field  which  last  year  produced 
potatoes  and  carrots,  though  perhaps  the  corn 
after  carrots  looks  rather  the  best.  The  corn  af- 
ter turnips,  however,  is  small  and  pale  as  com- 
pared with  that  on  the  other  portions  of  the 
piece ;  and  from  former  experience,  I  should  in- 
cline to  expect  that  this  inferiority  may  be  seen 
throughout  the  season.  So  far  as  I  know,  corn 
does  not  follow  either  turnips  or  buckwheat  very 
well.  Manure  the  land  ever  so  well  for  corn,  the 
year  after  it  has  produced  either  of  these  two 
crops,  and  you  will  not  get  as  large  a  crop  of 
corn  as  though  the  land  had  not  borne  tl;e  tur- 
nips or  buckwheat.  1  shall  not  attem])t  to  give 
the  philosophy  of  the  thing,  but  have  found  the 
fact  as  now  stated. 

I  have  been  looking  at  Mr.  Bradley's  fine 
field  of  oats  of  six  acres.  Last  year  the  land 
produced  a  light  crop  of  corn.  This  spring  it 
was  plowed  and  two  hundred  pounds  of  guano, 
and  two  bushels  of  oats  were  sown  on  each  acre 
and  harrowed  in  each  way  of  the  field.  Then  th- 
land  was  stocked  with  sixteen  pounds  of  red 
clover  seed  to  the  acre,  and  the  surface  smoothed 
with  the  roller.  1  have  not  seen  so  good  oats 
for  size  and  color,  nor  so  thick  and  perfect  a 
catch  of  clover,  on  any  other  land  this  season. 
So  far  as  one  can  now  judge,  the  guano  will 
prove  a  very  profitable  investment.  On  a  few 
rods  at  one  corner  of  the  field,  the  guano  was 
omitted,  and  the  oats  and  young  clover  here 
look  very  inferior,  every  way,  as  compared  with 
the  growth  on  the  rest  of  the  field,  where  the 
guano  was  applied.  The  design  in  thus  treating 
this  field,  is  to  get  a  good  crop  of  grain  this  year, 
if  possible,  and  to  fill  the  soil  well  with  clover 
roots;  then  to  mow  oft'  the  first  crop  of  clover 
next  year,  and  plow  under  the  second  crop,  the 
roots  and  stems  of  which,  together  with  a  good 
coat  of  manure,  to  be  applied  the  following 
spring,  it  is  thought  Avill  enrich  and  enliven  the 
land,  and  bring  it  at  once  into  a  high  state  of 
cultivation  for  a  crop  of  corn.  I  shall,  perhaps, 
have  something  further  to  say  of  this  experiment, 
by-and-bye. 

I  have  a  piece  of  land,  of  a  light,  loose,  sandy 
soil,  which  formerly  bothered  me  a  good  deal 
when  I  wanted  to  lay  it  down  to  mowing  after  it 
had  been  taken  up,  well  manured,  and  planted  a 
year  or  two.  It  would  bear  great  corn,  and  good 
oats  or  other  grain,  but  the  grass  would  not  catc^ 
well.  Finally,  the  last  time  it  was  seeded  down,  I 
sowed  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  guano,  and 
one  and  a  half  bushels  of  oats  to  the  acre,  and 
harrowed  them  in  ;  then  sowed  grass  seeds  liber 
ally  and  rolled  them  in.  The  oats  made  a  grea- 
growth,  and  the  catch  of  grass  was  perfect. 

If  one  wishes  to  seed  a  rather  uncertain  piecr 
of  land  to  grass  in  the  spring,  with  an  oat  crop 
let  him  put  on,  say  two  hundred  pounds  of  guan. 
to  the  acre,  harrowing  it  in  well  with  the  oats, 
and  sow  the  oats  thin,  so  as  to  give  the  young 
grass  a  chance  to  breathe,  and  he  will  be  pretty 
sure  of  a  great  crop  of  oats  and  a  good  stand  or 
grass.  I  should  not  sow  over  seven  pecks  ol 
oats  to  the  acre,  on  such  land,  and  it  is  quite 
likely  that  six  pecks  would  be  still  better.     Th 


404 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


oats  will  tiller  out  very  much  at  the  root,  under 
the  stimulating  effects  of  the  guano,  so  that  from 
one  grain,  or  seed  oat,  there  may  be  four,  six, 
eight  or  ten  stalks,  bearing  each  a  good  head  of 
grain,  while  at  the  same  time  the  surface  of  the 
ground  is  open,  so  that  the  young  grass  can  get 
a  good  foothold  and  grow  well.  I  have  been 
much  interested  this  season  in  observing  a  field 
of  thinly  sowed  oats  of  my  own,  and  in  point- 
ing out  to  other  persons  how  remarkably  the 
grain  is  branching  out  from  the  root.  I  have 
counted  from  eight  to  twelve  stalks  growing  from 
one  seed  oat.  The  young  grass,  also,  is  coming 
along  among  the  oats  just  to  suit  me,  and  gives 
promise  of  making  a  good  mowing-field. 

A  friend  called  my  attention  to-day  to  two  lit- 
tle patches  of  grass  in  his  recently  seeded  lawn, 
n  which  he  sowed  guano  about  ten  days  ago, 
omitting  the  guano  on  the  rest  of  the  plot.  The 
effect  of  the  guano  is  very  marked,  the  grass  be- 
ing much  thicker  and  greener  on  these  patches 
than  in  other  places. 

I  have  several  other  little  matters  to  tell  you 
about  some  time,  but  this  epistle  will  do  for  now. 
If  one  could  write  out  these  details  as  well  as  he 
can  observe  and  think  about  them  of  a  fine  day 
in  the  field,  there  might  be  something  done.  But 
the  mind  will  not  always  wait  for  the  slow  oper- 
ations of  the  pen,  and  thus  some  of  the  best  ob- 
servations are  often  lost  in  writing. 

Brattleboro',  June  29,  1859^ 


DOING  TOO  MUCH  W^ORK. 

Our  ffirmers  are  accustomed  to  doing  a  great 
deal  of  work, — we  think,  in  many  cases,  too  much, 
but  have  not  so  regular  a  habit  of  doing  it  well. 
Whether  the  greater  profit  is  to  be  found  in  ac- 
complishing a  large  amount  of  work  indifferent- 
ly, or  of  doing  less,  and  in  a  better  manner,  is 
the  question  for  each  one  to  settle  for  himself, 
— for  it  is  the  projit  we  are  seeking,  not  quantity 
or  quality,  only  as  profit  is  concerned.  Any  per- 
son may  decide  this  question  with  the  slightest 
arithmetical  aid,  by  ascertaining  the  precise  cost 
of  raising  sixty  bushels  of  corn  on  a  single  acre, 
and  then  of  raising  the  same  amount  on  two  acres 
of  the  same  kind  of  land.  If  the  corn  on  the 
one  acre  costs  fifty  cents  a  bushel,  he  will  find 
that  on  the  two  acres  it  will  cost  him  seventy- 
five  cents  a  bushel  at  least, — making  a  loss  of 
one-third  in  producing  an  equal  amount  of  prod- 
uce for  the  market !  It  will  require  skilful  man- 
agement in  selling  to  make  up  such  a  loss  as  this. 

This  is  what  we  mean  in  saying  that  we  think 
a  great  many  farmers  do  too  much  work.  They 
are  anxious  to  cultivate  quite  a  number  of  acres, 
hoping  all  the  time  that  from  such  a  breadth  of 
land  under  cultivation  they  must  reap  a  large 
reward.  But  lioping  is  one  thing,  and  a  critical 
calculation,  based  upon  well-known  facts,  is 
another.  They  must  go  back  to  the  illustration 
of  the  two  corn-fields. 

In  New  England,  we  believe  there  is  scarcely 


more  than  one  season  out  of  twenty,  in  which  we 
cannot  obtain  with  certainty,  so  far  as  climate 
concerned,  any  of  the  common  crops  of  our  farms, 
if  we  but  manage  the  lands  according  to  the  light 
which  has  now  dawned  upon  every  department  of 
farm  labor.  The  experience  of  thousands  of  wise 
men  is  spread  before  every  person  who  can  read, 
so  that  the  profit  of  the  same  amount  of  labor 
ought  to  be  twenty  or  thirty  per  cent,  more  than 
it  was  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago. 

We  are  acquainted  with  farms  of  twenty  acres 
where  the  annual  income  is  not  less  than  $4,000 
to  $6,000, — and  with  farms  of  100  acres,  where 
the  annual  cash  income  is  scarcely  twice  as  many 
dollars  as  the  number  of  acres !  A  man  on  a 
large  farm  can  raise  just  as  much  corn  or  wheat 
per  acre  as  a  man  on  a  small  farm.  He  ought 
not  to  feel  obliged  to  cultivate  land  merely  be- 
cause he  owns  it.  Herein  lies  the  error.  Like 
the  boy  with  the  oranges,  he  attempts  to  grasp 
too  much,  and  loses  profit  on  the  whole.  Slight 
manuring  and  poor  cultivation,  on  an  extensive 
breadth  of  land,  is  like  the  management  of  the 
merchant  who  builds  a  large  store,  and  fills  it 
with  rods  of  shelves  upon  which  he  places  only 
a  few  goods.  He  must  remain  there  and  super- 
intend it,  and  at  the  call  of  every  customer  travel 
four  times  as  far  as  he  ought  to,  in  handing  down 
the  goods  wanted, — so  that  his  own  superintend- 
ence and  the  interest  on  the  capital  united  in  the 
store  and  goods  exhaust  all  the  income,  and  he 
grows  poorer  and  poorer  as  each  year  rolls  away. 
While  the  farmer  practices  this  kind  of  economy, 
he  laughs  at  the  poor  merchant  or  manufacturer 
who  is  daily  exhausting  his  means  by  it.  The 
phrase  has  passed  into  a  proverb,  "that  we  under- 
take too  much  for  our  means,"  and  still  there  are 
few  who  do  not  err  in  this  respect.  We  forget 
the  actual  cost  of  travel,  plowing,  harrowing, 
seeding,  cultivating,  hoeing  and  harvesting  twice 
as  much  land  as  is  necessary  for  a  given  crop, 
and  pursue  a  course  which  five  minutes'  investi- 
gation will  show  us  is  fatal  to  our  profits. 


COAL  ASHES  AS  A  MAWUEB. 

But  few  experiments  have  been  va%de  by  Amer- 
ican farmers,  says  a  writer,  to  test  the  fertilizing 
properties  of  coal  ashes.  While  we  are  import- 
ing guano  and  other  manures  from  foreign  lands 
in  enormous  quantities,  and  at  great  expense,  it 
may  be  well  to  employ  substances  nearer  home, 
which  are  now  neglected  and  cast  aside  as  worth- 
less. Thousands  of  tons  of  ashes  might  be  ob- 
tained in  cities,  where  coal  is  extensively  em- 
ployed for  fuel,  which,  when  applied  to  the  soil, 
would  doubtless  greatly  augment  its  productive 
powers.  It  is  stated  in  "Faulkner's  Farmers' 
Manual,"  an  English  publication  on  manures, 
that  coal  ashes  contain  sulphate  of  lime,  wit*" 
some  potash  and  soda,  all  of  which  are  known, 
when  separately  applied,  to  produce  a  good  effect 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


405 


on  clover   crops,  and  to  constitute  an  important 
part  of  the  food  of  all  grasses. 

The  following  experiment  by  an  English  farm- 
er, may  shed  some  light  on  the  subject :  The 
round  selected  contained  three  perches  of  clo- 
ver ;  the  first  had  no  manure,  and  produced  thir- 
ty-eight pounds  when  cut  in  full  head  ;  the  sec- 
ond, where  four  quarts  of  sifted  coal  ashes,  which 
uad  not  been  exposed  to  the  weather,  were  ap- 
plied, the  produce  was  fifty  pounds  ;  on  the  third 
perch,  one  quart  of  plaster  was  sown,  and  the 
crop  weighed  fifty-four  pounds.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  ashes  increased  the  clover  nearly  one- 
quarter  above  that  on  which  no  manure  was  ap- 
plied, which  goes  to  prove  that  this  substance  is 
a  valuable  fertilizer.  Coal  is  said  to  be  of  vege- 
table origin  ;  therefore,  we  can  see  no  reason  why 
its  ashes  should  not  contain  the  food  of  plants. 
Experiments  on  various  soils  and  crops  might 
be  made  by  any  farmer  at  a  small  expense,  as 
coal  is  employed  as  fuel  in  nearly  every  town. 


THE  GAKDBN  AND  THE  PORK 
BAKREIj. 

A  notable  housewife,  who  presides  over  the 
culinary  department  of  her  household  with  "dig- 
nity and  grace,"  as  well  as  with  remarkable  skill 
and  prudence,  said  to  us  the  other  day,  "Why,  we 
get  half  our  living  from  the  garden  and  the  pork 
barrel  for  four  or  five  of  the  summer  and  autumn 
months."  We  had  been  speaking  of  the  advan- 
tages to  be  found  in  a  good  garden,  not  only 
from  the  edibles  themselves,  but  from  its  associ- 
ations, and  the  pleasant  remembrances  which 
even  a  good  kitchen  garden  leaves  upon  the 
mind. 

"Half  our  living," — and  the  family  was  a  large 
ne.  So  she  enumerated  some  of  the  excellent 
linners  which  she  is  enabled  to  prepare  from  the 
good  things  grown  in  the  garden,  when  seasoned 
with  a  piece  of  corn-fed  pork  cured  in  the  New 
England  manner.  What  a  variety  of  vegetables 
may  be  had,  beginning  with  the  asparagus,  and 
then  the  new  potatoes  in  the  last  of  June,  fol- 
lowed by  the  peas,  beans,  squashes,  turnips,  cab- 
bages, beets,  onions,  carrots,  egg  plants,  pars- 
nips, green  corn,  cucumbers,  &c.,  Szc.  Why,  the 
mouth  of  an  epicure  might  water  at  the  recital  of 
such  an  array  of  good  things.  ])epend  upon  it, 
brother  farmers,  there  is  nothing  that  spends  so 
profitably,  so  economically — and  at  the  same 
time  that  gives  so  much  sound  health  and  strength 
in  the  family,  as  a  barrel  of  good  sweet  pork,  and 
plenty  of  tender  and  succulent  garden  vegetables. 


Braiding  Straw. — At  the  meeting  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Historical  Society,  last  week,  it 
was  stated  that  the  braiding  of  straw  in  this  coun- 
try was  first  bagun  in  Providence,  in  1798,  by 
Mrs.  Betsey  Baker,  daughter  of  the  late  Joel 
Metcalf,  and  now  residing  in  Dedham,  Mass.  The 
first  bonnet  she  made  was  of  seven  straws,  with 
bobbin  let  in  like  open-work,  and  lined  with  pink 
satin. — Scientific  American. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

YEARLINGS   AND   TWO-YEAR  OLDS — WILD    GRASS 
IN    MEADOWS. 

1.  When  do  yearlings  change  into  two-year 
olds — and  two-year  olds  to  three,  in  the  Boston 
cattle  market?  The  reason  I  inquire  is,  I  never 
notice  any  change  in  the  prices  in  the  spring  of 
the  year.  For  instance, — two-year  olds  have 
been  quoted  from  $22  to  $26,  since  last  fall. 
Now  if  cattle  that  were  two  years  old  last  spring 
are  worth  from  $22  to  $2(5,  we  farmers  want  to 
know  it,  for  the  drovers  will  not  pay  us  over  $14 
to  $16. 

When  is  the  proper  time  for  cutting  wild  or 
meadow  grass  ?  Will  it  kill  it  out  to  cut  it  early  ? 
What  little  experience  I  have  had,  tells  me  it 
will,  although  I  have  never  heard  the  matter  dis- 
cussed in  this  part  of  the  country.  While  trav- 
elling in  the  West  a  few  years  since,  I  often 
heard  the  remark,  "that  it  kills  out  our  low 
marsh  grass  to  cut  it  early,  or  before  the  seed  is 
ripe."  We  all  know  very  well,  that  the  hay 
made  from  such  grass  is  much  better  if  cut  early 
— but  there  are  two  sides  to  the  question. 

Remarks. — 1.  Yearlings  remain  yearlings  un- 
til they  are  two  years  old,  and  two  year  olds  re- 
main so  until  they  are  three.  We  believe  this 
is  generally  understood  by  cattle  dealers,  as  we 
have  stated  it  above. 

2.  The  proper  time  to  cut  grass,  in  order  to 
secure  the  best  hay  from  it,  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  be  when  the  head  is  in  full  blossom  ; 
but  if  the  crop  is  cut  at  that  period  continuously 
for  several  years,  many  kinds  of  grass  will  cer- 
tainly run  out.  Our  opinion  of  the  matter  is 
much  like  yours.  In  order  to  obviate  the  diffi- 
culty, would  it  not  be  well  to  cut  most  of  the 
grass  when  in  blossom,  leaving  a  portion  to  go 
to  seed,  to  be  cut,  threshed,  and  the  seed  scat- 
tered over  the  whole  meadow  at  a  proper  time  ? 
In  this  way  you  would  be  likely  to  secure  both 
objects — get  good  hay  and  re-seed  the  land. 

beans  for  stock. 

I  have  some  four  or  five  bushels  of  beans  three 
or  four  years  old,  and  no  sheep  to  feed  them  to. 
Will  it  pay  to  have  them  ground  for  my  pig  or 
cow,  and  how  much  should  I  feed  at  a  time  ? 

Forestdule,  Vt.,  1859.  a.  e.  c. 

Remarks." — Certainly  it  will,  and  pay  we' 
Feed  them  to  either  about  as  you  would  corn 
meal.  They  have  about  the  same  amount  of  nu- 
tritive matter  that  rye  has.  They  are  used  in 
large  quantities  in  England  for  other  stock  than 
sheep — for  horses,  especially. 

"CAUGHT   A   tartar." 

A  correspondent  from  Media,  Delaware  Coun- 
ty, Pa.,  writes  us  some  strange  incidents  in  the 
conduct  of  game  fowls  at  that  place,  kept  in  the 
game  chickery  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Cooper,  author  of  a 
new  work  on  game  fowls.  A  few  days  ago,  while 
a  little   boy  attached  to  the  family  was  passing 


40C 


NEW  ENGT>AND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


through  the  chickery,  he  was  set  upon  by  a  I 
large  game  rooster  of  the  Tartar  breed,  and  so 
severely  spurred  and  billed  as  to  endanger  his 
life.  Many  and  deep  were  the  gashes  in  his  ten- 
der flesh,  and  the  injury  would  have  been  great- 
er, had  not  a  servant  of  the  family  rescued  him. 
Again,  while  a  hen  of  the  same  strain  was  roam- 
ing through  a  fieh!,  one  of  her  young  was  pounced 
upon  by  a  large  hawk.  The  mother  liravely  at- 
tacked this  "fell  destroyer  of  all  poultry,"  and 
so  disabled  him  as  to  make  his  capture  easy. 
Media,  Jahj  8,  1859.  '  T. 

BUSINESS   AND    CROPS    IN   RYEGATE,    VT. 

I  never  knew  such  a  busy  time  in  this  part  of 
the  country  before.  Every  thing  and  every  body 
has  been  busy  ;  first  the  elements,  rain,  wind  and 
jack-frost.  The  1  itter  was  round,  at  least,  on  the 
morning  of  the  5th  inst.  It  did  no  injury,  how- 
ever, except  on  very  low  land  ;  some  potatoes 
and  beans  were  killed  to  the  ground  in  ibis  vi- 
cinity. Farmers,  mechanics,  merchants  and  day- 
laborers  have  been  very  busy.  Nearly  a  dozen 
large  barns  have  been  built  in  this  immediate 
icinity,  within  six  or  eight  months  ;  several  of: 
them  are  very  large  and  commodious,  and  built [ 
with  every  modern  improvement ;  one  improve-  j 
ment  is  a  cupola  with  ventilator  ;  another  is  sev- 
eral steam  chimneys  placed  near  the  centre  of  the 
hay  mow,  made  of  plank,  bored  full  of  holes. 

Grass  and  grain  look  promising,  except  corn. 
Much  of  our  best  corn  land  in  the  Connecticut 
valley,  and  all  low  lands  was  planted,  and  the 
corn  injured,  but  that  on  the  l)ack  high  lands 
escaped  the  hard  June  frost,  and  looks  well. 
Apples  are  not  plenty  ;  wild  fruit  is  very  plenty ; 
the  bees  are  having  a  glorious  time  on  the  rasp- 
berry blossoms,  and  white  clover. 

T.  P.  Bayley. 

South  Byegate,  Vt.,  July  12,  185U. 

WHITE  specks  in  BUTTER. 
Next  time  you  churn,  take  one  of  those  verita- 
ble specks  (if  you  find  any,)  and  apply  it  to  the 
tip  of  the  tongue,  and  if  by  the  aid  of  taste,  you 
can  possibly  discover  what  the  critter  is,  and 
conclude  that  he  is  a  white  speck  of  cheese  curd 
formed  in  the  bottom  of  a  neglected  pot  of  cream, 
I  guess  you  catch  him. 

Now  for  the  remedy.  Go  a  visiting  to-day,  and 
churn  to-morrow. 

Yours,  in  search  of  hidden  things, 

Mrs.  S.  Pierce. 
South  Londonderry,  Vt.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  trust  that  by  this  time,  the 
grand  discovery  as  to  what  causes  white  specks 
in  butter  has  been  made,  and  that  we  shall  find 
none  of  them  in  our  next  winter's  stock. 

HENS,  AND  hens'  HUSBANDS. 
I  observe  in  your  June  number  a  note  from 
Mr.  Geo.  Vining,  in  which  he  recommends  a 
mixed  breed  of  poultry  as  the  best.  I  partly  agree 
with  him  in  this  respect,  but  take  exception  to 
another  recommendation,  viz.,  "to  keep  a  small 
rooster,  or  none  at  all."  Now  I  consider  him  a 
very  unfeeling  man  to  deprive  the  poor  hens  of 
their  natural  protector,  for  they  like  to  hear  his 


voice  when  he  crows,  and  when  he  answers  their 
cackling.  It  would  be  too  bad  to  keep  poultry  in 
that  unnatural  way.  I  have  also  heard  it  stated 
that  hens  do  not  lay  so  well  when  kept  in  that 
way.  There  is  a  breed  of  fowls  in  this  city  called 
the  Black  Hamburg,  which  comes  up  to  the  mark 
of  a  good  article  as  near  as  any  breed  I  know. 
The  hens  commence  to  lay  about  December  1st, 
and  continue  to  lay  almost  every  day  till  moult- 
ing time,  say  September  2()th.  They  are  nearly 
as  large  as  the  Dorking,  and  of  much  the  same 
shape.  They  do  not  want  to  set,  have  large  rose 
combs  which  incline  gently  to  one  side,  are  of  a 
beautiful  glossy  black,  and  their  flesh  is  very 
white  and  juicy.  I  prefer  them  to  any  fancy  breed 
yet  introduced  to  this  country.  Hoping  that 
your  friend  will  not  continue  his  absurd  doctrine 
of  celibacy, 

I  remain  your  constant  Reader. 

Halifax,  JV.  S.,  1859. 


HA.BITS  OP  THE  SHAD. 

The  habits  of  our  fish  have  been  but  very  littl 
attended  to  in  this  country.  Our  scientific  men, 
it  is  true,  have  been  very  precise  in  their  accurate 
classification,  and  in  the  use  of  their  ponderous  no- 
menclature— they  have  described  our  fishes  even 
10  the  shape  of  a  scale  or  the  number  of  thorns 
in  the  dorsal  fin,  but  they  have  not  condescende  ^ 
to  note  their  habits,  their  food,  their  length  of  life 
with  all  such  particulars  as  would  interest  com- 
mon readers,  and  be  of  use  to  mankind. 

No  fish  is  more  valued  or  more  valuable  than 
the  shad  ;  yet  but  few  of  its  habits  of  life  are 
known.  The  books  are  silent,  and  angling  gives 
no  information.  It  was  for  a  long  time,  a  com- 
monly r'eceived  opinion  that  the  shad  spent  the 
winter  in  some  ])art  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
then  as  spring  advanced  and  the  snow  ceased  run- 
ning, came  along  the  coast  and  entered  the  riv- 
ers in  succession.  If  this  were  Irue,  there  would 
be  no  uniformity,  year  after  year,  in  the  run  of 
shad  in  each  river.  The  very  distinct  varieties 
would  all  become  intermingled.  But  each  river 
has  its  own  variety.  Those  of  Connecticut  River 
have  long  been  known  as  possessing  superior  size 
and  flavor  to  any  others.  The  variety  that  seeks 
the  Hudson  as  a  spawning  ground  is  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  ours.  This  fact  of  the  distinct- 
ness of  the  varieties  in  each  river  tends  to  the 
belief  that  shad  go  no  further  than  the  mouth  of 
the  streams  in  which  they  are  hatched. 

The  habits  of  the  shad  are  unlike  those  of  oth- 
er fish.  As  soon  as  the  snow  water  has  ceased 
running,  they  press  up  the  river  as  far  as  they 
can  reach,  in  order  to  deposit  their  spawn.  In 
following  this  instinct,  they  never  stop  for  refresh- 
ment or  food.  Who  ever  found  anything  in  the 
maw  or  stomach  of  a  shad  that  would  indicate 
the  nature  of  its  food  ?  Who  ever  knew  them  to 
bite  at  a  baited  hook  ?  They  do  not  feed  from 
the  time  they  enter  the  stream  until  they  sink 
down  thin  and  exhausted  into  the  deep  places  at 
the  mouth.  For  this  purpose  of  nature  the  shad 
has  been  preparing  itself  during  the  quiet  luxu- 
ries of  a  winter,  and  has  become  fattened  for  the 
use  of  man,  or,  if  it  escape  his  net,  for  the  repro- 
duction of  its  species.  The  shad  lives  but  a  sin- 
gle year.  It  is  hatched  in  the  early  summer — de- 
scends the  streams   as   soon   as   large  enough- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


401 


feeds  and  fattens  in  the  -winter  at  the  mouth  of 
the  stream — ascends  in  the  spring  to  deposit  its 
spawn — and  descends  to  die  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean.  This  fact  accounts  for  the  uniformity  in 
the  size  of  the  fish.  A  Connecticut  River  shad 
seldom  goes  beyond  seven  pounds,  and  the  varia- 
tion in  size  is  comparatively  slight.  The  bass,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  is  known  to  live  many 
years,  varies  from  half  a  pound  in  weight  to  fifty, 
even  in  our  own  river.  It  has  a  longer  time  to 
grow,  and  shows  a  much  greater  diversity  of  size,  j 
These  considerations  have  lately  led  to  the  con- 
clusion that  one  year  only  was  the  duration  of  a 
shad's  life.  What  was  only  a  matter  of  conjec- 
ture and  inference  has  been  lately  proved  by  the 
artificial  fish-breeders.  Somewhere  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  one  of  these  raisers  of  fish  from 
spasvn  which  he  fed  in  early  life  with  crumbled 
crackers  strewn  upon  the  pond  where  they  were 
kept,  has  proved  their  short  hold  on  existence. 
He  raised  them  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
the  very  large  fish  he  had  in  his  tanks  and 
ponds  with  food.  As  this  science  of  breeding  fish 
is  known  more,  the  habits  of  the  diflferent  species 
will  be  more  easily  described. — Hartford  Courant. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
STUMP-FOOT  CABBAGES. 

The  remedy  given  in  reply  to  "Albertus,"  "for 
stump-footed  cabbages,"  does  not  agree  with  my 
experience.  I  raise  my  own  seed,  not  only  for 
myself,  but  for  others,  and  from  the  most  perfect 
heads  of  the  kinds  called  "Early  York,"  "Low 
Dutch,"  "Drum  Head,"  "American  l^remium"! 
and  "Savoy,"  and  from  the  seed  thus  raised,  more 
than  one-half  of  my  cabbages  have  proved  stump- 
footed,  whilst  others  growing  side  by  side  formed 
good  heads.  One  of  my  near  neighbors  who 
sowed  the  same  seed,  raised  several  hundred, 
and  not  one  stump-footed.  I  have  found  from 
practice  and  close  observation,  that  not  only  cab- 
bages, but  the  large  ruta  bagas  or  Western  sweet 
turnips  are  subject  to  this  disease,  and  from  in- 
spection, have  found  ia  the  roots  small  white 
maggots. 

The  remedy  which  I  have  tried  thus  far  suc- 
cessfully, is  to  mix  ])laster  of  paris  and  ashes  in 
equal  parts,  and  add  one  quart  of  fine  salt  to 
each  peck,  put  a  large  table  spoonful  to  each 
plant,  mix  the  earth  with  the  compound,  but  con- 
fined to  the  roots  when  transplanted.  Soot,  lime, 
and  pulverized  charcoal  in  equal  parts  has  an- 
swered the  same  purpose. 

Out  of  250  heads  last  year,  not  one  which  had 
the  above  compound  was  stump  footed,  whilst 
others  were  more  or  less  damaged,  and  some  en- 
tirely worthless,  s.  L.  B. 

Rockingham,  Vt.,  July  11,  1859. 


Remarks. — Excellent.  That  is  a  remedy  worth 
having — because,  while  the  disease  is  prevented 
or  arrested,  the  remedy  used  is  a  fertilizer  that 
will  produce  the  finest  plants.  The  ingredients 
are  all  common  and  accessible,  and  if  the  pre- 
scription is  sure,  this  information  is  worth  to 
thousands  of  our  readers,  all  the  Farmer  coats 
for  one  year. 


CROWS  AND  OTHER  BIRDS. 

"Crows  and  other  birds"  in  "Old  Kentuck," 
by  C.  M.  Clay,  is  a  very  interesting  letter,  espe- 
cially to  those  who  ai'e  fond  of  the  feathered 
race,  as  is  your  humble  servant.  But  I  don't  un- 
derstand why  our  New  Hampshire  crows  should 
be  so  much  more  prolific  than  the  Kentucky 
crows  are.  Our  crows  usually  lay  as  many  as 
four  eggs,  and  I  think  there  is  occasionally  more 
than  that  number  of  eggs  or  young  found  in 
their  nests.  Some  four  years  ago,  a  pair  of 
crows  built  their  nest  on  a  pine  tree  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  my  confield.  Soon  as  the  boys 
ascertained  the  fact,  they  were  rife  for  pulling  it 
down.  But  I  told  them  if  the  crov/s  would  let 
the  corn  alone  the  nest  should  not  be  disturbed. 
About  ten  days  after  the  corn  came  up,  early  one 
morning  they  visited  the  field,  and  plucked  up 
fifty  or  more  hills.  The  boys  did  not  want  to  be 
told  the  second  time  to  tear  down  the  nest.  It 
contained  four  young  crows  nearly  large  enough 
to  fly  ;  they  were,  after  killing  them,  hung  upon 
poles  about  the  cornfield.  The  old  crowds  soon 
ascertained  the  truth  of  the  matter,  and  "poured 
out  their  vociferous  imprecations"  in  a  way  that 
soon  brought  to  their  company  some  tvi^enty 
more,  who  hovered  high  in  the  air,  and  such  a 
scolding  as  we  got  was  a  caution  to  us  about 
killing  young  crows. 

Last  year  they  were  so  bold  and  troublesome 
upon  my  grain,  corn  and  potato  fields,  that  I  had 
to,  very  much  against  my  will,  resort  to  strych- 
nine-steeped corn.  I  soon  procured  dead  crows 
enough  to  dangle  in  my  fields,  and  was  no  further 
troubled  with  those  that  escaped  the  poison. 
Taking  the  year  round,  I  think  the  crows  do  the 
farmers  a  vast  deal  more  good  than  hurt.  Our 
migratory  birds  return  here  much  in  the  same 
order  as  stated  by  Mr.  Clay,  in  Kentucky.  The 
blue  jays  and  snow  birds  stay  with  us  the  winter 
through.  We  have  four  kinds  of  swallows,  the 
barn,  the  chimney,  the  bank  and  the  eaves  swal- 
low. They  all  build  very  differently.  A  pair  oi 
"orioles,  with  their  rich  and  varied  tropical  plu- 
mage and  luxurious  habits,"  have  annually  built 
their  nest  on  an  elm  tree  within  ten  feet  of  my 
house  for  over  twenty  years  in  succession.- 
Levi  Bartlet,  Warner,  N.  II.,  in  Country  Oent 


For  the  Netc  England  Partner. 
ONIOW  MAGGOT. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — About  a  fortnight  since 
a  neighbor  said  to  me,  "I  shall  lose  all  my  on- 
ions. The  maggot  is  eating  them  all  up."  I 
took  some  guano  and  went  to  her  garden.  The_y 
were  making  bad  work.  I  put  guano  on  all  but 
two  rows,  and  have  kept  watch  of  them  since. 
Almost  all  the  onions  on  the  two  rows  are  gone, 
while  the  other  rows,  which  I  put  guano  on,  have 
lost  very  few,  if  any.  So  much  for  the  experi 
ment.  Whether  it  was  the  faith  or  the  guano 
that  stopped  their  working,  I  cannot  say.  I  will 
leave  that  to  friend  Proctor. 

A  neighbor  of  mine,  Mr.  Farley,  who  raises  a 
good  many  onions,  says,  "Poke  the  dirt  wel' 
away  from  around  the  onion,  and  one  hot  da_, 
will  kill  the  maggot  "  Ed.  Emerson. 

Ilollis,  July  I,  1859. 


408 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


HO  W  A  CHICK  IS  HATCHED.  of  an  acre  of  winter  wheat,  and  six  premiums  for 

In  conversation  with  Judge  Butler,  of  Norwalk,  I  ^^^  '^"««  ^f  spring  wheat. 
a  few  da>s  since,  he   expkiined   the   operation  of{      Premiums  were  also  awarded  for  crops  of  corn, 
the  hatching   process,  which  is  so  beautiful   and 'rye,  barley    and    oats.     We  are  glad  to   notice 
philosophical,  that  as  we  have  never  seen  it  ex-t^hig^  especially  premiums  for  the  encouragement 
plained  in  books.we  repeat  it  to  our  readers.        !  of  wheat-raising.   We  think  the  interest  of  Mas- 

The  chick  withm  the  egg  breathes  through  the  I  »  •,,,,, 

shell;  in  the  silky  membrane  lining  the  shell  the;sachusetts  farmers  requires  that  they  snould  pay 
blood  circulates,  and  is  thus  brought  in  contact  j more  attention  to  this  crop  than  they  have  for 
with  outer  air.  _  _  _    some  years  past. 

The  head  of  the  chick  is  in  a  position  as  if  it       fhe  flowers  were  not  forgotten— as  seven  pre- 

had   been    brought   round    under   the  wing  and      .  i    i   r       u       *•*-  i       n     »• 

"'      'J^^"    "       o  -If  "^       ■     miums  were  awarded   for   beautitul  collections, 

over  on  the  back — a  little  one  side  oi  course — in!  ,       .        ,  ,  ,  .  •         ,        . 

such  a  position  that  the  least  muscular  exertion  i  showing  that  taste  and  beauty  are  cultivated  and 
will  press  the  beak  against  the  shell,  and  about  appreciated  among  the  hills  of  Berkshire.  How 
in  the  middle,  and  when  any  violent  struggle  is  could  it  be  otherwise  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Si 


made,  it  will  break  a  little  hole  in  the  shell.  Now 
this    little    movement   of  the    head,  perhaps   an 


ourney  ?     The  address,  by  Makshall  Warner, 
contains  many  capital  suggestions.     The  amount 


eighth  of  an  inch  forward,  turns  the  chick  in  the  i  .  ....        , 

shell  so  that  when  the  head  is  drawn   back   into  |  of  premiums  awarded  was  .'jcS-O,  indicating  that 
its  normal  position,  it  is  l)rought  against  another  the  society  is  in  a  healthy  and  flourishing  con- 
portion  of  the  shell.     The  next  struggle  breaks  Jition. 
a  fresh  hole,  and  so  on,  each   struggle  making  a 
new  opening  in  the  shell. 

These  struggles,  as  the  chick  gains  strength 
from  breathing  the  fresh  air,  become  more  fre- 
quent. Finally,  in  the  course  of  half  a  day  per- 
haps, as  it  goes  on  turning  itself  in  its  shell,  the 
little  blood-vessels  which  originally  formed  a 
connection  between  the  chick  and  the  lining 
membrane  of  the  shell,  are  drawn  so  tight  as  to 
prevent  circulation,  or  are  tv/isted  off",  and  when 
holes  have  been  punctured  and  the  shell  cracked 
about  two-thirds  nround,the  shell  falls  apart  and 
the  young  chanticleer  steps  out  into  anew  world. 

Occasionally  the  lining  membrane  of  the  egg 
is  so  tough  that  the  shell  parts  from  it,  and  leaves 
it  unbroken,  except  in  the  little  holes  described, 
and  so  if  not  seen  in  time  the  chick  dies ;  a  pair 
of  scissors  will  eflTect  a  liberation. 

It  is  dangerous  to  attempt  to  take  a  chick  from 
the  egg  before  it  has,  as  will  be  evinced  by  the 
cracked  shell,  turned  itself  nearly  or  quite  two- 
thirds  round  ;  otherwise  the  Idood  vessels  spoken 
of  will  be  broken,  and  the  chick  either  bleed  to 
death  or  be  long  in  recovering. 

The  whole  process  may  be  watched  if  the  egg 
be  kept  wavm  in  the  hand,  and  observed  as  its 
struggles  call  attention  to  it.  This  will  not  in- 
terfere with  reading  or  writing,  and  is  instruc- 
tive and  interesting. — Homestead. 


HOUSATONIC  AQBICULTUHAL  SOCIETY. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CUTTING  OFF  CORN  STALKS. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — A  correspondent  recently 
dissents  from  the  practice  of  permitting  the 
stalks  of  corn  to  grow  on  till  the  maturity  of  the 
grain.  I  would  premise  that  this  cutting  off'  the 
stalks,  while  the  leaves  are  green  or  healthy,  is 
contrary  to  all  the  known  principles  of  vegeta- 
ble physiology.  He  says  "that  by  cutting  off 
after  the  pollen  has  fallen  from  the  spindle,  the 
wound  will  soon  heal  up,  and  all  the  upward  cir- 
culation above  the  ear  is  stopped,  and  the  re- 
maining nourishment  which  is  drawn  from  the 
soil  i)asses  to  the  ear." 

Your  correspondent  may  not  be  aware  that  the 
crude  sap  which  passes  up /(as  no  immediate  tSect 
upon  the  growth,  until  it  enters  into  the  leaves  or 
lungs,  and  is  there  elaborated,  (manufactured,) 
and  that  the  flow  of  sap  is  from  the  leaves  down- 
ward. I  have  not  the  fear  which  he  expresses, 
"that  the  article  he  referred  to  may  do  harm  with 
inexperienced  farmers,"  for  I  should  say  at  the 
outstt  to  such,  asccrf.aiii  whether  the  worth  of 
utalks  when  taken  off]  is  of  more  value  than  any 
additional  weight  in  the  grain.  There  are  many 
ideas  relative  to  the  growth  of  trees  and  plants, 
which  are  not  true  in  fact ;  thus,  much  is  said 
about  the  ascent  of  sap  in  the  spring,  and  its  de- 
scent to  ihf  roots  in  autumn.  The  sap  in  spring 
commences  at  the  top  or  extremity ;  it   is  there 


This  society  held  its  17th  exhibition  at  Greati^hat  the  excitable  buds  begin  to  swell  indepen- 
n      •      .  .u    o.-.  1    .-..,  1        1.^.  u    ro     .        i dent,  thus   early,  of   the  root;  the  last  place  it 

Barrington,onthe22d,2Jdand24thofSeptem.,^^^^j^^^^j^  the  roots.  The  writer  says  that,  "by 
bar,  18o8,  and  It  was  quite  a  spirited  affair.  Itjearly  topping,  the  sugar  is  retained  in  the 
embraces  within  its  bounds,  some  of  the  most'stalk."  Now,  if  he  will  but  raise  a  few  stalks  of 
notedstock-raisingtownsiniheState— of  course,!  the  sugar  cornor  imphee,  and  late  in  summer, 

^1  fl       „  ii„„t;„„  „«•    <■     ^         4.-U  1  i  when  the  plant  is  in  the  same  condition  of  growth 

there  was  a  tine  collection  or  stock  on  the  ground.         ,  '        ,        ,  i     .i  •     .        • 

_,  .  _,,     ^  as  the  corn,  when  he   recommends  this  topping, 

The  reports  are  quite  too  meagre.  The  farmers  :jjg  ^jn  g^j  j^  difficult  to  detect  any  saccharine 
of   Lenox,   Barrington,  Stockbridge,  and    other  matter  in  the  stalk  ;  on  the  contrary,  if  he  will 


towns,  should  give  us  some  valuable  information 
respecting  the  breeds  of  stock  which  they  raise, 
and  the  best  methods  of  feeding  them,  and  pre- 
paring them  for  market. 

Two  premiums  were  awarded  for  the  culture 


let  it  stand  until  the  leaf  has  dried,  and  then  cut 
it  off,  he  will  readily  find  that  sugar  is  so  fully 
developed  as  to  occasionally  drop  from  the  end 
of  the  stalk. 

Another  familiar  example  which  shows  the  im- 
portance of  the  leaves,  while  green,  to  remain  on 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


409 


plants,  is  exemplified  in  a  tulip  or  hyacinth  buPi. 
If,  even  after  the  flower  and  flower-stem  has 
dried  away,  and  while  the  green  leaves  remain, 
you  now  take  up  these  roots,  they  will  shrivel 
and  be  unfit  for  resettinj^;  they  must  remain  in 
the  ground  until  the  leaves  shall  have  performed 
their  office  in  the  consolidation  of  the  bulb. 

I  have  thus  hastily  drawn  up  these  remarks, 
which  could  be  extended  by  numerous  examples 
of  the  folly  of  interfering  with  the  leaves  or  lungs 
of  plants,  while  in  a  growing  state. 

One  reason  which  I  have  found  to  be  given  for 
cutting  ofi"  the  tops  of  corn  was  to  accelerate  its 
ripening,  but  I  understand  this  writer  to  say  that 
"corn  will  not  ripen  so  quick  by  several  days, 
■with  the  stalks  taken  off"  early,  as  it  will  if  suf- 
fered to  die  altogether."  1  have  supposed  that 
by  this  practice  it  ripened  prematurely. 

Salem,  Ms.,  1859.  J.  M.  Ives. 


For  the  Neto  England  Farmer. 
A  NOXIOUS  WEED. 

I  have  noticed  with  interest  for  a  few  months 
past,  in  a  number  of  papers,  that  there  appears 
to  be  a  waking  up  among  the  farmers  to  the 
greatest  scourge  in  the  form  of  a  weed  that  ever 
visited  our  American  land.  I  have  reference  to 
"The  V/eed,"  as  the  Springfield  Republican  calls 
it.  I  cannot  give  the  botanic  name,  and  indeed 
I  do  not  know  as  it  has  any ;  yet  it  does  not  want 
for  names.  I  will  mention  a  few,  most  of  which 
I  have  seen  in  print.  Butter  and  eggs,  stink 
weed,  devil's  snake,  dragon's  weed,  Chloe's,  Ma- 
ry's, Mother  Wait's,  Mother  Rice's,  and  Boyan- 
ton's  weed.  It  has  a  yellow  blossom,  a  small, 
narrow,  picked  leaf,  somewhat  in  form  like  that 
on  flax,  only  larger,  the  color  blue  rather  than 
green,  its  odor  very  offensive,  and  will  mature 
so  as  to  produce  seed  after  being  cut  two  or  three 
times  a  year.  One  traveller  reports  to  have  seen 
it  growing  spontaneously  in  eleven  diflferent 
States.  Hydra-headed,  it  matters  little  which 
end  is  up,  or  what  part  of  the  root  touches  the 
ground.  I  have  known  it  to  grow  two  or  three 
feet  high,  and  so  thick  as  to  run  out  the  grass,  al- 
most entirely,  on  the  best  of  land.  Cattle  will 
not  eat  much  of  it  green,  but  when  ripe  will  eat 
the  seed  and  scatter  it  where  they  go.  If  let 
alone,  it  spreads  beyond  conception. 

Thistles,  daises,  cadlock,  cale  and  fire  grass, 
when  combined,  will  not  prove  so  great  a  pest 
to  our  New  England.  How  it  was  first  intro- 
duced remains  a  mystery  ;  most  probably,  in  for- 
eign seeds. 

Some  have  introduced  it  into  their  land  by 
having  it  cultivated  in  their  gardens  for  the  blos- 
som. By  what  I  can  learn,  five  of  the  above  last 
mentioned  names  were  given  for  this  reason.  It 
is  estimated  that  the  above  named  weed  increases 
in  New  England  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  per 
cent.,  notwithstanding  the  effort  made  to  destroy 
it.  I  have  seen  acres  of  land  in  itself  very  good, 
that  has  been  reduced  more  than  one-half  its 
value,  by  having  a  quantity  of  this  noxious  weed 
in  it. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  will  you  give  us  the  true 
botanic  name,  and  tell  us  if  there  is  any  use  can 
be  made  of  it,  for  the  benefit  of  man  or  beast, 
or  tell   us  how  it  can  be   annihilated   from   our 


land  ?  I  have  heard  it  said  there  was  a  class  of 
flies  in  India  that  would  destroy  the  weed,  and 
that  we  had  better  send  express  order  for  a  bag 
of  them.  I  am  afraid  say  so  will  never  do  us 
any  good.  1  give  you  my  experience  with  it  for 
some  years  past.  It  made  its  appearance  on  our 
farm,  exciting  no  suspicion  until  it  was  discov- 
ered to  have  taken  almost  entire  possession  of  one 
field.  I  mowed  and  carried  off  all  I  could  and 
burned  it,  yet  it  appeared  as  prolific  as  ever.  I 
then  plowed,  planted  with  corn,  broom  corn  and 
potatoes,  hoed  it  three  years,  gave  it  one  late  hoe- 
ing every  year,  so  as  to  prevent  seeds  ripening, 
hut  to  no  good  purpose.  I  then  seeded  to  grass, 
and  sometime  before  mowing,  carried  on  salt,  and 
where  the  weed  was  very  thick,  I  scatt-red  on 
the  salt  dry,  broadcast,  thick  enough  to  kill  ev- 
erything green.  I  then  made  a  strong  brine,  and 
having  salt  constantly  in  the  bottom  of  my  pail, 
put  it  on  to  the  weed  with  a  brush  broom,  taking 
a  little  salt  each  time,  and  when  I  could,  stamped 
it  with  the  heel  of  my  boot.  In  this  way,  wheth- 
er sunny  or  rainy  days  followed,  there  would  be 
a  briny  surface.  I  continued  the  process  the 
first  season,  going  over  the  ground  three  or  four 
times.  I  repeated  the  application  last  season 
with  equal  success  as  before.  I  shall  expect  the 
present  year  there  will  be  less  of  the  weed,  by 
seventy-five  per  cent.,  than  last  year. 

I  wish  hereby  to  notify  those  that  see  it  ap- 
proaching them,  if  by  roadside  even,  to  beware. 
A  New  England  Farmer. 

JDeerfield,  Mass.,  July  8,  18o9. 


Remarks. — The  weed  spoken  of  above  by  our 
correspondent,  is  undoubtedly  the  common  Li- 
naria,  called  toad  flax,  from  the  resemblance  of 
its  leaves  to  flax.  It  is  also  called  Ranstead  weed, 
and  Butter  and  eggs ;  why  it  has  received  the  lat- 
ter name  we  do  not  know,  unless  because  its 
flower  resembles  butter  in  color,  and  its  odor  that 
of  rotten  eggs. 

Dr.  Darlington,  in  his  "American  Weeds  and 
Useful  Plants,"  says  "it  is  extensively  naturalized 
— has  become  a  vile  nuisance  in  our  pastures  and 
upland  meadows.  Mr.  Watson,  in  his  annals  of 
Philadelphia,  says  it  was  introduced  from  Wales, 
as  a  garden  flower,  by  a  Mr.  Ranstead,  a  Welsh 
resident  of  that  city ;  and  hence  one  of  its  com- 
mon names.  It  inclines  to  form  large  patches, 
by  means  of  its  creeping  roots, — and  as  far  as  it 
extends,  takes  almost  exclusive  possession  of  the 
soil.  Although  the  flowers  are  somewhat  showy, 
it  is  a  fetid,  worthless,  and  very  objectionable 
weed, — the  roots  very  tenacious  of  life — and  re- 
quiring much  persevering  eflfort  to  extirpate 
them." 


Habits  of  Fish  Changing. — The  habits  of- 
fish, in  respect  to  taking  the  hook,  are  said  to  be 
much  changed  within  fifty  years.  The  Grand 
Bank  fishermen  found  once  no  diflficulty  in  taking 
cod  by  throwing  the  hook  and  line  from  their 
vessels  ;  row  each  vessel  is  almost  always  provid- 
ed with  dories  in  which  the  fish  are  taken  and 
brought  to  the  vessel.     Mackerel  fishermen  once 


410 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept, 


found  fish  inclined  to  take  the  hook,  as  blue  fish, 
hy  trailing;  late  years  they  take  the  hook  as 
soon  as  it  is  thrown  into  the  water,  and  a  vessel 
needs  but  a  few  houjs  for  a  full  supply,  if  they 
will  "bite."  Now  it  would  seem  that  the  water 
may  be  full  of  them,  and  not  one  can  be  taken 
out  by  the  hook.  At  the  present  lime  in  Prov- 
in  elo wn  harbor  none  are  taken  by  the  hook, 
while  the  whole  harbor  is  crowded  full  of  them. 
The  introduction  of  nets  has  been  a  great  gain 
in  the  way  of  taking  them,  and  it  is  predicted  by 
some  that  mackerel  will  soon  be  taken  upon  this 
coast  only  by  nets. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  PROGRESSION  OF   PRIMARIES. 
ANALYSIS   OF   SOIL   AND   FERTILIZERS. 
HY     JUDGE    FRENCH. 

Whether  the  first  egg  was  created  before  the 
first  bird,  or  whether  the  first  bird  laid  the  first 
egg,  is  not  settled,  perhaps,  either  by  reason  or 
by  revelation.  Whether  man  was  created  up- 
right in  form,  at  the  first,  or,  according  to  the 
idea  of  the  author  of  "The  Vestiges  of  Creation," 
was  originally  a  ver)'  low  kind  of  a  worm,  and 
gradually  crawled  up  through  millions  of  suc- 
cessive generations  of  fishes,  repiiles,  birds  and 
quadrupeds,  to  the  dignity  of  the  human,  does 
not  immediately  concern  us,  as  agriculturists. 
We  all  believe  in  progress,  and  that  nature  usu- 


ces,  which  can  be  ascertained  by  chemical  analy- 
sis. To  form  this  plant,  the  soil  must  supply  a 
proportion  of  these  elements.  Phosphate  of  lime 
makes  a  great  part  of  the  ashes  of  wheat,  for 
instance,  and  therefore  if  the  soil  has  not  this 
phosphate,  it  must  be  added,  so  that  the  wheat 
plant  may  find,  and  appropriate  it.  Phosphate 
of  lime  is  found  in  bones  of  animals.  It  is  also 
found  in  the  rocks  at  Dover,  New  Jersey,  at  Crown 
Point,  and  other  localities.  The  chemist  analy- 
zes the  bones  and  the  lime  rock,  and  they  seem 
to  all  his  tests,  identical.  They  are  applied  to 
the  soil,  and  the  animal  phosphate  wonderfully 
nourishes  the  plant,  while  the  mineral  phosphate 
produces  very  little  eff'ect.  Potash  from  wood 
is  a  powerful  fertilizer  for  many  plants.  Felspar, 
one  of  the  constituents  of  granite,  contains  sev- 
enteen per  cent,  of  potash,  but  pulverize  it  as  we 
may,  it  produces  no  such  effect  upon  plants,  as 
potash  from  vegetable  sources. 

Manifestly,  there  are  more  things  in  nature 
than  are  dreamed  of  in  your  philosophy.  The 
plant  knows  more  than  the  chemist !  There  are 
differences  which  the  chemist  cannot  detect. 

And  now  we  are  coming  to  the  learned  words 
at  the  head  of  our  article. 

All  substances  in  nature  are  said  to  be  com- 
posed of  sixty-four  simples,  which  we  first,  or 
primarily,  find  in  rocks.  The  theory  then  is,  that 
these  rocks,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  have  been  bro- 


ally  walks  onward  to  higher  and  higher  results 

Hearing  a  geologist  once  reasoning  learnedly  jj^en  and  worn  away,  and  from  their  debris,  soils 
that  this  continent  had  once  been  submerged,  jh^ve  been  formed.  Next,  we  find  those  same 
from  the  fact. that  marine  shells  are  found  on  thejgyjjstances  in  vegetables,  and  finally,  in  animals  ; 


tops  of  the  highest  mountains,  we  suggested, 
somewhat  maliciously,  that  it  was  as  easy  for  the 
Creator  to  make  mountains  with  shells  on  their 
tops,  as  otherwise!  "Yes,"  said  he,  "He  might 
have  done  it,  but  He  did  not .'" 

Probably  everybody  agrees  with  the  geologist, 
that  ^'.hen  oi'der  came  out  of  chaos,  the  earth 
gradually  took  form,  and  that  whatever  of  crea- 
tive energy  was  employed  in  calling  into  life  the 
various  living  creatures  which  inhabit  it,  for  the 
most    part,   changes    everywhere    are    wrought 


the  same,  so  far  as  the  chemist  knows  ;  but 
changed  or  progressed,  as  the  plants  plainly  tell 
us.  Even  the  microscope,  which  shows  us  eels, 
and  even  sea  serpents,  in  Cochituate  water,  and 
rhinoceri  on  the  surface  of  figs ;  which  can  de- 
tect at  a  glance,  the  different  kinds  of  blood,  and 
aZmo*^  discern  the  oxygen  in  the  atmosphere,  can 
see  no  difference  between  these  two  kinds  of 
phosphates.  But  the  plants,  with  their  instincts, 
sharper  than  man's  reason,  and  more  subtle  than 
chemists' tests,  decide  that  for  their  food,  the  one 


through  the  operation  of  fixed  laws,  and   that  lis  far  better  than  the  other.     Why  is  this  so? 


every  little  shell  of  the  seashore  is  composed  of 
matter  in  a  condition  somewhat  diflFerent  from 
that  in  which  it  before  existed.  It  was  before 
part  of  a  rock ;  it  has  advanced  to  be  part  of  an 
animal.  It  is  chiefly  lime  now,  as  it  was  before; 
but  lime  of  somewhat  different  properties.  For 
some  reason,  we  generally  believe,  that  oyster 
shell  lime  possesses  properties  for  agricultural 
pu: poses  which  are  not  found  in  the  lime  rock. 

But  our  mention  of  the  shell  has  leJd  us  in  ad- 
vance of  our  argument.  Let  us  return.  A  few 
years  ago,  all  the  world  was  talking  of  soil  anal- 
ysis. The  theory  was  beautifully  simple.  Thus, 
plants  are  composed  of  certain  known  substan- 


Professor  Mapes,  of  New  York,  has  been  for 
several  years  discoursing  upon  this  topic  through 
the  Worlciiui  Farmer,  and  before  the  New  York 
Farmers'  Club.  His  theory  is,  that  the  elements, 
which  we  may  find  apparently  identical  in  the 
rock,  and  in  both  the  vegetable  and  animal  mat- 
ter, are  first  taken  up  by  the  lower  orders  of 
plants  like  mosses  and  lichens,  that  they  have 
thus  progressed  one  step,  and  that  on  the  decay 
of  those  lower  plants,  those  same  elements  may 
now  be  suited  to  the  constitution  of  plants  of  a 
higher  order,  and  so  on,  till  passing  gradually 
upward,  they  form  part  of  the  food  of  animals, 
including  man.  and  thus  become  a  constituent 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


411 


part  of  flesh  and  blood.  Having  thus  progressed,\h\gher  class  of  plant  for  further  progression,  and 
perhaps  having  again  and  again  constituted  parti  so  on  through  nature's  laboratory,  until  we  find 
both  of  vegetable  and  animal   substances,  those  1^^/ P!'"?':^^^^'!  P^^^^P^'^^'^^  occupying  the  bones 

.  .      ,     n  •       |0i  animals, 

elements  acquire  an  aptitude  for  such  o?ganiza-       ..y^^^  ^-^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^.  ^^  ^^j^^  ^„   dissolved 

lion,  and  so  are  the  more  readily  taken  up  anew  I  rocks  instead  of  the  same  constituents  compos- 
to  be  wrought  into  new  structures,  just  as  grape  jing  plants  in  a  progressed  state,  as  to  attempt  to 
cuttings  buried  in  vineyards  form  the  best  nour-ift^ed  plants  on  primitive  phosphates,  no  matter 
Ishmenc  for  the  vine,  and  as  egg-shells  are  found  1*^°^  manipulated  by  grinding  and  acids." 
by  hens,  the  most  convenient  substance  of  which  These  views  have  recently  received  strong  sup- 
to  make  shells  for  new  eggs.  jport  from  a  published  report  of  a  committee  of 
In  the  Worlcing  Farmer  of  April,  1855,  Pro-  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences.  The  fact  that 
fessor  Mapes  clearly  states  his  theory,  which  we  I  mineral  phosphate  is  far  inferior  in  value  and  ef- 
have  attempt  briefly  to  indicate.  He  there  states  j  feet  for  agriculture  to  the  animal  phosphate,  is 


as  known  facts,  that  if  we  apply  a  quantity  of 
bullocks'  blood  to  the  soil,  it  proves  a  powerful 


clearly  stated,  though  the  reason  assigned  seems 
to  be  the  difficulty  of  reducing  the   mineral  to  a 


fertilizer,  whereas  if  we  apply  the   exact  equiva-  sufficiently  minute  state  of  division.  The  French 
lents,  so  far  as  chemistry  can  tell  us,  taken  from  Committee  say — 
the  primary  source  of  rock,  and  dissolved,  the 
efi"ect  as  a  fertilizer  is  very  small  ;  and  so  if  we 
use  phosphate  of  iime  made  from  bones,  and  the 


"The  importations  of  mineral  phosphates  from 
Estramadura  into  Great  Britain,  have  not  pro- 
duced amongst  the  agriculturists  all  the  favora- 
same  amount  of  mineral  phosphate,  the  bonej  ble  results  which  were  expected  from  them.  One 
phosphate  will  prove  by  far  the  better  manure.!  "^  "'^' ¥' ^\""^^/' h«l  the  opportunity,  in  1850, 
tr      ',       ,        .    ,  1     •    /.    1    .1         •         11        101  Stating  this  fact,  dunnor  a  mission  With  which 

\et  the  chemists  analysis  finds  the  mineral  phos- 1  j^^^^^^^^.j^^^g^^l  ^.  ^j^^   Minister  of  Agriculture 

phate  taken  from  the  rock  at  Crown  Point,  Lake |  and  Commerce,  relative  to  the  agricultural  im- 
Champlain,  and  other  places,  in  various  parts  of  j  provements  introduced  into  England,  Scotland 
the    world,   identical   with  the  phosphate  from k."^  Iceland.     It  does  not  appear  that  they  have 

1 „„    „„  1  ^„»„  »!„„  J ,   „„  ^f  „„„„i  „„!„„  <.„  since  succeeded  in  obtaiiiinc;  in   Great  Britain  as 

bones,  and  sets  them  down  as  oi  equal  value  to         i    /t.        ,•         i        •       ^i    ■        i 
,      .  '  good  effects  from  the  mmt-ral  pliosphates  as  from 

the  farmer.  bones,  or  the  black  residues  of  the  refineries." 

We  think  the  readers   of  the  JVeio   England]  »♦♦♦»»# 

Farmer  have  a  manifest  interest  in  this  matter, |  ..q„  j^-^  ^^^.^  ^j  ^^^^^.-.^^  ^^^  rendered  indis- 
even  if  it  does  savor  somewhat  of  abstruse  sci-jputable  services  to  agriculture,  by  analyzing  the 
ence.  We  are  all  buying  what  one  of  our  neigh- j  manures  deposited  in  the  Government  dock- 
bors  comprehensively  calls  "bag  manure,"  audi y^^'ds,  and,  exposing  certain  frauds  in  commercial 
we  read    in   the    advertisements,  certificates  of  ™^'"":''^.  h'^^  P''"^''^^  by  direct  experiments   the 


learned  chemists,  that  this  kind  of  guano  con- 
tains such  a  per  cent,  of  phosphate  of  lime,  and 
this  patent  fertilizer  such  a  per  cent.  Now,  if 
phosphate  of  lime  is  all  one  thing,  and  produces 
the  same  effect,  from  whatever  source  derived, 
why  there  is  no  objection  to  considering  it  a  law- 
ful tender  to  the  farmer  for  his  money,  but  if  the 
above  theory  is  correct ;  it  may  be  the  old  illus- 
tration literally  verified,  of  asking  for  bread  and 
receiving  a  stoite  !  buying  plant-food  and  receiv- 
ing an  indigestible  rock. 

In  a  recent  article,  Professor  Mapes  states  his 
opinion  even  more  strongly  than  before.  He 
says : 

"Phosphates  have  no  value  for  agricultural 
purposes,  unless  taken  from  organiclij't,  like  the 
blood  and  bones  of  animals.  The  phosphates 
from  the  phosphatic  rocks  and  volcanic  deposits, 
miscalled  guanos,  although  ground  and  treated 
with  sulphuric  acid,  have  no  value  as  fertilizers, 
and  cannot  be  absorbed  into  the  higher  class  of 
plants,  such  as  are  now  required  for  the  use  of 
men  and  animals.  They  must  first  be  taken  up 
by  lichens  and  mosses,  and  be  progressed  by 
them  in  a  way  which  chemistry  as  yet  has  failed 
to  discover,  and  on  their  decay  and  redeposit  of 
their  phosphates  in  the  soil,  be  absorbed  by  a 


insolul)iiity  of  many  mineral  phosphates  in  the 
weak  acids,  in  the  state  in  which  they  are  now 
ofi'ered  to  agriculturists.'' 

******* 

"We  shall  render  to  agriculture  a  still  grea»"r 
service  if  we  discover  the  means  of  tconomicaiiy 
dividing  the  mineral  phosphates  to  the  state  ;n 
which  they  readily  become  assimilable  by  plants." 

Whatever  the  true  theory,  it  is  manifest  that 
the  difference  between  animal  and  mineral  phos- 
phates is  everywhere  admitted  among  scientific 
men.  It  is  not  enough,  then,  that  the  guano  or 
superphosphate  be  certified  to  contain  a  certain 
proportion  of  phosphate  of  lime.  There  is  a 
further  question. — Is  this  phosphate  such  as  tlie 
plants  can  use  J  If  not,  whatever  the  reason,  it 
is  useless  to  the  farmer.  Careful  experiment 
alone,  it  would  seem,  can  answer  this  question 
as  to  any  fertilizer  from  an  unknown  or  unrelia- 
ble source. 

The  farmers  of  the  present  day  require  not  on- 
ly knowledge  enough  to  perform  their  farm  la- 
bor intelbgently,  but  enough,  also,  to  defend 
themselves  from  their  scientific  friends,  who  in- 
nocently sign  all  sorts  of  certificates,  commend- 
ing often,  it  is  feared,  new  compounds  as  fertiliz- 


112 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


rs,  from  a  too  great  reliance  on  supposed  chem- 

jal  laws. 
And  finally,  an  analysis  of  a  soil  or  of  a  fertil- 

/,er,  to  be  of  any  value  to  the  farmer,  must  indi- 
t.j,te,  not  what  are  the  whole  elements,  but  what 
are  those  which  are  in  a  condition  to  feed  the 
plants.  A  granite  boulder  or  a  grindstone  may 
contain  all  the  elements  of  a  specific  manure,  but 
it  would  be  rather  hard  fare  for  a  young  cucum- 
ber or  a  tomato  plant  to  thrive  on. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
COAL  ASHES  AS  A  DISINFECTANT. 

At  this  season  of  the  year  almost  every  one 
is  troubled  by  the  noxious  vapors  arising  from 
vaults,  the  outlets  of  sinks  and  drains.  I  am  not 
aware  of  having  anywhere  read  a  recommenda- 
tion of  coal  ashes  for  this  purpose,  but  it  is  a 
fact,  that  a  very  slight  covering  of  coal  ashes  will 
prevent  almost  all  noisome  odors,  and  will  also 
prevent  the  rapid  and  troublesome  increase  of 
flies,  from  stagnant  water  or  manure  heaps, 
which  so  much  trouble  the  peace  and  comfort  of 
neat  housewives.  Whether  the  effect  is  merely 
mechanical  or  chemical,  I  am  unable  to  state,  but 
that  it  is  certain  and  effectual,  I  know  by  repeat- 
ed experiment.  A  compost  of  night-soil  and  coal 
ashes  makes  a  very  valuable,  inodorous  and  in- 
offensive application,  as  dressing  to  the  soil,  es- 
pecially for  light  lands  ;  for  heavy  soils,  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  coa^  ashes,  except  in  a  very  small 
proportion,  are  injuiious,  making  the  soil  colder 
and  heavier;  at  any  rate,  heavily  coating  the 
earth  with  coal  ashes  about  the  roots  of  one  or 
two  trees,  of  the  same  variety,  retarded  its  blos- 
soms and  leaves,  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  snow 
covered  with  coal  ashes  will,  for  a  long  time  re- 
main unmelted. 

A  very  striking  instance  of  the  value  of  coal 
ashes  as  a  disinfectant  was  seen  last  year  in  the 
filling  below  the  Public  Garden  with  coal  ashes 
by  ihe  city;  through  that  coatins  no  odor  of 
marsh  mud  or  decaying  vegetable  matter  was 
able  to  make  its  way.  The  cheapness  and  readi- 
ness with  which  this  material  can  everywhere 
ne  had,  the  comparatively  small  quantity  neces- 
sary, and  its  being  more  effectual  than  any  sub- 
stance known,  has  led  me  to  make  this  use  of  it 
more  generally  known,  by  the  aid  of  your  col- 
umns, r. 

Boston,  July  12,  1859. 


Remarks. — Coal  ashes  is  a  good  disinfectant 
— not  so  powerful  as  dry,  pulverized  clay,  char- 
coal or  meadow  muck,  but  can  be  obtained  with' 
more  facility  than  either  of  the  first-named  arti-  I 
cles.  We  can  endorse  the  statement  of  our  cor- 
respondent, as  we  have  long  used  it,  and  found 
it  valuable  for  the  purposes  of  which  he  speaks. 


|^*An  experienced  writer  on  propagation 
says  : — "Never  increase  climbers  or  plants  from 
suckers.  The  like  never  produced  the  like  more 
to  the  letter  than  do  these  plants  from  suckers. 
Destroy  all  suckers,  is  my  maxim." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
A  PEW  NOTES  ON  DWELIilNQ-HOUSES. 
BY   WILSON    FLAGG. 

A  great  deal  of  advice  has  been  proffered  to 
the  public  for  the  last  ten  years,  on  the  advan- 
tage of  possessing  "beautiful  dwelling-houses," 
until  our  people  are  almost  persuaded  that  the 
rudeness,  or  the  refinement  of  a  man's  character, 
is  created  by  the  style  of  the  house  he  occupies. 
It  is  maintained  that  taste  cannot  long  survive 
in  a  homely  house  ;  and  it  would  seem  that  an 
illiterate  boor  needs  but  to  quit  his  hovel,  and 
become  the  proprietor  and  occupant  of  an  ornate 
villa,  to  be  transformed  into  a  gentleman  and 
a  scholar.  It  is  also  supposed  that  domestic  hap- 
piness is  greatly  increased  by  the  tasteful  embel- 
lishments which  are  appended  to  the  outside  of 
one's  roof.  1  believe  this  idea  has  produced  more 
mischief  than  good  ;  it  has  led  men  into  extrav- 
agant expenditures  upon  the  style  of  their  build- 
ings ;  it  has  caused  them  to  overlook  that  com- 
bination of  utility  and  convenience,  which  is  the 
chief  end  of  home-architecture,  and  to  seek  after 
embellishments  at  the  expense  of  that  charming 
simplicity,  which  renders  so  many  old  houses 
and  their  surroundings,  objects  both  of  afi'ection 
and  delight. 

It  is  not  true  that  a  man  is  made  more  con- 
tented or  happy,  by  living  in  an  elegant,  ornate, 
or  beautiful  house  ;  and  no  man  was  ever  im- 
proved in  character  or  manners,  by  adding  ar- 
chitectural ornaments  to  the  outside  of  his  dwel- 
ling. There  are  certain  requisites  demanded  by 
comfort  and  convenience,  which  seriously  affect 
the  happiness  of  a  family,  and  ought  never  to  be 
neglected  ;  but  neatness,  rather  than  ornament, 
should  be  the  aim  of  those  who  are  seeking  after 
home-embellishments.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
most  virtuous  and  liberal  men  in  the  land,  are 
found  among  those  who  live  in  homely  houses  ; 
for  the  plainness  of  the  exterior  of  one's  dwelling 
inspires  contentment,  while  the  opposite  style 
fosters  vanity,  and  creates  a  kind  of  necessity  for 
costly  pretences,  which  are  incompatible  with  a 
generous  hospitality. 

There  is  a  mean  between  an  ornate  and  an  ugly 
style  ;  and  the  houses  which  are  usually  called 
plain  or  homely,  occupy  this  mean.  Many  of 
these  homely  dwellings  are  really  beautiful,  in 
the  best  sense  of  this  term,  where  we  perceive  in 
them  a  perfect  adaptedness  to  the  wants  and 
habits  of  an  honest  and  benevolent  family.  Their 
moderate,  but  sufficient  accommodations  for  all 
private  and  hospitable  purposes  ;  their  cpen  en- 
closures shaded  by  one  or  two  large  trees,  and 
not  crowded  with  a  profusion  of  needless  shrub- 
bery ;  and  on  all  sides  appearances,  more  easily 
perceived  than  described,  indicate  that  the  fami- 
ly live  for  happiness  and  not  for  pretence,  for 
friendship  and  not  for  fashion. 

Ugliness  is  any  quality  in  a  building  that  ex- 
cites disagreeable  emotions  from  its  want  of  out- 
ward evidence  of  comfort  and  convenience  ;  and 
it  may  exist  in  connection  with  an  excessive 
amount  of  ornament.  A  building  is  ugly,  when 
it  is  unsupplied  with  those  mouldings  which  are 
required  to  relieve  the  abrupt,  naked  and  angu- 
lar look  of  its  exterior ;  it  is  ugly,  when  it  has  a 
large  projecting  roof,  that  gives  it  a  toppling  and 
dangerous  appearance.  This  is  the  fault  of  many 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


413 


ornate  houses,  which  have  been  erected  within  a 
few  years,  that  seem  as  if  they  might  easily  be 
unroofed  in  a  high  wind. 

A  house  may  be  ridiculous,  as  well  a"-  ugly.  It 
is  ridiculous,  when  it  abounds  in  conspicuous  or 
naments  that  do  not  harmonize  with  its  general 
character  ;  as  when  Grecian  columns  support  a 
large  porch  attached  to  a  mean  house  ;  also  when 
a  building  manifests  an  attempt  to  imitate  astjle 
which  cannot  be  attained  ;  as  when  a  house,  at 
a  cost  of  only  two  or  three  thousand  dollars,  is 
made  after  the  model  of  a  baronial  mansion. 
There  are  many  of  these  absurdities  among  those 
houses  in  our  land  which  were  erected  by  men 
who  were  ambitious  to  produce  some  extraordi- 
nary work,  and  whose  sense  and  judgment  were 
not  equal  to  their  ambition. 

We  ought  to  adopt  that  style  of  building, 
which  is  calculated  to  inspire  the  owner  with 
permanent  satisfaction,  and  tends  to  promote  a 
fritgal  liospitality,  as  distinguished  from  a  nig- 
gardly extravagance.  A  frugal  hospitality  dis- 
tinguishes those  families  who  indulge  in  no  fash- 
ionable expenses ;  who  buy  no  costly  furniture 
that  is  not  needed,  but  who  are  always  ready  to 
entertain  a  friend  ;  who  pay  those  who  work  for 
them  justly  and  generously,  and  give  freely  to 
rational  purposes  of  charity  and  public  improve- 
ment, A  niggardly  extravagance  marks  those 
v^ho  furnish  their  houses  with  costly  gewgaws, 
dress  themselves  in  finery,  and  pay  largely  for 
fashionable  amusements,  while  on  the  other  hand, 
they  shut  their  doors  against  company,  pay  those 
who  labor  for  them  the  smallest  pittance  they 
can  force  them  to  accept,  and  give  nothing  in 
alms,  except  in  such  a  way  as  to  gain  applause. 

Fine  houses  certainly  encourage  this  sort  of 
selfish  extravagance  ;  they  foster  a  spirit  of  ri- 
valry, and  a  love  of  show  and  "gentility,"  and 
oblige  a  family  to  live  meanly  in  many  respects, 
to  enable  them  to  support  the  expenses  of  their 
ostentation.  Our  neighbor,  for  example,  who  is 
a  manufacturer,  having  crippled  his  fortune  by 
building  a  fine  house,  immediately  cuts  down  the 
wages  of  his  operatives  to  save  himself  from  em- 
barrassment. His  new  and  elegant  stable  re- 
quires a  pair  of  elegant  horses  ;  this  additional 
expense  obliges  him  to  dismiss  one  of  his  need- 
ful clerks,  and  his  son,  who  was  intended  for  col- 
lege, is  employed  to  fill  the  vacancy.  The  costly 
furniture  which  was  purchased  to  correspond 
with  the  style  of  his  new  home,  requires  the  cut- 
ting down  of  some  necessary  expenses  for  com- 
fort ;  and  although  he  is  now  supplied  with  more 
ample  accommodations  for  company,  he  is  obliged 
to  diminish  the  amount  of  his  former  hospitali- 
ties. In  this  way  has  many  a  family  been  forced 
to  perform  private  acts  of  meanness,  in  order  to 
pay  for  their  affectation  of  munificence  ! 

All  the  modern  improvements  for  utility  in 
home-architecture,  so  far  as  they  can  be  afforded, 
should  be  adopted  in  the  cheapest  and  humblest 
dwellings,  because  they  serve  to  promote  health 
and  comfort,  and  to  abridge  labor  ;  but  a  suf- 
ficient amount  of  decoration  has  been  bestowed 
upon  a  house,  when  its  outside  appearance  is 
made  to  correspond  with  its  interior  perfection. 
The  highest  kind  of  beauty  springs  from  the 
manifest  combination  of  neatness  and  conve- 
nience; yet  how  often  do  we  see  dwelling-houses 
tricked  out  with  various  ornaments,  and  neatly 


painted,  while  an  ugly  sink-spout  discharges  its 
waters  conspicuously  upon  a  grassy  bank,  and 
destroys  all  the  beauty  of  the  place  !  If,  in  this 
case,  there  is  neatness  within  doors,  the  outside 
is  false  to  the  character  of  the  interior. 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  a  house  may  be 
false  in  its  appearances,  when,  for  example,  it  ap- 
pears to  be  built  for  purposes  of  hospitality, 
while  the  owner  and  his  family  live  like  misers, 
and  only  to  themselves.  It  is  remsrkable  to  what 
an  extent  this  kind  of  ostentation  in  fine  houses 
is  carried  by  the  meanest  and  most  miserly  sort 
of  people.  I  believe  it  is  only  in  this  country, 
that  the  sight  is  beheld,  of  an  elegant  and  spa- 
cious dwelling-house,  with  numerous  large  and 
handsome  rooms,  provided  with  furniture  as 
costly  as  the  house, — while  the  master  and  mis- 
tress seldom  entertain  a  party  of  friends,  and 
live  with  all  their  family  in  a  back  room  or  the 
'kitchen.  I  would  not  find  fault  with  such  peo- 
jple  for  occupying  that  part  of  the  house  which 
their  manners  and  habits  are  best  suited  to 
adorn.  I  would  simply  inquire  for  what  purpose 
j  seven  or  eight  superfluous  rooms  were  made, 
I  since  the  family  neither  occupies  them,  nor  de- 
i  votes  them  to  hospitality  !  How  much  more  sen- 
'  sible  their  conduct,  if  the  house  had  been  planned 
jto  correspond  both  in  size  and  appearance,  with 
their  own  habits  and  requirements  !  Such  a 
!  home  is  designed  neither  for  the  proprietor  nor 
jfor  his  neighbors.  It  is  built  by  a  vain  man  for 
I  the  idle  gaze  of  a  public,  who  are  not  allowed  to 
I  soil  it  with  a  single  footstep.  In  this  case,  the 
j  grandeur  of  the  house  serves  to  render  the  mean- 
ness of  the  owner  the  more  conspicuous. 

All  this,  however,  is  rather  affectation  than 
hypocrisy,  which  is  more  commonly  manifested 
in  our  sepulchral  monuments,  and  in  the  style  of 
our  churches,  than  in  our  dwellings.  When  a 
man  who  has  led  a  wicked  life,  erects  before  his 
death  a  solemn  marble  tombstone,  with  a  cross 
and  other  religious  devices,  and  engraves  upon 
it  certain  impressive  mottoes,  the  work  is  an  act 
of  hypocrisy.  But  the  affectation  that  marks  the 
builders  of  dwelling-houses  is  that  of  endeavor- 
ing to  seem  wealthy,  when  they  are  poor  ;  gen- 
tlemen of  leisure,  when  they  are  devoted  to  la- 
borious toil ;  or  princes,  when  they  are  only  men 
of  wealth,  and  slaves  in  their  own  counting- 
rooms.  It  is  very  common  to  see  the  house  of 
an  illiterate  adventurer  furnished  with  its  libra- 
ry and  study,  while  the  humble  parsonage,  right 
opposite,  is  so  poorly  supplied  with  rooms,  that 
the  clergyman  writes  his  sermons  and  pursues 
his  studies  in  the  parlor  or  living-room. 

It  is  very  customary  for  the  press  to  ridicule 
plain  houses,  because  the  cant  of  the  times  jin- 
gles in  praise  of  "the  beautiful."  But  if  any  one 
wiil  take  pains  to  study  the  effects  in  landscape 
of  the  diff'erent  styles  of  building,  he  will  find 
that  homely  houses,  made  for  comfort  and  not 
for  show,  are  the  most  pleasing  objects  in  rural 
scenery.  There  are  many  who  will  bear  witness 
of  instances  I  have  often  observed,  in  which  the 
beauty  of  a  charming  scene  has  been  totally  de- 
stroyed, simply  by  removing  a  neat  and  plain 
cottage,  and  putting  up  an  ornamental  one  in  its 
stead.  The  reason  why  we  are  thus  affected,  is 
that  the  one  wears  the  expression  of  freedom  and 
comfort,  the  other  that  of  vanity  and  restraint. 

If  the  ornate  styles  of  buildings  were  favora- 


414 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


ble  to  a  generous  and  comfortable  mode  of  liv- 
ing, they  would  not  deserve  censure.  But  if  I 
were  to  measure  the  hospitality  of  a  stranger  by 
the  style  of  his  house,  I  should  declare  in  favor 
of  the  owner  of  one  that  is  homely  and  moderate- 
ly spacious  ;  and  should  suspect  the  liberalily  of 
one  who  lived  in  an  ostentatious  house,  as  I 
should  doubt  the  piety  of  those  who  occupied 
the  most  expensive  pews  in  a  fashionable  church. 
As  this  man's  palace  loomed  before  my  sight,  I 
should  feel  some  misgivings,  and  say  to  myself 
— "These  poor  people  w'no  live  on  ])retence,  can- 
not spend  much  for  generosity." 


"WHY  SOW^S  DESTROY  THEIR  YOUNG. 

A  writer  in  the  Homestead  gives  an  article  on 
this  subject,  in  which  he  argues  very  conclusive- 
ly that  "costiveness  and  its  accompanying  evils 
are  the  main  causes  of  sows  destroying  their 
young — and  proper  food  is  the  preventive  and 
cure."  He  says,  and  the  fact  is  patent  to  thous- 
ands of  pig-raisers,  that  sows  never  eat  their  pigs 
when  running  at  large,  with  plenty  of  green  food 
as  in  autumn,  but  with  hardly  any  exception, 
sows  littering  early  in  the  spring  are  troubled 
with  costiveness,  often  very  severely.  This  causes 
extreme  restlessness,  often  almost  frenzy,  and 
the  pains  of  labor  increase  it  until  they  destroy 
their  young  or  any  other  living  thing  within  their 
power. 

"Green  food  is  the  cure."  If  sows  are  con- 
fined in  pens  at  any  season,  and  especially  in  ear- 
ly spring,  they  should  have  a  daily  supply  of 
green  food  for  some  weeks  before  littering.  Po- 
tatoes, sugar  beets,  carrots,  parsnips,  and  such 
like,  are  excellent — and  half  a  peck  per  day  is 
amply  sufficient.  If  no  roots  are  to  be  had,  sul- 
phur— a  tablespoonful  two  or  three  times  a  week 
— may  be  given  in  their  usual  food,  and  charcoal 
is  also  beneficial.  Sows  should  not  be  moved 
about  from  pen  to  pen  at  this  time,  as  it  disturbs 
and  irritates  them — they  should  be  put  by  them- 
selves at  least  a  month  before  littering,  and  used 
at  all  times  with  kindness  and  due  attention  to 
their  comfort. 

Corn  and  cob  meal,  or  corn  unground,  is  bad 
food  alone  for  sows  heavy  with  young.  Sour 
milk,  kitchen  slop  and  vegetable  food  should  be 
given  with  it,  and  for  all  swine  it  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred. In  summer,  with  good  clover  pasture, 
pigs  will  do  well  without  grain,  and  every  farmer 
should  provide  a  proper  pasture  for  his  swine. 

We  have  before  stated  that  sows  could  be  pre- 
vented from  destroying  their  young,  by  giving 
them  rum  sufficient  to  make  them  tipsy  after  lit- 
lering.  The  preventive  of  green  food  would  be 
far  better  for  the  animal,  as  well  as  of  permanent 
benefit.  Sometimes  sows  refuse  to  own  their 
young,  acting  perfectly  indiff'erent  to  their  wel- 
fare. We  have  found  this  readily  overcome  by 
holding  the  sow,  and  allowing  the  pigs  to  suck 
once — after  which   she  gave  no  further   trouble. 

Country  Gentleman. 


DELEGATES  TO  COUNTY  SOCIETIES. 

We  have  been  obligingly  furnished  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  with 
the  following  names  of  the  Delegates  who  are 
to  visit  the  county  agricultural  societies  at  their 
annual  meetings  next  autumn. 

DELEGATES   TO   THE   SOCIETIES. 

Essex,  at  Danvers,  Sept.  28,  29 Rev.  Mr.  Sewall. 

Mi<l<ilepex.  at  Concord,  Sept.  28 E.  G.  Gardner. 

Middlesex,  S.,  at  Framinxham,  Sept.  20.  21 Wm.  Sutton. 

Middlesex,  N  ,  at  Lowell,  Sept.  21 S.  H.  Buthnell. 

Worcester,  at  Worcester,  S.>pt.  28,  29 G.  M.  Atwater. 

Worcester,  W.,  at  Barre,  Sept.  27 Nathan  Durfee. 

Worcester,  N.,  at  Fitchburg,  Sept.  29,  30 John  C.  Bartlett. 

Worcester,  S.,  Sturbridge,  Sept.  28 Cyrus  Knox. 

Hampshire,  Franklin  and  Hampden,  at  Norihampton, 

Sept.  28,  29 .Josiah  White. 

Hampshire,  at  Amherst,  Oct.  13.14 Chas.  K.  Tracy. 

Hampden,  at  Springfield,  Sept   21   22 M.  P.  Wilder 

Bampden,  E.,  at  Palmer,  Oct.  4,  f> W.  G.  Lewis 

Franklin,  at  Greenfield,  Sept.  27,  28 .Tabez  Fisher 

Berkshire,  at  Pittslield,  Oct.  5,  6,  7 Paoli  Lathrop. 

nniisatonic,  at  Great  Barrinuton,  Sept.  2S,  29... Geo.  Marstoo. 

Norfolk,  at  Oedham,  Stpt.  27,  28 Chas.  G.  Davis. 

Bristol,  at  Taunton,  Sept.  14,  15  O.  C   Felton. 

Plymouth,  at  Bridgewater,  Oct.  5,  6 Levi  Stockbridge. 

Barnstable,  at  Barnstable,  Oct.  .5,  6 Wm   S.  Clark. 

Mantucket   at  Nantuck'H,  Oct.  12,  13 James  S.  Grennell. 

JIarth.  Vineyard,  at  West  Tisbury,  Oct.  11, 12.  ..Simon  Brown. 


Beautiful  Bugs. — We  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  beautiful  bugs  sent  us  by  our  Berlin  corres- 
pondent. They  exceed  in  beauty  of  form  and 
brilliancy  of  color  anything  of  the  beetle  kind  we 
have  ever  seen. 


For  the  Nsw  England  Farmer. 
LETTERS  FROM  MAINE — No.  4. 

Effects  of  Deep  Planting — ?eason  for  Pruning — A  Mistiku 
Corrected. 

In  my  last,  I  gave  some  reasons  why  tree.? 
which  have  never  been  transplanted,  seem  to  be 
hardier  and  longer  lived  than  those  which  are 
started  in  nurseries,  and  removed  from  thence  to 
the  orchard.  I  have  now  one  additional  reason  to 
give.  Examination  will  show  that  trees  which 
grow  in  the  spot  where  the  seed  germinated,  have 
a  set  of  roots  on  which  the  tree  mainly  depends, 
running  very  near  the  surface.  In  transplanting 
trees,  the  roots  are  generally  buried  deeper  than 
they  naturally  grow  ;  and  in  such  cases  the  tree 
never  gets  over  the  deleterious  consequences, 
unless  another  set  of  roots  springs  out  near  the 
surface. 

Fruit  trees  winter-kill  in  consequence  of  the 
imperfect  ripening  or  maturing  of  the  sap.  The 
well  matured  sap  has  an  essential  oil  so  largely 
incorporated  with  its  substance  as  to  prevent  the 
fatal  "effects  of  severe  freezing.  An  abundance  of 
lea\es  and  a  supply  of  roots  near  the  surface  of 
the  soil  are  the  essential  prerequisites  to  the  ripen- 
ing of  the  sap.  Hence  deep  planting  and  exces- 
sive pruning  generally  prove  fatal  to  the  apple 
tree  in  Maine,  when  the  winter  happens  to  be 
more  severe  than  usual. 

The  correspondents  of  the  Farmer  have  had 
much  to  say  about  the  time  of  pruning  trees; 
and  the  fact  that  the  sap  sometimes  runs  from 
the  wound  made  by  pimning — blackening  and  ap- 
parently poisoning  the  bark — has  been  attributed 
to  pruning  at  an  unfavorable  season.  This  con- 
clusion is  based  on  error.  The  living  healthy 
wood  of  an  apple  tree  will  not  bleed  or  discharge 
sap,  when  cut  at  any  season  of  the  year.  It  is 
not  sap  which  seems  to  run  from  the  wound,  but 
acidulated  water  from  the  dead  winter-killed  wood 
under  the  bark.  The  sap  in  the  bark  is  better 
ripened  than  that  in  the  wood,  and  hence  the 
wood  is  often  winter-killed  when  the  bark,  and 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


415 


sometimes"  two  or  three  layers  of  sap-wood  di- 
rectly beneath  it,  remain  green.  When  the  wood 
is  killed,  and  the  bark  only  remains  green,  the 
tree  or  branch  will  leave  as  usual,  and  perhaps 
directly  after  the  flowering  season  the  leaves  will 
wither  up.  This  is  more  frequently  the  case  with 
the  pear  than  with  the  apple  tree,  and  the  ef- 
fect is  then  called  fire  blight,  See.  In  pruning 
trees,  if  a  branch  is  cut  where  the  whole  of  the 
wood  or  a  part  of  it  has  been  Avinter-killed,  the 
■water  will  run  from  such  killed  wood,  at  what- 
ever season  of  the  year  the  tree  may  be  pruned. 
I  have  more  facts  upon  this  subject  to  communi- 
cate hereafter.  Sandy  River. 

Remarks. — Our  correspondent  says — "The  liv- 
ing, healthy  wood  of  an  apple  tree  will  not  bleed 
or  discharge  sap  when  cut  at  any  season  of  the 
year."  We  are  greatly  confident  that  he  is  mis- 
taken. An  extended  experience,  both  as  to  time 
and  number  of  trees  worked  upon,  has  thoroughly 
convinced  us  that  if  a  vigorous  tree  is  cut  when 
the  sap  is  in  full  motion,  that  sap  will  immedi- 
ately flow  out,  long  before  there  is  time  for  any 
wood  to  die,  or  be  winter-killed,  or  even  to  acid- 
ulate. Upon  coming  to  the  air  this  sap  becomes 
pungent  and  bitter,  and  poisonous  to  the  bark 
and  wood  over  which  it  flows. 


EXTRACTS  AND  BEPLIES. 

WATER   CRESS. 

I  noticed  in  your  July  number  a  few  remarks 
by  a  Salem  correspondent,  of  the  value  and  util- 
ity of  the  Water  Cress,  recommending  its  more 
general  use.  I  can  attest,  from  long  experience, 
to  its  utility  as  an  edible  or  early  salad,  and  often 
wondered  that  it  was  not  more  generally  used.  I 
have  observed  the  New  York  markets  are  par- 
tially supplied  early  in  the  spring,  from  Long 
Island  or  Jersey. 

Early  in  the  year  1841,  I  was  travelling  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  Haven,  and  observed  a  fine  bed 
of  water  cress  growing  spontaneously,  and  ap- 
parently unnoticed  previously.  I  therefore  gath- 
ered a  bunch,  took  it  home  with  me,  planted  or 
strewed  it  into  a  spring  of  water  near  my  house, 
and  within  two  or  three  years  from  that  time, 
without  any  trouble  or  cost  whatever,  I  have  had 
an  abundant  supply  for  the  use  of  my  family  and 
neighbors.  If  any  of  your  correspondents  should 
have  a  clear  spring  near  his  homestead  he  could 
not  put  it  to  any  better  purpose  than  make  a 
plantation  of  water  cress — they  are  not  only  a 
perennial, but  remain  by  seed,  which  deposits  and 
germinates  so  as  to  keep  a  supply.     J.  Wood. 

Mountain  Grove,  Bridgeport,  Ct. 

SPECKS   IN   BUTTER. 

Having  noticed  in  your  paper  a  number  of  re- 
marks on  "White  Specks  in  Butter,"  I  would 
here  give  a  few  words  of  my  experience,  never 
having  had  the  "luck"  to  have  my  butter  specked, 
unless  I  kept  my  milk  too  long  before  skimming, 
or  my  cream  too  long  before  churning. 

The  milk  should  be  skimmed  before  it  curdles, 
and  the  cream  churned  before  it  has  either  "white 


or  black  specks."  I  agree  with  "H.  E.  C,"  of  Put- 
ney, Vt.,  in  "not  stirring  the  cream."  The  thick 
sour  milk  will  be  settled  at  the  bottom  ;  that  I 
keep  from  the  churn.  The  cream  wants  strain- 
ing, not  merely  to  "get  the  dirt  out"  but  to  break 
and  mix  it  preparatory  to  churning.  This  meth- 
od I  will  warrant  to  keep  the  "specks"  out  of  the 
butter.  M.  E.  C. 

Warner,  jV.  H.,  1859. 

TIIE   MANNER   OF   MOWING. 

When,  a  half  century  since,  I  learned  to  mow 
model  farmers  were  in  the  habit  of  cutting  their 
grass  very  close  to  the  ground,  and  those  who 
failed  so  to  do  were  taunted  with  being  slovenly 
husbandmen :  therefore,  when  I  acquired  the 
skill  of  shaving  off  the  stubble  of  the  preceding 
year,  and  leaving  the  turf  in  my  swath  as  smooth 
as  though  it  had  just  emerged  from  a  barber's 
shop,  I  regarded  myself  a  "crack"  mower. 

Recently,  some  of  our  farmers  are  getting  into 
the  practice  of  mowing  higher.  They  say  cut- 
ting Timothy  below  the  lowest  joint  kills  the 
roots,  in  case  of  dry  weather  immediately  after 
mowing,  and  they  say  their  attention  was  first 
attracted  to  the  subject,  from  noticing  that  the 
grass  lands  of  some  of  their  slovenly-mowing 
neighbors,  held  out  from  year  to  year  better  than 
their  own,  until  they  adopted  the  practice  of  cut- 
ting above  the  lower  joint. 

What  is  the  experience  of  Massachusetts  far- 
mers in  this  matter  ?  Vermont. 

BUTTER-MAKING. 

Permit  me  to  express  my  views,  as  the  result 
of  twenty  years  experience  in  the  dairy  business 
has  shown  me  that  white  specks  in  butter  are 
caused  by  sour  milk  being  taken  off  with  the 
cream  in  skimming,  which,  by  standing  with  the 
cream,  is  hardened,  as  all  sour  milk  will  be.  In 
the  process  of  churning  it  adheres  to  the  butter 
in  the  form  of  white  specks.  These  are  never 
formed  when  cream  is  churned  immediately  after 
skimming.  C.  T.  CowDERY. 

South  Royalton,  Vt.,  July  11,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HAY  CAPS. 

Grain  of  all  kinds  may  be  cut  and  shocked  up 
at  once  and  capped,  and  it  will  not  hurt. 

I  have  used  hay  caps  for  from  fifteen  to  twen- 
ty years,  and  have  always  had  them  keep  grain 
perfectly  well. 

I  have  cut  grain  in  the  milk,  shocked  it  up  at 
once  and  let  it  stand  from  one  to  five  weeks.  I 
use,  or  should  like  to  use,  caps  four  feet  square. 
All  things  considered,  I  think  them  best.  They 
will  cover  from  eight  to  twelve  sheaves  of  wheat 
and  from  twelve  to  twenty  sheaves  of  oats,  ac- 
cording to  size  of  bind.  Set  up  the  bundles  as 
you  would  for  stooking,  except  the  cap  shi^aves, 
then  throw  the  cap  over,  and  pin  it  down  at  the 
corners  with  pins  about  eighteen  inches  long.  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  let  the  rake  follow  the  cradle, 
and  shock  my  wheat  up  at  once,  if  the  weather 
looks  unfavorable.  Ed.  Emerson. 

Hollis,  jV.  IL,  July  9,  1859. 


416 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


V^yd^P--r^7^ 


■~  v-.«-i^;rv^-« 


Hvf-*1v'^'^^^^ 


A  SPLENDID  DOMINIQUE  FOWIj. 


We  present  the  reader  to-day  with  the  most 
beautiful  illustration  of  the  Dominique  cock  that 
we  have  ever  seen.  It  does  not  show  on  paper 
as  coarse  as  our  sheet  is,  so  favorably  as  it  would 
on  that  of  a  finer  texture.  But  it  is  very  beauti- 
ful even  here.  We  copy  it,  by  permission,  from 
Mr.  C.  N.  Bement's  "America?!  Poulterer's  Com- 
panion," a  work  which  we  heartily  commend  to 
all  persons  interested  in  the  raising  of  poultry. 
Mr.  Bement  says, — 

"The  Dominique  fowl,  well  selected  and  care- 
fully bred,  is  a  fine  and  useful  bird.  They  are 
distinguished  as  Dominique  by  their  markings 
and  their  color,  which  is  generally  considered  an 
indication  of  hardiness  and  fecundity.  They  are 
by  some  called  "Hawk-colored  fowls,"  from  their 
strong  resemblance  in  color  lo  the  birds  of  that 
name.  In  England  they  are  usually  called 
"Cuckoo-fowls,"  from  the  fancied  resemblance  of 
their  plumage  to  the  feathers  on  the  cuckoo's 
breast.  We  seldom  see  bad  hens  of  this  variety 
and  take  them  all  in  all,  we  do  not  hesitate  in 
pronouncing  them  one  of  the  best  and  most  pro- 
fitable fowls,  being  hardy,  good  layers,  careful 
nurses,  and  affording  excellent  eggs  and  first 
quality  of  <lesh. 


"The  prevailing  and  true  color  of  the  Domi- 
n  que  fowl  is  a  light  ground,  undulated  and  softly 
shaded  with  a  slaty-blue  all  over  the  body,  as  in- 
dicated in  the  portrait  of  the  cock,  forming  bands 
of  various  widths. 

"The  hens  are  not  large,  but  plump  and  full- 
breasted.  Their  eggs  average  about  two  ounces 
each,  are  white,  and  of  porcelain  smoothness. 
They  are  good  layers,  good  feeders,  good  sitters, 
good  mothers,  hardy,  and  are  well  worthy  of  pro- 
motion in  the  poultry-yard." 


American  Farmer's  Magazine. — This  excel- 
lent journal,  under  the  editorial  management  of 
our  respected  friend.  Professor  Nash,  has  been 
discontinued  and  "dies,"  the  editor  says,  "of  a 
collapse  in  the  money  drawer,"  We  are  sincere- 
ly sorry  that  it  has  not  been  better  sustained. 
Prof.  Nash  is  an  able  writer,  an  upright  and 
high-minded  man.  We  always  read  his  writings 
with  pleasure  and  profit,  and  believe  that  the 
farmer  will  rarely  find  pages  so  full  of  sound  and 
practical  instruction  as  were  those  of  his  maga- 
zine. We  wish  him  great  success  in  any  new 
enterprise  to  which  he  may  give  his  attention. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


417 


THE  WHEAT  DROP  OF  1859. 

The  following  article  upon  the  wheat  crop  of 
the  present  year  is  from  the  Metropolitan  Bank 
J^ote  Reporter  of  New  York.  It  seems  to  be 
carefully  considered,  and  as  an  estimate  of  the 
crops,  based  upon  apparently  reliable  informa- 
tion, is  worthy  of  attention  : 

Tfie  Wheat  Crops. — The  wheat  crop  has  gener- 
ally been  harvested  throughout  the  country,  and 
sufficient  is  known  to  make  a  careful  estimate  of 
this  important  staple,  interesting  for  present  con- 
sideration and  important  for  future  reference. 

The  last  official  return  of  the  whole  wheat  crop 
is  from  the  Patent  Office  returns  of  lS5o.  Using 
this  as  a  basis,  and  getting  the  increase  in  pro- 
duction from  a  comparison  with  the  former  Re- 
ports of  the  Patent  Office,  and  by  the  actual  in- 
vestigations made  by  several  of  the  States,  par- 
ticularly Ohio,  we  have  the  means  of  obtaining 
approximately  from  the  average  amount  of  land 
in  cultivation  for  this  crop,  the  yield  for  this  and 
other  years.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  re- 
marked that  it  is  found  that  the  average  amount 
of  land  does  not  fluctuate  like  the  yield  per  acre, 
but  like  mortality,  is  governed  by  certain  laws. 
The  average  yield  per  acre  every  year  is  only  to 
be  found  by  carefully  examining  the  reports  from 
different  parts  of  the  country,  etc.  With  labor 
we  have  collected  the  returns  for  this  year,  and 
give  them  below  in  comparison  with  the  returns 
miade  out  last  year  for  1857  and  1858,  and  which 
we  have  had  no  occasion  to  change. 

The  production  of  wheat  in  the  several  States 
for  1858  and  1859  may  be  stated  as  follows  : 


State. 


WHEAT. 
185T. 
BuBhels. 

New  York 22,000,000 

PeDnsylvania 20,000,000 

Virginia  and  North 

Carolina 20.000,000 

Kentucky 10,000,000 

Ohio 2.5,000,000 

Indiana 15,000,000 

Illinois 18 ,000,000 

Other  States 50.000,000 


1F.58. 
Bushels. 
20,000,000 
20,C00,C00 

18,500,000 
8,500,000 
22,000,000 
13,000,000 
14  500  000 
42,000,000 


1859. 
Busheb. 
22,000,000 
25,000,000 

20,000,000 
11,000  000 
26,000,000 
17,000,000 
20,000,000 
60,000,000 


180,000,000      158,500,000      201,000,000 

The  production  in  the  Western  States,  which 
have  the  largest  surplus  for  export,  is  shown  by 
the  following  figures  : 


WHKAT. 


State. 


1858. 
Bushels. 


1859. 
Bushels. 


1857. 
Bushels. 

Kentucky 10,000,000  8,500,000  11,000,000 

Ohio 25,000,000  22,000,000  26,000,000 

Indiana 15,000,000  13,000,000  17,000,000 

lUinois 18,000,000  14.500,000  20,000,000 


Total 68,000,000        58,000,000        74  000,000 

The  surplus  for  the  present  year  in  these  States 
may  be  estimated  as  follows : 

Bushels. 

Crop  1859 74,COO,000 

Consumption  5  bushels  per  head 36,000,000 


Surplus  crop  1859 3S,000,000 

It  is  estimated  that  in  addition  to  this,  from 
one-sixth  to  one-fifth  of  the  surplus  crop  of  1858 
is  yet  in  the  hands  of  the  producers.  We  there- 
fore have  in  the  States,  estimating  last  year's 
surplus  crop  of  the  West  at  twenty-four  millions 
of  bushels,  as  the  gross  surplus  : 


Buehela. 

Crop  of  1859 38,000,000 

Sixteen  two-thirds  per  cent,  on  1868 4,000,000 

Total  for  export 42,000,000 

The  transportation  of  this  at  forty  cents  per 
bushel  will  give  nearly  seventeen  millions  of  dol- 
lars to  our  canals  and  railroads. 

It  will  probably  be  thought  by  many  that  this 
estimate  of  two  hundred  and  one  millions  of 
bushels  is  a  large  one  for  the  present  wheat  crop, 
but  we  think  not.  In  1855  the  Patent  Office  re- 
turns gave  the  wheat  crop  at  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  millions  of  bushels;  and  it  is  consid- 
ered as  not  a  large  return  for  that  year.  In  1855 
California  was  put  down  as  producing  only  twen- 
ty thousand  bushels  ;  last  year  it  produced  over 
four  millions ;  and  this  year  probably  five  mil- 
lions. In  1855  Kentucky  produced  only  five  mil- 
lions of  bushels ;  it  now  produces  eleven  mil- 
lions. Tennes.see  has  been,  except  for  home  con- 
sumption, a  wheat  growing  State  only  since  the 
opening  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Rail- 
road ;  but  now  its  wheat  ranks  in  quality  second 
to  that  of  no  other  State.  The  New  England 
States  have  decreased  in  their  production,  but 
the  West  has  increased  four  to  one.  The  amount 
of  land  under  wheat  cultivation  this  year  is  thir- 
ty-three per  cent,  greater  than  in  1855,  and  the 
decrease  per  acre  in  the  production  cannot  be 
greater. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  reports  of 
the  failure  or  excess  of  a  crop  are  almost  invari- 
ably exaggerated.  It  has  been  found  that  un- 
less a  total  apparent  failure  takes  place,  the  dif- 
ference between  two  crops  rarely  exceeds  forty 
per  cent.,  or  between  a  small  crop  and  an  aver- 
age one,  twenty  per  cent. 

The  wheat  crop  in  the  several  States  may  be 
considered  as  harvested  and  partially  ready  for 
market.  We  can,  tlierefore,  give  the  following 
returns  with  some  degree  of  certainty: 

In  New  England  the  area  was  not  larger  than 
in  former  years,  and  the  crop  is  not  harvested, 
but  promises,  by  its  superior  quality,  a  return 
equal,  perhaps,  to  any  previous  year.  In  New 
York  the  crop  is  generally  excellent,  but  in  some 
few  counties  complaint  is  made.  In  Pennsylva- 
nia and  New  Jersey  the  breadth  of  land  and  the 
yield  per  acre  have  never  before  been  as  great. 
In  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  the  quality  is 
superior,  the  land  sown  rather  above  the  average, 
and  the  yield  fully  ton  per  cent,  over  an  average 
and  good  crop.  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  have 
largely  increased  their  breadth  of  land  sown,  and 
the  yield  per  acre  is  above  the  average,  while  the 
quality  of  grain  will  make  their  wheat,  as  in  for- 
mer years,  the  best  in  market.  In  Ohio,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Statistics  has  pre- 
pared careful  returns  of  the  wheat  crop  in  that 
State,  and  estimates  the  yield  at  over  25,000,000 
of  bushels,  showing  that  notwithstanding  the 
frost,  which  was  more  severe  in  that  State  than 
any  other,  the  yield  will  be  larger  than  ever  be- 
fore by  fifteen  per  cent.  In  Indiana  the  same 
features  exist  as  in  Ohio,  with  perhaps  less  loss 
by  frost.  In  Illinois  there  has  been  some  com- 
plaint about  the  spring  wheat,  and  of  all  crops 
in  some  of  the  northern  counties,  but,  notwith- 
standing, the  yield  will  be  thirty  per  cent,  great- 
er than  ever  before.     In  Iowa  there  is  no  com- 


418 


NEW  ENGLAND  PARMER. 


Sept. 


plaint  made  either  of  yield  or  quality.  In  Wis- 
consin and  Minnesota  the  winter  wheat  is  very 
fine,  and  the  spring  wheat  promises  well,  but  is 
not  yet  secure.  In  Michigan  complaints  have 
been  made,  but  they  have  local  foundation.  In 
Missouri  the  wheat  crop  is  secondary  to  some 
others,  but  the  press  of  that  State  express  no 
dissatisfaction. 

With  export  prices  we  should  doubtless  have 
a  movement  of  the  crop  never  before  witnessed, 
but  as  this  is  dependent  upon  two  things,  namely, 
the  continuation  of  the  war  and  poor  crops  in 
Europe,  we  shall  perhaps  witness  no  unusual 
movement.  Our  people  have  not,  in  getting  po- 
litical independence,  got,  or  even  learned  the 
value  of  commercial  independence.  We  are, 
therefore,  dependent  upon  a  foreign  demand.  If 
now  the  producer  and  the  consumer  were  both 
in  this  country,  if  our  manufacturers  use  our  raw 
material  and  our  producers  used  home  manufac- 
tures, we  should  not  have  the  anomaly  of  a  peo- 
ple almost  fearing  too  large  a  crop,  and  hoping 
for  disasters  to  their  luighbors  almost,  to  enable 
them  to  sell  their  surplus.  When  will  we  learn 
wisdom  ? 


RU8TIC3  NEED  N'T  KNOW  MUCH. 

The  world  has  moved  a  pretty  good  stretch,  in 
the  education  of  farmers,  within  the  last  two  cen- 
turies, and  we  hope — indeed  we  know — that  dur- 
ing the  next  two  it  will  move  comparatively  a 
good  deal  more. 

The  Horticidturist,  quoting  from  ^'Philip's  Pro- 
gress of  Agriculture,"  says  that  Gervase  Mark- 
ham,  who  lived  at  the  commencement  of  the  17th 
century,  wrote  a  practical  work  on  husbandry, 
with  a  view  of  enlarging  the  knowledge  of  the 
farmers  of  his  day,  and  laid  down  what  may  be 
considered  essential  knowledge  for  them. 

He  considered  reading  and  writing  not  very 
necessary  for  them  to  know. 

As  touching  the  master  of  the  family  himself, 
learning,  he  thought,  could  be  no  burthen,  but 
as  becoming  some  of  the  servants,  he  says,  "some 
servants  in  husbandrie,  as  the  bayliffe,  the  under 
farmer,  or  any  other  ordinary  accountant,  it  is 
not  much  material  whether  they  be  acquainted 
therewith  or  no,  for  there  is  more  trust  in  an 
honest  score  chaulkt  on  a  trencher,  than  in  a  cun- 
ning written  scrowle.  And  there  is  more  bene- 
fit in  simple  and  single  numeration  in  chaulke, 
than  in  double  multiplication,  though  in  never 
so  fair  an  hand  written."  Markham  had  a  curi- 
ous method  of  finding  how  the  corn  market  would 
open  in  each  month  of  the  year.  This  was  be- 
fore the  days  of  combination  of  speculators  in 
breadstuffs. 

"If  you  would  know,"  says  he,  "whether  corne 
shall  be  cheap  or  deare,  take  twelve  principal 
graynes  of  Wheate,  out  of  the  strengthe  of  the 
eare,  upon  the  1st  day  of  Januarie,  and  when 
the  harth  of  your  chimney  is  most  hot,  sweepe  it 
clene  ;  then  make  a  stranger  lay  one  of  these 
graynes  on  the  harth,  then  mark  it  well  and  if  it 
leape  a  little,  corne  shall  be  reasonably  cheape, 
but  if  it  leape  much  corne  "shall  be  exceedinge 
cheape,  but  if  it  lie  still  and  move  not,  then  the 
price  of  corne  shall  stand,  and  continue  still  for 
that  moneth,  and  thus  you  shall  use  your  twelve 
graynes  the  first  day  of  every  moneth  one  after 


another,  that  is  to  saye,  every  moneth  one  grayne, 
and''  you  shall  know  the  rising  and  falling  of 
corne  in  every  moneth,  all  the  year  followii^g." 
We  suppose  the  hopping  of  parching  peas  in  a 
hot  skillet  would  foretell  the  price  of  peas  by  the 
same  rule. 

For  the  Neto  England  Farmer. 
VEKTEBRA-TE  ANIMALS— No.  2. 

The  grand  division  of  the  animal  kingdom 
called  Vertebrates  are  divided  into  four  classes. 
The  first  two,  fishes  and  reptiles,  are  cold-blood- 
ed, that  is,  they  have  a  temperature  about  the 
same  as  the  element  in  which  they  live.  This 
depends  upon  their  respiration  and  circulation. 
Fishes  breathe  by  means  of  gills,  and  their  blood 
is  puviKed  only  by  the  action  of  the  small  quan- 
tity of  air  held  by  the  w  iter,  as  it  is  made  to  pass 
through  the  gills.  Reptiles  breathe  by  means  of 
lungs,  but  their  circulation  is  very  sluggish,  and 
compared  witb  the  higher  classes,  but  little  blood 
in  a  given  time  passes  through  their  lungs.  Some 
reptiles,  as  the  frog,  in  early  lif^^  (t-.dpoles,) 
breathe  by  means  of  gills.  Fishes  are  univer- 
sally organized  for  swimming  in  water — reptiles 
for  the  most  part  are  amphibious — living  both  in 
the  water  and  on  the  land. 

The  other  two  classes,  Birds  and  Mammals, 
are  warm-blooded,  maintaining  a  uniform  tem- 
perature in  the  different  seasons,  whether  the 
weather  be  hot  or  cold.  Birds,  with  fishes  and 
reptiles,  are  oviparous — producing  eggs.  Mam- 
mals are  viviparous.  Birds  are  organized  for 
flight ;  but  this  remark,  like  many  general  re- 
marks which  we  make,  has  exceptions.  The  os- 
trich never  rises  on  the  wing,  and  the  wings  of 
the  penguin  are  formed  into  paddles  as  nicely  as 
the  tail  of  a  muskrat  or  of  a  beaver.  Mammals 
all  suckle  their  young.  This  fact  gives  them 
their  name.  Whales  and  porpoises  are  commonly 
called  fishes.  They  possess,  however,  all  the 
characteristics  of  mammals  if  we  express  them  in 
general  terms.  They  are  warm-blooded,  vivipar- 
ous, and  breathe  by  means  of  lungs.  Their  teeth 
and  other  organs  correspond  also  with  the  organs 
of  mammals  in  their  structure.  The  only  thing 
they  have  in  common  with  fishes  is,  that  they  are 
organized  for  swimming.  The  bat  is  also  a  mam- 
mal, and  not  a  bird,  though  it  is  organized  for 
flight.  This  class,  then,  seems  to  be  formed  in 
some  of  its  orders  to  occupy  the  three  elements, 
the  air,  the  earth  and  the  water. 

The  class  of  mammals  is  divided  into  nine  or- 
ders.  We  cannot  do  more  than  mention  them. 
There  are  the  Bimana — two-handed — including 
man  ;  the  Quadrumana,  four-handed,  containing 
all  apes,  monkeys  and  baboons  ;  the  Carnivora, 
flesh-eaters,  containing  cats,  dogs,  wolves  and 
bears  ;  the  Marsuj)ials,  animals  with  a  pouch  for 
their  young — containing  opossums  and  kanga- 
roos ;  the  Edentata,  animals  having  no  teeth  in 
the  front  part  of  either  jaw,  containing  sloths  and 
armadillos  ;  the  Rodentia,  grinders,  animals  with 
only  two  front  teeth  in  either  jaw,  containing 
squirrels,  beavers  and  rabbits ;  the  Perchyder- 
mata,  or  thick-skinned  animals,  including  the 
horse,  the  hog  and  the  elephant ;  the  Ruminan- 
tia,  or  cud-chewers,  containing  the  ox,  the  deer 
and  the  antelope  ;  the  Cetatians,  or  sea  mon- 
sters, including  the  whale  and  the  porpoise. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


419 


Each  order  has  its  genera,  as  the  Ruminantia 
has  its  Ovidoe,  or  sheep  tribe ;  its  Bovidce,  or  ox 
tribe;  its  CervidiP  or  stag  tribe.  Each  genus  has 
its  species,  and  each  species  is  composed  of  indi- 
viduals. We  have  tlien  the  classification  which 
pertains  with  little  modification,  to  all  material 
objects,  each  term  including  the  following  :  king- 
doms, grand  divisions  or  departments,  classes, 
orders,  genera,  species  and  individuals. 

My  next  number  will  be  upon  the  nature  of 
species — a  knowledge  of  which  is  important  to 
every  man.  o.  M. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  TAP-KOOT---DECAY  OP  PEAR  AND 
APPLE  TREES. 

When  a  seed  of  the  apple  or  pear  is  planted, 
it  throws  down  into  the  loose  soil  along,  slender 
root  called  the  radicle,  and  sends  upwards  a  stem 
called  the  plumule.  The  root,  however,  throws 
out  laterals,  and  the  stem  also  puts  forth  side 
branches.  Undoubtedly,  the  cause  of  the  root 
making  so  direct  a  descent,  is  the  want  of  mois- 
ture, which  it  cannot  find  within  an  inch  or  two 
of  the  surface.  How  far  it  would,  or  should  go 
down  for  its  own  welfare,  independent  of  its  lat- 
eral or  accessory  roots,  is  a  question.  When  the 
young  tree  is  transplanted,  it  is  usually  thought 
advisable  to  shorten  the  tap-root,  or  radicle,  so  as 
to  multiply  the  laterals — thereby  giving  greater 
power  of  absorption  of  vegetable  stimulants,  as 
each  delicate  spongiole  has  a  mouth  at  its  termi- 
nation, by  which  it  sucks  in  its  liquid  nourish- 
ment. As  the  tree  advances  in  growth,  we  fre- 
quently cut  off"  the  leading  stem  to  give  the  top 
greater  expansion.  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
the  operation  does  not  in  any  way  impair  the 
tree  or  i;bridge  its  life.  Does  the  shortening  of 
the  tap-root  injuriously  violate  the  tree's  natural 
laws  any  more?  Is  the  knife  more  repugnant  to 
it  belov/  than  above  ?  But  it  is  said  the  tree 
needs  a  long  radicle  in  a  drought  to  reach  the 
moisture  of  the  earth.  If  such  is  the  case,  then 
the  tree  has  the  power  to  strike  one,  and  proba- 
bly does  so,  just  as  it  possesses  the  power  of 
forming  a  new  vertical  stem.  In  these  respects, 
the  plant  will  take  care  of  itself.  There  can  be 
no  doubt,  however,  that  the  roots  of  a  tree  are 
more  spreading  than  the  external  branches  ;  in 
other  words,  that  the  roots  never  go  down  so 
deeply  as  the  limbs  extend  upwards.  And  I  very 
much  question,  if  two  old  apple  or  pear  trees — 
one  having  been  planted  without  clipping  the 
tap-root,  and  the  other  with  it  shortened — could 
be  taken  up  with  the  roots  entire,  both  having 
had  equal  treatment,  any  marked  difference  could 
be  distinguished.  I  regard  the  single  long  tap- 
root as  a  thing  pertaining  to  the  tree's  early 
growth,  and  that  clipping  it  gives  it  new  vitali-j 
ty  in  transplantation,  however  the  tree  may  sub-! 
sequently  vegetate  or  restore  itself.  Unlike  thej 
limb  of  a  man,  the  vital  part  of  a  tree,  when' 
shortened,  will  grow  again.  I 

I  was  led  to  make  these  remarks  by  lately  see-; 
ing  in  the  /''ar?«e/- some  observations  deprecating  I 
what  seemed  to  be  regarded  the  injurious  muti-| 
lation  of  the  tap-root ;  also  from  an  article  by 
Mr.  J.  M.  Ives,  of  Salem,  whose  writings  no  one  j 
reads  with  more  pleasure  than  myself,  published: 
in  the  last  Report  of  the  "Agriculture  of  Massa-! 


chusetts."  Speaking  of  pears,  this  gentleman 
says  : 

"Most  of  our  newly  introduced  fruits  show 
symptoms  of  decay,  while  many  of  the  old  varie- 
ties which  are  scattered  here  and  there  through- 
out New  England  are  still  in  a  bearing  and 
healthy  state."  Mr  I.  is  disposed  to  attribute 
the  decay  of  the  pear  tree  to  curtailing  the  tap- 
root, to  severe  pruning,  and  to  the  "enfeebling 
process,"  practised  by  Van  Mons,  by  which  some 
of  our  first  varieties  have  been  produced.  That 
we  get  our  best  pears  at  the  expense  of  longevi- 
ty of  the  tree,  I  have  sometimes  been  inclined  to 
believe,  though  not  decided  as  to  this  point.  The 
most  common  and  hardy  old  pear  trees  we  see 
around  us,  are  the  old  '"Iron,"  or  "Black  Wor- 
cester" variety.  The  fruit,  as  is  well  known,  is 
not  fit,  in  an  uncooked  state,  for  a  felon  to  eat, 
and  no  one  now  propagates  it,  hardy  as  it  is. 
The  demand  at  present  is,  good  varieties  at  all 
hazards.  These  old  trees  were  undouljtedly 
transplanted,  as  we  see  them  set  in  order  ;  and 
if  transplanted,  they  probably  lost  (intentionally, 
or  otherwise,)  a  portion  of  their  tap-root,  besides 
having  their  trunks  denuded.  They  were,  of 
course,  grafted,  as  we  do  not  imagine  the  Iron 
pear  will  re-produce  itself  from  seed.  We  see  a 
less  number  of  the  St.  Michael,  a  very  fine  fruit 
when  free  from  cracks  ;  also  some  Jargonells, 
Harvards,  k.c.  The  St.  Michael  trees  are  long- 
lived,  though  the  pear  is  now  worthless.  Sixty 
years  ago,  only  little  attention  was  given  to  the 
culture  of  the  pear  ;  but  undoubtedly  propor- 
tionate failures  and  decay  were  difficulties  to  be 
met  with  then  as  now.  We  do  not  see  the  trees 
which  have  prematurely  perished,  but  only  those 
which  have  lived.  A  half  a  century  or  more 
from  now,  it  will  be  something  worthy  of  a  record 
in  history,  if  cultivators  do  not  complain  of  the 
premature  decay  of  trees  ;  and  they  will  point  to 
some  of  those  which  are  now  being  planted,  as 
evidence  that  it  was  not  so  formerly.  Will  they 
not  see  the  Fulton,  the  Buffum,  the  Dix,  and 
even  the  delicate  Seckel,  besides  others  of  our 
natives  ?  and  also  the  Vicar  of  Winkfield,  the 
Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey,  the  Flemish  Beauty,  the 
Glout  Morceau,  and  others  of  foreign  origin  ? 
And  seeing  them  in  hardy  old  age,  what  more 
natural  than  for  them  to  conclude  that  ours  was 
the  golden  age  of  fruit  culture  ? 

There  will  always  be  feeble  varieties  of  apples 
and  pears — it  appears  to  me — whether  we  pre- 
serve the  tap-root,  and  keep  the  knife  and  saw 
from  the  top  or  not.  And  there  will  always  be 
others  which  will  show  their  hardy  nature  in  de- 
fiance of  mutilation.  It  is  true  these  hardy  ones 
may  not  always  be  good,  but  we  feel  assured  that 
they  need  not  be  necessarily  bad,  nor  the  feeble 
ones,  without  exceptions,  excellent.  Diseases 
and  decay  are  frequently  induced  by  poor  culture 
and  bad  position  ;  and  some  seasons,  in  spite  of 
the  best  of  treatment,  the  pear  tree  remains  dor- 
mant, (even  before  bearing,)  its  leaves  small  and 
yellow,  and  its  general  indication  deathly  ;  and 
then  in  another  year  or  so,  it  will  make  a  heavy 
growth,  and  all  without  any  obvious  reason. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  hardiness  of  seed- 
ling pear  trees  with  their  tap-roots  undiminished, 
I  have  not  been  so  successful  with  some  young 
ones  in  a  nursery  row,  as  with  those  which  were 
grafted.  They  are  liable  to  spring  blight,  uncoa- 


420 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


stant  in  growth,  and  I  think  more  liable  to  be 
winter-killed — so  that  I  have  grafted  some  stocks 
and  given  them  a  regular  course  of  treatment,  to 
save  them  from  death.  The  tap-root,  surely,  is 
not  the  stronghold  of  vitality. 

In  travelling  in  the  woods  and  uncultivated 
spots,  I  have  frequently  met  with  seedling  apple 
trees,  of  the  existence  of  whose  radicle  there 
could  be  no  doubt.  They  were  scraggy,  with 
many  low  and  frightfully  decayed  limbs,  and  nu- 
merous suckers  growing  up  around  their  trunks. 
Occasionally  some  of  their  branches  will  hang 
full  of  poor  fruit ;  yet  they  show  little  evidence 
of  longevity,  or  that  they  would  not  die  of  pre- 
mature old  age.  Certainly,  we  do  not  want  such 
trees  as  these  in  our  orchards  and  gardens.  No  ; 
we  need  trees  which  have  felt  the  influence  of  in- 
telligent cultivation — the  mind  and  hand  of  man 
— manure,  the  saw  and  the  pruning-knife. 

Many  trees  seem  to  have  no  central  root,  but 
rather  roots  very  divergent  and  near  the  surface  ; 
yet  they  grow  rapidly.  Notice  the  plum  tree, 
the  Ailanthus,  and  the  Abele.  If  these  trees  do 
80  well,  may  we  not  find  encouragement  in  clip- 
ping the  radicle  of  the  apple  and  pear  ? 

But  even  granting  that  pear  trees  are  decaying 
from  causes  noticed  above,  have  we  any  remedy  ? 
It  is  true  we  can  preserve  the  central  root  in  the 
stocks  ;  but  how  can  we  get  the  best  sorts  of 
Europe  or  of  our  own  land,  without  we  accept  of 
scions  that  are  the  result  of  that  "enfeebling 
process"  which  alone  is  supposed  to  generate  a 
good  variety  ?  Shall  we  use  these  scions,  or 
shall  we  fall  back  upon  the  enduring  tap-rooted 
trees,  with  their  harsh  and  worthless  fruit  ? 

D.  W.  LOTHROP. 

West  Medford,  July  15,  1859. 


stalks  and  butts  together,  which  is  not  only  a 
great  convenience,  but  is  evidently  better  on  ac- 
count of  th'  ir  both  being  cut  in  a  greenish  state, 
while  in  cutting  the  stalks  only,  the  stalks  are 
secured  green  and  the  butts  are  allowed  to  re- 
main till  they  are  perfectly  dead  and  dry,  which 
renders  them  of  little  value.  Although  I  disa- 
gree with  my  friend  in  some  respects,  I  agree 
with  him  in  others.  I  fully  endorse  his  practice 
of  feeding  his  corn  fodder  in  the  winter.  I  make 
a  practice  of  feeding  to  my  stock  one  or  two 
bunches  a-piece  per  day,  making  it  last  nearly 
through  the  winter.  My  cattle  eat  it  with  a  relish 
that  assures  me  it  is  a  pleasant,  and  I  think  must 
be  a  wholesome  diet.  w.  M.  L. 

Sullivan,  N.  IL,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SECURING  COBN—CORN  FODDEB. 


SEASONABLE  FARM  "WORK. 
The  best  season  in  all  the  varied  round  of  the 
year  for  seeding  land  to  grass,  is  probably  the 
month  of  August.  The  days  are  long,  and  if  the 
weather  has  not  been  marked  by  drouth,  the  land 
is  usually  sufficiently  moist  to  make  the  opera- 
tion of  plowing  easy  and  agreeable.  It  is  a  hot 
season,  to  be  sure,  but  such  advantage  can  be  ta- 
ken of  this,  by  working  early  in  the  morning  and 
a  little  late  at  night,  as  to  overcome  any  objec- 
tions on  this  account.  It  costs  something  to 
break  up  an  exhausted  field,  and  re-seed,  but  it 
is  better  economy  than  to  mow  over  the  same 
land  for  a  succession  of  years,  and  get  less  than 
a  ton  of  hay  to  the  acre,  and  that,  quite  likely, 
upon  the  best  lands.     Let  us  look  at  the  items  : 

Hors   and  oxenl  day $3,00 

Man  anil  boy 1  £0 

Use  of  plow 25 

Ilarrowinp  and  levelling 1,00 

One  bushel  red  top  seed 75 

One  peck  of  herds  grass 87| 

Six  pounds  of  clover 75 


Mr.  Editor  : — In  the  Farmer  of  July  9  I  no- 
tice an  article  under  the  heading  of  "Corn  and 
Corn  Fodder,"  by  J.  Wood.     He  seems  to  favor 

the  old  practice  of  cutting  the  stalks,  both  on  ac-  -n       .  •   ^  u     *         v.-       * 

count  of  the  grain  and  fodder  and  on  account  of  I  ^^^nts  will  put  an  acre  into  excellent  condition  to 
the  saving  of  labor  in  harvesting.  I  contend  that 


$8,12i 
An  expenditure  of  eight  dollars   and   twelve 


it  is  not  more  than  two-thirds  the  work  to  har- 
vest an  acre  of  corn  to  cut  it  up  at  the  roots  that 
it  is  to  cut  the  stalks  as  your  correspondent 
■would  do.  I  consider  it  as  much  work  to  cut  an 
acre  of  stalks,  bind  and  shock  them,  as  it  is  to 
cut  up  the  same  amount  of  corn  at  the  roots  and 
bind  and  shock  it.  Therefore,  I  think  our  friend 
Wood  loses  his  time  and  labor  entirely  in  cutting 
his  stalks,  for  I  know  from  my  own  experience 
that  corn  well  secured  in  the  shock  will  cure  as 
sound  and  bright  as  that  which  is  suff"ered  to 
ripen  in  the  butts.  My  method  for  curing  corn 
is  this :  as  soon  as  the  outside  husk  on  the  ear 
begins  to  turn,  I  commence  cutting.  I  place  from 
four  to  six  hills  in  a  bunch,  after  which  I  bind 
and  put  four  bunches  in  a  shock.  I  then  turn 
the  tops  of  the  tassels  down  and  bind  them,  which 
prevents  the  water  from  getting  inside  the  shock. 
I  let  it  remain  from  two  to  four  weeks,  when  it 
is  sufficiently  cured  to  haul  to  the  barn. 

1  think  I  have  the  advantage  of  my  friend 
Wood  in  two  or  three  respects  ;  first,  in  the  sav- 
ing of  time  and  labor,  and  again  in  having  the 


give  one  and  a  half  tons  of  the  best  hay  for  six 
years  in  succession,  at  least,  with  the  aid  of  a  lit- 
tle top-dressing.  We  say  nothing  of  manure,  as 
that  is  a  farm  product  replaced  by  the  crops. 

Now  for  the  items  again  :  The  acre  just  plowed 
has  produced  three-quarters  of  a  ton,  annually, 
for  the  last  five  years.  At  $16  per  ton  this  would 
give  $12  a  year,  or  $60  aggregate  for  the  five 
years,  $60,00 

The  acre  newly  seeded  and  properly  laid  down, 

will  give  one   and   a  half  tons  annually,  and  at 

$16,  would  be  $24. 

Or  in  the  aggregate $120 

Deduct  value  of  old  crop 60 

Balance $60 

in  five  years  in  favor  of  reseeding. 

Then  there  is  another  item  of  importance  in 
the  saving  made  by  working  less  land — because 
if  the  crop  is  doubled,  it  is  necessary  to  cultivate 
only  half  as  much  breadth. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


421 


i.\nother  item  of  farm  labor  for  the  autumnal 
months,  is  that  of  preparing  lands  for  cultivation. 
We  do  not  mean  to  speak  now  so  much  of  sub- 
duing the  forest  or  the  swamp,  as  of  clearing  up 
fields  that  have  been  cultivated,  but  which  were 
only  partially  reclaimed. 

That  farmer's  profits  must  be  large,  who  can 
afford  to  plow,  hoe,  mow  and  rake  over  and 
around  stones  that  might  be  sunk  or  removed. 
And  now  that  the  mowing  machine  and  horse 
rake  have  been  introduced,  it  is  more  important 
than  ever  before,  that  our  fields  lie  smooth  and 
fair,  that  we  may  avail  ourselves  of  the  advanta- 
ges which  these  machines  offer. 

For  removing  the  large  stones  that  lie  in  the 
way  in  so  many  of  the  fine  hay-fields  of  New 
England,  there  is  nothing  that  we  have  ever  seen 
equal  to  the  Stone  Lifter  which  was  figured  in 
our  columns  last  year,  and  of  whose  operations 
we  have  once  or  twice  given  an  account.  There 
should  be  one  of  them  in  every  rocky  town  in 
New  England.  With  this  machine,  a  stony  field 
of  ten  acres  may  be  cleared  in  two  or  three 
weeks,  and  the  stones  laid  into  a  substantial 
wall,  and  we  think  this  may  be  done  at  less  than 
one-half  the  cost  it  would  require  to  do  the  woik 
in  the  common  way,  with  powder,  iron  bars  and 
oxen.  These  machines  have  been  taken  into 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  and  we  advise 
our  friends  to  avail  themselves  of  the  first  oppor- 
tunity to  see  with  their  own  eyes  what  they  are 
capable  of  accomplishing. 

There  are  some  other  items  of  autumnal  busi- 
ness which  we  will  speak  of  at  another  time. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
EXPERIMENTS  WITH  THE  CORN  CROP. 

I  send  you  the  following  note  copied  from  the 
Secretary's  Report  on  Massachusetts  Agriculture, 
Abstract  of  Returns  for  18')8,  page  2();J. 

'•Mr.  Solon  Carter,  of  Worcester  North  Agri- 
cultural Society,  reported  the  last  year,  his  expe- 
riment of  the  year  1856,  with  the  following  re- 
sult, viz..  Three  lots  of  one  hundred  hills  each, 
the  date  of  harvesting,  husking  and  shelling  t)e- 
ing  the  same.  After  husking,  the  ears  were  spread 
about  six  inches  deep,  and  remained  so  until 
shelled. 

LotJVo.  1 — Cut  up  whole  and  stooked.  Weight 
of  ears,  189  lbs. ;  of  corn,  139  lbs.  ;  of  cobs,  24 
lbs. ;  shrinkage,  26  lbs. ;  14  per  cent. 

Lot  No.  2 — Top  stalks  cut.  Weight  of  ears, 
200  lbs.;  of  corn,  155  lbs. ;  of  cobs,  26  lbs. ; 
shrinkage,  19  lbs. — 9.\  per  cent. 

Lot  JVo.  3 — Left  standing  whole.  We'ght  of 
ears,  196  lbs. ;  of  corn,  141  lbs.  ;  of  cobs,  23  lbs. ; 
shrinkage,  32  lbs.,  or  16  per  cent. 

As  in  1856,  so  now,  the  corn  which  had  the 
top  stalks  cut,  weighed  most  at  harvesting,  and 
shrunk  least  before  shelling. 

The  lots  for  the  above  trial  were  selected  by 
Col.  Philips,  when  examining  the  field  for  the 
committee  of  which  he  was  chairman." 


For  the  Ncir  England  Farmer. 
VISIT  TO  MOUNT  HORRID. 
Mr.  Editor  : — After  the  labors  which  confine 
us  to  the  drudgery  of  farm-life  for  the  spring  are 
accomplished,  it  is  sometimes  delightful  to  wan- 
der away  into  the  solitudes  of  nature,  and  enjoy 
communion  with  the  bright  scenery  of  earth, 
which  is  so  beautifully  seen  from  those  elevated 
peaks  of  the  Green  Mountains,  spreading  far  and 
wide  on  each  side  of  the  green  hills  of  our  child- 
hood; those  enchanting  elevations,  which  excit- 
ed our  curiosity  in  our  youthful  days,  but  where 
n  riper  years  we  behold 

"This  elder  Scripture,  writ  by  God's  own  hand," 

illustrating  the  changes  of  our  planet  since  its 
primary  form  in  the  incandescent  state,  O,  what 
a  mighty  change  does  the  infinitude  of  a  past 
eternity  impress  upon  the  mind  !  Yet,  now,  the 
same  workings  of  natural  law,  and  the  same  forces, 
are  elevating  one  part  of  our  globe,  and  depress- 
ing another;  and  yet,  the  unmatured  mind  sees 
no  change  in  all  this  wreck  of  matter  and  crush 
of  former  worlds, — while  the  beauties  of  the 
landscape  spread  out  before  his  vision,  with  all 
its  enchanting  scenes  of  light  and  shade,  awake 
no  emotions  in  the  soul,  send  no  thrill  of  joy 
to  the  heart ;  and  even  when  we  call  on  those 
people  who  live  on  the  skirts  of  this  beautiful 
mountain,  and  have  wandered  o'er  these  hills 
from  boyhood's  happy  days,  we  find  no  emotions 
of  delight  exhibited,  and  an  utter  ignorance  in 
directing  us  where  we  can  go  to  enjoy  these  beau- 
tiful views  of  landscape  and  mountain  scenery. 
Here  we  were  left  to  take  our  own  course,  and 
find  our  way  to  the  summit  of  Mount  Horrid, 
as  best  we  could. 

It  was  on  the  beautiful  morning  of  the  last  day 
of  May,  that  our  little  party,  consisting  of  four, 
started  from  Brandon  at  about  eight,  A.  M.,  on 
a  visit  to  Mount  Horrid — that  awful  looking  es- 
carpment which  lies  a  little  north  of  the  gorge, 
through  which  the  road  passes  from  Brandon  to 
Rochester.  We  rode  to  the  highest  habitation 
of  man  on  this  side  of  the  mountain,  and  there 
left  our  team  and  pursued  the  journey  on  foot. 
The  morning  was  clear  and  the  air  salubrious  at 
the  time  of  starting,  with  all  the  prospects  of  a 
bright  and  sunny  day;  but  before  we  reached  the 
summit  of  the  mountain,  we  observed  the  form- 
ing cirrus  faintly  intercepting  the  brilliant  light 
from  the  golden  god  of  day.  At  noon  we  stood 
upon  the  utmost  height  of  the  gorge,  on  the 
highway  south  of  Mount  Horrid.  Cirrus  had 
begun  to  obscure  the  sky,  and  soon  there  ap- 
peared a  solar  halo  of  unusual  brightness.  We 
were  neither  weary  nor  hungry,  but  intended  to 
dine  on  the  margin  of  some  crystal  rivulet  near 
the  summit  of  Mount  Horrid.  We  were  now 
in  siglit  of  that  rocky  escarpment  which  lies  to 
the  north  from  where  we  stood.  We  stood  at 
the  termination  of  a  hill,  bearing  a  north-westerly 
direction,  and  connected  with  the  western  side 
of  Mount  Horrid.  Then  up  its  eastern  slope 
and  across  a  rocky  chasm,  we  wended  our  way 
to  the  rocky  ruins  beneath  Mount  Horrid. 

Here,  it  seems,  nature  in  her  wildest  mood 
scattered  her  rocky  ruins  in  the  most  fantastic 
manner.  Here,  the  frost  of  ages  has  been  crum- 
bling the  rocks  from  the  brow  of  this  awful  emi- 
nence, and  scattering  them  in  rich  profusion  on 


422 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


the  side  of  the  valley  below.  Above  us,  fire  had 
done  its  work  of  destruction,  and  the  bodies  of 
the  scattered  spruce  forest  were  strewed  over  the 
barren  and  broken  rocks,  far  above  the  rich  foli- 
age of  the  valley  below.  But  where  did  these 
monarchs  of  the  forest  grow?  There  was  no 
soil  save  here  and  there  a  crevice,  filled  by  the 
torrent  formed  by  some  mighty  shower;  and 
carried  from  the  realms  above.  Here,  perhaps, 
the  lightnings  of  heaven  have  spent  their  fury, 
and  sent  their  thunderbolts  among  this  rocky 
mass. 

Ascending  about  half  way  up  the  rocky  emi- 
nence, and  looking  down,  we  saw  one  of  the 
pigmy  inhabitants  of  jhis  lower  world,  travelling 
down  the  mountain  turnpike  in  a  one-horse  bug- 
gy. Huge  rocks  grew  steeper  at  every  step  ;  we 
clung  to  the  decaying  arms  of  the  giant  but  pros- 
trate spruce,  and  climbed  the  rotten  trunks  over 
the  rocky  defile.  At  last  the  summit  of  Mount 
Horrid  was  beneath  our  feet.  With  a  telescope 
we  saw  farms  and  farm-houses,  scattered  far  to 
the  eastward,  while  in  the  distance  lay  the  im- 
posing outline  of  the  White  Mountains  of  Nevv 
Hampshire.  South  of  us,  and  across  a  deep  val- 
ley, stood  another  mountain  of  equal  height  with 
Mount  Horrid,  clothed  in  the  most  beautiful  fo- 
liage. The  woodman's  axe  had  apparently  never 
rang  through  its  solitudes,  and  its  beautiful  foli- 
age will  prol)ably  bloom  there  for  many  years  to 
come. 

The  rocks  are  of  a  coarse,  granular  texture, 
composed  of  several  ingredients,  of  which  silica 
is  one  of  the  principal ;  liornblende  and  felspar, 
I  think,  enter  into  its  composition,  with  a  very 
minute  o,uantity  of  mica.  They  appear  to  be  un- 
stratiiied,  metamorphic  rocks,  ground  down  to 
small  particles,  and  again  cemented  in  a  solid 
form.  Here  was  a  delightful  region  for  a  bota- 
nist. Thousands  of  wild  flowers  beautified  the 
scene,  and  such  a  carpet  of  soft,  velvety  moss, 
does  not  exist  in  the  lower  regions  of  earth. 
This  might  with  propriety  be  called  the  region 
of  moss,  for  it  was  the  most  luxuriant  growth  I 
ever  saw.  It  was  above  the  region  of  maples, 
and  the  principal  growth  of  timber  was  spruce 
and  birch,  with  a  small  variety  of  shrubbery.  I 
gathered  a  few  wild  flowers,  promiscuously,  for 
samples,  but  they  were  dead  and  withered  before 
I  arrived  at  home.  As  near  as  I  can  judge  from 
the  withered  specimens,  the  little  modest  flower 
dedicated  to  the  immortal  Linnaeus  shone  con- 
spicuously upon  Mount  Horrid — the  Linnea  Bo- 
realis  or  twin  flower.  It  is  the  flrst  time,  I  think, 
I  ever  saw  this  little  modest  flower,  and  it  brought 
to  mind  the  memory  of  the  celebrated  founder  of 
the  Linniean  system  of  botany. 

I  left  the  summit  of  Mount  Horrid  about 
three,  P.  M.,  and  wended  my  way  in  a  south- 
westerly direction,  toward  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain. When  part  way  down,  I  came  to  an  open- 
ing in  the  forest,  where  with  the  telescope  I  had 
a  splendid  view  of  the  landscape  far  to  the  west- 
ward. Yonder,  in  the  distance,  lay  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  with  its  bright  and  shining  waters,  like  a 
long  white  ribbon  of  silvery  brightness,  stretched 
on  the  verdant  la'idscape,  while  nearer  lay  Lem- 
onfiine,  like  a  bright  gem,  amid  the  surrounding 
seen' ry  of  green  foliage.  In  the  far-off  distance 
.ay  the  blue  and  rugged  forms  of  the  Adirondack 
Mouiitains,  whose  lofty  summits  have  an  impos- 


ing look,  as  they  lay  piled  up  beneath  the  dark 
canoply  of  heaven.  Long  ere  this  the  sky  was 
overcast  with  clouds,  the  token  of  an  approach- 
ing storm,  which  had  gathered  gradually  through 
the  day.  They  wore  a  smooth  aspect,  like  the 
approaching  nimbus,  but  did  not  entirely  obscuie 
tbe  sun,  when  I  left  our  beautiful  station  on  the 
mountain's  side.  I  then  started  homeward, but  be- 
fore I  arrived,  a  few  sweet  drops  fell  in  advance 
of  the  ajjproaching  storm.  My  journey  was  de- 
ightf'ul,  l)ut  far  too  short  to  study  into  the  mys- 
teries of  nature.  Every  flower  had  but  a  pass- 
ing notice,  and  every  rock  a  cursory  examina- 
tion. My  time  was  far  too  short  for  the  purposes 
of  scientific  investigation.  D.  Buckland. 

Brandon,  Vt.,  18o9. 


THE  NIGHT  BEFORE  THE  MOWING. 

All  shimmering  in  the  morning  shine. 

And  diamonded  with  dew, 
And  (juivering  wiili  the  scented  wind 

Tl)at  thrills  its  green  heart  through — 
The  little  field,  the  smiling  flelil 

With  all  its  flowers  a-blowing. 
How  happy  looks  the  golden  field  I 

The  day  before  the  mowing  ! 

And  s'ill  'neath  the  departing  light — 

Twilii;ht — though  void  of  stars. 
Save  where,  low  westering,  Venus  sinks 

From  the  red  eye  of  Mars  ; 
Huw  p.  aceful  sleeps  the  silent  field, 

With  all  its  beauties  glowing, 
Half  s'irring— like  a  child  in  dreams — 

The  night  before  the  mowing. 

Sharp  steel,  inevitable  hand, 

Cut  keen — cut  kind  !     Our  field 
We  know  full  well  must  be  laid  low 

Before  it  fragrance  yield. 
Plenty  and  mirth,  and  honest  gain 

Its  blameless  death  bestowing — 
And  yet  we  wtep,  and  yet  we  weep, 

The  night  before  the  mowing  ! 


For  tlic  New  England  Farmer. 

A  NON-BEARING  ORCHARD. 

I  suspect,  Mr.  Editor,  that  your  correspondent 
"E.,"' who  complains,  in  the  Farmer  of  July  16 
that  his  thrifty  orchard  of  apple  trees  docs  not 
come  into  fruit-bearing,  is  like  too  many  fruit- 
growers— too  impatient.  If  his  trees  are,  as  he 
says,  twelve  inches  in  diameter  on  twelve  years' 
growth,  they  are,  indeed,  very  thrifty  trees,  and 
the  reason  why  they  do  not  bear  is  to  me  very 
plain,  llmi  are  making  wood,  instead  of  mak- 
ing frtiit.  When  they  have  come  to  ih*  ir  growth, 
or  nearly  so,  they  will  bear  all  the  better  for  not 
bearing  now.  It  is  the  opinion  of  experienced 
nursery  men,  and  I  fully  coincide  with  it,  that 
early  fruiting  is,  as  a  general  rule,  an  indication 
of  disease  in  a  tree.  Some  varieties,  it  is  true, 
come  into  bearing  earlier  than  others,  without 
showing  indications  of  disease,  but,  as  a  general 
thing,  early  bearing  trees  are  smaller  in  size  at 
maturity,  and  shorter  lived,  than  those  of  more 
tardy  development  of  fruit-bearing  qualities.  It 
is  often  the  case  that  a  young  apple  or  pear  tree 
will  "take  to  fruiting"  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
for  the  time,  nearly  cease  its  growth  of  wood  ; 
then  it  will  stop  fruiting,  "take  to  growing,"  and 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


423 


become  a  good  sized  tree  before  it  bears  another 
particle  of  fruit.  It  seems  to  be  out  of  season 
that  trees  should  grow  thrifty  and  fruit  heavily 
at  the  same  time  ;  and  my  advice  to  your  corres- 
pondent is,  to  wait  patiently  a  few  years  longer, 
and  let  his  trees  grow.  They  are  doubtless  pay- 
ing a  much  better  interest  on  the  investment,  in 
that  way,  than  by  an  earlier  development  of  fruit. 
If  they  are  of  the  kinds  which  ordinarily  bear 
well,  there  is  little  danger  hut  that  they  will,  in 
a  very  few  years  more,  amply  repay  all  the  pa- 
tience and  care  which  their  owners  may  devote 
to  them. 

I  know  there  are  exceptions  to  all  rules,  in 
fruit-growing,  as  in  everything  else.  There  are 
some  soils,  though  they  are  very  rare  indeed, 
which  will  not  apparently  produce  apples  or 
pears.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  such  soils 
lack  entirely  the  ferruginous  principle.  Perhaps 
if  j'our  correspondent  would  try  the  experiment 
of  scattering  iron  filings,  or  cinders  from  a  black- 
smith's forge,  freely  around  two  or  three  of  his 
trees,  digging  them  freely  into  the  earth  so  that 
they  may  come  in  contact  with  the  roots,  he  may 
soon  ascertain  whether  his  soil  lacks  the  essen- 
tial element  of  iron.  I  have  knovrn  iron  spikes 
driven  into  plum  trees,  to  produce  fruit  when 
they  had  long  been  apparently  barren  ;  the  iron 
acting,  evidently,  as  a  kind  of  tonic  to  the  sap. 
But  the  instances  are  very  rare  in  which  thrifty, 
well  cultivated  trees,  of  the  right  varieties,  fail 
to  produce  fruit  at  the  proper  stage  of  their 
growth.  E.  C.  P. 

Somerville,  3Iass. 


A  PINE  GRAIN  SIFTER  AND  ASSORTEK 

There  is  a  great  deal  written  and  said  now-a- 
days  about  agricultural  education,  and  agricultu- 
ral colleges,  just  as  though  a  young  man  could 
be  put  through  a  course  of  academic  instruction, 
and  then  through  the  routine  of  college  learning, 
and  be  turned  out  upon  the  world  a  good  farm- 
er, or  in  fact,  a  good  anything  else.  Few  men 
ever  reach  the  quarter-deck  excepting  through 
the  forecastle.  Genius  outruns  mere  learning 
every  day,  and  gathers  the  harvest,  while  learn- 
ing, or  book  education,  merely,  lags  behind.  But 
genius  and  learning  combined,  master  all  things. 

The  idea  extensively  prevails  that  it  is  hard 
work,  year  in  and  year  out,  that  makes  the  farm- 
er,— hard  hands,  neglected  dress  and  contempt 
of  refinement.  This,  too,  is  all  folly.  At  his 
work  he  should  have  whole,  but  strong  and  sub- 
stantial garments  suitable  to  the  occasion,— but 
at  church  or  town-meeting,  why  should  not  his 
dress  be  as  fine  and  fashionable  as  any  respect- 
able person  wears  ? 

Then  the  farmer  should  be  something  of  a 
merchant,  too,  understanding  the  qualities  of  the 
products  in  which  he  deals,  their  prices,  and  how 
best  to  arrange  and  prepare  them  for  market,  in 
order  that  they  shall  return  him  a  fair  profit. 

We  are   acquainted  with  two  men   occupying 


the  same  range  of  land,  and  their  farms  opposite 
each  other,  who  happened  to  carry  one  hundred 
and  eighteen  barrels  of  apples,  each,  to  market 
the  same  fall,  and  during  the  same  time.  One 
of  these  men  got  a  certain  sum  for  his  apples, 
and  the  other  got  just  $118,00  more,  or  an  aver- 
age of  one  dollar  per  barrel  more!  One  had 
sufficient  mercantile  skill  to  lead  him  to  assort 
his  crop  into  grades,  put  them  into  clean  and 
uniform  barrels,  and  fix  a  price  upon  each  class, 
and  in  consequence  of  this  skill  realized  nearly 
double  that  his  neighbor  did  on  the  same  amount 
and  quality  of  article. 

We  saw  a  man  in  South  Market  Street  the 
other  day,  sifting  beans,  and  as  he  seemed  to 
have  an  interested  audience  about  him,  we  joined 
the  group  to  look,  listen  and  learn.  He  had  sev- 
eral barrels  before  him  and  a  sort  of  tray-like 
box  made  of  pine  board,  and  filled  with  wire 
sieves.  He  rattled  his  sieves  and  chatted  fluent- 
ly about  his  business,  telling  his  audience  that 
he  purchased  the  lot  of  beans  before  him,  had  sift- 
ed out  four  bushels  of  defective  and  small  ones, 
worth  as  much  as  four  bushels  of  the  best  yel- 
low corn,  and  had  sold  the  remainder  for  what 
the  whole  lot  had  cost!  It  had  taken  him  two 
hours  to  do  the  work,  and  he  had  realized  $2,00 
an  hour  for  his  labor !  These  are  but  examples 
of  one  kind  of  learning  which  the  farmer  needs. 
Boston  market  is  the  best  institution  in  which 
to  acquire  it,  of  any  that  we  are  acquainted  with. 
Such  was  the  train  of  thought  suggested  by  wit- 
nessing the  operations  of  our  friend,  the  bean 
assorter. 

We  had  a  further  curiosity,  however,  to  grati- 
fy, beside  listening  to  his  speech.  The  little  ma- 
chine— if  machine  it  could  be  called,  that  had  not 
a  bolt  or  screw  in  it — was  before  us,  and  on  ex- 
amination we  found  that  the  operator  could  mix 
half  a  pint  of  twelve  different  kinds  of  seeds, 
such  as  marrowfat,  blue  pod  and  pea  beans,  split 
beans,  peas  and  split  peas,  coffee,  buckwheat,  rye, 
oats,  linseed  and  grass  seed,  and  in  less  than  two 
minutes  from  the  time  the  mixed  contents  were 
put  in,  they  were  again  separated  and  discharged 
into  twelve  boxes  with  almost  unerring  certainty. 

If  these  simple  contrivances  were  in  common 
use  among  farmers,  what  a  mass  of  unsaleable 
oats,  barley,  wheat,  rye,  buckwheat,  coffee,  rice, 
peas,  beans,  &c.,  might  be  kept  at  home  and  fed 
to  stock,  the  cost  of  freight  to  market,  and  fre- 
quently back  again,  saved,  while  the  good  arti- 
cle, separated  from  the  bad,  would  bring  more 
money  than  the  whole,  when  sold  together. 

An  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  dealer  bi'ought  a  lot  of  beans 
to  Boston  market,  and  in  consequence  of  imper- 
fect cleaning  up,  and  of  shrivelled  beans,  they 
were  unsaleable.  He  passed  them  through  a 
sifter  and  assorter,  got  out  six  bushels  of  defec- 


424 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


tive  beans,  and  then  found  a  quick  sale  at  a  high 
price  for  the  remainder. 

These  sifters  are  made  and  sold  by  Mr.  San- 
FOED  Adams,  Lincoln  Street,  Boston,  who  is  a 
hard-working,  ingenious  man,  and  who  has  prob- 
ably never  eaten  a  pound  of  bread  or  meat  since 
he  was  six  years  old,  before  he  had  earned  it.  We 
wish  he  had  eight  or  ten  platoons  of  young  gen- 
tlemen and  ladies  under  his  charge,  who  think 
they  have  a  right  to  eat  and  drink  without  first 
having  earned  what  they  eat  or  drink. 


FuT  the  New  England  Farmer. 
AWAIiYSIS  OF   B01IiS-..MANUBES. 

You  hear,  everywhere,  from  men  learned,  per- 
haps, in  some  branches  of  knowledge,  but  who 
never  have  experimented  in  agricultural  chemis- 
try, that  agricultural  science  is  merely  this : — 
Analyze  the  plant  and  see  what  are  its  elements; 
analyze  the  soil,  and  see  if  the  ingredients  of 
the  plant  are  there,  and  if  not,  supply  them. 
This  is  seemingly  easy  to  comprehend,  and 
seemingly  easy  to  execute ;  and  many  farmers 
have  thought  that  their  sons  could  learn  to 
be  their  own  practical  chemists  in  one,  or  at 
most,  tv.'o  terms  at  an  academy.  I  think  that 
the  establishment  of  nominal  agricultural  de- 
partments in  our  little  academies  have  encour- 
aged the  idea  ;  though  in  the  end  it  must  have 
the  reverse  eifect.  Agriculturists  should  be  dis- 
abused of  this  false  notion,  and  know  that  it  re- 
quires as  much  time  to  learn  to  make  reliable 
analyses,  as  it  does  to  acquire  the  legal  knowl 
edge  necessary  for  a  lawyer,  or  the  medical  knowl- 
edge necessary  for  the  trusty  physician. 

When  the  student  of  agricultural  science  is  able 
to  make  reliable  analyses,  and  hardly  till  then, 
can  he  understand  the  difficulties  of  the  task  he 
has  undertaken.  He  will  find  that  chemical  anal- 
ysis alone  cannot  enable  him  to  direct  with  any 
considerable  certainty,  the  best  method  of  treat- 
ing a  particular  soil — no  man  can  do  it.  The 
chemical  reactions  in  the  soil  are  so  complicated, 
and  so  little  is  known  of  the  manner  in  which 
plants  grow,  that  science,  in  its  present  state, 
cannot  positively  decide  the  matter.  We  quote 
upon  this  point,  Prof.  G.  W.  Johnson,  of  Yale 
College,  and  Consulting  Chemist  to  the  Connect- 
icut State  Agricultural  Society.  "He  says  : — 
"We  are  every  day  drifting  further  from  what 
but  a  few  years  ago  was  considered  one  of  the 
most  fixed  and  beneficial  principles  of  agricultu- 
ral science,  viz. :  that  a  substance  is  chiefiy  a  fer- 
tilizer because  it  directly  feeds  the  plant,  and  are 
learning  from  the  numerous  recent  and  carefully 
conducted  experiments  with  manures,  that  in 
very  many  cases  we  cannot  safely  venture  to  pre- 
dict what  will  be  the  influence  of  a  given  appli- 
cation ;  but  find  in  practice  the  strangest  and 
most  discordant  results,  it  being  literally  possible 
to  show  from  the  experience  of  the  farm  that  al- 
most every  fertilizer  in  use  has  in  some  instances 
proved  beneficial  to  every  cultivated  crop,  and 
m  other  cases  has  been  indifferent  or  even  detri- 
mental." "We  are,  therefore,  compelled  more 
and  more  to  regard  the  indirect  action  of  ma- 
nures." This  indirect  action  refers  to  the  changes 


that  take  place  between  the  elements  of  the  fer- 
tilizer and  the  elements  of  the  soil.  To  illus- 
trate, we  quote  an  example  which  he  has  given: 
"  Wolflf  found  that  the  ashes  of  the  straw  of  buck- 
wheat, grown  with  a  large  supply  of  common  salt, 
(chlorine  and  sodium,)  compared  with  the  ashes 
of  the  same  part  of  that  plant  grown  on  the  same 
soil,  minus  this  addition,  contained  less  chloride 
of  sodium,  but  much  more  chloride  of  potassium  ; 
there  having  occurred  an  exchange  of  basis  in 
the  soil."  The  chlorine  had  changed  from  the 
sodium  of  the  salt  to  the  potassium  of  the  soil. 
This  may  explain  the  various  effects  of  gypsum. 
If  it  is  put  upon  a  soil  in  which  an  ammonia  salt 
will  be  decomposed  and  the  ammonia  set  free,  it 
is  beneficial ;  but  if  it  enters  into  other  combina- 
tions, or  remains  inactive,  it  will  be,  as  it  very 
frequently  is,  of  no  value. 

We  would  not,  then,  have  the  agriculturist  ex- 
pect too  much,  on  easy  terms,  from  science,  nor 
would  we  have  him  expect  too  little.  Do  not 
think  that  because  science  blunders,  and  is  not 
sure-footed,  that  it  is  worth  nothing.  It  is  young 
and  not  perfected ;  but  already,  it  has  taught 
much  that  is  valuable  to  every  man  that  has  a 
rod  of  land,  and  there  is  hardly  a  man  in  New 
England  but  has  been  more  or  less  instructed, 
though  unwittingly. 

Do  not  think  because  your  sons  cannot  be- 
come masters  of  chemistry  in  a  term  or  tv/o,  it 
does  them  no  good  to  study  at  all.  They  need 
a  knowledge  of  chemistry  to  understand  fully  the 
article  we  have  written,  and  so  much  can  be  giv- 
en at  an  academy  or  high  school.  There  is  much 
knowledge  that  can  be  given  by  a  competent 
teacher,  in  a  single  term,  to  a  class  in  agriculture. 
To  have  it  valuable,  the  teacher  should  not  be  a 
mere  book  man,  a  theorist,  but  one  who  has  ap- 
plied his  science.  o.  M. 

Wilbraham,  Mass.,  July  21,  1859. 


Clean  Milking. — It  is  sometimes  forgotten 
that  the  last  gill  of  milk  drawn  from  the  cow's 
udder  is  the  best  part  of  every  milking.  Careful 
experiments  made  in  England  show  (according 
to  a  report  lately  published,)  that  "the  quantity 
of  cream  obtained  from  the  last  drawn  cup  from 
most  cows,  exceeds  that  of  the  first  in  the  pro- 
portion of  twelve  to  one."  The  difference  in  the 
quality  also  is  considerable.  Hence,  a  person 
who  carelessly  leaves  but  half  a  pint  of  milk  un- 
drawn, loses  in  reality  as  much  cream  as  would 
be  aft'orOed  by  six  or  eight  pints  at  the  begin- 
ning ;  and  loses,  too,  that  part  of  the  cream 
which  gives  the  richness  and  high  flavor  to  his 
butter. 

Paints. — Pure  paint  is  always  better  than  adul- 
terated ;  most  of  the  grinders  of  white  lead  and 
white  zinc  grind  these  pigments  with  sulphate 
of  baryta  ;  avoid  such  paints.  The  baryta  cannot 
hold  the  oil  and  soon  rubs  off.  In  painting  wag- 
ons, plows  and  other  implements,  use  no  spirits 
of  turpentine.  Wait  a  little  longer  for  the  paint 
to  dry,  and  it  will  last  longer  when  dry.  Use 
pure  linseed  oil,  and  none  of  the  patent  rosin  oil 
mixtures.  For  many  utensils,  common  shellac 
varnish  answers  as  well  as  paint,  and  maintains 
the  original  color  of  the  wood. — Working  Farmer. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


425 


AGKICULTURAL  KEPOBT  OF  PLY- 
MOUTH COUNTY.  ! 

Every  Secretary  of  an  agricultural  society  who 
has  attempted  to  make  up  a  report,  can  fully 
sympathize  with  the  worthy  Secretary  of  the  Ply-; 
mouth  society,  in  his  remarks  upon  the  state- 
ments of  committees  and  competitors.  It  is  too 
often  true,  that  "very  few  statements  of  any  ac- 
curacy or  importance,  come  into  the  hands  of  the 
Secretary." 

"Let  it  be  understood  now  and  always,  both 
by  the  exhibitor  and  the  committee  man,  that 
our  agricultural  societies  do  not,  and  were  not 
designed  to  give  premiums  alone  for  the  accident 
of  a  fat  ox,  or  a  fat  field,  or  a  twenty  quart  cow, 
but  they  give  a  premium  in  return  for  some  in- 
formation accompanying  the  ox  or  cow,  as  to  the 
liow,  the  when  and  the  wherewithal,  which  is  what 
the  farmers  want  to  know,  and  which  alone,  in 
the  reports  of  the  society,  can  be  of  any  benefit 
o  the  community."  This  is  the  true  doctrine, 
and  we  are  glad  to  see  it  made  prominent  by  the 
Secretary. 

The  commitiee  on  premiums  appear  to  have 
caught  the  spirit  of  this  officer,  for  we  notice 
that  three  competitors  for  premiums  on  grain 
crops,  lost  their  premiums  by  not  sending  in 
their  statements  seasonably. 

Plymouth  has  a  high  reputation  for  its  large 
grain  crops.  Its  corn  crops  have  never  been  ex- 
celled in  the  State,  and  we  are  glad  to  see  an  at- 
tempt to  place  the  yield  of  this  crop  on  a  basis 
which  shall  prevent  all  doubt  hereafter,  as  to  the 
accuracy  of  the  reports.  The  corn  is  to  be  shelled 
in  January,  and  weighed,  allowing  fifty-six 
pounds  to  the  bushel.  Mr.  G.  P.  Wood's  corn, 
raised  in  18o7,  was  estimated  by  harvesting,  and 
weighing  two  rods,  at  ninety-eight  Hushels  per 
acre.  On  being  shelled  and  weighed  in  January, 
18j8,  it  yielded  75  15-56  bushels,  of  fifty-six 
pounds  each,  which  shows  a  great  shrinkage  be- 
tween harvesting  and  January. 

Fine  crops  of  barley  and  oats  were  also  pre- 
sented and  received  premiums.  We  have  no 
doubt  that  the  successful  cultivation  of  grain 
crops  in  this  county  is  due,  in  great  measure,  to 
the  liberal  premiums  that  have  for  many  years 
been  paid  for  them.  We  are  glad  to  notice  that 
premiums  were  awarded  for  the  skilful  manufac- 
ture of  the  largest  quantities  of  compost  ma- 
nures. Charles  G.  Davis  and  Jonathan  How- 
ard were  well  entitled  to  the  premiums  they 
received,  and  especially  for  the  accounts  they 
furnished  of  their  methods  of  operation.  An  in- 
teresting essay  upon  the  culture  of  corn,  by  that 
sound  farmer,  Morrill  Allen,  will  repay  peru- 
sal. 

Two  married  ladies  and  three  single  ones  dis- 
played themselves  on  horseback,  no  doubt  to  the 


gratification  of  most,  if  not  all,  the  young  men 
and  boys  assembled.  Eleven  premiums  were 
awarded  for  the  exhibition  of  flowers,  nearly  all 
of  them  to  ladies.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  record 
it  as  our  opinion,  that  a  beautiful  bouquet,  or 
basket  of  flowers,  is  a  more  appropriate  exhibi- 
tion for  a  lady,  than  the  exhibition  of  her  person 
on  a  fast  horse  before  a  gazing  crowd. 

The  report  closes  with  a  list  of  premiums  of- 
fered for  the  year  1859.  We  notice  that  this 
practice  is  becoming  common,  and  it  strikes  us 
as  a  good  arrangement.  The  only  objection  to 
it  is,  that  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  must  be 
held,  before  the  report  can  be  got  out.  But,  per- 
haps, this  is  the  best  way.  With  the  incidents 
of  the  last  exhibition  in  their  mind,  the  Trustees 
will  be  better  able  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
coming  one. 


For  the  Netv  England  Farmer. 

QEAPE  VINES  'WHICH  CAN  NSVES 
BEA.R. 

Most  persons  are  aware  that  a  flower  is  perfect 
in  structure  when  the  stamens  and  pistil  or  pis- 
tils are  present.  It  matters  not  whether  the  co- 
rolla, that  brilliant  circle  of  colored  leaves,  which 
in  popular  language  is  called  the  flower,  be  pres- 
eat  or  not ;  a  flower  is  perfect  in  structure  when 
the  organs  which  are  essential  for  the  produc- 
tion of  seed  are  present,  and  these  organs  are 
the  stamens  and  pistils.  Classifying  by  structure, 
we  shall  find  most  of  the  finest  flowers  of  our 
gardens  are  very  imperfect,  their  elegant  double 
nature  being  gained  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  sta- 
mens, which  by  a  beautiful  metamorphosis,  have 
changed  to  petals ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  classifi- 
cation founded  on  structure  increases  our  inter- 
est in  many  trees  and  plants.  Few,  probably, 
are  aware  of  the  most  abundant  flowering  of  the 
elm  tree.  These  flowers  precede  the  leaves,  ami 
while  some  wonder  at  the  interval  which  elapses 
between  the  bursting  of  the  dark  brown  buJ; 
and  the  appearing  of  the  leaves,  that  noble  tree 
is  centering  all  its  energies  in  performing  the 
most  delicate  and  intricate  work  of  the  round 
year,  the  perfecting  of  the  organization  of  its 
myriads  of  seeds. 

The  statement  that  stamens  and  pistils  are  al! 
that  are  necessary  to  form  a  true  flower,  may  ap- 
pear to  some  merely  a  theoretical  truth,  possibly 
of  some  value  in  science,  but  of  no  practical  val- 
ue. If  this  be  so,  I  would  ask  such  an  one  to 
explain  how  I  can  sustain  the  absolute  assertion 
made  at  the  head  of  this  article,  viz.:  That  there 
are  grape  vines  that  cannot  bear  ?  And  this 
statement  can  be  made  as  absolutely  of  straw- 
berries and  other  plants  as  of  grape  vines.  Na- 
ture is  no  waster  of  her  recources ;  with  her  the 
primary  end  of  our  edible  fruits  is  to  protect  the 
seed,  and  therefore,  if  the  parts  necessary  for  the 
perfection  of  the  seed  are  not  present,  rarely,  .if 
ever,  shall  we  find  fruit. 

For  several  years  we  have  had  growing  upon 
our  trellis  two  seedling  grape  vines,  which  had 
been  selected  for  the  superior  vigor  of  their 
growth  from  a  large  number  of  seedlings.  All  ol 


426 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


these  seedlings  had  produced  specimens  of  fruit, 
but  these  two,  which  bloomed  most  profusely,  as 
yet  would  never  set  a  grape.  Struck  by  the  phe- 
nomenon of  vines  abounding  in  fragrant  blossoms 
without  setting  fruit,  I  gathered  the  blossoms 
and  compared  them  with  those  from  fruit- bear- 
ing vines.  The  difference  was  at  once  apparent; 
the  blossoms  of  the  two  vines  which  had  never 
borne  were  not  perfect  in  structure  ;  the  stamens 
were  present,  but  the  pistil  was  wanting.  Such 
vines  cannot  bear — it  is  a  physical  impossibility. 
Had  the  pistil  been  present  they  might  have 
borne,  though  the  stamens  had  been  wanting,  re- 
ceiving pollen  from  the  stamens  of  other  vines ; 
as  it  was,  the  only  practical  use  that  could  be 
made  of  such  vines  was  to  use  them  to  impreg- 
nate other  vines  with  a  view  of  obtaining  a  larg- 
er variety  of  grapes  from  the  seedlings  to  be 
raised  from  them. 

I  have  thought,  Mr  Editor,  that  the  fact  that 
jome  of  the  most  vigorous  seedlings  are  non- 
bearing  vines  might  be  new  to  some  of  your 
readers,  and  be  a  fact  worth  the  noting  by  those 
enterprising  men  who  are  now  engaged  in  rais- 
ing new  varieties  from  the  seed. 

J.  J.  H.  Gregory. 

Marhlchead,  Mass.,  1859. 


to  one  inch  in  depth  is  sufficient  for  a  coating 
that  will  operate  beneficially  for  several  years. 

You  can  purchase  any  of  the  grass  seeds  at 
Nourse  &  Co.'s,  34  Merchants'  Row.  Fowl 
Meadow  Seed  is  $4,00  per  bushel — Blue  Joint 
$2,25.  Mr.  Gwinneth,  the  seedsman  of  that  es- 
tablishment, thinks  one  bushel  of  the  fowl  mead- 
ow, and  the  same  of  the  blue  joint,  would  not  be 
too  much  for  an  acre.  That  would  be  expensive 
seeding— but  if  the  crop  were  allowed  to  ripen 
occasionally,  the  land  would  keep  seeded  for 
many  years.  There  is  very  little  fowl  meadow 
or  blue  joint  grass  seed  brought  into  market. 

The  Tall  Meadow  Oat  Grass  and  the  Meadow 
Fescue  would  probably  be  good  grasses  to  mix 
with  the  fowl  meadow  and  blue  joint. 

SUPERPHOSPHATE   AND    GUANO. 

At  what  season  of  the  year  should  superphos- 
phate be  applied  to  produce  the  greatest  effect 
upon  grass  land  ?  How  should  it  be  applied  to 
corn — after  it  comes  up,  as  we  apply  plaster,  or 
put  into  the  hill  and  covered  before  planting? 
Upon  what  kind  of  soil  does  it  produce  the  most 
beneficial  results  ?  I  wish  to  make  the  same  in- 
quiries about  guano.  A.  R.  S. 

Cornwall,  Vt.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Apply  guano  or  superphosphate 
in  the  spring  on  grass  land  during  a  wet  time. 
Upon  corn  put  it  into  the  hill.  They  are  useful 
on  any  soils  that  we  plant  corn  on. 

HOW   TO    MAKE   GOOD   BUTTER. 

Skim  the  milk  as  soon  as  it  sours,  and  before 
it  thickens,  if  possible  ;  stir  the  cream  faithfully, 
especially  when  new-  is  added.  Set  the  jar  in  a 
cool  place  ;  if  the  cellar  is  not  cold  and  sweet, 
set  it  in  the  spring,  or  hang  it  in  the  well — any 
B'ay  to  keep  it  cool.  After  the  last  cream  is  added 
before  churning,  then  "go  a  visiting"  if  you 
please,  as  cream  should  not  be  churned  the  day 
it  is  taken  off.  At  night  fall,  fill  the  churn  with 
cold  water,  and  start  the  churning  at  early  dawn 
and  my  word  for  it,  you  will  soon  find  a  solid 
mass  of  golden- colored  butter,  itee  from  white 
specks,  and  when  properly  salted  and  packed,  fit 
for  the  table  of  our  friend  the  Farmer,  or  any 
other. 

N.  B.  After  the  buttermilk  starts,  pour  in 
cold  water,  a  liule  at  a  time,  turning  the  crank 
slowly  and  carefully  back  and  forth  ;  this  prevents 
the  butter    from    closing    too   rapidly,  does   not 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

NIGHT    SOIL  —  SAND    ON     MUCK     LANDS  —  FOWL 

MEADOW  AND   BLUE   JOINT    GRASS    SEEDS — 

TALL    OAT   GRASS — MEADOW   FESCUE. 

I  wish  to  know  if  night  soil  is  injurious  to 
land  ? 

I  have  been  told  that  sand  put  on  low  land  in 
quantities  is  injurious.     Is  it  so? 

Where  can  I  buy  fowl  meadow  and  blue  joint 
grass  seed,  and  at  what  price  ? 

How  much  seed  per  acre,  and  what  other  seed 
would  do  well  on  moist  land  that  can  be  plowed  ? 

Nashua,  Jiihj,  1859.  J.  C. 

Remarks. — Pure  night  soil  is  too  pungent  and 
quick  for  any  crop.  Well  mixed  with  loam  or 
muck,  there  is  little  danger  of  using  too  much  of 
it. 

So  much  sand  may  be  applied  to  a  wet  piece  of 
land  as  to  keep  out  the  action  of  the  sun  and  air, 
and  stifle  it,  so  that  it  will  remain  inert  for  years. 
Every  operation  on  the  farm  requires,  not  expe- 
rience, only,  but  the  exercise  of  a  sound  judg- 
ment. We  once  knew  a  good  farmer  to  cover  a 
piece  of  muck  land  with  sand,  and  in  order  to 
make  a  capital  thing  of  it,  he  put  the  sand  on 
four  inches   deep    all  over   it;  the  consequence!  break  the  grains,  and  gives  every  particle  of  the 


was,  an  inactive,  dead  piece  of  land  partially  cov- 
ered with  a  minute,  greenish  moss.  The  land 
was  imperfectly  drained,  and  was  kept  moist  by 
showers  and  capillary  attraction,  so  that  there 
was  just  enough  of  the  breath  of  life  in  it  to 
clothe  it  with  the  vegetation  we  have  just  men- 
tioned. Low,  black  muck  lands  are  greatly  ben- 
efited by  the  application  of  sand,— but  it  must  be  j^"j^*.^g  ^Jj^p^  oj.'  j„(,re  upon  the  flai^k,  and  speak 
applied  judiciously,  in  proper  quantities,  and  j sternly  to  her,  and  do  this  at  the  time,  never  for 
spread  evenly  upon  the   surface.     Half  an  inch |a  moment  leaving  her,  keeping   my  hold  of  the 


cream  a  chance  to  form  into  butter. 

"In  a  multitude  of  counsellors,  there  is  safety." 

Aunt  Ruoda. 
JVorth  Cambridge,  Vt.,  July  25,  1859. 

TO    CURE    KICKING   COWS. 

My  way   is   this  :  if  a  cow  kicks  when   I   am 
milking,  I  slap  her  smartly  with  my  hand  two  or 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


427 


teat  if  possible  ;  when  she  becomes  quiet  I  caress 
her  with  the  hand,  and  soothe  her  by  gentle 
words,  thus  letting  her  know  what  I  want.  This 
will,  I  am  sure,  prove  effectual,  for  cows  are  like 
school-boys,  who,  if  they  know  they  can  overrun 
the  master  with  impunity,  will  continue  to  do  so. 
A  cow  once  thus  subdued  will  become  gentle  and 
docile.  E.  !•'.  B. 

Enfield,  Mass.,  July  25. 

EFFECTUAL  REMEDY  FOR  POISONED  SHEEP. 

Open  the  sheep's  mouth  and  with  a  sharp- 
pointed  knife,  bleed  the  sheep  in  the  third  or 
fourth  bar  or  ridge  from  the  entrance  of  the 
mouth,  and  the  work  is  done,  and  a  cure  effect- 
ed without  pining  away  or  loss  of  flesh,  as  in 
most  other  remedies.  I  have  applied  the  above 
remedy  to  several  sheep  that  were  flat  on  their 
sides  and  appeared  lifeless,  and  have  not  lost  one 
sheej).  E.  G.  Allis. 

Whately,  Mass.,  July  26,  1859. 

TRANSPLANTING    EVERGREENS. 

Seeing  a  paragraph  in  your  columns  from  one 
of  your  subscribers  concerning  transplanting 
pines  or  evergreens,  I  will  give  my  plan.  As  ear- 
ly in  the  spring  as  possible,  I  selected  a  few 
small  trees  from  the  woods,  (a  pine,  a  hemlock 
and  cedar,)  and  took  them  up  with  the  native 
soil  which  adhered  to  them,  and  planted  them 
near  the  house.  I  gave  them  a  little  attention, 
keeping  them  well  watered,  and  I  have  now  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  them  prospering  finely. 

George  C.  Lawrence. 

Vineyard,  Winch  ester. 

PICKLES. 

Will  any  one  who  knows,  tell  me  how,  with  good 
cider  vinegar  and  cucumbers,  I  can  make  pickles 
that  will  keep  hard  the  year  round,  without  salt- 
ing them  down  ?  I  have  tried  it  several  times 
and  in  a  little  while  they  grow  soft  and  are  unfit 
for  use.  A  Lover  of  Good  Pickles. 

Putney,  Vt.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  "cook-books"  give  directions 
how  to  make  pickles,  but  we  believe  people  gen- 
erally consider  that  salting  cucumbers  is  the  best 
mode  of  keeping  them  for  a  long  time. 

A  ruptured  colt. 

I  have  a  mare  colt,  six  weeks  old,  that  has  a 
bad  breach  at  the  navel.  Can  you,  or  any  of 
your  readers,  tell  me  what  to  do  for  it?  If  a 
pad  can  be  put  on  to  do  any  good,  how  must  the 
rigging  be  fixed  to  keep  it  in  its  place  ?  The 
opening  through  the  membrane  is  nearly  an  inch 
and  a  half  in  length.  w.  c.  B. 

Putney,  Vt.,  July,  1859, 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TOPPIXtTG  COBN. 

Some  of  your  contributors  differ  relative  to  the 
practicability  of  cutting  off  the  tops  of  corn. 

My  limited  experience  in  the  culture  of  corn, 
much  inclines  me  to  favor  the  practice  of  cutting 
off  the  tops  at  an  early  day.  The  reasons  for  so 
doing  in  brief  are  as  follows: 

As  soon  as  the  corn  is  full,  remove  the  top. 
The  hot  sun  soon  sears  the  cut  end  of  the  stalk, 
and  what  supply  of  nourishment  was  intended 
for  the  top,  is  saved  for  the  ear  ;  consequent- 
ly, the  ears  will  ripen  fuller  than  it  otherwise 
would.  If  the  tops  are  removed  previous  to  the 
high  winds  accompanying  autumnal  storms,  the 
corn  will  be  partially,  at  least,  protected  and 
saved.  The  corn  will  ripen  sooner,  and,  I  think, 
sounder. 

The  tops  will  be  worth  double  what  they  oth- 
erwise would  be  to  remain  until  the  corn  is  suf- 
ficiently ripened  to  put  into  shocks. 

The  sugar  contained  in  the  stalk  is  its  real 
value.  The  sooner  the  top  is  cut  after  it  attains 
its  full  growth,  the  more  is  saved.  If  suffered  to 
remain,  nearly  all  of  its  value,  escapes'by  evapo- 
ration. 

True,  if  you  cut  up  and  shock  before  the  corn 
is  quite  ripe,  you  save  a  trifle  in  the  value  of  the 
butt  stalks  ;  but  not  enough  to  compensate  for 
the  loss  in  the  top  stalks.  The  increased  labor  in 
tying  up  and  shocking  will  quite  balance  that  of 
topping. 

Georgetoivn,  Mass.,  1859. 


Iowa  Farmers'  College. —  This  institution 
has  been  located  in  Storer  county,  thirty  miles 
north  of  I)es  Moines  city.  The  site  is  said  to  be 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  to  be  found  in  the  State. 
There  are  640  acres  of  land  connected  with  the 
buildings. 


MILDEW  AND  FRUIT. 

Mr.  Editor: — My  friend,  Mr.  Saunders,  of 
Philadelphia,  says  that  the  cracking  of  the  pear 
is  the  result  of  a  species  of  mildew,  and  it  may 
be  found  that  applications  of  sulphur  water  will 
be  a  surer  prevention  of  this  disease  than  those 
special  manures  which  have  been  recommended, 
and  which  have  not  been  found  to  remedy  this 
evil,  or  give  indications  of  a  curative  process. 

The  peculiar  mildew  seen  on  the  foreign  grr^pe 
under  glass,  on  the  gooseberry,  lilac,  &c.,  is  in- 
duced by  atmos])heric  aridity.  This  mildew  (  <-- 
velops  in  the  form  of  a  moldincss  on  the  upp.'r 
surface  of  the  foliage,  and  frequently  extends  and 
envelopes  young  growing  shoots,  in  v/hich  case 
the  bark  seems  to  contract  and  crack  into  length- 
ened openings.  Here  can  be  traced  a  close  re- 
semblance to  the  cra.king  of  the  pear,  going  far 
to  prove  that  it  has  the  same  origin.  In  shel- 
tered city  yards,  where  drying  winds  are  arrested 
in  their  sweeping  progress,  and  where  a  quiet 
and  more  humid  atmosphere  prevails,  the  foreign 
grape  will  frequently  attain  to  a  fair  perfection. 

So  also  the  White  Doyenne  ])ear  is  annually 
produced  in  its  greatest  perfection  on  trees  sim- 
ilarly located,  while  in  open  exposures  a  few 
miles  distant  a  fair  specimen  cannot  be  procured. 
No  reason  that  has  ever  been  brought  forward 
on  the  probable  cause  of  pear-cracking  is  so  phil- 
osophical, or  so  much  in  accordance  with  record- 
ed facts,  as  that  which  connects  it  with  mildew. 
The  mildew  seen  on  the  native  grape  is  appar- 
ently a  difll'erent  fungus  from  the  above.  Here 
the  "under"  side  of  the  leaf  is  attacked,  destroy- 
ing the  vitality  of  the  tissue,  which  is  then  ten- 


128 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


er,  and  is  speedily  scorched  by  the  sun,  and  the 
.ives  decay  and  wither.    When  this  occurs  dur- 
!  ig  the  ripening  of  the  crop,  the  sudden   loss  of 
4iage  prevents    it    from   maturing,  and    hence 
lany  bunches  will  show  one-half  the  fruit  black 
..iid  the  other  green.     This  apparent  scorching  is 
most   noticeable    during   the  months   of  August 
and  September,  when  heavy  night  dews  are  suc- 
ceeded  by  hot    sun,  or  after  a  few   dull  or  rainy 
days. — Prairie  Farmer. 


BUDDING. 

Budding,  or  inoculation,  is  the  same  as  graft- 
ing in  its  effects,  as  in  both  cases  the  young  shoot 
•starts  from  a  bud.  It  is  performed  at  a  differ- 
ent season,  and  usually  on  small  stocks.  It  has 
the  advantage  of  grafting  in  the  more  rapid  mul- 
tiplication of  a  variety,  in  being  more  expedi- 
tious, in  allowing,  frequently,  of  a  repetition  the 
same  season,  in  case  of  failure,  and  of  the  opera- 
tion without  injury  to  the  stock,  and  it  is  surer 
than  grafting  on  stone  fruit.  It  is  the  most  com- 
mon mode  of  propagation  in  nurseries,  but  it  is 
not  much  practised  on  large  trees,  nor  even  on 
small  standards,  (excepting  stone  fruit,  peaches 
in  particular,)  as  grafting  is  preferable. 

Subjects  for  BuDDiNti.  —  Stocks  or  limbs 
from  \,  'i  or  §  of  an  inch  in  diameter  are  suitable 
for  budding,  and  even  those  of  an  inch  will  an- 
swer, but  they  are  more  pro])er  for  grafting.  It 
is  of  great  ioiportance  that  the  stock  be  well  es- 
tablished and  in  vigorous  condition,  that  it  may 
send  up  a  strong,  straight  shoot,  forming  a  good 
trunk  for  a  standard,  else  it  will  be  stinted  and 
scraggy,  and  difficult  to  form  into  a  good  tree. 

Time  for  Budding. —  Much  de- 
pends on  various  circumstances,  such 
as  age  and  thrift  of  the  stock,  the 
weather,  the  season,  &c.  Judgment 
must  be  constantly  exercised,  (and 
then  we  may  fail,)  for  we  can  no 
bettor  set  an  exact  time  for  budding 
than  for  cutting  grain  in  future  years. 
In  this  climate,  if  the  stocks  are 
young  and  of  common  vigor,  and 
the  season  and  the  weatlier  as  to 
moisture  about  as  usual,  the  time  for 
budding  is  generally  from  the  1st  to 
the  25th  of  August. 

Preparation  of  Scions.  —  As 
soon  as  the  scion  is  cut,  trim  off  the 
leaves,  leaving  about  one-third  of  an 
inch  of  the  foot-stalks,  else  the 
leaves,  which  transpire  moisture  ra- 
pidly, will  absorb  it  from  the  buds, 
and  quickly  spoil  them.  In  hot,  dry 
weather,  they  may  be  spoiled  in  this 
way  in  two  hours. 

If  the  scions  are  to  be  used  soon, 
wrap  them  in  a  damp  mat  or  cloth, 
or,  for  convenience,  put  them  in  fine 
grass  or  leaves,  and  wrap  in  paper,  stick  of  Buds. 
To  send  a  distance,  pack  in  damp 
moss,  or  in  damp  sawdust,  in  a  box.  To  keep 
awhile,  wrap  up  or  pack  as  above,  and  lay  in  a 
cool  place,  in  tne  cellar,  or  bury  a  foot  deep  in 
the  ground,  in  a  cool,  shady  place.  They  will 
«eep  longest  in  the  moss  or  sawdust.    They  ma) 


be  kept  several  days  in  grass  or  leaves,  and  a 
week  or  more  in  moss  or  sawdust. 


1.  The  stock  prepared  for  the  bud. 

2.  Ttif  bud  with  the  wood  taken  out. 

3.  The  stock  with  the  bud  inserted. 

4.  Tr.e  bud  with  the  wood  in. 

Mode  of  Budding. — The  most  common  and 
the  best  is  T  budding  With  a  sharp  budding 
knife,  make  a  perpendicular  slit,  just  through 
the  bark,  aV)out  an  inch  long,  then  a  cross-cut, 
in  the  form  of  a  letter  T.  It  is  well  to  make  the 
cross-cut  in  a  circular  form,  that  the  band  may 
cross  the  cut.  With  the  ivory  at  the  end  of  the 
handle-knife,  raise  the  bark  a  little  at  each  cor- 
ner, below  the  cross-cut.  If  one  has  not  a  bud- 
ding-knife, this  may  be  done  with  a  piece  of 
sharpened  hard  wood  or  with  the  knife-blade. 
Litt  up  the  bark,  not  force  the  instrument  be- 
tween the  bark  and  wood,  and  disturb  the  cam- 
brium  or  new  layer  of  soft  matter. 

Hold  the  but  of  the  scion  from  you,  and  in- 
sert the  knife  about  one-half  an  inch  below  the 
bud  that  is  next  the  but-end,  and  with  a  gen- 
tle curve  cut  about  to  the  depth  of  one-fourth 
the  diameter  of  the  scion  — more  in  small,  soft 
or  rather  green  scions,  and  less  in  large  scions 
of  firm  and  ripened  wood — and  bring  out  the 
knife  about  half  an  inch  above  the  bud.  Then 
put  the  bud  under  the  bark,  and  slide  it  down  the 
vertical  slit  till  the  bud  is  a  little  below  the  cross- 
cut; then,  if  any  of  the  bark  re- 
main above  the  cross-cut,  cut  it  off 
there,  making  a  neat  fit.  Some 
make  the  cross-cut  below  the  per- 
pendicular slit,  and  run  the  bud 
upward,  but  this  is  less  convenient, 
and  no  better. 

Wind  the  matting  closely  around 
the  stock,  so  as  to  cover  all  the 
vertical  and  transverse  cut,  barely 
leaving  the  bud  uncovered  ;  tie 
with  one  bow-knot  on  the  same 
side  as  the  bud.  Bud  on  any  side 
excepting  the  south,  where  the 
sun  may  injure  the  bud  in  warm  The  bud  tied  m. 
days  in  winter. 

Bands. — Mats  such  as  are  used  around  furni- 
ture, new  and  strong,  are  cut  into  suitable  lengths 
and  used  for  bands.     The  soft,  pliable,  inner  barK 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


429 


or  rind  of  any  trees,  like  bass  or  linden  and  elm, 
is  good.  Suitable  materials  can  be  had  at  agri- 
cultural stores.  Some  use  cotton  wicking.  Wool- 
en yarn  will  answer.  Some  budders  use  strips  of 
cloth  listing  from  the  tailor's.  This  stretches  as 
the  stock  grows,  and  needs  no  loosening.  Sheet 
India-rubber  and  gutta  percha  are  used  by  the 
curious.  Matting  and  such  material  should  be 
wet  before  used,  to  make  it  soft  and  pliable. 

After  Management. — In  ten 
or  twenty  days  after  budding,  ac- 
cording to  the  vigor  of  the  stock, 
the  bud  will  have  united  with  the 
stock,  and  if  the  band  binds  close- 
ly, so  as  to  cut  into  the  bark,  it 
must  be  loosened  and  re-tied  as 
before.  If  the  bud  has  dried  and 
shriveled,  the  stock  may  be  re- 
budded,  if  the  bark  peels.  In 
about  three  weeks  after  budding, 
if  the  bud  is  well  united  to  the 
stock,  the  band  may  be  removed. 
But  if  it  does  not  bind,  it  may  re- 
main. If  it  remains  on  during 
winter,  the  ice  is  more  likely  to 
gather  around  the  band  and  injure 
the  bud.  As  the  bark  of  the  cher- 
ry curls,  the  band  needs  to  remain  "growing  bud 
on  longer  than  on  other  stocks. 

In  the  spring,  from  the  bursting  of  buds  to 
the  leaves  becoming  half  size,  cut  off  the  stock 
in  which  the  bud  is  good,  to  within  two  or  three 
inches  of  the  bud,  and  when  the  bud  has  started, 
tie  it  to  the  stump,  if  it  inclines  off.  Keep  down 
the  sprouts  ;  and  in  July,  cut  off  the  stump  even 
with  the  bud,  and  keep  down  sprouts  and  suck- 
ers.— Cole's  American  Fruit  Book. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
AN"  ANCIE?JT  TB.EE. 

Yesterday,  in  company  of  friends,  I  visited  the 
renowned  Endicot  pear  tree.  I  found  it  vigor- 
ous in  growth  and  fairly  loaded  with  fruit,  of  me- 
dium size  ;  not  yet  matured.  The  tree  now  con- 
sists of  many  sprouts  from  the  shell  of  the  trunk, 
rising  to  the  height  of  twenty  feet  or  more.  The 
trunk  has  a  hollow  appearance,  indicating  that 
the  original  tree  was  about  two  feet  in  diameter. 
Tradition  says  that  it  grew  to  the  height  of  40 
feet  or  more.  If  my  reccollection  is  right,  a  sketch 
of  the  appearance  of  the  tree  was  furnished  a  few 
years  since  for  the.V.  E.  Fanner,  by  your  observ- 
ing correspondent,  Mr.  S.  P.  Fowler.  As  it  is 
beyond  doubt  the  o\d.e<ii  fruit -hearing  tree  to  be 
found  on  our  shores,  having  been  in  bearing  con- 
dition more  than  two  hundred  years,  all  reliable 
acts  relating    o  it  are  worthy  to  be  recorded. 

I  could  not  but  regret  that  the  fence,  which 
twenty  years  ago,  or  more,  was  erected  for  the 
preservation  of  the  tree,  has  fallen  into  a  dilapi- 
dated condition ;  which  together  with  the  over- 
grown weeds  and  meagre  crops  about,  impressed 
me  fully  with  the  belief  that  the  estate  had  fallen 
into  hands  that  "knew  not  Joseph."  The  site  of 
this  Endicot  farm  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
and  beautiful  in  the  county  ;  and  it  is  a  disgrace 
to  the  name,  that  it  should  be  left  in  a  condition 
so  abandoned.  p. 

July  29,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer 

THE IMPKOVBMENT  OF  LAND 

BY    FEEDING    OUT     ITS     PRODUCTS   AND   GIVING 
BACK   THE   MANURE. 

BY    FREDEKICK    HOLBROOK. 

It  appears  to  me  that,  generally  speaking,  the 
great  aim  in  farming,  here  in  New  England, 
should  be,  to  devise  and  perfect  ways  for  expend- 
ing the  various  products  of  the  soil  upon  the 
farm,  so  as  to  get  about  as  much  for  them  in  the 
growth  of  stock,  the  meats,  dairy  products,  or 
wool,  &c.,  into  which  they  have  been  converted, 
as  though  they  had  been  sold  off  for  money  ; 
thus  giving  hack  to  the  land  the  manures  the 
crops  may  make,  increased  in  quantity,  of  course, 
by  all  judicious  modes  of  composting  with  them 
the  various  unemployed  or  waste  vegetables  and 
other  substances  of  the  farm  which  contain  the 
elements  of  fertility. 

The  mistake  has  been,  and  still  is,  too  com- 
mon, of  selling  off  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  grain  crops  especially,  and  converting  them 
into  money.  If  any  surplus  were  left  after  pay- 
ing debts  and  expenses,  that  has  generally  been 
invested  either  in  the  purchase  of  more  land,  or 
at  interest,  or  in  stocks  and  other  property  out- 
side of  farming.  The  farm  thus  not  receiving 
back  a  sufficient  compensation  for  the  products 
it  has  borne,  has  been  undergoing  a  gradual 
waste  of  fertility,  and  generally  has  not  been  as 
profitable  to  the  owner  as  it  would  have  been  un- 
der a  more  generous  cultivation.  Indeed,  his  in- 
come, from  all  sources,  is  perhaps  less  than  if  he 
had  invested  more  from  year  to  year  in  the  im- 
provement of  the  soil,  looking  to  a  highly  culti- 
vated farm  for  dividends,  and  less  in  merely  add- 
ed acres,  or  in  stocks  and  other  outside  proper- 
ty. Cases  are  not  rare  of  men  who  have  worked 
hard,  during  the  best  working  period  of  their  life, 
to  get  enough  income  from  their  farms,  over  and 
above  expenses,  to  make  an  annual  investment 
of  money  at  interest,  or  in  some  kinds  of  stocks, 
so  as  to  have  something,  as  they  term  it,  laid  up 
for  a  wet  day,  or  for  old  age.  But  the  difficulty 
is,  they  have  been  exhausting  the  farm  by  so  do- 
ing, and  as  life  advances  and  they  find  themselves 
less  able  to  labor  on  the  land,  the  farm  is  less 
productive  than  when  they  were  young,  will  not 
reward  labor  as  formerly,  and  much  hard  and 
discouraging  work  must  really  be  done  to  get  a 
tolerable  return  from  the  investment.  They  are 
not  so  well  situated  to  live  easily  and  pleasantly 
in  old  age,  and,  perhaps,  their  income  or  resour- 
ces, all  told,  are  not  as  good  as  though  larger  in- 
vestments had  from  time  to  time  been  made  in 
the  improvement  of  the  soil,  the  farm  growing 
more  and  more  productive,  and  requiring  less 
hard  labor  than  formerly,  in  proportion  to  the  in- 
come derived  from  it. 

There  may  be  instances  where  it  is  best  to  sell 
off  the  products  of  the  farm  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent, and  purchase  town  manures ;  and  this 
course  will  do,  provided  enough  manure  is  bought 
to  compensate  the  land  for  bearing  those  pro- 
ducts. But  in  by  far  the  generality  of  cases  the 
farmer  must  mostly  rely  upon  the  manure  made 
on  his  own  farm. 

The  hay  and  coarse  fodder  are  generailj  most- 
ly fed  out  on   the  farm,  but  often  the  principal 


430 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


part  of  the  grain  is  sold  off  directly  for  cash. 
Now  I  have  the  impression  that  in  the  long  run, 
all  things  considered,  it  might  be  better  to  feed 
out  the  greater  part  of  the  grain  along  with  the 
hay  and  other  forage,  and  let  the  income  of  the 
farm  be  derived  mainly  from  the  stock.  The 
grain  fed  with  the  forage  adds  a  peculiar  essence 
or  strength  and  activity  to  the  manure  heap,  is 
emphatically  "the  leaven  which  leavens  the  whole 
lump,"  and  has  a  very  marked  influence  in  in- 
creasing the  products  of  the  farm  generally.  The 
land  will  be  more  productive  in  every  kind  of 
crop  than  if  the  grain  were  sold  off,  and  it  only 
got  back  the  colder  and  less  fertilizing  manure 
made  simply  from  hay  and  coarse  forage. 

After  a  few  years  of  this  kind  of  feeding,  the 
products  of  the  farm  will  be  so  much  increased 
that  considerable  more  stock  can  be  kept  on  it, 
which  will,  in  turn,  make  more  manure  for  the 
land.  These  influences  will  work  back  and  forth 
one  upon  the  other,  so  that  in  fact  the  business 
will  grow  more  and  more  profitable,  and  the  in- 
come will  increase  more  in  proportion  than  it  will 
be  necessary  to  increase  the  investment.  There 
are  hardly  any  limits  to  the  productive  capacity 
of  our  farms,  if  we  will  only  study  out  v/ays  of 
expending  our  crops  judiciously,  and  making  the 
most  of  the  manures  they  will  return  to  the  soil. 
Sections  of  country  may  be  pointed  out  in  Eu- 
rope, not  naturally  more  favored  for  soil  and  cli- 
mate than  our  own,  where  the  land  has  been  cul- 
tivated for  hundreds  of  years,  and  is  now  more 
productive  than  at  any  former  period,  and  far 
more  so,  acre  for  acre,  than  the  very  best  virgin 
soils  and  lands  of  our  own  country.  Another 
thing  deserving  particular  consideration,  land 
that  is  in  high  cultivation,  and  is  judiciously 
cropped,  can  be  kept  at  a  high  mark  of  fertility 
with  ease,  as  compared  with  making  exhausted 
land  fertile.  The  very  luxuriance  of  the  crops 
gives  back  a  large  mass  of  roots  and  stems  to  the 
soil.  Especially  is  this  the  case  when  a  grass 
sward  has  been  allowed  to  form ;  so  that  in 
breaking  the  sod  for  a  new  rotation  of  crops,  we 
can  turn  under  many  tons  per  acre  of  matter  fer- 
tilizing to  the  land,  contained  in  the  roots  and 
stems  of  the  sward.  Then,  too,  land  in  high  con- 
dition is  much  less  injuriously  afl'ected  by  unfa- 
vorable peculiarities  of  the  season,  as  to  drouth 
or  moisture,  cold  or  heat,  than  if  it  were  in  poor 
tilth,  and  indeed  is  in  a  good  degree  independent 
of  these  peculiarities.  In  any  season,  it  will  pay 
a  larger  profit  in  proportion  to  what  has  been  ex- 
pended to  obtain  the  crop,  than  can  be  derived 
from  exhausted  land. 

In  feeding  out  the  grain  crops  pretty  freely  on 
the  farm,  there  will  be  some  years  when  the 
growth  of  stock,  the  meats,  the  wool,  the  dairy 
products,  &c.,into  which  the  grain  has  been  con- 
verted, will  sell  high  enough  to  pay  considerably 
more  per  bushel  for  the  grain  than  it  would  have 
brought  had  it  been  sold  off  the  farm ;  other 
years  the  grain  may  perhaps  bring  a  greater  im- 
mediate income  if  sold  off;  but  taking  one  year 
with  another,  and  considering  the  steady  im- 
provement of  the  farm,  where  the  cro])s  are  ex- 
pended upon  it,  there  will  be  more  profit  in  feed- 
ing out  the  grain  than  in  selling  it  ofi".  In  a  pe- 
riod, say  of  twelve  or  twenty  years,  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  seventy-five  cents  per  bushel  real- 
ized for  corn,  for  instance,  fed  out  on  the  farm, 


and  the  manure  returned  to  the  land,  is  as  good 
as  one  dollar  per  bushel,  realized  by  sending  it 
off  to  market  for  cash,  and  the  farm  robbed  of  an 
equivalent  in  manure  for  the  corn  thus  sold  off. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  whole  amount  or  num- 
ber of  bushels  of  grain  of  any  kind  produced  on 
an  acre  of  land,  or  on  the  farm,  and  place  it  in  a 
pile  together.  It  makes  only  a  small  heap,  even 
though  the  yield  per  acre  be  a  very  large  one. 
Yet  that  heap,  small  as  it  is,  contains  a  large  per 
cent,  of  the  verj  essence  of  the  fertility  of  the 
soil  that  produced  it,  and  has  taxed  the  land  far 
more  than  if  it  had  only  produced  the  stalk  and 
leaf  of  the  plant,  or  in  other  words,  a  forage  crop 
of  any  kind.  This  grain,  fed  out  with  the  hay 
and  other  crops,  adds  wonderfully  to  the  activity 
and  fertilizing  power  of  the  farm-yard  manure, 
and  greatly  quickens  the  soil  to  renewed  eflcrts 
at  production.  Then,  again,  by  feeding  out  the 
grain  with  the  forage  crops,  and  thus  making 
manure  abounding  in  gases  and  salts,  you  may 
compost  with  it  much  larger  proportions  of  muck, 
turf,  the  rich  soil  washed  into  hollow  places,  or 
other  materials  gathered  up  about  the  farm  to 
swell  the  manure  heap,  and  have  them  all  de- 
composed and  sweetened  and  prepared  to  become 
the  food  of  plants,  than  you  could  properly  use 
if  the  cattle-droppings  were  alone  composed  of 
the  more  lifeless  and  inactive  elements  derived 
only  from  hay,  straw  and  other  forage. 

Mr.  Coke,  the  late  Earl  of  Leicester,  once  said, 
"the  more  meat  a  poor  luiid  farmer  sent  to  Smith- 
field,  the  more  grain  he  would  be  enab'ed  to  sell 
per  acre  at  Maik  Lane.  Convert  plenty  of  corn 
and  cake  into  meat;  for  the  value  of  farm-yard 
manure  is  in  proportion  to  wliat  it  is  made  of. 
If  cattle  eat  straw  alone,  the  dung  is  straw  alone, 
the  cattle  are  straw,  the  farm  is  straw,  and  the 
farmer  is  straw — and  they  are  all  straw  togeth- 
er." 

Not  long  ago,  I  had  four  cows  come  up  to  the 
stable  in  the  fall,  which  I  thought  might  }itld  a 
good  supply  of  milk  through  the  winter,  ii  well 
fed.  I  also  had  four  other  animals,  cows  and 
heifers,  which  were  not  expected  to  give  much 
milk  till  the  follovt'ing  grass  season.  The  first 
■  four  were  tied  in  the  stable  side  by  side,  and  re- 
Ictived  each,  in  addition  to  hay  and  stalks,  four 
Iquatts  of  small  potatoes  each  morning,  and  two 
quarts  of  corn  and  oat  meal  each  evening,  through 
the  winter.  As  was  expected,  they  gave  a  good 
mess  of  milk,  and  came  out  well  in  the  spring. 
The  manure  of  these  four  cows  was  thrown  out 
of  a  stable  window,  under  the  cattle  shed  by  it- 
self. The  other  four  animals  were  tied  in  the 
same  stable,  next  to  the  first  four,  and  received 
only  hay  and  corn-fodder.  Their  manure  was 
thrown  out  by  itself,  at  the  next  stable  window, 
and  under  the  same  shed,  so  that  the  two  heaps 
lay  side  by  side.  The  heap  made  by  the  four 
cows  that  were  daily  messed  with  potatoes  and 
meal,  kept  hot  and  smoking  all  winter,  and  was 
wholly  free  from  Irost.  The  heap  made  by  the 
other  animals  that  had  only  hay  and  stalks, 
showed  no  signs  of  fermentation,  and  was  some- 
what frozen.  Observing  this  dift'erence  from 
itime  to  time,  curiosity  prompted  me  in  the  spring 
to  apply  these  two  heaj)S  of  manure  separately, 
but  in  equal  quantities,  side  by  side,  on  a  piece 
of  corn  ground.  The  superiority  of  the  corn  crop, 
where  the  manure  from  the  messed  cattle  was 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


431 


applied,  over  that  where  the  other  heap  was 
spread,  was  quite  apparent  and  striking  ;  and 
called  my  attention,  more  particularly  than  it 
was  ever  before  directed,  to  the  importance  of 
feeding  out  our  best  or  richest  products,  if  we 
would  have  the  best  kind  of  manure  for  our  lands 
and  large  crops  from  them. 

I  might  here  go  on  to  show  that  the  hay  pro- 
duced by  the  farm,  fed  out  upon  it,  and  say,  seven 
to  eight  dollars  per  ton  realized  for  the  same,  and 
the  manure  given  back  to  the  land,  would  gener- 
ally, in  a  term  of  years,  be  as  valuable  thus  dis- 
posed of  as  though  it  were  carried  off"  to  market 
and  sold  for  twelve  dollars  per  ton,  and  the  land 
not  compensated  by  an  equivalent  of  manure. 
AUo,  how  the  feeding  of  potatoes,  carrots,  and 
other  root  crops  adds  to  the  quantity  and  quality 
of  the  manure,  and  the  proht  of  keeping  sMick. 
But  these  matters  would  form  another  branch  of 
the  general  subject,  the  treatment  of  which 
would  make  this  communication  too  long. 

It  may  be  proper  to  briefly  indicate  some  of 
the  ways  in  which  the  grain  crops  may  be  profi- 
tably fed  out  upon  the  farm,  though  I  can  no 
more  than  barely  mention  them  at  this  time. 

It  is  generally  good  farming  to  keep  at  least  a 
few  cows,  for  their  dairy  products,  and  in  con- 
nection with  them,  about  an  equal  number  of 
spring  pigs  of  a  good  breed,  feeding  the  skim 
milk,  &c.,  of  the  dairy  to  the  pigs,  together  with 
grain.  V^'hen  pork  brings  seven  cents  per  pound 
and  corn  one  dollar  per  bushel,  I  have  found  it 
better  to  feed  the  corn  to  March  pigs  of  a  good 
breed,  slaughtering  them  at  nine  or  ten  months 
of  age,  than  to  sell  the  corn  off  for  cash.  By 
supplying  the  pigs  with  suitable  materials,  they 
will  make  each  five  or  six  ox-cart  loads  of  first 
rate  compost.  The  pork  thus  made  will  bring 
about  a  cent  per  pound  more  than  pork  of  the 
average  quality  in  the  markets,  and  meat  of  the 
roasting  and  steak  pieces  will  be  about  as  tender 
and  delicate  as  that  of  the  breast  of  a  chicken. 
The  skim  milk  thus  fed  adds  much  to  the  growth 
and  general  thrift  of  the  pigs,  and  is  worth  a 
considerable  per  cent,  of  what  the  new  milk 
would  bring  if  sold  oif  the  farm  for  cash.  In  ad- 
dition to  what  is  realized  from  the  pigs,  there  is 
the  value  of  the  dairy  products  and  the  manure 
derived  from  the  cows. 

It  often  proves  profitable  to  buy  up,  in  the 
fall,  weathers  of  a  good  breed  of  mutton  sheep, 
feeding  them  a  portion  of  grain  along  with  hay 
and  other  crops,  say  till  into  March  following, 
and  then  selling  them  to  the  butchers.  The 
grain  and  hay  thus  fed  out  will  generally  bring 
more  money,  in  the  improved  pekand  carcass  of 
mutton,  than  though  they  had  been  sold  off'  di- 
rectly for  cash,  and  there  is  the  manure  left  to 
give  hack  to  the  farm.  Then  again,  sheep  ma- 
nure is  peculiarly  active,  and  inclined  to  fermen- 
tation, and  mixed  with  the  other  farm-yard  ma- 
nures, it  quickens  the  eff'ects  of  the  whole  upon 
the  soil  and  crops.  I  might  say  more  about  this, 
but  must  pass  on. 

There  is  the  feeding  of  cattle  for  beef,  which 
has  always  been  successfully  practised;  and  eve- 
ry ♦'armer  knows  how  much  more  jiowerful  is  the 
effect  upon  the  soil  of  the  manure  from  fatting 
cattle,  than  that  from  cattle  which  only  have  hay 
and  other  forage. 

It  is  generally  quite  profitable  to  rear  young 


'cattle  of  a  good  breed,  for  their  growth  and  im- 
provement, feeding  them  a  little  grain  along  with 
the  forage  crops.  Their  growth  and  general  im- 
provement often  pays  a  large  profit  on  the  cost 
of  making  it. 

I  There  is  the  keeping  of  sheep,  to  a  greater  or 
'less  extent,  for  thtir  wool  and  increase;  where 
[things  are  right  for  keeping  a  flock  of  sheep,  how 
they  will  make  the  farm  shine  ! 

But  I  have  not  space  to  extend  these  remarks 
.about  feeding.  In  some  of  these,  or  other  ways, 
the  princii)al  part,  at  least,  of  the  grain  and  other 
crops  of  the  farm  may,  generally  speaking,  be 
more  advantageously  fed  out,  and  the  manure 
they  will  make  given  back  to  the  land,  than  to 
isell  them  off"  so  largely  as  is  often  done.  And  I 
jthink  a  farmer  had  generally  better  have  his  cap- 
ital mostly  invested  and  actively  employed  in 
I  farming  highly  cultivated  land,  and  in  good  stock, 
feeding  out  his  crops  on  the  farm,  and  deriving 
I  his  income  through  the  stock,  than  to  have  it 
partly  in  a  poor,  run  down  farm,  and  partly,  per- 
;  haps,  in  money  at  interest,  or  in  stocks  and  other 
outside  matters. 

Brattleboro',  Jtihj  29,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

'  A  TESRIBIiE  WHIRL  WIND 

:  Mr.  Editor  : — The  most  violent  and  destruc- 
tive whirlwind  ever  known  in  these  parts,  passed 
I  through  Groton,  on  the  26th  ult.  It  was  a  most 
terrible  sight  to  behold,  and  powerful  almost  be- 
iyond  comprehension.  It  was  sure  destruction  to 
every  movable  object  with  which  it  came  in  con- 
itact.  My  informant,  who  saw  it  at  its  first  start, 
^says:  '"Two  opposite  winds  appeared  to  meet ; 
the  clouds  rolled  together  with  terrible  force, 
I  roaring  like  some  mighty  water-fall.  Suddenly, 
I  there  appeared  to  rise  from  the  earth  a  black 
; cloud,  which,  taking  an  easterly  direction,  whirled 
land  rolled  like  the  smoke  of  some  grtat  confla- 
gration. The  whirlwind  was  now  under  full  head- 
I  way  ;  in  a  few  moments  the  air  was  filled  with 
j  branches  of  trees,  then  small  trees,  and  finally  it 
[increased  to  such  force,  that  trees  apparently  two 
ifeet  in  diameter  were  wrenched  from  the  ground 
I  and  whirled  into  the  air,  like  so  many  shingles 
jor  straws.  Its  path  was  but  a  few  rods  in  width, 
land  its  course  very  irregular — first  to  the  right, 
[then  to  the  left,  and  bounding  like  a  ball." 
j  At  length,  as  it  neared  the  village,  it  struck  a 
[new  and  commodious  carriage  shop,  belonging 
jto  Mr.  Almond  Clark.  Mr.  C.  and  a  number  of 
i  workmen  were  in  the  building  when  the  wind 
struck  it ;  luckily  they  all  got  out  uninjured  ;  one, 
however,  being  a  little  behind  the  others,  jumped 
from  the  door  after  the  l)uilding  was  six  feet  in 
[the  air,  and  landed  in  the  cellar.  The  building 
was  carried  several  rods,  and  completely  smashed 
ito  pieces.  Before  the  building  started  from  its 
foundations,  one  of  the  men  saw  some  large 
.stone  which  lay  near,  taken  completely  up  and 
;  carried  several  feet.  It  required  two  yoke  of  oxen 
[to  draw  the  stone.  Mr.  Clark's  loss  is  estimated 
at  seven  or  eight  hundred  dollars,  the  machine- 
ry alone  costing  al)out  half  that  sum.  The 
Uvhirlwind  next  struck  the  upper  part  of  the 
I  Methodist  church — the  hill  on  which  it  stood 
[breaking  the  force,  or  rather,  it  bounded  upwards. 


432 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


for  its  force  was  not  yet  abated,  and  completely 
uncovered  one  side  of  the  roof,  and  breaking  in 
about  half  the  windows,  besides  otherwise  injur- 
ing it  ;  probable  damage  fifty  dollars.  After 
leaving  the  meeting-house,  the  whirlwind  was 
too  high  to  do  any  very  serious  damage,  until  it 
passed  over  the  village,  although  even  then  it 
moved  every  article  in  its  way,  which  a  high 
gale  of  wind  would  scarcely  do. 

Its  next  demonstration  of  power  was  on  a  high 
hill  back,  of  the  village.  It  struck  two  barns  be- 
longing to  Mr.  Whicher,  (if  I  mistake  not,)  and 
completely  demolishing  one,  and  unroofing  the 
other,  besides  doing  some  damage  to  his  house, 
and  tearing  up  almost  every  tree  in  his  orchard  ; 
and  himself  and  hired  hand  came  near  going  the 
same  road  that  Elijah  of  old  did,  but  however, 
they  managed  to  keep  on  terra  firma,  except 
their  hats,  which  they  knew  it  was  useless  to 
look  for.  The  wind  did  no  farther  damage,  ex- 
cept the  destruction  of  fences  and  timber.  After 
leaving  Mr.  W.'s,  it  struck  Ryegate  Mountain, 
which  probably  stopped  its  wild  career,  as  we 
hear  of  it  no  farther. 

We  are  having  a  hard  drouth  :  the  pastures 
are  all  dried  up,  and  most  of  the  springs,  as  well 
as  the  cows,  corn  and  potatoes.  Hay  is  mostly 
harvested,  and  is  good  ;  grain  is  fair.       T.  P.  B. 

South  Eyegate,  Vt.,  August  2,  1859. 


A  FAKMER'S  SONG. 

We  envy  not  the  princely  man, 

In  city  or  in  town, 
Who  wonders  whether  pumpkin  vineB 

Run  up  the  hill  or  down  : 
We  care  not  for  his  marble  halls. 

Nor  yet  his  heaps  of  gold, 
We  would  not  own  his  sordid  heart 

For  all  his  wealth  thrice  told. 

We  are  the  favored  ones  of  earth, 

We  breathe  pure  air  each  morn, 
We  sow — we  reap  the  golden  grain — 

We  gather  in  the  corn  ; 
We  toil — we  live  on  what  we  earn, 

And  more  than  this  we  do, 
We  hear  of  starving  millions  round, 

And  gladly  feed  them,  too. 

The  lawyer  lives  on  princely  fees. 

Yet  drags  a  weary  life  ; 
He  never  knows  a  peaceful  hour — 

His  atmosphere  is  strife. 
The  merchant  thumbs  his  yard-stick  o'er— 

Grows  haggard  at  his  toil ; 
He's  not  the  man  God  meant  him  for — 

Why  don't  he  till  the  soil? 

The  doctor  plods  through  storm  and  cold, 

Plods  at  his  patient's  will ; 
When  dead  and  gone  he  plods  again 

To  get  his  lengthy  bill. 
The  printer,  (bless  his  noble  soul,) 

He  grasps  the  mighty  earth, 
And  stamps  it  on  our  welcome  sheet, 

To  cheer  the  farmer's  hearth. 

We  sing  the  honor  of  the  plow. 

And  honor  of  the  press — 
Two  noble  instruments  of  toil, 

With  each  a  power  to  bless, 
The  bone  and  nerve  of  this  fast  age, 

True  wealth  of  human  kind — 
One  tills  the  ever  generous  earth, 

The  other  tills  the  mind. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
COAL  ASHES. 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  impressed  with  the  be- 
lief that  anthracite  coal  ashes  possessed  no  little 
manurial  value  ;  hence  I  placed  it  in  liberal  quan- 
tities around  apple  trees  and  a  few  currant  bush- 
es. I  thought  they  gave  some  vigor  to  the  latter; 
but  of  this  I  am  not  confident.  Upon  the  trees 
I  could  percei\e  no  eff'ect. 

Coal  is  supposed  by  geologists  to  be  the  result 
of  vegetable  compression  and  decay,  or  transfor- 
mation— although  this  doctrine  is  questioned. 
At  any  rate,  it  appears  to  us  with  more  of  the 
characteristics  of  a  mineral  than  of  anything 
else.  The  late  Prof.  Norton  analyzed  a  peck  of 
the  ashes  of  white  ash  coal,  and  found  only  about 
twelve  per  cent,  of  it  soluble  in  acid.  (3f  im- 
portant fertilizers — it  contained  only  twenty-two 
parts  of  one  per  cent,  of  soda ;  fifteen  of  one 
per  cent,  of  potash ;  and  eighty-six  of  one  per 
cent,  of  sulphuric  acid !  Nevertheless,  some 
European  analyses  have  shown  a  better  result. 
The  coal  across  the  waters  must  certainly  be  rich- 
er than  ours. 

My  experience  has  taught  me  this.  If  the  soil 
is  in  any  degree  light,  it  better  not  be  used  ;  be- 
cause it  will  accumulate  in  the  soil,  and  so  little 
of  it  being  soluble,  it  will  show  itself  for  years, 
without  doing  any  good ;  for  its  mechanical  ef- 
fects, in  rendering  the  soil  more  porous,  on  such 
land,  is  not  needed.  But  if  the  soil  is  heavy 
and  cold,  its  tendency  will  be  to  improve  it,  by 
making  it  lighter,  besides  adding  whatever  of 
fertilizing  matter  it  may  possess. 

From  the  above,  it  will  be  seen  that  I  entirely 
disagree  with  your  correspondent  F.,  of  July 
3()th,  who  advises  it  upon  light  lands.  No  doubt 
coal  ashes  are  a  disinfectant.  So  is  virgin,  or 
even  common  soil,  and  perhaps  a  better.  But  a 
special  disinfectant  around  trees,  or  upon  grass 
land,  is  quite  useless,  unless  it  will  arrest  the 
ammonia  or  nitrogen  of  the  atmosphere,  and  this, 
probably,  coal  ashes  will  not  do. 

W.  Medford,  Aug.  1.  1).  W.  LoTHBOP. 


Remarks  — See  article  among  selected  items 
in  another  column. 


Maine  State  Agricultural  Society. — The 
Fifth  Annual  Show  ami  Fair  of  the  Maine  State 
Agricultural  Society  will  take  place  at  Augusta, 
on  the  20th,  21st,  22d  and  23d  days  of  Septem- 
ber next.  There  is  to  be  a  thorough  trial  of 
plows,  and  a  heavy  silver  medal  is  ofi"ered  for  the 
best  one  in  each  class.  Manufacturers  can  send 
their  implements  on  any  line  of  railroad,  or  for- 
ward by  any  steamer  in  the  waters  of  the  State 
without  charge.  We  learn  that  the  Trustees 
have  made  the  most  careful  and  liberal  arrange- 
ments for  the  show,  and  mean  to  have  it  excel 
any  other  that  has  taken  place  in  the  State. 


I^"  Vice  and  folly  may  feel  the  edge  of  wit,  but 
virtue  is  invulnerable  ;  aquafortis  dissolves  the 
base  metals,  but  has  no  power  to  dissolve  or  cor- 
rode gold. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


433 


AYRSHIRE  BULL,   "ALBERT." 


We  present,  above,  a  portrait  of  the  Ayrshire 
bull  "Albert,"  recently  imported  and  owned  by 
the  Massachusetts  Society  for  Promoting  Agri- 
culture. The  cut  is  taken  from  the  new  edition 
of  Flint's  "Milch  Cows  and  Dairy  Farming,"  just 
issued  by  Phillips,  Sampson  &  Co. 

In  our  January  number,  page  thirty-three,  we 
gave  a  portrait  of  an  Ayrshire  cow,  and  also 
copied  Mr.  Flint's  description  of  the  breed  and 
its  qualities.  We  will  not  here  repeat  that  de- 
scription, but  copy  the  following  remarks  with 
regard  to  the  supei'iority  of  this  breed  for  dairy 
purposes : — 

"The  Ayrshires  have  been  bred  with  reference 
both  to  quality  and  quantity  of  milk,  and  the 
grades  are  usually  of  a  very  high  order.  The 
best  milkers  I  have  ever  known,  in  proportion  to 
their  size  and  food,  have  been  grade  Ayshires  ; 
and  this  is  also  the  experience  of  many  who  keep 
dairies  for  the  manufacture  of  butter  and  cheese, 
as  well  as  for  the  sale  of  milk.  A  cross  obtained 
from  an  Ayrshire  bull  of  good  size  and  a  pure- 
short-horn  cow  will  produce  a  stock  which  it  will 
be  hard  to  beat  at  the  pail,  especially  if  the  cow 
belong  to  any  of  the  families  of  short-horns 
which  have  been  bred  with  reference  to  their 
milking  qualities,  as  some  of  them  have.  I  have 
taken  great  pains  to  inquire  of  dairymen  as  to 
the  breed  or  grade  of  their  best  cows,  and  what 
they  consider  the  best  cows  for  milk  for  their 
purposes  ;  and  the  answer  has  almost  invariably 
been  the  Ayrshire  and  the  native.  The  Ayrshires 
have  by  no  means  been  a  failure  in  this  country, 
although  I  do  not  think  that,  as  a  general  thing, 
we  have  been  so  fortunate  hitherto  as  to  import 
the  best  specimens  of  them.  If  any  improve- 
ment has  been  made  in  our  dairy  stock  apart 


from  that  effected  by  a  higher  and  more  liberal 
course  of  feeding,  it  has  come,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, from  the  Ayrshires  ;  and,  had  the  facilities 
been  offered  to  cross  our  common  stock  with  them 
to  a  greater  extent,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  improvement  would  have  been  greater  and 
more  perceptible. 

It  should,  however,  be  said,  that  in  sections 
where  the  feed  is  naturally  luxuriant,  and  adapt- 
ed to  grazing  large  animals,  some  families  of  the 
short-horns  crossed  with  our  natives  have  pro- 
duced an  equally  good  stock  for  cheese  and  milk 
dairies." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOW  TO  BUILD  UP  A  HOME. 

Mu.  Editou  : — Four  years  ago  a  shopmate  of 
mine  being  convinced  that  his  constitution  was 
fast  breaking  down  from  the  confinement  and 
close  application  to  his  business  necessary  to  af- 
ford him  and  his  family  a  living,  conceived  the 
idea  that  he  would  invest  the  saving  of  years  in 
the  purchase  of  a  small  farm,  in  the  hope  that 
the  out-door  labor  appertaining  to  the  profession 
of  a  tiller  of  the  soil  might  be  the  means  of  pro- 
longing his  days,  as  it  was  evident  that  a  twelve- 
month more  of  in-door  labor  would  completely 
incapacitate  him  for  work  of  any  kind. 

Having  but  little  money  at  his  disposal,  he 
went  into  the  northern  part  of  the  State  and 
made  purchase  of  a  small  farm  of  tliirty  acres,  for 
which  he  paid  six  hundred  dollars. 

He  stocked  it  with  two  cows,  horse  and  wag- 
on, pig,  a  few  hens,  and  these,  with  a  small 
amount  for  the  necessary  tools  to  work  the  place, 
consumed  the  entire  amount  he  could  call  his 
own.  After  getting  comfortably  settled,  he  turned 
his  attention  to   the  collecting  and   making  of 


431 


NEW  ENGLANr3  FARMER. 


Sept. 


manure,  he  having  the  good  sense  to  know  that 
the  earth  would  produce  nothing  unless  kept 
alive.  Of  course,  the  first  year  was  rather  tough 
scratching,  but  in  the  second,  by  manuring  large 
and  planting  small,  he  succeeded  in  raising  com- 
paratively remunerating  crops. 

The  manufactories  of  the  town  in  which  he  has 
settled  otiered  a  light  and  profitable  employ- 
ment to  the  females  and  children  that  compose 
his  family,  sufficient  to  furnish  the  dry  goods  and 
groceries  needed. 

In  the  meantime  his  stock  had  increased,  and, 
best  of  all,  he  had  entirely  recovered  his 
health  and  youthful  vigor,  and  was  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  younger  by  twenty  years  than  when 
enjoying  the  cool  and  shady  workroom  of  a  city 
mechanic.  I  have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to 
his  New  England  home,  and  1  wish  to  describe  i 
the  condition  in  which  I  found  him  after  four 
years"  exp';rience  in  the  life  of  a  farmer.  In  j 
the  first  place,  his  family,  eight  of  them,  are  in' 
the  possession  of  perfect  health,  and  as  happy 
and  contented  as  any  persons  lever  saw.  He 
has  made  many  improvements  in  the  build- 
ings, such  as  painting,  shingling,  i!\:c.,  and  has; 
added  by  purchase  twenty  acres  of  excellent 
mowing  land,  on  which  he  owes  but  ninety  dol- 
lars. His  stock  consists  of  seven  as  fine  cows  as, 
the  town  affords,  (so  the  assessors  say,)  four  year-' 
lings,  horse  and  colt,  two  likely  looking  pigs  and 
four  hundred  and  sixty  hens,  the  eggs  of  which 
find  a  ready  market  among  the  boarding-houses, 
store  and  tavern  three  miles  distant.  He  put 
sixteen  tons  of  hay  into  the  barn,  the  past  fort-! 
night.  He  is  so  "wedded  to  a  country  life"  that 
he  informed  me  that  five  thousand  dollars  would 
be  no  temptation  for  him  to  return  to  Boston 
and  give  up  the  real  freedom  and  independence 
that  he  now  enjoys.  He  finds  ample  time  to  read 
the  .v.  E.  Farmer,  and  other  agricultural  works, 
obtainable  at  the  library  in  the  village.  He  be- 
lieves in  book-farming,  and  is  assured  that  in  his 
case  he  should  never  have  succeeded  without 
reading  the  ideas  and  experience  of  others. 

"Bricks  and  Mortar." 

Boston,  August,  1859. 

Remarks. — Your  friend  is  a  good  fellow — a 
trump.  Long  may  he  live  to  enjoy  his  happy 
home  and  the  fruit  of  his  skilful  labor.  We 
hope  his  excellent  example  will  be  widely  conta- 
gious. 

TBANSACTIOTSrS  OP  NORTH  MIDDLESEX 
AGRICULTURAL.  SOCIETY. 

This  report  commences  with  an  address  by 
Rev.  F.  Hinckley,  of  Lowell,  and  a  good  be- 
ginning it  IS.  The  address  is  written  in  a  beau- 
tiful style,  and  is  full  of  sparkling  thoughts  and 
human  sympathy.  The  report  is  got  up  in  a 
brief,  business-like  manner.  The  ainount  of  pre- 
miums awarded  was  $765,15.  The  reports  of 
committees  and  competitors  are  very  short,  and 
do  not  convey  as  much  information,  or  contain 
as  many  practical  suggestions,  as  they  might. 
Upon  such  subjects  we  need  line  upon  line  and 
precept  upon  precept.    Committees  should  not 


hesitate  to  express  their  thoughts  and  make  such 
remarks  as  occur  to  them,  because  they  have 
been  expressed  by  some  other  persons,  upon  some 
other  occasion.  They  may  reach  some  minds 
that  have  not  seen  them,  and  prove  like  good 
seed  upon  good  ground.  We  say  to  all  agricul- 
tural committees,  scatter  your  thoughts  broad- 
cast.    They  will  bear  good  fruit. 


For  the  Netr  England  FarineT. 
BUTTER-MAKINQ. 

Much  has  been  written  of  late  in  various  agri- 
cultural journals  concerning  "white  specks  in 
butter,"  and  hardly  two  writers  can  be  found  that 
wholly  agree  :  some  assigning  the  cause  to  the 
process  of  churning,  and  others  to  various  other 
causes — a  few  giving  the  true  theory. 

Under  ordinary  circumstance  there  is  no  need 
of  having  "white  streaks"  oc*  "specks"  in  butter. 
The  streaks  are  generally  the  result  of  the  insuf- 
ficient working  of  the  butter,  the  salt  not  being 
evenly  diffused.  The  white  specks,  as  several 
writers  in  the  Farmer  have  already  stated,  ar?; 
curds  of  sour  milk,  the  result  of  skimming  in  too 
much  milk  and  letting  the  cream  stand  too  long 
before  churning,  or  by  getting  milk  with  the 
cream  that  is  already  sour.  No  harm  whatever 
results  from  scraping  down  the  cream  into  the 
churn  as  the  butter  begins  to  come  ;  the  cream 
thus  scraped  down,  if  not  converted  into  butter, 
remaining  in  the  buttermilk. 

To  prevent  white  specks  in  butter,  let  the  milk 
always  be  skimmed  before  it  sours,  if  possil:)le ; 
if  not,  after  the  milk  has  coagulated  and  the  curd 
become  solid,  removing  the  cream  carefully ; 
churn  the  cream  as  often  as  every  other  day, 
through  the  hot  season,  and  in  extreme  heat, 
every  day,  if  the  quantity  be  sufficient,  and  if 
properly  worked  and  salted,  I  will  warrant  sweet, 
pure  butter  with  no  white  specks.  Such,  at  least, 
is  the  experience  of  an  old  and  exi)erience(l  liut- 
ter-maker,  whose  butter  has  the  credit  of  being 
the  "very  best  in  the  market."  The  process  truly 
is  a  simple  one,  and  it  only  requires  attention  to 
always  ensure  good  butter.  Stirring  the  cream 
at  every  time  of  skimming,  to  mix  it,  should  be 
avoided. 

The  old  practice  of  washing  butter  I  am  in- 
clined to  consider  not  only  useless  but  pertain- 
ing to  the  barbarous,  and  worthy  of  being  dis- 
carded in  every  well  conducted  dairy.  The  prime 
object  of  the  washing  seems  to  be  the  complete 
removal  of  the  butter-milk,  but  a  certain  change 
in  the  butter  seems  to  be  wrought  at  the  same 
time,  for  it  is  true  that  butter  thoroughly  washed 
will  often  keep  in  good  order  but  a  short  time, 
however  sweet  when  first  washed.  The  better 
way  to  remove  the  butter-milk  is  by  working  with 
a  wooden  paddle,  previously  well  moistened  in 
water  to  jjrevent  the  butter  from  sticking. 

Springfield,  August,  1859.  j.  A.  A. 


^°  Tliree  times  as  much  corn,  per  acre,  as  aiiy 
body  the  can  raise."  If  Mr.  S.  D.  Baker,  of 
Mansfield,  Mass.,  will  inform  us,  in  the  first 
place,  how  he  will  accomplish  the  result  stated 
above,  we  can  then  decide  whether  it  will  be  best 
to  publish  his  challenge,  or  NOT. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


435 


PKEPARATION  OF  BOILS  FOR  CBOPS. 


;gy,  unfold  to  us  the   theory  of  manures,  and  the 
modus  operandi  o(  iheiv  application.     "It  is  only 

In  its  genuine  signification,  the  term  agriculture  ^^^,  ^^^^  assistance,"  remarks  an  able  writer,  "that 
means  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  artificial  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^^^  ^^^,  ^.^^..^^^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  ^^,^^_ 
preparation  of  the  soil  for  the  annual  production  ^j^^j  importance,  and  which,  to  all  appearance, 
of  those  vegetables,  which,  in  the  various  <^^^-^,e  contr^dxctoTj.  And  by  this  means,  only,  shall 
mates  of  our  globe,  are  required  for  the  sustenance  ^,g  ^^  ^^^,^l^^j  ^^  ^^^j.^  ^  ^^^^^^^^  ^^j  judicious 
of  man  and  beast.  It  is,  however,  properlyi  ^^j^^^j^^^  ^^  ^j^^^^  materials  which  are  used  for 
and  naturally  divided  into  two  distinct  branch-;  ^j^^  ^^^.j^j^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^.fj^^^j^^  ^^  ^j^^  ^^jl  ^,1^^^^ 
es,  designated,  respectively,  by  the  terms,  "cVie///-- ^^^j^^^  j.^^.  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  happiness  of  man." 
ical"  and  '^niechanicar'-the  former  having  ref-|  ^^^  ^^^  ^^j  ^^.^^^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^  productive,  with 
erence  to  the  application  of  those  energizing  and  j.^,fgj.g,^^g  ^^  any  given  crop,  the  soil  on  which 
ameliorating  substances  which  tend  to  the  '^ni-^^^^^^^^^-^^^^^^^.^^\^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  peculiar 
mediate  increase  of  its  productive  qualities,  by  properties.  Lands  fitted  for  the  growth  and  mat- 
.imbuing  it  with  the  nutritious  properties  and,^^^^.^^^  of  wheat,  for  instance,  are  considered 
juices  of  animal  and  vegetable  excrements  ;  or  by  ^^i^^^le,  because  the  wheat  crop  is  one  of  prime 
calling   into  vigorous  and  efi'ective   action  those  jj^^^^^^^ 

elementary  properties,  with  which,  in  a  state  ofj  ^^^  -^  ^.^  examine  soils  richly  endued  with 
nature.  It  IS  originally  enriched.  The  latter  has  |^j^^  principles  essential  to  the  growth  of  this 
reference  to  the  "tillage  of  the  soil;"  and  the.g^^jj^^  ^,g  ^j^^j^  ^^^,1  ^j^^^  thev  contain  certain  el- 
amelioration  of  the  earthy  constituents,  by  the  ^^^^^^^^  ^^  vegetable  re-production  in  much  larg- 
thorough  pulverization  of  its  elementary  parti- j^^  q^^^^j^j^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^.j^  in  which  it  does 
cles— a  result  ordinarily  effected  by  plowing,  ^^^  ^^^^^^^^  Popular  attention  has  been  direct- 
digging,  or  otherwise  lightening  its  texture,  so\^^^^  ^j^j^  ^^^j^^^  j,^  Scotland,  and  Dr.  Anderson, 
as  to  afford  a  favorable  medium  for  the  estabhsh-j^^e  chemist  of  the  "Highland  Agricultural  So- 
ment  and  ramification  of  the  roots  of  such  pro-j^j^jy^,,  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^.^^^^  analyses  of  the  wheat 
ductions  as  it  is  required  to  sustain,  whether  be-jg^ij  ^f  ^jj^^^^^^j^^j.^,^  ^  ^^^^^j^^^  exhibition  of  which, 
longing  to  the  class  of  "roots"  or  "grains."  |  published  in  the  number  of  the   Society's  Jour- 

By  the  scientific  agriculturist,  manure  is  recog-nal  for  May,  l.SCiO,  shows  the  following  results, 
nized  as  operating  in  two  ways:  first,— by  impart- j  The  soil  was,  in  this  instance,  from  a  field  in 
ing  to  the  soil  those  fructifying  and  emendatory  I  Midlothian.  One  hundred  parts  of  the  surface 
jucies  or  principles  of  vegetable  power,  of  which  i  soil  gave  6.789  of  "combustible  dry  matter  or 
it  was  before  deficient,  and  which  are  essential 
to  the  healthy  development  and  sustenance  of 
plants ;  secondly,  by  the  action  it  induces  among 
the  minerals  constituting  the  earthy  part  of  the 
soil — effecting  their  decomposition  and  re-com- 
bination under  new  features,  and  imbuing  them 
with  new  energies  more  expressly  adapted  for 
the  immediate  sustenance  of  the  growing  crop. 
There  are  certain  substances,  which,  when  ap- 
plied to  the  soil,  seem  obviously  to  produce  but 
one  of  these  results  ;  while  others  applied  for  the 
same  common  or  general  purpose,  appear  to  pro- 
duce both. 

When  the  agriculturist  applies  animal  excre- 
ment, or  mineral  water  of  any  kind,  to  the  soil, 
and  an  increased  crop  is  the  result,  he  logically 
infers  that  the  application  has  benefited,  or,  in 
other  words,  has  enriclied  the  soil. 


mould,"  containing. 

Carbon 4.500 

Hydrogen 0  ;n5 

Oxy  pen 1  .S06 

Ammonia 0.263 

6.789 

By  "surface  soil,"  the  reader  is  here  to  under- 
stand that  portion  which  is  considered  the  me- 
dium of  the  roots  of  vegetation,  or  the  first  ten 
inches  from  and  below  the  surface.  The  poorest 
soil  subjected  by  Dr.  A.  to  analysis,  gave  the  fol- 
lowing result: 

Carbon O.TU 

Hydrogen 0.033 

Ox  viien 0.2S6 

Ammonia 0.0S9 

1.122 

Two  parts  of  ammonia  in  a  thousand  may  ap- 
pear a  small  quantity,  yet  it  will  be  found  on  ex- 
This,  indeed,  is  the  primary  object  aimed  at,jamination,  that  as  an  acre  of  soil,  ten  inches 
— yet,  it  may  be  important  to  the  j)ractical  agri-  j  deep,  weighs  one  thousand  tons,  there  are  over 
culturist  to  ascertain,  somewhat  more  definitely,! two  tons  of  ammonia  in  the  soil  of  every  acre 
the  specific  action  of  the  substances  applied;  to  j  capable  of  producing  a  good  crop  of  wheat.  Now 
know,  in  short,  what  description  of  manure  or  la  heavy  crop  of  wheat  appropriates,  or  requires 
matter  may  be  best  adapted  to  certain  crops,  as  for  its  full  development  and  perfection,  about  six- 
well  as  what  kind  will  l)e  most  permanent  in  itsity  pounds  of  ammonia. 

effects  upon  the  soil.     The  laws  of  chemistry  in!      There  is,  however,  a  mixture  in  nature's  cruci- 
association  with  those  of  geology  and  mineralo-ible  which  we  have  no  power  as  yet  to  imitate  j 


136 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMER. 


Sept. 


for  if  we  make  the  most  accurate  analysis  that 
is  possible  of  a  soil,  and  find  in  what  elements 
it  appears  to  be  deficient,  and  supply  them  lib- 
erally, we  are  by  no  means  certain  that  we  shall 
secure  a  good  crop  of  wheat.  There  is  still  some- 
thing beyond  the  skill  of  the  chemist,  but  some- 
thing, happily,  within  the  reach  of  the  farmer  to 
supply,  that  will  usually  bring  a  good  crop, — and 
that  is  plenty  of  barnyard  manure ! 


EXTRACTS  AND  BBPLIBS. 

HOW   SHALL   I   RESTORE   MY   RUN-OUT   GRASS 
LAND  ? 

I  have  a  piece  of  English  mowing  land,  situat- 
ed between  the  upland  and  meadow,  which  sev- 
en years  ago  bore  bushes,  brakes,  and  the  like ; 
since  then  it  has  been  plowed  and  planted  one 
year,  plowed  again  and  sowed  to  grass  seed. 
Four  crops  of  hay  have  been  taken  off'  since,  the 
first  very  heavy,  the  last  very  light. 

Can  anything  be  done  to  this  piece  of  mowing 
land  the  present  month,  without  plowing,  (as  it 
is  v/ell  and  evenly  laid  down  with  the  land 
around  it,)  so  that  1  may  secure  a  good  crop  of 
hay  for  three  years,  or  more  ?     If  so,  what  ? 

Hamilton,  Mass.,  Aug.,  1859.  x. 

Remarks. — Plowing  and  re-seeding,  in  our 
opinion,  will  be  the  quickest  and  most  economi- 
cal mode  of  reclaiming  the  piece  of  land  you 
speak  of.  In  common  with  most  of  us,  you  have 
probably  made  two  mistakes  with  it.  First  in 
not  topdressing  a  little  annually,  or  at  least 
every  other  year,  and  secondly,  in  not  allowing 
the  herdsgrass  to  ripen  one  year  so  as  to  re-seed 
itself.  The  herdsgrass  and  red-top  roots  are 
gone,  and  top-dressing  will  not  restore  them. 
Plow,  manure  and  re-seed,  and  then  keep  up 
the  crop  by  a  fair  course  of  manuring. 

REAPERS — SLAKING    LIME. 

Is  Ketchum's  machine  a  good  reaper  as  well  as 
mower? 

In  composting  lime  with  muck,  should  the  lime 
be  slaked  with  water  or  by  the  air?      Maple. 

Caledonia  Co.,  17. 

Remarks.  —  Ketchum's  machine  is  intended 
for  reaping  as  well  as  mowing — but  may  not  be 
as  good  as  a  machine  with  a  reel. 

There  is  no  difi'erence,  we  believe,  between 
lime  slaked  with  water  or  air  slaked.  The  lat- 
ter is  as  much  slaked  with  water  as  the  first,  but 
the  process  is  slower.    

PEARS. 
Among  the  varieties  of  this  fine  fruit  which 
have  been  raised,  there  are  comparatively  few 
that  are  equally  good  in  Massachusetts  ;  from 
these,  if  requested  to  name  six  of  the  best,  ripen- 
ing in  succession,  I  should  name  the  Bloodgood, 
Bartlett,  Belle  Lucrative,  Beurre  Bosc,  Winter 
Nelis  and  Lawrence.  These  will  generally  do 
well  in   all  good  soils;  the   Belle  Lucrative  is. 


however,  of  a  higher  flavor  when  grown  upon  a 
warm,  loamy  soil,  than  upon  one  of  a  heavy,  re- 
tentive nature.  j.  m.  I. 
Salem,  Mass.,  1859. 

HOW    TO    MAKE   GOOD   BUTTER. 

I  have  noticed  in  several  numbers  of  your  ex- 
cellent paper  an  article  treating  on  specks  in 
butter.  The  mystery  I  think  I  can  solve  at  once. 
I  have  lived  on  this  earth  half  a  century  and 
always  been  in  the  habit  of  making  butter  since 
I  was  fifteen  years  of  age.  And  from  experience 
I  found  a  preventive  a  great  many  years  ago.  I 
can  take  the  cream  from  curdled  milk  and  put 
in  a  trifle  of  salt  and  stir  it  around  the  jar  with 
a  paddle  that  I  keep  for  the  purpose,  and  repeat 
it  every  time  that  I  add  cream,  and  I  will  never 
be  troubled  with  white  specks  in  butter.  As  to 
straining  cream  it  seems  to  me  to  be  entirely 
useless,  if  it  is  properly  cared  for.  In  order  to 
have  butter  sweet  and  nice,  cream  ought  not  to 
be  kept  more  than  three  days  in  hot  weather, 
nor  more  than  six  in  cold  weather. 

M  M.  Spaulding. 

Cornish,  J^.  II,,  Aug.,  1859. 


BUTTER   MAKING. 

White  specks  in  butter  are  sour  milk  turned 
to  a  hard  curd  ;  and  are  caused  by  the  milk  or 
cream  being  kept  in  too  warm  a  place. 

Cream  that  remains  in  the  churn  after  the  but- 
ter has  come,  should  be  put  into  the  cream-pot 
■  again  ;  if  put  back  into  the  churn,  it  will  enrich 
the  buttermilk,  but  will  not  form  the  white 
speck  ;  if  the  churn  is  made  as  it  should  be,  there 
will  be  no  cream  remaining  in  the  churn,  unless 
the  cream  is  very  thick.  Put  sweet  cream  into 
the  churn  with  that  that  is  sour,  and  you  will 
lose  the  sweet  cream,  as  it  does  not  come  to  but- 
ter so  soon  as  the  sour,  but  does  not  injure  the 
butter  ;  cream  should  be  taken  from  the  miik  as 
soon  as  it  is  sour  enough  to  be  removed  wiihout 
milk,  and  in  warm  weather  should  immediately 
be  put  in  the  cellar,  or  where  it  can  be  kept  as 
cool  as  possible ;  churn  once  a  week,  but  the 
oftener  the  sweeter  the  butter.  After  removing 
the  cream,  you  may  skim  off"  as  much  more  that 
will  be  rich  enough  for  biscuit,  making  a  saving 
of  all  your  cream  for  butter.       L.  C.  Potter. 

Leyden,  Mass.,  1859. 

N.  B.  Lettuce  makes  excellent  greens — boil 
half  an  hour.  

ACTION   OF   PHOSPHATES. 

I  am  much  pleased  with  the  remarks  of  Judge 
French  about  phosphates,  analyses  of  soils,  and 
the  like.  It  is  high  time  that  we  back  out  from 
scientific  nonsense,  such  as  is  taught  by  many  a 
would-be  professor,  and  take  up  the  lessons  of 
practical  common  sense.  If  it  he  true,  as  averred 
by  Mr.  F.,  and  admitted  by  Prof.  Mapes,  that 
there  are  some  phosphates  that  nourish  plants, 
and  others  that  do  not,  all  of  which  are  com- 
posed of  the  same  chemical  ingredients,  then 
what  reliance  can  be  placed  on  chemical  laws, 
for  the  advance  of  vegetation  ?  None  at  all,  un- 
til demonstrated  and  illustrated  by   experiment. 

Aug.  1,  1859.  P. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


437 


ISABELLA   GRAPE. 

In  an  art'cle  on  the  cultivation  of  this  fruit 
•which  I  forwarded  you  some  months  since,  I  then 
recommended  that,  in  order  to  prevent  the  inju- 
ry which  the  warm,  sunny  days  in  winter,  or  the 
alternation  of  heat  and  cold  to  which  vines  when 
trained  upon  our  buildings  are  often  subjected, 
they  should  be  taken  down  late  in  the  fall 
and  laid  along  their  whole  length  upon  the 
ground — they  will  there  ordinarily  require  no 
covering.  The  Isabella  grape  vines  in  our  neigh- 
borhood have  suffered  greatly  the  past  winter  ; 
large  numbers  are  destitute  of  fruit ;  I  have,  on 
the  contrary,  two  vines,  one  trained  upon  a 
fence,  the  other  upon  my  barn,  both  having  a 
southern  exposure,  that  were  laid  down  the  past 
winter  as  recommended  above,  and  they  are 
loaded  with  fruit.  It  is  not,  I  apprehend,  the 
extreme  cold  days  of  winter  so  much  as  the  al- 
ternation of  heat  and  cold  which  produces  the 
mischief.  The  sap  of  the  grape  vine,  as  said  by 
Dr.  Lindley,  "is  always  in  motion,  at  all  seasons, 
and  under  all  circumstances,  except  in  the  Tery 
coldest  days."  Can  we  wonder  that,  in  a  climate 
so  variable,  where  the  thermometer  at  night 
may  descend  to  zero,  and  the  next  day  an  un- 
clouded sun  with  the  warmth  of  spring,  a  sus- 
ceptible plant  should  be  thus  affected  ? 

Salem,  Mass.,  1859.  J.  M.  I. 

HEIFER   HOLDS   UP   HER   MILK. 

I  have  a  two-year  old  heifer  that  calved  about 
the  middle  of  July  ;  and  lately  she  holds  up  her 
milk.  Can  you,  or  any  of  your  readers,  inform 
me  if  there  is  a  remedy,  and  what  it  is  ? 

Can  you  inform  me  where  I  can  get  some  eggs 
of  the  Dominique  breed?  C.  C.  L, 

Eockingliam,  Vt.,  Aug.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Give  the  heifer  a  little  meal,  sweet 
grass  or  grain,  when  you  milk  her.  Cannot  tell 
you  about  the  fowls. 

THE   CULTIVATION    OF   VINEYARDS. 

Can  you,  or  any  of  your  readers,  tell  me  where 
I  can  find  full  information  relative  to  the  meth- 
ods practised  in  this  country,  in  commencing  and 
cultivating  vineyards,  the  processes  used  in  pre- 
paring wine  for  the  market,  expenses,  <Jcc. 

Xew  London,  JV.  H.,  1859. 

Remarks. — A  work  entitled  "The  Culture  of 
the  Grape,  and  Wine  Making,"  by  Robert  Bu- 
chanan, t-Us  the  whole  story  in  a  compact  form. 
For  sale  at  this  office — price  62^  cents. 

TO   CURE   A   KICKING   COW. 

Your  correspondent  "Cit"  seems  to  ridicule 
■ny  plan  of  curing  kicking  cows.  For  his  bene- 
it  1  will  inform  him  that  the  rope  is  to  surround 
he  cow,  as  a  girth  is  put  on  a  horse,  just  behind 
he  shoulders.  He  says  he  don't  see  how  it  can 
jrevent  her ;  that  is  not  my  fault.  At  all  events, 
it  has  always  cured  mine,  and  will  probably  cure 
his,  if  they  can  be  cured. 
Boston,  Aug.,  1859.     A  Belmont  Farmer. 

West   Wesfminsttr,  Vt.,  July  30,  1859.— The 
rass  crop  is  very  good  in  this  vicinity,  and  oats 


look  remarkably  well  ;  corn  is  just  tasseling  out, 
and  if  we  do  not  have  too  early  frosts,  we  shall 
iget  a  fair  crop.  o.  c. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
I  THE  "WHEAT  SEASON  AT  HAND. 

I  Mr.  Editor  : — The  past  season  has  probably 
jbeen  one  of  the  most  prolific  ever  known,  in  the 
[development  and  securing  of  the  cereal  harvest. 
jt)ur  own  great  grain  country  proclaims  it  from 
I  every  quarter,  and  all  Europe  echoes  the  wel- 
Icome  sound  of  overflowin,j^  granaries.  This  looks 
I  like  cheap,  home  markets.  On  either  side  of  the 
I  water  a  large  surplus  may  remain,  but  it  is  that 
jkind  of  farm  product,  that  will  keep  without  salt, 
jand  with  very  little  care.  It  were  wise  in  all  lar- 
jmers,  that  they  always  have  six  to  twelve  months 
stock  in  advance.  This  would  be  preparation 
I  against  want,  in  the  loss  of  a  crop  which  so  fre- 
quently occurs. 

Now  let  us  suppose  abundance,  cheapness, 
easily  obtained,  perhaps  for  this  year  only,  (while 
I  the  tsvo  following  years  may  result  in  short  crops 
and  high  prices,)  would  it  be  good  policy  for  our 
I  New  England  farmers  to  relax  their  efforts,  to 
^ stack  their  arms?  Abundance  is  generally  fol- 
i  lowed  by  reverse.  We  have  been  a  suffering, 
panic-stricken  people,  when  the  "rich  man"  could 
not  "glory  in  his  riches  ;"  when  labor  had  not 
its  reward  ;  Avhen  the  waxed  ends  were  hung  up 
to  dry ;  when  the  mill,  from  trundle  head  to 
breast  wheel,  became  noiseless,  and  silent  as  a 
cavern.  Now,  the  village  becomes  dull,  dim  and 
dingy.  The  demand  for  farmers'  hay,  butter  and 
eggs  has  ceased,  but  he  has  been  reminded  that 
"the  flour  is  gone  ;"  (sorry  news  for  him,  and  he 
almost  resolves  to  raise  his  own  flour.)  "Well," 
(he  says,)  "butter  and  eggs  wont  pay  for  a  barrel 
of  flour,  I  must  broach  the  money  laid  away  to 
pay  taxes ;  it's  like  drawing  teeth."  Now,  to 
provide  against  this  kind  of  dentistry,  if  the  far- 
mers will  put  down  two  to  five  acres  of  wheat 
annually,  his  flour  bills  are  easily  paid.  It  would 
not  be  so  much  like  "drawing  teeth." 

It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  four  and  a  quarter 
bushels  of  wheat,  is  equal  to  a  barrel  of  flour  to 
every  family.  Every  expense,  from  the  plow  to 
the  granary,  is  the  same  as  other  grain  crops. 
You  can  make  it  cost  no  more  ;  more  bushels  of 
wheat  can  be  grown  to  the  acre  than  of  rye,  on  a 
good  strong  soil,  and  an  equal  quantity  on  poor 
soil.  Half  of  the  rye  lands  scarcely  pay  expense 
of  cultivation.  Some  of  your  rye  fields  are  a  bur- 
lesque on  farming,  yet  followed  up  with  great 
persistency,  year  after  year. 

Hilly  or  sloping  lands  are  best  for  winter 
wheat.  Clover  fallow,  old  mowing  or  pasture 
sod,  are  better  than  old  pulverized  soil.  In 
Maine,  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  wheat 
should  be  sown  last  week  in  August.  In  Massa- 
chusetts, first  week  in  September.  Early  sowing 
and  two  to  three  inches  depth  is  sure  against 
winter-kill.  Late  sowing  is  dangerous.  Soak 
twelve  hours  in  salt  pickle  to  kill  insects,  (if  any,) 
and  skim  off  foul  seed.  Rake  the  seed  in  ashes  ; 
sow  one  and  three-fourths  to  two  bushels  to  the 
acre. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  learn  from  many  far- 
mers, that  they  have  had  complete  success  in 
raising  winter  wheat.     Reliance  on  his  farm  ca- 


43S 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


pabilities,  should  stimulate  him  to  the  work. 
There  are  no  obstacles  to  overcome,  saving  pre- 
judice, or  a  long  established  supineness  that  has 
become  a  chronic  disease. 

It  is  now  a  good  time  to  look  over  and  see  how 
many  patches  in  the  old  mowing  fields  can  be 
turned  to  profitable  account.  Once  begun,  we 
think  your  wheat  crop  will  take  the  lead  in  the 
grain  calendar.  H.  PooK. 

Brooklyn,  L.  I.,  1859. 


For  the  New  Ens^land  Farmer. 
MEASURE  METfT  OF  LUMBER. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  have  noticed  in  the  Farmer 
several  pieces  relating  to  the  incorrect  mfasure- 
ment  of  milk.  There  is  another  subject  allied  to 
this,  «hich  corcerns  many  farmers  as  deeply  as 
this  :  1  refer  to  the  measurement  of  lumber. 

Most  farmers  out  of  the  vicinity  of  the  city 
have  hard-wood  trees  in  their  pastures  or  mow- 
ings which  they  wish  removed.  Accordingly, 
they  cut  them,  have  them  sawed  into  plank,  and 
sell  them.  Now,  the  miller  saws  both  sides  of 
the  plank,  and  will  have  pay  for  all  he  saws  ;  and 
it  seems  right  that  he  should,  but  when  we  come 
Lo  sell  our  plank,  the  measure  falls  short.  The 
surveyor  measures  on  the  narrow  side,  allowing 
us  only  what  the  plank  will  square.  Some  thick 
plank  fall  short  of  the  mill  measure  20  per  cent. 

When  we  buy  heef,  we  pay  for  the  weight  ot 
the  bones,  or  if  there  is  a  deduction,  it  is  made 
in  the  price,  not  in  the  weight.  So  we  should 
have  pay  for  the  whole  of  our  lumber  ;  if  the  wain 
lessens  the  value  of  the  lumber,  let  the  deduction 
be  made  in  the  price. 

The  surveyors  profess  to  give  us  hoard  meas- 
ure ;  yet  we  know  that  a  4  inch  plank,  8  inches 
wide  on  the  narrow  side,  and  12  inches  on  the 
wide  side,  would  measure  a  good  deal  more,  if 
we  should  conceive  it  to  be  made  into  boards 
and  then  measured,  than  it  will  as  they  survey. 
Our  laws  respecting  the  measurement  of  lumber 
are  very  indefinite  and  loose.  The  legislature 
should  attend  to  them,  J.  A.  E. 

Groton,  Mass.,  July  80,  1869. 


What  are  Flowers  Good  for? — "I  have 
said  and  written  a  great  deal  to  my  countrymen 
about  the  cultivation  of  flowers,  ornamental  gar- 
dening and  rural  embellishments  ;  and  I  would 
read  them  a  homily  on  the  subject  every  day  of 
every  remaining  year  of  my  lite,  if  I  thought  it 
would  induce  them  to  make  this  a  matter  of  at 
tention  and  care.  When  a  man  asks  me  what  is 
the  use  of  shrubs  and  flowers,  my  first  ioipulse 
is  always  to  look  under  liis  hat  and  see  the  length 
of  his  ears.  I  am  heartily  sick  of  measuring 
everything  by  a  standard  of  mere  utility  and 
profit;  and  as  heartily  do  I  pity  the  men  who 
can  see  no  good  in  life  but  in  the  pecuniary  gain, 
or  in  the  mere  animal  indulgencies  of  eating  and 
drinking." — Coleman's  Agricultural  Tour. 


The  Horticulturist. — The  number  for  Au 
gust  is  excellent.  It  has  a  fine  engraving  of  the 
Nabours  Pear.  It  has  a  long  and  capital  article 
on  the  "Orchard  House,  or  the  Cultivation  of 
Fruit  Trees  in  Pots  under  Glass." 


AUTUMNAL  FARM  WORK. 

In  a  former  article  we  mentioned  two  items  of 
farm  labor  that  ought  to  be  attended  to  in  the 
autumn,  viz.:  seeding  lands  to  grass  and  prepar- 
ing rough  lands  for  cultivation.  The  next  item 
to  which  we  find  pleasure  in  calling  attention, 
and  which,  strictly,  ought  to  precede  all  others, 
is  that  of 

DRAINING. 
And  we  beg  of  the  reader  not  to  come  to  the 
sudden  conclusion  that  we  mal*e  a  hobby  of  this 
subject,  but  to  give  it  thought,  observation,  and 
such  careful  investigation  as  his  opportunites 
will  permit.  All  of  us  have  been  taught  to  be- 
lieve that  manure  is  the  great  essential  in  farm- 
ing ;  it  is  so ;  but  thorough-draining  follows 
close  upon  it  in  importance,  and  we  are  con- 
vinced that  we  cannot  do  any  farmer  a  better 
service  than  by  pressing  upon  him  a  sense  of  its 
great  value.  Judge  French's  new  work  on 
Farm  Drainage  is  finding  its  way  into  the  farm- 
houses in  every  direction,  and  will  be  the  means 
of  adding  large  profits  to  the  agricultural  pro- 
ductions of  New  England. 

It  is  not  our  intention  now  to  give  the  details 
of  the  operation,  as  that  has  been  pretty  thor- 
oughly done  in  these  columns, — but  we  desire  to 
call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the  subject, 
and  ask  them  to  consider  it  well.  In  the  mean- 
time, we  advise  every  farmer  to  get  French's 
P'arm  Drainage,  or  Waring's  Elements  of  Agri- 
culture, or  both,  and  make  them  a  study  as  they 
progress  in  the  practical  operation  of  the  work. 
From  the  latter  work,  we  give  below  some  of 
the 

advantages   of   UNDER-DRAINING. 

1.  It  prevents  drouth. 

2.  It  furnishes  an  increased  supply  of  atmos- 

pheric fertilizers. 

3.  It  warms  the  lower  portions  of  the  soil. 

4.  It  hastens   the   decomposition  of  roots  and 

other  organic  matter. 

5.  It  accelerates  the  disintegration  of  the  min- 

eral matters  in  the  soil. 

6.  It  causes  a  more  even  distribution  of  nutri- 

tious matters  among  those  parts   of  the 
soil  traversed  by  roots. 

7.  It  improves  the  mechanical  texture  of  the 

soil. 

8.  It  causes  the  poisonous  excrementitious  mat- 

ter of  plants  to  be  carried  out  of  reach  of 
their  roots. 

9.  It  prevents  grasses  from  running  out. 

10.  It  enables  us  to  deepen  the  surface  soil — by 

removing  excess  of  water. 

11.  It  renders  soils  earlier  in  the  spring. 

12.  It  prevents    the   throwing  out  of  grain  in 

winter. 

13.  It  allows  us  to  work  sooner  after  rains. 


i859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


439 


14.  It  keeps  off  the  effects  of  cold  weather  long- 
er in  the  fall. 

16.  It  prevents  the  formation  of  acetic  [that  is, 
sour, — vinegar  contains  one  or  two  ounces 
in  a  pound  of  acetic  acid. — Ed.]  and  other 
acids,  which  induce  the  growth  of  sorrel 
and  similar  weeds. 

16.  It  hastens  the   decay   of  vegetable   matter, 

and  the  finer  comminution  of  the  earthy 
parts  of  the  soil. 

17.  It  prevents  in  a  great  measure,  the  evapora- 

tion of  water,  and  the  consequent  ab- 
straction of  heat  from  the  soil. 

18.  It   admits   fresh   quantities   of   water   from 

rains,  &c.,  which  are  always  more  or  less 
imbued  with  the  fertilizing  gases  of  the 
atmosphere,  to  be  deposited  among  the 
absorbent  parts  of  soil,  and  given  up 
to  the  necessities  of  plants. 

19.  It  prevents  the  formation  of  so  hard  a  crust 

on  the  surface  of  the  soil  as  is  customary 
on  heavy  lands. 

We  will  add  another  item  to  make  out  the 
score,  and  one  of  no  less  consequence  than  the 
most  important  he  has  named. 

20.  It  prevents,  in   a  great   measure,  grass  and 

winter  grains  from  being  winter-killed. 

In  May  last,  upon  an  examination  of  their 
fields,  farmers  were  astonished  at  the  amount  of 
their  lands  which  they  found  bare,  in  consequence 
of  the  winter-killing  of  grass  and  grain.  We  are 
compelled  to  confess  in  fairness,  that  this  de- 
struction was  caused  by  the  coating  of  ice  which 
covered  the  surface  during  most  of  the  winter 
and  a  portion  of  March  and  April.  But  the 
question  arises,  "If  the  land  had  been  thorough- 
ly under-drained,  would  the  ice  have  remained 
upon  it  so  long,  and  clung  to  it,  like  the  shirt  of 
Nessus,  until  the  breath  of  life  was  gone  ?"  We 
think  not — and  look  upon  this  as  one  of  the 
chief  merits  of  underdraining.  But  our  story  is 
getting  long,  for  a  single  topic,  and  we  must 
leave  it  to  say  a  word  upon  the  subject  of 

TOP-DRESSING    GRASS   LANDS. 

The  annual  top-dressing  of  grass  lands,  or 
even  doing  it  once  in  two  years,  will  save  a 
heavy  item  of  cost  in  the  matter  of  plowing  and 
re-seeding.  Quite  moist  lands  may  be  kept  in 
grass,  yielding  a  ton  or  a  ton  and  a  half  per  acre, 
for  fifty  years  in  succession,  if  they  are  frequent- 
ly top-dressed,  and  seed  sometim.es  scattered 
with  It,  or  if  the  grass  is  allowed  to  go  to  seed 
occasionally  before  it  is  cut. 

It  is  an  excellent  time  to  apply  composted 
manure  as  a  top-dressing  immediately  after  the 
hay  is  carried  from  the  field,  as  the  young  grass 
will  grow  up  and  cover  it  in  a  few  days.    It  then 


supplies  the  roots  with  new  food,  and  gives  them 
a  vigorous  setting  for  another  crop. 

If  this  work  is  not  already  done,  it  should  be, 
before  the  grass  ceases  to  grow,  so  that  the  au- 
tumnal rains  shall  moisten  the  manure  and  car- 
ry its  fertilizing  properties  among  the  roots. 

There  are  some  other  items  which  we  should 
be  glad  to  present,  but  our  space  for  to-day  is 
exhausted. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
FAHM  "WOKK  FOR  AUGUST. 

With  most  farmers,  August  is  a  month  of  com- 
parative leisure,  and  often  a  portion  of  the  help 
employed  during  the  three  months  previous  is 
dispensed  with,  as  soon  as  haying  and  harvesting 
are  done,  as  a  matter  of  economy,  at  least  for 
this  month.  But  let  Patrick  and  John  remain; 
there  is  work  enough  that  should  be  done  on 
every  ordinary  farm  to  fill  up  profitably  the  time 
of  this  month.  True,  the  demand  for  the  hoe  is 
not  imperative  now,  among  the  growing  crops, 
and  if  it  was  used  with  good  effect  at  the  proper 
time,  perhaps  its  use  now,  to  any  great  extent, 
is  not  advisable,  unless  the  weeds  have  been  re- 
markably obstinate.  But  in  the  fields  and  pas- 
tures, and  meadows,  and  perhaps  by  t'ne  road- 
sides, there  is  a  demand  for  labor  that  can  better 
be  done  in  this  month  than  in  any  other,  and 
with  better  effect. 

Nothing  looks  more  slovenly  upon  a  farm  than 
clumps  of  bushes  growing  here  and  there  in  the 
improved  fields,  or  corners  of  fences  ;  mulleins 
and  yellow  weeds  by  the  side  of  the  walls  and 
edges  of  mowing  lots,  and  hedges  encroaching 
upon  the  adjoining  fields,  and  the  road-sides 
growing  up  to  birches,  alders,  or  other  brush- 
wood. Every  day's  work  with  a  bush-scylhe  and 
axe  in  the  highway  adjoining  your  premises, 
where  it  is  needed,  will  tell  to  the  passer-by, 
more  to  your  thrift  than  the  publication  in  the 
newspapers  of  a  premium  for  a  fat  hog,  or  nice 
steer. 

I  do  not  wish  to  deprive  you  of  your  accustom- 
ed respite  in  this  month,  but  with  an  axe  and 
bog-hoe  upon  your  shoulder,  lead  the  way,  and 
at  least  tell  what  must  be  done,  and  see  that  it  is 
done.  Grub  up  the  birches  and  alders  a'.;rl  shrub- 
oaks  ;  hitch  the  cattle  to  that  bunch  of  willows 
that  have  taken  root  and  shelter  almost  under 
the  wall,  and  see  if  there  isn't  music  in  the  snap- 
ping of  the  roots,  when  old  Broad  and  Bright 
straighten  the  chain !  Have  the  wall  re-built 
where  the  frost  threw  it  down  last  winter,  if  you 
have  not  alr^^ady  done  it;  and  you,  Farmer 
Loose-ends,  will  do  well  to  clear  the  stone  heaps 
from  that  mowing  lot  that  the  grass  has  been 
growing  over  these  three  seasons,  and — Eh? 
"Haven't  got  time  ?"  'Twas  only  last  week  that, 
three  times,  smack  went  the  point  of  your  scythe 
into  them,  in  one  forenoon,  and  how  you  sweated 
after  it  because  you  hadn't  got  time — to  t^top  and 
grind  up  !  Last  year,  the  boys  might  have  got 
them  off  while  they  were  hunting  pigeons  and 
woodcock,  or  fishing  for  trout  and  dace,  with 
your  assistance. 

And  the  weeds  and  briers  in  the  highway,  or 
the  by-roads  over  the  farm,  and  along  the  fences, 


440 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Sept. 


should  be  mown,  and,  with  the  trash  from  the 

swales,  see  if  they  cannot  be  made  to  augment 
the  compost  heap  very  materially.  By  the  way, 
just  uproot  those  alder  thickets  along  the  brook 
that  meanders  through  the  meadow,  before  they 
seed  the  land  any  more  ;  and  then  see  if  a  week 
or  ten  days  spent  in  this  way  does  not  pay — in 
the  looks,  and  the  satisfaction  with  which  you 
can  view  your  premises,  as  well  as  in  the  pocket. 

Clear  out  the  old  ditches  around  your  reclaim- 
ed meadow,  and  if  you  have  rails  to  cut  soon,  cut 
them  this  month,  and  if  it  is  hot  weather,  peal 
off  the  bark,  and  they  will  undoubtedly  last 
much  longer  than  if  cut  in  any  other  month. 

Farmer  Fearful,  just  underdrain  that  piece  of 
wet  mowing  land,  or  invest  a  little  in  reclaiming 
that  alder  swamp  ;  cut  wide  ditches,  and  throw 
the  muck  to  landward,  for  you  will  want  it  next 
winter.  Cut  up  the  brush  by  the  roots,  and  make 
a  fair  beginning  this  seasan.  Perchance  there  is 
gold  in  that  meadow ;  certainly  this  peat  is  val- 
uable, either  in  the  barn-yard,  hog-pen,  or  on 
your  sandy  fields.  Persevere,  and  see  if  gold  will 
not  come  out  of  it.  j.  a.  a. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  August  8,  1859. 


Interesting  to  Lovers  of  Peaches. — At  a 
recent  meeting  of  peach  growers  in  Mercer  county 
(says  the  Camden  West  Jerseyman,)  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  in  a  space  of  country  about  three 
miles  square  there  would  be  at  least  20,000 
baskets  of  peaches  for  shipment.  In  this  space 
there  are  over  92,000  trees  planted,  22,000  of 
■which  are  bearing.  The  peach  crop  in  the  upper 
part  of  Mercer  county,  and  in  Hunterdon,  prom- 
ises a  large  yield.  Of  late  years  the  region  for- 
merly celebrated  for  this  delicious  fruit  has  been 
abandoned,  it  being  found  that  peach  orchards 
will  succeed  but  once  on  the  same  ground — at 
least  an  interval  of  several  years'  cultivation  with 
other  crops  is  necessary  before  a  second  orchard 
can  be  expected  to  succeed. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


PICKLES. 

Kettles  lined  with  porcelain  should  always  be 
used  in  preference  to  those  of  brass,  copper  or 
bell-metal.  The  verdigris  produced  by  the  vin- 
egar on  these  metals  is  extremely  poisonous. 

For  most  kinds  of  pickles,  cold  vinegar  is  the 
best.  By  boiling,  much  of  the  strength  is  lost  by 
evaporation — consequently,  the  pickles  are  more 
liable  to  spoil. 

Those  requiring  hot  vinegar  poured  over  them, 
should  remain  uncovered  until  perfectly  cold. 

Pickles  should  be  kept  in  cither  glass  or  stone 
jars,  and  closelj-  covered  to  exclude  the  air,  other- 
wise they  soon  become  soft.  A  small  piece  of 
alum  in  each  jar  will  make  the  pickles  firm  and 
crisp.  One  tablesponful  of  sugar  to  each  quart 
of  vinegar  will  be  found  a  very  great  improve- 
ment to  all  pickles. 

Pickled  Cucumbers. — Wash  your  cucumbers 
very  clean  ;  make  a  pickle  of  salt  and  water,  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  float  an  egg,  and  pour  it  over 
them.     Put  a  weight  on  the  top  of  the  vessel  to 


keep  the  cucumbers  under  the  brine,  and  let  them 
stand  nine  days ;  then  take  them  out  and  wash 
them  in  fresh  water.  Line  the  bottom  of  your 
kettle  with  green  cabbage  leaves,  put  in  your 
pickles,  and  as  much  vinegar  and  water,  mixed 
in  equal  quantities,  as  will  cover  them.  Put  a 
layer  of  cabbage  leaves  on  the  top.  Hang  them 
over  a  slow  fire  ;  let  the  water  get  hot,  but  do  not 
allow  them  to  simmer,  as  that  would  soften  them. 
When  they  are  perfectly  green,  take  them  out 
and  let  them  drain.  Wipe  them  dry,  put  them 
in  jars  with  some  allspice,  cloves  and  a  few  small 
onions,  or  cloves,  or  garlic.  A  piece  of  alum  in 
each  jar  will  keep  them  firm.  Cover  your  pick- 
les with  the  best  cider  vinegar — tie  them  close 
and  keep  them  in  a  cool,  dry  place.  By  adding 
one  tablespoonful  of  sugar,  it  will  be  found  a  great 
improvement. 

Pickled  Peaches. — Throw  your  peaches,  a 
few  at  a  time,  in  hot  lye ;  let  them  remain  in  it 
but  two  or  three  minutes,  then  put  them  in  clear 
water,  and  wipe  off  all  the  down. 

Make  a  strong  brine,  lay  them  in.  and  let  them 
stand  for  two  or  three  days.  Take  them  out, 
wash  and  wipe  them.  Place  them  in  jars,  and 
cover  with  white  wine  vinegar  and  loaf  sugar,  in 
the  proportion  of  one  quart  of  vintgar  to  one 
pound  of  sugar.  Put  them  in  glass  jars,  cover 
close,  and  keep  in  a  dry,  cool  place. 

Pickled  Tomatoes. — Take  a  peck  of  toma- 
toes— the  small  ones  are  best — wash  them,  pierce 
each  one  with  a  fork,  put  them  in  a  deep  pan  and 
sprinkle  salt  between  each  layer.  Let  them  stand 
two  days,  then  rinse  them  in  clear  water.  Put 
them  in  stone  jars,  cover  with  vinegar  and  water 
in  equal  parts,  and  let  them  remain  til!  next  day. 
Allow  one  gill  of  mustard  seed,  half  an  ounce  of 
cloves,  half  an  ounce  of  pepper  grains,  half  an 
ounce  of  whole  allspice  with  two  heads  of  garlic. 
Separate  the  garlic  and  take  off  the  skins.  Take 
the  tomatoes  out  of  the  vinegar  and  water,  empty 
the  jars,  put  the  pickles  into  them  again,  alter- 
nately with  the  spices,  until  the  jars  are  three 
parts  full.  Then  cover  with  cold  vinegar,  and 
cover  close. 

Pickled  Green  Tomatoes. — Puncture  the  to- 
matoes with  a  fork,  place  them  on  a  dish,  and 
sprinkle  with  salt.  Let  them  remain  for  two  or 
three  days,  then  rinse  off  the  salt  in  clear  water ; 
put  them  in  a  preserving  kettle,  cover  them  with 
water,  which  keep  scalding  hot  for  one  hour  ;  then 
take  them  out,  let  them  drain,  and  put  them  in 
jars. 

Boil  the  vinegar,  with  some  cloves,  allspice, 
and  stick  cinnamon.  When  cold,  pour  over  suf- 
ficient to  cover  them. —  WiddifieW s  Cook  Book. 


Old  Maids. — Many  of  the  satirical  aspersions 
cast  upon  old  maids  tell  more  to  their  credit  than 
is  generally  imagined.  Is  a  woman  remarkably 
neat  in  her  person,  "she  will  certainly  die  an  old 
maid."  Is  she  frugal  in  her  expenses,  and  exact 
in  her  domestic  concerns,  "she  is  cut  out  for  an 
old  maid."  And  if  she  is  kind  and  humane  to 
the  animals  about  her,  nothing  can  save  her  from 
the  appellation  of  "old  maid."  In  short,  we  have 
always  found  that  neatness,  modesty,  economy, 
and  humanity,  are  the  never-failing  characteris- 
tics of  an  old  maid. 


.^t^®^'^'^'^  ^^4/^^^ 


DEVOTSD  TO  AGRICULTURE    AND    ITS   KINDRED   ARTS  AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  OCTOBER,  1859. 


NO.  10. 


NOLTtSE,  EATON  &TOLM AN,  Proprietors.      cjTMnw  Tiwnww    -PDiTm? 


Office. ..34  Merchants  Row, 


FRED'K  HOLnROOK,  )  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  \  Editors. 


OCTOBER. 

"Splendor  is  on  the  bough  ! 

The  withering  leaves  fall  fast ; 
Yet  wilder  beauty  crowns  the  forest  now, 

Than  through  the  summer  past. 

"A  more  resplendent  blase,. 

Of  rich  and  radiant  hues, 
Gleams  through  the  autumn  has?, 

Than  'mid  the  summer  dews  " — IVm.  Homtt. 


CTOBER,  with  its 
bright  sunshine, 
its  bracing  air,  its 
gorgeous  coloring, 
would  be  one  of 
our  fairest  months, 
only  that  a  shade 


'feVS^  of    melancholy 
&&  .  .1 \ 


thrown  over  all, 
by  the  thought 
that  this  beauty  is 
but  the  last  gleam 
which  precedes  the 
gloom  of  death. 
We  do  not  like 


^  /^i  to  see   our  old  friends,  the 


.J«C^I 


fresh  young  leaves  of  last 
May,  getting  old  and  drop 


^^^§3^  I  ping  off  one  by  one;  nor  do  we  like 

^^"S^r   I  to  read  the  lesson  which   Autumn 

^"^       teaches   to    all  thoughtful    souls. — 

There  is  a  sad  significance  in  her  symbols  which 

we  would  put  aside  if  we  could — but 

"It  is  written  on  the  trees, 
As  their  young  leaves  glistening  play, 
And  on  brighter  things  than  thcst — 
Passing  away !" 

But,  apart  from  considerations  like  these, 
what  a  splendid  panorama  October,  stretches 
out  before  us !  It  is  true,  there  are  no  blossoms 
on  the  trees,  and  few  flowers  by  the  wayside, 
save  the  golden  rod  and  "everlasting,"  or  in 
some  sheltered  spot,  where  the  sun  lies  long, 
warming  the  earth,  and  the    frost  is   late,  the 


modest  aster  is  still  bright,  and  spreads  its  clus- 
ters to  the  autumnal  breeze :  but  we  can  well 
spare  these,  when  every  leaf  is  crimson  and  scar- 
let and  yellow,  and  the  meanest  shrub  at  our 
feet  is  hung  with  rubies. 

During  the  exhibition  of  a  painting  at  Boston, 
some  years  ago,  one  of  the  spectators  was  heard 
to  remark  by  way  of  criticism,  that  a  certain  por- 
tion of  the  foliage  was  too  bright  to  be  natural. 
Probably  no  one  would  have  doubted  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  criticism,  had  it  not  afterwards 
been  discovered  that  the  foliage  referred  to  was 
a  broken  bough  from  a  real  tree,  and  so  placed 
as  to  seem  a  part  of  the  picture  !  And  this  was 
the  only  thing  about  the  painting  that  seemed 
too  brilliant  to  be  natural.  Nor  is  this  necessa- 
rily a  reflection  on  the  acuteness  of  the  critics. 
Nature  paints  in  colors  so  bright,  in  a  style  so 
original,  that  the  artist  who  should  copy  her 
faithfully,  might  well  be  liable  to  the  charge  of 
exaggeration. 

From  our  window  we  look  out  upon  a  hill  in 
the  distance.  We  have  seen  it  all  summer,  and 
it  has  seemed  to  be  nothing  but  an  eminence 
covered  with  trees — but  every  fall  that  forest  is 
changed  to  a  regiment  of  red-coated  soldiers, 
marching,  and  over  the  hill  we  plainly  discern 
the  British  Regulars  retreating  from  our  village  ! 
If  we  would  carry  out  the  fancy,  we  may  easily 
find  a  counterpart  for  the  "old  continentallers" 
in  the  groups  of  hardy  looking  pines,  and  scrub- 
by apple  trees  scattered  here  and  there  ! 

The  grapes  which  grow  over  your  sunny  trel- 
lis have  hitherto  been  hidden  by  their  large 
green  leaves,  but  now  you  can  see  the  rich  pur- 
pl"^  clusters  all  ready  to  shed  their  blood  in  your 
behalf.  There  is  something  exceedingly  pictur- 
esque, too,  as  well  as  rational,  in  the  loads  of 
corn  and  pumpkins  bound  to  their  winter  quar- 
ters, and  the  little  boy  who  is  perched  on  top 
of  them  enjoys  his  ride  better  than  many  a  rich 
man  in  his  coach. 

Somebody   calls    Indian   Corn     "the    Golden 


442 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


Fleece  found  by  our  Pilgrim  Fathers  on  their 
first  landing."  It  has  certainly  always  been  an 
important  article  in  the  productions  of  the  Unit- 
ed States,  and  is  still  much  used  in  the  "brown 
bread"  of  the  North,  and  the  "corn  cakes"  of  the 
Southern  States. 

It  is  possible  we  are  writing  for  some  who  may 
remember  the  "huskings,"  which  have  become 
almost  traditional  among  us  now,  when  the 
great  barn-floor  was  swept  as  clean  as  the  floor 
of  the  good  wife's  kitchen,  and  the  whole  scene 
was  made  brilliant  by  tallow-candles  hung  up  in 
tin  lanterns  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  hay-loft, 
while  the  party  below,  consisting  of  young  peo- 
ple of  both  sexes,  sat  around  on  the  floor,  on 
such  seats  as  could  be  easily  improvised,  and 
stripped  off  the  husks  amid  much  laughter  and 
merry  talk.  A  red  ear  was  said  to  give  peculiar 
privileges  to  the  finder,  but  of  this  we  would  not 
be  supposed  to  know  any  thing  from  experience. 
The  festivities  of  the  occasion  were  wound  up 
with  a  supper,  and  perhaps  an  eight-handed  reel, 
for  we  are  speaking  of  times  when  "the  sinful- 
ness of  dancing  "  had  not  been  made  an  article 
of  faith  in  all  our  country  villages — when  even 
the  parson  himself  might  look  on  with  an  ap- 
proving smile. 

Whether  more  business  was  accomplished  by 
a  husking  of  this  sort,  than  by  a  good,  steady, 
gander-party,  we  are  not  prepared  to  say,  but 
certainly  there  must  have  been  a  good  deal  more 
fun,  and  we  have  great  faith  in  uniting  the  "use- 
ful with  the  agreeable." 

Belonging  to  the  same  category,  were  the  "ap- 
ple-bees" of  the  olden  time — and  we  cannot  say 
they  may  not  be  in  vrgue  in  some  of  our  rural 
districts  even  yet, — when  neighbors  met  at  each 
other's  houses  to  help  prepare  the  winter  "sarse," 
— and  sour  enough  it  was,  if  we  may  trust  the 
memory  of  our  early  days. 

It  is  wonderful  how  an  apple-paring  taken  off 
whole,  and  thrown  over  the  head,  would  al- 
ways form  the  initial  letter  of  your  "true-love's" 
name.  It  never  comes  any  thing  but  a  long 
crooked  S  ! 

Now,  with  the  gathering  in  of  the  harvest,  and 
preparations  for  Winter,  October  is  a  busy 
month.  It  is  a  month,  too,  when  the  farmer  sees 
the  reward  of  his  past  labor  spread  out  before 
him — for  it  is  only  the  "fowls  of  the  air"  who 
are  privileged  to  expect  food  or  clothing  while 
they  neithcjr  toil  nor  spin.  On  man  it  devolves 
to  win  his  bread  "by  the  sweat  of  his  brow." 

In  an  old  volume  of  the  JVtio  England  Farmer, 
dated  1822,  we  came  across  the  following : — "In 
a  country  where  the  springs  are  backward,  as  in 
the  northern  parts  of  New  England,  farmers 
should  do  all  they  can  in  autumn  to  diminish  or 
lighten  the  labors  of  the  following  spring,  when 


they  will  have  much  work  to  perform  in  a  short 
time." 

We  offer  the  quota' ion  as  "a  word  to  the  wise," 
which  is  said  to  be  "sufficient." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
FOWJL  MEADOW  GRASS. 

Your  issue  of  to-day  contains  an  interesting 
article  by  Mr.  Holbrook  on  the  cultivation  of 
fowl  meadow  grass,  at  the  close  of  which  he  calls 
for  the  experience  of  others. 

I  am  now  fifty  years  old,  and  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  this  grass  all  my  life,  and  cannot 
understand  why  it  has  received  so  little  attention 
from  farmers.  Without  going  into  a  general 
discussion  of  the  subject,  I  will  state  a  few  facts 
which  can  be  relied  on. 

1.  For  cows  and  young  cattle,  there  is  not  a 
better  or  more  economical  hay  grown  in  New 
England. 

2.  Under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  the 
yield  is  very  large.  I  have  seen  more  than  three 
tons  to  the  acre. 

S.  It  does  best  on  natural  moist  meadows, 
which  are  properly  but  not  too  much  drained. 

4.  It  should  never  be  cut  until  a  portion  of  the 
seed  is  sufHciently  ripe  to  fall  and  re-seed  the 
land,     litis  is  indispensable. 

5.  It  is  not  injured  by  standing  until  the  seed 
is  all  ripe.  I  have  known  it  to  ripen,  lodge  and 
sprout  at  the  joints,  yet  in  a  ton  of  such  hay  fed 
to  cows  and  young  cattle  in  the  winter,  there 
would  not  be  one  pound  of  waste.  In  fact  there 
is  no  waste  in  this  grass. 

6.  Fowl  meadow  is  never  ready  to  be  cut  un- 
til all  the  other  haying  is  over. 

These  facts  apply  only  to  the  grass  as  I'aised 
on  moist  meadows.  I  know  nothing  of  it  as  an 
upland  crop 

I  would  advise  farmers  to  procure  a  few  quarts 
of  seed  and  sow  it  as  early  in  September  as  pos- 
sible, on  their  rich,  moist  meadows,  plowed  if 
dry  enough,  if  not,  unplowed,  and  if  it  grows, 
watch  it  with  the  greatest  care,  and  let  every  seed 
ripen  for  their  own  use.  T.  r.  c. 

Avg.  27,  1859. 


MILK  WHICH  DOES  NOT  YIELD  BUT- 
TEfi— MEANS  TO  REMEDY"  IT. 

M.  Deneubourg  addresses  those  who  are 
chiefly  interested  in  cases  in  which  there  is  no 
disease  of  the  mammary  gland  or  loss  of  milk, 
but  a  want  of  oleaginous  matters  in  the  fluid. 
In  the  causes  of  this  deficiency  of  butter-making 
quality,  he  concludes  that  there  are  two  princi- 
pal ones,  viz.  :  idiosyncrasy  and  alimentation. 
But  there  is  another  which  cannot  be  so  easily 
defined,  and  which  occurs  in  animals  that  are 
well  kept,  and  whose  milk  has  been  previously 
rich  in  butter.  It  is  to  these  that  the  remedy  is 
principally  directed.  The  remedy  consists  in 
giving  the  animal  two  ounces  of  the  sulphuret 
of  antimony,  with  three  ounces  of  coriander 
seeds,  powdered  and  well  mixed.  This  is  to  be 
given  as  a  soft  bolus,  and  followed  by  a  draught 
composed  of  half  a  pint  of  vinegar,  a  pint  of 
water,  and  a  hand'ul  of  common  salt,  for  three 
successive  mornings,  on  an  empty  stomach. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


443 


The  remedy,  according  to  the  author,  rarely 
fails,  and  the  milk  produced  some  days  after  its 
exhibition  is  found  to  be  richer  in  cream.  The 
first  churning  yields  a  larger  quantity  of  butter, 
but  the  second  and  the  third  are  still  more  satis- 
factory in  their  results. 

A  letter  from  a  farmer  states  that  he  had  four- 
teen cows  in  full  milk,  from  which  he  obtained 
very  little  butter,  and  that  of  a  bad  quality. 
Guided  by  the  statements  of  M.  De:ieuborg, 
which  had  appeared  in  the  Annales  Veteriaaires, 
he  had  separately  tested  the  milk  of  his  cows, 
and  found  that  the  bad  quality  of  it  was  owing 
to  one  cow  only,  and  that  the  milk  of  the  others 
yielded  good  and  abundant  butter.  It  was, 
therefore,  clearly  established  that  the  loss  he  had 
so  long  sustained  was  to  be  attributed  to  this  cow 
only.  He  at  once  administered  the  remedy  rec- 
ommended by  M.  Deneubourg,  which  effected  a 
cure. —  Veterinarian. 

Remarks. — We  publish  the  above  in  order  to 
call  the  attention  of  farmers  to  the  subject.  The 
statement  is  a  strong  one,  that  the  milk  from  a 
single  cow  should  so  modify  that  from  thirteen 
others  as  to  spoil  the  butter.  Still,  the  milk 
from  a  cow  who  gives  a  large  mess,  and  that  of 
a  thin,  watery  character,  does  have,  to  our  per- 
sonal knowledge,  a  bad  effect  upon  the  milk  of 
other  cows,  in  butter-making. 


BLASTING  ROCKS. 


screw,  spreads  out  the  plug  so  that  if  placed 
over  the  powder  it  completely  fills  up  the  space 
excavated  by  the  drill,  and  of  course  none  of  the 
explosive  power  of  the  powder  is  lost.  A  second 
hole  in  the  plug  allows  the  passage  of  a  safety 
fuse.  It  has  two  or  three  rings  around  it,  and 
can  be  wrapped  with  two  if  necessary,  so  that 
its  hold  is  perfect.  The  plug  can  be  lowered  in- 
to the  hole  above  the  powder,  or  placed  in  a  lat- 
eral drill,  the  rod  be  turned,  the  plug  spread  out 
— all  in  a  few  minutes,  and  after  the  explosion, 
it  can  be  taken  out  uninjured." 


An  account  of  a  new  invention  for  facilitating 
rock  blasting,  and  to  prevent  premature  dis- 
charges, is  going  the  rounds  of  the  newspapers. 
It  is  said  to  be  the  invention  of  J.  G.  Buckley 
and  S.  B.  Mosher,  of  Schaghticoke.  This  is  very 
like  an  invention  or  suggestion  of  Eli  Whitney, 
who,  in  response  to  a  request  from  government, 
if  we  mistake  not,  proposed  that  a  wooden  cone, 
having  a  hole  through  it  for  the  fuse,  should  be 
lowered  down  directly  upon  the  powder,  and 
then  a  few  coarse,  angular  stones  should  be 
dropped  in  to  wedge  down  the  cone;  upon  these 
smaller  stones  and  earth  could  be  filled  in.  When 
the  powder  is  ignited,  the  effect  is  to  force  the 
base  of  the  cone  to  lift  a  liitle,  thus  wedging  it 
firmly  in  the  hole,  and  splitting  and  spreading 
it  somewhat  to  fill  the  whole  ;  thus  very  cheaply 
effecting  what  must  be  attended  with  considera- 
ble expense  in  the  contrivance  described  as  fol- 
lows : 

"As  is  well  known,  after  a  hole  has  been 
drilled  in  the  earth  to  be  blasted,  and  the  pow- 
der inserted,  it  has  to  be  "tamped,"  that  is,  the 
hole  is  filled  up  with  some  substance,  which  is 
rammed  down  in  the  most  solid  manner — a  pro- 
cess that  consumes  a  great  deal  of  time,  and  is 
attended  wii!i  much  danger,  the  blast  often  ex- 
ploding prematurely  from  the  blow  struck  in 
tamping.  This  invention  obviates  the  trouble 
and  risk  of  this  process.  It  is  a  plug  of  steel, 
somewhat  in  the  shape  of  a  syringe.  A  small 
hole  extends  down  through  the  centre.  The  plug 
tapers  from  the  bottom  towards  the  top,  but  as 
it  is  partially  sawed  into  four  parts,  and  capable 
of  expansion,  a  rod  worked  from  above  and  pass- 
ing through   the  centre,  fitted  to  a  cone-shaped 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CROPS  IN  CHESHIRE  COUNTY,  N.  H. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — The  season  is  now  well 
advanced,  and  I  am  prepared  to  place  upon  the 
record  a  statement  of  the  crops.  The  last  win- 
ter, with  its  30  snow  storms,  83  inches  of  snow, 
120  days  of  uninterrupted  sleighing,  and  the 
thermometer  44°  below  zero,  has  not  only  des- 
troyed many  a  pair  of  good  lungs,  but  left  the 
fatal  print  of  its  icy  hand  upon  the  whole  face  of 
the  vegetable  world. 

The  weather  is  now  delightful,  save  the  cold, 
chilly  nights,  which  we  have  had  through  the 
season  up  to  this  moment.  The  hay  crop  is  near- 
ly in,  well  cured,  and  a  good  one.  Wheat  is  re- 
markably good — the  best  and  heaviest  I  ever 
saw  in  this  vicinity.  In  consequence  of  the  high 
price  of  flour  in  the  spring,  nearly  every  farmer 
has  his  field  of  wheat,  and  it  has  proved  a  wor- 
thy effort — one  step  more  towards  his  indepen- 
dence ! 

The  sharp  frosts  of  May  and  June  nearly  des- 
troyed our  corn  crops,  and  a  very  small  harvest 
must  be  the  result.  Many  fine  fields  were  plowed 
in  and  sown  to  Dutch  wheat,  to  the  profit  of  the 
farmer  even.  This  crop  is  fast  coming  into  favor 
with  our  farmers.  It  has  the  advantage  of  an 
alternative  crop,  as  it  does  best  when  sown  as 
late  as  the  middle  or  last  of  July,  after  the  long, 
hot  days  have  past,  and  yields  well.  I  am  t>y- 
ing  some  corn  this  season  where  I  grew  a  fi  le 
crop  of  buckwheat  last,  which  looks  like  tfie 
boy's  calf,  "kind  o'gi'nout."  Barley  and  o; 's 
look  well.  Potatoes,  (don't  tell  the  Irish,)  aie 
vibrating  between  good  and  bad. 

Fruit  trees  seem  to  present  the  shadowy  spec- 
tacle of  a  "dissolving  view."  The  great  depth  of 
snow  during  the  winter  kept  the  frost  out  of  the 
ground,  which  set  the  sappy  fluids  in  motion  and 
predisposed  the  trees  and  buds  to  the  killing  ef- 
fects of  the  frost.  Never  before  have  I  seen  so 
many  trees  "killed  and  wounded"  in  one  season. 
I  believe  the  fruit  buds  of  the  apple  and  pear  will 
successfully  resist  the  action  of  the  frost  of  the 
severest  cold  of  our  climate  if  the  ground  be  suf- 
ficiently frozen  to  hold  the  sap  in  a  dormant  state. 
The  alternate  cold  and  warm  days  of  early  spring 
are  much  more  destructive.  Then,  again,  after 
blossoming,  the  cold,  easterly  wind,  sharp  light- 
ning and  heavy  thunder  will  cut  off  the  fruit  with 
an  electrical  nicety.  Immediately  after  the  ex- 
treme cold  of  January  9,  10  and  11,  I  discovered 
by  a  black  spot  upon  the  ovary  of  the  blossom 
bud  that  the  peach  crop  was  destroyed. 

L.  L.  Pierce. 

East  Jaffrey,  JV.  H.,  Aug.,  1859. 


144 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
KEEP  THE  BOYS  AT  HOME. 

If  the  farmers  scattered  over  our  land  would 
'lUt  mind  this  simple  injunction,  how  much  hap- 
;.iness  would  they  lay  up  for  themselves,  and 
how  many  of  their  sons  would  they  save  from  a 
life  of  shame  and  disgrace.  Keep  the  boys  at 
home!     Why  ?     For  the  following  reasons  : — 

First — Keep  the  boys  at  home,  because  it  is 
the  best  place  on  earth  for  them.  If  you  are  a 
good  intelligent  farmer,  and  if  you  make  your 
home  what  you  ought  to,  a  place  where  love  and 
harmony,  pleasant  words  and  kind  acts  are  ever 
to  be  found,  what  place  is  there,  north  or  south, 
east  or  west,  that  is  so  well  calculated  for  a 
young  man  ?  It  is  the  best  place  for  them,  away 
from  the  temptations  that  meet  young  men  at 
every  corner  of  a  city.  A  young  man  that  leaves 
a  comfortable  home,  with  fair  prospects  in  life, 
to  mingle  in  the  turmoils  of  cities,  steps  from  a 
path  of  roses  to  one  of  thorns ;  steps  from  the 
side  of  true  and  loving  friends  to  seek  the  ac- 
quaintance of  those  that  are  friends  only  for  a 
brief  day,  while  the  sun  of  prosperity  shines,  and 
at  the  approach  of  sickness,  misfortune  or  sor- 
row will  disappear  like  shadows  on  the  wall. 

Second — Keep  the  boys  at  home,  because  you 
want  them  to  share  the  labors  and  pleasures  of 
life.  How  pleasant  the  sight  to  see  an  aged  man 
going  smoothly  adown  the  declivity  of  life,  sup- 
ported by  his  sons.  Many  a  father  has  looked 
forward  with  heartfelt  joy  to  the  time  when  his 
son  would  stand  by  his  side,  sharing  with  him 
the  storms  and  sunshine  of  life. 

But  how  shall  I  keep  the  boys  at  home,  ex- 
claims many  a  reader.  Very  easily.  Many  a  young 
man  has  been  driven  from  the  parental  roof  hj 
excessive  labor,  by  "all  work  and  no  play."  1 
have  seen  many  a  father  more  careful  of  his  no- 
ble horse,  or  a  favorite  yoke  of  cattle,  than  he 
was  of  his  own  son  ;  these  he  would  work  with 
moderation,  allow  them  a  fair  nooning,  and  pro- 
vide liberally  for  their  wants.  But  how  is  it 
with  many  a  farmer's  boy?  Called  up  early  in 
the  morning,  hard  at  work  befort?  breakfast,  with 
tools  that  no  man  would  work  with,  yet  good 
enough  for  the  tender  hands  and  growing  mus- 
cles of  a  boy  ;  his  breakfast  hastily  swallowed  in 
about  a  quarter  of  the  time  that  the  horse  is  eat- 
ing his,  and  then  away  to  work,  straining  every 
muscle  in  his  body  to  keep  up  with  men  double 
his  size.  Cross  words  and  sometimes  blows  are 
added  to  these,  year  after  year,  until  he  grows 
sick  and  discouraged  with  a  farmer's  life,  and  so 
looks  forward  with  jov  to  the  day  of  his  majori- 
ity. 

What  wonder  is  it  that  so  many  of  our  young 
men  are  not  willing  to  stick  to  the  farm  ?  What 
wonder  that  they  look  with  distrust  on  such  a 
life  of  servitude?  And  who  wonders  that  so 
many  fathers  exclaim,  "I  can't  make  my  boys 
like  farming  !"  The  remedy  is  simple  ;  remember 
that  they  are  boys,  not  men.  Bring  all  the  light, 
learning  and  science  of  this  enlightened  age  to 
bear  on  your  noble  profession — a  noble  profes- 
sion, notwithstanding  you  make  it  a  life  of  slav- 
ery. Buy  labor-saving  machines,  not  every 
new-fangled  notion  that  is  offered  you  by  every 
travelling  pe'dler,  but  those  that  have  been  tried 
in  the  field  as  well  as  puffed  up  in  the  city  papers. 


When  such  a  machine  has  been  pronounced  just 
the  thing,  buy  it,  and  if  you  h  ^ve  farmed  it  for 
so  many  years,  and  have  not  as  yet  laid  up 
money  enough  so  that  you  can  afford  to  buy  it 
get  your  rext  door  neighbor,  with  one  or  two 
others  in  the  village,  to  purchase  it  with  you,  and 
use  it  by  turns  ;  you  will  soon  afford  to  buy  one 
yourself.  Make  the  boys  feel  an  interest  in  the 
work  of  the  farm — let  them  have  a  share  of  the 
profits  of  some  field.  Subscribe  for  the  JVeio 
England  Farmer,  and  let  the  boys  read  it ;  you 
will  soon  find  the  excellent  advice  contained  in 
its  columns  will  make  them  feel  contented  with  a 
farmer's  life,  and  if  you  yourself  glean  no  useful 
knowledge  from  its  pages,  the  boys  wi  1,  and 
they  will  soon  begin  to  make  a  change  for  the 
better  in  the  old  homestead.  The  cattle  will  be 
cared  for  in  a  better  manner,  your  work  done  at 
the  proper  season,  according  to  the  monthly  c\\- 
endars,  and  you  will  have  at  last  to  join  in  sing- 
ing 

"A  farmer's  life  is  (he  life  for  me, 
I  own  I  love  it  dearly." 

When  you  do  this,  you  will  find  no  difficulty 
in  keeping  the  boys  at  home,  and  you  will  thank 
the  editor  of  the  Farmer  for  publishing  the  arti- 
cle entitled — '-Keep  the  Boys  at  Home." 

J.  F.  K. 

For  the  New  England  Farmet . 

HOW  SHALL  WE  LSARN  WHICH  IS  THE 
BEST  GRAPE  ? 

Messrs.  Editors  : — The  great  interest  now 
aroused  in  the  culture  of  the  grape,  with  a  view 
of  producing  new  varieties,  whose  good  qualities 
are  more  available  in  our  northern  climate  than 
those  promised  by  the  long  cultivated  Isabella 
and  Catawba,  has  induced  many  enterprising  cul- 
tivators to  raise  young  seedlings,  hoping  to  se- 
cure the  one  prize  that  must  be  hidden  among 
thousands  of  blanks.  Such  enterprise  is  very 
praiseworthy,  but  the  result  will  be  that  about 
every  experimenter  will  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind  that  he  is  the  fortunate  man,  that  he  has 
obtained  the  new  variety  which  the  liberal  pre- 
miums of  our  agricultural  societies  have  in  view  : 
an  early  grape,  a  sweet  grape,  a  spicy  grape,  a 
good  bearer  of  well-set  bunches,  and,  withal,  a 
hardy  variety,  whose  wood  shall  not  be  killed  by 
the  colds  of  winter,  nor  its  fruit  mildew  in  the 
reeking  heat  of  summer. 

Now,  who  is  to  decide  when  a  thousand  posi- 
tive men  shall  be  endeavoring  to  persuade  us 
that  they  have  secured  the  variety?  Within  a 
year  I  have  seen  a  circular  which  set  forth  the 
merits  of  a  new  variety,  one  of  the  weightiest 
arguments  in  which  was  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
best  of  about  forty  seedlings,  and  therefore  must 
be  a  desirable  grape  !  Why,  if  a  thousand  seed- 
lings will  reward  the  enterprising  cultivator  with 
one  really  desirable  variety,  he  is  a  very  fortu- 
nate man,  and  will  be  most  royally  paid  for  all 
his  outlay  of  time,  trouble  and  expense.  Mr. 
Dana,  of  one  of  our  northern  States,  (of  Leba- 
non, N.  H.,)  has  taken  a  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion to  test  the  comparative  merits  of  rival  com- 
petitors, in  offering  one  hundred  dollars  for  the 
best  new  grape,  of  which  a  vine  or  cuttings  shall 
be  sent  by  each  competitor,  to  be  fruited  by  that 
gentleman  himself.  To  say  nothing  of  certain  im- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


445 


possible  conditions  on  which  this  premium  is  of- 
fered, (the  time  in  which  the  award  is  to  be  made 
rendering  it  utterly  impossible  to  determine  some 
of  the  desirable  qualities  which  are  needed  in  a 
good  grape,)  the  fact  that  a  single  individual  is 
to  have  so  much  to  do  with  the  award  of  it  will 
detract  greatly  from  the  value  of  the  experiment, 
in  the  judgment  of  sensible  men.  In  making 
this  remark,  I  will  cast  no  reflections  on  the  gen- 
tleman offering  the  award ;  he  is  entirely  un- 
known to  me,  and  his  idea  of  testing  the  com- 
parative merits  of  new  varieties  on  a  large  scale 
is  an  excellent  one ;  but  what  the  public  want 
is,  that  the  question  as  to  which  is  the  best  grape 
for  general  out-door  culture,  shall  be  settled  by 
some  responsible  body  that  hive  a  wide  reputa- 
tion, and  in  whom  we  all  have  confidence. 

The  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society  could 
place  the  public  under  lasting  obligations,  should 
they  take  this  matter  in  hand,  with  such  varia- 
tions from  the  plan  of  Mr.  Dana  as  their  exten- 
sive knowledge  and  large  experience  might  sug- 
gest. No  prophet  is  needed  to  foretell  that  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years  a  large  number  of  new 
seedling  grapes  will  be  in  the  market,  the  success- 
ful sales  of  which  may  depend  more  on  the  finan- 
cial capacity  of  the  parties  by  whom  they  are  in- 
troduced, than  on  the  merits  of  the  grapes  them- 
selves. Would  not  the  Massachusetts  Horticul- 
tural Society  fill  an  honorable  sphere  by  taking 
the  burden  of  an  experimental  test  upon  them- 
selves, thus  saving  thousands  of  enterprising 
men  from  a  costly  and  annoying  experience  ? 

Marhlehead,  Mass.  J.  J.  H.  Gregory. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  HOMESTEAD  OF  FARM- 
BH,  ALLEN. 

To  one  accustomed  to  the  heat,  noise,  dust  and 
effluvia  of  a  large  city,  the  coolness  and  quiet  of 
a  night  in  the  country  is  eminently  refreshing. 
An  exhausted  frame  with  the  fatigue  of  a  day's 
ride,  induced  me  to  retire  early  to  rest,  and  my 
dreams  were  pleasant,  indeed.  The  gladsome 
crowing  of  the  cocks,  the  singing  of  the  merry 
birds,  the  echoing  of  the  lowing  kine,  awoke  me 
with  their  melodious  sounds  at  an  early  hour,  and 
I  witnessed  a  joyful  sight  at  sunrise  in  the  coun- 
try. The  sun  peeping  over  the  eastern  hills,  and 
athousand  voices  from  all  animated  nature  poured 
forth  a  volume  of  music  to  my  ears.  Bold  chan- 
ticleer, perched  on  the  garden-fence,  commenced 
the  morning  concert  by  one  of  his  ringing  pro- 
clamations ;  he  was  answered  by  his  brothers 
from  all  the  neighboring  barn-yards ;  the  meek 
looking  cows  arose  and  welcomed  the  milkers 
with  their  bright  pails,  who  were  soon  draining 
the  sweet  milk  from  their  flowing  udders ;  the 
birds  gayly  singing  from  the  tree-top,  and  the 
swallows  twittering  from  the  eaves  of  the  barn,  the 
satisfied  grunt  of  the  swine  in  their  well-cleaned 
pens,  all  broke  upon  my  sight  and  ears,  and  pro- 
duced such  harmony  as  I  never  experienced  be- 
fore, and  the  notes  still  linger,  like  a  half-re- 
membered lay,  in  my  ear. 

I  attended  the  country  church  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  was  forcibly  struck  with  the  solemnity  that 
pervaded  all.  The  people  seemed  to  come  not 
to  display  the  latest  fashion,  or  the  skill  of  their 


dressmakers,  but  to  refresh  their  souls,  and  to 
gather  new  courage  to  battle  with  the  trials,  dis- 
appointments and  sorrows  of  the  coming  week. 
The  next  morning,  after  partaking  of  a  plentiful 
breakfast,  my  friend  proceeded  to  show  me  over 
the  farm.  We  first  inspected  the  barn,  and  the 
first  thing  that  I  noticed  on  entering  was  the 
neatness  that  pervaded  the  entire  premises. — 
Every  harness,  rake,  pitchfork,  everything  in  the 
tie-up,  the  horses'  stalls,  and  even  the  calf-pen, 
were  as  neat  and  in  as  good  order  as  if  the  barn 
had  never  been  occupied.  Mr.  Allen  informed  me 
that  he  often  harnessed  a  horse  after  dark  with- 
out the  aid  of  a  lantern,  thus  avoiding  the  dan- 
ger of  setting  the  building  on  fire.  The  barn  ia 
100  feet  long  and  50  wide,  with  a  light  and  dry 
cellar  under  th^*  whole.  He  told  me  that  he  ob- 
tained many  of  his  valuable  ideas  about  his  farm 
by  inspecting  the  large  barn  of  Hon.  Mr.  French, 
at  Bniintree.  The  tool-house  next  claimed  ray 
attention ;  here,  also,  "order  reigned  supreme." 
On  looking  round,  it  made  me  think  of  one  of 
our  Boston  agricultural  warehouses.  Here  I  saw 
one  of  Willard's  patent  root-cutters,  which  Mr. 
Allen  considers  a  valuable  machine  for  cutting 
all  kinds  of  roots  for  feeding  to  the  stock ;  even 
pumpkins  are  easily  cut  with  it  previous  to  cook- 
ing for  the  swine ;  it  is  easily  operated  by  a  good 
sized  boy,  and  is  a  durable  and  labor-saving  ma- 
chine both  to  man  and  beast. 

But  I  cannot  describe  a  quarter  of  the  tools 
and  utensils  that  were  hanging  from  the  walls 
and  reposing  on  the  floor  in  their  respective 
places,  all  ready  to  perform  good  execution  in 
lightening  the  labor  of  man. 

Emerging  from  the  tool-house,  I  passed  into 
the  orchard,  with  its  regular  rows  of  trees,  all  in 
bearing  condition.  Mr.  A.  told  me  that  when 
he  purchased  the  farm  at  about  half  of  its  pres- 
ent value,  of  the  former  owner,  there  were 
only  about  50  old  apple  trees  on  the  place  ;  he 
immediately  commenced  digging  round  the  old 
and  half-dead  trees,  and  setting  out  new  ones, 
and  the  result  has  been  in  producing  one  of  the 
finest  orchards  in  the  neighborhood.  I  asked 
Mr.  A.  if  he  ever  used  strong  potash  lye  on  his 
trees.  "O,  no,"  said  he,  "I  tried  it  once  on  that 
tree,"  pointing  to  the  meanest  looking  tree  in 
the  orchard,  "and  the  result  has  satisfied  me  of 
its  utter  absurdity."  I  admired  the  straightness 
of  my  friend's  trees,  and  in  reply  to  a  question, 
Farmer  Allen  told  me  that  when  his  trees  were 
about  as  large  as  his  wrist,  he  cut  some  crotched 
limbs,  sharpened  one  end,  and  sticking  it  into 
the  ground,  put  the  crotch  part  against  the  trunk 
or  limb  of  the  tree  ;  a  little  old  matting  is  placed 
between  the  tree  and  the  stick  to  prevent  it  from 
chafing  the  bark  of  the  tree.  My  friend  takes 
almost  as  much  pains  in  training  up  his  trees  in 
the  way  they  should  go  as  he  does  with  his  chil- 
dren. 

Among  the  summer  apples  that  he  recom- 
mends, were  the  Early  Harvest,  which  succeeds 
well  in  all  our  northern  States ;  the  Sweet  Bough — 
this  is  also  a  valuable  apple ;  it  is  a  large,  round- 
ish shape,  sometimes  conical,  of  a  pale  gr/'enish 
yellow,  flesh  very  tender,  and  of  an  excellent 
sweet  flavor  ;  succeeds  well  in  all  the  northern 
States  ;  the  Golden  Sweet  is  a  fine  apple.  Of 
winter  apples,  Mr.  Allen  recommends  the  Bel- 
mont, the  Hubbardston  Nonsuch,  a  large,  round- 


446 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


ish  apple,  striped  with  light,  rich  red  streaks, 
flavor,  mild  sub-acid,  excellent,  succeeds  best  in 
the  northern  States.  Peck's  Pleasant  is  a  large 
apple,  good  hearer,  fruit  always  fair.  The  Jon- 
athan, so  called,  is  a  great  bearer;  color  a  deep, 
bright  red,  of  an  excellent  flavor;  the  Baldwin, 
Rhode  Island  Greening,  Northern  Spy,  Newton 
Pippin  and  Koxbury  Russet  are  all  too  well  known 
to  need  a  description.  These  are  a  few  varie- 
ties which  my  friend  recommended  with  a  good 
deal  of  confidence,  as  we  were  standing  under 
the  branches  of  a  large  Porter  apple  tree.  Of 
pears,  the  following  are  always  good  ;  viz. :  the 
Bartlett,  Napoleon,  Vicar  of  VVinkfield,  Dix  and 
Seckel.  These  are  all  good  varieties,  and  will 
amply  repay  the  care  of  cultivation. 

My  friend  now  wanted  me  to  go  and  look  at  a 
piece  of  land  that  he  had  reclaimed,  and  we  were 
preparing  so  to  d  )  when  the  pleasant  sound  of 
the  dinntr-horn  broke  on  our  ears,  and  as  our 
morning  exercise  had  given  us  a  keen  appetite, 
we  concluded  to  postpone  the  visit  until  after 
dinner.  In  my  next,  I  will  give  you  an  account 
of  the  visit  to  the  reclaimed  land,  and  my  obser- 
vations in  the  hay-field,  not  forgetting  to  speak 
a  good  word  of  the  utility  of  the  hay-caps. 

Freeman. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

BARN  ARRANGEMENTS. 

Mr.  Editor: — I  will  give  you  some  idea  of 
the  way  in  which  I  intend  to   build  a  barn.     I 


BARNSTABLE  AGRICULTURAL   FAIR. 

In  looking  over  the  account  of  this  fair,  there 
are  two  things  that  strike  us  very  agreeably  at 
the  outset. 

The  fair  was  held  on  two  days,  and  the  annual 
meeting  for  the  choice  of  officers  and  the  trans- 
action of  business  was  held  on  the  forenoon  of 
the  first  day.  While  the  articles  for  the  show  were 
being  arranged  in  the  hall,  and  the  stock  in  the 
pens,  the  members  met,  and  deliberately  transact- 
ed their  business.  This  gives  them  time  to  do 
all  that  is  necessary,  without  the  hurry  and  con- 
fusion that  usually  attends  these  meetings  af- 
ter the  dinner,  at  the  close  of  the  fair,  when  every 
one  is  in  haste  to  get  away.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, the  business  is  apt  to  be  done  hastily, 
and  with  too  little  thought,  and  important  mat- 
ters are  forgotten,  or  referred  to  committees. 
Could  the  affairs  of  our  county  societies  be  trans- 
acted more  deliberately,  and  the  views  of  all  the 
members  be  brought  out,  there  would  be  more 
union  and  harmony  in  their  management.  When 
a  fair  is  held  two  days,  we  think  the  Barnstable 
plan  is  an  excellent  one. 

The  second  thing  to  which  we  refer  is  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  to  superintend  the  set- 
ting out  of  ornamental  trees  upon  the  grounds 


propose  to  have  it  of  sufficient  size  to  ace  mmo>f  ^^e  society.  This  matter  has  been  too  much 
dale  my  stock  of  three  horses,  three  cows  and  a | neglected.  Most  of  our  showgrounds  might,  by 
yoke  of  oxen,  leaving  room  for  hay,  grain,  gran- 1  proper  attention,  and  with  little  expense,  be  con- 


ary,  store  room  or  tool  house,  &c.  I  intend  to 
have  upon  one  side  my  granary,  and  a  large  bay 
for  hay,  &c.,  and  on  the  other  side  stalls  for  my 
stock  of  cattle  and  horses,  a  tool  room,  <S:c.  Un- 
derneath the  stalls  I  propose  to  construct  a  tight- 
ly cemented  manure  cellar,  of  suflicient  capacity 
to  contain  about  two  hundred  loads  of  manure, 
and  so  arranged  as  to  receive  all  the  manure,  both 
solid  and  liquid,  from  the  stalls.  I  shall  have 
adjoining  my  barn  a  building  so  constructed  as  to 
contain  a  henery,  store  room  with  cellar  under- 
neath for  roots,  a  room  for  cooking  food  for 
hogs,  hens,  <5cc.,  and  a  pig  sty,  to  connect  with 
the  before-named  manure  cellar.  I  shall  give  my 
hogs  the  range  of  the  manure   cellar,  and  shall. 


verted  into  beautiful  and  attractive  places.  Or- 
namental trees  tastefully  arranged,  and  paths  skil- 
fully laid  out,  and  a  smooth,  green  surface  be- 
tween the  walks,  would  render  them  much  more 
attractive,  and  add  much  to  the  comfort  and 
pleasure  of  the  occasion.  It  would  tend  to  fos- 
ter good  taste  in  the  minds  of  the  members  and 
visitors.  We  hope  the  example  of  this  society 
will  be  followed  by  all  societies  v,hich  own 
grounds  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  an  annual 
fair. 

We  infer  from  the  report  that  the  directors  de- 
termined to  have  a  good  time  at  the  fair,  and 


from  time  to  time,  put  into  it  muck,  leaves  and 
other  matter,  as  often  as  it  shall  be  necessary.  IjfLiHy  succeeded.  What  was  wanting  to  make 
also  intend  to  have  a  drain  or  pipe  running  from  j  their  Agricultural  /SAoiw  attractive,  they  made  up 
my  house  (which  is  on  a  higher  level  than  my|in  attractions  of  other  kinds.  They  bought  to- 
barn,)  to  the  manure  cellar,  and  to  carry  into  itjgether  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  and  various 


all  night-soil,  soap-suds,  and  all  kinds  of  liquids 
valuable  for  manurial  qualities. 

I  hope,  with  the  above  named  conveniences, 
and  the  assistance  of  three  or  four  of  the  hog 
kind,  to  keep  a  small  farm  in  a  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation. 

What  say  the  editor  and  my  brother  subscri- 
bers to  the  N.  E.  Farmer,  to  my  plan  ? 

Boston,  August  5,  1859.  c.  C.  H. 


Remarks.  —  Your  plan  appears  well  in  de- 
scription, but  a  ground  plan  would  have  given  us 
a  better  idea  of  it.  When  the  barn  is  completed, 
give  us  an  invitation  to  look  at  it. 


notabilities  from  all  points  of  the  State.  The 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  company  from 
Boston  were  there,  and  the  Boston  Brass  Band, 
with  various  side  shows,  such  as  a  revolving 
swing,  the  Ethiopian  troupe,  big  oxen,  &:c.,  and 
last,  but  not  least,  a  splendid  ball  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  second  day.  J.  B.  Smith  got  up  one 
of  his  best  dinners.  Gov.  Washburn  made  an 
eloquent  oration,  and  there  was  the  usual  varie- 
ty of  speech-making,  and  other  talk,  interspersed 
with  songs  and  music  by  the  band. 
But  amidst  all  this  display  and  show,  we  fear 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


447 


that  the  farmers  themselves  showed  rather  small, 
— that  they  were  pushed,  or  fell  into  the  back- 
ground— and  but  little  was  actually  done,  to  pro- 
mote the  growth  and  improvement  of  agriculture. 
When  the  energies  of  a  society  are  expended  in 
getting  up  a  grand  festival,  the  real  object  of  its 
organization  is  apt  to  be  overlooked.  We  take 
it,  the  "chief  end"  of  a  country  agricultural  soci- 
ety is  to  awaken  in  the  people  a  deeper  sense  of 
the  importance  of  Agriculture,  and  to  stimulate 
the  farmers  to  greater  efforts  to  develop  the  ag- 
ricultural capacities  of  the  country.  For  this 
purpose,  the  best  specimens  of  stock  and  other 
farm  products  are  brought  together,  that  they 
may  be  seen  and  examined,  and  the  improve- 
ment, from  year  to  year,  noted.  Premiums  are 
awarded  to  reward  and  encourage  effort.  If 
military  displays,  military  music,  and  fancy  balls 
and  other  side  shows,  are  needed  to  accomplish 
the  legitimate  objects  of  the  societies,  then  let  us 
have  them,  by  all  means. 

"The  whole  programme  of  exercises  for  the 
occasion  was  entirely  and  splendidly  successful," 
and  "Wednesday  and  Thursday  are  days  long  to 
be  remembered  in  the  history  of  the  Barnstable 
Agricultural  Society."     Well,  we  shall  see. 


cannot  raise  beets,  tomatoes,  melons,  onions,  let- 
tuce, and  furnish  her  own  table  with  them  ?  What 
woman  cannot  plant  a  raspberry  bush,  or  currant, 
or  gooseberry  and  tend  it  well  ?  Come,  good  wo- 
men, study  your  health,  your  usefulness  and  hap- 
piness, and  your  children  also. —  Valley  Farmer. 


WrOMESN  IN  THE  G^HDSN. 

Much  in  these  days  is  said  about  the  sphere  of 
woman.  Of  the  vexed  question  we  have  nothing 
now  to  say.  The  culture  of  the  soil,  the  body 
and  the  soul  are  our  themes.  Rich  soils,  healthy 
bodies,  pure,  cultivated  souls,  these  are  what  we 
are  aiming  at.  And  to  this  end  we  recommend 
that  every  country  Avoman  have  a  garden  that  she 
keep  and  dress  with  her  own  hands,  or  that  she 
supervise  and  manage.  The  culture  of  straw- 
berries, raspberries,  blackberries,  gooseberries, 
currants  and  garden  vegetables  is  as  delightful 
and  profitable  as  anything  in  which  a  woman  can 
engage.  She  may  sprinkle  her  garden  well  with 
flowers.  All  the  better  for  that.  A  snowball  in 
this  corner,  a  rose  in  that,  a  dahlia  bed  there  and 
a  moss  border  here  will  not  be  out  of  place.  Only 
let  the  substantial  and  useful  constitute  the  chief 
part.  A  touch  of  the  ornate,  like  a  ribbon  on  a 
good  bonnet,  is  not  in  the  least  objectionable.  In 
all  the  schools  the  girls  study  botany.  In  all 
families  the  women  ought  to  practice  botany.  It 
is  healthful,  pleasing  and  useful.  The  principles 
of  horticulture  are  the  principles  of  botany  put 
into  practice.  Farmers  study  agriculture,  why 
should  not  their  wives  and  daughters  study  hor- 
ticulture ?  If  any  employment  is  feminine,  it 
■would  seem  that  this  is.  If  any  is  healthy,  this 
must  be.  If  any  is  pleasurable,  none  can  be 
more  so  than  this.  A  rich  bed  of  strawberries,  a 
bush  of  blackberries  or  currants,  a  border  of  flow- 
ers produced  by  one's  own  hand,  what  can  well 
afford  a  more  rational  satisfaction  ?  We  say  to 
all  our  country  sisters,  have  a  garden,  if  only  a 
small  one,  and  do  your  best  with  it.  Plant  it 
with  what  pleases  you  best,  with  a  good  variety, 
and  see  what  you  can  do  with  it.     What  woman 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
IS  THERE  ANY  PROFIT  IN  FARMING? 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  been  some  seven  or 
eight  years  engaged  in  the  business  of  agricul- 
ture, and  have  generally  found  the  answer  to  the 
above  question  to  be  in  the  negative  in  most  of 
my  direct  operations  on  the  farm.  I  have  been 
also  somewhat  observant  of  the  progress  of  my 
brother  farmers  in  this  section,  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  some  extent;  also,  I  have  taken  some 
pains  to  inquire  of  those  whom  I  meet  from  oth- 
er sections  of  this,  and  other  States ;  and  if  I 
should  tell  what  I  honestly  believe  in  the  matter, 
I  should  say  that  not  one  farmer  in  ten  is  mak- 
ing a  living,  unless  he  has  some  resource  besides 
the  farm,  and  laying  by  three  per  cent,  on  the 
capital  invested. 

Perhaps  you  will  say,  it  is  not  good  policy  to 
publish  this  to  the  world,  as  most  farmers  are  in 
debt,  and,  as  the  Frenchman  said,  "they  are 
growing  no  better  very  fast."  Now,  if  what  I  say 
is  true,  that  agriculture  is  not  a  paying  business 
in  New  England,  that  the  farmers  are  working 
hard  and  long,  to  no  profit,  that  they  are  gener- 
ally in  debt,  and  many  hopelessly  so — that  farm 
property  is  deteriorating  in  value,  (I  mean  the 
real  property,)  in  three-foutths  of  the  towns 
where  farming  is  the  principal  pursuit ;  that  the 
report  on  the  poor  in  this  State  shows  that  it 
costs  nearly  double  according  to  the  population 
for  their  support  in  the  agricultural,  than  in  the 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  towns  and  cities 
of  the  commonwealth  ;  that  no  poor  man,  howev- 
er industrious,  can  expect  to  succeed  in  the  busi- 
ness ;  if  he  makes  the  attempt,  it  is  only  to  his 
sorrow ;  that,  while  catering  to  the  wants  and 
comforts  of  others,  he  can  but  illy  afford  to  enjoy 
them  himself;  that,  in  short,  while  seeing  the 
thrift  and  prosperity  of  the  different  classes  all 
around  him,  who  are  non-producers,  he  must  re- 
main content. 

Now,  says  the  reader,  is  this  so  ?  I  supposed 
that  the  farmers  all  the  time  lived  in  clover  :  that 
they  were  almost  the  only  truly  independent  and 
happy  people  amongst  us  ;  that  they  had  nothing 
I  to  do  but  to  pluck  and  eat.  What  made  you  thnik 
I  so  ?  Have  you  been  in  the  habit  of  listening  to 
[the  speeches  of  some  official  or  ex-official,  (who 
I  is  anxious  to  cut  off  the  ex,)  at  some  County  or 
I  State  show,  or  perhaps  on  the  eve  of  an  election, 
;or  is  it  some  "three-cow  gentleman  farmer"  who 
jhas  told  you  about  the  "six  bright  milk  pans 
which  reclined  against  the  fence,"  or  "the  angel 
■cow  that  stood  in  the  yard  ?"  All  this  is  very 
pretty  to  talk  about,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  high- 
ly agreeable  to  farm  when  one  has  money  to 
1  spend  that  he  never  earned,  or  having  earned  a 
'fV)rtune  at  some  other  pursuit,  is  willing  to  spend 
a  portion  of  it  in  this  way.  to  make  a  show,  or 
for  the  public  good,  either  of  which  is  highly  det- 
rimental to  the  true  interest  of  the  farmer.  Per- 
haps  this  class  of   farmers  of  whom  I  am  now 


448 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


speaking,  take  a  good  deal  of  pride  in  showing 
folks  how  things  can  be  done,  and  what  mon- 
strous crops  can  be  raised,  and  what  mammoth 
cattle  can  be  produced.  The  reader  will  recollect 
that  it  is  the  profit  that  we  are  looking  at,  and  not 
that  great  things  can  be  done,  or  that  farming  is 
not  a  very  agreeable  way  of  spending  money. 

I  never  heard  of  but  one  man  who  had  made 
anything  like  a  fortune  at  farming,  and  this  was 
an  honest  old  deacon,  who  was  so  highly  elated 
with  his  great  success,  that  he  concluded  to  lec- 
ture on  it  before  the  town  society.  Of  course 
everybody  was  on  the  qui  vive  to  know  how  it  was 
done,  so  he  had  an  anxious  auditory.  I  will  not 
undertake  to  follow  him  in  his  remarks  here,  but 
will  merely  state  that  he  closed  evidently  with  as 
much  satisfaction  at  his  success  at  lecturing,  as 
at  fortune-making.  The  lecture  had  no  other  ef- 
fect that  I  could  see,  than  to  create  a  smile  on 
the  part  of  the  listeners,  and  reminding  one  of 
the  anecdote  of  the  lawyer  and  the  iron  kettle. 
The  lawyer  arose  in  court  with  a  good  deal  of 
pomposity,  and  says,  "Your  honor,  my  client 
here  is  accused  of  stealing  an  iron  kettle,  now, 
may  it  please  the  court,  I  shall  prove  in  the  first 
place,  that  this  plaintiff  here  never  owned  an  iron 
kettle ;  and  in  the  second  place,  that  the  ket- 
tle was  broke  when  he  took  it ;  and  in  the  third 
place,  that  he  never  took  the  kettle  at  all."  This 
was  about  the  way  with  the  deacon's  fortune. 

The  reader  will  please  excuse  this  seeming  di- 
gression, although  it  is  not  really  so,  for  we  have 
just  this  class  in  the  community,  who,  like  this 
deacon,  imagine  they  have  great  success,  and 
never  find  out  their  mistake,  till  it  is  too  late  to 
remedy  the  evil. 

Does  the  reader  want  any  facts  to  prove  what  I 
have  said  ?  If  so,  and  he  will  listen  one  momt-nt, 
I  will  give  him  a  few  of  the  many  that  are  now 
on  my  mind.  Go  into  the  rural  districts  and  see 
what  proportion  of  the  farms  have  been  long  in 
the  market  without  a  customer,  price  them,  then 
figure  up  the  improvements,  and  see  if  the  soil  is 
not  a  free  gift.  Go  further  than  this,  and  price 
the  yearling  heifer  you  see  in  the  yard,  Now  ask 
what  it  cost  to  raise  it,  and  you  will  be  told,  I 
don't  know.  This  is  true,  he  don't  know.  But 
Dr.  Bartlett,  of  this  town,  will  tell  you  that  it 
costs  twenty-three  dollars  to  raise  a  yearling  and 
this  is  probably  about  double  the  price  named. 
Then  ask  what  he  gets  for  his  milk?  Two  cents 
per  quart.  Is  this  the  cost  ?  I  don't  know.  Hear 
what  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
in  this  State,  says  in  the  matter.  '"By  actual  ex- 
periment at  the  State  Farm  at  Westboro",  it  has 
been  proved  to  cost  twenty-five  cents  per  day  for 
the  six  cold  months,  and  six  cents  per  day  for  the 
other  six,  to  keep  a  cow."  This  would  make  the 
cost  of  keeping  a  cow  one  year,  fifty-seven  dollars 
and  twenty  cents.  Now,  how  much  milk  will  a  cow 
give  in  a  year?  Our  farmer  says  he  don't  know. 
And  he  tells  the  truth,  undouhte  ily.  But  what 
■^-ill  our  authority  tell  us  has  been  proved  to  be 
the  fact  ?  On  the  average  for  each  day  in  the 
year,  a  good  cow  will  give  four  quarts  per  day,  or 
1460  quarts  a  year,  which,  at  two  and  a  half 
cents  per  quart,  amounts  to  thirtj'-six  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  a  year,  making  a  loss  of  twenty 
dollars  and  seventy  cents  a  year,  for  each  cow, 
calling  the  manure  suihcient  compensation  for 
taking  care  of  them. 


I  might  carry  these  remarks  to  a  much  greater 
extent  with  about  the  same  result,  but  fear  I  am 
getting  tedious,  and  intend  to  refer  to  the  subject 
again,  if  the  Farvier  will  give  me  the  privilege. 

Now,  I  want  to  thank  the  editor  of  this  paper 
for  bringing  up  the  subject  in  his  last  issue  ;  for 
it  is  the  profit  of  farming  that  we  want  to  talk 
about,  and  not  what  we  can  do.  But  the  grand 
question  with  the  farmer  is,  will  it  pay  to  do  it? 
I  have  the  very  best  authority  for  saying  that  no 
business  that  does  not  pay,  is  useful  and  health- 
ful. T.  J.  PiNKHAM. 

Chelmsford,  Mass.,  July  25,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
UNFRUITFUL  GRAPE   VINES. 

I  noticed  in  the  Farmer,  some  time  since,  an 
inquiry  why  a  particular  vine  of  the  Isabella 
grape  could  not  be  made  to  bear  ;  and  in  reply, 
an  intimation  that  the  cause  might  be  its  stand- 
ing at  a  distance  from  any  other  vine.  I  have 
proved  by  numerous  experiments,  that  the  grape 
does  not  need  the  vicinity  of  another  vine,  as  each 
flower  has  all  the  organs  necessary  to  fruitfulness. 
I  will  suggest  that  exposure  to  the  cold  of  winter 
sometimes  injures  vines  without  killing  them.  In 
this  case  the  vine  will  leave  later  in  the  season, 
but  afterwards  may  make  a  luxuriant  growth.  In 
such  cases  the  flower  buds,  though  perfectly 
formed  before,  develop  only  leaves.  This  is  al- 
most uniformly  the  case  in  all  attempts  to  culti- 
vate the  peach  in  Maine.  The  trees  will  grow 
rapidly,  and  one  acquainted  with  the  peach  will 
find  abundance  of  flower  buds  perfectly  formed 
in  the  fall;  but  in  the  spring  these  buds  throw 
out  only  leaves,  the  flower  germ  having  been 
killed  by  freezing,  while  the  leaf  germ,  (if  I  may 
use  such  a  distinction,)  survives.  Grape  vines 
must  be  sheltered  in  winter  to  secure  fruit.  When 
the  IsabelU,  left  without  proper  shelter,  succeeds 
in  making  fruit,  it  will  be  a  fortnight  later  in  ri- 
pening than  the  fruit  of  a  properly  protected 
vine.  J.  S.  SwiFT. 

Farmington,  Me.,  August,  1859. 


Remarks. — Mr.  J.  J.  H.  Gregory,  of  Mar- 
blehead,  in  a  recent  communication  on  this  sub- 
ject gives  as  a  reason  why  some  grape  vines  do 
not  bear  fruit,  that  they  are  imperfect  ones.  He 
says:  "Struck  by  the  phenomenon  of  vines 
abounding  in  fragrant  blossoms  without  setting 
fruit,  I  gathered  the  blossoms  and  compared  them 
with  those  from  fruit-bearing  vines.  The  diff'er- 
ence  was  at  once  apparent ;  the  blossoms  of  the 
two  vines  which  had  never  borne  were  not  perfect 
in  structure  ;  the  stamens  were  present,  but  the 
pistil  was  wanting.  Such  vines  cannot  bear — it 
is  a  physical  impossibility.  Had  the  pistil  been 
present  they  might  have  borne,  though  the  sta- 
mens had  been  wanting,  receiving  pollen  from 
the  stamens  of  other  vines." 


^^  There  is  an  average  of  300  bushels  of  whor- 
tleberries brought  into  the  Boston  market  each 
day.  The  consumers  do  not.,  however,  all  reside  in 
Boston. 


:359. 


NEAV  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


449 


THE  SCOTCH  GAME  FOWLS. 


The  beautiful  specimens  of  fowls  which  are 
figured  above,  we  do  not  present  to-  encourage 
any  propensity  for  the  cock-pit  or  prize  fight,  or, 
because  we  think  that,  upon  the  whole,  they 
■would  be  more  profitable,  as  a  breed,  for  our' 
poultry  yards  generally  ;  but  because  we  suppose' 
the  Game  Fowl  is  a  pure  breed,  and  that  such 
blood  infused  into  our  common  fowls  would 
greatly  improve  them. 

In  Dixon  and  Kerr's  excellent  work  on  Poul- 
try, it  says — "Of  all  the  varieties  of  domestic 
fowls,  except,  perhaps,  the  Smooth-legged  Iran- 
ians, the  Game  Fowl  is  the  most  symmetrical. 
It  is  more  slender  in  the  body,  the  neck,  the  bill 
and  the  legs,  than  other  kinds,  and  the  various 
hues  of  the  plumage  are  more  brilliant  and 
showy.  Their  flesh  is  white,  compact, — like  that 
of  the  race-horse  compared  with  the  scrub, — 
delicate,  and  very  nutritious. 

"There  are  evidently  two  varieties  of  the  game 
fowl,  if  not  more.  The  first  occasionally  seen  in 
the  yard  of  the  farmer,  is  a  bird  ovei'  the  average 
size,  and  rather  heavily  formed ;  rather  too  much 
comb;  breast  quite  black  ;  neck,  back,  and  wings 
a  very  deep  red  ;  tail,  glossy  green.  The  hen 
plain  brown,  with  a  lighter  colored  neck,  some- 
times a  little  streaked  with  ochre ;  legs  light- 
colored  or  white. 

"The  other  variety,  which  I  much  prefer,  and 
now  possess,  is  a  smaller  fowl,  of  a  peculiarly 
light  and  elegant  make ;  head  very  small  and 
fine  ;  neck,  light  orange  red  ;  breast  richly  spot- 


ted, as  are,  also,  in  a  degree,  the  wings  ;  the 
back,  a  very  rich  red  ;  tail,  glossy  greenish  black  ; 
legs,  dark.  Hens,  brown,  of  various  shades,  the 
feathers  being  streaked  with  pale  ochre  down 
the  middle,  the  same  as  pheasants ;  comb,  in  the 
cocks  very  small,  and  not  large  in  the  hens." 

The  eggs  are  a  little  smaller  than  those  of  our 
common  fowls.  The  hens  are  good  setters  and 
mothers.  A  cross  with  the  game  fowl  would  un- 
doubtedly give  stamina  and  value  to  most  of  our 
common  breeds. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

"COPELAND'S  COUNTRY  LIFE." 

Mr.  Editor: — I  have  rather  hastily  examined 
the  above  work,  particularly  the  author's  remarks 
on  the  cultivation  of  Fruit  Trees.  There  are 
many  excellent  hints  and  directions  regarding 
their  culture,  but  in  his  "wholesale  denial,"  as  he 
terms  it,  of  scraping  and  washing  the  bark  of 
any  tree,  it  seems  to  me  he  is  entirely  at  fault; 
for  although,  with  him,  I  believe  that  lichens  and 
mosses  of  various  kinds  are  not  the  cause,  but 
generally  the  consequence  of  a  diseased  state  of 
the  tree,  still  the  woolly  aphis,  called  in  I'.ngland 
the  American  blight,  which  is  occasionally  found 
in  the  forks  of  the  branches  of  our  ajjple  trees  if 
suffered  to  multiply,  does  injury,  seeming  to  burn 
the  bark  upon  which  it  fastens  ;  then,  again,  we 
have  another  insect,  somewhat  allied  to  the 
above,  which  has  been  termed  the  scale,  or  mini- 
ature tortoise,  found  upon  the  bark  of  our  young 
pear  trees,  fastening  themselves  closely  upon  the 
bark.  They  are  white  externally,  but  when 
1  rubbed  off  emitting  a  red  liquid ;  this  insect,  when 


450 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


abundant,  will  surely  destroy  the  limb  or  check 
the  growth.  Their  first  appearance,  some  years 
since,  with  me,  was  upon  young  trees  received 
from  Long  Island,  and  my  neighbor  Manning 
observed  to  me  that  the  first  time  he  found  this 
insect  was  upon  trees  he  received  from  Flushing. 

As  for  lichens  and  moss  being  a  benefit  to  a 
fruit  tree,  I  can  hardly  admit.  To  the  eye  of  the 
botanist  it  may  be  that  the  beauty  of  color,  is  so 
great,  particularly  when  united  with  the  delicate 
ferns,  that  he  wishes  to  preserve  them,  the  same 
as  a  true  lover  of  nature  may  be  willing  to  fore- 
go the  pleasure  of  eating  a  fine  pear,  thus  merg- 
ing the  useful  in  the  beautiful.  I  cannot  sub- 
scribe to  his  conclusion,  that  "no  insects  which 
harbor  in  the  outer  bark  of  trees,  and  can  be  re- 
moved by  scraping  and  washing,  are  really  inju- 
rious to  the  tree,"  and  also  that,  "No  tree  has 
ever  been  with  certainty  benefited  by  scraping 
and  washing." 

I  do  admit  with  him,  that  many  insects  which 
are  found  in  the  rough  bark  are  not  necessarily 
injurious  to  the  trees,  such  as  spiders  or  their 
lar\fe,  and  that  the  rough  bark  is  not  of  itself  det- 
rimental to  their  growth,  as  it  is  often  thrown  off 
by  nature  ;  and  still,  it  is  undoubtedly  at  first,  as 
he  says,  a  protection  against  heat  and  cold.  I 
shall  take  another  opportunity  to  speak  of  his 
directions,  &c.,  on  the  culture  of  our  small  fruits 

Salem,  August,  1859.  J.  M.  Ives. 


GATHEBIISTG  AND  PHESBRVINQ  PEUIT. 
BY   ROXBURY   RUSSETT. 

Whoever  would  derive  large  profits  and  prices 
from  his  orchard,  must  be  prepared  to  take  care 
of  his  fruits,  as  after  they  are  grown  they  have 
to  be  gathered  and  preserved  ;  and  the  better 
this  part  of  the  work  is  done,  the  more  profits 
will  be  obtained.  Besides,  it  is  the  preservation 
which  enables  the  fruit-grower  to  put  his  valuable 
varieties  in  market  when  they  are  worth  the  most 
money. 

The  best  mode  of  gathering  as  yet  known  is 
by  hand  with  the  aid  of  self-supporting  ladders, 
and  small  baskets,  cushioned  on  the  inside.  There 
are  various  contrivances,  and  some  of  them  really 
meet  all  the  requirements  wanted,  with  the  ex- 
ceptions that  they  use  up  too  much  time.  These 
contrivances  answer  for  amateurs,  but  not  for 
farmers.  Every  fruit  taken  from  the  tree  should 
have  its  stalk  unbroken,  it  should  be  gathered 
by  hand,  and  placed  in  the  basket,  carefully  and 
lightly,  not  allowing  it  to  drop,  or  to  knock 
against  other  fruit,  or  against  any  substance  that 
would  bruise  it  in  the  slightest  degree.  The  same 
care  should  be  taken  in  removing  the  fruit  when 
gathered  to  the  fruit  room,  or  place  where  they 
are  to  be  kept.  They  should  not  be  removed  in 
a  wagon  or  a  wheel-barrow.  They  should  be 
carried  in  large  baskets  on  a  hand-barrow,  for 
that  is  the  only  method  by  which  they  can  escape 
a  certain  amount  of  jolting. 

The  sooner  winter  fruits  are  removed  to  where 
they  are  to  be  kept,  after  being  gathered,  the  bet- 
ter. The  usual  place  of  storing  them  is  in  cellars, 
where  there  are  no  special  fruit  rooms  provided 
for  them.  If  they  have  to  be  kept  in  barrels, 
each  barrel  should  be  cUan  and  dry  before  the 
fruit  is  put  into  them.     Then  they  should  be  laid 


in  as  carefully  as  if  they  were  eggs,  for  good  keep- 
ing winter  apples  are  worth  as  much,  and  good 
winter  pears  are  worth  a  great  deal  more.  ,  But 
though  it  is  the  practice  to  put  fruit  in  barrels 
to  keep,  it  is  not  one  that  can  be  recommended, 
unless  the  fruit  is  about  to  be  sent  to  market 
within  a  short  time.  When  in  barrels  also,  fruit 
cannot  be  inspected  and  watched,  the  decayed  or 
decaying  ones  removed,  and  good  supervision 
maintained. 

Shelves  are  much  better,  and  these  shelves 
might  be  so  arranged  and  divided  that  each  sub- 
division woidd  hold  the  produce  of  a  single  tree. 
By  thus  keeping  the  fruit  of  each  tree  separate, 
there  would  be  less  danger  of  spoiling.  Trees 
of  the  same  variety  frequently  grow  fruit  very 
different  in  quality,  and  while  the  produce  of  some 
will  be  scabby  and  wormy,  the  fruit  of  other  trees 
will  be  free  from  these  defects.  A  range  of  shelves, 
each  one  capable  of  holding  from  five  to  six  bush- 
els or  two  barrels,  would  accommodate  an  or- 
chard very  well.  For  a  tree  that  produces  two 
barrels  of  choice  fruit  worthy  of  being  kept  over, 
may  be  considered  a  first  rate  tree  ;  and  an  or- 
chard that  contains  fifty  of  these  trees  is  a  first 
rate  paying  investment.  By  keeping  sorts  sep- 
arate, and  even  the  growth  of  each  tree  from  each 
other,  much  sorting  and  picking  will  be  avoided. 
No  fruit  should  go  upon  shelves  that  is  not  first 
rate  in  quality.  ThecuUings,  which  may  be  used 
or  sold,  could  be  preserved  either  in  barrels  or 
on  the  floor,  till  got  rid  of  by  sale  or  otherwise. 

The  fruit  room  should  be  a  cellar,  capable  of 
being  well  ventilated,  and  made  dry  before  the 
fruit  is  placed  in  it,  but  afterwards  it  should  be 
kept  close,  dark,  pnd  the  temperature  should  at 
all  times  range  between  lio*^  and  45°  Farenheit. 
Light  and  heat  both  act  on  the  fruit  and  cause  it 
to  mature  ;  and  maturity  is  always  followed  with- 
in a  short  period  by  decay.  Hence  all  fruit  should 
be  gathered  at  a  period  before  they  become  quite 
ripe.  The  low  temperature  and  the  exclusion  of 
light  delays  the  t  me  of  maturity,  hence  the  keep- 
ing quality. 

A  French  writer,  in  the  Bevne  Ilorticole,  also 
claims  that  all  the  carbonic  acid  evolved  from 
the  fruit,  should,  if  possible,  be  retained  in  the 
room.  Hence  after  the  fruit  is  put  in  its  place, 
the  room  ought  not  to  be  ventilated,  as  this  would 
permit  this  gas  to  escape,  and  also  change  the 
temjjerature.  The  same  writer  also  charges  o'' 
good  grounds  that  all  moisture  or  humidity  should 
1)6  kept  out  of  the  fruit  room,  as  it  likewise  pro- 
motes decomposition,  but  the  air  should  not  be 
too  dry,  as  then  the  fruit  would  dry  up  and 
wither. 

It  is  calculated  that  a  room  15  feet  long,  12 
feet  wide  and  9  feet  high  would  hold  shelves 
enough  for  8000  large  sized  winter  apples  or 
pears,  allowing  each  one  to  occupy  an  area  of 
four  inches  square,  so  that  no  fruit  would  touch 
each  other.  Allowing  150  apples  to  a  bushel, 
would  make  room  for  about  600  bushels  of  apples, 
not  one  of  which  would  touch  the  other,  or  at 
least  1200  bushels  where  they  were  piled  two  in 
height.  Those  who  have  good  cellars  for  fruit 
will  now  see  the  advantage  of  them  ;  but  we 
should  prefer  a  room  in  the  orchard  built  under 
the  shade  of  the  trees,  in  the  manner  of  an  ice- 
house, with  double  walls,  doors  and  windows. — 
Micliigan  Fanner. 


1859, 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


451 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

WINTER-KILLING  OF  TREES. 
In  a  recent  number  of  the  Fanner,  one  of  its 
most  closely  observing  correspondents  offered 
a  few  suggestions  relative  to  statements  which  I 
had  made  in  relation  to  the  winter-killing  of 
fruit  trees  iu  Maine.  His  suggestions  are  im- 
portant, and  in  the  main,  correct.  He  is,  how- 
ever, mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  killing  al- 
luded to  was  effected  by  the  hard  frosts  of  au- 
tumn. One  proof  is  found  in  the  fact  that  no 
loss  was  suffered  in  any  grade  of  nursery  trees, 
in  any  situation  below  the  surface  line  of  the 
snow  as  it  lay  at  the  time  when  the  thermometer 
sunk  to  the  fatal  point.  The  rapid  growth  of  the 
Baldwin  is  not  the  only  cause  of  its  winter-kill- 
ing. I  cultivate  other  varieties  which  make  more 
growth  than  the  Baldwin,  which  are  not  injured 
by  cold  that  causes  mercury  to  congeal.  The 
Baldwin  is  a  tender  variety,  I  fear  too  tender  for 
'•eliance  in  Maine,  But  I  agree  with  your  cor- 
espondent that  it  is  not  best  to  be  discouraged, 
or  another  generation  may  pass  before  we  have 
another  winter  as  fatal  as  the  last,  and  that  two 
years  preceding.  At  any  rate,  the  Baldwin  must 
not  be  forced  too  hard  in  its  culture  in  northern 
latitudes.  J.  S.  Swift. 

WHEAT — TOP-DRESSING, 
Can  you  give  me  any  information  with  regard 
to  a  kind  of  wheat  called  weevil-proof  winter 
wheat,  and  whether  it  is  true  to  its  name  or  not. 
I  hav--  often  thought  that  if  there  is  such  a  kind 
of  grain  that  would  be  suitable  to  our  climate,  it 
would  be  a  blessing  to  us  farmers  to  have  it  to 
cultivate.  There  is  also  another  kind  of  grain 
called  Speltz,  a  kind  of  wheat,  I  believe ;  the 
heads  grow  very  long,  and  when  threshed,  the 
kernel  remains  in  the  shuck.  I  had  a  few  ker- 
nels of  each  of  these  kinds  sent  to  me  in  a  letter, 
and  I  sowed  them  in  my  garden  ;  I  see  no  signs 
of  weevil  about  them,  but  how  it  would  be  as  a 
field  crop,  I  do  not  know. 

Is  there  anything  that  would  make  profitable 
top-dressing  for  grass  land  where  there  is  not 
enough  manure  to  go  over  all  ?  Would  lime,  su- 
perphosphate of  lime,  guano,  or  any  of  the  nu- 
merous fertilizers,  be  profitable  for  such  ?  Should 
all  top-dressing  be  put  on  in  the  fall  ? 
Barnet,  Vt.,  Avg.,  1859.  Some  Anon. 

Remarks. — We  have  never  heard  of  the  wheat 
you  speak  of. 

A  top-dressing  for  grass  land  of  clear  yellow 
loam  is  valuable.  Lime  would  undoubtedly  be 
useful,  but  whether  it  would  be  profitable,  would 
depend  upon  circumstances.  So  with  super- 
phosphate and  guano. 

TO  "A  LOVER  OF  GOOD  PICKLES." 
My  plan  is  to  select  cucumbers  of  small  size, 
throw  them  in  cold  water  a  few  hours,  place  in  a 
small  tub;  cover  with  vinegar  that  is  not  very 
strong— in  about  two  weeks  pour  it  off  and  re- 
place with  good  vinegar  that  has  been  scalded, 
skimmed,  sweetened  slightly  and  spiced  with 
ginger,  cassia-buds,  lemon-peel,  &c.  Pour  the 
vinegar  over  the  fruit  while  hot ;  when  cool,  set 
it  in  the  cellar  and  stir  often  enough  to  prevent 


a  scum  forming  over  it.  Should  the  vinegar  be- 
come fiat,  replace  it  with  more  prepared  in  the 
same  manner.  I  have  so  preserved  them  the 
last  two  or  three  years,  and  find  no  difficultv  in 
keeping,  unless  placed  upon  the  dinner- table". 
Futney,  Vt.,Aug.  8,  1859.  H,  E.  H. 

CROPS    OF   THE   SEASON. 

I  just  now  met  my  neighbor  Huntington,  and 
inquired  of  him  as  to  the  prospect  of  the  crops 
of  the  season.  He  said  he  should  have  very  lit- 
tle, comparatively,  for  the  market— full  three- 
fourths  of  his  onion  crop  having  been  destroyed 
by  the  maggot.  I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of 
the  use  of  guano,  as  a  preventive  of  the  mag- 
got. "Nothing  at  all,"  said  he.  "The  best  onions 
I  have,  are  on  a  part  of  the  Whiltridge  lot, 
where  I  applied  no  feriillzer  of  any  kind.  It  hap- 
pened in  this  way — my  manure  gave  out  before 
1  got  through  planting,  and  I  thought  I  would 
try  the  remaining  rows  without  any  manure  at 
all.  I  shall  have  more  good  fair  onions  on  these 
rows,  than  on  all  the  rest  of  the  lot.  I  give  you 
the  facts  as  he  stated  them."  There  is  no  mar 
among  us,  whose  word  would  go  farther  than 
that  of  Benjamin  Huntington. 

Aug.  4,  1859.  South  Danveus, 

THE   WILD   CARROT, 

Can  you  inform  me  the  most  ready  way  to  ex- 
terminate the  wild  carrot,  so  called  ? 

Chilmark,  Aug.,  1859.  John  Hammett. 

Remarks. — Where  the  wild  carrot  has  become 
quite  numerous,  we  doubt  whether  it  can  be  ex- 
terminated short  of  plowing  and  cultivating  the 
ground  with  other  crops.  If  the  land  is  well 
plowed,  manured  and  cultivated,  and  given  a 
crop  of  potatoes  or  corn,  and  then  properly 
seeded  to  grass,  the  grass  will  be  quite  likely  to 
take  precedence  of  everything  else, 

TWO   years'   OLD   PICKLES, 

Henry  J.  Durgin,  Shaker  Village,  N.  H., 
has  sent  us  a  bottle  of  pickles  which  he  stales 
are  two  years  old.  They  are  hard,  sound  and 
fine  flavored.  He  also  states  that  it  takes  but 
forty- eight  hours  from  the  time  they  are  taken 
from  the  vines  to  make  them  perfect.  Any  one 
desirous  of  knowing  his  process  may  communi- 
cate with  him  as  above. 


The  Massachusetts  Dog  Laav. — Our  legisla- 
ture, at  its  last  session,  passed  a  pretty  stringent' 
dog  law,  which  we  hope  has  gone  into  vigorous 
operation.  In  some  towns  we  have  been  gratified 
to  see  that  its  provisions  have  received  decided 
action,  and  that  there  is  an  evident  diminution 
of  that  worse  than  worthless  property.  Read  the 
extract  below. 

What  our  Dogs  Cost  us. — We  extract  from 
the  Assessor's  returns  to  the  County  Auditor, 
says  the  Belmont  (Ohio)  Chronicle,  the  amount 


452 


NEW  EiVoLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


of  sheep  killed  and  injured  in  the  county,  during 
the  past  year.  The  result  is  anything  but  encour- 
aging to  the  canine  species.  The  whole  number 
of  sheep  killed  was  one  thousand  and  nine.  The 
number  injured  was  one  thousand,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five.  The  amount  of  injury  done,  in 
killed  and  damaged,  is  estimated  at  the  round 
sum  of  three  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  dollars.  Add  to  this  the  amount  it  cost  to 
keep  the  dogs  of  this  county,  and  we  have  them 
costing  more  than  perhaps  any  luxury — if  such 
they  be — indulged  in. 


For  the  D/etc  England  Farmer, 

FOWL  MEADOW  GRASS  AND  ITS 
CULTIVATION. 

BY  FREDERICK   HOLBROOK. 

The  late  Hon.  John  Lowell,  in  a  communica 
tion  to  the  old  J^ew  England  Farmer,  Vol.  9,  for 
the  year  1831,  remarked  of  the  fowl  meadow 
grass  : — "If  this  truly  Yankee  grass  could  be 
translated  to  all  the  meadow  bottoms,  the  natu- 
rally moist,  cold,  half-peaty  lands  of  New  Eng- 
land, their  produce  would  be  at  least  doubled. 
Low  meadows  are  chiefly  furnished  with  the  dif- 
ferent species  of  carex,  a  coarse,  sharp,  worthless 
grass,  on  which  no  animals  but  those  which  are 
nearly  famished  will  feed,  and  on  which  those 
who  do  feed  constantly  decline.  We  have  then 
one  species  of  grass  not  usually  cultivated,  which 
is  of  inestimable  value.  It  is  no  idle  speculation, 
but  sober  fact,  our  agriculture  has  much  to  gain 
by  the  active,  earnest,  assiduous  propagation  ot 
this  grass." 

Having  in  former  years  read  several  interest- 
ing articles  upon  the  fowl  meadow  grass,  I  have 
been  led  the  more  closely  to  examine,  from  time 
to  time,  its  habits  and  qualities,  as  I  find  it  grow- 
ing in  the  lower  and  more  moist  portions  of  the 
intervales  of  the  Connecticut  river ;  and  I  think 
it  will  hear  all  the  favorable  commendation  Mr. 
Lowell  has  bestowed  upon  it.  This  grass  grows 
in  patches  here  and  there  in  the  intervale  lands 
near  my  residence.  Until  within  the  last  year, 
«e  have  made  no  systematic  eflTorts  to  cultivate 
it.  Still  it  has  come  in,  of  itself,  and  held  long 
possession  in  certain  places,  and  grows  very  vig 
orously  wherever  ii  has  foothold.  It  somewhat 
resembles  redtop  in  gener  1  shape  and  appear 
ance  of  stalk,  head  and  seed,  but  the  head  is  of 
a  lighter  or  paler  color,  and  the  stalk  grows  tall- 
er than  redtop,  and  quite  slender  and  delicate, 
while  the  bottom  or  lower  foliage  is  very  abun- 
dant and  fine.  It  undoubtedly  excels  herdsgrass 
and  redtop  for  a  large  product  and  fine  quality 
of  hay.  It  turns  out  a  full  swath  to  the  scythe, 
the  hay  is  easily  cured,  remarkably  soft,  tender, 
and  succulent,  excellent  fur  milch  cows,  and  par- 
ticularly for  working  oxen  during  their  labors  in 
the  spring  season. 

Observing  these  qualities  from  time  to  time,  I 
was  induced  last  year  to  procure  two  bushels  of 
the  seed  of  fowl  meadow  grass,  for  the  Vermont 
Asylum,  situated  near  me,  with  a  view  to  its  sys- 
tematic cultivation  on  the  lowland  meadow  be- 
longing to  that  Institution.  The  seed  was  sown 
about  the  middle  of  August,  a  year  ago  now,  on 
land  prepared  for  it  by  deep,  thorough  plowing, 
with  the  Universal  double  or  sod  and   subsoil 


plow.  The  land  had  been  thoroughly  ditched, 
and  drained  to  the  depth  of  three  feet,  about  five 
years  previously,  and  was  at  that  time  stocked 
down  with  herdsgrass  and  redtop.  The  wild 
grasses  beginning  to  appear  somewhat,  it  was 
thought  best  to  plow  it  up  and  seed  anew.  The 
land  being  very  rich,  and  in  a  good  state  gener- 
ally, no  manure  was  applied  to  it  last  year,  but 
immediately  after  plowing,  it  was  harrowed  down 
smooth  and  fine,  and  the  seed  sown  and  "bushed 
in."  A  part  of  the  fowl  meadow  seed  was  sown 
alone,  and  a  part  mixed  with  herdsgrass  and  red- 
top  seed,  each  in  about  equal  measure,  and  the 
mixture  sown  on  the  remainder  of  the  plowed 
land.  I  obtained  the  seed  of  Nourse,  Mason  & 
Co.,  Boston,  and  would  have  been  glad  of  more, 
but  was  informed  by  their  seedsman  that  two 
bushels  v.'as  all  the  seed  the  market  then  afford- 
ed. How  singular  that  so  valuable  a  grass  should 
be  so  little  cultivated  for  seed. 

On  that  portion  of  the  land  where  the  fowl 
meadow  seed  was  sown  alone,  the  grass  has  come 
very  well  indeed  ;  it  is  now  heading  out,  and  I 
find  it  corresponds  in  every  particular  with  the 
grass  growing  about  in  patches  in  the  intervale, 
and  which  I  had  always  taken  for  fowl  meadow, 
judging  from  the  descriptions  I  had  read  of  it. 
The  grass  from  the  new  seeding  will  be  ready 
for  the  scythe  iu  a  week  or  two,  and  is  thick  and 
of  extra  quality.  On  that  portion  where  the  fowl 
meadow,  herdsgrass  and  redtop  seeds  were  sown 
in  mixture,  the  fowl  meadow  has  vegetated  and 
grown,  as  well  as  the  other  two  grasses,  and  the 
whole  will  soon  be  fit  to  cut.  It  is  quite  appa- 
rent, however,  that  the  fowl  meadow  is  to  be  the 
best  grass  of  the  three. 

This  lowland  meadow  embraces  a  number  of 
acres,  the  draining  and  reclaiming  of  which  I 
have  felt  much  interested  in,  and  have  heretofore 
quite  fully  described  in  the  JVew  England  Far- 
mer. As  fast  as  it  becomes  desirable  to  plow  and 
reseed  this  land  again,  we  intend  to  stock  it  down 
with  the  fowl  meadow  grass,  believing  that  to  be 
the  most  valuable  of  all  grasses  for  such  kind  of 
low  moist  land. 

The  fowl  meadow  grass  is  not  liable  to  injury 
from  the  flooding  of  the  land  by  freshets.  That 
is  a  great  merit,  for  these  lowest  portions  of  our 
river  lands  are  subject  to  overflow,  and  after  a 
winter  or  spring  freshet,  the  water  not  unfre- 
quently  remains  on  the  laud  a  week  or  fortnight 
at  a  time  ;  and  sometimes  before  one  flood  has 
entirely  subsided,  another  succeeds,  and  keeps 
the  land  wet  for  three  or  four  weeks.  I  infer  that 
the  flooding  is  an  advantage,  rather  than  other- 
wise, from  the  fact  that  wherever  this  grass  has 
come  in,  of  itself,  it  has  invariably  done  so  on 
those  portions  of  the  meadow  that  are  overflowed. 
The  fowl  meadow  grass  will  last  in  the  land  for 
an  indefinite  period.  The  self- seeded  patches  of 
it.  about  in  our  meadow,  have  flourished  there  for 
a  long  time,  in  spite  of  wind  and  tide,  yielding 
as  full  and  good  crops  now  as  at  any  former  pe- 
riod. 

It  is  universally  the  impression  among  our  far- 
mers, that  fowl  meadow  grass  should  not  be  cut 
till  the  seed  ripens  ;  that  too  early  cutting  has  a 
tendency  to  enfeeble  the  roots  ;  and  that  it  per- 
petuates its  hold  on  the  soil  by  annually  shed- 
ding its  seed  thereon.  I  am  not  able  to  speak 
from  positive    experience  on    this  point ;    and 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


453 


would  like  exact  information  from  any  reader 
who  knows  the  habits  of  the  grass  in  this  respect. 
This  much  I  have  observed,  that  the  quality  of 
the  hay  is  not  at  all  injured  by  letting  the  grass 
stand  till  the  seed  is  ripe.  The  bottom  foliage 
seems  to  thicken  up  all  the  more  by  delaying  the 
cutting  till  into  August,  and  it  holds  perfectly 
fresh  and  green  till  after  the  heads  are  ripe.  In 
fact,  I  have  noticed  occasional  little  patches,  on 
the  sides  of  the  ditches  or  in  corners  of  the  field, 
which  happened  to  escape  the  scythe  at  haying 
time,  that  held  perfectly  bright  and  green  at  the 
bottom  till  late  in  the  autumn,  or  until  eaten  off 
by  the  cattle  ranging  in  the  fall  feed.  I  have  to- 
day been  down  into  the  meadow  and  gathered  a 
handful  of  the  grass,  to  see  the  stage  of  forward- 
ness of  the  heads,  and  find  the  seed  sheds  a  little 
now.  From  the  first  to  the  middle  of  August,  I 
judge  would  be  a  suitable  time  to  cut  fowl  mea- 
dow, as  it  usually  grows  in  this  intervale. 

Awgust  and  the  fore  part  of  September  is  a 
good  time  to  sow  the  seed.  The  land  should  be 
plowed  deep,  with  a  plow  suitable  for  four  or 
more  cattle,  so  as  to  have  earth  enough  above 
the  inverted  sod  out  of  which  to  raise  a  deep 
mellow  surface-tilth,  free  from  sods  and  old 
grasses.  A  moderate  dressing  of  rotten  compost 
would  be  well,  spread  on  the  surface  and  har- 
rowed in.  But  if  the  land  is  rich  and  mellow,  and 
well  drained,  it  may  do  without  the  manure.  Af- 
ter harrowing  well,  sow  the  seed  liberally — six  to 
eight  pecks  per  acre — and  work  it  in  with  a  bush 
or  light  roller,  which  will  give  it  a  sufficient  cov- 
ering. Where  land  has  been  recently  drained, 
and  is  for  the  first  time  taken  up  from  a  wild,  wet 
state,  and  is  encumbered  with  hassocks,  bogs, 
and  other  coarse  matters,  which  need  subjection, 
it  might  be  well  to  till  it  for  a  year  or  tv^o  in 
hoed  crops,  perhaps  manuring  it  somewhat  for 
the  same  ;  and  when  thus  brought  to  a  suitable 
fineness  of  tilth,  it  might  be  stocked  down  in  the 
spring  with  fowl  meadow  grass,  but  omitting  the 
sowing  of  a  grain  crop  with  it,  as  the  grain  would 
choke  the  grass  too  much,  and  prevent  its  thriv- 
ing, thus  adding  nothing  to  the  ultimate  product 
or  profit  of  the  land. 

So  far  as  I  have  observed,  the  fowl  meadow 
grass  does  not  grow  in  an  underdrained  bog.  It 
wants  moist  land,  such  as  a  lowland  meadow,  or 
a  swamp  or  swale,  well  drained,  so  as  to  relieve 
the  surface  of  all  stagnant  or  standing  water. 

The  name  of  this  grass  is  a  little  unfortunate, 
inasmuch  as  most  persons,  on  hearing  or  think- 
ing about  the  name,  without  attending  to  the 
spelling  of  it,  get  the  idea  that  it  is  a  sort  oi  foul 
grass,  of  a  sour,  swaley  character.  Nothing,  how- 
ever, could  be  further  from  the  truth,  as  it  makes 
the  very  finest  and  sweetest  of  hay. 

The  llev.  Doct.  Jared  Elliot,  in  an  essay  writ- 
ten in  the  year  1751,  gives  some  interesting  facts 
respecting  the  origin,  habits  and  qualities  of  this 
grass.  In  Vol.  4,  old  J^eic  England  Farmer,  I 
find  the  following  extract  from  his  essay.  "There 
are  two  sorts  of  Grass,  (says  the  Doctor,)  which 
are  natives  of  the  country,  which  I  would  recom- 
mend ;  one  is  Herd- Grass,  (knovin  in  Pennsyl- 
vania by  the  name  of  Timothy-Grass,)  the  other 
is  Fowl-Mcadoiv,  sometimes  called  Buck- Grass, 
and  sometimes  Stcamp-Wire- Grass.  It  is  said 
that  Herd-Grass  was  first  found  in  a  swamp  in 
"Piscataqua,  (now  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,) 


by  one  Herd  who  propagated  the  same : — That 
Fowl-Meadoto-  Grass  was  brought  into  a  piece  of 
meadow  in  Dedham.  (near  Boston,)  by  ducks  and 
other  wild  water-fowl,  and  therefore  called  by 
such  an  odd  name.  It  is  supposed  to  be  brought 
into  the  meadows  at  Hartford  by  the  annual 
floods,  and  called  there  Su-nmp-Wire  Grass.  Of 
these  two  sorts  of  Natural  Grass,  the  Fowl-Mea- 
dow is  much  the  best ;  it  grows  tall  and  thick, 
makes  a  more  soft  and  pliable  hay  than  Herd- 
Grass  :  it  yields  a  good  burden,  three  loads  to 
the  acre.  It  must  be  sown  in  low,  moist  land. 
Our  drained  land,  when  it  is  of  sufficient  age,  is 
land  very  agreeable  to  tiiis  sort  of  grass.  This 
grass  has  another  good  quality,  which  renders  it 
very  valuable  in  a  country  where  help  is  much 
wanting  ;  it  will  not  spoil  or  suffer,  although  it 
stand  beyond  the  common  time  of  mowing.  Clo- 
ver will  be  lost,  in  a  great  measure,  if  it  be  not 
cut  in  the  proper  season.  Spire-Grass,  common- 
ly called  English  Grass,  if  it  stand  too  long,  will 
be  little  better  than  rye-straw  :  but  this  Fowl- 
Meadow  maybe  mowed  at  any  time  from  July  to 
October." 

I  for  one  should  be  gratified  if  correspondents 
of  the  Farmer  familiar  with  the  fowl  meadow 
grass,  would  give  us  the  details  of  their  experi- 
ence with  it,  and  call  the  attention  of  our  farmers 
to  its  cultivation.  The  draining  and  reclaiming 
of  bog-meadows,  swamps,  and  other  wet  and 
swaley  places,  and  converting  them  into  hand- 
some, productive  mowing-fields  of  the  cultivated 
grasses,  is  now  becoming  considerably  practiced 
in  New  England.  I  am  persuaded  that  much 
benefit  might  be  realized  to  our  agriculture,  by 
inducing  the  farmers  to  stock  their  reclaimed 
wet  lands  with  the  fowl  meadow  grass. 

Braltltboro' ,  Aug.  5,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
OIL  SOAPS  FOR  BOKEHS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — An  article  under  the  aboTC 
heading,  in  your  August  number,  has  caught  my 
attention.  Perhaps  Mr.  P.  refers  to  an  article 
of  my  writing  ;  if  so,  he  may  l)e  informed  I  used 
common  whale-oil  soap,  worth  in  New  Bedford 
about  eight  cents  per  pound.  My  manner  of 
using  it  was  to  clean  the  trunks  of  the  trees, 
from  three  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  ground 
to  six  inches  above,  perfectly  clean  of  little 
fibrous  roots,  loose  bark,  and  every  extraneous 
substance,  and  after  doing  so,  to  rub  in  the  soap 
in  an  undiluted  state  most  thoroughly,  filling  all 
the  worm-holes.  I  also  dug  out  all  the  worms  I 
could  get  at,  and  those  I  could  not  readily  reach, 
I  probed  with  a  piece  of  whalebone. 

I  don't  know  when  the  egg  is  deposited,  but 
from  my  observation,  it  is  hatched  in  the  early 
part  of  June,  near  the  surface  of  the  bark,  and 
the  borers  are  then  most  easily  destroyed  by  the 
application  of  the  soap. 

I  have  discovered  but  two  borers  in  my  or- 
chard since  my  first  application,  and  several  of 
my  trees  which  were  very  badly  injured,  are  now 
completely  recovered. 

I  believe  it  is  three  years  last  spring  since  I 
made  this  experiment  which  has  proved  perfect- 
ly satisfactory.  Nathan  Briggs. 

Sippican,  Mass.,  August  8,  1859. 


454 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


FOOD  FOB,  cows 

We  would   commend  the   foUowint 


I  turf,  in  the  same  manner  that  coal-kilns  are  cov- 
article  to''"'"^'^"     "^^"^  ^^^  ^^'^  '"  ^  shoi't  time  effect  the  en- 


,  ,     n   ,  f  1  1      1         .1      tire  destruction   of  the  stumps — even   the  lone 

the  perus.l  of  those  of  our  readers  who  have  the  jj^^^^.^j  ^oots-unless  the  soil  is  very  humid,  in 
care  of  cows,  as  it  presents  many  important  sug-j^hjc^  case  the  burning  should  be  undertaken 
gestions  to  which  they  will  assuredly  find  it  forjduring  the  dry  weather  of  summei.  If  the  dirt 
their  interest  to  attend.     With  those  who  are  fa- 1  is   excavated  a  few  weeks  before  the  burning  is 

CllABERT  and'""^^'^''^'^^"'  '■h^  operation  will  be  more  speedily 
effected.  The  ashes  produced  by  the  combustion 
will  afford  an  excellent  stimulus  for  the  soil,  and 


miliar  with  the   writings  of  M 

with  his  exalted  character  and  high  standing  as 

a  scholar,  any  commendation  from  our  pen,  fur- 


should  be  carefully  a')plied  as  soon  as  the  opera- 


ther  than  to   bespeak  attention  to   the   sul;ject,,tion  is  completed.     But  in  all  cases  where  eradi- 


cation  by  pulling  is  practicable,  the   stump  ma- 
chine should  be  used. —  Gerinantown  Telegraph. 


•would  be  superfluous. 

•'M.  Chabert,  the  director  of  the  Veterinarian 
School  at  Alford,  England,  had  a  number  of  cows 

which  yielded  twelve  gallons  of  milk  each  day.  For  the  Neip  England  Farmer. 

In  his  able  publication  on  this  subject  he  observes  BETTERS  FROM  MAmE-No.  5. 

that  cows  ted  in  winter  on  dry  substances  alone, 
yield    less    milk    than    those    that    are    kept   on    a    More  Apple  Tree  Philosophy— Time  of  Pruning'— Close  Cutting 

''  ,.    .  11        iV     I    .V    •      „'ii     1    „  '     ^ u  Best — Why — How  Nature  Prunes,  &c, 

green  diet,  and  also  that  their  milk  loses  much  ■' 

of  Its  good  quality.  He  published  the  following  In  pruning  apple  trees,  in  high  northern  lati- 
recipe,  by  the  use  of  which  his  cows  afforded  tudes,  too  much  interference  with  nature  must 
him  an  equal  quantity  and  quality  of  milk  during  I  not  be  presumed  upon.  Nature  ever  strives  to 
the  v;inter  as  during  the  summer.  'keep  the  proper  balance  between  root   and  top, 

Take  a  bushel  of  potatoes  ;  break  them  whilst'  and  in  pruning  or  grafting  it  is  dangerous  to  des- 
raw,  place  them  in  a  barrel  standing  up,  putting  stroy  that  balance  by  depriving  the  top  of  its 
in  successively  a  layer  of  bran,  and  a  small  quan-  j  leaf-bearing  twigs,  to  any  great  extent,  at  any  one 
tity  of  yeast  in  the  middle  of  the  mass,  which  is  time.  I  do  not  regard  the  time  of  pruning  as  a 
to  be  left  there  to  ferment  during  a  whole  week,  question  of  so  much  importance  as  some  of  the 
and  vt'hen  the  vinous  taste  has  pervaded  the  whole  \  correspondents  of  the  Farmer  seem  to  attach  to 
mixture,  it  is  then  given  to  the  cows,  who  eat  it  it.  Probably  the  worst  season  for  pruning  is  be- 
greedily."  tween  the  middle  of  July  and  the  fall  of  the  leaf, 

We  are  inclined  to  think  the  present  practices  ^8  all  the  leaves  are  then  needed  to  mature  the 
,  ^     ,.  .^1     •        •   »  e      c  V.  •      ! sap  for  Winter, 

of  feeding  cattle  in  winter   are   far   from  being,     ^^.^^.^^^j    „,^,g,,.^tjo„   ^^^   convinced   me   that 

strictly  economical,  and  will  continue  to  be,  so]  j^  p^-^ning,  branches  cannot  be  cut  too  closely, 
long  as  they  are  fed  entirely  on  crude  food — on  A  dead,  projecting  knot  is  a  dangerous  append- 
hay  unchaffed,  and  on  roots  and  grain  uncooked.'  age  to  a  tree  ;  as  the  sap  which  is  left  out  of  the 
Hay  cut  and  moistened  with  warm  water,  and i'-ange  of  circulation  be^comes  soured,  and  poison- 
,''...  ,,  ,•,       p  J        ^    ous  to  the  tree,  and  when  forced  out  of  the  dead 

mixed  with  a  very  small  quantity  of  rasped  roots  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ,^^,  ^^^  pressure  of  the  circulating 

potatoes,  carrots,  beets,  turnips,  parsnips,  pump-;  ^gp  below  it,  it  has  the  effect  of  coloring  the  bark 
kins  or  apples,  will  go  twice  as  far  as  when  fed! black,  giving  rise  to  the  mistaken  notion  that 
in  its  long  state.     Beside,  the  cutting  will  enable!  sap  sometimes  bleeds  out  of  the  living  wood  when 

the  feeder  to  use  up  his  rough   fodder    to   goodi^^"""^'^*  .  .       ,,  .       ,  ,        r 

,  1  •         ,,  ,  c  ^\     Nature  sometimes  trims  living  branches  from 

advantage-his  stalks,  poor  hay,  straw,  &c.,  and ,  ^^,^^^^  -^^  ^j^^  ^j^^^^j.  ^^,  pressure  of  snow  or  weight 

to  keep  more  stock,  and  in  better  condition  than  of  ice,  and  in  autumn  by  the  weight  of  fruit  on 

he  could  possibly  by  adhering  to  the  old   system!  the  branches.     In  both  cases  the  whole   knot  is 

of  feedin".  1  split  out  of  the  tree,  making  a  large,  deep  wound. 

Steaming  is  another  means  of  economizing  l^^.t  ""^  which  generally  heals  rapidly,  with  less 
„      ,         ,  ,.  ,   .  ■        ,  •    ,•        miury  to  the  tree  than  commonly  follows  sawing 

food,  and  one  which  is  overcoming  the  prejudices  ^^.^l^j.^^pj,^  ^^^^^.^  therefore  tells  us  that  if 
with  which  its  introduction  was  attended.  j  ^e  trim  close,  the  season  of  the  year  is  of  no  ma- 

A  friend  of  ours  made  an  experiment  by  feed-;terial  importance, 
ing  his  milch  cows  for  an  entire  winter  upon  hatf  In  my  fruit  culture  operations  it  took  me  a  long 
tea-le^  made  by  steeping  hay  in  hot  water  in' ^^"^^  ^o  learp  the  necessity  of  a  large  quantity  of 
•'  c  o  J  leaves.  It  is  true  that  trimming  away  halt  the 
the  same  manner  that  the  fragrant  leaf  from  thej^jj-anches  on  a  growing  tree  will  have  the  effect 
Celestial  Empire  is  prepared  for  our  social  cup  |  of  forcing  larger  quantities  of  sap  into  the  re- 
of  tea.  jmaining  branches,  and  compelling  them  to  make 
a  larger  growth.     But  it  must  not  be  inferred 

Eradication  of  Stumps. — Where  it  is  neces-ifrom  this  fact  that  the  tree  suffers  no  loss  ;  for, 
sary  to  remove  large  stumps,  under  circumstan-  in  such  instances  all,  or  nearly  all  the  growth 
ces' which  render  it  impracticable  to  avail  one's  will  be  on  the  top,  the  roots  remaining  stationary 
self  of  the  assistance  of  a  "stump  machine,"  the  till  the  original  balance  is  restored.  Nature's 
work  miy  be  successfully  accomplished  hy  burn-  efforts  are  always  directed  towards  restoring  the 
ing.  Th.is  is  done  liy  digfiing  under  thtm.  filling  natural  balance  between  top  and  root,  and  depriv- 
the  cavity  with  combuirtihie  materials,  and  cov-' ing  a  tree  of  superfluous,  leaf-bearing  branches 
ering  the  stump,  after  firing  the  materials,  with' — though  sometimes   necessary— always  retards 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARRIER. 


455 


the  extending  roots.  I  offex-  these  suggestions 
by  way  of  theory.  If  the  theory  be  correct,  the 
proper  practice  will  naturally  suggest  itself  to 
the  reader. Sandy  River. 

Remakks. — We  give  the  opinions  of  our  cor- 
respondent as  he  has  written  them,  not  because 
we  assent  to  all  of  them,  as  regards  pruning,  but 
because  he  seems  to  have  given  attention  to  the 
subject,  and  it  is  fair  to  lay  these  different  views 
before  the  reader. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LABOE  AS  A  CUBSE. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — Man  is  so  constituted, 
that  labor  enough  to  supply  himself  with  food, 
by  his  own  hands,  is  a  condition  which  is  ben- 
eficial to  his  health.  We  read  in  Genesis,  that 
the  "Lord  God  took  the  man  and  put  him  into  the 
garden  of  Eden,  to  dress  it  and  keep  it."  Does 
not  dressing  and  keeping  the  garden  imply  labor  ? 
It  does  not  seem  that  Adam  was  formed  to  live  an 
idle  life,  as  those  who  "place  bliss  in  ease"  un 
derstand  it,  but  to  take  care  of  his  gardeii  like  a 
good  horticulturist.  This  took  place  before  his 
fall,  and  of  course  there  was  no  curse  implied  in 
his  being  located  in  Paradise  to  labor  lor  his  liv- 
ing. 

There  appears  to  be  a  palpable  misunderstand- 
ing among  theologians  and  others,  about  labor 
being  inflicted  on  man  as  a  curse  for  disobe- 
dience ;  I  can  put  no  such  construction  upon  the 
verdict  of  the  Almighty  pronounced  against  Adam 
for  his  sin.  God  said,  "Cursed  is  the  ground  for 
thy  sake  ;"  "in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the 
days  of  thy  life."  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shall 
thou  eat  bread  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground." 
Now,  if  any  living  man,  with  all  his  sophistry, 
can  make  it  appear  without  doing  violence  to  lan- 
guage, that  labor  was  inflicted  on  man  as  a  curse, 
let  him  shew  himself  with  his  evidence.  All  men 
are  laborers,  or  ought  to  be.  What  is  an  idle 
man,  rich  or  poor,  more  than  a  clam  or  snail  ? 
Mankind  were  designed  for  action,  to  fill  differ- 
ent stations  and  woik  at  different  occupations  ; 
some  are  fitted  to  labor  mentally,  and  others 
physically  ;  there  is  as  much  necessity  for  the  for- 
mer as  the  latter  ;  one  class  may  be  deficient  in 
muscular  power  and  endurance,  and  be  well  qual- 
ified for  planning,  while  another  class,  with  strong 
bones  and  muscular  frames  that  defy  fatigue,  can 
execute  what  was  not  in  the  power  of  the  other 
to  perform.  In  New  England,  there  are  two 
classes  of  manual  laborers  ;  one  class  design  and 
execute,  which  embrace  a  greater  portion  of  our 
agricultural  population,  the  other  class  are  pro- 
fessed laborers  who  depend  upon  the  income  of 
their  labor  for  a  support.  This  latter  class  are 
practically  the  sinews  of  the  country.  What 
could  old  folks,  lazy  folks,  sick  folks,  rich  folks 
and  other  folks  do,  without  this  sturdy  class  of 
our  practical  population?  It  contains  males  and 
females  of  as  good  minds  as  any  in  the  commu- 
nity, and  their  circumstances  are  often  owing  to 
causes  which  would  not  have  disgraced  any  hon- 
est man. 

The  lucky  aristocratic  gambler,  and  conceited 
foppish  student,  may  sneer  at  the  laboring  man, 


who  is  in  reality  of  more  value  to  the  world  than 
a  cart-load  of  such  coxcombs.  Labor,  as  a  health- 
improving  exercise,  is  of  more  importance  to  the 
sedentary  dyspeptic  than  all  the  medicine  in  the 
world.  Three  hours  of  manual  labor  a  day  would 
be  a  good  as  well  as  economical  substitute  for  a 
voyage  to  Europe,  or  the  West  Indies,  for  se- 
dentary gentlemen,  who  are  troubled  with  bron- 
chitis and  ill  health  for  the  v/ant  of  exercise.  It 
appears  that  Saint  Paul  was  an  industrious  man 
who  "labored  with  his  own  hands."  We  read  of 
his  perils  by  sea,  and  perils  by  land,  but  do  not 
read  of  his  voyages  to  foreign  lands  as  a  remedy 
for  inaction,  his  object  being  to  enlighten  the  ig- 
norant, reform  the  vicious  and  spread  the  gos- 
pel. Paul  said  in  one  of  his  epistles,  "This  we 
command  you,  that  if  any  would  not  work,  neith- 
er should  he  eat ;"  so  it  appears  that  he  showed 
as  little  favor  to  idlers  in  any  situation  as  any  of 
our  modern  teachers.  Silas  Brov^n. 

North  Wilmington,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
■WHY"  DON'T  THAT  OKCHAKD  BEAH? 

A  correspondent  of  the  Farmer  inquires  why 
his  orchard,  the  trees  of  which  have  attained  a 
large  size,  will  not  bear  fruit  ?  I  do  not  presume 
to  know  the  rea,«on,  but  wish  to  suggest  a  fact  or 
two  which  may  bear  upon  the  question.  Trees 
bear  soonest,  and  bear  best,  where  the  branches 
are  nearest  horizontal  in  their  position.  Lean- 
ing trees  and  crooked  trees,  I  think,  will  be 
found  to  be  the  earliest  and  best  bearers.  The 
reason  is,  the  directly  upward  flow  of  sap  favors 
growth  of  wood  and  leaves,  but  not  the  secretion 
of  matured  material  for  the  germ  of  the  fruit  bud. 
The  flow  of  sap  is  an  electrical  phenom-cnon,  and 
those  who  are  familiar  with  galvanic  experiments 
will  see  at  once  why  the  secretions  from  the  sap 
are  thus  affected  by  position.  There  is  generally 
a  correspondence  between  roots  and  branches 
in  point  o  position.  Trees  set  too  deep  in  the 
soil,  produce  a  watery,  unmatured  sap,  and  t'-ees 
set  in  a  soil  where  the  roots  strike  deep,  will  be 
likely  to  have  tops  with  nearly  perpendicular 
branches,  and  consequently  prove  unfruitful,  till 
the  size  of  the  tree  compels  the  branches  to  as- 
sume a  more  nearly  horizontal  position.  Let 
our  friend  try  the  experiment  practised  by  Euro- 
pean orchardists,  of  bending  down,  and  confining 
in  a  drooping  position,  some  of  the  branches  of 
his  unbearing  trees.  J.  S.  Swift. 

Farmivgton,  Me.,  Aug.,  1859. 


Chafing  Under  the  Collar. — A  gentle- 
man who  has  tried  the  plan  successfully  for  five 
years,  communicates  the  annexed  method  of  pre- 
venting horses  from  chafing  under  the  collar. 
He  says,  he  gets  a  piece  of  leather  and  has  what 
he  terms  a  false  collar  made,  which  is  simply  a 
piece  of  leather  cut  in  such  a  shape  as  to  lie, 
singly,  between  the  shoulders  of  the  horse  and 
the  collar.  This  fends  off  all  the  friction,  as  the 
collar  slips  and  moves  on  the  leather,  and  not  on 
the  shoulders  of  the  horse.  Chafing  is  caused  by 
friction,  hence,  you  see,  the  thing  is  entirely 
plausible.  Some  persons  put  pads  or  sheep-skins 
under  the  collar  ;  these,  they  say,  do  as  much 
hurt  as  good,  for  they  augment  the  heat.     A  sin- 


456 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


gle  piece  of  leather,  like  that  composing  the  out- 
side of  a  collar,  without  any  lining  or  stuffing, 
he  assures  us,  is  better  than  anything  else." — 
Boston  Journal. 


ROUNING  AND  TROTTING  HOBSES. 

A  writer,  over  the  signature  of  "Hiram,"  in 
the  Spirit  of  the  Times,  thus  alludes  to  the  dis- 
tinction to  be  observed  between  running  and 
trotting  horses.     He  says  : 

I  think  it  has  been  fully  shown,  by  good  au- 
thority, from  experience  in  crossing  the  ass  with 
the  horse,  that  the  sire  gives  the  external  form  ; 
although  the  mare  brought  the  seed  to  life  and 
perfection,  still  the  creature  to  all  outward  ap- 
pearance, is  an  ass  ;  I  contend,  in  order  to  have 
a  good  running  animal,  you  must  have  a  good 
running  form,  and  to  have  a  good  trotting  horse, 
you  must  have  a  good  trotting  form.  I  know,  al- 
so, that  there  are  exceptions  to  all  general  rules, 
and  that  horses  trot  and  run  in  all  forms  ;  but 
that  does  not  reach  the  case,  or  if  it  does,  it 
makes  no  difference  v.hat  we  breed  from,  as  far 
as  form  is  concerned,  for  I  hold  that  the  form  of 
a  full-blooded  running  horse  is  directly  the  re- 
verse of  a  trotting  horse  in  many  respects — some 
of  them  I  will  here  notice.  The  legs,  for  instance, 
of  the  running  horse,  from  the  body  down, 
should  finely  taper,  with  long  yielding  pasterns, 
high-reaching  loin,  and  a  long,  small  neck,  and 
may  be  yewed  at  that.  Now  I  hold  that  the 
above  qualifications  are  essential  to  the  running 
horse  of  good  blood,  and  diametrically  opposed 
to  a  good  trotting  horse.  I  will  now  give  you 
what  I  consider  the  qualifications  in  the  form  of 
a  good  trotting  horse,  opposed  to  that  of  a  run- 
ning horse.  His  leg  should  be  strong,  holding 
its  size  well  to  the  hoof,  short,  straight  pastern, 
going  from  the  leg  into  the  foot,  loin  well  filled, 
gently  descending  from  the  coupling  to  the  with- 
ers, which  should  be  thin  and  well  raised,  with  a 
strong,  well-proportioned  neck,  not  too  thick  and 
chunky. 


To  Prevent  Cats  Killing  Chickens,  &c. — 
Miss  Harriet  Martineau,  in  the  new  London  pa- 
per, "Once  a  Week,"  is  publishing  a  very  inter- 
esting series  of  sketches  entitled  "Our  Farm  of 
Two  Acres," — in  one  of  which  sketches  she  gives 
the  following  as  a  sure  preventive  against  the 
killing  of  chickens  or  birds  by  cats  : — "When  a 
cat  is  seen  to  catch  a  chicken,  tie  it  round  her 
neck,  and  make  her  wear  it  for  two  or  three  days. 
Fasten  it  securely,  for  she   will  make  incredible 


efforts  to  get  rid  of  it.     Be  firm  for  that  time,  and 

the  cat  is  cured.     She  will  never  again  desire  to  [under  the  shade  of  an   old  apple  tree,  showing 


LETTER  FROM  MB.  BRCWN. 

Attlehoro\  Mass.,  Aug.  10,  1859. 
Messiis.  Noi'Usk,  Eaton  &  Tolman  : 

Gents  : — I  was  ciUed  here  this  morning  to  look 
at  a  farm  with  a  view  to  its  permanent  reclama- 
tion, including  a  thoroua:h  system  of  underdrain- 
ing.  It  belongs  to  a  family,  one  of  whom  is  a 
cUrgyman  settled  over  a  parish  in  Worcester 
county  ;  two  other  sons  are  merchants  in  New 
York  city,  while  a  fourth,  with  an  aged  parent, 
abides  at  home  to  guide  the  plow  and  feed  the 
kine,  to  subdue  the  waste  places  and  make  them 
teem  with  fertility,  and  blossom  as  the  rose,  and 
himself  to  remain  one  of  the  Kings  of  the  soil,  a 
position  no  less  dignified,  useful  or  honorable 
than  his  brothers  have  selected,  and  one  of  a  class 
to  whom  the  country  must  always  look  for  de- 
fence and  support  in  time  of  trial,  and  for  those 
productions  which  go  to  make  up  the  wealth  of 
any  nation. 

With  a  discriminating  judgment,  and  with 
great  good  sense,  the  minister  and  the  merchants 
concluded  to  invest  liberally  of  their  surplus  in 
the  soil,  not  only  with  the  hope  that  profit  would 
come  out  of  it,  after  many  days,  but  that  the 
homestead  might  be  made  attractive  and  beauti- 
ful, where  themselves  and  their  children  could 
annually  return  and  breathe  the  sweet  odors  of 
new  mown  hay,  of  the  fresh  flowers  that  nod  over 
the  babbling  brook,  and  hear  the  familiar  sounds 
that  closed  in  the  calm  evenings,  or  woke  the 
bright  mornings  of  their  early  years.  The  same 
sound  judgment  that  led  them  to  these  wise  con- 
clusions, also  prompted  them  to  apply  to  practi- 
cal men  for  advice.  I  referred  them  to  a  strictly 
professional  man,  l)ut  they  elected  to  abide  by 
my  decisions,  and  hence  my  reason  fur  dating 
from  this  thriving  and  pleasant  town. 

The  farm  contains  many  natural  advantages — 
has  a  sandy  loam  upland,  beautiful  meadows  at 
the  base  of  gentle  slopes,  and  a  cold,  springy, 
rocky  and  repulsive  pasture.  But  the  outlets  of 
the  water-courses,  and  the  indications  given  by 
the  character  of  the  vegetation  which  everywhere 
met  the  eye,  left  no  doubt  on  my  mind  as  to  the 
course  that  ought  to  be  pursued  ;  so  the  lines 
were  laid  down,  the  principles  of  the  process  dis- 
cussed and  enforced,  and  diagrams  of  the  whole 
plan  were  made  of  the  rushes  which  grew  luxuri- 
antly upon  the  spot,  and  placed  upon  the  ground 


touch  a  bird.  This  is  what  we  do  with  our  own 
cats,  and  what  we  recommend  to  our  neighbors  ; 
and  when  they  try  the  experiment,  they  and  their 
pets  are  secure  from  reproach  and  danger  hence- 
forth. Wild,  homeless,  hungry,  ragged,  savage 
cats  are  more  difficult  to  catch  ;  but  they  are 
outlaws,  and  may  be  shot  with  the  certainty  that 
all  neiarhbors  will  be  thankful." 


the  direction  of  the  lines,  their  distances  apart, 
and  giving  a  distinct  illustration  of  the  whole 
thing. 

I  felt  confidence  in  assuring  my  friends  that 
one  acre  of  the  pasture  reclaimed,  would  supply 
as  much  feed,  and  of  a  more  nutritious  character, 
than  five  acres  now  does,  and  that  850  per  acre 
expended  upon  it,  would  give    one  of  the  safest 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


457 


and  most  permanent  investments  they  had  ever 
made. 

The  farmer  is  receiving  essential  benefit  from 
the  operations  of  men  engaged  in  commercial  or 
professional  life.  If  this  project,  for  instance,  is 
faithfully  carried  out,  and  is  successful,  it  will  af- 
ford a  valuable  example  to  the  hard-working  far- 
mer, who  feels  as  though  he  cannot  engage  in 
any  enterprise  where  there  is  danger  of  loss, — 
and  this  feeling  he  will  naturally  have  until  he 
has  experimented,  or  seen  repeated  trials  by 
others.  I  have  no  more  doubt  of  good  results 
than  I  have  of  the  most  certain  thing  that  has 
not  already  transpired. 

I  have  been  delighted  with  my  visit  here ;  not, 
especially,  with  anything  very  new  that  I  saw  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  or  of  marked  excellence 
in  buildings,  stock,  or  implements,  but  in  the 
pure  tone  of  feeling  and  the  sweet  affections  that 
exist  in  country  life.  Here  were  gathered  por- 
tions of  four  or  five  families  from  various  sec- 
tions and  occupations.  They  had  come  back  to 
the  old  hom.estead  to  visit  the  scenes  of  earlier 
days,  to  renew  and  strengthen  fraternal  attach- 
ments, and,  by  occasional  intercourse,  perpetuate 
them  to  the  end. 

The  twilight  had  gradually  given  way  to  the 
deeper  shades  of  night,  and  the  peculiar  sounds 
of  an  evening  in  the  country  were  hushed — the 
plaintive  note  of  the  whippoorwill  had  ceased, 
(for  his  time  of  mating  and  loves  had  gone  by, 
though  he  still  lingered  in  his  accustomed  places,) 
when  the  family  all  came  from  their  respective 
duties  and  "sung  a  hymn."  Then  rose  the  clear 
and  affectionate  thanksgivings  and  petitions  of 
the  minister ;  to  Him  in  whom  we  live  and  move 
and  h?.ve  our  being.  He  plead  for  the  "stranger" 
that  was  within  their  gates,  and  for  his  profes- 
sion, that  it  might  be  blessed  and  prospered,  and 
made  fruitful  in  the  earth.  None  were  forgotten, 
the  aged,  middle-aged  and  the  young. 

How  is  it  possible  that  blessings  shall  not  rest 
upon  such  a  household,  and  that  peace  shall  not 
remain  with  them  to  the  end  ? 

Truly  yours,  SiMON  Brown. 


chosen  to  put  away,  and  with  a  pair  of  small  scis- 
sors all  defective  and  bruised  berries  should  be 
cut  off.  They  should  then  be  placed  in  boxec 
well  ventilated,  and  remain  for  a  few  days,  when 
they  should  be  packed  in  boxes  holding  six  or 
eight  pounds  each,  first  sprinkling  the  bottom 
with  a  layer  of  mahogany  saw-dust,  or  what  is 
better,  turning  chips,  then  a  layer  of  grapes,  and 
then  saw-dust  alternately  to  the  top.  it  is  not 
important  that  the  box  be  tight,  it  is  better  that 
it  should  not  be.  These  should  be  put  in  the 
coolest  place  in  the  house,  where  the  air  is  dry. 
On  the  approach  of  freezing  weather  they  may 
be  removed  to  upper  shelves  suspended  in  the 
cellar,  or  in  any  dry  room  where  the  temperature 
is  as  near  the  freezing  point  as  possible.  Some 
recommend  cotton  batting  in  place  of  the  turn- 
ing chips,  but  we  have  always  been  most  success- 
ful with  the  latter. 

A  most  valuable  addition  to  our  old  stock  of 
grapes  has  been  made  in  several  new  varieties. 
Some  of  them  are  well  suited  to  the  various  lat- 
itudes of  the  United  States  up  to  the  43u  degree 
North. 

Every  homestead  should  have  its  half-dozen 
vines,  at  least  of  the  kinds  best  suited  to  the  lo- 
cality— trained  to  the  out-houses,  where  they  oc- 
cupy no  room.  These,  if  taken  care  of,  will  af- 
ford an  abundant  supply  for  the  family  during 
the  grape  season,  and  leave  a  good  store  for  win- 
ter.—  Valley  Farmer. 


PRE8EKVINQ  GRAPES  FOB  'WINTER. 

While  grapes  may  be  grown  in  such  profusion 
and  with  so  little  labor,  it  is  a  little  remarkable 
that  a  supply  for  every  household  in  the  country 
is  not  secured,  not  only  in  the  regular  season  of 
them,  but  to  last  until  spring.  There  is  no 
trouble  in  keeping  grapes  through  the  winter  as 
fresh  as  when  they  are  first  gathered.  In  seasons 
when  other  fruit  is  scarce,  no  greater  luxury  can 
be  enjoyed  than  a  dish  of  fresh  grapes  in  winter. 

In  gathering  grapes  for  keeping  fresh,  they 
should  be  allowed  to  hang  on  the  vines  until  they 
are  fully  ripe,  and  then  gathered  with  care,  to 
avoid  bruisirg.     The  fairest   bunches  should  be 


MANURING  GRASS  LANDS. 

In  no  department  of  farming  is  there  a  more 
radical  call  for  improvement,  than  in  the  manage- 
ment of  our  meadows  and  pastures.  Good  grass 
crops  are  at  the  very  foundation  of  good  hus- 
bandry. Land  which  will  produce  these  largely, 
will  produce  grain,  corn  and  roots — will  sustain  a 
good  proportion  of  stock,  and  thus  furnish  within 
itself  the  means  of  keeping  up  and  improving 
its  fertility.  These  assertions  are  seemingly  so 
self-evident,  that  we  must  beg  pardon  of  the  in- 
telligent reader  for  referring  so  frequently  to  the 
subject.  And  yet  the  intelligent  reader  who 
looks,  perhaps,  over  his  own  farm,  certainly  on 
the  farms  around  him,  will  see  that  no  word  is 
out  of  place,  which  can  attract  attention  to  the 
question  before  us.  We  shall  now  remark  simply 
on  top-dressing  meadows — the  present  being  a 
favorable  season  for  the  operation. 

For  improving  the  yield  of  grass,  and  adding 
to  the  permanent  fertility  of  the  soil,  we  cannot 
do  better  with  our  fine  manure,  than  to  apply  it 
after  hajing  as  a  top-dressing  to  dry  land  mead- 
ows or  pastures.  It  will  give  new  vigor  to  the 
growth  of  grass,  and  increase  the  thickness  of 
the  sward,  so  that  even  were  it  to  be  plowed  the 
next  season  for  a  grain  croj),  the  manure  could 
not  be  better  timed  or  applied.  For  meadow  or 
pasture  the  product  would  be  largely  increased 
both  in  quantity  and  quality.  On  wet  land, 
draining  should  precede  the  application  of  ma- 
ure,  as  no  great  benefit  can  be  gained  from  ma- 
uring  a  soil  saturated  with  water  during  the  wet 
seasons  of  the  year. 

On  loamy  soils  the  different  composts  of  muck 
with  manure,  ashes,  lime,  guano,  etc.,  will  be 
found  valiidble,  and  an  addition  of  plaster  to  the 
compost  cannot  well  come  amiss.     For  mucky 


458 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


soils,  manure  composted  with  loam  or  clay  will  the  scalding  sun  of  a  confined  place,  fresh  as  the 
be  appropriate,  and  these  alone — as  is  the  case  day  they  came  out.  Now  the  whole  energies  of 
with  muck  on  upland — will  be  found  a  valuable  the  corn  were  put  forth  to  produce  suckers  to 
means  of  improvement.  Bone  manure,  when  it  rectii'y  the  mistake,  and  it  did  work  lively,  for  in 
can  be  procured,  is  an  extremely  valuable  fertil-  the  time  mentioned  above,  it  got  them  out  and 
izer  for  grass,  and  no  farmer  should  neglect  to  dropped  pollen  on  patient  waiting  beards,  every 
employ  in  a  broken  state,  all   the  bones   within  fibril  was  fructified   at  about  the  same   time,  for 


his  reach  upon  the  farm. 


they  were  all  out  waiting,  and    the  corn  went  on 


We  have  seen  an  account  of  an  experiment]  with  its  work,  and  it  being  a  good  season  and  a 
where  dry  straw  spread  thinly  over  the  surface  of  warm  place,  there  was  tolerable  corn  in  spite  of 
a  meadow,  after  haying,  produced  a  large  increase  Paddy.  Caleb  Bates. 


^rass— acting,  perhaps,  as  a  sort  of  mulch  to 
the  roots,  preventing  the  effects  of  drouth,  adding 
also  a  light  manuring  as  it  decayed.  Turf  ashes 
act  very  beneficially  upon  grass  land,  and  some 
farmers  use  them  largely  as  a  top-dressing  for 
meadows. — Country  Gentleman. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CORN"-STA.IjKS---POIjIiBN"— SUCKEJES. 


Kingston,  Mass.,  Aug.,  1859. 

EXTRACTS  A.ND  REPLIES. 
THE   STAR-NOSED   MOLE. 

Perhaps  you,  or  some  of  the  correspondents 
of  the  Farmer,  can  give  information  in  regard  to 
the  name,  habits,  Ike,  of  the  animal  I  shall  men- 
tion. A  few  mornings  since  I  picked  up  in  the 
barn-yard,  a  little  animal  dead.  It  bore  the  ap- 
^      ,      ^  „  ^  ,  ,         .  .    pearance  of  being  killed  by  a  cat.     At  first  sight 

In  the  Farmer  of  July  30,  there  is  a  communi-  ^  supposed  it  to  be  the   common  mole,   but   fur- 
.ion   from  Mr.   J.  M.  Ives,  on  the   practice  of  ^^er  examination  proved  it  to  be   diff-erent.     Its 
cutting  corn  stalks— it  appears  to  me  like  good  j.^j    .^^^^  plump  and  round,  about  5-i  inches  from 
sense.     I  cut  the  tops  from  my  corn.  j^„,g  ^^  ^^^  ^f  t,^;i      ^ail  stout,  U   inches  long, 

Every  farmer  ought  to  recognize  one  great '  ^^j  ,.ggiy  (,^^^^^^1  with  coarse  hairs  or  bris- 
truth,  that  there  is  an  economy,  wise  beyond  ^i^^  .  hind  legs  similar  to  those  of  a  mouse,  but 
conception,  in  the  Great  Producer,  that  what  ap-  g^^^^gj. .  foj-^ard  organs  of  locomotion  were  two 
pears  to  us  superfluous  in  plants  is  not  so  m  y^^.,,^  fl,,^  fg^j^  j„  .^  lij.^  a  man's  open  hand; 
fact.  Ihe  effort  of  everything  is  to  produce  its  ^j^^I^^  were  joined  to  the  body  without  any  arm 
own  kind  with  the  least  waste.  There  must  be  ^^  i^^,^  ^^^^^  .widely  separated.  Head  and  snout 
a  sufficient  amount  of  leaves  and  stalks  to  re-ljij^g  ^  j^^g,  and  around  the  circumference  of  the 
ceive  atmospheric  influences  before  the  great:  s^^m  ^^^e  numerous  cartilaginous  joints,  one- 
work  of  producing  seed  is  done;  when  this  is  eighth  inch  in  length,  pointing  forward;  could 
finished,  and  the  plant  comes  to  maturity,  all  the  iji^P„^.gr  no  ears ;  eyes  very  small,  small  as  a  pin 
seed-making  elements  leave  the  stalk  and  con-^ead,  black  and  deeply  sunken,  teeth  very  small, 
centrate  m  the  seed.  |  one  convex,  one   in   front  upon   both  upper  and 

I  have  said  to  some  of  my  neighbors  that  grass ,  1^^^^  jaws.  Body  covered  with  fine,  thick,  glos- 
did   not  grow,  (in   one   sense,)  for  his  horse  or        i^j^^ji^  f^^r_  Albert  Wheeler. 

mine,  but  to    produce  seed  and  drop  it— when       SomervUle,  Mass.,  1859. 
that  is  done,  the  stalk  is  straw,  and  the  man  that 

cuts  it  after  the  seeds  have  matured  gets  straw.  Remarks.— The  animal  described  above  was, 
I  try  to  cut  it  when  the  seed-producing  elements'  undoubtedly,  the  "Star-Nosed  Mole."  It  is  not 
are  in  the  stalks,  just  before  it  can  drop  out.  If ;  uncommon  in  most  parts  of  New  England,  but 
we  want  the  seed  of  corn  in  its  greatest  perfec-|  j^  ^^^^  ^j- j^^  ^-^g  underground. 

tion  for  planting,  we  must  let  the  stalks,  suckers  i  

and  all  turn  to  straw. 

I  love  to  contemplate  the  growing  corn,  "first |  REMEDY  FOR  GARGET  IN  cows, 

the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  I  In  your  August  number,  E.  P.  Chase,  of 
the  ear."  The  main  spindle  runs  up  and  drops' Ueerfield,  N.  IL,  over  date  of  June  18,  says: — 
its  pollen,  so  that  the  slightest  puff  of  air  will  "I  have  found  horseradish,  cut  and  fed  in  po- 
shake  it  out  to  the  beards  below.  If  the  earth  tatoes  the  same  as  garget  root,  a  good  remedy 
can  produce  more,  the  corn  suckers  and  will  have  for  gargety  cows."  I  have  found  potatoes  with- 
one  ready  just  in  time  with  its  golden  dust  to  out  the  horseradish  root  a  good  remedy  for  the 
fructify  two  inches  more  of  ihe  ear;  if  there  isjgarget  in  cows,  when  fed  liberally  to  them.  The 
greater  fertility,  another  will  be  in  time,  and!  disease  known  as  the  garget  is  but  an  inflamma- 
beards  will  continue  to  push  out  for  additional! tory  action,  more  or  less  general  in  the  system, 
length,  and  so  on  until  the  ear  is  full  of  corn.  If:  and  in  cows  the  udder  is  usually  more  deeply  in- 
we  see  suckers  starting  freely  from  the  young  ivolved  in  the  diiBculty  than  any  other  part  of 
corn,  we  may  expect  long  ears — if  without  suck-  the  system,  because  it  is  more  sensitive,  and 
ers,  short  ears  and  snouted.  I  more    easily    inflamed      What  is  usually  called 

A  widow  employed  a  faithful  Irishman  to  do  garget,  when  the  udder  is  swollen,  is  !mt  seated 
the  work  on  her  place.  He  planted  corn  too  close,  inflammation  in  the  suffering  part,  and  any  food 
in  a  very  rich  and  confined  place — it  ran  up  tall,  calculated  to  produce  a  free  discharge  from  the 
Michael,  to  let  in  the  sun,  cut  the  stalks  as  they ,  intestines  and  reduce  inflammation,  ia  servicea- 
were  on  the  point  of  dropping  their  pollen.  Iible  to  the  animal.  In  severe  cases  of  inflamma- 
passed  it  daily,  and  was  much  interested  in  watch-  tion  in  cattle,  whether  general  or  local,  I  have 
ing  the  result.     The  beards  came  out   and   piled  used,    with   good    success,   the  hydrate   of  pot- 


around  the  top  of  the  ear  like  a  bunch  of  curled 
hair,  and  there  remained  for  about  fifteen  days  in 


ash,  one  ounce  dissolved  in  three  pints  of  water, 
and  given  from  one-third  to  one-half  of  a  glass 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


459 


two  or  three  times  in  a  day,  as  the  condition   of  specks  formed  Ly  sour  milk  will  not  rise  on  wa- 
the  animal  required.  j,  G.  w.       ter,   but  those   caused  by  dried   cream,  will  be 


Aug.  G,  1859, 


now   TO   MAKE    PICKLES. 


found  on  the  water  after  washing  the  butter.     I 

have  proved  them  to   be   cream   by   simmering 

them  to  oil,  and  by  other   experiments.     I  think 

When  cutting   from  the  vines,  leave   half  anl^:'^"^  milk  is  kept  from   direct  exi)osure  to  the 

inch  of   stem  attached   to   the   cucumber;  pack  ^"V  >'o.'^  ^^'i'^    "ot  ^^  troubled  with  them    if  the 

them  in  a  stone  jar,  being  careful  not  to  break  ^''^"■>'  ^^^  Properly  attended  to.  I  will  just  say  that 

the  little  prickles  which  cover  them  ;  add   suffi-  uneven  salting  is  always  the  occasion  of  striped 

cient  vinegar  to  thoroughly  immerse  the  whole,  »"tter.     I  always  churn   often,  whether  I    have 


and  repeat  the  process  from  day  to  day  till  you 
have  obtained  the  quantity  you  desire  ;  then  add 
a  small  bag  of  mustard-seed  and  cloves,  cover- 
ing the  whole  with  horseradish  roots,  scraped  and 
split  into  small  pieces.  Should  any  traces  of  a 
scum  appear,  add  more  horseradish  immediately, 
as  a  good  supply  of  that  is  a  sure  preservative, 
and  "A  Lover  of  Good  Pickles"  will  find  them  as 
nice  at  the  end  of  two  years  as  one. 

Please  inform  me  where  I  can  obtain  the  full- 
est information  with  regard  to  the  cultivation  and 
varieties  of  strawberries.  A  Friend. 

Concord,  JV.  II.,  Aur/.,  1859. 

Remarks 


more  or  less  cream. 

A  Reader  of  the  Farmer. 
Waterbury,  Vt.,  July,  1859. 


EDITOKIAL  CORKESPONDEWCE. 
VISIT   TO   MONTREAL. 

Montreal,  L.  C,  Aug.  IS,  1859. 
Messrs.  Noiuse,  Eaton  &  Tolman. 

Gents  : — I  came  here  to  attend  a  trial  of  agri- 
culturnl  machinery  and  implemenis,  projected  by 
the  progressive  spirit  of  the  Lower  Canada  Board 


CURE    FOR   A   BREACH. 


of  Agriculture.  The  trial  has  been  continued 
You  may  find  a  little  work  on  the 'during  three  days,  on  the  farm  of  James  Logan, 
cultivation  of  the  strawberry,  at  the  bookstores,: Esq.,  three  miles  from  the  city.  The  machines 
by  K.  u.  1  ardee.  ^j^^j  implements   presented  were  not   numerous, 

and  full  one-half  the  whole  were  from  the  States. 

m  ,  •  i>i    1/-  •     1    ,        J      1  ,       .      There  were  some  six  or  eight  mowing  machines, 

lake  a  piece  01  halt  inch  board,  about  the  size  ,       ,,     r.  .,         j.^        :  to      ■  ^    , 

of  a  man's  hand,  round  off  the  corners,  and   linei",'^^^^^  ^^^  °^  ^^^™  different  modifications  of  the 

the  side  next  to  the   colt  with   lamb's  skin  with  i^^^^tchum   and  Manny,  four  or  five  reapers,  in- 

the  wool  on,  to  prevent   chafing  the   breach;  at- ■  eluding  one  with  a  self-raking  attachment, — that 

tach  this  to  a  soft  surcingle,  and  buckle  it  closely  is,  to  rake  the  grain  from  the  platform  of  the  ma- 

around  the  colt,  with  the  board  directly  over  the 

breach — then  attach  two  soft  cords  to  the  back 

part  of  the  board,  passing  them  through  between 

the  hind  legs,  and  fasten  one  of  the  cords  to   a 

girt  on  one  side  of  the  hip,  and  the  other  on  the 

other  side,  which  will  keep  it  to  the  place.    Wet 

the  wool  twice  a  day  with  strong  liquor  of  white 

oak  bark.     This  will  effect  a  cure  in  three  or  four 

■weeks.  A.  BuiGGS. 

Deerjield,  Mass. 


APPLES   AND   PLUMS. 

Will  fruit  and  plums  improve  in  size  and  qual- 
ity by  removing  the  tree,  bush  or  vine  upon 
which  it  grows  natural  or  wild,  to  a  warmer  cli- 
mate ?  A  Subscriber. 

Eaverhill,  X.  H.,  July,  1859. 

Remarks. — They  would  be  quite  likely  to,  if 
all  other  things  M'ere  favorable. 


For  the  AV»'  England  Farmer. 

COLLECTING  CREAM  AND  CHURNING. 

I  agree  with  those  of  your  correspondents  who 
say  that  white  specks  are  caused  by  dried  cream, 
formed  on  th,e  top  of  the  milk  by  exposure  to  a 
current  of  air  in  dry  warm  weather — I  say  dry 
weather,  for  this  crust  is  never  formed  in  damp 
weather — neither  am  I  ever  troubled  with  specks 
in  damp  weather ;  I  do  not  say  that  sour  milk  is 
never  found  in  butter,  but  it  is  seldom  the  case 
where  cream  is  properly  cared  for,  and  sour  milk 
is  not  adhesive,  and  easily  removed  from  the 
butter  by  washing.  Any  one  can  decide  as  to 
the   nature    of  the  specks   by  experiment;  the 


chine  into  bundles — some  hay-rakes,  one  ted- 
ding, or  hay  turning  machine,  three  stump  pul- 
lers, several  threshing  machines,  root  and  hay 
cutters,  quite  a  collection  of  plows,  a  few  har- 
rows, &c.,  &c. 

The  mowing  machines  were  set  in  motion  on 
Tuesday,  and  operated  well.  The  Ketchum,  with 
Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.'s  modifications,  cut  i*s 
acre  in  38  minutes ;  Wood's  Manny  in  49  m'l- 
utes,  and  Moodie's  Manny  in  52  minutes.  T.ie 
field  was  level,  but  laid  into  beds  of  only  ten  fe-t 
in  width  over  its  whole  extent.  The  grass  was 
second  crop  clover,  and  about  a  ton  to  the  acre. 
Moodie's  machine  lost  a  pin  and  was  detained  a 
fev/  minutes,  and  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.'s  caught 
a  stone  which  bent  one  of  the  teeth,  detaining 
them  six  minutes.  Wood's  Manny,  with  two 
wheels,  worked  steadily,  and  did  it  with  apparent 
ease  for  a  pair  of  horses  of  less  than  twenty  hun- 
dred. The  reapers  also  did  good  work,  if  cutting  a 
large  proportion  of  the  grain  and  gathering  it  in- 
to bunches  may  be  considered  good  work.  The 
self-raking  reaper  cut  an  arpon,  or  French  acre, 
which  is  a  little  less  than  our  acre,  in  29  minutes. 
The  other  reaper  required  a  man  to  ride  on  it 
and  remove  the  grain  at  intervals  with  a  fork, 
and  occupied  more  time.  Neither  of  the  reap- 
ers collected  the  grain  sufficiently  to  make  care- 
ful raking,  either  by  horse  or  hand,  unnecessary. 
No  clean  and   careful  cultivator  would  think  of 


460 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


eaving  so  much  upon  the  ground  as  I  saw  re- 
;mining  after  the  grain  was  tied  into  bundles.  If 
hese  trials  were  fair  examples  of  their  usual 
vork,  the  necessity  for  raking  after  reaping  will 
^rove  a  considerable  drawback  upon  the  useful- 
ness of  the  machines.  It  was  wonderful  to  see 
the  self-raker  cut  down  a  very  heavy  barley  crop 
at  the  rate  of  an  acre  in  29  minutes,  and  claw  it 
from  the  machine  and  lay  it  in  bunches  ready  to 
be  tied  up ! 

The  trial  of  plows  attracted  much  interest,  and 
was  going  on  through  two  days.  The  plow-field 
presented  to  me  an  original  scene.  The  judges 
were  composed  of  portions  of  the  English, 
French  and  Scotch  population, — while  to  these 
were  added  among  the  competitors  and  specta- 
tors, the  Irish  and  Italian.  Of  course,  there  was 
a  Babel  of  languages — but  nearly  all  were  mas- 
ters of  two  tongues,  the  French  and  English, 
and  I  observed  that  when  two  persons  met,  both 
speaking  English  well,  and  became  earnest,  they 
grew  eloquent  in  French, — while  those  not  car- 
ing a  snap  for  the  decalogue,  when  they  wanted 
to  give  a  peculiar  unction  to  their  expressions, 
"swore  worse  than  our  army  did  in  Flanders,"  in 
pure  English.  How  is  this  ?  Has  the  French 
language  more  power  in  the  expression  o^ feeling, 
and  the  English  in  denunciation,  that  the  com- 
mon people  resort  to  one  and  the  other  at  will, 
or  did  my  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  French 
fail  to  catch  monsieur's  vocabulary  of  oaths  ?  But 
the  queerest  of  all,  was,  when  the  impassable  and 
pertinacious  Scotchman  came  in  contact  with  the 
lively  and  voluble  Frenchman,  both  resorting  to 
common  English  ground,  and  discussing  the 
merits  of  their  favorite  implements.  I  shall  give 
no  example — it  would  require  the  full  power  of 
the  ablest  philologist  in  the  land  to  do  it  justice. 

Nearly  all  the  land  in  this  region  is  a  clay 
loam,  and  therefore  does  not  call  for  so  extended 
a  variety  of  plows  as  New  England  soils.  Still, 
one  form  of  plow  will  not  do  good  work  in  all 
places  here.  Most  of  their  plowing  is  done  in 
the  lap  furrow  form.  For  their  grain  crops  they 
plow  in  August  and  September,  and  leave  it  un- 
til spring — then  sow  upon  the  furrow  and  har- 
row afterwards.  I  suppose  they  must  harrow 
across  the  furrows,  because  the  grain  seems  to 
grow  inclines,  as  though  the  seed  had  fallen  into 
the  channels  on  the  edges  of  the  furrows.  Most 
of  the  plows  of  the  country  presented  were  the 
Scotch — all  iron  and  about  ten  feet  long !  The 
beam  is  short,  curved  and  graceful ;  the  point 
very  long  and  slender,  the  handles  some  five  feet 
in  length,  ending  in  short  wooden  jiieces — some- 
times of  mahogany — for  the  hands.  I  saw  sever- 
al of  them  at  work.  They  require  a  stout  pair 
of  horses,  who  move  very  slowly,  plowing  only 
one  acre  each  day  and  that  rarely  more  than  six 


inches  deep.  A  Scotchman  at  my  side  inquired, 
— "How  much  is  your  average  day's  work  ?"  I 
replied, — "With  such  a  team,  on  similar  land, 
and  with  one  of  our  plows  adapted  to  the  soil,  we 
should  plow  two  acres  at  least,  nine  or  ten  inches 
deep,  being  ten  hours  in  the  hooks  ;  and  that  in 
a  cool  day  and  everything  favorable,  two  acres 
and  a  half  were  not  an  uncommon  day's  work." 
The  Scotchman  did  not  say  that  he  was  incredu- 
lous, but  his  nationality  would  not  allow  him  to 
yield.  "Ah,"  said  he,  "but  ye  canna  do  it  so 
weel  as  we." 

The  English  and  Frenchmen  saw  gracf  s  and  vir- 
tues in  th°  American  plow  that  did  not  commend 
themselves  to  the  Scot.  They  clustered  around 
the  neatly-made  and  symmetrical  plows  from  the 
house  of  Nourse,  Mason  &  Co.,  and  scanned 
their  work  with  evident  interest  and  satisfaction. 
Mr.  HoLBROOK,  of  Vermont,  was  present,  and 
upon  a  call  from  the  chairman  of  this  department 
of  the  trial,  put  several  forms  of  his  mould-board 
"through  their  paces,"  and  briefly  explained,  to 
the  members  of  the  Board  and  spectators,  the 
principles  upon  which  they  were  constructed,  and 
why  the  varying  soils  require  differently  formed 
mould-boards.  The  gentlemen  composing  the 
Board,  and  the  intelligent  farm-managers  who 
were  present,  gentlemen  who  own  and  direct  the 
affairs  of  large  estates,  but  do  not  labor  with 
their  hands,  seemed  to  appreciate  the  force  of  his 
remarks,  and  I  subsequently  learned  that  the 
judges  awarded  to  the  Universal  Plow  their  high- 
est prize,  though  not  as  a  plow  coming  in  compe- 
tition with  others. 

Perhaps  no  part  of  this  field  trial  proved  so 
satisfactory  to  our  Canadian  brethren  as  that  of 
the  plows ;  they  did  not  hesitate  to  express  in 
warm  terms  their  obligations  to  the  States  men 
for  coming  so  far,  and  contributing  so  much  to 
advance  the  cause  they  are   striving  to  promote. 

Several  threshing  machines  were  on  trial,  all 
working  well,  and  one  of  which  threshed  and 
cleaned  up  the  grain  from  100  sheaves  of  wheat 
in  8i  minutes. 

Three  stump  pullers  were  tested,  and  one  of 
them,  introduced  by  Mr.  George  Kenny,  of 
Milford,  N.  H.,bore  off  the  palm,  and  proved  it- 
self an  implement  of  astonishing  power. 

Yours  truly,  SiMON  Brown. 


Ditching  Machine. — The  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company, 
offer  $500  for  the  best  ditching  machine  for  open 
ditching.  The  party  claiming  the  offer  must  ex- 
hibit the  practical  working  of  the  machine  at  the 
same  places  and  times  with  the  steam  plow,  and 
the  Company  above  mentioned  will  transport  the 
machine  over  their  road  free  of  cost. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


461 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  AMERICAN  ROBIN. 

Friend  Brown  : — Perceiving  your  great  fond- 
ness for  birds,  and  love  for  the  beautiful  in  na- 
ture as  well  as  in  things  of  art,  and  being  aware, 
also,  of  your  willingness  to  allow  free  discussion 
upon  all  subjects  th:it  relate  to  agriculture  and 
horticulture  in  the  Farmer,  I  venture  to  offer  a 
plea  in  behalf  of  the  robin. 

In  the  issue  of  June  4th,  a  correspondent  re- 
marks, "I  do  not  see  as  any  of  the  advocates  for 
the  preservation  of  robins  advance  one  idea  in 
their  favor,  except  their  singing  ;  no  injurious 
insect  do  they  prove  that  they  destroy.  I  will 
admit  that  for  fructiferous  birds  nature  requires 
some  animal  food,  but  the  robin  never  takes  any 
except  the  angle-worms,  where  they  can  be 
found." 

This  is  a  strong  assertion,  but  as  he  says  of 
the  "advocates  for  the  preservation  of  the  rob- 
ins," proof  is  wanting  to  confirm  the  assertion 
that  "the  robin  never  takes  any  (insects)  except 
angle-worms."  As  an  advocate  for  the  robin,  I 
will  furnish  facts  of  a  recent  date  given  by  Prof. 
Jenks,  employed  under  the  patronage  of  the 
"Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society  " 

The  plan  adopted  for  the  investigation  of  this 
su])ject  required  that  robins  should  be  oljtained 
at  day  break,  mid-day  and  sunset,  both  from  the 
village  and  the  country,  that  their  crops  should 
be  examined  and  the  contents  thereof  preserved 
in  alcohol.  Beginning  with  the  first  week  in 
March,  this  investigation  was  continued  almost 
daily  until  December.  Not  a  particle  of  vegeta- 
ble matter  was  found  down  to  the  first  of  May, 
but  insects  in  great  abundance,  both  as  to  quan- 
tity and  variety  of  species,  for  the  robin  is  a  vo- 
racious eater,  as  confirmed  by  an  experiment 
made  in  Cambridge,  last  season,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  papers.  Nine-tenths  of  the  food  dur- 
ing the  time  indicated,  consisted  of  the  larvce 
identified  as  Bibio  aUipennis  of  Say,  as  con- 
firmed by  Dr.  Fitch,  of  New  York,  and  a  Russian 
entomologist  in  Washington.  From  one  hun- 
dred to  two  hundred  of  these  larvit  were  fre- 
quently taken  from  a  single  robin,  and  were  usu- 
ally the  only  food  found  in  the  crops. 

Thus  did  Prof,  Jenks  demonstrate  that  the 
robin  consumed  daily  during  March  and  April, 
from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  Bibio  larvte, 
thus  rendering  an  incalculable  service  to  the  til- 
lers of  the  soil.  The  robin  seems  to  be  peculiar- 
ly fond  of  these  worms. 

The  Bibio  larvae  were  not  seen  after  the  first 
of  May,  from  which  time  to  June  21st  a  variety 
of  insects  and  worms  were  found,  including  spi- 
ders, caterpillars  and  beetles  of  the  family  Ela- 
ievidft,  the  propagators  of  the  wire-worm,  so  de- 
structive to  corn.  The  earth-worm,  or  angle- 
,  worm,  as  it  is  also  called,  was  founrl  to  be  a  fa- 
voiile  kind  of  food  for  the  young,  but  sparingly 
eaten  by  the  parent  birds. 

From  June  21st,  strawberries,  cherries  and 
pulpy  fruits  in  general  were  found,  but  in  a  ma- 
jority of  examinations,  were  intermingled  with 
insects.  Those  shot  remote  from  the  garden  and 
fruit  trees  were  found  to  contain  more  insects 
and  less  fruits,  leading  the  Professor  to  conclude 
that  "the  robin  is  not  an  extensive  forager," 

The  mixed  diet  of  the  robin  was  found  to  con- 


tinue until  October ;  the  vegetable  portion,  dur- 
ing August  and  September,  consisting  chiefly  of 
elderberries  and  pokeberries.  During  October, 
grasshoppers  and  orthopterous  insects  generally 
furnished  the  diet  of  the  robin. 

Early  in  November,  the  robin  migrates  to  the 
South,  and  even  earlier,  most  of  them.  Some  of 
them,  however,  remain  through  the  winter,  sub- 
sisting on  bay-berries,  privet-berries,  juniper- 
berries,  mountain-ash-berries,  &c. 

After  such  an  exhibition  of  facts  in  confirma- 
tion of  the  robin's  habits,  may  it  not  be  hoped 
that  its  accusers  will  no  longer  persist  in  assert- 
ing that  the  robin  eschews  all  insects  and  worms, 
except  angle-worms,  which  your  correspondent 
says  he  "gulps  down  as  if  he  loathed  it,  like  a 
child  taking  Epsom  salts,"  and  "only  to  gratify 
his  vicious  destructivene-s."  The  cowardly  rob- 
in, it  is  also  said,  "locates  near  dwellings,"  inter- 
fering, it  would  seem,  from  the  remarks  of  your 
correspondent,  not  only  with  the  fruit  business, 
but  the  traffic  in  angle-worms,  whose  "standard 
price"  in  certain  localities  is  "one  dollar  a  gill." 
These  would  be  strong  reasons  for  repealing  the 
law,  for  protecting  birds,  including  the  robin, 
were  it  not  that  there  are  many  more,  and  much 
stronger  reasons  for  its  preservation,  in  view  of 
the  incalculable  good  which  it  does. 

He  who  seeks  for  good,  unmixed  with  evil,  in 
the  things  appertaining  to  this  life,  I  fear  will 
look  in  vain.  Before  pronouncing  sentence  of 
utter  condemnation  upon  a  neighbor,  or  a  robin, 
because  a  sinner,  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  fruit- 
eater  or  poacher  on  the  other,  let  the  question  be 
mentally  put,  "Who  ami,  that  thus  condemneth 
because  of  evilP"  Let  him  that  is  without  sin 
cast  the  first  stone.  Weigh  the  good  and  the 
evil,  and  see  if  the  former  does  not  preponderate 
in  general,  and  with  regard  to  the  robin  in  par- 
ticular. Charity. 


LETTER  FROM  MR.  BROWN. 

Montreal  lies  on  the  west  bank  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  which  is  nearly  two  miles  wide  oppo- 
site the  city.  It  is  narrow,  but  stretches  along 
the  bank  of  the  river  for  a  long  distance,  and 
contains  a  population  of  some  80,000  souls.  This 
population  is  greatly  mixed,  and  each  class  is 
ever  striving  to  make  prominent  and  perpetuate 
its  own  national  characteristics  in  customs,  man- 
ners and  language.  The  struggle,  however,  is 
between  the  English  and  the  French — there  lies 
the  tug  of  war.  Their  differences  often  find  ex- 
pression, and  will  eventually  lead  to  a  distinct 
local  government,  in  the  two  provinces  of  Lower 
and  Upper  Canada,  probably,  before  they  are 
known  as  the  State  of  Upper  Canada,  and  the 
State  of  Loioer  Canada.  The  feeling  strongly 
prevails  with  many  intelligent  persons,  that  the 
Canadas  will  yet  become  a  part  of  the  cluster  of 
United  States. 

The  buildings  in  the  city  are  mostly  construct- 
ed of  stone,  and  the  dingy  walls,  full  of  crevices 
where  the  plaster  has  been  washed  or  knocked 
out,  together  with  the   open   cellars  and  blar''* 


462 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


■walls  where  buildings  have  been  destroyed  by 
fire,  give  the  city  an"  unthrifty  and  dilapidated 
appearance.  The  streets  and  sidewalks  are  nar- 
row, and  there  are  few  shade  trees  to  temper  the 
solar  rays  or  the  parching  radiation  from  the 
heated  stones.  The  commerce  of  the  city  is  in- 
considerable, though  the  quay  or  single  wharf 
extending  all  along  the  easterly  side  of  the  city,! 
presents  at  certain  seasons  quite  a  lively  appear-! 
ance  of  business.  The  prevailing  religion  isi 
Catholic,  so  that  there  are  numerous  nunneries, 
convents  and  churches  belonging  to  that  sect.] 
The  Great  Cathedral,  with  its  bell  weighing  more: 
than  twelve  tons,  and  its  turrets  250  feet  high,  is  j 
always  open,  where  its  votaries  assemble,  bow 
and  cross  themselves,  and  utter  their  Ave  Marias 
with  all  seeming  fervor  and  unction.  A  thou- 
sand things  constantly  indicate  that  I  am  not 
among  rmj  people — the  language,  dress,  coins, 
implements  of  industry,  the  presence  of  sol- 
diery, the  carriages,  and  especially  the  carts  and 
vehicles  used  for  conveying  loads.  Last  evening 
I  was  wondering  how  they  could  place  a  hogs- 
head of  molasses  on  one  of  their  drays,  but,  while 
leaning  over  the  iron  railing  on  the  quay  this 
morning,  the  mystery  was  solved.  This  dray  is 
made  of  two  pieces  of  timber,  each  perhaps  fifteen 
feet  long,  six  inches  wide  and  three  thick  ;  these 
are  set  edgewise  about  eighteen  inches  apart,  on 
a  pair  of  common  horse  cart  wheels  ;  the  shafts 
are  long  and  slender,  and  attached  to  the  end  of 
those  pieces  next  to  the  horse  by  a  round  iron 
bar  which  forms  a  hinge.  In  preparing  to  load 
a  hogshead  of  molasses  the  hind  end  of  the  long 
pieces  is  depressed  so  as  to  touch  the  ground. 
One  end  of  a  rope  is  then  made  fast  forward  and 
brought  back  under  the  cask.  Another  dray  is 
then  backed  up,  the  rope  attached  to  it  and  the 
horse  started.  Li  this  way  the  hogshead  is  rolled 
to  the  centre,  or  over  the  axle-tree,  is  then  canted 
round  endwise,  and  is  ready  to  be  driven  off".  In 
unloading,  the  dray  is  tipped  up  as  in  loading 
and  the  cask  slid  off".  This  operation  required  the 
aid  of  six  men  and  two  horses  to  load  each  cask. 
Only  one  cask  Avas  placed  upon  each  dray. 

There  is  another  class  of  the  population  that  I 
have  not  mentioned — that  is,  Indians.  How  nu- 
merous they  are  I  have  not  learned.  The  women 
and  girls  frequent  the  hotels  to  sell  their  bead 
work  ;  one  of  them  touches  my  shoulder  now  to 
call  my  attention  from  writing  to  her  basket  of 
wares.  They  are  generally  tolerably  well  clad, 
and  are  modest,  but  not  graceful  in  form  or  mo- 
tion. It  will  not  be  long  before  these  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  forest  will  be  lost  amid  the  oth- 
er races  that  are  rapidly  whelming  over  them. 

Some  of  the  places  of  interest  to  which  the 
attention  of  the  traveller  is  called  in  this  city  are 
the  French  cathedral,  the   Bonsecours  and  St. 


Ann's  Market,  the  Grey  and  Hotel  Dieu  Nun- 
neries, the  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  the  Academy  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  Notre  l)ame,  the  Theatre  Royal, 
Champ  de  Mars,  &c.  In  one  of  the  public  squares 
stands  a  dilapidated  monument  to  Nelson,  Eng- 
land's great  naval  hero,  who  received  a  fatal 
shot  at  the  battle  of  Trafalgar.  The  Lachine  ca- 
nal is  a  fine  work,  but  the  Great  Victoria  Tubu- 
lar Bridge,  across  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  one 
mile  and  three- quarters  in  length,  is  the  crowning 
work  of  art  and  science  combined,  ])erhaps  of 
this  or  any  other  country.  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
walking  through  nearly  a  mile's  length  of  the 
tube  that  is  now  finished.  The  tubes  are  22  feet 
high  and  16  feet  wide,  giving  room  for  two 
tracks.  Every  part  of  the  bridge  is  iron,  resting 
upon  piers  constructed  of  a  marble  stone  brought 
20  miles  from  the  interior.  One  of  the  spans 
between  the  piers  is  330  feet  in  length,  and  the 
top  of  the  tube  is  82  feet  from  the  water !  There 
is  nothing  whatever  to  support  this  but  where  it 
rests  upon  the  pier  at  each  end,  and  then  its  own 
sustaining  power.  The  engineers  and  builders 
of  this  stupendous  work  are  Messrs.  A.  M.  Ross 
and  Robert  Stephenson,  of  England.  It  is  esti- 
mated to  cost  $7,000,000. 

The  citizens  of  Montreal  ought  to  be  a  very 
pious  and  exemplary  people,  for  they  are  sur- 
rounded by  the  names  of  saints,  at  least.  Almost 
everything  bears  the  name  of  some  patron  saint 
— the  river,  churches,  convents,  nunneries,  char- 
itable institutions,  streets,  lanes  and  markets. 
St.  Michael,  St.  Paul,  St.  Patrick  and  St.  Ann, 
with  others,  more  than  I  ever  supposed  were 
contained  in  the  calendar,  are  emblazoned  pretty 
much  everywhere  except  on  the  lampposts  and 
paving  stones  !  I  have  just  been  through  the 
principal  markets,  and  find  them  well  supplied 
with  meats  and  vegetables. 

In  closing  my  letter,  it  aff'ords  me  pleasure  to 
acknowledge  my  obligations  to  the  Presid  nt  and 
members  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  for  kind 
attentions  to  our  little  party  ''from  the  States," 
including  Joel  Nourse,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  and 
the  Hon.  F.  Holbrook,  of  Yt-rmont,  and  to  give 
their  names  and  address  permanent  record  in 
your  columns  as  follows  ; 

J.  0.  A.  Sturgeon,  President Terrebonne. 

E.  J   DeGlois,  Vice  Prehident Qntbec. 

John  Vule Chainbly. 

Major  Campbell St.  Hi  e ire. 

J.  C.  TaOue Quebtc. 

P.  E.  DosTALER Berthi-r,  E.  H. 

B.  PoMEor Compton. 

R.  N.  Watts Drummondville. 

J.  Peerault,  Secretary  Board  Agriculture. 

T.  Chaoron,  Assistant  Secretary. 

I  also  found  pleasure  in  meeting  an  old  ac- 
quaintance, the  Hon.  VVm.  McDougal,  M.  P.  P., 
and  former  editor  of  the  Farmers^  Journal,  at 
Toronto,  and  in  becoming  acquainted  with  .T^MES 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


463 


Anderson,  Esq.,  editor  of  the  Journal  of  Agri-\  NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 

culture,  Montreal,  and  with  William  Evans,  Campbell's  agriculture,  a  Manual  of  Scientific  and  Practi- 
■Rsn  nf  St  Ann's  Market  Seedsman  .to  Mr  i  cal  Agriculture,  for  the  Farm  and  the  School,  by  J.  L.  Camp- 
£.sq.,  01  Ot.  Anns  xUarKet,  Oeeasman,  iXC.  IVir.  ,  bell,  a.  M.,of  Washington  college,  Lexington,  Va  Withnu- 
Anderson  is  greatly  interested  ifl  the  subject  of  mtrous  Illu^-rations.  in  one  volume.  Price  S1,00.  Phila- 
.  1,  •  •       e  •     \     delphia :  Lindsay  &  Blakiston ;  Boston :  A.  Williams  &  Co. 

drainage,  drew  the  act  that  is   now  in  force   m 

Scotland,  and  got  it  through  Parliament,  and  was  |  The  introduction  of  agriculture,  taught  both  as 
for  a  long  time  the  Inspector  General  of  Drain- if  science  and  an  art,  in  our  public  schools,  has 
age  in  that  country. 

Truly  yours, 


Simon  Brown. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  CUTTEK  STRAWBERRY. 

This  is  a  day  of  new  things,  and  it  is  common 
to  hear  of  a  new  strawberry  better  than  all  of  its 
predecessors, 


long  been  advocated  by  the  editors  of  the  N.  E. 
Farmer.  This  treatise  is  intended  to  supply  the 
want  of  schools,  in  all  parts  of  our  country,  of 
some  introductory  work,  which  shall  give  simple 
explanations  of  chemical  terms  and  principles, 
applicable  to  agriculture,  and  also  practical  di- 
rections for  their  application  to  the  actual  cul- 
ture of  particular  crops.  Besides  the  chemical 
definitions,  which  seem  to  be  based  mainly  on 


Thisis  a  variety  of  strawberry  not  generally  g^„^,^j^^j.^^,g  pHnciples,  and   so  are  of  the  best 
disseminated,  and  but  little   has   been  published:       ,      .  ,  ,.  i   ,.        .         ^       ,         ,  . 

about  it.     It  was  first  taken  from  the  wild   pas- (^^^^""""y,  we  have  useful  directions  for  the  culti- 
ture,  and  is  a  native  seedling.     I  named   it  Cut-  vation  of  crops  m  general,  and  of  Indian  corn, 


ter,  in  honor  of  the  gentleman  who  first  cultivat- 
ed it,  some  six  or  eight  years  ago.  It  is  of  ex- 
cellent quality,  possessing  the  wild  strawberry 
flavor  largely.  Berries  of  very  even  size,  many 
of  them  four  inches  in  circumference ;  color,  light 
red  ;  form,  obtuse  cone,  with  a  neck ;  easy  to 
hull  ;  fruit  stems  very  long. 

I  gathered  fruit  from  the  plants  in  June  and 
Tuly  last  for  thirty-five  days  in  succession,  or 
eight  to  fifteen  days  longer  than  the  other  varie 


wheat  and  oats,  potatoes,  tobacco  and  cotton,  in 
particular. 

The  book  is  not  "sectional,"  but  supplies  a 
want  felt  at  the  South,  of  a  work  which  shall  in- 
clude their  peculiar  crops,  as  well  as  the  great 
staples  of  the  North  and  West. 

The  chapter  on  Animal  Physiology  seems  well 
digested  and  arranged.     Each  chapter  contains, 


ties  cultivated  on  the  same  soil,  and  precisely  the: at  its  ^^^^^'  ^^^^tions  designed  for  the   use  of 
same   cultivation;  the   Hovey  Seedling,  Boston 'teachers  in  the  instruction  of  their  classes. 


Pine,  Jenny  Lind  and  Early  Virginia.     The  two 
last-named  varieties  were  of  small  size.    The  two 


On  the  whole,  this  book  is  interesting  to  the 
general  student  of  agriculture,  and  well  adapted 


former  produced  some  very  large  berries,  but  as  i ,  ,  •        ,      i        ^.r  it 

a   whole,    were   of  very  uneven  size.     None   of  [*«  g^"*^'"^*  "««  ^^  ^'^h^^^^'     ^^«  ^'^  g'^^'^  ^o   see 

them  p-Tduced  so  much  fruit  by  at  least  one-half  from  the  southern  section  of  the  Union,  evidence 


as  the  Cutter. 

I  had  partly  covered  with  strawberries  about 
one-fifth  of  an  acre,  on  which  was  an  orchard  of 
apple  trees,  some  of  them  four  inches  in  diame- 
ter ;  1-50  grape  vines,  part  of  them  in  bearing; 
130  currant  bushes  in  bearing  ;  50  hills  of  rhu- 
barb of  the  improved  sorts,  walks,  &c.  About 
on-e- third  of   the  ground   was   planted  with  the 


of  increasing  interest  in  agricultural  science. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ILLEGAL  TRADE  IN  MILK. 


Mr.  Editor: — Having  repeatedly  seen  the 
fact  mentioned  in  your  paper  and  elsewhere,  that 
Cutter,  the  other  two-thirds  was  occupied  by  the  a  law  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  to  the  effect 
afore-mentioned  kinds.  The  pWntation  pro- [that  milk  must  he  6ot<(//i/ as  well  as  sold,  by  wine 
duced  500  boxes  or  quarts.  Had  the  whole, measure,  I  supposed  that  there  would  be  a  change 
ground  been  occupied  with  the  Cutter  600  quarts  I  in  the  size  of  the  cans,  or  at  least  in  the  price  of 
■would    have   been   a    fair   estimate,  considering  j  the  milk  ;  but  no  !  eight  quart  cans — beer  meas- 


their  relative  bearing  qualities. 

My  soil  is   sandy  loam    and  gravel.     I  prefer 
leached  ashes  as  a  fertilizer,  well  mixed  in  a  deep 


ure,  of  milk,  are  still  bought  of  the  farmers  and 
sold  for  over  nine  quarts  !  Is  this  right  ?  Should 
hundreds  of  poor  farmers  lie  cheated  out  of  their 


mellow  soil.     It  will  pay  to  make   the  soil  two  j  hard-earned  money,  simply  to  gratify  the  avarice 
feet  deep.     August  and   September  is  a  proper 'of  the  few  milkmen?     Certainly  not !     Will  not 


time  to  set  out  the  plants,  and  if  so  set,  mucli 
fruit  may  be  obtained  the  following  year. 

I  have  Wilson's  Albany,  Longwoith'.s  Prolific, 
McAvoy's  Superior,  Scott's  Seedling,  Peabody, 
and  Brighton  Pine.  All  of  thtni  are  growing 
well,  but  have  not  fruited  much,  having  been 
planted  in  the  spring. 

The  Cutter  strawberry  was  shown  at  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Horticultural  Exhibition,  four  weeks 
in  succession — two  weeks  longer  than  any  other 
variety.  The  committee  thought  it  very  prom- 
ising. J.  W.  Manning. 

Reading,  Mass.,  1859. 


some  of  our  enterprising  farmers,  who  love  their 
rights,  attend  to  this  matter,  for  we  can    plainly 
see  that  the  milkmen  do  not  respect  the  laws. 
South  Uroton,  Aug.  13,  1859.  TRUTH. 


Windsor  County,  Vt. — The  Windsor  Coun- 
ty, Vermont,  Agricultural  Society  will  hold  its 
fourteenth  annual  Fair  at  Woodstock,  Sepi'jm- 
ber  28,  29  and  30.  John  L.  Lovering,  Hart- 
ford, President;  Lorenzo  Hunt,  Woodstock, 
Secretary. 


464 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


riP^Sffi^^-        ^^ 


t*x. 


:>^.-- 


DESIGN  FOB  A  COFNTB.Y  HOUSE. 


We  herewith  present  a  design  for  a  bracketed 
country  house  of  two  and  a  half  stories.  This  is 
the  fourth  of  the  beautiful  series  de-signed  ex- 
pressly for  our  columns,  by  George  E.  Harney, 
Esq.,  cf  Lynn,  and  will  be  found  to  combine  ele- 
gance and  comfort,  with  cheapness.  Our  engra- 
ver, in  transferring  the  design  to  wood  has  omit- 
ted a  couple  of  large  sky-lights  in  the  roof  which 
serve  partially  to  light  the  attic  chambers,  and 
add  much  to  the  appearance  of  the  building.  It 
consists  of  a  main  body  and  an  ell  ;  the  main 
house  is  square  in  plan,  and  measures  36  feet  on 
each  side  ;  the  ell,  containing  kitchen  and  its  offi- 
ces, is  18  feet  by  26,  and  one  story  and  a  half  in 
height. 

The  disposition  of  the  several  apartments  of 
the  house  is  as  follows  : 

The  front  entrance  porch.  No.  1,  opens  into  a 
vestibule.  No.  2,  5  feet  by  9  ;  from  this  vestibule 
we  enter  the  parlor,  No.  3,  which  is  18  feet  square, 
and  contains  a  good  sized  closet. 

At  the  farther  end  of  the  vestibule,  a  door,  the 
upper  panels  of  which  may  be  glazed,  opens  into 
the  staircase  hall,  No.  4  ;  this  hall  contains  stairs 
to  the  chambers  above,  under  which  is  a  flight 
leading  to  the  cellar,  and  opens  into  the  follow- 
ing rooms: 


No.  5,  office  or  library  for  the  master  of  the 
house,  so  situated  as  to  be  convenient  to  the  door 
opening  upon  the  recessed  veranda,  No.  6 ;  No. 
7,  kitchen  16  feet  square;  No.  8,  store-room  7  feet 
6  inches  by  8  feet ;  No.  9,  pantry  8  feet  square, 
containing  pump  and  sink,  and  leading  into  the 
private  yard,  No.  10.  This  yard  is  to  be  enclosed 
by  a  lattice  fence  7  feet  high. 

No.  11,  living  room,  15  feet  by  16,  containing 
a  large  closetfand  communicating,  by  means  of  a 
passage  way.  No.  14,  with  the  family  bed-room. 
No.  12.  No.  13  is  a  privy  opening  into  the  en- 
closed yard. 

The  second  story  contains  three  large  cham- 
bers and  a  child's  bed-room,  besides  the  hall  and 
several  closets  in  the  main  body,  and  a  servant's 
bed-room,  a  large  clothes  press,  and  a  bathing- 
room  in  the  ell. 

The  third  story,  or  attic,  furnishes  room  for 
three  large  bed-rooms  and  numerous  closets. 

Construction. — This  house  is  to  be  constructed 
in  the  same  manner  as  those  we  have  befor'  of- 
fered, namely,  vertical  boarding  and  battens  for 
the  outside  covering,  and  plain  finish  with  walls 
prepared  for  papering  for  the  interior.  All  the 
lower  windows  of  the  main  part  are  to  be  shield- 
ed by  hoods    2  inches  wide.     The  roof  projects 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


465 


PLAN    OF    THE    FIHST    FLOOR. 


three  feet  all  around  and  is  supported  on  plain 
3^  inch  brackets. 

Height  of  first  story  10  feet;  height  of  second 
9  feet.  The  cost  of  the  above  house  would  be 
from  $3300  to  $3500. 


CULTURE  OP  BARLEY. 
This  grain  is  raised  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
all  over  New  England,  and  we  think  ought  to 
take  the  place  of  hundreds  of  acres  that  are  de- 
voted to  oats,  as  it  is  better  adapted  to  seeding 
down  land  with,  than  oats,  requires  less  seed,  ri- 
pens as  well,  and  is  admirably  fitted  to  our  short. 


it  loves  the  heat  of  our  glowing  summer  days. 
We  have  seen  fine  crops  of  it  on  our  granite 
hills,  growing  erect,  without  weeds,  and  yielding 
thirty  to  forty  bushels  per  acre, — and  the  hot, 
morning  cakes  made  from  good  samples  of  it 
somewhat  excite  our  gastronomic  desires  even 
now  !  Great  care  should  be  used  in  the  choice  of 
seed.  It  should  be  of  a  pale,  lively  color,  and 
the  grains  should  be  plump  and  fair.  Such  seed 
will  throw  up  strong,  healthy  stems,  capable  of 
resisting  untoward  changes  of  the  seasons,  and 
result  in  producing  a  good  crop.  In  England  it 
is  often  sown  as  food  for  sheep,  and  is  said  to  be 
far  more  productive  than  rye,  as  it  admits  of  be- 


hot  summers, — the  average  product  will  be  near- 
ly as  much  as  oats,  and  when  harvested,  is  worth  i"g  ^^d  down  every  few  days  during  the  summer. 
a  third  more  for  horses,  hogs,  poultry  or  cattle.  ^  If  sowed  early,  and  intended  for  seed,  it  may 
No  grain  makes  a  sweeter  and  more  nutritious  be  fed  off  in  the  first  part  of  the  season,  without 
bread,  to  be  eaten  while  it  is  warm.  The  celebrat-  injury  to  the  crop 
ed  Warren  Hastings  once  said  "that  it  is  of  the 


greatest  importance  to   promote   the  culture  of 


Toads. — Toads,  in  common  with  many  other 


this  sort  of  grain— it  is  the  corn  that,  next  to  reptiles,  cast  their  skins  ;  but  who  has  ever  found 
rice,  gives  the  greatest  weight  of  flour  per  acre."  .f he  old  coat  of  a  toad  ?  He  does  not  leave  them 
mi  1  I,     ..   T      J  1  •     .      •.        lying  about,  like  the  unthrifty  snake.  No  indeed; 

Ihe  cow-keepers  about  London   cultivate   it  as:  •'     ° .        ^Z   ,  j  ,      j    i  .u-       •      ^*  ;     ^« 

'  v^  <uuii   vuiinauc   n,    "conscious  that  second-hand  clothing  is  not  in  de- 

spring  food  for  their  milch  cows.  The  Romans  ^and  among  the  animal  democracy,  he  rolls  up 
used  to  cultivate  it  extensively  ;  made  the  meal 'his  old  coat  in  a  pile,  and  when  this  is  accom- 
into  balls,  and  fed  their  horses  and  asses  with  it,'plished,  packs  it  away  by  swallowing  it.  This  is 
which  was  said  to  make  them  strong  and  lusty.  I'"  "?^^f  ""  suggestion  to  others  to  foliowhis  ex- 
■p,     ,       ,      ,,  ,  J        1  ,    lample,  but  clearly  proves  our  despised  friend  to 

Barley  should  be  sowed  early,  on  warm,  sandy  K^  '^^  excellent  economist,  as  well  as  our  bene- 
or  gravelly  loams,  rather  than  on  alluvial  soils. 'factor  in  destroying  insects,  and  should  entitle 
Although  a  northern  plant,  like  the  Indian  corn, 'him  to  respect  and  long  life. 


466 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


BSGOLLECTIONS  OP  TRAVEL.  |way  for  a  day  or  two  at  the  White  Mountains. 

By  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  the  New  .The  weather  was  clear,  hot,  and  favorable  for 
England  States,  Canada  is  looked  upon  as  an  in-  observation.  A  hundred  horses  had  preceded 
hospitable,  out-of-the-way  place,  and  as  a  cold,  jus,  the  day  we  went  upon  the  mountain,  and  not 
rugged,  unfertile  region.  But  a  journey  from  the^a  hoof  could  be  procured,  so  we  commenced  our 
lakes  to  Quebec,  by  the  St.  Lawrence,  with  an  og-;  march  at  the  Glen  House,  on  the  easterly  side  of 
casional  diversion  from  this  noble  thoroughfare  the  mountain,  at  3,  P.  M.,  on  foot,  and  stood  up- 


into  the  country  on  each  side  of  the  river,  would 
at  once  dispel  any  such  idea.  We  never  saw  a 
more  fertile-looking  country,  nor  one  upon  which 
the  crops  appeared  better,  than  upon  a  large  t-x- 
tent  of  land  northwest  of  Montreal,  and  for  al- 
most an  equal  extent   on   this  side  of  the  river. 


on  the  roof  of  the  Tip  Top  House,  on  the  sum- 
mit of  Mount  Washington,  in  season  to  see  the 
sun  sink  into  the  Western  horizon.  A  good 
night's  sleep  prepared  us  to  be  up  and  witness 
the  sun's  rising  the  next  morning.  After  break- 
fast, the  entire  company  present  listened   to  the 


The  country  is  flat,  without  stones,  and  the  soilj-eading  of  that  most  sublime  of  all  language 
is  a  stiff,  clay  loam,  and  when  properly  cultivated,  the  104th  Psalm,  and  then  we  took  our  way  down 
is  exceedingly  productive.  Approaching  the  khg  mountain,  through  Tuckerman's  Ravine. 
Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Lower  Canada  is  in-  Xhis  is  an  amphitheatre  whose  walls  are  a  thou- 
tersected  by  ridges  of  mountains,  which  gener-  Land  feet  high,  and  from  whose  sides  issue  hun- 
ally  extend  from  the  coast  into  the  interior,  with  Jreds  of  springs,  forming  cascades  of  singular 
intervening  valleys  of  a  fertile  and  pleasant  ap-Lpauty  as  they  fall  from  point  to  point.  In  the 
pearance.      The   productions   are  grass,  wheat,  bottom  of  this  ravine  we  found  snow  fifteen  feet 


peas,  oats,  rye,  barley,  Src. 

The  soil  of  Upper  Canada  consists,  generally, 
of  a  fine,  dark  loam,  mixed  with  a  rich  vegetable 
mould,  and  its  productions  are  much  the  same  as 
those  of  Lower  Canada 
million    acres    of    land. 


deep,  and  the  cascades   and  the  melting   snows 
are  the  sources  of  the  Peabody  River. 

Great   numbers   of  people   have    visited    the 

mountains   this    season,   and   that   number,  we 

It  contains  nearly  't^jhave  no  doubt,  will  be  much  increased  hereafter, 

Ihe    inhabitants    are  lag  they  present  one  of  the  most  sublime  features 


mainly  of  English  descent,  and  speak  the  Eng- '  f  the  works  of  an  Almighty  hand.  There 
lish  language,  while  in  Lower  Canada,  the  French  L^ould  be  a  carriage-road  constructed  to  the  top 
population  prevails,  that  language  is  preferred,! of  Mt.  Washington,  or,  at  least,  a  good  bridle 
and  they  are  generally  Catholics.  |  p^th,  so  that  aged  or  feeble  persons  may  go  to 

The  country  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  I  the  summit.     The  cost  would  soon  be  repaid  by 
in  Lower  Canada,  is  flat,  and  extends  far  interior,; a  toll.     We  saw  and  heard  many  things  which 


almost  at  a  dead  level,  and  resembles  in  fertility 
the  rich  banks  of  the  Mohawk  or  Connecticut 
rivers.  These  tracts  are  well  timbered,  and  the 
clearings  are  dotted  with  fine  elms,  oaks,  and 
other  trees,  giving  them  the  appearance  of  beau- 
tiful parks,  or  widely-extended  pleasure-grounds. 
Some  of  the  farms  contain  several  thousand 
acres  each.  That  of  Mr.  James  Logan,  upon 
which  we  passed   a   portion   of   two   days,  was 


it  would  be  pleasant  for  us  to  relate,  and  which 
might  be  pleasat.t  and  profitable  to  read,  but 
want  of  space  will  exclude  any  further  account 
of  them. 


MAKUBE. 

We  know  a  farmer  who  has  used  several  cart- 
loads of  horn-piths  the  ])ast  two  seasons  for  ma- 
Inuring  his  potatoes  in  the  hill — a  piih  to  each  hill 
at  the  time  of  planting,  more  than  doubles  the 
highly-cultivated  and  productive.  He  had  a  herdjcmp  over  rows  having  no  manure.  As  the  pota- 
of  very  fine  Ayrshire  cows,  and  had  just  import- i  toes  are  dug,  the  piths  are  throv/n  into  heaps, 
ed  three  Clydesdale  horses,  two  mares,  weighing  and  afterwards  carted  off'  and  deposited  in  a  safe 


1,500  pounds  each,  and  a  four-year-old  stallion 
•weighing  about  1,700  lbs.  These  horses  are 
just  v>'hat  are  wanted  for  draught  in  cities,  for 
railroad  purposes,  and  all  other  places  where 
power  is  required  rather  than  quick  motion. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  a  demand  would 
be  found  for  every  horse  of  this  description  at 
very  high  prices.  This  matter  is  worthy  the  at- 
tention of  those  engaged  in  rearing  horses  for 
the  market. 

After  three  or  four  days  of  hard  labor  in  the 
broiling  sun  in  attending  upon  the  trial  of  ma- 
chines, in  company  with  Mr.  NouRSE,  one  of 
the  Proprietors  of  the  Farmer,  we  halted  on  our 


place  for  next  year's  use.  They  will  last  for  this 
purpose  many  years.  The  farmer  pays  about 
§1,50  a  cartload.  He  also,  occasionally,  obtains 
from  the  same  yard  the  lime,  after  having  been 
used  for  starting  the  hair  and  skins,  as  well  as 
some  of  the  fleshings  and  poor  quality  of  hair. 
These  are  made  into  compost  by  mixing  with 
loam  or  muck,  and  make  a  good  and  lasting  ma- 
nure, and  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  he  could  pro- 
cure stable  manure. 

The  waste  wool  from  woolen  factories  and 
carding  machines  can  sometimes  be  had  at  a 
trifling  expense.  Wool  and  cotton  rags  contain 
a  large  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and  above  five  per 
cent,  of  sulphur.  One  hundred  pounds  of  wool 
contains  about  seventeen  pounds  of  nitrogen — 
as  much  as  there  is  in  the  very  best  guano,  and 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMEH. 


467 


more  than  there  is  in  three  thousand  pounds  of 
fresh  cow  dung.  Wool  and  woolen  rags  decom- 
pose very  slowly  in  wet,  stiff  soils ;  therefore,  if 
used  in  their  natural  state,  they  should  be  spread 
upon  sandy,  or  light,  warm,  loamy  land,  and 
plowed  in.  On  such  land  they  are  lasting  and 
valuable  manures.  Great  quantities  of  waste 
wool  and  woolen  rags  are  used  to  manure  the 
hop  grounds  in  England,  and  the  hop-growers 
there  readily  pay  $25  to  $50  per  ton  for  them  as 
a  manure  for  their  grounds.  From  the  slow  de- 
cay of  wool  and  rags,  they  probably  can  here  be 
most  economically  employed  when  previously 
rotted  by  being  made  into  a  compost,  and  then 
applied  to  the  wheat  crop. — Dansville  Herald. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
FBUIT  VERSUS  BOBINS. 

The  robin  question  is  becoming  one  of  serious 
moment,  or,  certainly,  of  more  importance  than 
those  not  directly  concerned  seem  to  be  aware. 
The  Bird  Law,  sent  through  the  Commonwealth 
on  hand-bills  last  spring,  was  received,  in  this 
neighborhood  at  least,  as  a  very  pretty  specimen  j 
of  Imperial  Legislation.  Most  people  here  think 
that  a  man  should  have  an  undisputed  right  to 
his  own  fruit.  They  fully  believe  that  a  free  cit- 
izen, of  a  moderately  free  country,  should  be 
allowed  to  protect  his  own  fruit  in  his  oivn  gar- 
den, against  the  depredations  of  any  wild  beast, 
or  bird,  that  runs  or  flies.  But,  although  they 
claim  the  right,  they  do  not  unduly  exercise  it. 
Farmers  are  not  devoid  of  all  humanities. 

The  cultivators  of  the  soil  are  the  tried  and 
special  friends  of  birds,  and  only  when  necessity 
compels,  do  the  farmers  of  this  State  destroy  or 
disturb  them.  They  are  not  the  class  of  men 
who  kill  robins  for  the  paltry  purpose  of  making 
a  meal  of  tliem.  They  are  no  enemies  to  a  law 
against  wanton  destruction,  but  the  fault  of  that 
law  is,  that  it  ignores  all  cases  of  necessity.  It 
punishes  us  for  destroying  certain  birds  in  places 
where  they  have  already  become  a  positive  evil ; 
and  yet  provides  no  other  remedy. 

Giving  robins  the  absolute  freedom  of  the 
fruit  garden,  not  only  insures  a  waste  of  fruit, 
but  deprives  us  of  the  services  they  would  other- 
wise render.  If  kept  away  from  our  fruit,  they 
must  seek  their  food  in  field,  pasture,  apple- 
orchard,  and  cultivated  portions  of  the  farm. 
But,  if  left  undisturbed,  wherever  fruit  is  grown 
they  will  congregate.  They  will  build  their  nests 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  rear  their  young, 
and  all  feed  and  fatten  on  fruit  that  human  be- 
ings ought  to  have.  With  undisturbed  posses- 
sion, each  brood  will  waste  enough  to  supply 
a  family  of  six  persons  with  all  the  fresh  fruits 
they  need. 

But  some  say  that  they  pay  for  the  mischief 
they  do  by  protecting  fruit  from  insects,  &c. 
From  what  do  they  protect  it?  In  this  neigh- 
borhood it  is  from  angle-ioorms !  Yes,  angle- 
worms, and  nothing  else,  save  from  the  rightful 
owner. 

"Save  from  the  curculio."  Indeed !  Under 
the  very  beaks  of  a  hundred  robins  I  cannot  get 
one  plum  per  tree.  "Protect  from  canker- 
worms."  They  don't  even  keep  the  leaves  that 
cover  their  nests  from  being  covered  by  canker- 


worms.  As  to  their  making  such  havoc  among 
canker-worm  grubs  in  spring,  allow  me  to  say 
that  I  never  have  yet  seen  a  fruit-grower  who 
places  any  reliance  upon  such  protection.  Very 
few  grubs,  beetles,  bugs  or  insects,  need  other 
life-insurance  than  plenty  of  fruit  and  fish-worms 
within  fifty  rods. 

Being  omnivorous,  robins  can  feed  upon  al- 
most any  thing,  but  where  their  choice  is  to  be 
had,  fruit  is  chosen.  They  feed  their  young  for 
a  few  days  with  worms,  or  grubs  and  insects,  if 
more  readily  obtained.  But  soon  as  the  first 
strawberries  ripen,  they  begin  to  feed  upon  fruit 
so  costly  that  few  human  beings  can  afford  to  eat 
it.  From  this  time,  through  the  entire  season, 
they  are,  in  many  gardens,  an  unmitigated  nui- 
sance. They  also  do  much  harm  by  keeping 
away  more  useful,  and  really  insect-eating  biids. 
Very  few  of  these  will  stay  where  the  noisy  and 
quarrelsome  robins  are  very  numerous.  A  shep- 
herd who  sets  a  sheep-stealing  cur  to  guard  his 
flock,  might  consistently  advise  fruit-growers  to 
keep  robins  to  protect  fruit.  But  I  insist  that 
not  he  or  any  Legislature  has  the  right  to  com- 
pel a  man  to  accept  such  advice.  If  any  owner 
of  a  flock  should  be  compelled  by  law  to  keep 
such  dogs  as  devoured  a  sheep  or  lamb  every 
day,  instead  of  better  dogs,  or,  none  at  all,  he 
might  readily  understand  the  workings  of  the 
Robin  Law. 

The  physicians  tell  us  to  eat  more  fruit.  "Give 
us  more  fruit,"  say  old  men  and  young,  women 
and  children,  rich  and  poor, — all  the  denizens  of 
our  cities.  "Cultivate  more  fruit,  farmers,"  say 
Editors,  Gentlemen  and  Lawyers,  and  then 
straightway  combine  to  make  a  law  forbidding 
them  the  privilege  of  protecting  the  fruits  they 
have  already  taken  unwearied  pains  to  grow.  A 
happy  measure  of  encouragement,  truly !  A 
murmur  of  dissent  among  farmers  is  heard,  and 
then  comes  the  cry,  "Cultivate  fruit  enough  to 
feed  birds  and  all."  That  reads  finely  in  the 
play,  but  the  acting  it  gives  another  and  very 
different  view. 

I  have  tried  that  theory  a  few  years,  not  in  a 
gentleman's  parlor,  not  in  a  lawyer's  office,  not 
in  horticultural  rooms,  nor  yet  in  the  Legisla- 
tive Hall,  but  in  a  place  most  suitable  to  test  its 
merits  thoroughly.  Ten  years  ago  I  set  a  few 
strawberry  vines  on  a  farm  where  many  kinds  of 
birds  were  plenty,  but  no  species  exceedingly  so. 
Robins  were  plenty  enough  to  prevent  my  setting 
cherry  trees,  for  those  who  had  full-grown  ones, 
could  get  little  save  half-ripened,  unwholesome 
fruit.  Two  seasons  the  robins  ate  some  straw- 
berries, but  not  many.  I  set  more  vines,  and 
more  birds  found  them. 

I  set  currants,  gooseberries,  raspberries  and 
grapes,  which  lengthened  the  fruit  season,  and 
the  robins  began  to  leave  the  surrounding  farms, 
and  come  and  board  with  me.  They  became 
very  destructive. 

I  would  not  kill,  but  tried  to  frighten  them. 
Young  robins  don't  fear  any  thing  much.  The 
old  ones  would  frighten,  and  fly,  and  return  and 
feed  alternately,  from  daylight  till  dark,  if  I 
could  spend  time  to  do  the  frightening.  The 
result  was,  they  wasted  so  much,  that  from  two 
bushels  of  green  gooseberries  I  could  not  obtain 
four  quarts  of  ripe  ones.  I  could  leave  no  cur- 
rants on  the  bushes  for  home  use — could  sell 


468 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


five  bushels  green,  but  could  get  none  fully  ripe. 
Of  raspberries,  from  eight  to  twenty  boxes  per 
day,  they  would  take  one-half.  These  protecting 
robins  would  leave  the  farms,  grubs,  caterpillars, 
and  all,  to  eat  whatever  berries  chanced  to  be 
ripening.  No  argument  could  compel  them  to 
leave  my  garden,  no  persuasion  induce  them  to 
stay  on  farms  where  they  were  wanted,  no  in- 
sectiverous  theory  was  theirs,  and  no  Horticul- 
tural Committee  confined  them  to  three  berries 
per  day.  I  can  say  from  experience  that  there  is 
no  profit  in  this  mode  of  fattening  robins.  I  re- 
member that  the  '"Star"  correspondent  of  the 
Farmer  gives  no  heed  to  profit  or  loss,  but  with 
admirable  coolness,  and  an  easy  flourish  of  his 
pen,  devotes  a  "large  part  of  our  currants,  straw- 
berries and  cherries"  to  the  robins.  Well,  that  is 
only  a  large  part  of  my  means  of  living — one  lit- 
tle item  of  his — strawberries.  Probably  his  fruits 
are  not  much  exposed  to  their  depredations.  He 
admires  to  see  the  robin  'hopping  and  chirping 
about."  But,  permit  me  to  ask,  "Who  pays  the 
piper?"  If  friend  "Star"  should  be  compelled 
to  pay,  as  I  do,  three  dollars  per  day  for  the 
"chirping,"  we  should  see  a  "hopping  about"  in- 
finitely more  entertaining  than  a  robin  dance. 

My  communication  is  already  too  long,  but  I 
beg  leave  to  acknowledge  one  good  feature  of 
the  robin  law — its  philanthropy.  It  permits 
whole  colonies  of  robins  to  rear  up  large  and  in- 
teresting families  in  each  man's  garden,  to  feed 
all  summer  on  his  finest  fruits,  and  then  go  forth 
in  autumn  all  ready  fattened  for  the  southern 
market.  Give  us  thanks — 'tis  all  we  get  —  O, 
epicures  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more, for  the  million  birds  we  send  you.  It  is 
cheaper  to  fatten  turkeys,  but  it  were  a  miserly 
thing  to  present  you  with  any  thing  fattened  on 
vulgar  Indian  corn.  The  robins  are  ready.  O, 
what  infinite  pleasure  to  southern  sportsmen ! 
what  ready  profit  to  southern  dealers  !  what  ex- 
quisite relish  to  southern  palates,  what  unbound- 
ed delight  to  southern  cooks  and  connoisseurs  ! 
Worthy  old  Bay  State  !  Philanthropic  old  Bay 
State  I  Mother  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  Pennsylvania  and  the  Carolinas — 
step-mother  to  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts ! 
Complacently  folding  her  hands  in  the  fullness 
of  joy,  in  view  of  her  great  disinterestedness, 
she  sits,  like  another  Mrs.  Partington,  in  the 
very  shadow  of  her  own  benevolence. 

N.  Page,  Jr, 

Danversport,  August  9,  1859. 


From  three  of  them  we  scarcely  obtained  a  pint 
of  ripe  fruit,  and  seeing  the  destruction  which 
awaited  the  fourth  patch,  we  covered  it  with 
large  pieces  of  gauze  cloth, — upon  which  the 
robins  were  so  indignant  as  lo  scold  vociferous- 
ly, raising  every  feather  upon  their  backs,  like 
"a  hog's  bristles  in  a  hurricane."  From  some 
twenty  cherry  trees  we  did  not  get  a  quart  of 
fruit,  and  so  of  the  raspberries  and  other  fruits. 
And  this  was  not  all,  for  the  green  peas,  even, 
were  not  proof  against  their  rapacity.  We  like 
the  birds,  and  encourage  their  residing  near  our 
buildings ;    but  unless  the  cherry-birds,  robins 

and    orioles  mind  their  manners,  we   shall 

not  listen  to  their  music  with  as  much  pleasure 
as  we  have  heretofore.  Mr.  Page  is  pretty  se- 
vere, and  has  cause  to  be  so. 


Remarks. — We  do  not  wonder  at  the  sensi- 
tiveness manifested  by  fruit-raisers  with  regard 
to  the  "bird-law."  The  question  comes  home  to 
them  now,  whether  they  shall  abandon  the  culti- 
vation of  the  small  fruits,  and  thus  cut  oft'  their 
source  of  obtaining  a  livelihood,  or  whether 
they  shall  have  the  liberty  of  protecting  them 
selves  against  birds,  as  they  do  against  other 
creatures  that  commit  depredations  upon  their 
property.  Mr.  Page  has  very  nearly  described 
our  own  experience  in  the  matter.  We  have 
four  distinct  patches  of  land  planted  with  the 
strawberry,  and  had  cultivated  them  with  care, 
hoping  for  a  fair  share   of  them   as  a  reward. 


FAREWELL  TO  THE  SWALLOWS. 

Swallows,  sitting  on  the  eaves. 
See  je  not  the  falling  leaves  ? 
See  ye  not  the  gathered  sheaves  ? 

Farewell ! 
Ib  it  not  time  to  go 
To  that  fair  land  ye  know  ? 
The  breezes,  as  they  swell. 
Of  the  coming  winter  tell. 
And  from  the  trees  shake  down 
The  brown 
And  withered  leaves.  Farewell ! 

Swallows,  it  is  time  to  fly  ; 
See  ye  not  the  altered  sky  ? 
Know  ye  not  that  winter's  nigh 

Farewell ! 
Go,  fiy  in  noisy  bands, 
To  those  far  distant  lands 
Of  gold,  and  pearl,  and  shell. 
And  gem,  (of  which  they  tell 
In  books  of  travel  strange,) 
And  range 
In  happiness.     Farewell ! 

Swallows,  on  your  pinions  glide 
O'er  the  restless,  rolling  tide 
Of  the  ocean  deep  and  wide, 

Farewell ! 
In  groves,  far,  far  away, 
In  summer's  sunny  ray. 
In  warmer  regions  dwell ; 
And  then  return  to  tell 
Strange  tales  of  foreign  lands. 
In  bands, 
Pearched  on  the  eaves.    Farewell ! 

Swallows,  I  could  almost  pray 
That  I,  like  you,  might  fiy  away  : 
And  to  each  coming  evil  say 

Farew{  11 ! 
Yet,  'tis  my  fate  to  I've 
Here,  and  with  troubles  strive, 
And  I  some  day  may  tell 
How  they  before  me  fell. 
Conquered  ;  then  calmly  die. 
And  cry — 
'■Trials  and  toils,  farewell  I" — Hood. 


Experiments  cm  Curing  the  Bite  op  the 
Rattlesnake. — The  snakes  brought  by  Prof. 
Christy  from  the  South,  says  the  Cincinnati  Ga- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMER. 


469 


zette,  have  been  used  at  the  Ohio  Medical  College, 
in  a  series  of  experiments  to  ascertain  an  anti- 
dote for  the  poison, 

A  few  days  since  a  dog  was  introduced  to  the 
snake's  cage,  and  was  immediately  bitten.  Prof. 
Foote  administered  to  him  brandy  containing 
five  drachms  bromine,  four  grains  of  iodide  of  po- 
tassium, and  two  grains  of  corrosive  sublimate. 
He  recovered  in  a  short  time.  To  test  the  ques- 
tion whether  his  recovery  was  due  to  the  brandy 
or  to  the  ingredients  it  contained  in  solution, 
another  dog  was  suffered  to  be  bitten  on  the  8th 
ult.,  and  the  bromine,  iodide  of  potassium  and 
corrosive  sublimate  administered  alone.  An  hour 
after  he  seemed  to  be  recovering  slowly.  The 
next  experiment  will  be  to  administer  the  brandy 
alone,  which  is  claimed  to  be  an  effectual  remedy. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TO  MAKE  GOOD  PICKLES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  following  recipe,  if  care- 
fully followed,  judging  from  our  experience,  will 
furnish  "a  lover  of  good  pickles"  with  an  article 
every  way  desired.  Made  thus,  we  have  had  them 
when  kept  two  years,  still  perfectly  hard  and 
brittle. 

Take  the  cucumbers  carefully  from  the  vines, 
leaving  the  stems  on,  (a  very  important  part,  by 
the  way,  as  so  much  depends  thereupon  that  none 
that  are  bruised  in  picking  or  otherwise  should 
be  used,)  wash  them  carefully  in  pure  cold  water, 
rubbing  them,  to  remove  the  prickles  from  the 
stem,  as  well  as  the  cucumber  ;  then  sprinkle  a 
layer  of  fine  salt  in  the  bottom  of  the  jar  to  be 
used,  add  a  layer  of  cucumbers,  again  a  layer  of 
salt,  then  cucumbers,  repeating  the  process  until 
the  jar  be  full  ;  letting  the  last  layer  be  of  salt. 

Then  pour  upon  them  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
boiling  water  to  cover  the  whole,  after  which  let 
them  stand  twenty-four  hours,  when  they  should 
be  taken  from  the  brine,  wiped  dry,  and  placed 
in  the  jar  or  tub  in  which  they  are  to  remain. 

Next  scald  the  vinegar,  seasoning  thoroughh 
with  salt  and  as  much  cayenne  pepper  as  is  ad- 
missible to  the  taste.  After  cooling,  pour  upon 
the  pickles  ;  stir  every  day  to  break  the  scum, 
should  any  rise.  If  at  any  time  the  vinegar 
should  become  dead,  either  add  new,  prepared  in 
the  same  way,  or  if  there  be  sufricient  life  to 
keep  them  bright,  scald  the  old. 

A  fair  trial  of  this,  and  it  is  my  belief  that 
"salting  down"  will  be  dispensed  with. 

Annie,  of  the  Berkshire  Hills. 

August  12,  1859.     

Remarks. — "Farmer,"  of  Meredith  Village,  N. 
n.,  says,  "to  one  part  'good  new  wine,'  add  three 
parts  water  ;  rub  the  cucumbers  dry  with  a  clean 
cloth,  and  cover  them  with  this  liquid,  adding 
green  peppers  and  tomatoes  ;  set  in  a  cool,  dry 
place,  and  stir  them  carefully  once  a  week  for  five 
or  six  weeks.  Put  a  linen  cloth  between  the 
pickle  and  cover." 

"We  have  received  several  other  recipes  for 
making  pickles,  but  they  so  much  resemble  those 
already  given  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  publish 
them. 


EXTBACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
THE   CURCULIO. 

Is  there  any  way  that  I  can  prevent  the  mis- 
chief of  the  curculio,  either  by  picking  up  the 
fallen  fruit,  or  by  pasturing  my  orchard  with  cat- 
tle or  hogs  ? 

Does  the  insect  fly  off  from  neighborhood  to 
neighborhood,  so  that  if  I  should  prevent  their 
multiplying  upon  my  own  farm,  I  should  still 
have  a  supply  from  my  neighbors?  Has  the  in- 
sect any  means  of  propagation  except  by  depos- 
iting its  egg  in  the  fruit  ? 

By  answering  the  above  inquiries  you  will 
confer  a  great  favor  upon  many  of  your  readers 
in  this  section  of  New  Hampshire.        c.  A.  w. 

Hancock,  N.  H.,  Aug.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  curculio  may  be  kept  from 
destroying  fruit  in  a  few  favorite  trees,  by 
sprinkling  the  young  fruit  three  or  four  times  a 
week  when  it  is  wet,  with  slaked  lime  or  dry- 
ashes,  or  by  jarring  the  insects  down  upon  a 
sheet.  They  fly  from  place  to  place.  We  have 
never  learned  that  they  propagate  any  other  way 
than  by  depositing  their  eggs  in  young  fruit. 

CROPS    in    VERMONT. 

The  farmers  in  this  section  are  looking  rather 
blue.  Perhaps  you  are  not  aware  that  we  are 
having  the  most  severe  drought  that  has  been  ex- 
perienced here  for  nine  years  at  least.  Early 
sowed  English  grain  is  good  ;  hay  about  two- 
thirds  of  an  average  crop  ;  corn  and  potatoes  mi- 
nus, unless  we  have  copious  rains  soon.  In  a 
communication  from  Hon.  Simon  Brown,  dated 
Montreal,  Aug.  16th,  he  says  "the  hay  crop  is 
abundant."  I  think  in  passing  through  our  ])lace 
at  least,  he  must  have  been  looking  at  those 
"laughter-loving  girls,"  instead  of  looking  out  of 
car  windows — or  he  would  have  seen  that  our 
pastures  and  meadows  are  actually  dried  up. 
Most  of  our  cattle  are  nearly  in  a  starving  con- 
dition, and  some  farmers  say  they  shall  be  obliged 
to  sell  their  cattle,  or  drive  them  to  the  moun- 
tains to  browse.  Grasshoppers  too  numerous  to 
mention.  E.  MuRPHV, 

Middlebury,  Vt,  Aug.,  1859. 

Remarks. — If  friend  Murphy  had  been  in  the 
cars  with  us,  we  will  venture  to  say  that  the 
"meadows  would  not  have  appeared  dry"  nor  the 
"cattle  starving."  But  as  it  was  our  duty  to  ob- 
serve, we  did  observe,  not  only  the  girls,  but  the 
grasses,  grains,  gardens  and  fields.  We  saw 
that  Northern  Vermont  was  suffering  somewhat 
for  rain,  more  so  than  any  other  place  we  visited, 
and  yet  some  of  the  best  farmers  in  that  State 
assured  us  that  the  hay  crop  had  been  good.  We 
were  careful  to  say  of  Vermont,  however,  as  fol- 
lows :  "The  recent  refreshing  rains  of  your  State 
[Mass.]  did  not  extend  to  Vermont,  and  the 
way  was  consequently  dusty.  Pastures,  grass 
lands  and  corn  are  suffering  considerably,"  &c. 
Take  courage,  friend  M.,  we  hope  you  have  had 
copious  rains  before  this  time,  and  that  your 
cattle  will  "be  up  to  their  eyes  in  clover,"  before 


470 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


frost  comes.     But  we  sympathize  with  you,  nev-  drenching  with  water  in   setting;  leave  the   soil 


ertheless,  in  the  parching  drought  yc  •  have  ex- 
perienced.   


SWARMS    OF   BUGS. 


I  send  you  a   sample  of  bug  which  I  have  re- 


cently discovered  in   large    swarms  passing   up ,  salt 


around  the  stem  concave  ;  place  them  ten  feet 
apart,  and  the  rows  twelve  feet,  prune  just  after 
the  fall  of  the  leaf,  late  in  the  fall,  or  early  in 
March.  Fork  in,  late  in  the  autumn,  three  or  four 
shovelfuls  of  fre^h  manui-e.  After  digging  around 
the  trees  in  spring  give  the  whole  a  broadcast  of 


and  down  my  apple  trees,  and  wish  you  would 
tell  me  their  name,  and  the  most  effectual  method 
of  destroying  them.  I  have  never  seen  the  in- 
sect till  last  summer  I  found  them  in  a  small  fir 
tree  near  my  house,  and  thought  I  killed  them 
all  by  flashing  a  small  quantity  of  gunpowder  un 


Salem,  Mass.,  1859. 


J.  M.   I. 


TO    CURE   DYSPEPSIA. 


Make  a  tea  of  the  herb  called  Bay  or  Meadow 
Fern,  and  drink  freely  after  eating.    This  herb  is 


derneath  the  tree  ;  but  now  my  apple  trees  are' common  in  this  vicinity  ;  it  grows  in  meadow 
swarming  with  them,  notwithstanding  that  I  had^  lands,  and  in  low,  swampy  localities  ;  it  resembles 
my  trees  thoroughly  scraped  and  washed  with  the  whortleberry  bush,  and  is  covered  with  small 
soap-suds  in  the  spring,  and  have  quite  recently 


repeated  the  washing.  By  replying  to  this  you 
will  much  oblige  O.  s. 

N.  B.  1  notice  a  few  amongst  them  that  have 
wings  which  they  seem  to  have  just  come  in  pos- 
session of.  O.  s. 

Broolifidd,  Mass.,  Aug.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  hugs  you  sent  were  squash 
when  they  reached  us.  Examine  them  carefully, 
and  then  refer  to  "Harris  on  Insects,"  and  see  if 
you  cannot  get  their  name. 

CURE   FOR   A   RUPTURED   COLT. 

In  answer  to  the  inquiry  of  "W.  C.  B.,"  I  will 
give  him  my  experience.  One  year  ago  I  had  a 
colt  about  the  age  of  yours,  which  had  a  breach 
similar  to  that  on  your  colt.  As  soon  as  I  dis- 
covered it,  I  took  a  piece  of  sheet  lead  five  or 
six  inches  square,  rounded  the  corners,  so  as  not 


aromatic  burrs. 

(loncord,  Mass.,  Aug.,  1859.  J. 

GOOD   BUTTER. 

"D."  is  informed  that  the  facts  communicated 
to  him  by  an  "old  lady,"  about  butter-making, 
we  have  already  given  in  former  articles. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LABOK-SA.VING  MACHINES. 

Mr.  Brown  : — Some  weeks  since  I  noticed  a 
paragraph  in  your  paper  recommending  all  per- 
sons to  purchase  labor-saving  machines.  We 
poor  farmers  in  this  part  of  the  world,  having  to 
practice  economy,  must  in  the  first  place  know 
which  the  labor-saving  machines  are.  Some  per- 
sons say  that  the  way  to  find  this  out  is  by  ex- 
perience.    Now  must  we  buy  machines  which  we 


to  chafe  him,  sewed  it    to   a  cloth   bandage,  and  know    nothing   about,   except   by    persons   who 


bound  it  up  tightly  ;  I  fastened  it  from  workin 
back  by  attaching  a  strap  to  it,  passing  it  around 
his  breast.  I  let  it  remain  a  week,  and  then  took 
it  off  to  examine  it,  when  it  appeared  to  be  well ; 
but  to  make  it  sure,  I  put  it  on  again,  and  let  it 
remain  another  week,  which  eifected  a  perfect 
cure.  A.  Daggett. 

Farmington,  Me.,  Aug.,  1859. 

WEATHER   AND   CROPS   IN  HILLSBOROUGH 
COUNTY. 

We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  a  pinching  drouth. 
Corn  and  potatoes  are  suffering  upon  light  plain 
land,  especially  if  choked  with  weeds,  as  they  ab- 
stract largely  from  the  nourishment  and  moisture 
now  doubly  needed  by  the  plants  as  they  are  ap- 
proaching maturity.  Hay  and  grain  are  remarka- 
bly good,  and  are  mostly  secured.  Apples  are 
very  scarce.  C.  A.  Whitaker. 

Hancock,  A*.  H.,  Aug.,  1859. 

ORANGE  QUINCE. 
In  the  cultivation  of  these  trees,  many  think 
that  they  require  a  damp  and  shady  position,  and 
that  they  do  not  want  manuring  ;  I  apprehend 
this  to  be  a  delusion  ;  they  require  to  be  planted 
in  good  loam,  and  the  earth  to  he  loosened 
deeply  by  the  subsoil  plow,  or  trenched  by  double 
spading,  and  well  manured  with  a  good  compost 
in  the  drills ;  shorten  in  the  branches  one-half 
of  last   year's  growth,   give    the   roots  a   good 


crack  them  up  a  great  deal  on  purpose  to  sell 
them,  and  if  we  find  them  of  no  value,  throw 
them  aside  and  lose  our  money  ?  Of  course  not, 
we  must  learn  from  those  who  have  tried  them, 
and  if  they  can  make  them  profitable,  we  can. 
One  of  my  neighbors  was  mowing  with  a  machine 
last  week,  and  he  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  it. 
I  told  him  that  I  thought  it  would  do  vry  well 
for  a  rich  man,  but  for  me  it  would  not  do.  It 
took  one  man  to  mow  round  the  edge  of  the  field, 
one  to  manage  the  mower,  and  the  horses  were 
equal  to  two  men,  which  would  make  four ;  and 
four  men  would  have  mowed  it  quicker,  cheaper 
and  better  than  the  mower  did  it.  Ketchum's 
one-h:Tse  mower  is  the  best  one  that  1  have 
seen.  It  works  well  on  most  of  our  land.  Our 
land  is  high  and  the  crops  generally  suffer  more 
from  dry  weather  than  from  early  frosts. 
Wesihoro\  Aug.,  1859.  Inquirer. 


Remarks. — "Inquirer"  asks  us  if  he  must  buy 
machines  that  he  knows  nothing  about?  Cer- 
tainly not.  Exercise  the  same  sound  judgment 
and  discretion  that  you  do  in  purchasing  a  horse, 
a  farm,  or  a  plow  or  cart.  Go  and  see  those  in 
your  neighborhood  or  town,  and  criticise  them 
closely,  but  fairly. 

There  is  another  view  to  be  taken  of  the  value 
of  a  mowing  machine,  beside  the  one  in  which 
you   describe  it.     Suppose  you  keep  a  pair   of 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


471 


horses  usually  on  the  farm,  would  they  not  be 
quite  likely  to  be  idle  if  they  were  not  in  the  ma- 
chine ?  Suppose,  also,  that  you  or  your  father, 
are  in  feeble  health,  or  have  seen  too  many  hay- 
ing seasons  to  swing  the  scythe  with  two  or 
three  rugged  men — perhaps  Irishmen — cnuld  you 
not  guide  these  horses,  hitched  to  the  machine, 
and  cut  five  or  six  acres  a  day,  when  you  and  the 
horses  would  not  otherwise  have  cut  a  single 
swath?  And  pursuing  this  course,  would  you 
not  have  done  more  towards  securing  your  hay 
harvest  than  any  three  men  could  have  done  ? 
There  is  no  doubt  of  it.  There  are  several  oth- 
er reasons  just  as  applicable  as  this,  why  we 
should  use  a  mowing  machine,  and  other  labor- 
saving  machines  and  implements;  but  we  must 
exercise  the  same  good  judgment  in  their  selec- 
tion and  use  that  guides  us  in  other  important 
matters. 

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOW  SHALL  "WE  BUILD  OUS  BARNS  ? 

To  answer  this  important  question,  we  must 
first  consider  the  objects  to  be  had  in  view,  in 
building  a  barn  at  all.  The  most  important  one 
certainly  is  stowage  ;  the  next  is  a  convenient  sta- 
ble for  domestic  animals  ;  and  lastly,  a  manufac- 
tory of  manure.  A  building  that  provides  for  all 
of  these  in  the  best  and  most  convenient  manner, 
and  to  the  greatest  extent  for  the  original  cost, 
and  at  the  least  outlay  for  future  repairs,  will  be 
the  best  barn,  and  a  great  desideratum  to  the  ag- 
ricultural community. 

The  form  most  commonly  used  with  us,  is  a 
building  from  forty  to  fifty  feet  in  width,  with  a 
barn  floor  or  drive-way  running  length-wise 
through  the  centre,  and  having  stalls  or  cattle- 
house  on  one  side,  with  mows  for  hay,  &c.,  on  the 
other.  This  makes  a  convenient  stable,  but  sac- 
rifices to  this  convenience  both  the  other  requi- 
sites of  a  good  barn.  The  floor  or  drive  way,  is 
very  expensive  to  build  and  occupies  the  centre 
of  the  building,  where  is  the  largest  and  best 
place  for  stowage,  and  gives  a  cold  and  unneces- 
sary space,  which  can  only  be  partially  used  at 
any  time.  The  very  small  amount  of  convenient 
room  for  keeping  hay,  grain,  roots,  straw,  corn- 
stalks, and  refuse  for  bedding  animals  and  com- 
posting with  manure  in  proportion  to  the  space 
enclosed  and  roofed  over,  is  the  great  objection 
to  this  farm  of  barn,  and  unless  the  ground  on 
which  it  stands  enables  one  to  put  a  cellar  under 
it,  there  is  no  possible  opportunity  to  manufac- 
ture manure.  It  must  be,  and  always  is,  thrown 
out  through  windows  to  waste  its  strength,  and 
become  a  nuisance  in  a  muddy  yard.  The  liquid 
portions  are  also  lost  entirely,  unless  expensive 
and  troublesome  means  are  provided  to  save 
them.  A  cellar  will  remedy  these  defects,  where 
it  can  be  had  ;  but  it  is  at  best  an  ugly,  inconve- 
nient, costly  and  dangerous  afli'air  ;  and  should 
never  be  used  on  a  farm. 

The  digging  and  stoning  a  cellar,  and  building 
a  floor  over  it,  sufficiently  strong  to  be  safe,  will 
cost  as  much  as  a  good  barn  ought  to  cost,  with 
ten  times  the  convenience  for  making  and  saving- 


manure.  We  say,  then,  that  the  most  approved 
form  of  barn  in  common  use  in  New  England  is 
sadly  defective  in  at  least  two  of  the  essential  re- 
quisites of  a  good  barn  ;  and  that  the  expensive 
addition  of  a  cellar  is  not  the  improvement 
wanted  to  get  a  good  barn. 

Again,  our  common  barn  is  generally  built 
about  fifteen  feet  high  from  the  floor  to  the 
eaves,  v/ith  a  roof  rising  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees.  This  is,  perhaps,  as  high  as  hay  can  be 
pitched  by  hand  ;  but  just  look  at  the  enormous 
roof  required  in  this  style  of  building  !  The  roof, 
too,  costing  the  most  of  any  part  of  the  barn 
originally,  and  requiring  expensive  removal  every 
twenty  or  thirty  years  ! 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  one-th  ird  larger  than 
would  be  necessary  to  cover  the  building  ;  the 
most  of  its  enclosed  space  is  entirely  lost  for  all 
purposes  of  stowage,  being  directly  over  the  floor 
or  drive-way  ;  and  the  walls  are  so  low  that  but 
little  of  the  bulky  products  of  a  form  can  find 
room  for  themselves,  without  extending  the  • 
building  to  the  dimensions  of  a  whole  block  of 
city  warehouses. 

Some  few  barns  are  built  narrower,  and  have 
a  lintel  or  lean  to,  for  the  cattle.  But  this  re- 
quires an  additional  roof,  with  no  room  for  stow- 
age under  it  whatever.  In  our  cold  climate,  and 
with  the  coi-tly  and  perishable  materials  used  in 
building,  we  must  inclose  no  Avaste  spaces  ;  and 
should  expose  the  smallest  possible  surface  of 
roof.  This  may  be  accomplished  as  it  is  done  in 
warehouses  in  the  cities  ;  by  flat  roofs  and  high 
walls,  and  now  that  we  have  the  horse  pitchfork, 
the  objection  to  high  mows  is  entirely  done  away 
with.  The  hay  can  be  thrown  up  thirty  feet,  as 
easily  as  it  can  be  carried  up  ten  ;  and  its  expo- 
sure to  dust  and  ofiensive  effluvia  much  reduced, 
by  its  compactness  and  small  external  surface. 

There  is  a  plan  of  a  huge  barn  given  by  L.  F. 
Allen,  which  has  been  widely  recommended  in 
our  agricultural  books  and  papers  ;  and  in  my 
judgment  embraces  all  the  faults  of  our  common 
New  England  barn,  with  several  additional  er- 
rors, strangely  palpable.  In  the  first  place,  he 
has  12,512  square  feet  of  roof  surface,  on  a  barn 
100  by  50,  with  a  sixteen  feet  lean-to  on  three 
sides — more  than  enough  to  cover  a  building  110 
feet  square !  and  he  gets  only  stowage  room 
enough  for  about  170  tons  of  hay  under  this  im- 
mense roof.  In  fact,  he  says  that  he  has  put  in- 
to the  barn  150  tons  at  a  time,  "and  that  it  will 
hold  even  more,  if  thoroughly  packed."  But  put 
the  same  roof  over  a  barn  110  feet  square,  with 
v-falls  thirty  feet  high,  and  you  will  have  ample 
room  for  500  tons,  besides  the  requisite  space  for 
the  cattle,  and  for  the  machinery  to  be  used  in 
preparing  their  food,  and  for  manufacturing  any 
desirable  amount  of  manure. 

But  he  raises  the  whole  of  his  barn,  except  the 
lintels,  four  feet  from  the  ground  !  For  what 
possible  reason  ?  Every  thing  has  to  be  hauled 
up  thai  distance,  over  inconvenient  inclined 
planes,  and  the  whole  space,  sufficient  to  store  50 
tons  of  hay,  after  being  roofed  over,  is  thrown 
away  by  building  costly  floors,  for  no  possible 
purpose  whatever  ! 

And  this  is  another  error  uniformly  adopted  in 
our  barns.  Why  should  we  have  floors  in  our 
barns,  kept  up  a  few  feet  from  the  ground,  by 
heavy  timbers,  that  are  continually  rotting  away, 


472 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct, 


and  occupying  the  most  convenient  part  of  the 
space  covered  by  the  roof?  It  forms  a  retreat 
for  vermin,  catches  and  holds  the  most  valuable 
part  of  the  barn  manure,  and  next  to  the  roof,  is 
the  most  expensive,  and  rapidly  decaying  portion 
of  the  barn  ;  subjects  us  to  many  accidents  and 
heavy  losses,  and  really  does  no  good  whatever, 
but  is  in  the  way,  cold,  costly  and  troublesome. 

I  am  in  urgent  need  of  a  huge  barn,  and  when 
I  build,  I  want  to  get  a  good  one,  and  to  get  it 
cheap.  How  is  this  to  be  done  ?  1  have  already 
hinted  at  some  of  the  ideas  I  have  about  it.  It 
shall  have  no  floor,  and  consequently  no  floor 
timbers  ;  this  will  reduce  the  cost  materially,  and 
will  be  in  imitation  of  the  barns  in  the  old  coun- 
tries, which  are  all  built  with  no  other  floor  than 
the  bare  ground,  except  in  some  parts  a  stone  or 
brick  pavement. 

Prince  Albert  has  recently  put  up  a  set  of  farm 
buildings  at  Osborne,  without  regard  to  expense, 
and  is  said  to  have  a  model  steading  ;  but  in  none 
of  the  barns,  stables  or  sheds,  is  there  any  floor  ; 
though  the  ground  is  paved  with  small,  round 
stones  in  some  parts,  both  outside  and  inside  of 
the  buildings.  And  what  could  be  better  or  more 
durable  ?  The  best  threshing  floors  are  made  of 
clay  and  sand  and  gravel  ;  our  open  sheds  always 
have  a  hard,  smooth  surface  of  loam  for  a  floor, 
which  is  the  best  floor  possible,  either  to  work 
on,  or  for  storage.  Of  couri^e,  the  walls  must  be 
so  constructed  as  to  exclude  the  water  and  the 
frost. 

This  all  will  admit,  I  think,  will  answer  every 
purpose,  except  perha])S  for  cattle  and  horse 
stalls.  But  here  it  will  be  far  belter  than  any- 
where else.    The  real  farmer  wants  a  manufacto- 


required  to  build  a  steep  roof  will  more  than 
do  it. 

Now  come  the  walls  ;  and  these  are  to  be  set 
in  the  ground  below  the  reach  of  frost,  on  a  firm 
stone  wall,  and  made  of  stones  chiefly,  but  in 
good  part  of  lime,  sand  and  gravel,  (unless  clay 
may  be  used  instead  of  lime,  the  walls  being 
plastered  on  the  outt-ide.)  We  will  carry  them 
up  thirty  or  thirty- five  feet,  in  order  to  secure 
abundant  storage  room,  and  protect  them  by 
wide  projecting  eaves. 

The  barn  shall  be  80  or  100  feet  square,  with 
doors  and  windows  on  all  sides  ;  and  nothing  in- 
side the  walls,  but  the  posts  or  pillars  to  support 
the  roof,  except  where  scaflblds  aie  thrown  over 
the  stalls  for  cattle  and  horses,  and  over  rooms 
for  manure,  muck,  machinery,  &c. 

I  can  now  drive  into  my  barn  at  any  conve- 
nient door,  with  a  loaded  team,  and  instead  of 
being  confined  to  a  narrow  drive-way,  and  com- 
pelled to  pitch  the  hay  over  and  over,  across 
wide  mows,  I  can  drive  all  over  the  barn,  into 
any  corner,  and  with  a  horse  pitch-fork  unload 
just  where  I  wish  to,  and  can  drive  in  a  dozen 
loads  at  the  same  time. 

In  this  large,  cheap  barn,  I  can  store  and  keep 
all  my  spare  hay,  and  not  be  compelled  to  sell  it 
at  a  ruinously  low  price,  to  make  room  for  the 
next  crop  ;  but  can  hold  on  to  it  till  the  price  is 
remunerating.  I  can  extend  the  accommodation 
for  cattle  and  all  kinds  of  farm  stock  at  pleasure, 
by  clapping  up  stalls  an) where  as  required;  and 
can  always  regain  the  space  for  storage,  without 
expense,  when  that  is  desirable.  All  the  work  is 
now  to  be  done  on  the  same  floor.  With  a  wheel- 
barrow I  can  carry  the  hay  or   straw  to  the  ent- 


ry of  manure.  He  does  not  simply  desire  a  handy  j  ter,  and  when  it  is  cut  and  mixed,  I  can  feed  the 
chance  to  get  rid  of  the  excrements  of  his  ani-|  animals  conveniently  in  the  proper  boxes  for 
mals  ;  and  he  finds  a  barn  cellar  a  poor  place  to  jihem  to  eat  from.  lean  take  the  dry  muck  or 
mix  and  compost  the  materials  required  to  make  i  refuse  from  its  room,  and  mix  it  under  the  cattle 
manure.  But  having  provided  the  requisite  ar- 1  in  small  quantities,  tiU  it  is  properly  moistened 
tides,  he  can  place  and  mix  them  as  he  likes  on  ^  with  urine  and  compounded  with  dung,  and  then 
the  ground  under  his  animals,  and  conservej  wheel  it  to  its  convenient  place,  to  be  preserved 
their  health  and  comfort  at  the  same  time  that  J  in  its  strength,  unfermented  and  inofi'ensive,  till 
the  manufacturing  process  is  going  on  ;  and  this  it  is  wanted  upon  the  land, 
being  attended  to  daily,  a  great  deal  of  work  is!      The  barn  will  be  dry  and  warm,  yet  well  ven- 


accomplished,  in  the  best  manner,  and  with  great 
er  economy,  than  if  left  for  long  intervals  and 
heavy  jobs. 

We  will,  therefore,  have  only  a  floor  of  hard- 
pan  in  our  new  barn,  composed  of  clay,  sand  and 
gravel,  well  mixed  and  rolled  down  all  over  the 
bottom,  smooth  and  level,  and  just  even  with 
the  ground  outside  the  building.  No  platforms 
or  steps  required  to  haul  up  or  climb  up  into  it, 
and  no  waste  room,  under  the  floors,  to  fill  up 
with  hay  seed,  urine,  skunks,  weasels,  rats  and 
stray  hens'  nests. 

The  roof,  as  already  intimated,  shall  be  flat ; 
thus  saving  one-third  in  extent ;  and  covered 
with  composition  roofing,  instead  of  shingles, 
which  will  save  another  third  in  cost  of  materi- 
als and  repairs.  The  objection  to  this,  is  its  lia- 
bility to  become  heavily  loaded  with  snow  ;  but 
this  is  only  a  small  matter.  It  does  not  snow  so 
as  to  load  the  building,  oftener  than  it  blocks  up 
the  roads  ;  yet  no  one  proposes  to  abandon  the 
roads  because  they  are  sometimes  impassable  by 
reason  of  heavy  snows.  The  roofs  and  the  roads 
can  both  be  freed  from  this  encumbrance  by  the 
^ame    means,   and    the   interest  of   the   money 


tilated  ;    a  store-house,  a  stable,  a  manufactory  ; 
convenient,  large,  durable  and  cheap,     t  -w-  xj 

Stratchcrry  Bank,  Durham,  N.  II.,  Aug.  25,  1859. 


Black-Faced  Mountain  Sheep.  —  We  re- 
cently saw  eight  sheep  of  this  breed,  selected  in 
Scotland  by  Sanford  Howard,  Esq.,  and  sent 
in  the  ship  Old  England,  which  arrived  at  Port- 
land a  few  days  since,  and  from  whence  the 
sheep  were  sent  to  this  city.  There  are  two 
bucks  and  six  ewes.  They  all  have  horns — those 
of  the  bucks  are  large  and  graceful.  Their  faces 
are  black,  and  the  legs  are  spotted  with  black. 
Wool,  coarse  and  long.  They  are  long  and  deep 
in  body,  with  a  good  proportionate  width.  Mr. 
Isaac  Stickney,  of  Boston,  a  gentleman  who 
has  long  taken  much  interest  in  introducing  new 
and  good  stock  into  the  country,  has  imported 
them  with  a  view  of  getting  a  breed  of  the  best 
mutton  sheep. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


473 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
DRAINAGE. 
My  Dear  Brown  : — In  the  publication  of  my 
book  on  Farm  Drainage,  the  chapter  which   I 
send  you  was  omitted,  to  make  room  for  mat- 
ters which  were  deemed  essential.     Still,  I  think 
it  will  interest  our  readers,  and  have   some  ten- 
dency  to  direct  attention    to   the  all-important 
subject  of  Health,  which,  says   Isaac  Walton,  is 
the  blessing  next  in  value  to  a  quiet  conscience. 
Henry  F.  French. 


INFLUENCE   OF   DRAINAGE   ON   HEALTH. 

Swampy  Districts  unheaUhful — Sixty  millions  of  Acres  of  Swamp 
given  away  by  the  United  States  Government — Clearing 
Land  of  Timber  maizes  it  dryer — Fevers  anl  Agues  leave 
where  Land  is  Drained — Mr.  Colman's  Opinion — Facts — 
Birkenhead  Parli — Opinions  of  Distinguished  Men — Health  of 
Stock  improved  by  Drainage. 

Although  the  general  proposition  that  drain- 
age promotes  the  healthfulness  of  a  country  or 
district  will  be  readily  admitted,  yet  it  is  believed 
that  this  idea  does  not,  by  any  means,  make  its 
due  impression  upon  the  community.  It  is  pro- 
posed, therefore,  briefly  to  consider  the  subject 
in  its  relations  to  the  health  both  of  man  and  of 
the  domestic  animals,  and  to  cite  such  authori- 
ties that  a  way-faring  man,  though  not  quite 
wise  or  learned,  shall  not,  if  he  reads  the  chap- 
ter, fail  to  see  something  of  its  force  and  impor- 
tance. 

It  can  hardly  be  expected  that  private  individ- 
uals, owners  of  small  tracts  of  land,  will  embark 
in  schemes  of  drainage  for  the  improvement  of 
the  climate  merely,  or  that  the  limited  operations 
of  individuals  on  their  own  land  can  be  pointed 
to  as  evidence  that  drainage  promotes  healthful- 
ness. 

There  are,  however,  certain  propositions  gen- 
erally received  as  truth.  Wet,  swampy  districts 
of  country  are  usually  afflicted  with  agues  and 
fevers,  and  other  forms  of  disease,  from  which 
dry  regions  are  exempt. 

In  accordance  with  this  idea,  and  with  a  view 
to  promote  the  healthfulness  of  the  country,  the 
United  States  government,  by  Acts  of  1849  and 
Sept.,  1856,  granted  the  swamp  and  overflowed 
lands  of  the  government,  as  a  gift  to  the  States 
in  which  they  lie,  and  it  is  officially  estimated 
that  when  these  grants  shall  be  entirely  adjust- 
ed, they  will  amount  to  sixty  viillions  of  acres. 

Lands  covered  with  timber  are  far  more  damp 
than  cleared  lands. 

It  is  a  well  established  fact  that  mill  streams 
and  rivers  have  grown  perceptibly  less  through- 
out New  England,  since  the  wood  has  been  cut 
away.  Streams,  which  formerly  were  sufficient 
to  drive  certain  mills,  have  failed,  probably 
through  the  increased  evaporation,  so  as  to  have 
become  entirely  inadequate  to  the  purpose. 

Fevers  and  agues  seem  to  leave  an  old  State, 


and  to  pursue  the  pioneers  into  new  settlements. 
Indeed,  it  is  not,  perhaps,  assuming  too  much  to 
say,  that  generally  in  proportion  as,  by  the  cut- 
ting away  of  timber,  or  by  other  changes,  such 
as  the  clearing  up  of  swamps,  the  climate  of  a 
country  or  district  is  rendered  more  free  of 
dampness  by  evaporation,  in  the  same  propor- 
tion its  healthfulness  is  increased. 

Mr.  Colman,  of  Massachusetts,  a  careful  ob- 
server, both  at  home  and  abroad,  of  the  efi'ects 
of  drainage,  says, 

"There  are  considerations  connected  with  the 
subject,  which  are  not  to  be  measured  by  a  pecu- 
niary standard,  but  whose  importance  cannot  be 
over-estimated.  I  mean,  for  example,  such  as 
refer  to  the  health  of  the  country.  The  fogs  and 
dampness  arising  from  wet  and  undrained  lands, 
are  a  prolific  source  of  ill  health  and  sickness. 

"Tracts  of  land  which  are  liable  to  fevers  and 
agues  and  consumptions,  by  a  complete  drainage 
have  become  salubrious,  and  are  now  upon  aii 
average  standard  of  longevity  with  other  parts 
of  the  country." 

An  English  Board  of  Sanitary  Commissioners 
states  the  matter  as  follows : 

"1.  Excess  of  moisture,  even  on  lands  not  ev- 
idently wet,  is  a  cause  of  fogs  and  damps. 

"2.  Dampness  serves  as  the  medium  of  con- 
veyance for  any  decomposing  matter  that  may 
be  evolved,  and  adds  to  the  injurious  effects  of 
such  matter  in  the  air  ; — in  other  words,  the  ex- 
cess of  moisture  may  be  said  to  increase  or  ag- 
gravate atmospheric  impurity. 

"The  evaporation  of  the  surplus  moisture  low- 
ers temperature,  produces  chills,  and  creates  or 
aggravates  the  sudden  and  injurious  changes  or 
fluctuations  of  temperature,  by  which  health  is 
injured." 

"Where  there  is  a  large  accumulation  of  sur- 
plus moisture,  having  animal  or  vegetable  mat- 
ter in  suspension  or  solution,  the  injury  to  the 
public  health  is  so  direct  and  considerable  as  to 
amount  to  a  nuisance  requiring  authoritative  in- 
tervention. The  evils  thus  arising,  which  are 
found  in  the  greatest  intensity  in  low-lying  town 
districts,  in  valleys  near  rivers,  or  on  sites  below 
high  water  mark,  have  been  exemplified  in  the 
General  Sanitary  Report,  and  also  in  the  Second 
Report  of  the  Metropolitan  Sanitary  Commis- 
sioners. The  inhabitants  of  drier  districts  are 
often  afflicted  with  marsh  diseases  from  the  ill- 
drained  lowlands ;  thus,  after  the  prevalence  of 
easterly  winds  over  the  Essex  and  Kent  marshes, 
cases  of  marsh  fever  and  ague  are  found  scat- 
tered throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  me- 
tropolis." 

In  the  same  report,  under  the  head  of  "The 
Drainage  of  Parks  and  Suburban  Lands,"  we 
find  a  notice  of  the  drainage  of  the  park  near 
Liverpool,  which,  in  1857,when  seen  by  the  writer, 
presented  the  appearance  of  dry  and  healthful 
pleasure-grounds.  This  account  should  instruct 
Americans,  because  the  Park  at  Birkenhead  is 
one  of  the  first  beautiful  landscapes  that  meets 


474 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


his  gaze  after  his    weary    wanderings    over   the 
dreary  waste  of  waters. 

The  space  of  ground  near  Birkenhead,  now 
called  the  park,  was,  a  short  time  ago,  like  much 
suburban  land  near  the  metropolis,  a  mere 
marsh,  over  which  thick  mists  hung  at  nightfall. 
It  was  thc^roughly  drained  by  Sir  Joseph  Pjx- ' 
ton,  with  drains  varying  in  depth  from  seven' 
feet  to  close  surface  drains.  The  mists  and  fogs' 
created  on  this  tract  have,  since  the  drains  came 
into  operation,  disappeared.  The  expense  of  I 
that  work  was  £20  per  acre  ;  and  the  land,  which! 
before  the  drainage  was  worth  only  £1  per! 
per  acre,  is  now  worth,  at  the  least,  £4  per  acre, 
for  pasturage  ;  so  that  the  work  pays  15  per  cent.' 
direct  profit,  besides  effecting  its  main  object, — 
the  improvement  of  the  neighborhood  in  comfort 
and  salubrity."  j 

Upon  this  point,  as  upon  so  many  others,  we! 
are  obliged  to  refer  to  English  authority,  be- 1 
cause  so  little  drainage  has  yet  been  effected  ini 
our  own  country,  and  because  our  government  has 
as  yet  collected  no  statistics  touching  the  matter. 

There  is  no  reason  apparent,  however,  why 
the  testimony  of  eminent  agriculturists  abroad 
should  not  be  deemed  as  reliable  as  that  of  our 
own  countrymen. 

In  1848,  "queries"  were  issued  by  the  "Metro- 
politan Sanitary  Commissioners"  regarding  the 
Drainage  of  Land,  and  the  following  extracts 
from  the  answers  of  gentlemen  of  the  highest 
oharticter,  as  published  by  order  of  the  British 
Government,  will  be  found  pertinent  and  satis- 
factory as  to  the  beneficial  effect  of  drainage 
upon  the  health  of  domestic  animals  and  of  the 
population. 

3Tr.  Smith. — In  the  alluvial  clay  districts  of 
Stirlingshire,  and  west  of  Perthshire,  where  the 
drainage  was  formerly  effected  by  large  open 
ditches,  in  the  Dutch  fashion,  ague  was  periodi- 
cally prevalent,  and  rheumatism,  fevers  and 
scrofulous  affections  were  much  promoted,  until 
the  introduction  of  thorough-drainage,  forty 
years  ago  ;  after  which  period  those  diseases  be- 
gan to  disappear,  or  to  be  mitigat'-d  in  severity. 
Few  cases  of  ague  now  appear.  Fevers  are  sel- 
dom known,  except  in  the  usual  course  of  fevers 
which  prevail  epidemically  over  the  whole  coun- 
try ;  and  it  is  generally  observed  by  the  inhabi- 
tants that  their  cattle  or  stock  are  now  less  sub- 
ject to  diseases.  In  the  undrained  condition  of 
these  districts  they  were  subject  to  dense  fogs, 
especially  in  the  autumnal  months  when  much 
rain  had  fallen,  communicating  a  chilly  feeling 
to  the  inhabitants  ;  but  since  the  general  intro- 
duction of  thorough-draining  those  fogs  seldom 
prevail,  unless  in  a  general  foggy  tendency  of 
the  atmosphere  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Parlces. — The  complete  drainage  of  town 
and  rural  districts  is  universally  admitted  to  be 
conducive  to  the  health  of  both  man  and  ani- 
mals. The  medical  profession  are,  however, 
best  qualified  to  give  testimony  to  the  one,  and 
veterinary  surgeons  to  the  other. 

The  disease  of  foothalt  in  sheep  and  deer  has 


been  perfectly  removed  in  many  gentlemen's 
parks,  and  in  extensive  pasturage  grounds,  by 
deep  under  drainage.  The  earlier  seasonable  ma- 
turity of  venison,  and  a  greatly  improved  flavor, 
are  also  the  acknowledged  results  of  complete 
drainage.  Foothalt,  however,  is  known  to  oc- 
cur where  sheep  are  turned  on  very  luxuriant 
herbage,  kept  continually  moist  from  the  state 
of  the  atmosphere,  though  the  lana  be  not  wet; 
so  that  drainage  alone  will  not,  on  all  soils,  and 
at  all  times,  exempt  animals  from  suffering  from 
this  disease. 

In  respect  of  increased  salubrity  induced  in 
towns  and  rural  districts  by  drainage,  I  may  in- 
stance the  acknowledged  disappearance  of  ague 
and  other  periodical  maladies  consequent  on  the 
great  drainages  effected  in  Cambridgeshire — as 
id  the  Isle  of  Ely.  &c. — and  in  the  Lincolnshire 
and  other  great  marshes. 

As  an  example  of  the  good  effects  arising  from 
the  drainage  of  swamps,  I  may  state  that  the 
Commissioners  of  Her  Majesty's  Woods  and 
Forests,  of  which  your  lordship  is  the  chief,  have 
recently  caused  me  to  drain  an  extensive  tract 
of  country  in  the  New  Forest,  called  the  Weare's 
Lawn  and  Bog,  aijoining  which  is  a  small  ham- 
let, whose  inhabitants  previously  suffered  much 
from  intermittent  fevers.  The  hamlet  is  now 
healthy  ;  the  offensive  gaseous  emanations  from 
the  soil  have  ceased  ;  and  the  inhabitants  are 
supplied  with  abundance  of  the  purest  spring 
water,  discovered  during  the  operations  of  drain- 
age, and  appropriated  to  their  use. 

Mr.  Spooncr. — Beyond  the  general  improve- 
ment in  a  sanitary  point  of  view,  and  the  dimi- 
nution of  fever  and  ague,  acknowledged  to  have 
resulted  from  the  drainage  of  the  fen  districts  of 
Cambridgeshire  and  Lincolnshire,  and  the  marsh- 
es of  Essex,  I  am  not  acquainted  with  cases  in 
which  improvement  in  the  health  of  population 
can  be  traced  to  drainage  as  a  sole  cause  ;  but  in 
respect  to  stock,  a  striking  instance  can  be  ad- 
duced of  improvement  in  healthiness  resulting 
from  drainage  alone,  attributable  to  no  other 
cause.  In  the  Highlands  generally,  and  more 
particularly  on  the  west  coast,  there  exists  a  well 
known  and  fatal  disease  among  sheep,  incurable 
by  any  treatment,  termed  "Braxey,"  which  on  un- 
drained lands  and  in  wt^t  seasons  is  a  cause  of 
very  serious  losses.  This  is,  in  a  great  measure, 
prevented  by  drainage,  and  the  diminution  of 
casualties  alone  is  more  than  sufficient  to  cover 
its  cost,  independently  of  the  increased  quantity 
and  better  quality  of  the  fodder  produced.  This 
system  has  been  extensively  practiced  for  several 
years,  and  invariably  with  the  same  beneficial  re- 
sults. 

J\lr.  Macaw. — As  to  the  health  of  cattle  or 
stock,  I  have  the  strongest  evidence  of  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  drainage  in  many  instances.  On 
the  lands  which  I  possess,  and  on  several  oth- 
ers in  the  district,  a  disease  called  red  water 
prevailed,  in  some  years  proving  very  fatal ;  but 
aft-^r  drainage  and  cultivation  of  the  marshy 
parts  of  the  pasturage  the  stock  has  been  free 
of  that  disease.  I  may  mention  that  the  first  and 
most  severe  cases  of  pleura  pneumonia  in  cattle 
that  had  occurred  in  this  and  a  neignboring 
county  were  on  lands  of  a  swampy,  undrained 
character.  The  surface  drainage  of  sheep  walks 
in  every  district  is  well  known  to  promote  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


475 


healthiness  of  the  stock  ;  and  I  believe  the  thor- 
oujih  drainage  of  a  single  swamp  in  any  locality 
will  be  an  important  means  of  improving  the 
healih  both  of  the  population  and  stock  connect- 
ed with  it. 

Mr.  Beattie. — It  is  apparent  that  animals  have 
more  comfort  and  thrive  better  on  dry  lands 
than  on  wet. 

1  am  aware  of  instances  where  marsh  lands 
have  been  dried,  and  all  the  disagreeable  and  in- 
jurious effects  arising  from  the  swamps  removed, 
such  as  frosts,  fogs  and  blights,  &c.  These  lands 
have  been  again  allowed  to  become  wet,  and  all 
the  evils  formerly  complained  of  have  returned. 

Where  undrained  lands  produce  bad  herbage 
for  the  food  of  stock,  and  their  ir)fltience  in  the 
neighborhood  are  injurious  to  crops  that  produce 
the  food  of  man,  they  must  of  necessity  be  inju- 
rious to  the  health  of  the  population  and  stock, 
independent  of  the  injurious  influence  of  the 
atmosphere,  which  cannot  be  so  easily  deter- 
mined. 

J/?'.  Neilsov. — In  the  Altcar  Meadows,  belong- 
ing to  the  Earl  of  Sefton,  a  low  level  district 
about  eight  or  ten  miles  north  of  Liverpool,  a 
■water-wheel  was  erected  about  five  years  ego,  for 
the  pur{)ose  of  relieving  the  land  from  inunda- 
tion ;  and  though  thorough-drainage  has  been 
very  little  adopted,  the  inhabitants  speak  of  the 
increased  salubrity  of  the  locality,  while  the 
equally  increased  fertility  of  the  land  has  created 
a  marked  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the 
stock.  In  my  own  neighborhood,  some  low  flat 
land  of  a  stiff  clay  soil,  and  lying  extremely  wet, 
ahvajs  had  a  scouring  effect  on  the  young  slock 
turned  on  it  in  the  spring;  and  no  application  of 
manure  produced  any  alteration.  It  was  drained, 
and,  without  any  other  change  in  the  manage- 
ment, the  same  species  of  stock  throve  on  it  ex- 
tremely well. 

This  is  easily  accounted  for ;  the  wet  prevent- 
ed the  manure  from  fermenting,  and  fostering 
that  species  of  herbage  best  calculated  to  pro- 
mote the  vigorous  growth  of  animal  substances, 
and  the  land  became  covered  with  a  verdure  un 
suited  for  that  purpose. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  water  produced  fermen- 
tation ;  the  aquatic  plants  were  superseded  by  a 
more  food-producing  species,  carbonic  acid  gas 
was  more  speedily  absorbed,  and,  instead  of  the 
exhalations  of  the  marsh,  a  purer  oxygen  was 
evolved,  increasing  both  the  salubrity  of  the  at- 
mosphere and  the  condition  of  the  stock. 

I  have  also  had  several  opportunities  of  wit- 
nessing similar  effects  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
particularly  in  British  Guiana,  where  I  resided 
several  years.  The  surface  is  almost  a  dead  flat, 
lower  than  the  sea  at  high  water,  and  drained 
only  at  considerable  expense  by  large  sluice- 
gates for  each  estate,  which  are  opened  each  pe- 
riod of  low  water. 

When  an  estate  is  abandoned,  this  is  neglected, 
and  its  neighborhood  is  invariably  the  first  to  suf- 
fer on  the  approach  of  an  epidemic ;  and  I  have 
known  instances  of  the  course  of  a  fever  thus  pro- 
duced being  checked,  and  materially  altered,  by 
the  neighboring  lands  being  drained,  an  altera- 
tion considerably  accelerated  by  a  small  quantity 
of  lime,  in  a  finely  powdered  state,  being  distribu- 
ted on  the  lands  during  a  windy  day. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
GEAFTIKG  NATIVE!  GBaPE  STOCK. 

Dear  Farmer  : — I  see  by  your  Marblehead 
correspondent  that  he  has  found  the  same  trouble 
with  niyself  in  raising  native  grape  vines  from 
seed.  About  teri  years  ago  I  ])lanted  some  grape 
seed,  and  have  been  waiting  to  see  what  varieties 
I  should  get,  and  I  found  that  the  largest  and 
most  thrifty  vines,  altjiou^h  they  blossomed  full, 
never  set  a  grape,  and  by  comparing  tliem  with 
those  that  bore  fruit,  I  found  they  would  never 
bear.  Last  spring  1  got  some  cuttings  that  were 
three  buds  long,  and  in  May,  after  the  vines  had 
grown  leaves  as  large  as  dimes,  I  cut  the  vines 
ofl'  so  low  that  two  or  three  inches  of  dirt  could 
be  put  on  top  of  the  stock  ;  then  I  split  and 
grafted  the  same  as  in  apples  ;  if  the  stock  is 
small,  a  string  tied  round  the  top  will  help  hold 
the  scion  fast  till  it  is  grown  in  It  is  better  to 
have  a  stock  three-fourths  or  one  inch  in  diam- 
eter, and  then  nothing  but  dirt  will  be  needed. 
No  wax  should  be  used.  My  vines  have  now 
grown  over  eight  feel  in  length,  with  side  shoots 
four  feet  long,  and  still  they  are  bound  onward. 
I  have  not  cultivated  them  this  year  any,  except 
to  take  off  the  suckers,  and  these  will  netd  look- 
ing after  every  week  ;  and  yet  there  are  leaves 
on  them  that  measure  12  inches  wide  and  13 
long,  and  the  vines  would  in  two  years,  if  at- 
tended to,  cover  friend  G.'s  arbor.  I  would  not 
destroy  the  roots  till  I  had  grafted  them.  I  think 
thej'  will  soon  be  valuable  fruit-bearing  vines. 

A.  J.  Dodge. 

Francestown,  N.  E.,  Aug.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TOP-DHESSIWQ. 

"It  is  an  excellent  time  to  apply  composted  manure  as 
a  top-dressing  immediately  after  the  hay  is  carried  from 
the  field,  as  the  young  grass  will  grow  up  and  cover  it  in 
a  few  days. 

If  this  work  is  not  already  done,  it  should  be,  befrre 
the  grass  ceases  to  grow,  so  that  the  autumnal  rains  sh  .11 
moisten  the  maniu'e  and  carry  its  fertilizing  properties 
among  the  roots." 

The  above,  Mr.  Editor,  you  will  perceive,  is 
copied  from  your  editorial.  Had  you  added, —  if 
your  land  is  already  in  a  good  condition,  so  that 
the  grass  will  grow  up  immediately  and  cover  it, 
or  if  you  are  sure  it  will  rain  immediately  after 
spreading  your  manure,  and  for  several  days  to 
come, until  the  fertilizing  properties  are  all  washed 
from  it  into  the  soil,  or  if  your  manure  is  com- 
posted of  materials  that  are  purely  inorganic  and 
will  not  evaporate,  then  you  would  have  driven 
the  nail  where  it  is  said  Noah  drove  the  first 
nail,  (if  nails  be  drove,)  when  he  built  the  ark, 
and  I  should  have  been  saved  the  mortification 
of  sending  my  poor  composition  before  the  pub- 
lic. As  it  is,  permit  me  to  offer  an  amendment 
to  your  proposition,  in  which  I  will  endeavor  to 
give  my  own  experience,  corroborated  by  science, 
as  I  understand  it. 

I  have  learned,  by  experience,  that  the  best 
time  to  apply  manure  as  a  top-dressing  to  grass 
lands,  is  late  in  autumn  or  in  winter,  so  late  that 
the  manure,  after  being  spread  upon  the  surface, 
will  remain  most  of  the  time  in  a  congealed  state 


476 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


-xcept  when  drenched  by  the  thawing  rains  of 
•inter. 

The  snows  which  are  so  liable  to  come  upon 
•18  at  that  season  of  the  year,  will  soon  cover  it, 
ndding  defiance  to  the  winds  Avhich  are  so  eager 
Lo  catch  up  its  fertilizing  qualities,  bearing  them 
hence  to  no  particular  spot. 

The  greatest  benefit  I  ever  received  from  top- 
dressing,  was  spread  on  the  snow  in  winter,  while 
that  spread  in  early  autumn  has  been  almost  an 
entire  failure. 

Ashes  and  other  non-evaporating  substances 
may  be  spread  at  any  season  of  the  year.  Under 
the  above  process  I  have  improved  the  condition 
of  a  farm  which  had  been  continually  deteriorat- 
ing under  the  process  of  plowing,  so  that  the 
barns  that  were  not  more  than  two-thirds  filled 
are  now  filled — full.  This  season  I  have  been 
obliged  to  reap  and  cradle  my  grain,  which 
heretofore  has  been  mowed,  for  want  of  barn 
room,  and  all  this  has  been  done  in  the  space  of 
four  years. 

Now  let  us  examine  it  in  a  scientific  point  of 
view.  It  has  been  my  pleasure,  as  well  as  priv- 
ilege, for  the  past  few  years,  to  enjoy  the  reading 
of  your  excellent  paper,  of  which  the  editorials 
have  not  been  of  the  least  importance.  You  have 
frequently  set  forth  in  them,  (and  I  think  not 
M'ithout  foundation,)  as  a  principle,  that  the  sub- 
stances which  combine  to  perfect  the  formation 
of  the  vegetable  kingdom  are  classed  under  two 
heads,  called  organic  and  inorganic.  That  the 
organic  substances  are  derived  from  the  atmos- 
phere, and  the  inorganic  from  the  soil ;  that  when 
these  substances  have  combined  and  formed  veg- 
etable matter,  and  are  permitted  to  decay,  being 
exposed  to  the  open  air,  will  return  to  the  source 
from  whence  they  came. 

Now,  does  it  appear  reasonable  that  our  com- 
post manure,  a  large  share  of  which  is  organic, 
should  be  spread  upon  the  surface,  under  the 
burning  sun  of  July,  August  or  September,  ex- 
posed to  the  evaporating  influences  of  sun  and 
air,  and  that  in  case  it  should  not  rain  for  a  week, 
would  almost  be  relieved  of  its  organic  substan- 
ces, or,  at  least,  of  those  parts  which  are  of  any 
service,  leaving  only  the  inorganic,  which  alone 
cannot  perfect  vegetation  ?  N.  II.  L. 

Ottei'  River,  Mass.,  1859. 


top-dress ;  but  the  objection  to  the  former  time 
is,  we  cannot  tell  when  the  snows  are  coming, 
and  do  not  like  to  risk  the  manure  exposed  to 
the  fierce  winds,  and  the  objection  to  the  latter 
time  is,  that  the  ground  being  so  soft  at  that  sea- 
son of  the  year,  might  be  injured  by  going  ovei 
it  with  teams  and  wheels. 


B  EM  ARKS. — When  we  wrote  the  paragraphs 
which  "N.  H.  L."  has  quoted,  we  had  not  forgot 
ten  the  objections  he  raises — they  are  valid  ob 
jections.  There  is  always  more  or  less  loss  in 
top-dressing  with  organic  manures.  What  we 
must  do,  is,  to  select  that  time  which  we  think, 
upon  the  whole,  is  the  least  objectionable.  We 
have  asked  the  question  of  at  least  fifty  among  the 
best  farmers  in  New  England,  "When  is  the  best 
time  to  top-dress  grass  land  ?"  and  we  think  the 
reply  has  been,  in  a  majority  of  cases, — "just  as 
soon  after  you  take  your  crop  off  as  you  can." 
If  the  manure  is  applied  late  in  autumn,  the 
sweeping  winds  which  prevail  at  that  season  de- 
siccate it  with  great  rapidity,  even  more  rapidly 
than  July  suns.  Just  before  snows  fall  in  au- 
tumn, or  early  in  April,  are  also  good  times  to 


AUTUMN  WILD  FLOWERS. 

BY   MART   HOWITT. 

The  autumn  sun  is  shining, 

Gray  mists  are  on  the  hill ; 
A  russet  tint  is  on  the  leaves, 

But  flowers  are  blooming  still ! 

Still  bright,  in  wood  or  meaJow ; 

On  moorlands  dry  and  brown  ; 
By  little  streams  ;  by  rivers  broad ; 

On  every  breezy  down — 

The  little  flowers  are  smiling, 

With  chilly  dew-drops  wet, 
Are  saying  with  a  sportive  voice — 

"We  have  not  vanished  yet '. 

"No,  though  the  spring  be  over  ; 

Though  summer's  strength  be  gone  ; 
Though  autumn's  wealth  be  garnered, 

And  winter  cometh  on  ; 

"Still  we  have  not  departed, 

We  linger  to  the  last, 
And  even  on  early  winter's  brow 

A  cheerful  radiance  cast !" 

Go  forth,  then,  youths  and  mailens, 

Be  joyful  whilst  you  may  ; 
Go  forth,  then,  child  and  mother, 

And  toiling  men  grown  gray. 

Go  forth,  though  ye  be  humble. 

And  wan  with  toil  and  care ; 
There  are  no  fields  to  barren 

But  some  sweet  flower  is  there  ! 

Flowers  spring  up  by  the  highway 

Which  busy  feet  have  trod ; 
They  rise  up  in  the  dreariest  wood ; 

They  gem  the  dullest  sod. 

They  need  no  learned  gardener 

To  nurture  them  with  care  ; 
They  only  need  the  dews  of  earth. 

The  sunshine  and  the  air. 

And  for  earth's  lowly  children ; 

For  loving  hearts  and  (Ood, 
They  spring  up  all  around  us, 

They  will  not  be  subdued. 

Thank  God  !  when  forth  from  Eden 

The  weeping  pair  was  driven, 
That  unto  earth,  though  cursed  with  thorny 

The  little  flowers  were  given. 

That  Eve,  when  looking  downward. 

To  face  her  God  afraid. 
Beheld  the  scented  violet. 

The  primrose  in  the  shade  ! 

Thank  God  !  that  with  the  thistle 

That  sprang  up  in  his  toil, 
The  weary  worker,  Adam, 

Saw  roses  gem  the  soil. 

And  still,  for  anxious  workers — 

For  hearts  with  anguish  full, 
Life,  even  on  its  dreariest  path, 

Has  floweri  for  them  to  cull. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


477 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
BEAUTY,  UTILITY  AND  BEFINEMSNT, 
BY    SUSIE   SUMMERFIELD. 


treasure,  a  goodly  appendage  to  his  farm  !  But 
let  him  pause,  and  take  up  one  little  leaf  which 
the  winds  toss  at  his  feet.  Let  him  scan  well  its 
organization;  see  its  thread-like  fibres,  its  deli- 
The  day  has  arrived  when   it  can  be  truthfully  I  cately    notched   edges,   its   velvet-like    softness. 


asserted  that  American  agriculture  has  become 
elevated  in  the  estimation  of  American  people, 
and  it  is  justly  encouraged  and  promoted  by  sci- 
entific men,  by  earnest  thinkers  and  w(  rkers  who 
are  pursuing  the  art.  Now  and  then  we  find  one 
of  the  "gentler  sex"  who  presumes  to  express  an 
interest  in  the  occupation  of  farming. 

It  is  an  occupation  in  which   a  woman  has  a 
part  to  perform  ;  then  let  her  express  her  esti 


its  firm,  glossy  stem,  and  its  green  hue;  then  let 
him  realize  that  each  tiny  leaf  is  ever  assisting 
to  purify  the  air  which  it  inhales,  while  it  clothes 
the  tree  which  beautifies  the  landscape  about 
him,  and  will  he  not  recognize  the  combination 
of  beauty  with  utility?  Yes,  reader,  every  shade 
tree  that  you  plant,  feeds  upon  carbonic  acid 
gas,  which  feeds  upon  carbon  and  oxygen,  and 
the  trees  absorb  the  carbon,  which  is  obnoxious 


mation,  her  interest  in  it,  and  she   will   help   to  |to  man,  and  exhale  ox  gen,  which  is  healthful ; 
lendanenthusiasm,  a  charm  to  agriculture,  such^^iiug,  when  you  beautify  your  grounds  by  plant- 


as  will  interest  and  animate  our  young  men  ;  and 
she  will  prove  her  influence  to  be  more  potent 
than  all  the  wise  counsellors  found  nmong  our 
grandfather  and  father  farmers  of  old  New  Eng- 
land. 

If  woman  but  gives  her  hearty  approval    of 


ing  trees  at  a  proper  distance  from  your  dwel- 
ling, you  are  promoting  your  own  good,  although 
they  may  cast  too  broad  a  shade  upon  the  mow- 
ing-lot cr  meadow  near  the  old  homestead. 

Beauty  is  an  emanation  from  God.     One  wri- 
ter asserts  that,  "the  fact  of  a  beautiful  object's 


this  occupation,  she  will  make   sunshine  to  glowj^ging  beautiful,  is  equivalent  to  the  fact  that  its 
within  our  farm-houses,  which  shall  vie  with  the  "  -     - 

glowing  sunlight  without,  that  mellows  the  lus- 
cious fruit,  and  matures  the  golden  grain  upon 
the  productive  fields.  But,  alas,  some  blush  to 
do  this,  for  fear  of  being  unrefined,  and  I  pity 
them  in  their  mistaken  opinion  ;  while  I  take  my 
pen  to  assert  that  a  beautiful  combination  of 
beauty,  utility  and  refinement,  may  and  ought  to 
have  an  intimate  relation  with  the  farm. 


beauty  is  from  God. 

Bayne  forcibly  asserts,  "that  every  thrill 
awakened  in  us  by  true  beauty  is  a  noble  emo- 
tion, and  when  our  nature  is  restored  to  what  it 
was,  or  raised  higher  than  before,  beauty  will 
beam  upon  us  from  every  part  of  God's  uni- 
verse, till  then  scarcely  dreamed  of." 

Now,  since  beauty  is  of  such  origin,  is  every- 
where about  us,  and  while  no  occupation  of  life 


The  word  beauty  is  expressive  of  adornment  j^  go  capable  of  admitting  it  as  the  farmer's,  is 
or  embellishment.  Beauty  is  discernible  in  all  \^  unworthy  of  their  notice,  or  of  their  efforts  in 
of  God's  works,  and  why  should  not  man  aim  to  creating  it?     The    architect  and   the    mechanic 


have  it  discernible  in  his  work,  too  ?     It  is  gov- 
erned by  laws  which  are  the  writing  of  the  Eter- 


each  study  to  combine  adornment  with  utility,  in 
all    their   designs   and   labors.     Accordingly   as 


nal  mind,  and  are  more  stable  than  the  created  ,hey  effect  this  harmonious  combination,  so  are 
universe  ;  then  how  worthy  of  man's  attention  is^t^ey  estimated.  It  may,  and  should  be  so,  with 
the  art  of  adornment !  Some  men  are  so  practi- ; farmers.  Regularity,  symmetry  and  order  are 
cal  in  all  of  their  views  of  life,  that  they  cannot  elements  of  beauty.  Are  not  order  and  regular- 
deem  beauty  as  having  a  laudable  claim  upon  i,y  desirable  in  farming?  Are  not  nicelv  ar- 
their  attention,  and  seek  for  utility  in  all  that. ranged  fences,  deeply  and  well-furrowed  fields, 
they  create  or  improve.  Though  the  works  of  .yell  selected  and  well  kept  stock,  and  thiifty 
nature  are  created  for  our  use  ;  yet,  all  is  sym- (orchards,  something  which  adorn  a  farm?  Is  it 
metrically  formed,  and  is  teeming  with  loveli-  ^ot  for  a  farmer's  interest  to  make  such  adorn- 
ness  ;  from  the  towering  mountain  upon   which  merits  ? 

the  clouds  recline,  to  the  crystal  dew-drop  that!  it  is  also  for  his  interest  to  have  and  use 
trembles  upon  the  spire  of  grass  as  it  glistens  in 'pleasant  and  comfortable  dwellings.  He  should 
the  sunshine.  'seek  to  adorn  his  homestead  with  graceful  shade 

The  rays  of  the  sun  which  help  to  crimplej trees,  flowering  shrubs  and  cultivated  vines.  He 
golden  borders  for  the  clouds;  to  crimson  the  should  become  inspired  with  glowing  enthusiasm 
hill-top  with  amaranthine  hue;  which  makes  i„  all  that  is  beautiful,  useful  and  refined,  Ev- 
each  shrub  and  tree  to  give  out  their  soft  shad-  ery  farmer,  his  wife  and  children,  should  strive 
ows;  also  warm  the  brown  soil,  so  that  Mother' to  make  a  harmonious  combination  of  beauty, 
Eartfi  yields  the  green  herbage  and  plentiful  uti^ty  and  refinement,  until  fruitfulness  exists 
grain  that  sustains  life  in  man  and  beast.  The  kyhere  once  barrenness  and  leanness  abided, 
farmerwho  toils  in  the  open  fields  may  fail  to  thereby  verifying  the  words  of  Keats,  who  said, 
recognize  beauty  in  Creation's  fair  handiwork, 

while  he  deems  that  plants,  trees  and   fruits  are  "^  '^ing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever." 

good,  because  man  can  use  them.  But  let  him  Although  our  yeomanry  are  under  the  necessi- 
lift  his  eyes  above,  and  watch  the  silvery  clouds  ty  of  laboring  diligently  and  earnestly,  yet  they 
in  rich  contrast  wivh  the  azure  sky,  as  they  float  I  are  not  justified  in  disobeying  Nature's  laws,  or 
along  like  winged  ships;  and  at  night,  when  the i in  forgetting  that  God  has  endowed  them  and 
stars,  one  by  one,  come  out,  till  the  firmament  j  their  offspring  with  immortal  minds  that  require 
gleams  and  glitters  with  stars,  will  he  then  for-  cultivation  as  much  as  do  their  broad  acres, 
get  that  beauty  is  a  twin  sister  with  utility  ?  Per- j  Some  farmers,  who  plead  that  they  have  no 
haps  he  looks  upon  the  shade  tree  beneath  which 'time  to  read,  to  improve  and  beautify  their 
the  red  cattle  recline  upon  a  July  day,  or  be- j  homes,  who  go  on  over-tasking  nature,  fail  in 
neath  which  he  seeks  protection  from  a  scorch- 1  their  schemes  of  acquiring  an  abundance,  while 
ing  sun,  and  lo !  he  beholds  it  as  a  very  good  they  make  themselves  decrepid,  oZd  young  men. 


478 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


Yes,  old  in  a  physical  point,  but  young  in  years,  [followed  the  lead  of  Mr.  Kendall,  with  every  pros- 
They  have  sons  who  become  weary  of  home- Ipect  of  success.  There  is,  beside  the  fine  wool- 
monotony,  of  home-drudgery,  and  turn  away  in  flocks  established  in  Texas,  a  constant,  and  large 
disgust  with  a  farm  life.  Their  fathers  have  importation  of  the  coarse  wool-sheep  of  Mexico, 
failed  to  educate  them  as  the  times  demand,  and  jit  is  estimated  that  a  fourth  of  a  million  of  Mex- 
also  fail  to  elevate  their  occupation  in  the  esti-  ican  sheep  have  crossed  the  line  into  Texas,  since 
mation  of  their  sons,  and  too  often  are  left  alone  .the  first  of  18u9 — and  the  number  is  constantly 
upon  the  old  homestead  in  their  declining  years,  increasing.  These  Mexican  sheep  are  crossed 
But  the  intelligent  farmer  who  studies  for  im-  with  Northern  stock — and  make  a  valuable  pro- 
provement,  who  has  not  infring'd  upon  nature's  geny,  both  for  wool  and  mutton.  We  shall  ex- 
laws,  steadily  increases  his  wealth,  and  old  age  pect,  before  many  years  more,  to  see  Texas  mut- 
sits  gracefully  upon  him,  as  he  retires  to  his  arm-ton  sheep  in  the  New  York  market,  more  fre- 
chair,  to  allow  the  son  of  his  youth  to  stand  at  quently  than  we  now  see  Texas  beef-cattle — and 
the  helm.  In  such  farmers'  homes,  we  find  fath-  that  they  will  be  much  better  liked,  both  by 
ers  and  mothers  looking  with  eyes  dim  with  butchers  and  mutton-eaters,  than  the  bullocks 
grateful  tears  upon  their  offspring,  who  till  the  are. — .Y.  Y.  Tribune. 
fields  and  cull  the  roses  which  they  cared  for  in 


NEW  YORK  3TATE  AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 


youth. 

Beauty  is    something  which  is  considered  as 
belonging  to  woman.    Refinement  is  what  ought 

to  characterize  her,  in  her  intercourse  with  her  ^^  j^^^^  ^gf^re  us  the  eighteenth  volume  of 
family  and  in  society.     Vvhile  the   yeomanry  ot  ,,      ^  ,.  r  ^f    o     •  . 

our  land  should  make  a  law  like  the  Medes  andi^he  transactions  of  this  Society,  giving  its  oper- 
Persians,  that  beauty,  utility  and  refinement  shall  ations  for  the  year  1858.  It  is  a  handsomely 
exist  among  themselves,  their  wives  and  their  printed  volume  of  850  pages,  and  is  the  thirtieth 
daughters  should  'act  well  their  part,"  in  thcj  volume  of  the  society,  prepared  under  the  direc- 
gcod  work  that  pertains  to  the  occupation  which  Lj^^^  ^f  ;^^  ^^^^  ^^^  accomplished  Secretary,  B. 
their  lathers  and  brothers  pursue.  '-p    t  r 

Much  has  been  said  upon  the  want  of  refine- 1 •'^^-  JOHNSON,  J-.sq. 
nientin  our  farm-housts.  It  is  well  that  the.  After  a  brief  "notice"  from  the  Secretary,  in 
subject  has  been  agitated.  It  will  awaken  aew' which  he  lays  the  volume  before  the  "farmers  of 
thought  upon  the  subject,  while  it  will  give  risej]\few  York,"  the  book  opens  with  a  report  from 
to  action  in  the  cause  of  improvements.  Per-  \  ^-^^  Executive  Committee  of  the  Society,  in  which 
chance,  some  have  not  thought  that  the  introduc- 1  ,  .  ,    .  ,.  •     ,     •         p     ,      ^      t 

tionof  literary  periodicals,  volumes  of  poetry,  I  they  give  a  brief  recapitulation  of  the  leading 
scientific  discussions  and  essays,  religious  and,  transactions  of  the  year.  It  is  the  full  report  of 
moral  papers  and  books,  and  agricultural  re- 1  these  transactions  that  makes  up  the  volume, 
ports  would  shed  a  halo  of  brightness    around '  ^j^j^  ^.^^^^^^.^  ^j^.^^^  j^^  ^  condensed  form,  the  con- 

the  "old  home."     But  let  each  farmer  patronize    ,.  .  ,         „„„„<•  „„«;„.,u,,^„  „„,i   «i,o  t,,o 

^,     ,      ,       ,,  11.1-  1        i     r  •    dition  and  progress  of   agriculture  and  the  me- 

the  book-seller,  and   let  him   subscribe  tor  pen-,  .  ,  ,  f      c.  -n  j 

odicals  and  papers,  till  he  has  planted  them  pro-  cyanic  arts  throughout  the  State,  as  illustrated 
fusely  within  his  home,  and  see  if  they  are  not, in  the  operations  of  the  agricultural  sodeties  of 
as  productive  of  good  as  the  planting  of  corn,  the  State.  They  say,  that,  upon  the  whole,  the 
potatoes,  and  the  foreign  seeds  from  the  Agri-       ^r  of  1858  was  a  successful  one  to  the  farmers, 

cultural  Department   at  Washington.     Love  of       i  ^i    »  „„      i  i  i       i        „    i u„„„ 

,'      ,        ,1  ]      T    .  »u     and  that  a  very  commendable  advance  has  been 

music    ought   also    to    be   encouraged.     Let  the  •'  ^        ■     ,  nr 

echoes  of  song  vibrate  the  heart  strings,  and  let  made  in  every  department  of  agriculture.  "We 
it  ring  in  the  farm-house.  Money  that  is  invest-!  want"— say  they— "to  increase  the  number  of 
ed  in  books,  and  in  promoting  intelligence  and  well  educated  and  intelligent  agiiculturists — 
true  refinement  in  a  farmer's  home,  is  better  than  ^^^  ^Yio  are,  in  every  respect,  as   well  qualified 

an  investment  of   hoarded   money  in  a  bank  at  ,       n  ,i  a  4-         .,,„♦„,!  .^.uu  ^^ 

.    ■   ^        .      ,,,,         .    z  11  for  all  the  varied  operations  connected  with  ag- 

six  per  cent,  interest.      Ihe  mind  ever  pays  well  i  /  r       ,  c      • 

for  all  efforts  to  enrich  it,  in  all  grades  of  socie-  Iriculture,  as  are  tl^e  men  of  other  professions, 
ty.  Mind  is  immortal.  Money  is  perishable,  who  have  been  duly  prepared  for  their  pursuits." 
Money  never  clinks  beneath  the  coffin-lid  so|  On  speaking  oi  the  uheat  crop  of  the  Slate, 
that  it  makes  music  to  the  dead  sleeper  who  ^w  gay  that  investigations  into  the  habits  of 
once  possessed  it.     As  minds  are  expanded  and  .  ,  ..  i  v  i.    i  •     •  i        •         *u  4. 

*^     1  •     .•  -11  .u       1       1  1  insects  has  established  one  principle,  viz  : — that 

improved  upon  in  time,  so  will  they  be  elevated,  '  '     ' 

"where  land  is  properly  dressed   and  cultivated 

there  is    less  liability    of  damage  from   insects, 
than  where  the  land  is  poor,  and  the  crop  is  ne- 

c!„^^„  ,^,  rr^^.  .^      Tu       •  i     e         •     glected."     This  is  undoubtedly  true,  as  it  is  in 

Sheep  in  Texas. —  there  is  a  sort  of  mama,  °  ,        •      i        > 

just  now,  about  sheep  in  Texas.  The  start  made  ^he  case  of  poor  or  diseased  animals,  who  are 
a  few  years  ago  by  G.  W.  Kendall — and  his  sue-  sure  to  be  attacked  by  vermin  long  before  the 
cess,  after  going  through  all  the  phases  of  ill  luck,  healthy  and  vigorous  cattle  of  the  herd  are. 
losses  and  discouragements— which  perseverance  fhis  is  in  compliance  with  a  law  of  nature,  who 

overcame — has  induced  many  others  to  establish    i  .  i  n        ..  n  „ a  c^t^ 

great  sheep-farms  in  that  State.  Maj.  Wm.  Le-I^^^^^-^^  deformity  as  well  as  a  vacuum  and  sets 
land,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Metropolitan  i^n^ediately  to  work  to  put  it  out  of  sight !  Lean 
Hotel,  in  this  city,  is  one  of  the  number  who  has  land  sickly  crops,  and  lean  and  sickly  kine,  are 


jpor 

and  rejoice  in  eternity,  if  faith  and  forgiveness 
secure  to  them  an  entrance  into  Heaven. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


479 


at  once  attacked  by  insect  scavengers  to  hide 
the  deformity  from  the  fair  face  of  the  earth. 
But  when  the  committee  endorse  the  theory  of 
Professor  Hind,  of  Trinity  College,  Toronto, 
and  English  writers,  who  recommend  "good 
husbandry  as  among  the  remedial  measures  to 
arrest  the  progress  of  insects,"  we  think  they  do 
not,  to  say  the  least,  give  the  true  cause  of  the  in- 
crease of  insects.  They  say,  "high  farming  is  as 
destructive  to  vermin  as  to  weeds,  and  it  is  rare- 
ly that  the  devastation  committed  in  highly  cul- 
tivated land  is  very  serious." 

We  believe  that  the  reverse  of  this  is  the  case 
— that  high  farming  produces  insects — that  it 
feeds  and  shelters  them,  and  produces  the  condi- 
tion of  things  best  fitted  to  a  rapid  and  wonderful 
increase.  This,  too,  is  in  accordance  with  a  nat- 
ural law.  The  forests  of  certain  sections  of  coun- 
try sometimes  yield  no  mast,  or  nuts,  for  sever- 
al years  in  succession,  so  that  the  animals  that 
enlivened  their  tops  all  disappear.  At  length 
they  blossom  again,  and  lo  !  long  before  the 
fruit  has  matured,  the  forest  is  vocal  with  the 
hopeful  sounds  of  its  old  denizens,  waiting  for 
their  accustomed  food.  And  so  is  it  with  the 
grasses  on  the  prairies — it  is  the  plentiful  crop 
that  increases  the  destroyers,  and  not  the  lean 
and  hungry  ones. 

We  should  aim  to  secure  large  and  healthy 
crops,  notwithstanding — but  must  set  our  wits 
to  work  to  devise  the  ways  and  means  to  pre- 
vent their  destruction  by  insects.  But  we  cer- 
tainly have  done  much  that  is  favorable  to  their 
multiplication  and  vigor,  in  increasing  the  varie- 
ties and  excellence  of  our  crops.  When  apple 
trees  were  few,  the  fruit  small,  gnarly  and  almobt 
as  hard  as  flint,  and  the  leaves  were  small,  tough 
and  wiry,  we  had  but  few  curculios ;  but  now 
that  the  cultivated  apple  is  juicy  and  tender,  the 
curculio  finds  it  so  admirably  adapted  to  its  pur- 
poses of  propagation  that  scarcely  an  apple  is 
left  untouched  by  this  tiny  depredator  ;  and  so 
the  caterpillar  finds  the  leaves  of  the  apple  tree 
large,  succulent  and  tender,  and  the  very  food  it 
requires  in  order  to  sustain  millions  of  its  kind. 
So  the  tender  leaves  of  numerous  other  fruits,  as 
well  as  the  great  variety  of  vegetables  which  we 
have  been  pleased  to  introduce  into  our  gardens 
and  fields  and  cultivate,  contribute  to  the  aid  and 
comfort  of  numerous  insects,  as  well  as  to  the 
gratification  of  our  own  apj)etites.  Life,  in  this 
respect,  as  in  many  others,  is  a  continued  war- 
fare. It  is  so  between  us  and  the  insects,  and 
between  them  and  us.  Who  shall  gain  the  mas- 
tery ?  They,  by  their  instinct,  or  we,  by  our  rea- 
son ? 

The  committee  then  refer  to  the  want  of  a 
more  uniform  and  systematic  mode  of  collecting 
the  statistics  of  agjiculture,  so  that  we  may  bet- 


ter know  the  number  and  value  of  our  stock,  of  all 
kinds,  and  how  to  form  a  general  estimate  of  av- 
erage crops  raised.  They  also  speak  of  Agricultu- 
ral Associations,  and  quote  high  authorities  in 
their  favor.  The  Sorghum  or  Sugar  Cane,  and 
-Si'eaniP^om/?^  are  considered,  and  the  importance 
of  a  choice  Agricultural  Library  is  dwelt  upon 
with  considerable  emphasis. 

Their  address  last  year  was  given  by  Joseph 
R.  Williams,  President  of  Michigan  Agricul- 
tural College, — it  occupies  some  thirty  pages, 
and  was  of  so  excellent  a  character  as  to  bs  very 
generally  published  in  the  agricultural  papers 
during  the  last  winter. 

The  next  paper  contains  extracts  from  an  ad- 
dress by  Prof.  North,  on  '"American  Trees  and 
Tree  Planters,"  and  is  full  of  excellent  facts  and 
suggestions.  He  says  that  trees  make  generous 
returns  for  the  room  they  occupy.  The  destruc- 
tion of  trees  not  only  diminishes  the  absolute 
quantity  of  rain,  but  prevents  its  accumulation  in 
springs,  shaded  valleys  and  swamps.  A  bare 
hill-side  will  shed  water  like  a  roof.  Let  the 
trees  remain  as  nature  intended,  and  the  same 
soil  becomes  a  sponge,  absorbing  the  rain  as  it 
falls,  and  sending  it  down  little  by  little  to  the 
thirsty  lowlands.  He  gives  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  leading  men  who  have  presented  the 
claims  of  trees,  beginning  with  John  Bartram, 
who  founded  the  first  botanic  garden  in  this 
country,  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  and  men- 
tioning Andre  Michaux  and  his  son,  William 
CoxE,  of  New  Jersey,  Downing,  M.  P.  Wilder 
and  H.  W.  Sargent.  In  confirmation  of  our 
theory  about  the  increase  of  insects,  and  the 
state  of  warfare  we  are  in,  he  says — "Every  val- 
uable tree  has  its  enemies.  The  more  useful  the 
tree,  the  more  numerous,  busy  and  implacable 
its  foes." 

The  retiring  President,  WiLLlAM  T.  McCoUN, 
made  a  speech  in  which  the  subject  of  steam  as 
a  motive  power  on  the  farm  was  very  ably  dis- 
cussed,— and  then  the  newly  elected  president, 
Abraham  B.  Conger,  made  short,  congratula- 
tory remarks  upon  taking  his  seat.  In  a  gener- 
al discussion  at  another  time,  Mr.  Conger  made 
an  earnest  address  to  the  farmers  to  abandon  the 
exhaustive  process  of  feeding  mainly  on  hay  and 
adopt  the  root  cultivation.  He  believed  in  the 
English  dogma,  that  without  roots  for  food,  there 
must  be  few  cattle  ;  that  with  few  cattle  there 
must  be  little  manure  ;  and  with  little  manure 
there  must  be  light  crops. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  Dairy  Farms 
is  a  long  and  interesting  one.  We  notice  that 
the  result  of  inquiries  among  dairymen,  as  to  the 
amount  of  milk  required  to  make  a  pound  of 
butter,  was  stated  at  fourteen  quarts.  Colonel 
Pratt's  dairy,  of  50  cows,  in   1857,  was  twenty 


480 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


quarts  ;  in  1858,  sixteen  and  one-sixth  quarts.  It 
seems  to  us  that  the  lowest  number  is  a  large 
one. 

Then  follow  papers  on  "Experiments  with  dif- 
ferent Manurt-s  on  permanent  Meadow  Land," 
on  "Draining,"  on  "Potatoes,"  on  "Winter  Fruit,"' 
on  "the  Culture  of  the  Cranberry,"  on  the  "  Wheat 
Midge  and  Hessian  Fly,"  on  "  Wheat  and  Chess," 
and  then  one  on  the  "Edible  Fishes  of  New 
York,"  by  Robert  L.  Pell.  This  report  gives  a 
brief  account  of  the  fish  common  to  the  rivers 
and  inland  streams  of  the  State  in  a  very  attrac- 
tive style.  Mr.  Pell  cultivates  fish — as  well  as 
apples — and  says, — "I  am  convinced  that  an  acre 
pond,  well  stocked  with  pike,  would  yield  more 
profit  than  a  ten  acre  lot  under  ordinary  cultiva- 
tion." 

A  short  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  New  York 
State  Agricultural  College,  and  then  comes  a 
long,  practical  and  interesting  chapter  upon  Fen- 
ces, by  S.  Edwards  Ladd.  The  subject  is  dis- 
cussed under  various  appropriate  heads,  and  em 
braces  every  kind  of  fence  resorted  to,  including 
wire,  stone,  picket  and  hedge  fences. 

Following  this  are  one  or  two  hundred  pages 
of  miscellaneous  matter,  and  the  volume  closes 
with  the  fifth  report  on  the  noxious  and  other  in- 
sects of  the  State  of  New  York,  by  Asa  Fitch, 
entomologist  to  the  Society. 

We  have  now,  briefly,  brought  to  view  the  va- 
ried contents  of  this  interesting  and  highly  use- 
ful volume.  It  has  not  been  made  by  an  indi- 
vidual, but  by  many  individuals,  and  the  extend- 
ed interest  that  has  been  secured  to  produce  such 
a  work  must  be  a  lever  of  great  power  in  the 
State.  To  say  that  the  work  is  as  good  as  its 
fellows  that  have  preceded  it,  would  l)e  saying 
much ;  but  in  some  respects  it  is  better.  We 
hope  the  Society  will  continue  its  surveys  of 
counties. 

Mr.  Secretary  Johnson  will  please  accept  our 
thanks  for  the  volume  which  has  enabled  us  to 
make  these  remarks,  and  to  complete  our  set  of 
this  highly-valued  work. 


OYSTERS  AND  STAR  FISH. 

The  oyster  beds  in  Providence  river  have  suf- 
fered severely  from  the  attacks  of  star  fish,  which, 
in  some  instances,  have  destroyed  hundreds  of 
dollars  worth  of  oysters.  The  manner  in  which 
the  star-fish  contrive  to  carry  off"  the  delicate 
morsel  contained  within  the  shells  of  healthy 
oysters,  has  been  more  or  less  a  conjecture.  By 
many  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  star-fish 
closes  its  arms  over  the  shell,  and  so  starves  the 
oyster  to  death  by  refusing  to  let  it  open  its 
mouth  for  food.  An  old  supposition  was  to  the 
eflect  that  the  star-fish  succeeded  in  inserting  a 
ray  or  finger  into  the  gaping  shell,  and  if  it  found 
the  bivalve  too  strong  for  it,  got  rid  of  the  diffi- 


culty and  the  ray  at  once,  conscious  of  its  power 
of  reproducing  another  ;  which  conclusion  may 
have  been  drawn  from  the  fact  that  the  star-fish 
readily  parts  with  its  rays  to  preserve  its  body, 
reproducing  them  again  very  speedily.  Star-fish 
have  been  detected  in  the  act  of  sucking  the 
juices  of  bivalves  through  perforations,  and  also 
with  their  mouths  applied  to  the  edges  of  the 
valves.  From  the  apparently  paralyzed  state  of 
the  bivalves  found  in  such  situations,  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  the  star-fish  introduces  some 
deleterious  secretion  within  the  valves,  and  thus 
leaves  the  moUusk  torpid,  and  deprived  of  the 
power  of  closing  its  valves  against  the  attacks 
of  the  destroyer.  But  it  is  not  on  living  prey 
alone  that  the  star-fish  feeds.  Is  seems  to  assist 
materially  in  cleansing  the  sea  from  dead  and 
decomposing  animal  matter.  A  human  tooth 
has  been  found  in  the  stomach  of  a  star-fish.  Its 
mouth  and  gullet  are  admirably  adapted  for  se- 
curing the  animal  substances  on  which  it  feeds. 
When  the  prey  is  apparently  disproportioned  to 
the  parts  into  which  it  is  to  be  conveyed,  the 
(Tsophagus,  or  gullet,  together  with  parts  of  the 
stomach  itself,  can  be  protruded  and  everted,  so 
as  to  draw  the  desired  food  into  the  cavity  by 
the  application  of  the  inverted  surface  to  it. 
Thus  small  shell-fish  are  swallowed  whole,  and 
specimens  still  living  have  been  found  taken 
from  the  cavity. — jYewport  Mercury. 


ABOUT  BAEKS. 

The  careful  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to 
an  article  in  another  column,  on  the  form  and 
manner  of  constructing  barns — a  suliject  of  the 
first  importance  to  tlie  farmers  of  New  England. 
We  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  as  assenting 
to  all  that  "J.  W.  K."  says  in  his  article — it  may 
all  be  right,  but  we  should  rather  see  a  barn  so 
constructed  before  recommending  them  to  others. 
His  ideas,  however,  strike  us  quite  favorably, 
and  when  we  once  had  him  "in  our  leanto,"  some 
years  ago,  had  we  known  that  his  mind  run  so 
strongly  to  barns,  we  certainly  should  have  de- 
tained him  an  hour  or  two  to  discuss  them. 

That  our  barns  are  too  expensive  in  their  first 
cost,  too  liable  to  rapid  decay,  and  inconvenient 
in  their  arrangement,  we  have  long  been  con- 
vinced, and  our  correspondent  has  our  hearty 
thanks  for  giving  the  subject  so  much  considera- 
tion, and  for  giving  us  an  opportunity  to  com- 
municate his  views  to  the  public. 


LICE  ON  CATTLE. 

Take  white  oak  bark,  boil  it  in  water — making 
a  strong  decoction  ;  wash  the  animals  on  the 
back  and  on  the  sides.  In  twenty-four  hours 
the  lice  will  be  completely  tanned.  Tanner's  oil 
is  also  first-rate. 

Remarks. — If  you  try  this,  use  it  with  moder- 
ation, as  all  decoctions  of  this  kind  are  of  a  pow- 
erful nature.  You  would  not  like  to  tan  the  whole 
creature  while  living. 


18.59. 


NEW  EXvlLAND  FARMER. 


481 


1  %  K 


A  FULL  BLOOD  DEVON  BULL. 


The  lover  of  good  cattle  ■will  scarcely  be  able 
to  forbear  a  criticism  of  the  above  symmetrical 
and  every  way  beautiful  portrait.  Look  at  the 
head,  and  see  what  a  brilliant  eye  it  has,  what 
slender  and  clean  jaws  ;  then  glance  at  the  legs, 
fashioned  as  though  cut  out  in  a  modern  lathe 
for  turning  irregular  surfaces,  and  then  at  the 
extreme  appendage,  so  small,  long  and  graceful ! 
Look  at  the  straight  back,  the  short  neck,  the 
powerful  shoulders  and  brisket,  and  every  part 
filled  with  muscle  or  fat,  all  so  attractive  that  an 
alderman's  mouth  might  water  upon  beholding 
him. 

This  animal  was  bred  by  Col.  L.  G.  Morris, 
of  Mount  Fordham,  N.  Y.,  and  is  the  property 
of  the  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  of  Chicago,  Il- 
linois. 

As  oxen,  the  Devons  make  as  good  as  ever 
need  to  be  yoked — there  are,  perhaps,  none  bet- 
ter. They  are  strong,  docile,  quick,  have  good 
length  of  legs,  are  excellent  travellers,  and  are 
handsome  ;  and  when  done  with  the  yoke,  they 
make  most  capital  beef. 

Devon  cows,  as  milkers,  are  frequently  of  a 
high  order,  having  all  the  good  points  and  qual- 
ities of  the  best  milch  cows.  Occasionally  there 
is  one  giving  milk  of  the  richest  quality.     They 


are  preferred  by  some  to  all  other  cows  for  the 
dairy — but  as  a  general  thing,  do  not  stand  quite 
so  high  as  the  Ayrshire. 


MILLER'S  STEAM  WAGON. 

In  Marysville,  Cal.,  a  steam  wagon  has  recent- 
ly been  put  in  operation,  and  is  represented  to 
have  proved  a  complete  success.  It  is  designed 
for  travel  on  common  roads,  and  to  do  heavy 
work  with  great  power  and  steadiness.  Mr.  Mil- 
ler, the  inventor,  has  been  constantly  engaged 
for  the  last  two  years  in  improving  the  mechan- 
ism of  his  wagon,  and  in  satisfying  himself  that 
the  principle  of  his  invention  was  correct.  As 
is  usually  the  case  with  inventors,  he  has  strug- 
gled with  many  difficulties,  but  has  at  length, 
as  we  learn,  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  that  his 
labors  have  resulted  in  producing  a  new  and  val- 
uable means  of  locomotion.  We  compile  the  an- 
nexed description  of  the  wagon  : 

It  is  twenty  feet  long,  by  seven  and  a  half  feet 
wide,  and  is  driven  by  a  fifteen-horse  engine, 
geared  to  work  up  to  thirty-five  or  forty- horse 
power.  It  is  constructed  to  move  on  endless 
tracks,  that  are  laid  down  and  taken  up  as  the 
wagon  proceeds. 

These  tracks  are  carried  round  on  large  wheels, 
of  five  feet  diameter,  to  which  motion  is  given 
by  the  engine,  and  the  weight  of  the  wagon  is 
supported   on  small  truck  wheels  of  two  feet  di- 


482 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


ameter,  which  rest  on  the  tracks.  These  tracks 
thus  form  a  movable  raih'oad,  which  is  carried 
along  with  the  wagon,  and  furnishes  the  rails 
upon  which  the  wagon  moves. 

The  large  wheels  which  carry  the  tracks  do 
not  touch  the  ground,  and  serve  only  to  move 
the  tracks  under  the  small  wheels,  which  bear  the 
•weight  of  the  whole  machine. 

The  two  tracks,  one  on  each  side  of  the  wag- 
on, have  a  bearing  surface  on  the  ground  of 
twelve  feet  long  by  four  inches  wide,  which  ena- 
bles the  wagon  to  pass  over  soft  or  sandy  soil 
without  sinking  into  it,  and  hence  without  any 
or  very  little  loss  of  power  by  reason  of  increased 
friction. 

On  its  first  trials,  the  wagon  was  put  to  many 
tests,  and  with  success  in  all.  It  ascended  and 
descended  steep  grades,  as  high  as  one  foot  in 
height  ;  it  ran  over  soft  ground  without  any  loss 
of  power  ;  and  hauled  loads,  under  the  circum- 
stances, equal  to  fifteen  tons,  at  two  and  a  half 
and  three  miles  per  hour.  It  was  as  easily  turned 
as  any  mule  team,  started  as  readily  as  a  loco- 
motive, and  was  stopped  in  a  shorter  distance. 
Some  persons  expected  that  the  motion  of  this 
wagon  would  be  rough  and  unpleasant — but  it 
was  not  found  so,  as  the  wheels  run  on  the 
smooth  metallic  surface  of  the  tracks,  and  the 
movement  of  the  tracks  themselves  is  the  s  me  as 
that  of  a  belt  passing  over  two  pulleys  of  the 
same  diameter. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  ■WEATHER  OF  THE  SUMMER 
MOJSiTHS,  1859. 

Clouds  and  rain,  and  cold  nights,  were  the 
prominent  characteristics  of  the  weather  of  June, 
rain  falling  on  fifteen  days,  including  six  thunder 
showers ;  and,  according  to  observations  made 
by  Mr.  J.  Weatherhead,  at  the  U.  S.  Armory,  in 
this  city,  G.38  inches  of  water  fell  on  a  level. 
Three  frosts  occurred  during  the  month  ;  on  the 
mornings  of  the  6th,  11th  and  12th,  the  first  and 
last  being  very  severe  over  the  whole  nort'  ern 
parts  of  the  United  States,  with  occasional  ex- 
ceptions. That  on  the  12th  was  the  most  severe 
in  this  section,  doing  great  irjury,  not  only  to 
crops,  but  to  vegetation  in  general.  The  grass, 
and  leaves  of  plants  and  shrubs  were  frozen  stifl', 
in  many  localities,  and  the  ground,  (in  moist, 
plowed  fields,)  was  frozen  to  the  depth  of  one- 
fourth  to  one-half  an  inch.  Ice  formed  in  favor- 
able situations.  At  sunrise,  the  theimometer 
stood  at  34°,  at  my  usual  place  of  observations, 
but  upon  carrying  it  to  low,  marshy  ground, 
some  thirty  rods  distant,  the  mercury  fell  to  29°, 
while  suspended  in  &  J'lozen  bthsh,  and  this  in 
"rosy  June !"  Many  gardens  seemed  nearly 
ruined,  beans  being  almost  universally  killed, 
and  corn  and  potatoes,  in  the  fields,  were  great- 
ly injured.  In  some  instances,  the  leaves  and 
young  growth  of  the  grape  vine  and  white  oak 
were  blackened  and  killed.  The  weather  tlirough- 
out  the  month,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  da}s, 
was  so  cold  that  vegetation  advanced  very  slow- 
ly, and  so  wet  that  farmers  were  obliged  to  lose 
much  time  in  consequence  of  the  rain.  At  the 
close  of  the  month,  they  were  nearly  a  week  be- 
hind-hand in  their  work,  and  the  prospect  for  a 
corn  crop  was  very  discouraging. 


July,  however,  was  pleasantly  interspersed 
with  sunshine  and  rain,  moderate  heat,  agreeable 
coolness,  and  refreshing  north-west  breezes. 
Drought  and  rain  were  so  well  apportioned,  that 
vegetation  suffered  not  from  a  too  long  continu- 
ance of  the  former,  nor  a  superabundance  of  the 
latter,  and  the  season  for  haying  and  harvesting 
was  very  good,  though  somewhat  interrupted  by 
showers  towards  the  close  of  the  month,  and  if 
the  crops  wtre  not  remarkably  heavy,  the  far- 
mers enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  saving  them  in 
prime  order.  The  weather  was  very  cool  about 
the  4th  and  5th.  and  frosts  were  reported  in  some 
sections,  as  occurring  on  the  night  following  the 
4th,  but  of  not  much  severity.  1  here  was  extreme 
heat  for  only  a  few  days,  from  the  10th  to  the 
14th,  the  mercury  reaching  96°  at  one  P.  M.,  on 
the  13th  ;  but  the  last  ten  or  twelve  days  had  the 
pure  atmosphere  and  agreeable  coolness  of  Sep- 
tember. 

The  weather  of  August  was,  in  many  respects, 
fine,  being  remarkably  clear,  with  l)ut  little  sul- 
try weather  er  extieme  heat.  The  first  fourteen 
days  were  quite  warm,  however,  their  mean  tem- 
perature being  70  09°,  but  the  remaining  seven- 
teen were  veiy  cool,  and  occasionally  to  an  un- 
pleasant degree,  and  the  mean  temperature  of 
this  part  of  the  month  was  63.06°.  A  few  times 
the  maximum  temperature  was  above  80°,  during 
the  fore  part  of  the  month,  but  as  frequently  fell 
below  68°  towards  its  close.  Ihree  light  white 
frosts  were  observed  on  low  land,  on  the  morn- 
ings of  the  17th,  29tli  and  oOih,  here  and  there 
leaving  traces  of  their  effect  on  tender  vegetation, 
but  no  serious  injury  resulted.  About  an  ordi- 
nary amount  of  rain  fell,  more  or  less  falling  on 
eleven  days,  but  there  was  a  period  of  ten  clays, 
from  the  13ih  to  the  24th,  without  rain,  and 
symptoms  of  a  drought  began  to  be  manifest ; 
and  re])orts  from  many  sections  of  the  country 
re|)resenled  \egetaiion  as  sufl'ering  considerably. 

The  weather  throughout  the  season  was  quite 
unfavorable  for  the  farmer,  and  rmdered  his 
prospects  for  a  good  corn  harvest  quite  gloomy, 
and,  at  times,  very  uncertain.  The  fros  s  of  June 
were  very  extensive  and  destructive,  and  many 
fields  of  both  corn  and  potatoes  never  fully  re- 
covered from  their  effects.  The  consequence  re- 
sulting therefrom  to  rye  and  wheat  was  for  a  time 
doubtful,  but,  at  harvest,  the  damage  proved  to 
be  slight,  exhibiting  itself  occasion.iliy  in  the 
half-filled  heads  of  the  former,  in  many  fields, 
while  a  few  pieces  were  wholly  ruined.  The  light 
frosts  in  August  again  threatened  great  injury  to 
corn,  and  other  late  crops,  but  fortunately  the 
apprehensions  of  farmers  were  not  realized  ;  so 
the  season  afforded  the  novelty  of  frost  in  each 
of  the  summer  months,  without  very  disastrous 
results.  Corn  at  the  close  of  August  seemed  to 
indicate  a  fair  crop,  though  very  late  ;  from  ten 
da3b  to  two  or  three  weeks  of  warm  weather  be- 
ing then  necessary  for  its  maturity  in  this  vicinity. 

The  mean  temperaturt  of  the  summer  months 
was  6j.6°;  of  June,  62.95°,  being  seven  and  a 
half  degrees  lower  than  the  mean  of  June,  1858, 
and  only  about  five  degrees  warmer  than  May ; 
of  July,  67.53°,  being  42°  colder  than  July, 
1858,  3.2°  colder  than  July,  1857,  and  6.3°  cold- 
er than  July,  1S56,  which  was  re^markable  for  its 
great  heat  and  drjmss;  of  August,  66.31°;  from 
.06°  to  1.16°  warmer  than  the  three  Augusts  pre- 


1859. 


NEAV  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


483 


ceding.  The  mean  temperature  at  sunrise  was 
55°;  at  noon,  72.73°;  at  three  P.  M.,  74.1G°;  and 
at  sunset,  G:.23°.  Of  June,  at  sunrise,  47.47°; 
at  noon.  08.83°;  at  three,  P.  M.,  69.9°;  and  at 
sunset,  61.9°.  Of  July,  at  sunrise,  57.71°;  at 
noon,  75.81°;  at  three, 'P.  M.,  77°;  and  at  sun- 
set, 65.68°.  Of  August,  at  sunrise,  57.78°;  at 
noon,  73  55°;  at  three,  P.  M.,  75  48°;  and  at  sun- 
set, 68.13°,  The  mean  sunrise  temperature  varies 
but  slightly  from  the  mean  minimum,  and  the; 
mean  temptrature  at  three,  P.  M.,  as  here  given, 
is  the  true  mean  maximum,  i 

The  warmest  day  in  June  was  the  29th,  the^ 
mean  temperature  being  74.67°;  in  July,  the  12th,! 
with  a  mean  of  80.83°,  which  was  also  the  warm-j 
est  of  the  season  ;  in  August,  the  4th,  with  a 
mean  of  76.33°,  The  coldest  day  of  June,  also  of 
the  season,  was  the  11th,  with  a  mean  tempera- 
ture of  45,67°,  and  at  nine  o'clock,  the  thermom- 
eter stood  at  49°,  and  at  noon  at  52°,  though  the 
sun  shcne  clearly  !  Several  other  days  were  un- 
comfortably cool  throughout.  The  coldest  day  in 
July  was  the  4th,  the  mean  temperature  of  the 
day  being  54.67°,  and  in  August,  the  29th  was 
the  coldest,  the  mean  being  54,83. 

The  extreme  tempei'atures  occurred  as  follows  : 
highest  in  June,  91°,  at  eleven.  A,  M.,  on  the 
29th  ;  in  July,  96°,  at  one,  P,  M.,  on  the  13th, 
also  the  highest  of  the  season  ;  in  August,  86°, 
at  three,  P.  M.,  on  the  4tb,  The  lowest  in  June 
was  34°,  at  sunrise  on  the  12th,  which  was  also 
the  lowest  of  the  season  ;  in  July,  44°,  at  sun- 
rise on  the  5th ;  in  August,  40°,  at  sunrise  on 
the  30.  h. 

The  summer  of  1859  was  3,34°  colder  than  the 
summer  of  1858,  and  16°  warmer  than  the  sum- 
mer of  1857. 

Rain  fell  on  thirty-six  days  ;  on  fifteen  in 
June,  leu  in  July,  and  eleven  in  August,  Four- 
teen thunder  showers  passed  over  this  place,  ten 
of  which  were  from  the  north-west  ;  six  in  June, 
five  in  July,  and  three  in  August.  A  remarkably 
heavy  shower  occurred  on  the  29th  of  June,  arid 
in  some  parts  of  western  New  England,  Vv-as  very 
destructive  from  hail  and  wind.  The  whole  north- 
west presented  one  mass  of  inky  blackness  as  it 
approached,  and  when  ten  miles  distant,  columns 
of  dust  began  to  rise  at  different  points,  soon 
spreading  along  the  whole  front  of  the  shower, 
rolling  up  like  dense  smoke  to  the  height  of  sev- 
eral hundred  feet,  and  truly  presented  a  some- 
what alarming  aspect.  In  a  few  minutes  alter 
the  shower  commenced,  water  ran  in  the  streets 
in  brooks.  Hail  also  fell  on  the  evening  of  the 
2Gih  of  July,  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a 
hazel-nut.  But  the  wind  rising  li>iht  at  the  time, 
no  serious  harm  resulted,  though  the  marks  were 
visible  for  several  days,  on  tobacco  and  corn. 

Of  the  ninety-two  dajs  of  summer,  twenty- 
nine  were  clear,  twenty-eight  tohrably  clear,  six- 
teen cloudy,  and  in  th'  remaining  nineteen, 
clouds  prevailed.  There  were  but  five  clear  days 
in  June,  ten  tolerably  clear,  and  fifteen  quite 
cloudy.  In  July  there  were  ten  clear  days,  eleven 
toleiably  clear,  and  five  cloudy,  and  five  consid- 
erably so.  In  August,  there  were  fourle^n  clear 
days,  seven  toleralUy  clear,  but  three  cloudy,  and 
seven  others  more  or  less  so. 

There  were  fortj-si.x  days  of  wi^^d  from  a 
northerly  quarter,  and  forty-three  from  some 
southerly  point,   as   follows  :     Thirty  from  the 


north-west,  fifteen  from  th?  north-east,  and  two 
from  the  north  ;  twenty-six  from  the  south-west, 
thirteen  from  the  south,  and  three  from  the  south- 
east, and  six  days  of  calm.  In  June,  there  were 
nine  days  of  wind  from  the  north-west,  two  from 
the  north-east,  two  from  the  north,  tw-elve  from 
the  south-west,  five  from  the  south,  and  two  days 
of  calm.  In  July,  thirteen  days  from  the  north- 
west, five  from  the  north-east,  seven  from  the 
south-west,  two  from  the  south,  one  from  the 
south-east,  and  four  days  of  calm.  In  August, 
eight  from  the  north-west,  eight  from  the  north- 
east, seven  from  the  south-west,  six  from  the 
south,  and  two  from  the  south-east. 

I  noticed  ten  solar  haloes,  which,  save  in  one 
or  two  instances,  viere  followed  by  a  storm  of 
rain  on  the  succeeding  day, 

I  also  noticed  three  Auroras,  or  displays  of 
"Northern  Light,"  all  in  August ;  that  on  the 
21st  was  fine,  but  the  one  on  the  night  of  the 
28th  was  truly  splendid,  and  in  many  respects 
remarkable.  It  became  visible  as  soon  as  twi- 
light had  sufficiently  faded,  and  continued  all 
night,  with  brilliant  streamers  of  crimson,  golden 
yellow,  and  various  shades  of  red,  yellow  and 
greenish.  J,  A.  A. 

Springfield,  Sept.  2,  1859. 


THE  NATIVITY  OF  INDIAN  CORN. 

An  intelligent  article  in  the  Cincinnati  Gazette 
discusses  the  question  of  the  nativity  of  Indian 
corn,  or  maize,  which  was  one  of  the  subjects  be- 
fore the  American  Scientific  Association  at 
Spiingfield.  It  will  be  recollected,  perhaps,  that 
Dr.  J.  H.  Gibbon  read  a  paper  in  which  he  con- 
tended that  maize  was  not  solely  a  native  of 
America,  but  was  also  the  product  of  Asia  and 
Africa.  He  contended  that  it  was  known  to  the 
Egyptians,  and  that  the  manna  which  is  said  to 
have  fallen  from  heaven  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
Israelites,  was  maize,  which  did  not  literally  rain 
down,  but  which  was  found  along  the  way. 

The  article  in  the  Gazette  contends  that  maize 
is  a  native  of  America  alone,  and  cites  the  evi- 
dence of  Dr.  Pickering,  who  says: 

'•Whether  the  maize  was  introduced  into  Egypt 
from  the  East  or  West,  I  have  met  with  no  evi- 
dence that  the  plant  existed  in  the  country  prior 
to  the  discovery  of  America." 

The  writer  also  cites  the  evidence  of  Living- 
stone and  Booth  in  proof  of  the  fact  that  maize 
was  not  found  in  Africa,  and  contends  that  it 
was  not  known  in  Europe  until  1332.  Admitting 
that  maize  might  have  found  its  way  to  Japan 
across  the  Pacific,  the  article  says  : 

"The  ])oints  may  l)e  considered  settled  by  pos- 
itive testimony — that  maize  is  a  native  of  Amer- 
ica, and  that  it  is  not  a  native  of  Europe.  Our 
inquiry,  therefore,  is  confined  to  Asia  and  Africa. 
Still  it  is  important  to  observe  that  in  Asia  and 
Africa  were  the  first  settlements  of  mankind,  and 
of  them  we  have  by  far  the  earliest  and  most  au- 
thentic testimonies,  to  say  nothing  of  those  mem- 
orable monuments  on  which  is  inscriljcd  much  of 
the  domestic  manners,  and  history  of  the  ancients. 
If  then  the  civilization  of  Asia  and  Africa  kneAV 
anything  of  Indian  corn,  or  potatoes,  or  buck- 
wheat, or  turkeys,  is  it  possible  that  no  evi- 
dence of  them  should  exist  in  those  histories  or 


484 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


monuments.  Therefore  it  is  that  we  consider 
the  negative  evidence  as  completely  overwhelm- 
ing. It  is  made  conclusive  by  being  entirely 
exclusive.  Let  us  turn  to  the  Mosaic  account — 
the  ruins  of  Nineveh  and  the  monuments  of 
Egypt.  We  find  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
barley,  and  wheat,  and  beans,  and  onions,  and 
lentels,  but  where  is  there  any  evidence  of  maize 
or  potatoes?  Indian  corn  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable and  easily  described  plants  known,  and 
yet  all  ancient  history  is  silent  on  its  existence. 
Where  is  the  evidence  ?  Wheat  was  found  among 
the  mummies.  The  entire  absence  of  any  sort  of 
evidence,  is,  to  our  mind,  conclusive  of  the  ques- 
tion. But  this  is  not  all.  The  classic  ages  of 
Greece  and  Rome  had  intelligent  writers  on  ag- 
riculture, and  Rome  brought  from  Africa  a  large 
portion  of  her  supplies.  Now,  if  Carthage  or 
Egypt  or  Assyria,  had  ever  known  or  heard  of 
Indian  corn,  would  these  writers  have  been  to- 
tally silent  on  so  interesting  a  plant  ?  Nor  is  this 
all.  De  Goguet,  a  learned  French  writer  on  the 
origin  of  arts  and  sciences,  has  collected  all  that 
the  ancient  writers  say,  and  all  that  tradition  as- 
serted of  ancient  agriculture,  and  not  one  word 
is  there  about  Indian  corn.  There  is  additional 
significance  given  to  the  fact,  that  wherever  In- 
dian corn,  is  introduced,  it  is  an  important  plant. 
It  is  not  a  thing  to  be  overlooked  ;  and  yet  all 
ancient  history  is  silent  in  regard  to  it.  We  con- 
clude, therefore,  with  Dr.  Pickering,  that  there 
is  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  this  plant  prior 
to  the  discovery  of  America." 


Where  the  Grasshoppers  go  to. — We  are 
glad  to  know  that  this  jumping  fraternity  are  to 
be  destroyed  in  some  way.  The  Port  Hope  (Can- 
ada) Guide  says  they  are  falling  a  prey  to  a  grub 
very  similar  in  appearance  to  the  weevil.  On 
examination  they  are  found  covered  with  these 
small  but  formidable  enemies,  the  strength  grad- 
ually departs  from  the  joints  of  the  strongest, 
and  they  die.  It  is  said  that  the  grasshoppers 
may  be  seen  in  myriads,  "stark  and  stiff,"  in  the 
fields,  while  those  alive  are  so  dull  and  inactive 
that  they  can  do  but  little  mischief  to  the  green 
croi)S.  Some  farmers  assert,  with  all  sincerity, 
that  the  weevil,  appearing  too  late  to  successfully 
attack  the  fall  wheat,  pounced  upon  the  grass- 
hoppers, then  young  and  tender,  and  will  destroy 
them  instead  of  the  grain.  If  this  should  prove 
to  be  the  case,  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary circumstances  on  record. 


LOVE  IS  EVERYWHERE. 

[We  find  the  following  in  an  English  paper,  a  waif  floating 
about,  whose  paternity  we  should  be  glad  to  state  if  we  could. 
Please  read  it,  remember  it,  and  let  Its  sentiment  ever  be  pres- 
ent with  you,  so  that  your  love,  also,  shall  be  everywhere. — Ed. 
A'.  E.  Fai  mer. 

LOVE  IS  EVERYWHERE. 

The  air  is  filled  with  a  gentle  song — 

An  under  song  of  wooing — 
As  the  leif-enihrouded  woods  o'erflow 
With  the  sound  of  the  ringdove's  cooing. 
In  Nature's  deepest  haunts, 
I  hear  a  voice  that  chants: 
"Why  should  the  earth  grow  old  with  care, 
Since  Love,  sweet  Love,  is  everywhere.'" 

Ye  will  hsar  at  night,  if  ye  listen  well, 

Music  in  heaven  ringing. 
And  amid  the  sfars  a  melody. 

As  of  angel  voices  sieging  ; 
For  the  spirits  who  in  Ihe  spheres  of  light 

Have  made  their  happj'  dwelling, 
To  each  other  across  the  depths  of  space 
Their  tales  of  love  are  telling. 

The  sunbeams  leave  thtir  glowing  throne, 

And  whisper  love  to  the  flowers  ; 
The  birds  outpour  it  in  their  strains, 
As  they  sit  in  their  rose  ci  owned  bowers. 
Wl'.en  the  breeze  swells  moarnfuily. 
Through  the  boughs  of  a  swaying  tree, 
I  ever  hear  a  voice  declare 
That  ''Love,  sweet  Love,  is  everywhere. 

In  the  moaning  thunder  of  the  waves. 

That  dash  on  some  rocky  shore ; 
Or  the  tuneful  flow  of  the  ripply  tide, 

When  a  tempest's  r.ige  U  o'er — 
In  the  murmured  music  of  the  brook 

As  It  rustes  the  sea  to  gain  ; 
Or  the  sullen  pla^h  on  the  silent  pool 

Of  the  swiftly  falling  rain — 

In  the  gleeful  laugh  of  the  dancing  spray, 
From  some  fky ward-leaping  fountain; 
Or  the  ceaseless  roar  of  a  white  cascade. 
In  its  giant- bound  from  the  mountain- 
There  fallelh  on  mine  ear 
This  song  so  sweet  and  cltar: 
"  K\\,  why  shsuld  man  e'er  feel  despair, 
Sii.ce  'Love,  sweet  Love,  is  everj  wheve  .•"  '* 


Costly  Cranberry  Meadow. — Capt.  Capon 
has  expended  one  thousand  dollars  upon  a  single 
acre  to  bring  it  into  cranberry  meadow,  and  with 
the  strong  expectation  that  it  will  be  a  good  in- 
vestment. This  is  the  most  costly  acre  of  cran- 
berry land  that  we  have  ever  heard  of.  If  it  will 
pay  thus  to  fill  in  deep  swamps,  and  then  give 
them  a  coat  of  three  or  four  inches  of  mud,  with 
a  top-dressing  of  sand,  it  is  quite  evident  that 
those  who  have  little  else  to  do  to  their  meadows 
but  break  them  up  with  a  plow,  and  set  out 
the  vines,  ought  at  once  to  be  about  it.  A  situa- 
tion where  the  meadow  can  be  flooded  untilJunc 
or  July  is  thought  to  be  best,  but  there  are  dif- 
ferent opinions,  we  find,  in  regard  to  the  whole 
theory  of  cranberry  culture. — Barnstable  Patriot, 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
LOOK  TO  YOUR  APPLE  TREES. 

Among  the  numerous  insects  which  attack  the 
apple  in  wood,  bark,  leaf  and  fruit,  there  are 
none  doing  more  damage,  or  likely  to  ruin  more 
young  trees  in  this  locality,  than  a  bark  grub  or 
borer. 

This  grub,  which  for  want  of  a  better  name,  I 
will  call  Bark  Borer,  is  of  a  whitish  color,  with- 
out legs,  tapering  but  little  from  the  first  ring. 
The  head  is  broad  and  flat,  nearly  twice  the  width 
of  the  bodj-.  When  full  grown,  they  are  an  inch 
in  length,  with  a  head  one-fourth  of  an  inch  broad, 
and  no  thicker  than  the  body. 

The  eggs  are  deposited  in  June,  July,  or  early 
in  August,  upon  the  bark  of  the  body  of  the 
tree.  When  hatched,  they  eat  into,  and  through 
the  bark  where  they  remain  over  winter.  The 
next  spring  they  feed  between  the  bark  and  the 
wood,  and  attain  their  full  size  in  May  or  early 
June.  Of  their  transformation  I  cannot  speak 
advisedly. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


485 


The  bark  borer  is  undoubtedlj'  of  the  same 
family  with  the  borer  from  the  larva?  of  the  two- 
striped  saperda  (saperda  hivittatti)  which  attacks 
the  apple  tree,  quince,  white  ash,  mountain  ash, 
locust,  and  various  species  of  thorn,  at  or  near 
the  ground.  Young  trees  from  one  inch  to  four 
inches  in  diameter,  are  preferred  by  the  bark 
borer,  and  if  they  are  crooked,  or  lean  to  the 
north  or  east,  they  are  more  liable  to  be  attacked. 
The  grub  seems  to  poison  the  tree,  and  the  bark 
dies  faster  than  it  eats. 

At  this  season  they  have  not  got  through  the 
bark,  and  are  from  one-fourth  to  one-half  inch 
in  length,  and  are  usually  found  doubled  like  a 
fish-hook.  Their  location  is  ascertained  by  the 
dead,  black  look  of  the  bark,  and  if  they  are  not 
dislodged,  your  tree  is  ruined.  My  method  is  to 
cut  them  out  with  a  sharp  knife  and  then  wash 
the  tree  with  a  liquid  recommended  by  Prof. 
Mapes,  which  is  made  by  the  following  recipe : 
Sal  Soda  1  lb.  Water  1  gal. 

Heat  the  sal  soda  to  a  red  heat,  then  add  the 
water.  J.  R.  Walker. 

Springfield,  Vt.,  Aug.  20. 


KATN  ■WATBR-.-UNDER-DRAINS,  ETC. 

The  following  article  is  full  of  useful  truths, 
but  the  writer,  in  enumerating  the  sources  from 
whence  the  soil  receives  water,  has  failed  to  no- 
tice that  portion  received  from  dews  and  from 
condensation  upon  the  surface  of  cold  particles, 
from  the  atmosphere  circulating  in  the  soil.  The 
fact  that  the  surface  evaporation  of  water  reduces 
the  temperature  of  soils,  and  that  such  less  is 
prevented  by  under-draining,  is  fully  proved. 
The  loss  of  ammonia  and  nitric  acid  iiy  drainage 
water  is,  however,  over-stated,  as,  when  the  drains 
are  sufficiently  deep,  the  loss  of  these  ingredi- 
ents is  no  greater  than  would  occur  in  undrained 
lands  by  the  same  ingredients  sinking  below  the 
level  of  roots,  while  in  the  drained  lands  the  re- 
ception of  nitric  acid  and  ammonia  from  the  at- 
mosphere is  increased  much  more  than  equal  to 
the  quantity  parted  with  by  the  water. 

Whatever  be  the  sources  of  the  influence  ex- 
erted by  the  rain  upon  the  soil,  if,  is  only  as  the 
soil  enables  it  to  reach  the  roots  of  plants  that 
it  can  act  for  good.  Let  us,  therefore,  consider 
the  means  of  its  access  to  the  plants  growing  on 
the  soil. 

Water  can  get  into  the  soil  in  three  ways  — 
1st,  as  rain  falling  directly  on  its  surface;  '2nd, 
as  in  the  case  of  spring- water,  rising  from  below, 
where  there  is  a  direct  connection  between  the 
soil  and  a  reservoir  at  a  higher  level  ;  3rd,  by 
that  surface  attraction  of  mutter  for  it,  v;hich,  as 
exhibited  by  porous  substanci  s  on  v.-uter  lying 
beneath  them,  is  called  capillary  attraction.  And 
it  is  plain  that  any  attempt  to  drain  a  field  must 
be  guided  by  all  three  of  these  considerations. 
The  quantity  of  the  rain-fall,  added  possibly  to 
an  additional  supply  from  beneath,  and  both  held 
with  more  or  less  tenacity  by  capillary  attraction 
within  the  soil,  is  the  agent  which  you  wish  by 
means  of  drainage,  we  will  not  say  to  get  rid  of, 


but  to  direct  to  useful  ends  in  the  growth  of  your 
plants. 

Again — water  can  leave  the  soil  in  three  dif- 
ferent ways:  1st,  by  running  over  its  surface ; 
2nd,  by  evaporation  from  the  surface;  3rd,  by 
percolation  through  its  substance.  And  let  us 
consider  what  the  water  does  and  does  not  do 
when  escaping  from  the  land  in  each  of  these 
several  ways. 

1. — In  the  first,  when  running  over  the  surface 
of  the  land,  it  is  of  course  inoperative.  It  is 
wanted  to  dissolve  food  out  of  the  soil  and  feed 
the  plants  upon  it.  It  is  wanted  to  bring  its  own 
supplies,  such  as  they  are,  from  the  air  for  the 
nourishment  of  these  plants.  It  is  wanted  to 
break  up  and  comminute  the  soil  by  its  passage 
through  it.  It  is  wanted  for  the  sake  of  its  own 
dissolved  oxygen  and  carbonic  acid,  as  well  as 
for  the  same  ingredients  in  the  atmospheric  air 
which  follows  it  in  its  passage  downwards,  both 
of  these  substances  acting  usefully  in  the  labo- 
ratory of  the  soil.  And  it  is  wanted  especially 
in  the  spring  time  for  the  sake  of  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  spring  showers,  which,  if  thty  could 
!get  into  the  land,  would  warm  it.  None  of  these 
[things  can  it  du.  It  runs  ofl:'the  surface  without 
I  penetrating  it,  and  its  influence  as  well  as  want 
of  influence  are  shown  in  the  case,  which  often 
■  happens,  of  rain-water  falling  on  a  frozen  field. 
If  it  could  gain  a;  cess  to  the  substance  of  the 
!soil,  the  whole  furrow  slice  would  at  once  be 
thawed,  and  we  should  have  vegetable  growth 
I  recommencing  earlier.  If  it  could  make  its  es- 
jcape  through  the  soil  instead  of  over  it,  we 
I  should  avoid  those  suiface  currents  which  wash 
jthe  finer  particles  into  the  furrows  and  the  ditch- 
es. The  J'ertilizing  influence  of  a  constant  sur- 
iface  current  seen  in  the  water  meadows  is  per- 
fectly consistent  with  the  mischievous  influence 
I  of  the  state  of  things  with  its  occasional  surface 
I  currents  seen  in  every  undrained  field.  The 
iformer  coexists  along  with  an  escape  of  water 
;  through  the  soil,  for  a  constant  drainage  is  as 
necessary  as  a  constant  water  supply  to  success- 
jful  irrigation. 

2. — But  let  us  now  consider  what  the  water 
idoes  during  its  escape  by  evaporation.  In  the 
I  first  place  it  is  worth  while  rememl)ering  as  be- 
ling  among  the  comparatively  indefinite  results  of 
evaporation  from  the  surface  of  the  soil,  thut  in 
[this  way  great  loss  ensues  of  the  nutritive  sub- 
t  stances  which  the  water  held  in  solution.  It  is 
I  very  true  that  some  theorists  contend  for  what 
I  they  call  the  leaf- feeding  of  plants,  and  urge 
jthat  all  the  benefits  of  cultivation  during  the 
[growth  of  plants  arise  from  the  extension  of 
ithis  evaporation,  by  which  the  leaves  of  the 
[growing  plants  thus  obtain  a  more  abundant 
[Supply  of  food;  but  we  believe  that  our  object 
I  in  cultivation  should  rather  be  to  increase  the 
stores  of  food  within  the  soil,  and  that  tillage 
operations  have  this  tendency  by  increasing  the 
quantity  of  absorbent  surface  within  the  soil 
which  is  exposed  to  the  air. 

The  principal  result,  however,  of  the  loss  of 
water  by  evaporation  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
during  the  conversion  of  every  pound  of  it  into 
vapor,  as  much  heat  is  consumed  and  lost  as 
would  be  produced  by  burning  2  or  3  ounce.s  of 
coal ;  and  when  you  think  that  an  ordinary  rain- 
fall amounts  to  3000  tons  per  acre  per  annum, 


486 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Oct. 


you  can  easily  conceive  that  the  loss  of  heat  by 
the  evaporation  of  a  comparatively  inconsidera- 
ble portion  of  this  must  involve  a  great  cooling 
of  the  land.  If  thirty  inches  of  rain  were  evapo- 
rated in  this  way,  it  would  need  1  cwt.  of  coal 
per  hour  per  acre  through  the  year  to  make  good 
the  loss  of  heat  sustained  in  this  way  ;  a  quanti- 
ty which,  in  Dr.  Arnott's  hands,  would  give  us 
an  Italian  climate.  The  quantity,  however,  ac- 
tually lost  by  evaporation  is  of  course  nothing 
like  this  ;  a  great  deal  of  water  finds  its  way 
throuiih  the  land.  The  water  supply  of  all  our 
springs  and  wells,  if  that  were  known,  would  in- 
dicate its  quantity  for  the  island.  A  great  deal 
escapes  in  flood  times  by  running  over  the  sur-j 
face,  and  a  great  deal  now  finds  its  way  out  of 
drains  after  percolation  through  the  soil.  Not- 
withstanding these  causes,  however,  and  notwith- 
standing the  extremely  irregular  character  of  the 
rain-fall,  the  loss  by  evaporation  must  be  very 
considerable.  Dalton  measured  the  quantity  of 
M'ater  escaping  from  two  rain  gauges,  one  of  an 
ordinary  kind,  and  the  other  filled  three  feet  deep 
with  earth,  and  he  found  that  of  thirty-three 
inches  of  rain  which  fell  per  annum  as  indicated 
by  the  one,  only  eight  and-a-half  passed  through 
that  quantity  of  earth  as  indicated  by  the  other, 
and  he  concluded  therefore  that  the  difference 
between  the  two — twenty-five  inches,  or  three- 
quarters  of  the  whole  annual  fall — escaped  by 
evaporation. 

Mr.  Dickinson,  of  Abbot's  Hill,  near  Kings 
Langley,  has  for  several  years  copied  Ualton's 
experiments,  with  results  somewhat  dift'erent  from 
his  ;  finding  that  of  twent^'-six  inches  per  annum 
fifteen  were  evaporated,  while  as  much  as  eleven, 
rather  more  than  two- fifths  of  the  annual  rain-fall, 
passed  through  the  soil.  His  results,  however, 
probably  exaggerated  the  quantity  of  the  rain- 
fall which  in  general  passes  through  the  land,  for 
it  is  plain  that  earth  loosely  placed  in  Dalton's 
gauge  is  much  more  likely  to  transmit  the  rain 
which  falls  upon  it  than  the  same  depth  of  earth 
can  be  in  ordinary  circumstances,  the  lower  hnlf 
at  least  never  having  been  disturbed  since  the 
Deluge.  And  in  fact  the  attempt  of  Mr.  Milne 
HomiC  to  ascertain  the  truth  upon  this  point,  by 
measuring  the  water  actually  escaping  from  the 
mouths  of  drains  in  a  field  of  a  given  extent 
(though  it  on  the  other  hand  was  liable  to  an  op- 
posite error,  because  it  could  not  take  account  of 
what  went  through  the  land  altogether  to  feed 
the  wells  and  springs  of  the  neighborhood,)  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  a  much  less  quantity  of 
water  than  either  Dickinson  or  Dalton  indicates, 
passes  through  the  land  in  the  course  of  the 
year.  And  it  would  appear  from  this  that  the 
loss  of  water  by  evaporation  even  in  well- 
drained  soils  is  considerable,  and  therefore  that 
the  loss  of  heat  by  evaporation  is  to  a  great  ex- 
tent unavoidable. 

3. — Let  us  now,  however,  consider  what  water 
does  by  percolation  ;  and  its  efiects  here  we  must 
do  little  more  than  enumerate.  They  are  short- 
ly these  :  It  carries  the  temperature  of  the  air 
into  the  soil,  a  thing  the  possible  injury  of 
which,  as  in  autumn  and  winter,  when  the  air  is 
colder  than  the  soil,  is  as  nothing  compared  with 
the  benefit  of  it  in  spring,  when  the  air  is  warmer 
than  the  soil,  and  when  the  advantages  of  early 
growth  are  great.     The  most  important  experi- 


ments which  we  know,  proving  the  influence  of 
drainage  on  the  temperature,  are  those  described 
by  Mr.  Stephens  in  his  exceedingly  instructive 
little  book  descriptive  of  the  Marquis  of  Tweed- 
dale's  operations  at  Yester  Mains,  where,  the 
temperature  of  soil  being  40  deg.  in  itsundrained 
state,  the  cutting  of  a  drain  near  it  and  the  set- 
ting in  of  a  current  through  it,  raised  its  temper- 
ature Li  deg.  in  six  hours. 

Another  eS'ect  of  water  percolating  through 
the  land  is  seen  in  the  introduction  to  it  of  the 
atmcsphtric  elements  which  it  holds  in  solution. 
The  carbonic  acid  by  its  operation  on  the  alkalies 
and  alkaline  earths  is  a  powerful  solvent  and 
disintegrator,  and  the  oxygen  keeps  in  check  the 
deoxy dating  efi'ect  of  vegetable  matter  in  the 
soil,  which  in  its  absence  tends  to  reduce  the 
higher  state  of  oxydation  of  the  iron  present  in 
the  soil  into  the  lower  state,  when  it  does  mis- 
chief by  forming  with  acids  in  the  soil  soluble 
salts  injurious  to  vegetation. 

But  the  main  purpose  served  by  water  during 
its  percolation  through  the  land  is  that  of  feeder 
of  the  plants.  A  fertile  soil,  cultivated  so  as  to 
exhibit  its  fertility  in  the  most  profitable  manner, 
has  growing  upon  it  crops  whose  habit  and  spe- 
cific character  are  adapted  to  the  climate  in  which 
they  are  placed,  and  to  the  character  of  the  soil 
itself — it  yields  these  crops  in  the  order  in  which 
each  succeeding  to  the  cultivation  of  its  prede- 
cessor shall  find  the  soil,  chemically  as  regards 
its  contents,  and  mechanically  as  regards  its  tex- 
ture, and  practically  as  regards  consequent  clean- 
ness of  the  land  and  the  fitness  of  their  respective 
times  of  cultivation  to  one  another,  in  the  best 
condition  for  the  supply  of  the  wants  of  the  crop 
in  question — it  is  annually  manured  a-  d  culti- 
vated so  as  best  to  meet  the  current  wants  of  the 
plants  cultivated  on  it — but  it  is  especially  de- 
pendent for  all  its  powers  to  bring  these  crops  to 
a  fruili'ul  maturity  upon  the  fact  that  there  is 
during  every  shower  and  after  every  shower  of 
rain  a  continual  current  of  water  and  a  current 
of  air  throughout  its  substance,  not  too  rapid, 
lest  its  soluble  parts  should  be  washed  to  waste ; 
indeed,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  be  too  slow;  slow 
enough,  however,  to  dissolve  from  the  soil  what- 
ever it  contains  of  food  for  plants,  and  fast 
enough  to  be  continually  bringing  fresh  supplies 
by  every  mouth  which  the  absorbing  extremities 
of  the  roots  of  plants  present. 

All  these  puiposes  of  warming  the  soil,  of  in- 
trcdvcivg  svhsiances  within  it  which  shall  operate 
chemically  upon  the  mineral  and  other  matters 
within  the  soil,  and  of  conveitinr/  the  6oil  into  an 
(fficient  vehicle  of  the  matters  which  it  contains, 
are  answered  by  the  percolation  cf  water  through 
the  soil.  You  must  not  think,  then,  of  drainage 
as  being  a  contrivance  for  getting  rid  of  water  as 
an  enemy  from  the  land  ;  nor  must  you  think  of 
a  wet  and  ill-drained  field  f.s  being  merely  an  il- 
lustration of  the  injury  done  by  water  in  excess, 
as  it  is  called.  Water  need  hardly  ever  be  an 
enemy,  and  need  hardly  ever  be  in  excess. 
Drainage  is  a  contrivance  for  making  use  of  it 
as  a  friend,  and  an  ill-drained  field  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  mischief  done  by  water,  whether 
there  be  little  of  it  or  much,  when  not  in  motion. 

It  is  well,  however,  to  consider  the  mischief 
that  may  be  done  by  the  percolation  of  water. 
If,  as  it  moves  through  the  soil,  it  contains  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


48'; 


food  of  vegetables  in  solution  when  it  passes  the 
mouthpiece  of  a  plant,  no  doubt  it  also  contains 
useful  matters  in  solution  wh^n  it  passes  into  the 
drain  which  is  to  convey  it  altogether  away,  and 
the  waste  of  food  for  plants  by  our  drainage 
water  is  a  matter  of  considerable  importance.  It 
has  been  most  admirably  investigated  by  Mr. 
Wray  during  the  past  year.  His  results  are 
given  in  the  following  table  : — 


Samples  of  Drainage  Water 
from  Mr.  Paine's  very  high- 
ly manurpj  field  contained 
grains  per  gallon  of 


Samples  of  Drainage  Water 
from  Mr.  Acland's  poor  clay 
contained  grains  per  gallon 
of 


Ammonia. 

Nitric  Acid. 

Ammonia. 

Nitric  Acid. 

.018 

7.17 

.003 

4.78 

.018 

14.74 

trace. 

2.S9 

.018 

12.72 

.012 

.628 

.012 

1.95 

.012 

.12 

.018 

3.45 

trace. 

.485 

.018 

8.85 

.006 

11.45 

.018 

3.91 

He  found  that  the  drain  of  water  from  highly 
manured  fields  nearFarnham  contained  eighteen 
thousandths  of  a  grain  of  ammonia  in  every 
gallon  ;  but  as  much  as  four  to  fourteen  grains 
of  nitric  acid  ;  while  from  ordinary  poor  arable 
soil  in  Devonshire  the  drain  water  contained 
from  three  to  twelve  thousandths  of  a  grain  of 
ammonia,  and  from  one-tenth  to  as  much  as  four 
grains  of  nitric  acid  in  a  gallon. 

From  this  it  appears  that  there  is  a  very  large 
waste  indeed  of  nitrogen  in  the  form  of  nitric 
acid  in  the  drainage  of  very  highly  manured 
fields  ;  comparatively  little,  however,  in  the  case 
of  fields  of  ordinary  cultivation.  Whatever  it 
is,  we  must  simply  bear  it  as  a  tax  upon  the 
otherwise  general  advantage  of  the  practice  of 
land  drainage.  One  very  satisfactory  thing  ob- 
serva!)le  in  the  results  of  these  experiments  is 
the  comparatively  small  quantity  of  ammonia 
which  the  samples  of  rain  water  contain,  even 
when  compared  with  that  present  in  the  rain 
water  which  falls  upon  the  land. — Ayricultural 
Qazette. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

FAEMING.  AND  OTHEK  PROSPECTS  IN 
KANSAS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  am  what  is  called  here,  a 
"Boston  Yankee,"  and  I  am  aho  a  sul)scriber  to 
the  JSleiv  England  Farmer. 

Although  the  New  England  system  of  farming 
is  not  very  applicable  here,  where  the  soil  is  so 
rich,  and  where  the  plow  has  rarely  turned  the 
rich  earth  to  the  sunlight,  and  where  one  year's 
labor  upon  one  acre  ot  ground  will  equal  a  yield 
of  five  years'  labor  upon  one  acre  of  New  Eng- 
land soil,  yet  in  every  number  of  your  valuable 
paper  we  gather  new  hints,  which  are  a  great 
help  to  us  in  our  laudable  efibrts  to  become 
farmers.  Your  domestic  articles,  hints  as  to  the 
arrangement  of  a  farm,  remarks  upon  poultry, 
trees,  grasses,  &c.,  are  read  with  interest  by  two 
of  the  old  Bay  State  citizens — viz. :  my  husband 
and  myself. 

1  think  I  have  never  seen  any  communications 
from  Kansas  in  the  columns  of  your  Monthly, 
and  perhaps  a  letter  from  the  fast-improving  and 
glorious  Territory  may  be  interesting  to  many 
of  your  readers. 


Kansas  is  swiftly  growing.  The  emigration 
into  our  Territory  this  season,  and  the  number 
of  "claims"  that  have  been  taken  up  and  are 
rapidly  being  made  into  farms,  is  almost  unpre- 
cedented. Many  of  the  squatters  are  New  Eng- 
landers,  just  the  kind  we  want,  for  they  bring 
the  real  go-ahead  spirit,  and  what  is  best  of  all, 
Free  Stale  principles.  We  don't  catch  a  Yankee 
here  that  don't  have  them. 

New  England  homes,  New  England  comforts 
and  pleasures.  New  England  intellect  and  beauty, 
New  England  domestic  and  social  life,  have  be- 
come so  proverbial,  that  to  say,  "That  man  is  a 
Yankee,"  perfectly  establishes  his  identity,  and 
his  acquaintance  is  cultivated  forthwith.  They 
will  trust  a  Yankee  here,  as  far  as  they  can  see 
him,  and  furtlier,  too. 

The  new  Constitution  has  been  formed  at  Wy- 
andotte, and  probably  at  the  next  session  of  Con- 
gress Kansas  will  be  organized  as  a  State  under 
Republican  principles.  Now,  Kansas  is  perform- 
ing its  political  affairs  in  an  honorable  and  legal 
manner,  and  will  soon  take  an  honorable  position 
under  the  stars  and  stripes  of  our  national  flag. 

Now  is  the  time  to  come  to  Kansas  for  health, 
wealth  and  wisdom.  Our  troubles  have  hereto- 
fore kept  substantial  men  away,  who  did  not  like 
to  risk  their  all  upon  uncertainties — but  now 
''come  and  possess  the  goodly  land,"  for  certain- 
ty is  now  a  free  and  sure  word.  Kansas  has  now 
some  excellent  citizens,  and  next  year's  emigra- 
tion will  consist  of  substantial  farmers,  who  have 
sold  th'  ir  j)roperty  in  the  East,  and  will  come 
here  with  means  to  buy  land,  and  improve  and 
(aim  it  on  an  extensive  scale.  This  emigration 
will  bringmoncy  amor  g  us,  and  hereafter  produce 
what  will  continue  to  l)ring  money. 

Possessing  a  .^oil  of  unexampled  fertility,  a 
climate  healthy  and  pleasant,  extending  in  an  un- 
dulating succession  of  fields  of  verdure  hedged 
with  woodland.  Kansas  comprises  every  induce- 
ment for  a  sudden  and  brilliant  prosperity.  If 
the  reports  of  the  enraptured  "squatters"  are  to 
be  credited,  no  other  region  presents  half  so 
many  inducements. 

I  have  written  you  but  little  concerning  the 
agricultural  character,  but  in  another  number  I 
will  do  so,  and  show  the  New  Englander  how  we 
break  prairies,  make  homes,  and  farm  it  easy,  in 
Kansas.  SusiE  V . 

Sumner,  Kansas  Territory,  Aug.,  1859. 


The  Wheat  Crop  of  1859. — The  farmers  and 
the  entire  poj)ulation  of  the  country  very  natu- 
rally feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  perspective  mar- 
ket value  of  our  great  staple  product,  wheat.  The 
crop  is  very  large,  and  the  quality  is  better  than 
for  years.  The  yield  is  so  great  that  two  bushels 
can  be  afforded  as  cheap  as  one  last  year.  If  75 
cents  can  be  realized  now,  it  gives  the  farmer 
better  remuneration  for  labor  than  $1,50  last  year. 
If  the  corn  and  potato  crop  had  been  as  good  in 
proportion  as  the  wheat  and  oats,  we  could  hardly 
have  expected  to  have  realized  in  the  Western 
States  even  65  cents  for  wheat.  As  it  is,  we 
think  it  is  safe  to  calculate  that  the  market  value 
of  good  club  wheat  will  not  be  very  far  from  that 
figure,  and  certaiidy  will  not  remain  much  below. 
—  Wisconsin  State  Journal. 


488 


NEW  ENGLAND  EARMER. 


Oct. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  ONION. 

In  conversation  with  a  practical  gardener  this 
morning,  about  the  remark  made  by  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington, that  his  best  onions,  the  present  season, 
■were  on  that  part  of  his  field  where  no  manure 
at  all  was  applied,  (which  field  I  examined  yes- 
terday, and  found  the  fact  to  be  as  stated,)  he 
said  he  had  found  maggots  to  rage  less  on  a 
warm,  light,  porous  soil,  than  on  that  which  was 
otherwise.  This  principle  he  thought  applied 
equally  well  to  Mr.  Huntington's  crop,  as  that 
which  he  had  applied.  Perhaps  the  true  reason 
may  be  found  in  the  combination  of  the  two 
causes.  It  is  important  to  determine  the  true 
cause,  because  it  is  admitted  by  all  who  have 
seen  them,  that  Mr.  H.'s  crop  of  onions  is  supe- 
rior to  any  other  in  the  neighborhood — full  half 
of  most  other  fields  having  been  destroyed  by 
the  worm. 

If  any  mode  of  checking  the  ravages  of  this 
insect  could  be  made  certain,  it  would  be  an  an- 
nual saving  to  this  town  of  $50,000 — and  quite 
as  much  to  several  of  the  adjoining  towns. 

1  have  forborne  troubling  you  with  communica- 
tions of  late,  because  I  find  my  neighbors  arc 
watching  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  are  always 
ready  to  tell  all  they  know,  und  SGmcti7nes  alittle 
more;  but  v/hen  the  onion  is  crou-dfd  vpon,  1 
think  my  legitimate  province  is  invaded.        P. 

South  Danvers,  August '30,  1859. 


of  good  feeling.  While  insisting  on  truthful- 
ness, she  constantly  sets  an  example  of  untruth 
by  threatening  penalties  which  she  does  not  in- 
flict. While  inculcating  self-control,  she  hourly 
visits  on  her  little  ones  angry  scoldlngR  for  acts 
that  do  not  call  for  them.  8he  has  not  the  re- 
motest idea  that  in  the  nursery,  as  in  the  world, 
that  alone  is  truly  salutary  discipline  which  vis- 
its on  all  conduct,  good  or  bad,  the  natural  con- 
sequences, the  consequences,  pleasurable  or  pain- 
ful, which  in  the  nature  of  things  such  conduct 
tends  to  bring.  Being  thus  without  theoretic 
guidance,  and  quite  incapable  of  guiding  herself 
by  tracing  the  mental  piccesses  going  on  in  her 
children,  her  rule  is  impuls^ive,  inconsistent,  mis- 
chievous often  in  the  highest  degree;  and  would 
indeed  be  generally  ruinous,  were  it  not  that  the 
overwhelming  tendency  of  the  growing  mind  to 
assume  the  monotype  of  the  race,  usually  subor- 
dinates all  minor  influences. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 


LEGISLATION  IN  THE  NUKSEBY. 

See  the  young  mother  in  the  nursery  with  an 
unfolding  human  character  committed  to  her 
charge — see  her,  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  phe- 
nomenon with  which  she  has  to  deal,  undertak- 
ing to  do  that  which  can  be  done  but  imperfectly 
even  with  the  aid  of  the  profour.dest  knowledge. 
She  knows  nothing  about  the  nature  of  the  emo- 
tions, their  order  of  evolution,  their  functions, 
or  where  use  ends  and  abuse  begins.  She  is  un- 
der the  impression  that  seme  of  the  feelings  are 
wholly  bad,  which  is  not  true  of  any  one  of  them  ; 
and  that  others  are  good,  however  far  they  may 
be  carried,  which  is  also  not  true  of  any  one  of 
them.  And  then,  ignorant  as  she  is  of  that  with 
which  she  has  to  deal,  she  is  equally  ignorant  of 
the  eff'ects  that  will  be  produced  on  it  by  this  or 
that  treatment.  What  can  be  more  inevitable 
than  the  disastrous  results  we  see  hourly  arising  ? 
Lacking  the  knowledge  of  mental  phenomena, 
with  their  causes  and  consequences,  her  interfer- 
ence is  frequently  more  mischievous  than  abso- 
lute passivity  would  have  been.  This  and  that 
kind  of  action,  which  are  quite  normal  and  ben- 
eficial, she  perpetually  thwarts  ;  and  so  dimin- 
ishes the  child's  happiness  and  profit,  injures  its 
temper  and  her  own,  and  produces  estrange- 
ment. 

Deeds  which  she  thinks  it  desirable  to  encour- 
age, she  gets  performed  by  threats  and  bribes, 
Or  by  exciting  a  desire  for  applause,  considering 
little  what  the  inward  motives  may  be,  so  long  as 
the  outward  conduct  conforms,  and  thus  cultivat- 
ing hypocrisy,  and  fear,  and  selfishness,  in  place 


DOMESTIC  RitCSIPTS. 

Pickled  Beans. — Select  young  beans;  string 
and  wash  them.  Make  a  brine  of  salt  and  water 
strong;  enough  to  bear  an  egg.  Put  your  beans 
into  it,  and  let  thtm  remain  until  they  change 
color.  Then  take  them  out,  and  wash  them  in 
clear  water.  Line  the  bottom  of  your  kettle  with 
green  cabbage  leaves,  put  in  your  beans,  and  as 
much  vinegar  and  water,  or  clear  water,  as  will 
cover  them.  Lay  cabbage  leaves  over  the  top  ; 
put  them  over  a  f-low  fire,  and  let  the  m  get  scald- 
ing hot.  When  they  are  green,  take  them  out 
and  let  them  drain.  Put  them  in  jars  with  some 
allspice,  cloves,  a  little  mustard  seed  and  scraped 
horseradish,  and  enough  vinegar  to  cover  them. 
Tie  them  close,  and  keep  them  in  a  cool,  dry 
place. 

Pickled  Artichokes. — First  wash  your  ar- 
tichokes, put  them  in  strong  salt  and  water,  and 
let  them  remain  four  or  five  days.  Then  take 
them  out,  rinse  them  in  fresh  w^ater,  wipe  them 
dry,  and  put  them  in  jars.  Add  to  them  cloves, 
allspice,  and  mustard  seed.  Cover  with  cold  vin- 
egar, anel  tie  them  up  close. 

Pickled  Nasturtions. — Lay  them  in  salt 
j  and  water  for  two  or  three  days  ;  then  wash  them 
I  in  fresh  water,  and  let  them  drain.  Put  them  in 
jars,  and  cover  them  with  cold  vinegar. 
j  If  it  should  be  preferred,  a  little  spice  may  be 
added  to  the  vinegar,  but  it  discolors  the  pickles. 
j  A  little  sugar  is  a  very  great  improvement. 
I  Pickled  Mushrooms. — Select  small  mush- 
!  rooms,  commonly  called  buttons.  Cut  off' the  end 
I  of  each  stalk  ;  scrape,  wash  and  spread  them  out 
,  to  drain.  Take  as  much  vinegar  as  will  cover 
j  them,  put  into  it  some  stick  cinnamon,  mace, 
'cloves,  allspice,  and  just  enough  salt  to  taste. 
Put  the  mushrooms  in  jars.  Boil  the  spice  and 
1  vinegar,  and  pour  it  over  the  pickles  while  hot. 
Cover  them  close,  as  soon  as  they  get  cold. — 
Widdijield's  Cook  Look. 

Tomato  Pie. — Line  the  sides  of  a  deep  plate 
with  pastry,  slice  the  tomatoes  thin,  add  sugar,  a 
little  butter,  some  pounded  cloves  and  nutmeg, 
and  half  a  cup  of  water.  A  little  flour  makes 
the  sirup  richer.  Cover  the  whole  with  pastry, 
leaving  an  opening  in  the  centre  to  let  the  steam 
escape. 


DEVOTED  TO  AGRICULTURE    AWD    ITS  KINDRED    ARTS   AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  NOVEMBER,  1859. 


NO.  11. 


NOURSE,  EATON  &  TOLMAK,  PeoPBIETORS.       cTiurmo-  -a-ar^turKr    t.t.tt./-.^ 
n^i^rnv     alXfpnrn.VT.,Rnw  SIMON  BROWKT,   EDITOR. 


Office.. .34  Merchams  Row, 


NOVEMBER. 

"No  warmth,  no  cbeerfulness,  eo  healthful  ©ase, 

No  comfortable  foel  in  any  member  ; 
No  shade,  no  shine,  no  butterflies,  no  bees. 

No  fruits,  no  flowers,  no  leaves,  no  buds — Novembee  !' 


ovember!  Doesn't 
the  very  name 
strike  a  chill  to 
your  heart  ?  If, 
_  as  our  old  friend 
the  "Spectator" 
5is  says,  May  is  a 
month  of  which 
lovers  should  be- 
ware, and  those 
who  escape  its 
tender  influences 
may  be  expected 
to     go     scathless 


FRED'K  HOLBROOK,  )  Associate 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  (  Editors. 


^^  -    "i,     1^  aS^  ^ 

"""'^^^^^'^^  '  }"ar,  so  November,  with  its 

S'^j^.Xg    gloomy    aspect,    is    productive    of 

•tt^\    V^^^^    ^   different    set   of   feelings. 

3    Then  it  is,  that  "despair  and  fell  re- 


through  the  rest  of  the 
}"ar,  so  November,  with  its 
fogs  and  its  storms,  and  its 


venge,"  and  various  other  things  which  should 
not  "be  to  our  bosoms  known,"  take  possession 
of  us.  It  is,  indeed,  a  month  just  "fit  for  trea- 
sons, stratagems  and  spoils."  Yes  —  now  we 
think  of  it,  Guy  Fawkes  was  of  the  same  opin- 
ion, for— 

"0,  don't  yon  remember 

The  fifth  of  November, 

The  gunpowder  treason  and  plot.'" 

That  ingenious  little  device,  by  which  King  James 
and  his  parliament  were  to  be  sent  flying  through 
the  air  in  a  manner  quite  unexpected  to  them- 
selves. 

Statistics  show  that  there  are  more  deaths, 
births,  and  marriages,  (we  have  rather  reversed 
the  order,  but  no  matter,)  in  certain  months  of 
the  year,  than  in  cert.ain  others.    We  have  some- 


times wondered  whether  the  "Newgate  Calen- 
dar" would  not  show  that  the  dreariest  months, 
are  those  most  productive  of  crime. 

"Salem  Witchcraft"  has  long  gone  by,  but  if 
ever  you  are  disposed  to  be  charitable  towards 
the  weak  superstition  which  condemned  harm- 
less old  women  to  be  drowned  or  burnt,  it  will  be 
of  a  wild  November  night.  Then,  if  ever,  you 
can  fancy  the  traditionary  witch  abroad  on  her 
broomstick,  howling  in  your  chimney,  and  knock- 
ing loudly  at  your  window  pane  ! 

It  is  true,  there  sometimes  comes  a  November 
so  fair,  so  full  of  "Indian  Summers,"  that  it  goes 
far  to  redeem  its  character  from  the  obloquy 
which  has  been  heaped  upon  it,  and  if  ever  we 
are  authorized  to  expect  such  an  exception  to 
the  general  rule,  it  should  be  this  year,  when 
nearly  every  month  has  done  its  best  to  turn  to 
nought  our  preconceived  notions. 

For  example,  that  sweet  month  of  May,  which 
every  one  expects  to  come  like  a  fair  young  bride, 
turned  out  but  a  sullen  vixen  of  an  old  wife — and 
June,  with  its  buds  and  flowefs,  and  all  those 
fancy  articles  with  which  we  are  wont  to  adorn 
its  memory,  came  and  went  in  a  series  of  drizzly, 
rainy  days.  The  "Fourth  of  July"  so  froze  our 
patriotism,  that  hardly  a  fervor  was  left  to  be- 
stow upon  our  "glorious  country" — our  "beloved 
fellow-citizens" — and  even  the  "American  Eagle" 
seemed  to  droop  his  wings  like  the  veriest  barn- 
yard fowl.  Certainly  no  one,  taking  a  prophetic 
view  of  August,  would  have  hesitated  to  inter- 
sperse it  with  dog-days  and  thunder-showers. 
How  mortifying  for  such  an  one  to  sit,  wrapped 
in  his  shawl,  reading  his  own  article,  while  his 
eye  also  glances  over  numerous  little  items  of 
whole  meadows  of  cranberries  being  spoiled  by 
frost,  in  what  ought  to  be  the  very  heat  of  dog- 
days.  Doubtless,  all  almanac  makers  and  writ- 
ers of  monthly  calendars  will  sympathize  with 
these  sentiments. 

There  is  a  paragraph  going  the  rounds,  to  the 


490 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Not. 


effect  that  the  earth  is  receding  from  the  sun,  as 
indicited  by  the  fact  that  the  sun's  disc  grows 
smaller,  and  that  according  to  the  records  of  the 
ancients,  it  was  formerly  much  larger,  we  believe 
four  times  as  large,  as  at  present.  If  this  be  true, 
posterity  may  see  our  world  only  a  vast  snow- 
ball. We  would  fain  hope,  however,  that  it  is 
the  mistake  of  some  drowzy  astronomer,  who 
looked  through  the  wrong  end  of  his  telescope. 

Such  is  the  dependence  of  the  planets  on  each 
other,  and  upon  the  sun,  the  centre  of  the  sys- 
tem, that  such  a  variation  might  be  expected  to 
make  considerable  discord  in  the  ''music  of  the 
spheres."  It  is  true,  the  comets  wander  about 
in  an  erratic  and  unexpected  manner,  but  our 
earth  is  not  supposed  to  have  any  tail,  and  can- 
not, therefore,  come  under  precisely  the  same 
head !  So  that  we  think  we  are  authorized  in 
rejecting  the  idea  that  we  are  travelling  out  of 
the  region  of  heat  and  light.  In  spite  of  theo- 
rizers,  so  far  as  we  have  read,  no  very  marvellous 
change  has  ever  come  over  men,  animals,  or  cli- 
mate. 

Races  of  men  and  animals  have  indeed  become 
extinct,  but  man  has  always  been  man,  and  the 
earth's  zones  have  always  sustained  many  of  their 
present  characteristics.  The  world  is  rather  a 
conservative  old  body,  after  all,  and  we  would 
not  attribute  these  variations  of  weather  so  much 
to  any  radical  change  in  the  laws  of  government, 
as  to  some  slight  causes,  which  for  convenience 
we  might  call  accidental. 

Having  said  thus  much,  we  would  not  under- 
take to  predict  what  the  following  month  is  go- 
ing to  turn  out,  but  for  our  genial  views  on  the 
subject  see  Bryant's  perfect  little  poem.  We 
made  a  solemn  compact,  internally,  that  not  one 
word  of  it  would  we  quote,  because 

"Lives  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said" 

those  lines  every  fall  since  they  were  first  writ- 
ten ?     But  it's  all  of  no  use,  so  here  they  are : 

"The  melancholy  days  are  come, 

The  saddast  of  the  year, 
Of  wailing  winds,  and  naked  woods. 

And  meadow"<  brown  and  sere. 
Heaped  in  the  hollow  of  the  grove, 

The  withered  leaves  lie  dead  ; 
They  rustic  to  the  eddjing  gust, 

And  to  the  rabbit's  tread." 

"The  saddest  of  the  year," — for  though  life  is 
indeed  locked  up  in  those  dry  branches,  and  ly- 
ing at  the  root  of  each  skeleton  tree,  we  realize 
it  no  more  than,  when  we  walk  through  some  old 
churchyard,  we  realize  the  resurrection  for  which 
the  silent  forms  around  us  are  waiting.  Death, 
and  its  symbols,  is  all  that  meet  our  eye,  but  in 
the  one  case  we  have  the  "sure  word  of  proph- 
ecy," and  in  the  other,  the  result  of  repeated  ob- 
servation.    Not  one  of  all  these  dead  leaves  at 


our  feet  is  lost,  or  wasted.  They  will  all  re-ap- 
pear again,  by-and-bye,  in  another  and  more  beau- 
tiful form. 

Let  us  leave  the  world  to  its  winter  sleep,  then, 
cheerfully,  for  although  our  summer  and  harvest 
were  short,  do  not  our  barns  and  our  store-rooms 
testify  that  they  did  not  come  in  vain  ?  It  is, 
very  appropriately,  at  this  season  that  our  Yan- 
kee Thanksgiving  is  appointed — an  observance 
which  is  spreading  year  by  year,  throughout  the 
United  States — for  as  the  children  of  New  Eng- 
land migrate  to  different  parts  of  the  Union,  they 
must  needs  carry  the  customs  of  their  forefathers 
with  them.  It  is  now  more  than  two  hundred 
years  since  the  first  Thanksgiving  was  instituted 
here. 

Some  of  us  may  have  forgotten  the  incidents 
which  produced  it,  although  we  learned  at  school 
in  our  histories,  how  there  was  a  famine  in  the 
land,  and  a  time  was  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer.  But  a  ship  laden  with  provi- 
sions came  to  them  from  the  "old  country,"  and 
this  day  of  fasting,  was  changed  to  one  of 
Thanksgiving. 

As  we,  the  happy  families  of  New  England, 
gather  around  our  Thanksgiving  tables,  then 
here's  to  the  memory  of  our  Puritan  ancestors  1 

To  Cure  Hard  Pulling  Horses. — Put  the 
curb  chain  inside  the  mouth,  from  hook  to  hook, 
instead  of  out.  How  or  why  it  acts  with  such 
con-ideralile  effect,  I  know  not;  but  at  times,  it 
utterly  puts  an  end  to  over-pulling.  To  stop  a 
runaway  horse,  or  render  the  most  pulling  brute 
quiet  and  playful  with  his  bit,  get  a  double  snaf- 
fle, rather  thick  and  heavy,  the  joints  rather  open  ; 
cut  an  old  curb  chain  in  half,  and  hit  it  hang  down 
from  the  bottom  snaffle  joint.  When  the  brute 
offers  to  pull  or  bolt,  instantly  merely  drop  your 
hand  ;  of  course,  the  curb  chain  will  drop  between 
his  front  teeth  ;  and  should  th«  beast  savage  it, 
[if  any  of  your  correspondents  wish  to  try  the  ef- 
fect on  themselves,  they  have  only  to  place  a  nut 
between  their  front  teeth  and  try  to  crack  it, 
they  will  soon  understand  the  vast  difference  be- 
tween pleasure  and  pain.]  So  does  the  horse  ; 
and  in  a  very  short  time,  he  will  play  with  the 
very  thing  he  before  tried  to  savage  ;  and  in  the 
end,  becoiTie,  from  a  vicious  brute,  a  playful  and 
good  mouthed  animal. — London  Field. 


Agricultur.\l  Exhibitions  for  1859.  — 
There  have  b^en  held  during  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember, one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  State  and 
County  Fairs  ;  and  there  are  one  hundred  and 
twenty  to  take  place  during  the  months  of  Octo- 
ber and  November. — Practical  Machinist. 


Quite  a  Farm. — The  whole  amount  of  the 
public  land  surveys,  as  returned  to  the  General 
Land  Office,  for  the  year  ending  with  the  last 
month,  is  nearly  53,000  miles,  or  about  fifteen 
million  acres,  nearly  equal  to  the  wbole  extent 
of  New  England. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


491 


AKTIFICIAIi  GUANO. 

I  enclose  a  recipe  for  a  new  fertilizer,  which  1 
intend  jireparing  this  week  liy  way  of  trial.  The 
cost  of  the  raw  material  is  about  $10. 

Valentine'3  Recipe  for  Artificial  Gdano. 

No.  1.  Drv  Peat 20  bushels. 

No.  2.  Woad  Ashes 3      " 

No.  3.  Fine  BoneOust 3      " 

No.  4.  Ca'cinetl  Piaster 3       " 

No.  5.  Nitrate  Soda 40  pounds. 

No.  6.  Sul'hate  Ammonia S3       " 

No   7.  SulplateSoda 40      " 

If  peat  cannot  he  obtained,  use  garden  mould 
or  clean  virgin  soil. 

MIXING. 

.Mix  Nos.  1,  2  and  .3  together  ;  then  mix  Nos. 
5,  6  and  7  in  four  or  five  puils  of  water;  when 
dissolved,  add  the  liquid  to  the  mixture  of  1,  2 
and  3.  as  in  making  mortar ;  when  thoroughly 
mixed,  add  No.  4,  the  calcined  plaster,  which 
will  absorb  the  liquid,  and  bring  the  whole  to  a 
dry  state. 

Mix  under  cover,  in  a  dry  place.  Pack  so  as 
to  exclude  air. 

Product,  one  ton,  which  will  manure  7A  acres 
of  land. 

I  think  the  artificial  guano  would  be  improved 
by  the  addition  of  a  bushel  each  of  poudrette 
and  dried  blood,  and  shall  try  its  effect.  —  Gar- 
dener's Monthly. 

Rem.\rks. — Will  Dr.  Reynolds,  of  Concord,  or 
some  other  chemical  friend,  tell  us  what  they 
think  of  the  above,  to  be  used  as  a  fertilizer  ? 


OOAIi  ASHES  AS  A  FERTILIZER. 

The  editor  of  the  Boston  Commercial  Bidletin 
says  he  has  seen  several  communications  and  ed- 
itorial discussions  in  the  New  England  Farmer, 
and  is  disposed  to  add  to  the  common  stock  of 
information  by  the  following  remarks.    He  says: 

To  solve  the  question  affirmatively  would  be 
of  great  importance  to  farmers  and  gardeners, 
especially  those  living  in  the  vicinity  of  cities 
and  towns  where  coal  is  used  for  fuel.  Without 
any  pretensions  to  a  practical  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  we  are  tempted  to  give  our  experience 
in  a  small  way.  Upon  a  half-acre  of  land,  partly 
in  grass  and  partly  cultivated,  we  have  tried  the 
experiment  as  follov/s,  with  great  success : 

In  November  we  cleared  out  of  the  cellar  ash- 
es made  the  previous  season  from  seven  tons  of 
anthracite  coal  mixed  with  the  ashes  of  one-half 
cord  jellow  pine  wood  used  in  kindling  ;  to  this 
was  added  equal  parts  of  borse  manure  and  loam, 
well  mixed  together.  A  part  of  this  was  used  at 
the  time  upon  a  piece  of  grass  ground  more  than 
twenty  years  in  the  sward,  ])ut  on  about  two  inches 
thick  as  a  top-dressing,  which  has  this  year  pro- 
duced two  crops  of  fine  grass,  in  place  of  white 
weed  and  othtr  nuisances,  and  the  ground  has 
shown  no  signs  of  being  affected  by  the  dry 
weather.  The  balance  lay  in  a  heap  till  spring 
and  was  used  on  the  cultivated  ground  both  for 
spreading  and  in  the  hill. 

Results. — While  in  former  years  the  early  po- 
tatoes planted  from  the  same  kind  of  seed  have 
invariably  rotted  before  the  time  for  digging,  this 


year  there  has  been  the  most  productive  crop  of 
the  largest  and  best  quality.  The  sweet  corn  av- 
erages nine  feet  in  the  stalk,  the  leaves  of  a  clear 
green,  and  the  ears  perfectly  filled,  and  so  with 
all  the  other  vegetables  in  the  garden.  We  be- 
lieve coal  ashes  have  been  rejected  without  a  fair 
test.  The  great  hue  and  cry  made  about  their 
destructiveness  to  the  trees  on  our  Common,  in- 
stead of  leading  to  careful  investigation,  resulted 
in  a  summary  condemnation.  The  same  result 
might  have  followed,  if  lime,  plaster,  or  even 
wood  ashes  had  been  used,  as  the  coal  ashes  were, 
— to  the  depth  of  two  feet  or  more,  unmixed  with 
loatn  or  sand.  We  hope  the  experiment  will  be 
fairly  tested,  as  everything  which  helps  build  up 
the  la'mer's  manure  heap  is  beneficial  not  only 
to  him,  but  to  those  who  depend  on  him  for 
their  vegetables. 


HOME  EDUCATION". 


Whatever  defects  there  may  be  in  home  edu- 
cation, it  is  certain  that  the  exceptions  are  rare 
where  the  moral  training  of  the  mother  is  not  ac- 
cording to  her  her  best  capacity,  for  the  benefit 
and  advantage  of  her  offspring.  Her  influence 
is  often  counteracted  by  the  habits  and  examples 
of  the  father  ;  but  in  such  case  she  is  not  respon- 
sible if  her  care  and  teachings  are  of  no  avail. 
Home  education,  where  the  parents  are  united 
in  sentiment,  leaves  its  impression  upon  the  mind 
and  heart  which  can  never  be  totally  obliterated. 
The  principal  cause  of  departure  from  the  path 
of  right  is  evil  associations.  The  poor  mother, 
engaged  in  her  household  affairs,  dependent  upon 
her  labor  for  a  livelihood,  has  little  time  to  de- 
vote to  her  children  ;  and  as  soon  as  they  are 
able  to  walk  by  themselves,  they  seek  plavmates, 
and  the  youthful  mind  is  readily  impressed  for 
good  or  evil,  according  to  the  disposition  of  the 
ussoci;  lions.  The  effect  of  these  impressions  is 
more  lasLing  in  most  cases  than  the  influence  and 
example  of  parents.  If  children  were  early 
less  suljject  to  such  influences,  there  would  bo 
less  vice  in  the  world.  Home  education  is  t'^e 
best  for  the  youthful  mind.  The  most  det'  >•- 
mined  man  in  every  situation  of  life  will,  to  V\\q 
latest  period  of  his  pilgrimage,  be  influenced  ly 
the  early  teachings  of  his  mother,  if  the  exam])."? 
and  the  habits  of  the  father  are  in  unison  with 
her  counsel  and  instruction. 


Small  Feet  in  Peru. —  L'Lhiion  Medical 
states  that  the  ladies  of  Lima  are  noted  for  their 
extremely  small  feet,  the  secret  being  that  the 
infants  of  the  female  sex  undirgo,  as  a  rule,  am- 
putation of  the  little  toe  of  each  foot.  So  gen- 
eral is  the  custom,  that  many  women  think  that 
five  toes  on  each  foot  is  a  state  of  things  pecu- 
liar to  the  male  sex.  It  is  said  that  a  Peruvian 
surgeon  is  going  to  London  and  Paris,  where  ho 
expects  to  make  a  fine  harvest.  He  warrants 
the  ladies  the  tiniest  and  most  graceful  foot,  by 
meaiis  of  the  above  named  amputation,  and  con- 
finement to  the  house  of  only  one  week.  The 
writer  adds,  th  >t  a  custom  of  this  kind  prevailed 
pretty  generally  in  Paris,  some  years  ago,  kept 
up  by  a  very  reprehensible  complaisance  of  a 
surgeon,  who  had  acquired  some  celebrity  touch- 
ing the  silly  mutilation. 


492 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TYPE—SPECIES— VASIETY. 

The  word  Type  is  frequently  used  in  science. 
ft  stands  for  an  abstract  notion,  and  is  not  readi- 
ly  understood.  It  is  that  image  which  we  form 
in  the  mind,  made  up  of  all  the  traits  that  are 
common  to  a  genus,  a  species,  or  a  group  of  any 
kind.  Every  person  forms  such  a  type  in  his 
own  mind.  It  may  be  more  or  less  accurate.  It 
is  the  idea  that  springs  up  at  the  mention  of  the 
word  man,  or  bird,  or  grass,  without  the  men- 
tioning of  the  particular  man,  or  bird,  or  the 
kind  of  grass.  We  have  in  the  type  all  the  hab- 
its that  are  common  to  all  the  individuals  of  the 
group,  leaving  out  peculiarities  ;  as  in  all  men 
there  is  a  common  form  distinguishing  them  from 
all  other  animals,  notwithstanding  they  differ 
greatly  among  themselves  in  height  and  propor- 
tions and  cast  of  countenance.  No  one  individ- 
ual has  all  the  traits  of  the  ideal  image  in  per- 
fection. What  horse  is  a  perfect  horse  accord- 
ing to  the  standard  we  have  in  our  minds  ?  But 
when  one  species  embodies  most  the  traits  of  the 
genus,  we  speak  of  it  as  the  type  of  the  genus. 
The  eagle  may  be  said  to  be  the  type  of  the  bird. 

Species  has  been  defined  to  be  "primordial  or- 
ganic forms."  By  this  we  understard  the  origi- 
nal characteristics  of  the  first  created  individuals 
which  by  a  law  of  nature  have  been  transmitted. 
Each  species  comprehends  all  the  individuals 
which  may  have  descended  from  one  original. 
The  characteristics  of  many  plants  and  animals 
have  been  modified  by  circumstances  of  climate 
and  cultivation,  producing  variety;  but  nature 
has  carefully  preserved  the  type  of  the  species, 
and  when  left  to  themselves  in  their  native  place, 
the  individuals  take  on  their  primordial  forms 
The  following  facts  are  important : 

1.  Species  may  be  modified  indefinitely  by  cir- 
cuipstances — producing  varieties. 

2.  One  species  cannot  be  changed  into  another. 

3.  No  continuous  progeny  can  be  produced  by 
the  mingling  of  two  species  so  as  to  form  a  new 
species. 

The  first  of  these  facts  is  the  one  of  the  most 
practical  importance  to  the  agriculturist.  Al 
most  every  plant  he  cultivates  and  every  animal 
he  uses  is  a  variety  or  variation  from  the  origi- 
nal type. 

There  are  two  questions  concerning  varieties 
which  it  is  important  that  every  farmer  should 
be  able  to  answer  in  respect  to  every  species  of 
plant  and  animal  with  which  he  has  to  deal. 

1.  How  can  valuable  characteristics  lie  pro- 
duced? 

•2.  How  can  they  be  preserved  and  transmit- 
ted ? 

The  fleshy  root  of  the  beet,  the  compact  head 
of  the  cabbage  and  the  large  tubers  of  the  pota- 
to'have,  doubtless,  been  produced  by  cultivation. 
That  is,  by  placing  the  plant  in  good  soil,  fertil- 
izing it  and  tilling  the  ground. 

Every  species  needs  especial  and  peculiar  treat- 
ment to  develop  in  it  desirable  properties.  In 
general,  horticulturists  and  florists  understand 
this  better  than  farmers.  There  is  much  useful 
knowledge  in  existence  upon  this  point  which 
ought  to  be  systematized  and  diff'used.  New  va- 
rieties of  potatoes,  apples  and  peaches,  are  pro- 
duced by  planting  the  seeds  ;  but  the  result,  so 


far  as  I  know,  is  a  chance — no  one  can  tell  what 
kind  of  cultivation  of  the  seed  will  give  a  potato 
of  desired  and  definite  qualities.  There  is  prob- 
ably much  to  be  discovered  on  this  point. 

But  when  we  have  an  individual  of  good  qual- 
ities, how  can  those  qualities  be  preserved  and 
transmitted  ? 

We  do  it  in  the  apple  by  grafting,  in  the  cur- 
rent by  cuttings  or  layers,  in  the  potato  by  plant- 
ing the  tubers.  In  each  case  the  new  plant 
springs  from  the  bud,  and  may  he  considered  a 
multiplication  of  the  old  plant.  New  individu- 
als are  produced  only  from  the  seed. 

In  the  animal  kingdom  the  case  is  full  as  im- 
portant, but  the  object  is  not  so  easily  accom- 
plished. 

There  are,  however,  laws  of  propagation  in  the 
animal  kingdom  which  successful  breeders  un- 
derstand, and  which  are  very  reliable.  No  one 
can  see  the  results  of  the  experiments  of  Mr. 
Paoli  Latiirop,  of  South  Hadley,  without  being 
convinced  that  it  is  possible  to  combine  and  ren- 
der permanent  in  one  variety  of  cattle,  the  most 
desirable  characteristics.  This  can  be  done  only 
by  avoiding,  for  many  generations,  the  blood  be- 
ing tainted  by  that  of  individuals  of  degraded 
qualities.  M. 

Wilhraham,  Sept.,  1859. 


HAMPSHIRE,  FRA.NKr.IlSr  AND  HAMP- 
DEN SOCIETY, 

The  last  annual  meeting  of  this  society  was 
held  at  Northampton,  and  brought  together  one 
of  the  best  exhibtions  of  neat  stock  in  the  State. 
The  Short  Horns  are  the  favorite  stock  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley.  Their  fertile  pasture  lands, 
and  rich  intervales  afl'ord  them  the  means  of 
bringing  this  stock  to  a  higher  degree  of  perfec- 
tion than  is  possible  in  less  favored  lands.  Many 
noble  oxen  were  exhibited,  w;eighing  from  4000 
to  5000  pounds  per  yoke.  Of  such  cattle,  their 
owners  may  well  be  proud.  When  such  cattle  will 
spring  from  the  soil,  the  smaller  breeds,  the  Jer- 
seys, and  the  Ayrshires,  stand  but  a  small  chance. 

The  Address,  by  Dr.  G.  B.  Loring,  "unfolded 
the  true  picture  of  New  England  Farming  Life,'' 
with  much  beauty  and  eloquence — and  indicated 
a  more  correct  appreciation  of  the  subject  than 
the  highly-colored,  but  untruthful  limning  in  the 
pages  of  the  Atlantic.  The  paper  of  Mr.  Gren- 
NELL,  on  sheep  culture,  is  of  much  value  and  in- 
terest. We  notice  that  the  East  Hampton  Far- 
mers' Club  "added  much  to  the  exhibition  by  the 
fine  collection  of  vegetables  presented  by  them," 
and  also  by  the  exhibition  "of  the  plates  of  ap- 
ples, most  of  them  of  the  choicest  varieties,"  An 
award  of  ten  dollars  was  made  by  the  Club  to  en- 
courage future  eft'orts.  East  Hampton  has  acquir- 
ed much  celebrity  for  its  fine  fruit.  The  Farmers' 
Club  in  that  town  is  a  very  efficient  one,  and  has 
done  much  to  promote  fruit  culture,  and  thereby 
add  to  the  prosperity  and  reputation  of  the  town. 

The  last   paper  in  the  report  is  an  interesting 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


493 


one  by  H.  J.  Hodges,  the  Secretary,  showing 
the  efFects  of  top-dressing,  consisting  of  different 
kinds  of  fertilizers,  for  the  years  1857  and 
1858,  upon  seven  half  acres  of  grass.  Each  lot 
was  upon  the  same  kind  of  soil,  and  in  the  same 
condition.  The  substances  used  were  poudrette, 
plaster,  superphosphate  of  lime,  horse  and  cow 
manure,  ashes  and  guano,  and  one  lot  was  left 
without  any  dressing.  The  result  was,  that  ashes 
was  the  only  profitable  fertilizer  to  be  used  as  a 
top-dressing  on  such  land.  The  lot  upon  which 
the  ashes  was  used,  was  the  only  one  upon 
which  the  increase  of  hay  paid  for  the  fertilizer. 
The  lot  upon  which  the  guano  v/as  applied  the 
first  year,  gave  105  pounds  more  hay  than  the 
lot  dressed  by  the  ashes.  But  the  guano  cost 
$5,24,  while  the  ashes  cost  but  $2,00.  Eight  dol- 
lars worth  of  horse  and  cow  manure  increased 
the  hay  only  to  the  value  of  $1,06,  leaving  a  loss 
of  $6,44. 

We  should  be  glad  to  have  many  more  such 
esperiments  made  and  reported  with  the  same 
accuracy,  especially  as  the  idea  seems  to  be  gain- 
ing ground,  that  top-dressing  is  an  economical 
way  of  applying  manure  to  grass  land.  We  have 
no  doubt  that  this  is  the  best  mode  on  heavy, 
moist  land;  but  on  light,  dry  soil,  we  fear  it  can 
never  be  profitably  substituted  for  occasional 
plowing  and  re-seeding. 

The  amount  of  premiums  awarded  by  this  so- 
ciety was  $802,25. 


any  individual  a  ten  dollar  bill  who  will  forward 
to  me  next  spring  a  native  white  grape  vine, 
white  in  a  fair  use  of  the  word,  i.  e.,  one  whose 
fruit  shall  not  show  a  well  defined  lilac  tinge 
where  the  sun  looks  at  it.  Observe,  I  say  noth- 
ing of  the  flavor  of  the  article  ;  it  may  be  a  com- 
bination of  choke  cherry  and  sulphuric  acid — no 
matter  for  that,  only  give  me  a  white,  native 
seedling.  James  J.  H.  Gregory. 

Marblehead,  Mass.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  FABLED  WHITE  GKAPE. 

Who  has  ever  found  the  native  "white"  grape, 
of  whose  existence  the  public  are  at  intervals  in- 
formed ?  To  be  sure,  we  have  the  Rebecca,  which 
might  in  popular  language  be  styled  a  "white" 
grape  ;  but  what  I  am  in  pursuit  of,  is,  that  na- 
tive "white"  grape  which  is  declared  to  exist  in 
several  localities  as  a  pasture  seedling.  Has 
there  ever  been  such  a  grape  found  ?  does  such 
an  one  any  where  exist  ?  I  have  walked  many  a 
mile  to  see  with  my  own  eye  wild  grapes,  v/hich, 
in  their  neighborhood  had  the  reputation  of  be- 
ing white,  but  somehow  or  other  they  would  al- 
ways insist  on  blushing  in  my  presence,  particu- 
larly on  their  sunny  side. 

Some  years  ago,  a  relative,  on  reading  an  ad- 
vertisement by  a  gentleman  residing  in  New 
Hampshire,  stating  that  he  had  a  native  white 
grape  for  sale,  proposed  to  purchase  ;  I  endeav- 
ored to  dissuade  him,  but  seeing  was  believing, 
and  he  purchased  a  vine,  and  half  a  peck  of  the 
grapes.  Alas!  for  his  anticipations,  when  that 
box  was  opened  in  my  presence,  the  grapes 
blushed,  as  usual !  This  gentleman  planted  seed 
from  these  grapes,  and  the  fruit  on  his  seedlings 
recalled  to  my  mind  the  result  of  his  investment. 
To  help  settle  for  myself  the  question,  whether 
or  not  our  pastures  or  forests  contained  a  grape 
that  can  properly  be  called  white,  (the  Rebec- 
ca to  be  excepted,)  I  shall  be  happy  to  pay  to 


HANDLING  HOBSES  WHILE  BEING 
SHOD. 

A  most  important  job,  that  of  shoeing  a  horse, 
is  very  frequently  performed  by  a  careless  or  ig- 
norant smith,  whereby  valuable  horses  are  often 
lamed  or  injured.  Dr.  W.  Pierce,  V.  S.,  in  a 
note  to  the  Ohio  Cultivator,  in  alluding  to  this 
fact,  remarks,  that  horses  sometimes  stand  quiet 
and  easy,  at  other  times  they  refuse  to  stand 
still,  while  one  foot  is  up — they  struggle  until  it 
is  released,  and  frequently  the  shoer  beats,  speaks 
sharply,  swears,  and  frightens  the  horse,  so  that 
he  must  be  held  by  force  or  abandoned.  Another 
takes  his  tools  and  sets  his  shoes  without  any 
trouble. 

The  Dr.  gives  some  of  the  reasons  for  this.  He 
says :  Under  certain  circumstances  the  muscles 
cramp,  causing  severe  pain.  Almost  at  any  time 
a  horse's  hind  leg  may  be  raised  so  high,  or  in 
such  a  position,  as  to  cause  severe  cramping,  not 
to  be  endured.  When  a  horse  has  had  all  the  mus- 
cles relaxed  by  exercise,  and  stands  and  cools 
quick,  an  unusual  position  will  most  certainly 
produce  cramping,  and  at  the  same  time  make 
him  irritable.  A  horse  that  has  stood  for  some 
time  in  the  cold,  uneasy,  and  suffering  with 
anxiety  to  get  home,  is  in  a  bad  condition  to 
stand  the  bangs,  and  often  painful  jjosition,  of 
shoeing,  and  too  often  fretted  to  that  degree 
that  he  never  gets  over  it — too  often  forced  to 
stand  and  endure  the  pain  of  severe  cramping, 
pricking,  etc.,  until  he  will  never  forget  it,  and 
often  refuses  to  enter  the  shop  again. 

Some  horse-shoers  have  a  habit  of  raising  the 
foot  and  leg  so  high  that  no  common  horse  can 
stand  it,  and  thus  he  will  shoe  horses  half  his 
life-time  before  he  knows  that  the  fault  is  in 
himself.  The  awkwardness  and  ill-temper  of  some 
shoers  is  sufficient  reason  to  withdraw  your  pat- 
ronage, although  they  may  do  their  work  well. 
The  damage  done  by  forcing  the  horse  to  stand 
in  pain,  and  the  injury  to  his  disposition,  is  in- 
finitely more  injury  than  to  go  ten  miles,  and 
spend  a  day  and  pay  double  price  to  one  who  has 
some  sympathy,  and  shoes  him  without  pain — one 
who  exercises  some  reason  and  judgment  and  pa- 
tience, and  seems  to  sympathize  with  the  suffer- 
ing animal — has  little  or  no  trouble,  and  does 
no  damage. 

I  once  knew  a  horse  that  if  he  was  minus  a 
shoe,  would  go  by  himself  to  a  particular  smithy, 
and  there  stand  until  the  shoe  was  set.  I  once 
owned  a  horse  that  was  shod  three  or  four  years 
without  any  trouble — at  last  he  was  sent  to  a 
shop  to  be  shod  and  the  shoer,  being  alittle  intox- 
icated, frightened  him,  beat  and  abused  him  in 
such  a  manner  that  he  ever  after  feared  to  ap- 
proach a  blacksmith  shop,  and  if  forced  to  enter 
one,  would  tremble  with  fear.     I  tliiuk  I  shall  be 


494 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


justified  in  saying  that  one-half  of  the  horse- 
shrers  are  incompetent  to  the  task,  saving  noth- 
ing about  their  workmanship  of  setting  shoes. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  some  fancy  shoers  are  the 
cause  of  splints,  bogs,  and  curbs,  as  well  as  kick- 
ing, cringing,  pulling  at  the  halter,  etc.  etc. 

Reader,  if  you  are  the  owner  of  a  good  horse, 
go  yourself  and  see  him  shod,  unless  you  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  sheer,  and  know  him  to  be 
careful,  patient,  mild  tempered  and  humane. 
Withdraw  your  patronage  fiom  all  reverse  char- 
acters, before  you  sustain  a  loss.  Nevtr  submit 
to,  or  employ  a  sheer  whose  character  and  in- 
tellect is  inferior  to  that  of  your  horse.  If  you 
do,  you  may  have  him  lamed,  abused  and  spoiled. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MOON  UPON 
VEGETATION  AND  THE  WEATHEK. 

With  the  many  good  things  we  have  inherited 
from  our  progenitors,  are  many  foolish  notions 
that  have  been  faithfully  transmitted  from  one 
generation  to  another ;  and  among  the  more 
common  are  those  in  relation  to  the  peculiar  in- 
fluence of  the  moon  upon  vegetation  and  the 
weather.  Though  generally  discarded  among 
the  more  intelligent,  there  are  many  who  still  ad- 
here to  them  with  tenacious  faith,  and  believe 
that  planting  potatoes,  peas,  beans,  melons,  and 
all  plants  of  similar  habits,  at  some  particular 
age  of  the  moon,  is  mere  liktly  to  cause  the  en- 
ergies of  the  plant  to  result  in  the  production  of 
vines  than  otherwise;  or,  in  other  words,  to  "jun 
to  vines"  if  planted  in  the  "new  of  the  moon." 
That  this  is  an  idle  fancy  is  altogether  probable  ; 
though  when  a  crop  stems  to  "run  to  vines," 
this  is  ascribed  as  the  cause  without  fuJther 
thought,  by  farmers  generally.  Peas  have  grown 
in  my  garden  the  past  season  to  the  average 
height  of  between  seven  and  eight  feet — the 
highest  we  or  any  of  our  neighbors  ever  saw — 
and  several  farmers  who  saw  them,  were  not  slow 
to  remark,  "you  must  have  planted  them  in  the 
new  of  the  moon,"  but  to  me  there  appeared  suf- 
ficient cause  for  their  lu.xuriant  growth  in  the 
highly  manured  soil  and  a  wet  season. 

The  opinion  in  regard  to  the  moon's  influence 
upon  the  weather  seems  to  be  more  general,  and 
recognized  by  those  familiar  with  Nature's  laws 
and  her  operations-several  meteoroloj^ists  of  note 
giving  countenance  to  the  idea — while  the  scores 
oi  sjiecial  "signs,"  based  on  the  form  or  position 
of  the  new  moon,  must  be  groundless,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, when  the  horns  of  the  crescent  moon  are 
in  such  a  position  that  the  "old  Indian  can  hang 
his  powder-horn  thereon,  it  will  be  dry  weather," 
or  "it  is  a  dry  moon,"  and  vice  versa.  This  oc- 
currence is  observed  at  regular  intervals,  and  de- 
pends upon  the  relative  positions  of  the  moon 
and  sun. 

By  many,  special  power  is  attributed  to  the 
"old  of  the  moon."  That  in  August  is  the  b'test 
time  to  cut  bushes,  and  eradicate  shrub-oaks  and 
willoMS,  I  have  no  doubt ;  but  that  the  age  of  the 
moon  has  anything  to  do  with  it,  or  renders  one 
part  of  the  month  preferable  to  another  for  the 
purpose,  I  beg  leave  to  dissent  from,  nothwith- 
standing  the  familiar  saying,  "Mow  bushes  in  the 
old  cf  the  moon  in  August  to  prevent  sprouting  ;" 


and  it  taxes  my  credulity  in  the  potency  ascribed 
to  the  moon  a  little  too  much  to  believe  her  so 
powerful  as  to  authorize  the  old  sayings  about 
doing  this  in  the  old  moon,  and  that  in  the  new 
in  preference  to  any  other  time.  It  savors  too 
much  of  btlief  in  unlucky  Fridays. 

My  attention  was  directed  to  the  subject  of 
hmar  ipfiuevce  vpon  ihe  ttmptrature  by  remarks 
in  an  article  in  the  August  number  of  the  month- 
ly Farmer,  ps^ge  380,  by  N.  T.  T.,  of  Bethel,  Me. 
He  says :  "Physicists  are  not  inclined  to  attach 
I  much  importance  to  the  influence  of  the  moon 
upon  the  weather,  but  it  seems  to  be  a  well  es- 
tablished fact  that  when  the  moon  runs  high,  as 
farmers  say,  it  is  colder  than  at  other  times.  It 
is  the  dread  of  the  farmer  that  he  shall  have  a 
frost  on  the  full  of  the  moon,  either  late  in  the 
spring  or  early  in  the  autumn.  He  always  looks 
for  it  at  that  time,  and  no  other,"  etc.;  and  adds  : 
"Here  I  believe  is  an  interesting  field  of  inquiry, 
requiring,  to  be  sure,  a  long  series  of  observa- 
tions, but  which  will  result  in  something  impor- 
tant to  the  cause  of  science  and  scientific  agri- 
culture." 

As  I  chance  to  have  the  means  at  hand  of  as- 
certaining, for  a  short  time  at  least,  the  facts  in 
the  matter,  taking  my  old  almanacs  and  compar- 
ing the  "moon  runs  low"  and  the  "moon  runs 
l.igh,"  v,ith  my  thermometrical  tables  and  writ- 
ten account  of  the  we&ther  of  each  day  for  the 
last  three  and  a  half  years,  I  have  the  following 
results:  By  taking  the  mean  temperature  of 
three  days  when  the  moon  was  high  or  low,  (the 
day  of  the  maximum  or  minimum  height,  and  the 
day  preceding  and  substquent,)  and  averaging 
all  the  observations  vhen  the  moon  was  low,  and 
comparing  them  with  an  aveiage  of  all  the  ob- 
servations when  the  moon  was  high,  for  three 
years,  ending  with  August,  1859,  comprising 
eiyltly  observalions,  I  find  the  average  of  theob- 
servations  to  be  22^  Icwer  when  the  moon  was 
liigh  than  when  she  was  hnc  ;  the  mean  of  all 
the  observations  when  the  moon  was  low  be- 
ing 47  31°,  and  the  sf;me  when  the  moon  was 
high  being  47  09°.  For  the  ytar  ending  with 
August,  1807,  there  was  a  difi'erence  of  l.G.j°  in 
favor  of  the  theory  that  the  temperature  is  higher 
when  the  moon  runs  low  ;  the  year  ending  with 
Aug.,  1858,  gave  1.57°  again.st  the  theory,  while 
the  year  ending  with  Aug.,  1859,  gave  a  differ- 
ence of  .58°  in  favor  of  it,  as  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing 

TABLE 

Of  the  Mein  of  Observations  when  the  Moon  Ban 

Low.  Hiah. 

For  the  year  ending  Aug.,  1857 46  65"  45" 

"  "  ISiS 48.11°  4968° 

"  "  "  18f,9 47.17°  46  59° 

For  three  years  end.  Aug.,  1869 47.31°  47.09° 

Of  course,  nothing  decisive  in  this  matter  can 
be  derived  from  so  short  a  period  of  observation 
as  I  have  given ;  but  that  this  theory,  or  rather 
opinion,  so  prevalent,  in  regard  to  the  moon's 
influence  on  the  temperature  can  be  sustained,  I 
am  strongly  inclined  to  doubt,  although  it  is  not 
to  be  denied  that  the  moon  exerts  a  great  influ- 
ence upon  our  atmosphere,  producing  tidal 
swells,  as  has  been  reliably  ascertained  by  a  long 
series  of  barometrical  observations  by  men  who 
have  devoted  much  of  their  attention  to  meteo- 
rology, and  probably  lunar  influence  has  cocsid 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


495 


erable  to  do  in  the  varied  phenomena  of  the 
weather,  and  perhaps  in  the  fluctuations  of  tem- 
perature. Whatever  influence  the  moon  does  ex- 
ert is  so  modified  by  more  powerful,  and  conse- 
quently disturbing  causes,  that  it  is  rendered  so 
complex  and  obscure  that  its  effects  have  escaped 
the  observation  of  meteorologists  hitherto,  or  at 
least  have  resulted  in  the  deduclion  of  no  fixed 
principles  ;  and,  indeed,  the  whole  science  of  the 
weather  is  so  complicated  that  a  great  length  of 
time  must  elapse  before  the  establishment  of 
many  of  its  principles. 

I  noticed,  in  looking  over  my  record  of  the 
weather,  that  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  save 
in  a  very  fete  instances,  did  not  occur  either  when 
the  moon  was  high  or  low,  at  full  moon  or  new 
moon,  but  during  the  intervals  between ;  also 
that  the  early  frosts  in  the  autumn,  or  late  frosts 
in  the  spring,  did  not  often  occur  when  the  moon 
was  high,  but  as  often  when  it  was  low,  and  as 
often  at  new  moon  as  at  full  moon. 

As  the  sidereal  month,  (the  time  occupied  by 
the  moon  in  one  revolution  al)out  the  earth — 
about  27  days  and  74  hours.)  is  shorter  than  the 
Bvnodical  or  lunar  month,  (the  lime  that  passes 
between  two  consecutive  new  or  full  moons — 
about  29  days  and  12:]  hours,)  the  time  of  the 
full  moon  seldom  occurs  in  conjunction  with  the 
time  of  the  moon's  passing  nearest  the  zenith, 
nor  new  moon  when  the  moon  is  furthest  south 
of  the  ecliptic.  I  append  a  statement  or  table 
showing  an  average  of  the  mean  temperatures  of 
three  days  of  nt-w  and  full  moon  for  three  years, 
embracing  seventy-four  observations,  as  follows  : 

TABLE 

Of  the  Mean  of  all  Obs.  on  the  Mean  Temp,  of  Thkee 
Days  at  each 

New  Moon.  Full  Moon. 

For  the  year  ending  Aug.,  1857 45.91°  44  02' 

'•            "            "               18oS 47.86°  4>i.C9' 

"            »            "               1853 46.81°  47  19° 

For  three  years  end.  Aug.,  1859 43.86°  46.57° 

Which  gives  2.90  in  favor  of  the  prevalent  idea 
that  it  is  colder  at  full  moon  than  at  new  moon. 

While  I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Editor,  to  trespass  so 
much  upon  your  patience  and  the  columns  of  the 
Farmer,  (if  you  should  choose  to  publish  the  ar- 
ticle,) I  would  be  glad  to  have  these  things  sat- 
isfactorily ascertained,  and  some  of  these  whims, 
if  they  be  such,  exploded  ;  and  probably  a  series 
of  observations  covering  ten  years  or  more — the 
longer  the  time  the  better — would  do  something 
towards  it ;  and  if  any  of  your  correspondents 
or  readers  have  thermometrical  tables  covering 
that  time,  with  a  little  trouble  it  may  be  ascer- 
tained. I  have  given  a  few  results,  which  a  long- 
er period  of  observations  might  probably  modi- 
fy. J.  A.  A. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  Aug.,  1859. 


TO  MAKE  STORE  VINEGAR. 

To  make  good  vinegar,  take  forty  gallons  of 
rain  water,  one  gallon  of  molasses,  and  four 
pounds  of  acetic  acid.  It  will  l)e  iit  for  use  in  a 
few  days.  Acetic  acid  costs  twenty-five  cents  per 
pound.  This  is  the  recipe  by  which  most  of  the 
cider  vinegar  is  made,  which  is  sold  in  the  stores. 

Remarks. — Try  this  in  a  small  way  until  you 
have  tested  the  value  of  the  mixture. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
TOADS  AND  THEIR  SKINS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  a  short  article  in  the  Far- 
mer about  toads,  it  says  :  "he  rolls  up  his  old 
coat  in  a  pile,  and  swallows  it." 

Now,  as  I  have  seen  him  take  off  his  coat  and 
pants,  and  a  friend  has  seen  another  do  the  same 
thiiig  in  precisely  the  same  way,  it  may  be  inter- 
esting to  others  to  know  the  process. 

About  the  middle  of  July,  I  found  a  toad  on  a 
hill  of  mtlons,  and  not  wanting  him  to  leave,  1 
hoed  around  him  ;  he  appeared  sluggish,  and  not 
inclined  to  move  Presently,  I  observed  him 
pressing  his  elbows  hard  against  his  sides,  and 
rubbing  downwards.  He  appeared  so  singular, 
that  I  watched  to  see  what  he  was  up  to.  After 
a  few  smart  rubs,  his  skin  began  to  burst  open, 
straight  along  his  bark.  Now,  said  I,  old  fellow, 
you  have  done  it;  but  he  appeared  to  lie  uncon- 
cerned, and  kept  on  rubbing  until  he  had 
worked  down  all  his  skin  into  folds  on  his  sides 
and  hips  ;  then  grasping  one  hind  leg  with  both 
his  hands,  he  hauled  off  one  leg  of  his  pants  the 
same  as  any  body  would,  then  stripped  the  other 
hind  leg  in  the  same  way  !  He  then  took  th' 
cast  off  cuticle  forward,  between  his  fore  legs,  in- 
to his  mouth  and  swallowed  it ;  then,  by  rising 
and  lowering  his  head,  swallowing  as  his  head 
came  down,  he  striptoff  the  skin  underneath  un- 
til it  came  to  his  fore  legs,  and  then,  grasping 
one  of  these  with  the  opposite  hand,  by  consider- 
ble  pulling  stript  oft'  the  skin  ;  changing  hands, 
he  stiiptthe  other,  and  by  a  slight  motion  of  the 
head,  and  all  the  while  swallowing,  he  drew  it 
from  the  throat  and  swallowed  the  whole.  The 
operation  seemed  to  be  an  agreeable  one,  and 
occupied  but  a  short  time.  Caleb  Bates. 

Kingston,  Mass.,  Sept.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer . 
DRAINAGE. 

From  inquiries  that  I  have  made,  I  find  the  cost 
of  laying  a  tile  drain  to  be  hereabouts  from  fifty* 
cents  to  one  dollar  per  rod,  the  drain  being  laid 
to  the  average  depth  of  three  feet,  and  well  se- 
cured from  starting  at  the  joints.  Unless  this  is 
done,  the  whole  purpose  of  the  drain  will  be  de- 
feated. Care  should  he  taken  not  to  move  with 
loaded  teams  on  the  surface  of  the  field,  so  as  to 
jar  the  tile  from  their  place ;  in  this  respect, 
drains  made  of  stone  are  less  liable  to  disturb- 
ance, than  those  made  of  earthen  tile.  The  gen- 
eral belief  is,  that  the  water  enters  through  the 
pores  of  the  pipes,  whether  more  from  above 
than  below  I  am  not  advised.  Of  this  I  am  cer- 
tain, wherever  tile  operate  well,  and  do  what  is 
expected  of  them  in  conducting  the  water — the 
soil  becomes  much  lighter,  more  free  to  break  in 
pieces,  and  in  all  respects  better  fitted  for  cul- 
ture. I  cannot  doubt  that  the  crops  on  many 
of  our  fields,  now  cultivated  with  vegetables — 
such  as  onions,  carrots,  cabbages,  beets,  &c. — 
would  be  doubled  by  the  application  of  tile 
drains,  at  an  expense  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars 
])er  acre.  I  know  of  no  mode  of  improving  their 
interests,  more  worthy  the  attention  of  the  far- 
mers of  New  England,  than  this  of  draining.. 

Sept.,  1859.  *. 


496 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


Nov. 


THE  BBBMEN,  OB  EMBDEN  GOOSE. 


These  beautiful  geese  were  originally  from 
Holland,  and  were  introduced  here  by  Colonel 
Samuel  Jaques,  of  Ten  Hills  Farm,  near  Boston. 
The  appellation  of  "Embden"  has  been  obtained 
from  the  town  of  that  name  in  Hanover.  Be- 
yond their  great  size,  and  the  uniform  clear 
white  of  their  plumage,  Mr.  Bement  says  he  is 
at  a  loss  for  any  sign  of  a  specific  difference  be- 
tween these  and  the  common  goose.  In  figure 
they  are  alike,  and  the  bill  and  legs  are  of  the 
same  brick-dust  hue. 

The  quiet,  domestic  character  of  the  Embden 
geese  causes  them  to  lay  on  flesh  rapidly ;  they 
never  stray  from  their  home,  the  nearest  pond 
and  field  satisfying  their  wants,  and  much  of 
their  time  is  spent  in  quiet  repose. 

Col.  Jaques  said  of  this  goose, — "As  quality  of 
flesh,  combined  with  weight,  is  a  main  consider- 
ation, I  wish  to  mention  that  the  flesh  of  the 
Bremen  goose  is  very  diff'erent  from  that  of  any 
of  our  domestic  varieties.  It  does  not  partake 
of  thai  dry  character  which  belongs  to  the  other 
and  more  common  kinds,  but  is  as  tender  and 
juicy  as   the   flesh   of  a  wild  fowl ;  besides,  it 


shrinks  less  in  the  process  of  cookii  g  than  that 
of  any  other  fowl." 

Mr.  James  Sisson,  of  Warren,  Ehode  Island, 
says  of  them, — "Their  properties  are  peculiar  ; 
they  lay  in  February ;  sit  and  hatch  with  more 
certainty  than  common  geese  ;  will  weigh  near- 
ly, and  in  some  instances  quite  twice  the  weight ; 
have  double  the  quantity  of  feathers  ;  never  fly; 
and  are  all  of  a  beautiful  snowy  whiteness." 


The  Manufacture  of  Coal  Oil. — The  man- 
ufacture of  kerosene  and  other  oils  from  coal  is 
generally  supposed  to  be  very  profitable,  and  so 
it  probably  is,  though  we  doubt  whether  such 
fabulous  sums  have  been  realized  from  it  as 
many  imagine.  A  Mr.  Gould,  of  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  has  written  a  letter  concerning  this  branch 
of  manufacture,  which  a  correspondent  informs 
us  abounds  in  misstatements  and  fallacies,  the 
writer  showing  his  entire  ignorance  of  the  sub- 
ject. Mr.  Grant  assumed  that  a  bushel  of  Penn- 
sylvania cannel  coal,  costing  five  cents,  yields  a 
gallon  of  crude  oil  worth  thirty-five  cents.  This 
seems  a  large  margin  to  pay  for  transportation, 
cost  of  labor  and  fuel  in  retorting  and  distilla- 
tion, but  in  point  of  fact  coal  suitable  for  making 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


497 


oil  cannot  be  obtained  for  five  cents  a  bushel. 
Western  oil  is  in  bad  repute  here,  the  character 
of  the  coal  being  such  that  it  is  impossible  to  get 
a  good  burning  oil  from  it.  The  large  manufac- 
tories here  pay  $20  to  $25  per  ton  for  coal  from 
Scotland,  New  Brunswick,  and  Nova  Scotia, 
which  yields  a  good  oil.  How  much  profit  they 
make  we  are  not  informed.  With  the  present 
demand  for  the  oil,  the  profit  is  doubtless  hand- 
Bome ;  but  the  great  demand  and  high  prices  in- 
vite competition,  and  this  will  ultimately  reduce 
prices  and  lead  to  more  economy  in  the  manu- 
faeture. — Boston  Journal. 


CA-TTiiE  sh:o"w  at  WESTBOBO'. 

On  Thursday,  Sept.  15,  the  annual  agricultu- 
ral show  of  the  Westboro'  society  took  place  in 
the  village  of  that  town.  The  day  was  cool  but  the 
air  clear  and  elastic,  and  the  good  people  of  that 
and  the  neighboring  towns,  of  both  sexes,  were 
out  in  full  attendance  and  fine  spirits,  to  do  their 
part  in  making  it  a  social  gala  day,  as  well  as 
one  to  show  the  products  of  farms.  So  the  cool 
bracing  air  brought  bloom  to  many  a  charming 
face,  and  no  doubt  some  of  those  fine  looking 
young  farmers  there,  found  a  tumult  under  their 
jacket  which  was  anything  but  disagreeable  !  The 
cold  made  men  and  animals  step  nimbly,  so  that, 
instead  of  depressing,  it  made  the  scene  all  the 
more  lively. 

First,  we  witnessed  the  exhibition  of  Bollts'' 
Patent  Hack  Lifter,  and  found  it  working  just  as 
we  had  seen  it  on  two  or  three  other  occasion*--, 
greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  beholders.  The 
cattle  pens  next  attracted  attention.  In  them  we 
found  a  sprinkling  of  most  breeds  common  in 
New  England,  and,  unless  we  overlooked  them, 
none  of  pure  blood  of  any  kind.  But  there  were 
a  good  many  milk  cows  presented  which  would 
do  credit  to  the  best  farms  in  the  State.  We  saw 
some  which  the  people  there  denominated  the 
"Sukey  Breed,"  that  present  excellent  points, 
and  have  the  general  appearance  of  good  milk- 
ers. Several  bulls  were  on  exhibition,  but  none 
that  we  should  rank  as  among  "the  best."  There 
were  some  fine  swine  and  poultry. 

The  Town  Hall  was  occupied  with  fruits,  vege- 
tables and  flowers,  and  a  crowd  of  admiring  spec- 
tators. The  show  of  pears  was  exceedingly  at- 
tractive, one  gentleman  exhibiting  over  ninety 
varieties  ;  some  of  these  were  very  large  and  fair. 
The  show  of  apples  was  creditable,  and  would  be 
so  td  any  section  of  the  State.  They  were  nu- 
merous, of  well-known  varieties,  and  were  of  good 
size  and  shape.  A  few  peaches,  plums,  cranber- 
ries iind  crab  apples  were  interspersed,  making 
up  a  beautiful  collection  in  all.  The  fruit  was 
arranged,  and  labelled  with  considerable  horti- 
cultural skill.  We  noticed  with  pleasure  collec- 
tions of  flowers  tastefully  arranged,  which  added 


a  freshness  and  beauty  to  the  scene  that  nothing 
else  could  have  done. 

The  collection  of  vegetables  was  very  good-» 
no  better  samples  of  beets,  onions,  carrots,  to- 
matoes, parsnips,  squashes,  egg  plants,  &c.,  csq 
be  produced  anywhere.  We  saw  eight  splendid 
squashes,  weighing  some  350  pounds,  the  pro- 
duct of  a  single  vine. 

There  were  23  entries  for  the  Plowing  Match-^j 
the  work  was  well  done,  without  hurry  or  noise, 
thus  aff"ording  an  example  to  the  farmers  worthy 
of  their  imitation  at  home.  The  trial  of  the 
strength  and  skill  of  working  oxen  was  numer- 
ously attended.  There  were  20  entries  of  oxen, 
5  of  steers,  and  4  entries  of  farm  and  3  of  carriage 
horses.  A  Spading  Match  was  eagerly  contest- 
ed.   The  Society  pays  about  $100  in  premiums. 

The  Address  was  at  the  dinner-table,  and  was 
given  by  William  Brigham,  Esq.,  of  Boston, 
but  a  good  cultivator,  we  understand,  on  his  farm 
at  Grafton  during  the  warm  season.  The  address 
was  an  excellent  one,  and  was  listened  to  with 
close  attention  by  a  large  audience.  The  speaker 
said,  "it  is  labor  and  economy,  not  luck,  that 
brings  success,  and  that  the  door-yard  and  gen- 
eral appearance  of  things  about  the  house,  will 
indicate  the  character  of  the  farm.  He  said  ag- 
riculture, like  other  pursuits,  had  its  periods  of 
prosperity  and  adversity,  but  that  a  period  is 
dawning  when  labor  on  the  soil  will  be  as  amply 
repaid  as  that  of  any  other  industry.  He  thought 
nobler  examples  of  men  cannot  be  referred  to, 
than  the  last  six  generations  of  New  England 
men.  He  drew  an  interesting  comparison  between 
the  agriculture  of  the  last  half  of  the  I7th  cen- 
tury, and  the  first  half  of  the  19th,  speaking  of 
climate,  mode  of  culture,  and  habits  of  living. 
There  were  only  thirty  plows  in  the  whole  colony 
in  1633.  The  address  was  a  decided,  bold  and 
plain  one,  containing  many  valuable  facts  and 
suggestions,  and  along  with  them,  two  or  three 
opinions  not  at  all  in  accordance  with  our  own. 
When  we  see  it  in  print,  we  may  take  opportuni- 
ty to  speak  of  it  again. 

The  dinner  was  a  good  one,  and  good  appe- 
tites waited  upon  it.  After  proper  attention  had 
been  paid  to  it,  the  President  of  the  Society,  G. 
C.  Sanborn,  Esq.,  congratulated  the  company 
upon  the  success  of  the  exhibition,  spoke  of  its 
future  in  hopeful  terms,  and  called  upon  Mr. 
Brigham,  the  orator,  for  remarks.  Mr.  Brigham 
honored  the  call,  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Brown, 
Editor  of  the  Farmer,  and  Dr.  Joseph  Rey- 
nolds, of  Concord.  At  this  moment.  Time,  with 
its  inexorable  finger,  pointed  to  the  hour  assigned 
for  testing  the  working  oxen,  and  what  was  left 
unuttered  by  the  men  and  women,  who  looked  as 
though  they  had  whole  columns  of  things  to  say, 
the  world  will  probably  never  know. 


498 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov.' 


Westboro'  is  a  beautiful  town,  and  has  a  thrif- 
ty and  intelligent  population.  It  has  many  ex- 
cellent farms,  cultivated  with  intelligence  and 
skill,  and  they  present  in  their  fields,  gardens 
and  dwellings,  the  most  substantial  evidences  of 
a  progressive  and  prosperous  people. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
NEW  CHUHJSr— AARON'S  EOD. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — In  a  recent  number  of  the 
Boston  Herald,  I  noticed  a  ''churn"  advertised 
of  improved  character,  which  the  inventor  oper- 
ated for  general  inspection  each  day  at  "Gerrish 
Market,"  adding  that  it  would  convert  either 
fresh  or  sour  milk  into  butter  in  three  minutes  ! 
Sure,  if  any  invention  can  be  found,  altogether 
dispensing  with  the  use  of  cream,  and  affording 
butter  in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  it  would  be 
most  desirable  to  obtain,  unless  the  promised 
product  be  as  that  of  the  fancy  farmer,  who  boast- 
ed that,  in  a  few  years,  manures  would  be  so 
condensed,  that  a  man  could  carry  fertilization 
enough  in  a  vest  pocket  to  enrich  twenty  acres  ! 
"Aye  !  good  master,"  said  his  servant,  "and  sure 
at  that  time,  you  may  be  able  to  carry  all  the 
crops  produced,  in  the  'tother  pocket !"  Pray, 
Messrs.  Editors,  can  you  bestow  on  us  any  in- 
formation as  to  a  three  minute  milk  churn  ? 
Will  it  perform  all  its  inventor  promises  ?  What 
is  the  price,  and  how  much  butter  can  be  made 
from  a  gallon  of  milk  ? 

1  would  be  glad  to  learn  if  any  of  your  readers 
know  of  any  medicinal  virtue  in  that  singular 
plant  "Aaron's  Hod,"  and  what  is  its  botanical 
name  ?  Surely  a  product  of  nature  possessing 
such  singular  properties,  could  not  have  been 
made  altogether  in  vain.  Oak  Hill. 

July  24,  1859.         

Remarks. — The  plant  you  inquire  about,  and 
commonly  known  as  "Aaron's  Rod,"  belongs  to 
the  family  "Sedum,"  in  botany.  There  are  sev 
eral  varieties ;  the  botanical  name  of  the  com 
mon  house-leek  is  "Sempervivum,"  or  "everlast 
ing."  

For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
FINE  POTATOES. 

My  neighbor  Osborn,  whom  I  have  long 
known  as  a  first  rate  man  to  mend  his  own  and 
neighbor's  ways,  this  morning  brought  me  abas 
ket  of  potatoes,  of  the  Davis  Seedling  variety. 
They  were  planted  the  30th  of  June,  fertiliz-d 
with  guano  only,  plump  and  fair  as  a  Virgin's 
cheek.  I  mean,  a  regular  built  country  virgin 
of  sixteen;  not  your  pale-faced,  tight-laced,  city 
exquisite,  of  twenty-five,  who  would  turn  up  her 
nose  with  a  sneer,  sooner  than  lay  her  delicate 
fingers  on  a  potato.  What  I  would  particularly 
remark  about  those  potatoes,  is,  their  rapidity 
of  growth,  and  superiority  for  quality  and  quan- 
tity. I  had  some  of  them  cooked  today,  and 
they  opened  perfectly,  and  tasted  as  well  as  they 
looked.  In  these  days,  when  so  many  mishaps 
visit  the  potato,  it  is  a  luxury  (to  us  paddy  boys) 
to  find  those  as  good  as  ever  grew  in  old  Ireland. 

South  Danvers,  Jane  13,  1859.  *. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
LIME   AND  WHEAT — MUCK    AND  GUANO — HAY- 
CAPS. 

I  regard  the  Farmer,  published  by  you,  as  a 
valuable  means  of  intercourse  among  farmers. 
Through  it  they  learn  each  others'  experience  in 
the  various  departments  of  agricultural  pursuits. 

If  lime  is  sown  on  wheat,  when  is  the  right 
time  to  sow  it — at  the  time  of  sowing  the  wheat, 
or  some  time  the  next  spring,  and  how  much 
ought  to  be  sown  to  the  acre? 

I  practice  drawing  muck  into  my  barn  in  the 
spring,  yarding  my  cows  on  it,  and  in  the  fall  I 
spread  it  on  my  grass  land.  Now  I  want  to 
know  if  it  would  be  wise  to  buy  guano  and  mix 
with  it,  before  carting,  and  if  so,  how  much 
ought  to  be  used,  say,  for  example,  in  a  quantity 
that  will  make  fifty  cart-loads? 

I  also  want  to  know  the  price  of  hay-caps,  all 
ready  for  use.  I  have  lived  in  this  world  more 
than  fifty-five  years,  and  have  never  seen  one  yet. 

Elijah  Gunn. 

Montague,  Mass.,  Sept.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Sow  four  or  five  bu,shels  of  slaked 
lime  per  acre — even  more  will  do  no  harm — at 
the  time  the  wheat  is  sown. 

A  bushel  of  guano  mingled  with  an  ox-cart 
load  of  good,  moist  muck  would  form  a  valua- 
ble manure.  It  depends  upon  circumstances 
whether  it  would  be  wise  for  you  to  use  it.  If 
jou  have  exhausted  your  manure  heaps,  and 
have  land  at  a  distance  from  your  building  that 
you  are  quite  desirous  of  bringing  up,  we  have 
no  doubt  your  crop  would  be  sufficiently  bene- 
fited by  the  muck  and  guano  to  pay  the  cost  of 
application.  The  great  advantage,  however,  to 
be  gained  in  the  use  of  guano  is  to  cover  the 
land,  if  possible,  with  a  crop  of  grass,  and  thus 
fill  the  starved  soil  with  grass  roots  which  sup- 
ply it  anew  with  vegetable  matter.  You  then 
have  a  basis  to  proceed  upon  in  getting  future 
crops. 

Hay  caps  two  yards  square  may  be  obtained 
for  about  40  cents  each.     Of  a  smaller  size  for  a 


blackberries. 

Will  you,  or  some  of  your  correspondents, 
please  inform  me  the  mode  of  cultivating  black- 
berries, and  also,  where  I  can  obtain  the  genu- 
ine Lawton  or  Rochelle  variety,  the  price  of 
them,  and  how  many  it  requires  for  an  acre? 

What  are  blackberries  worth  per  quart  in  your 
market  generally  ? 

Newbury,  Vt.,  1859.  Subscriber. 

Remarks. — Such  cultivation  as  one  would 
give  to  raise  sixty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre, 
would  be  suitable  for  high  blackberries.  They 
may  be  cultivated  in  hills,  four  feet  apart,  or  sus- 
tained by  rough  trellis  work  of  poles  or  strips  of 
boards.  Mr.  Lawton  usually  advertises  his 
plants  in  the  Farmer.  Vermont  or  Massachu- 
setts are  too  far  north  for  the  Lawton.     It  is  a 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


499 


most  excellent  fruit  when  ripe,  but  it  needs  a 
longer  summer  than  ours  to  perfect  it.  Black- 
berries will  average  at  least  ten  cents  a  quart  in 
Boston  market.  

BEANS — SQUASH  VINES— WITCH   GRASS. 

As  you  are  always  ready  and  willing  to  insert 
in  your  paper  anything  that  is  profitable  or  in- 
teresting to  your  readers,  I  thought  I  would  give 
you  the  product  of  a  single  bean  raised  on  my 
place  this  season.  From  one  stalk  I  took  58 
pods  from  which  I  shelled  288  full  grown  beans, 
besides  quite  a  number  that  were  not  fully  de- 
veloped. Now  that  is  what  I  call  a  pretty  good 
yield  for  New  Hampshire  soil.  This  was  a  stalk 
pulled  up  without  regard  to  its  being  more  pro- 
lific than  others  of  its  kind,  and  they  are  what 
are  called  the  wild  goose  bean  in  our  parts. 

One  thing  by  way  of  curiosity — we  have  a 
squash  vine  ten  or  twelve  feet  long,  which  is  be- 
tween six  and  seven  inches  wide  near  the  end. 
I  do  not  know  of  what  kind  it  is,  as  the  seeds 
came  from  Washington.  The  vine  has  but  one 
squash  upon  it,  which  did  not  make  its  appear- 
ance until  about  four  weeks  ago ;  it  is  now 
about  as  large  as  a  gallon  measure,  and  of  a  light 
green  color. 

Can  you,  or  any  of  your  correspondents,  tell 
me  where  I  can  get  v/hat  is  called  by  some  the 
"Phin"  grass,  by  others  "Dog,"  and  still  others 
"Witch"  grass  seed,  and  at  what  price  per  bush- 
el ?  George  Morrison. 

Franldin,  N.  H.,  Sept.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  have  never  known  the  witch 
grass  seed  for  sale.  This  grass  makes  good  hay, 
but  it  has  an  Arab's  reputation,  every  man's 
hand  is  against  it.  

DEEP  CULTURE. 

Mr.  Editor  : — At  the  market  in  North  Ando- 
ver  I  met  a  gentleman  of  Lowell,  who  told  me 
he  had  thirty-five  acres  under  culture,  which  he 
had  plowed  twelve  inches  deep.  He  further  said 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  plow  his  plain  land  in 
this  depth  for  fifteen  years.  I  presume  he  gets 
as  good  crops  as  any  other  man,  for  it  is  said  he 
has  become  the  wealthiest  man  in  the  city  in 
which  he  lives.     Facts  are  stubborn  things. 

He  still  entertains  some  strange  notions  about 
the  bugs  that  destroy  the  potato  and  the  onions 
— but  these  he  refers  to  his  lady,  who  has  prac- 
ticed philosophy  in  these  matters. 

What  a  fine  thing  is  a  good  helpmeet  in  our 
labors — even  if  they  do  lead  us  into  error  ! 

Sept.  19,  1859.  _ 

ABOUT   BARNS. 

Your  correspondent,  "J.W.  K.,"  from  Durham, 

N.  H.,  has  given  many  good  ideas  about  the 
structure  of  barns.  First,  let  me  say,  it  can  nev- 
er be  expedient  to  crowd  a  dozen  dozen  of  eggs 
into  one  basket  when  they  can  be  more  safely 
and  conveniently  preserved  in  a  dozen  baskets. 
So  with  a  barn  for  the  storing  and  preservation 
of  hay.  No  sensible  man  will  ever  think  of  put- 
ting 500  tons  of  hay  under  one  roof,  when  it 
can  be  much  easier  and  more  safely  secured  un- 
der ten.  "Verbum  Sat  Sapientis." 


FENCE   POSTS — SWAMP   LAND. 

I  wish  to  inquire  of  you,  or  some  of  your  in- 
telligent readers,  the  best  time  to  cut  ash  or 
hemlock  for  fence-posts  ? 

Also,  what  shall  I  do  with  a  piece  of  swamp 
land  that  is  made  dry,  and  don't  bear  as  good 
grass  as  before  it  was  ditched — muck  from  one 
to  five  feet  deep — never  was  flowed  ? 

John  W.  Townsend. 

Ketc  Lisbon,  N.  H.,  Sept.,  1859. 

Remarks. — September,  we  have  always  un- 
derstood, is  a  good  time  to  cut  timber  in  order 
to  secure  durability. 

From  your  account  of  the  swamp  land,  we 
should  infer  that  the  water  had  been  taken  off 
too  low  down — leaving  the  top  too  dry.  If  you 
can  stop  the  flow  of  water  by  a  slight  dam,  it 
may  be  well  to  do  so,  raising  the  water  to  within 
12  or  18  inches  of  the  surface  and  see  what  the 
efi'ect  is  on  the  crops. 

SEEDING   TO   FOWL   MEADOW   GRASS. 

1  have  several  acres  of  land,  which  I  would 
like  to  seed  with  fowl  meadow,  but  cannot  plow 
or  drain,  it  being  on  the  borders  of  a  very  flat 
stream.  It  is  flowed  most  of  the  winter  and  un- 
til May. 

Can  I  seed  a  small  portion  by  spreading  J  to 
1  inch  of  loam  after  sowing?  if  so,  how  much 
seed  to  the  acre,  and  when  to  sow  ?  If  that  will 
not  do,  will  any  other  way  answer,  without  plow- 
ing? A  Young  Farmer. 

Waltliam,  Mass.,  Aug.  28,  1859. 

Remarks. — If  you  could  seed  the  land  suffi- 
ciently early,  say  in  August  or  first  week  in  Sep- 
tember, 80  that  the  grass  would  root  well  and 
cover  the  ground,  the  winter  and  spring  flowage 
might  not  hurt  it.  We  are  told  by  seedmen  that 
one  bushel  of  seed  is  not  too  much  for  an  acre. 

LAMB-KILL. 

Can  you  give  any  feasible  method  of  extermi- 
nating the  pasture  shrub  known  as  lamb-kill? 

A.  I.  Shaw. 
Kensington,  N.  H.,  Sept.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  do  not  know.  It  is  a  diffi- 
cult matter.  The  only  certain  remedy  is  fire, 
and  then  the  plow  and  hoe.  Where  you  cannot 
introduce  the  plow  and  hoe,  cut  the  bushes, 
burn  thoroughly,  and  rake  grass  seed  into  the 
burnt  spots.  Perhaps  some  of  our  readers — 
from  their  own  experience — can  recommend  a 
better  way ;  if  so,  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  them 
do  it.  

CROWING  hens. 

There  is  a  hen  in  this  town  which  has  brought 
up  a  brood  of  chickens  this  summer,  but  has  now 
left  her  vocation  of  cackling,  and  taken  up  that 
of  crowing  ;  she  "flaps  her  wings  and  crows"  as 
lustily  as  Chapman  used  to  at  the  result  of  the 
elections. 

Why  she  thus  unsexes  herself,  and  assumes  airs 


500 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


so  unnatural,  is  more  than  I  can  tell ;  by  some,  it 
is  considered  as  an  omen  of  bad  luck  ;  perhaps 
you  or  some  of  your  readers  can  explain  the  mys- 
tery. Alpha. 
Brandon,  VL,  1859. 

POISON   IVY. 

I  wish  to  inquire  if  there  is  any  way  that  I  can 
rid  a  meadow  of  poison  ivy  ?  If  so,  what  is  the 
easiest  and  most  effectual  way  of  doing  it? 

J^orwich,  1859.  A  Subscriber. 


For  the  New  England  Parmer. 
TRANSPLANTING  PINES. 

In  the  July  number,  "Oak  Hill"  inquires  how 
pine  trees  may  be  transplanted.  I  give  him  my 
limited  experience  with  two,  and  two  only,  which 
have  both  lived,  and  are  growing  well.  In  March, 
1856,  as  soon  as  the  frost  was  out,  I  went  with 
my  wheelbarrow,  iron  bar  and  spade,  to  my  pas- 
ture, selected  a  thrifty  pine  4  or  5  feet  high — 
drove  my  spade  into  the  ground  around  it  on  a 
circumference  18  inches  or  so  from  the  trunk, 
not  perpendicularly,  but  as  much  inclined  to  the 
ground  as  my  pen  now  is  to  the  paper  I  am 
writing  on,  (and  I  hold  my  pen  as  I  was  instructed 
by  that  excellent  writing  master,  Mr.  Barker,  who 
lived  in  London,  N.  H.,  25  or  30  years  ago.)  That 
done,  I  pried  up  the  tree,  dirt  and  all,  with 
my  iron  bar,  and  hoisted  the  same  (a  good  solid 
lift,  by  the  way)  into  my  wheelbarrow ;  dug  a 
hole  in  my  front  yard,  set  the  whole  into  it,  and 
levelled  off — and  left  it  to  grow — and  grow  it  did 
without  more  care.  Yesterday,  August  29,  I  ob- 
served it  had  grown  this  year  upwards  of  a  foot 
in  height.  Last  March  I  sat  out  another  in  the 
same  way,  which  is  growing  well ;  have  not  wa- 
tered either  of  them.  N.  C.  Berry. 

Randolph,  Mass.,  1859. 


LOOK  IN  THIS    MIKROK. 

Investing  in  champagne  at  $2  a  bottle — an 
acre  of  good  government  land  costs  $1,25.  In- 
vesting in  tobacco  and  cigars,  daily,  one  year, 
$50 — seven  barrels  of  good  flour  will  cost  $49. 

Investing  in  "drinks,"  one  year,  $100 — $100 
will  pay  for  ten  daily  and  fifteen  monthly  peri- 
odicals. 

Investing  in  theatrical  amusements,  one  year, 
$200 — $200  will  purchase  an  excellent  library. 

Investing  in  a  fast  horse,  $500 — four  hundred 
acres  of  good  wild  land  costs  $500. 

Investing  in  a  yacht,  including  bettings  and 
drinkings  for  the  season,  $5,000 — $5,000  will 
buy  a  good  improved  country  farm. 

Panics,  hard  times,  loss  of  time,  red  faces,  bad 
temper,  poor  health,  ruin  of  character,  misery, 
starvation,  death,  and  a  terrible  future  may  be 
avoided  by  looking  at  the  above  square  in  the 
face. 

A  majority  of  "financiers,"  in  making  calcula- 
tions for  the  future,  watch  the  importations,  ex- 
ports of  specie,  the  ups  and  downs  of  stocks,  and 
the  movements  of  the  Wall  Street  bulls  and 
bears.  All  that  is  very  well,  but  let  them  at  the 
same  time  estimate  the  loss  of  gold  in  the  mael- 
strom of  extravagance. — Scientific  Artisan, 


AUTUMN— A  DIRGE. 

The  warm  (un  ia  failing  ;  the  bleak  wind  is  wailing; 
The  bare  boughs  are  sighing;  the  pale  flowers  are  dying; 

And  the  year 
On  the  earth,  her  death-bed,  in  shroud  of  leaves  dead, 
Is  lying. 

Come  months,  come  away, 

From  November  to  May ; 

In  your  sacdest  array, 

Follow  the  bier 

Of  the  dead,  cold  year, 
And  like  dim  shadows  watch  her  sepulchre. 

The  chill  rain  is  falling  ;  the  nipt  worm  is  crawling ; 
The  rivers  are  swelling  ;  the  thunder  is  knelling 

For  the  year; 
The  blithe  swallows  ar-?  flown,  and  the  lizards  each  gone 
To  his  dwelling; 
Come,  months,  come  away; 
Put  on  white,  black,  and  gray ; 
Let  your  light  sisters  play — 
Ye  follow  the  bier 
Of  the  dead,  cold  year. 
And  make  her  grave  green  with  tear  on  tear. 

Percy  Bysche  Shellty. 


For  the  New  England  Partner. 
FROM  NORTHERN  ILLINOIS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — As  our  harvest  is  gathered,  and 
all  growing  crops  in  such  a  state  of  advance- 
ment that  a  correct  idea  of  the  yield  may  nearly 
be  guessed  at,  I  will  offer  a  short  article  on  the 
subject  for  the  Farmer. 

The  wheat  crop  is  not  a  full  one — many  are 
now  threshing  out  wheat  and  oats ;  whea*,  varies 
much  in  quantity ;  while  some  have  scarcely  five 
bushels  per  acre,  others  have  ten,  fifteen  and 
some  few  twenty  and  upwards,  but  the  number  is 
small  that  reaches  the  last  figure.  The  majori- 
ty will  most  likely  be  under  ten.  This  county 
will  scarcely  average  ten,  and  I  believe  it  would 
be  a  liberal  estimate  for  the  whole  northern  por- 
tion of  the  State.  The  quality  is  generally  good, 
far  ahead  of  last  year.  Oats  are  good — the  best 
pieces  will  yield  sixty  bushels  per  acre  ;  the  av- 
erage will  not  be  far  short  of  forty. 

Corn  will  not  be  half  a  crop  in  this  vicinity.  I 
think  it  will  scarcely  average  fifteen  bushels  to 
the  acre  of  good  marketable  corn,  but  this  is  not 
the  case  in  all  parts  of  the  State. 

Potatoes  will  be  a  light  yield  near  this  place. 
I  am  told  they  are  much  better  in  many  places 
not  far  distant.  The  hay  crop  is  also  much  light- 
er than  usual.  The  importance  of  this  crop  is 
being  felt  more  in  this  country  now,  than  it  was 
some  years  ago. 

The  chintz  bugs  did  considerable  damage  to 
many  of  the  crops  ;  they  operated  on  the  wheat 
first,  damaging  some  fields  badly.  I  do  not  know 
of  a  single  field  that  was  clear  of  them.  They 
went  from  the  wheat  into  the  corn,  where  they 
still  remain  in  large  quantities  but  do  not  seem 
to  be  doing  much  injury  now  ;  they  worked  hard 
on  it  a  few  weeks  after  wheat  harvest.  Vegeta- 
bles of  all  kinds  are  much  scarcer  here  than  com- 
mon. The  frost  of  June  5th  cut  most  of  the  ten- 
der plants  down,  and  what  few  escaped  then, 
with  what  was  planted  since,  have  suffered  se- 
verely by  dry  weather. 

We  have  had  a  very  dry  summer,  having  had 
no  rain  since  early  in  the  season  to  moisten  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMED 


501 


ground  to  any  extent  r  the  dry  weather  is  the 
greatest  cause  of  our  short  crops.  We  had  two 
small  showers  this  month,  about  the  3d  and  19th, 
and  about  tlie  same  in  June  and  July ;  the  last 
shower  was  the  best,  and  did  much  for  the  grow- 
ing crops  and  pasturage.  I  think  by  deep  culti- 
vation this  country  would  stand  the  drouth  well, 
and  would,  perhaps,  be  much  better  in  very  wet 
seasons.  There  are  some  fine  lands  here  that 
•would  be  much  improved  by  good  draining.  This 
is  a  fine  farming  country,  the  soil  is  naturally 
good,  and  the  surface  smooth  and  beautiful,  with 
plenty  of  running  water,  and  a  competency  of 
timber  ;  fruit-growing  seems  to  be  the  least  suc- 
cessful of  any  branch  of  farm  operations. 

The  farmers  do  not  generally  take  enough  in- 
terest in  this  department ;  we  have  no  fruit  this 
year — even  the  wild  fruit  was  all  killed  by  the 
June  frost.  I  think  this  country  much  less  adapt- 
ed to  successful  fruit-growing  than  any  of  the 
Eastern  or  Middle  States,  but  it  is  worth  while 
to  have  orchards  and  fruit  trees  for  their  beauty, 
if  a  good  crop  of  fruit  is  less  sure  than  elsewhere. 
There  are  some  kinds  of  fruit  adapted  to  almost 
any  country.  Thos.  A.  Jackson. 

Jioscoe,  III.,  Aug.  29,  1859. 


NEW  AGRICULTUKAIi  PAPBHS. 

If  the  multiplication  of  journals  devoted  to  the 
promotion  of  Agriculture  is  evidence  of  real  ag- 
ricultural progress,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but 
that  our  people,  in  nearly  every  section  of  the 
country,  are  making  rapid  and  real  improvement 
in  the  art  of  tilling  the  soil.  Scarcely  a  week 
passes  but  we  are  greeted  by  some  new  friend 
with  smiling  face  and  comely  apparel,  v/ho  has 
entered  the  wide  field  to  labor,  help  on  the  great 
work,  and  while  earning  honest  bread,  to  win  an 
honorable  fame.  We  have  two  of  this  descrip- 
tion before  us  now.  They  are  not  only  fair  to 
behold,  doing  credit  to  the  typographic  art  of 
the  country,  but  they  are  filled,  generally,  with 
good,  sound  farming  doctrines,  and  seasonable 
suggestions. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  Farmer  and  Gardener, 
devoted  to  Agriculture,  Horticulture  and  Rural 
Aflfairs  generally.  A.  M.  Spangler,  Editor; 
published  at  633  Market  St.,  Philadelphia.  This 
paper  is  in  quarto  form,  very  handsomely  printed 
and  illustrated.  The  other  paper  is  "Phe  West- 
ern Farmer's  Magazine,  monthly,  by  Birdsall 
Brothers,  Chicago,  111.  The  editor's  saluta- 
tory is  a  long  article  upon  the  topics — 

"What  are  the  farmers  of  our  country  ?" 

"AVhat  ought  they  to  be  ?" 

"How  are  they  to  become  such  ?" 
and  he  handles  them  well. 

We  wish  both  papers  great  usefulness  and 
success. 

Train  Horses  to  Walk. — The  Michigan  Far- 
mer well  observes  :  "A  plow-horse  should,  above 
all  things,  be  a  good  walker.     The  walking  gait 


is  not  cultivated  enough  in  training  horses.  Only 
consider  what  a  team  that  could  walk  four  miles 
an  hour,  for  ten  hours  per  day,  could  do  towards 
hurrying  through  spring  work." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HAKVESTING  CORN. 

Mr.  Editor  : — If  you  are  not  already  tired  of 
publishing  articles  on  the  above  subject,  I  will 
venture  to  trespass  this  once  upon  your  patience. 

In  the  Farmer  of  August  6,  I  noticed'  a  com- 
munication from  "W.  M.  L.,"  in  reply  to  "J. 
Wood,"  as  regards  the  best  plan  of  harvesting 
the  corn  crop.  There  is  a  wide  difl'erence  of 
opinion  between  them,  as  to  the  best  way  of  doing 
the  work.  I  respect  an  honest  difference  of 
opinion  on  any  subject.  I  do  not  think  it  is  safe 
to  make  an  assertion,  that  cannot  be  carried  out 
in  practica.  Does  he  really  mean  when  he  says 
it  is  "as  much  work  to  cut  an  acre  of  stalks,  bind 
and  shock  them,  as  it  is  to  cut  up  the  same 
amount  of  corn  at  the  roots  and  bind  and  shock 
it?"  This  is  virtually  saying  that  he  can  harvest 
an  acre  of  corn,  grain  and  all,  while  another  is 
harvesting  the  stalks.  I  should  like  to  take  a 
job  of  that  kind  on  a  wager  with  him,  or  any 
other  New  Hampshire  man,  and  if  I  did  not  come 
out  a  little  ahead  on  the  "home  stretch,"  why 
then  I  would  "acknowledge  the  com,"  and  own 
myself  beaten.  Then  again,  he  says,  "I  know, 
from  my  own  experience,  that  corn  well  secured 
in  the  shock  will  cure  as  sound  and  bright  as  that 
which  is  suff"ered  to  ripen  in  the  butts."  From 
that  I  respectfully  "beg  leave  to  diff'er,"  and  I 
will  presently  show  the  reasons  why. 

A  few  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  pass  along 
the  road  by  a  neighbor's  corn-field  that  had  been 
cut  up  at  the  roots  and  shocked  about  two  weeks 
previous.  Some  of  it  was  standing  up  straight, 
some  leaning,  some  half  way  over  and  some 
wholly  prostrate.  Having  always  had  doubts  of 
the  policy  of  harvesting  corn  in  that  way,  I 
thought  I  would  satisfy  myself  by  a  personal  in- 
spection of  it.  I  selected  a  shock  that  had  nearly 
fallen  over,  and  putting  my  hand  into  the  mid- 
dle of  it  drew  out  an  ear  and  husked  it,  showing 
unmistakably  its  bad  condition.  The  grain  was 
covered  with  a  white  mould,  and  had  a  pale  flab- 
by look.  I  came  away  fully  convinced  that  that 
was  not  the  best  way  to  harvest  corn.  It  seems 
to  me  a  little  strange,  that  there  are  farmers  who 
will  deliberately  go  to  work  and  pai-tly  spoil  their 
crops,  after  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  expense 
in  raising  them  ;  and  when  I  see  corn  cut  up  at 
the  ground  and  shocked  in  the  field,  it  reminds 
me  of  so  many  monuments  of  folly. 

There  is  a  little  more  in  the  article  of  "W.  M. 
L."  that  I  wish  to  notice.  He  says,  "besides 
having  advantage  of  his  friend  Wood  in  the 
saving  of  time  and  labor,  it  is  a  great  convenience 
in  having  the  stalks  and  butts  together.  I 
cannot  agree  with  him  in  that,  for  I  think  it  is 
more  convenient  to  have  them  separate.  He  also 
thinks  it  an  error  to  let  the  butts  remain  stand- 
ing, because  they  become  hard  and  dry,  and  of 
little  value.  I  think  that  in  raising  corn  we 
raise  it  for  the  grain,  and  not  for  the  fodder ; 
then  why  not  follow  nature  in  part  by  letting  the 
corn  stand  ?     I  can  assure   any   one  with  entire 


502 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


confidence  that  a  bushel  of  corn   cured  in    the  was  not  a  failure,  after  all,  for    the  interruption 
shock,  will  not  weigh  so  much  as  a  bushel  cured  which  it  experienced  showed  how  much  the  peo- 

standing  in  the  hill.  ,   ,  .   ,     ,       ,  ,      pie  regard  and  cherish  the  festival.     It  was   not 

It  would  be  a  good  plan,!  think,  for  those  who  '„  .,  ..i        i,  i    ^  .1 

.     ,.      1   ^°  ^      li  -^      t  v^ti,  „,„„„    a  failure,  either,  because  what  goes  to  make  up 

are  so  inclined,  to  try  the  experiment  both  ways,  ,  .,  .  .  -,  ,,         ,      ,  , 

note  the  result  in  harvesting,  and   send  in  their  an  exhibition   loas   there,    although   the  people 

experience  for  the  columns  of  the  Farmer.  i  were  prevented  from  seeing  it.     Some  500  cattle, 

Lcxi7igton,  Aug.,  1859.         J.  Underwood.       30O  horses,  100   sheep,  swine,  poultry,  bees  and 

_^  honey,  grains  and  vegetables,  fruits  and  flowers, 


THE  MAINE  STATE  PAIB. 


household  manufactures,  paintings  and  pictures, 
I  and  a  respectable  collection  of  farm  implements 
The  farmers'  autumnal  festivals  have  been  tak-j^nd  machines,  were  presented  to  be  examined, 
ing  place  during  the  past  ten  days  in  such  num-^f  j^g^  ^.^cre  were  the  usual  arrangements  for 
bers,  that  the  utmost  limit  of  our  columns  would  pio^j^g^  drawing,  and  the  exhibition  of  horses, 
scarcely  contain  a  brief  account  of  each.  Re-j  The  stock,  much  of  it,  was  excellent,  especially 
cording  the  awards  we  long  since  abandoned,  as  ^j^g  working  oxen  ;  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
Ihey  can  have  but  little  interest  for  any  beyond  ^n  equal  number  having  so  many  points  of  ex- 
the  locality  where  they  are  awarded.  It  is  ourl  pgUgj^^e  as  the  teams  from  the  town  of  Starks.  A 
aim  to  catch  the  spirit  of  the  thing,  if  ve  can,  and  ^erd  of  Devon  cows  exhibited  by  the  Shakers  of 
transmit  it  to  the  reader,  so  that  he  can  judge,  Lebanon,  was  very  fine.  There  was  also  a  large 
without  having  been  present  at  the  exhibition,  ^jj^^^j^y  ^f  j)^^}^^^^^  ^^qpI^^  grade  and  pure,  some 
whether  what  was  said  and  done  will  tend  to^^^f  which  was  very  good.  A  few  full  blood  Jer- 
promote  the  general  results  which  it  is  desired  to.gyg  ^.^^.^  presented  by  Dr.  Holmes,  editor  of 
gain.  In  doing  this,  it  will  be  proper  to  notice  ^^^  ^^^-^^^  Farmer,  and  they  are  among  the  first, 
with  some  particularity  articles  of  striking  ex-]^,^  understand,  introduced  into  the  State.  The 
cellence,  whether  they  spring  from  the  genius  of!  ^j^^^   ^^   implements    and  machines    contained 


the  inventor,  the  skill  of  the  mechanic,  or  the 
wisdom  of  the  tiller  of  the  soil ;  and  so,  if  strik- 
ing defects  in   the  system  of  management,  or  in 


many  attractive  articles. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  we  were  present,   a 
discussion  took  place  at  the  State  House,  upon 


the  execution  of  plans,  occur,  it  becomes  our  du-j^j^^  question-"  What  is  the  best  breed  or  race  of 
ty  as  public  journalists  to  notice  them  in  a  prop-|  ^.^^^1^  ^j.  ^^e  State  of  Maine  ?"  The  discussion 
er  spirit,  and  thus  the  greatest  amount  of  good  I  ^.^^  animated  and  interesting,  but  assumed  a  sort 
from  the  time,  talent  and  money  expended,  may  I  ^  ^^^^_^^^^^j,^^,  f,^^.^^  ^^^^  ^.^_^.^^  f^^,  ^r^i^^^\e 
possibly  be  secured.  facts  were  elicited.     It   was  generally  conceded 

The  annual  State  Fair  in  Maine  opened  at  Au-Lj^^^  ^j^^  g^^^^  ^^^  „ot  at  present  a  breed  the  best 
gusta,  on  Tuesday,  the  20th  inst.,  and  was  to  be  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  people,  but  none  of 
continued  through  four  days,  but  the  threatening  ^^^  speakers  informed  us  how  such  breed  is  to  be 
aspect  of  the  weather  on  Tuesday  resolved  itself  secured  ;  it  is  to  come  from  crossing,  but  what 
into  a  decided  storm  on  Wednesday,  and  arrest-  j^^gg^jg  g^^j  j-^ces  are  to  be  mingled,  was  notsug- 


ed  its  further  progress.  There  was  no  "make- 
believe"  about  it,  for  the  rains  descended,  the 
winds  blew,  and  the  floods  came,  and  every  liv- 
ing thing  "caught  the  dumps''  at  once.  The  cat- 
tle would  not  low,  the  cocks  would  not  crow,  nor 
the  hoi'ses  go — it  was  an  effectual  damper  all 
round.  The  auctioneers  grew  hoarse  while  the 
icy  rain  drizzled  down  their  necks,  and  soon  be- 
gan to  pack  up  their  traps  ;  the  jockeys  lost  all 
their  grit,  and  the  boldest  of  them  didn't  believe 
there  was  a  horse  on  the  ground  that  could  trot 
a  mile  in  ten  minutes  ;  the  men  suddenly  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  "discretion  is  the  better 
part  of  valor,"  and  departed  to  get  up  a  flame 
within  themselves,  or  find  one  at  their  hotels. 
There  was  a  regular  stampede  among  the  women, 
and  the  field,  so  lately  sparkling  with  feminine 
beauty  and  grace,  became  damp,  dull  and  de- 
spondent, and  the  winds  and  rain  had  it  pretty 
much  to  themselves. 


gested.  In  this  lies  the  whole  difficulty  of  the 
matter. 

Among  the  manufactured  articles,  we  were  es- 
pecially pleased  with  ^furnace for  heating  dwel- 
lings, where  wood  is  used  as  fuel,  the  invention 
of  Mr.  E.  D.  NoRCROSS,  of  Augusta.  We  saw 
this  in  operation  at  our  lodgings,  and  felt  its  ge- 
nial influences  on  coming  in  from  the  storm. 

Another  article  was  a  patent  carriage  shaft 
shackle,  for  attaching  shafts  to  the  axle-tree.  It 
is  a  simple  invention  of  Mr.  George  Kenny,  of 
Milford,  N.  H.,— is  a  cheap,  safe,  and  durable 
article,  and  allows  no  noise,  such  as  we  hear  in 
other  attachments.  It  is  highly  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  carriage-makers.  We  also  saw  "Torrefs 
Maine  State  Dee  Hive,"  and  the  bees  at  work  in 
it,  ami  formed  a  high  opinion  of  its  value.  If 
this  is  confiimed  by  a  more  quiet  and  careful 
examination  at  home,  we  shall  find  opportunity 


to  say  a  word  to  lovers  of  the   apiary  at  another 
But  the  Maine  State  Show  for  the  year  1859JjjjQg_ 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


503 


Our  stay  in  the  pleasant  city  of  Augusta  was 
made  delightful  by  the  generous  hospitality,  and 
kind  attentions  of  our  old  friend  Eaton,  (late 
pu'  lisher  of  the  Maine  Farmer,)  and  those  of  his 
cheerful  and  intelligent  family.  The  storm  did 
not  disturb  the  proceedings  of  the  fair,  within 
those  doors, — for  rational  conversation,  and  song 
and  laugh,  blended  so  harmoniously  with  every 
domestic  duty,  as  to  afford  a  beautiful  type  of  a 
true  New  England  home. 

Our  visit  was  also  made  pleasant  by  meeting 
and  conversing  with  several  gentlemen  distin- 
guished for  their  zeal  and  knowledge  in  agricul- 
tural matters,  and  who  are  truly  benefactors  of 
the  race.  Among  these  were  J.  J.  Thomas,  one 
of  the  editors  of  the  Country  Gentleman,  Dr. 
Holmes,  agricultural  editor  oi  the  Maine  Farmer, 
Messrs  HoMAN  and  Manley,  of  the  same  paper, 
some  of  the  officers  and  trustees  of  the  society, 
and  gentlemen  from  Maine  and  other  States. 
Several  other  matters  were  suggested  by  our 
visit,  which  we  may  touch  upon  hereafter. 


DBSTBUCTION  OF  SHEEP  BY  DOGS. 

The  assessors  in  Ohio,  under  an  act  of  the 
Legislature,  have  endeavored  to  ascertain  the  to- 
tal number  of  sheep  killed  and  injured  by  dogs 
during  the  year  1S58.  The  returns  from  only  a 
few  counties  have  been  puljlished  ;  but  these, 
few  as  the  counties  are,  disclose  a  fearful  amount 
of  slaughter.  We  append  the  returns  of  eleven 
counties,  covering  not  more  than  one-eighth  of 
the  State : 

Counties.                      Killed.  JFoiinded.  Faltte. 

Greene 1,239  S20  $i.l04 

Har.iEon 0S7  1,473  3,0S6 

Delaware 781  555  1,02G 

Muskincum 1,206  8S4  3.110 

ChimpaiRn 682  6G4  3,189 

Lorain 432  156  1,219 

Suiamit 820  820  2,459 

Lake 412  100  888 

Stark. 626/  710  1,879 

Cuyahoga 683  1,112  3,193 

Wajne 747  657  2182 

7,054  7,860  $25,342 

Here  are  over  7,000  sheep  killed  and  nearly 
8,000  injured,  at  a  cost  to  the  owners  of  over 
$25,000,  and  all  by  a  pack  of  curs  utterly  worth- 
less. If  the  proportion  holds  good  throughout 
the  State,  the  annual  loss  to  sheep-growers  must 
be  about  $200,000,  and  if  all  th"  dogs  in  the 
State  were  put  together,  they  would  not  be  worth 
a  tenth  part  of  that  sum.  We  trust  that  the  leg- 
islation under  which  these  statistics  have  been 
gathered  will  be  followed  up  vigorously,  and  that 
some  judicious  measures  will  be  taken  to  abate 
an  evil  of  such  magnitude.  Other  States  will 
doubtless  follow  Ohio  in  any  efficient  measures 
she  may  adopt.  The  danger  to  sheep  from  dogs 
has  for  a  long  time  prevented  an  increase  in  the 
sheej)-growing  business  in  this  country.  Many 
men  who  would  otherwise  engage  in  it  are  re- 
strained from  venturing  from  the  risk  attending 
it  in  consequence  of  the  dog-pest.  If  this  were 
removed,  the  business  of  v/ool-raisin;?  Vv^ould  at 
once  l)ecome  a  leading  and  a  profitable  one. — 
Pittsburg  Gazette. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
NOTSS  OH"  POPUIiAK  PALLACIES. 

Mr.  Editor: — Some  years  since,  while  I  was 
engaged  in  selecting  a  pair  of  chickens  from  the 
dressed  fowls  in  a  butcher's  stall,  a  Frenchman 
stood  near,  and  observing  that  the  dealer  seemed 
to  prize  very  highly  a  particular  pair,  on  account 
of  their  bright  yellow  skin,  he  remarked  that 
the  preference  for  yellow-legged  and  yellow- 
skinned  fowls  was  a  Yankee  prejudice.  The  deal- 
er admitted  that  this  might  be  true,  but  that  it 
was  for  his  interest  to  buy  the  most  saleable  arti- 
cles, and  he  had  found  by  experience,  that  the 
yellow-legged  sorts  could  be  sold  more  readily 
and  for  a  higher  price  than  any  others.  The 
Frenchman  replied  that  the  Americans  were  very 
dull  in  the  exercise  of  their  observing  faculties, 
and  he  suspected  that  their  national  love  of  gold 
might  be  the  cause  of  this  preference,  which  was 
founded  on  an  egregious  error.  In  France,  he 
added,  the  yellow-legged  chickens  are  considered 
unfit  to  be  raised.  Their  flesh  is  dry  and  stringy, 
compared  with  that  of  the  blue,  black  and  white- 
legged  fowls,  whose  flesh  is  by  far  the  most  ten- 
der and  juicy. 

I  have,  since  I  heard  the  Frenchman's  remarks, 
taken  every  opportunity  to  put  them  to  a  ration- 
al test,  and  have  found  them  to  be  correct.  The 
yellow-skinned  fowls  have  commonly  either  green 
of  yellow  legs;  those  with  black,  blue  or  white 
legs  have  a  white  skin.  There  are  some  excep- 
tions ;  but  the  exceptions  are  not  numerous.  I 
raise  a  great  many  chickens  every  year  for  my 
own  table,  calculating  to  supply  it  weekly  with 
one  pair,  from  July  to  February.  For  t\vo  years 
past,  I  have  kept  the  Black  Polands,  which  are 
black-legged  ;  the  G'dden  Pheasants,  which  are 
blue-legged  ;  White  Polands,  wiih  white  legs,  and 
another  sort,  allied  to  the  Dorking,  with  yellow 
legs.  The  chickens  are  all  raised  and  fed  in  the 
same  way,  yet  the  yellow-legged  individuals  have 
almost  alway.'*  been  found  inferior  to  the  others 
with  white  skins.  The  last  are  the  most  tender, 
delicate  and  agreeable.  There  are  occasional  ex- 
ceptions, but  so  frequently  are  the  yell  w-legged 
chickens  dry-meated  compared  with  the  others, 
that  I  am  surprised  that  our  own  countrymen 
have  not  discovered  the  fact. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  same  prejudice  exists 
in  this  part  of  the  cou!itry  in  regard  to  Indian 
corn.  Is  it  possible  that  the  Frenchman's  satiri- 
cal jest  upon  our  love  of  whatever  resembles  the 
color  of  gold  is  founded  on  fact,  and  that  this 
prejudice  carries  away  our  judgment  ?  The  New 
England  people  consider  the  yellow  corn  the  on- 
ly sort  that  is  fit  for  the  table,  and  believe  that 
the  white  kind  is  fit  only  for  hogs  and  cattle, 
rne  opposite  of  this  is  the  truth.  Meal  made 
from  the  white  corn  is  the  best  both  for  cakes 
and  for  puddings,  but  the  yellow  corn  is  more 
fattening  when  given  to  domestic  animals,  and 
is  preferred  by  them  to  the  white.  The  Southern 
people  are  well  acquainted  with  this  fact.  All 
iheir  Indian  bread  and  their  hominy  are  made 
from  white  corn  ;  and  they  smile  at  our  simplic- 
ity, which  leads  us  to  prefer  the  yellow  corn.  As 
the  Southerners  use  Indian  corn  in  a  greater  va- 
riety of  preparations  for  the  table  than  we  do, 
and  are  adepts  in  this  branch  of  domestic  econo- 
my, I  think  they  are  better  authority  than  we  at 


504 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


the  North,  in  this  matter.  I  may  add  that  those 
individuals  of  my  acquaintance  who  have  exper- 
imented upon  the  two  sorts  of  Indian  corn,  have 
concluded  that  the  Southerners  are  right. 

The  superior  sweetness  and  tenderness  of  the 
■white  ears  of  corn,  when  they  are  in  the  milk  and 
are  boiled  for  the  table,  are  apparent  to  all.  But 
the  community  have  been  very  slow  in  finding 
out  this  fact,  and  even  at  the  present  day,  some 
persons  may  be  found,  not  apparently  deficient 
in  common  sense,  who  slill  cultivate  the  yellow 
corn  for  table  use  as  a  green  vegetable. 

As  far  as  my  judgment  respecting  the  quality 
of  fruits  and  esculent  roots  can  be  formed  from 
their  color,  it  will  be  found  that  the  nearer  the 
color  approaches  to  white,  the  more  sweet  and 
delicate  the  flavor.  Of  beets,  turnips,  cherries, 
currants,  peaches  and  grapes,  the  sweetest  are 
white,  or  nearly  colorless.  It  is  a  matter  of  very 
common  observation  that  of  all  the  different 
kinds  of  potatoes,  those  with  yellow  meats  are 
more  liable  to  be  rank  and  disagreeably  flavored, 
and  are  coarser  grained,  than  the  other  sorts.  The 
best  of  all  varieties  are  those  with  white  meat  or 
pulp  ;  a  tinge  cf  red  or  blue  is  not,  however,  so 
bad  a  symptom  as  a  tinge  of  yellow.  It  is  not  al- 
ways wise  to  attempt  an  explanation  of  these 
things  ;  but  if  I  were  obliged  to  guess  the  why 
and  wherefore  of  this  fact,  I  should  say  that  the 
materials  which  produce  sugar  in  a  white  beet  or 
a  white  currant,  are  used  up  in  producing  the 
coloring  matter  in  the  red  ones.  It  is  also  highly 
probable  that  the  coloring  matter  of  vegetables 
possesses  a  flavor  peculiar  to  itself,  and  not  al- 
ways agreeable.  It  is  evident  that  the  coloring 
matter  of  the  yeilow-meated  potato  is  acid,  a;nd 
the  purple  coloiing  matter  of  the  grape  is  aro- 
matic. 1  have  no  doubt  that  if  a  white  variety  of 
the  tomato  could  be  produced  from  the  common 
stock,  it  would  be  found  greatly  to  surpass  the 
red  and  yellow  kinds  in  delicacy  and  sweetness. 

The  color  of  good  butter,  which  is  commonly 
of  a  bright  yellow,  may  be  considered  an  excep- 
tion to  the  facts  stated  in  these  remarks.  I  would 
not  be  understood,  however,  to  say  that  my  re- 
marks are  applicable  to  all  substances.  Butter 
which  is  prepared  in  winter,  when  the  cows  are 
fed  chiefly  on  dry  food,  is  usually  light  colored, 
and  it  is  inferior  to  the  bright  yellow  butter  of 
June.  But  when  the  |difierence  in  the  color  of 
butter  proceeds  f;om  the  peculiar  nature  of  the 
cows,  the  yellow  kind  is  no  better  than  the  white. 
A  cow  whose  flesh  contains  light  colored  tat  or 
suet,  aiwajs  produces  milk  that  yields  light  col- 
ored butter,  and  when  the  light  color  arises  from 
this  cause,  it  is  no  evidence  of  inferitirity. 

There  is  another  matter  which  has  been  opened 
for  discussion  in  your  paper.  I  allude  to  a  re- 
mark of  your  venerable  correspondent,  S.  P.  Ba- 
ker. I  would  not  treat  his  remarks  or  his  opin- 
ions otherwise  than  with  respect ;  but  cannot 
avoid  speaking  of  the  mistake  which  he  has  com- 
mitted, when  he  referred  to  what  he  chooses  to 
call  "male  and  female  ears  of  corn."  As  his  ob- 
servation has  been  copied  into  several  papers 
without  comment,  it  is  possible  that  all  persons 
connected  with  the  press  are  not  aware  that  there 
is  no  distii'.ction  of  sex  in  the  seeds  of  corn  or 
any  other  plants.  In  the  vegetable  kingdom  sex- 
ual distinctions  exist  only  in  the  flowers,  and  in 
some  cases  in  the  plants   of  the  dioecious  order. 


one  of  which  bears  the  fertile,  and  the  other  the 
barren  flowers.  In  Indian  corn  {zea  mays)  the 
silk  in  combination  with  the  ear  represents  the 
female  flower,  and  the  plume  or  tassel  the  male. 
The  seeds  or  kernels  are  the  embryo  offspring, 
and  are  neither  male  nor  female.  The  ears,  if  it 
be  proper  to  rank  them  with  either  sex,  after  the 
flower  or  silk  has  decayed,  must  certainly  be  all 
females,  holding  their  offspring  (the  seeds)  in 
their  embrace.  I  cannot  say  that  among  farmers 
there  may  not  be  certain  ears  of  corn  which  are 
figuratively  called  male  and  female  ;  but  no  real 
sexual  distinctions  exist  except  in  the  flowers. 

Wilson  Flagg. 


FEED  FOB  HOBSE3. 

The  London  Omnibus  Company,  says  an  ex- 
change, have  recently  made  a  report  on  the  feed- 
ing of  horses,  which  discloses  some  interesting 
facts.  It  seems  that  the  company  uses  no  less 
than  GOOO  horses  ;  3000  of  this  number  have  for 
their  feed  bruised  oats  and  cut  hay  and  straw, 
and  the  other  3000  get  whole  oats  and  hay.  The 
allowance  accorded  to  the  first  was — bruised  oats, 
IG  11)8  ;  cut  hay,  7-i  lbs. ;  cut  straw,  2  J  lbs.  The 
allowance  accorded  to  the  second — unbruised 
oats,  19  lbs.;  uncut  haj%  13  lbs.  The  bruised 
oats,  cut  hay  and  cut  straw  amounted  to  26  lbs., 
and  the  unbruised  oats,  &c.,  to  32  lbs.  The 
horse  which  had  bruised  oats,  with  cut  hay  and 
straw,  consumed  26  lbs.  per  day,  and  it  appears 
that  it  could  do  the  same  work  as  well,  and  was 
kept  in  as  good  condition,  as  the  horse  which  re- 
ceived 32  lbs.  per  day.  Here  was  a  saving  of  6 
lbs.  a  day  on  the  feeding  of  each  horse  receiving 
bruised  oats,  cut  hay  and  cut  straw.  The  advan- 
tage of  bruised  oats  and  cut  hay  over  unbruised 
oats  and  uncut  hay  is  estimated  at  five  cents  per 
day  on  each  horse,  amounting  to  $300  per  day 
for  the  company's  GOOO  horses.  It  is  by  no  means 
an  unimportant  result  with  which  this  experi- 
ment has  supplied  us.  To  the  farmer  who  ex- 
pends a  large  sum  in  the  support  of  horse  power, 
there  are  tno  points  this  experiment  clearly  es- 
tablishes, which  in  practice  must  be  profitable; 
first,  the  saving  of  food  to  the  amount  of  6  lbs. 
a  day  ;  and,  secondly,  no  loss  of  horse  power 
arising  from  that  saving. 


Universal  Benevolence  of  Women. — The 
celebrated  traveller,  Ledyard,  paid  the  following 
hfindsome  tribute  to  the  female  sex  :  "I  have  ob- 
served," he  sa\s,  "that  women  in  all  countries 
are  civil,  obliging,  tender,  and  humane.  I  never 
addressed  myself,  to  them  in  the  language  of  de- 
cency and  friendship,  without  receiving  a  decent 
and  friendly  an.swer.  V/ith  man  it  has  often  been 
otherwise.  In  war.dering  over  the  barren  pU'.ins 
of  inhospitable  Denmark  ;  rude  and  churlish 
Finland;  unprincip  ed  Russia;  and  the  wide- 
spread regions  of  tiie  wandering  Tartar  ;  if  hun- 
gry, dry,  wet,  cold,  or  sick,  the  women  have  ever 
been  friendly,  and  uniformly  so;  and  to  add  to 
this  virtue,  (so  worthy  the  appellation  of  benevo- 
jlence,)  these  actions  have  been  performed  in  so 
free  a!id  kind  a  manner,  that  if  I  was  dry  I  drank 
the  sweetest  draught,  and  if  hungry  ate  the  coars- 
est morst'I  with  a  dobble  relis-h." 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


505 


For  Vie  New  England  Farmer. 
A  HARVEST  HYMN. 

[I  asked  an  excellent  young  man,  who  sometimes  writes  vers- 
es, if  he  could  find  a  hymn  for  our  approacing  Agricultural 
Festival.  The  next  day  he  handed  the  following.  I  submit  it 
for  your  columns,  if  thought  worthy.  It  certainly  contains  good 
sentiments.] 

Our  voices  with  our  hearts  we  lift 

To  thee,  0  God,  in  grattful  praise  ; 
For  every  good  and  perfect  gift, 
A  song  of  gratitude  we  raise. 

Thine  is  the  seed  in  spring  we  sow. 
And  Thine  the  harvest  that  we  see  ; 

Sunshine  and  rain  Thou  dost  bestow. 
And  strength  to  labor  comes  from  Thee. 

Thine  is  the  fragrance  of  the  flowers. 

And  beauty  that  delights  the  eye  ; 
And  Thine  the  lines  of  autumn's  bowers, 

Which  in  transfigured  glory  die  1 

The  blessings  of  our  homes  so  dear. 
Oar  schools  and  churches.  Lord,  are  Thine  ; 

Thou  watchest  o'er  them,  year  by  year. 
And  purgest  still  Thy  fruitful  vine. 

God,  with  all  Thy  gifts,  still  give 
The  grateful  and  the  trusting  heart ; 

So  shall  our  souls  have  Itarned  to  live. 
When  called  from  earthly  scenes  to  parL 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

A  VISIT  TO  THE    HOMESTEAD   OF    FAB- 
MER  AL-LEIf . 

After  doing  justice  to  a  well  prepared  dinner, 
Farmer  Allen  and  myself  started  from  the  home- 
stead for  the  purpose  of  paying  a  visit  to  a  jjitce 
of  land  that  had  been  drained  and  reclaimed  from 
the  "wilds  of  nature"  into  as  good  a  field  for 
producing  grass,  corn  and  potatoes  as  one  would 
•wish  to  see,  and  in  going  we  passed  through 

THE   GARDEN. 

I  paused  a  moment  after  entering  the  well 
cultivated  enclosure,  where  hardly  a  weed  dared 
to  grow,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  a  fine 
Concord  grape  vine  that  was  climbing  over  and 
around  a  tastily  built  summer-house.  In  this,  my 
friend  assured  me,  he  had  spent  many  happy 
hours  after  the  labors  of  the  day  were  over.  The 
vine  was  purchased  of  Mr.  Bull,  ofC)oncord, 
Mass.  Mr.  A.  prizes  the  Concord  as  highly  as 
the  Isabella  or  Catawba  ;  it  is  a  good  bearer,  and 
seems  better  suited  to  stand  the  storms  and 
cold  of  our  northern  States  than  any  other  vari- 
ety. Continuing  on  our  way  we  passed  near  a 
few  hills  of  the  Chinese  sugar  cane,  about  which 
so  much  has  been  said  and  written,  both  for  and 
against  its  introduction,  a  few  years  since.  Mr. 
A.  plants  a  few  hills  yearly — his  cattle  are  very 
fond  of  it.  Leaving  the  garden,  I  heard  the  hum 
of  the  "busy  bee,"  and  going  nearer,  discovei-ed 
several  hives  facing  the  south.  Two  years  ago 
Mr.  A.  purchased  three  swarms  of  bees,  and  the 
first  year  he  sold  nearly  enough  honey  to  pay  for 
the  first  cost,  reserving  enough  for  their  winter 
subsistence. 

We  now  passed  over  several 
MOWING   LOTS, 
and  I  looked  in  vain  for  the  bushes  and  pile*  of 
stones  with  which   so  many  of   our  farmers  em- 
bellish the   surroundings  of  some  of  their  best 


fields.  Every  year  after  haying,  Mr.  A.  spends  a 
day  or  two  with  a  good  bush  scythe,  in  mowing 
all  the  bushes  on  his  farm.  Many  of  our  farmers 
only  do  this  once  in  five  years,  and  then  the  la- 
bor is  treble  ;  by  mowing  them  every  year  their 
growth  is  soon  checked.  In  a  few  minutes  Mr. 
A.  announced  that  we  were  in  the 

RECLAIMED  LAND. 
I  should  not  have  known  it,  for  the  soil  was  as 
firm  as  the  highlands.  The  piece  comprises  about 
three  acres,  and  from  the  time  of  the  "oldest  in- 
habitant" down  to  within  three  years,  it  has  been 
cold  and  wet  lowland,  covered  with  water  until 
late  in  the  spring.  It  produced  about  two  small 
loads  of  poor,  coarse  hay,  fit  only  for  bedding, 
and  the  labor  of  obtaining  this  was  more  than  it 
was  worth.  Mr.  Allen  had,  during  the  winter 
of  1855,  read  an  article  in  the  xV.  E.  Farmer 
(for  which  he  is  a  regular  subscriber)  on  the 
many  advantages  of  underdraining,  and  giving 
some  directions  how  to  proceed  in  this  all-im- 
portant work.  He  then  gave  the  subject  a  care- 
ful consideration,  and  came  to  the  wise  determi- 
nation to  make  an  experiment  on  the  land  now 
before  us.  After  making  the  necessary  prepara- 
tions, he  commenced  the  work  of  digging  the 
trenches  for  the  tile,  amid  the  sneers,  not  only  of 
the  anti-book,  but  anti-progressive  farmers  in  the 
neighborhood.  He  laid  the  tile  four  feet  deep, 
the  tile  in  the  main  drain  being  three  inches  in 
diameter,  and  those  in  the  lateral  drains  being 
two  inches  in  diameter,  and  when  he  had  com- 
pleted the  work  in  the  hest  manner,  he  sat  down 
to  ascertain  its  cost,  and  the  result,  he  said,  some- 
what surprised  him.  I  know  it  did  me,  for  he 
Slid,  that  including  everything,  work,  tile,  &c., 
it  only  came  to  forty-five  cents  a  rod.  The  sea- 
son is  about  three  weeks  longer  on  that  piece  of 
land  than  it  was  before.  Quite  an  item  in  our 
never  too  long  summers.  It  is  now  cultivated 
with  less  labor  and  cost,  while  the  profits  are 
doubled.  Mr.  A.  recommends  good  tile  in  pref- 
erence to  stone.  The  tile  once  properly  laid,  is 
laid  for  years,  and  the  cost  is  about  double  that  of 
comm.on  bricks.  Farmer  A.  looked  anxiously  at 
an  impending  cloud,  for  one  of  Manny's  mowing 
machines  had  been  doing  its  efi'ective  work  in  a 
five  acre  lot  of  heavy  herds  grass,  so  we  hurried 
to  the 

HAY    FIELD, 

which  presented  a  scene  of  active  interest.  One 
of  Carpenter's  Patent  Horse  Rakes  was  busily  at 
work  in  raking  the  hay  into  winrows,  and  several 
of  the  men  were  putting  it  into  well  shaped 
cocks  as  fast  as  raked  up.  Scenes  from  my  boy- 
hood's days  came  floating  back,  and  acting  under 
their  impulses,  I  seized  a  rake,  and  was  soon  as 
busy  as  any  one  in  raking  up  the  scatterings  and 
trimmings  of  the  cocks  of  hay.  Caps  were  soon 
placed  upon  them.  I  watched  the  movements 
of  the  man,  with  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  am 
confident  that  he  put  on  three  hay-caps  to  a  min- 
ute. One  cock  was  left  uncovered,  so  as  to  af- 
jford  me  an  opportunity  in  the  morning  of  seeing 
the  difference  in  the  covered  and  uncovered  hay. 
We  had  barely  time  to  reach  a  place  of  shelter 
when  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents,  but  the 
!  hay  was  safe.  I  listened  in  vain  for  the  usual 
I  impatient  exclamations  about  the  hay  spoiling 
.  out  in  a  heavv  rain,  and  for  the  remarks.  "Just 


506 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


my  luck,"  "1  don't  see  what  it  need  rain  for,  ting  judicious  fertilization.  If  any  one  wants  to 
when  I  have  got  so  much  grass  down."  Farmer  i  see  a  handsome  orchard,  let  them  visit  the  one  I 
Allen's  face  looked  as  pleasant  as  a  spring  morn-! have  mentioned,  and  they  will  not  be  disappoint- 
ing. Among  the  many  virtues  of  the  hay-caps, led.  Directly  alongside  of  this,  another  gentle- 
there  is  one  that  I  have  never  seen  in  print,  and  \  man  set  out  an  orchard,  about  the  same  time, 
that  is,  tl;iat  they  save  the  temper  and  patience  i  and  not  fancying  dirt  upon  fruit,  be  sowed  his 
of  the  farmer,  as  well  as  his  hay.  [  land  to  grass.     His  trees  appear  to  be  about  half 

The  next  morning,  after  the  sun  had  dried  the  as  large  as  those  first  named  ;  and  there  does 
dew  from  the  grass,  I  went  out  and  took  the  not  appear  to  be  any  hazard  of  the  fruit  being 
caps  from  the  cocks  myself,  and  there  was  not  a  dirtied  by  falling — for  I  did  not  discover  any  on 
cock  of  hay  in   the  entire  field  protected  with  a  the  trees. 

hay-cap  that  was  injured.  The  hay  smelt  as.  Another  instance  he  showed  me,  of  an  orchard 
sweet,  looked  as  bright  and  felt  as  dry  as  if  it  set  about  two  years  since,  where  the  proprietor 
not  stood  out  all  night  in  a  drenching  rain.  The  determined  to  have  something  better  than  any 
cock  left  uncovered  was  drenched — its  swfet  oiiC  else,  put  several  bushels  of  strong  manure 
odor  and  light  color  was  gone.  It  had  to  be, from  his  barn  cellar,  and  covered  it  slightly  with 
carefully  spread  and  tossed  again,  while  thatjdirt.  These  trees  started  well  at  first,  but  under 
covered  was  merely  opened  sufiiciently  to  let  the  the  powerful  heat  of  the  sun,  and  the  excess  of 
steam  escape,  when  it  was  ready  to  be  taken  to; stimulation  from  the  manure,  have  been  over- 
the  barn.  I  was  satisfied  that  the  good  services  done,  and  from  present  appearances,  will  be  en- 
of  the  caps  paid  their  cost  in  this  single  instance, 'tirely  done  in  two  years  more.  Proving  what  is 
and  that  no  farmer  can  afford  to  do  without  i  often  found  true — that  "too  much  of  a  good  thing 
them.  lis  good  for  nothing."  P. 

Another  time  I   may  write  something  more  of  i      September  6th,  1859. 
what  I  saw  while  paying  a  visit  to  the   "Horat 
stead  of  Farmer  Allen."  Freeman. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer, 
THE  BOBINS. 
VERSUS    SENTIMENTALISM. 


Fur  the  New  Ens;land  Farmer. 
CUIiTURE  AND  OVEaCULTUKB. 


Sunny  Side,  Aug.,  1859. 

Remarks. — If  "Freeman"  would   be  glad   to 
see  his  articles  free  from  errors,  he  must   write       ^^  Editor  :— I  have  recently  noticed  several 
more  legibly,  and  construct  his  sentences  with, articles  in   your   paper  about  the   robins,  those 
more  care.  impudent  robbers   of  our  gardens.     There   has 

been  a  great  rieal  of  fine  talk  and  fine  writing 
about  the  matin  songs  of  the  feathered  choirs, 
and  their  morning  hymns  of  praise,  which  is  all, 
doubtless,  very  pretty,  and  very  artistic,  but  it 
On  my  way  from  Newhuryport,  yesterday,  1 1  fails  to  be  appreciated  by  us  gardeners  who  de- 
called  on  my  friend  Hale,  of  Rowley,  to  view  ipend  in  a  great  measure  for  a  living  on  our  fruits, 
with  him  some  specimens  of  undcrdraining  of  wet  j  We  are  told  that  the  robins  live  chiefly  on  the 
lands,  commenced  by  two  of  his  neighbors.  I: larva  of  insects  and  on  worms.  I  do  not  dis- 
found  the  experiments  well  begun,  but  the  gen-'pute  the  fact  that  they  do  eat  insects  until  the 
tlemen  are  too  difl[ident  to  be  named  until  their  j  fruits  aff'ord  them  a  diet  that  they  like  much  bet- 
work  is  done  ;  therefore  I  will  say  no  more  about:  ter.  But  what  is  the  use  of  telling  us  that  they 
the  draining,  at  present.  I  reminded  them  that  do  but  little  or  no  harm,  when  every  gardener 
undcrdraining  need  not  be  confined  to  low,  wetiknows  that  they  will,  if  permitted,  take  every 
land,  but  that  it  was  equally  beneficial  to  high! strawberry  and  cherry  from  his  garden,  and  with 
lands  that  were  not  generally  esteemed  wet. [all  the  care  he  can  take,  they  do  actually  destroy 
That  the  auroral  light  of  draining  had  just  burst  j  or  pilfer^at  least,  half  the  berries  he  raises,  and 
out  at  Exeter,  N.  H., — and  that  Judge  French's 
book,  which  could  be  purchased  for  one  dollar, 
would  tell  all  they  need  to  know,  and  more. 

What  I  particularly  want  you  to  know,  Mr. 
Editor,  is,  what  Mr.  H.  showed  me  in  the  way  of 
culture  of  fruit  trees,  on  the  grounds  of  his  neigh- 
bors, Messrs.  Proctor  and  Morrison.  About  ten 
years  since,  Dr.  Proctor  started  the  purpose  of 
growing  fruit,  and  procured  from  one  of  the  best 
sources  in  North  Salem,  (Mr.  Wade,)  a  hundred 
or  more  choice  apple  trees,  chiefly  Baldwin. 
These  were  set  near  his  house,  by  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Hale  himself,  on  light  land,  well  fertilized. 
The  trees  were  set  twenty  feet  apart,  and  between 
the  apple  trees  were  placed  peach  trees,  designed 
to  be  removed,  when  the  apple  trees  grew.  The 
land  has  been  kept  under  culture  ever  since  ;  the 
trees  look  healthy  and  thrifty,  spreading,  on  an 
average,  sixteen  feet  in  diameter  ;  and  what  is 
best  of  all,  are  now  as  handsomely  loaded  with 
fruit  as  any  trees  I  ever  saw.  So  much  for  keep- 
ing the  land  loose  among  the  trees,  and  not  omit- 


those  thi  earliest  and  best.  I  have  a  fine  bed 
of  strawberries,  and  a  good  many  cherry  trees, 
and  the  past  season,  I  am  sure,  the  robins  took 
at  least  half  my  strawberries,  notwithstanding  all 
the  scare-crows  and  scare-birds  we  could  contrive; 
and  as  for  cherries,  we  did  not  have  one  fit  to 
eat.  Besides  their  depredations  upon  these  fruits, 
they  made  sad  havoc  of  currants  and  gooseber- 
ries, and  picked  a  large  share  of  my  peas.  I  had 
a  fine  row  of  the  Champion  of  England  peas, 
which  I  left  for  seed,  and  where  I  expected  two 
quarts,  I  got  perhaps  half  a  pint. 

Now  I  profess  to  appreciate  music  and  beauty, 
but  when  they  are  attended  with  so  much  annoy- 
ance, it  interferes  sadly  with  my  enjoyment  of 
them.  I  can  appreciate  a  fine  dish  of  strawber- 
ries and  a  basket  of  plump,  blushing  cherries,  as 
well  as  music  and  song.  I  want  them  both  ;  but 
if  I  must  have  the  music  at  the  expense  of  the 
fruit,  I  choose  to  have  the  music  from  other  vo- 
calists than  the  birds. 

I  have  been  studying  the  habits  of  the  robins 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


50' 


some  years,  and  I  6nd  them  disposed  to  be  quite 
domestic  in  their  habits  during?  the  breeding  sea- 
son ;  I  think  they  do  not  roam  far  from  their 
chosen  homes,  and  that  they  are  apt  to  occupy 
the  same  nests  for  several  years  ia  succession, 
or  to  build  in  their  immediate  vicinity.  Like 
domestic  pigeons,  or  dung-hill  fowls,  they  seldom 
go  beyond  their  accustomed  circle,  unless  driven 
to  it  by  the  want  of  food,  until  they  have  ceased 
to  care  for  their  young.  There  is  a  way  to  do 
everything  that  is  worth  doing,  and  I  think  the 
habits  of  the  robin  suggest  the  way  by  which  we 
may  rid  ourselves  of  the  nuisance,  without  in- 
fringing the  sentimental  law  of  our  State,  and 
as  a  special  favor,  1  will  tell  you  my  secret.  In 
gathering  my  apples  this  fall,  I  intend  to  destroy 
every  robin's  nest  that  I  can  find,  and  in  the 
spring,  I  intend  to  destroy  every  rol)in's  nest,  as 
unrelentingly  as  I  do  the  caterpillar's  nests.  1 
think  that  l)y  not  allowing  a  robin  to  breed  on 
my  premises,  and  by  urging  my  neighbors  to  do 
the  same,  I  shall  soon  diminish  the  number  of 
the  pilferers. 

Now,  sir,  my  secret  is  out.  Some  of  your  ten- 
der-hearted readers  may  think  it  an  evasion  of 
the  law — a  violation  of  its  spirit ;  but  I  cannot 
help  it.  I  intend  to  protect  myself,  and  my  own 
interests,  especially,  if  I  can  do  it  without  vio- 
lating the  letter  of  the  law. 

Yours,  &c.,  A. 


Fdt  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THINGS  THA.T  I  DON'T  LIKE  TO  SEE. 

I  don't  like  to  see  a  farmer  boasting  of  his 
large  crops  without  knowing  something  of  their 
cost. 

I  don't  like  to  see  a  farmer  crowd  his  fields 
with  cows  as  soon  as  he  gets  his  hay  off,  and  sell 
his  milk  for  two  cents  a  quart.  It  will  make  it 
uphill  work  for  ihe  rising  generation. 

I  don't  like  to  see  a  farmer  go  by  the  village 
store  to  some  city,  or  large  ])lace,  for  his  stores, 
and  then  tell  what  a  dull  place  his  village  is. 

I  don't  like  to  see  a  farmer  cart  his  crops  to 
market,  when,  if  he  would  stay  at  home,  purchas- 
ers would  come  after  them.  Every  cockerel 
crows  the  loudest  upon  its  own  coop. 

I  don't  like  to  see  a  farmer  go  out  of  town  to 
invest  his  money,  and  then  say  there  is  no  enter- 
prise in  our  young  men. 

I  don't  like  to  see  any  body  put  their  own  boys 
into  stores,  depots,  &c.,  and  then  advise  all  young 
men  to  stick  to  the  farm  ;  it  looks  as  though 
they  liked  cheap  bread  and  butter,  but  wanted 
somfbody's  bone  and  muscle  but  their  own  child- 
ren's to  produce  them. 

I  don't  like  to  see  a  farmer  sell  any  farm  pro- 
duct for  half  what  it  costs  to  produce  it,  and  con- 
tinue the  same  business  year  after  year.  It  is 
like  going  into  the  large  end  of  the  horn  and 
coming  out  at  the  tip. 

I  don't  like  to  see  a  farmer  urge  his  sons  to 
stick  to  the  farm  because  he  cannot  afford  to  hire 
help,  when,  if  he  would  give  them  a  trade  or  fit 
them  for  some  profession,  they  would  lie  a  bless- 
ing to  him  in  all  future  time.  Any  thing  that 
you  cannot  afford  to  hire  done,  is  not  worth  do- 
''ng.  T.   J.   PiNKHAM. 

Chelmsford,  Sept.  5,  1859. 


THE  BUPPAIiO. 

Mr.  Greeley,  in  one  of  his  letters,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing as  his  experience  with  the  buffalo  : — 

Nearly  all  day,  the  buffalo  in  greater  or  less 
numbers  were  visible  among  the  bottoms  of  the 
Soloman  on  our  right — usually  two  or  three 
miles  distant.  At  length,  about  5  P.  M.,  we 
reached  the  crest  of  a  "divide,"  whence  we  looked 
down  on  the  valley  of  a  creek  running  to  the 
Soloman  some  three  miles  distant,  and  saw  the 
whole  region,  from  half  a  mile  to  three  miles  south 
of  our  road,  and  for  an  extent  of  at  least  four 
miles  east  and  west,  fairly  alive  with  bufi'alo. 
There  certainly  were  not  less  than  ten  thousand 
of  them  ;  I  believe  there  were  many  more.  Some 
were  feeding,  others  lying  down,  others  pawing 
up  the  earth,  rolling  on  it.  >K:c.  The  novel  spec- 
tacle was  too  tempting  for  our  sportsmen.  The 
wagon*  were  stopped,  and  two  men  walked  qui- 
etly toward  the  centre  of  the  front  of  the  herd. 
Favored  by  a  watercourse,  they  crept  up  to  within 
fifty  rods  of  the  buffalo,  and  fired  eight  or  ten 
shots  at  the  herd  with  no  visible  effect.  The  an- 
imals nearest  the  hunters  retreated  as  they  ad- 
vanced, but  the  great  body  of  the  herd  was  no 
more  disturbed  or  conscious  of  danger  than  if  a 
couple  of  musQuitoes  had  alighted  among  them. 
After  an  hour  of  this  fruitless  effort,  the  hunters 
gave  it  up,  alleging  that  their  ritle  was  so  foul 
and  badly  sighted  as  to  be  worthless.  They  re- 
joined us,  and  we  came  away,  leaving  nine-tenths 
of  the  vast  herd  where  we  found  them.  And 
there  they  doubtless  are  sleeping  at  this  moment, 
about  three  miles  from  us. 

We  are  near  the   heart  of  the  bufi'alo  region 
jThe    stages    from    the    West   that   met    us   htre 
'this  evening  report  the  sight  of  millions  within 
I  the    last    two    days.      Their    trails    chequer    the 
prairie  in  every  direction.     A  company  of  Pike's 
Peukers  killed  thirteen  near  this  point  a  few  days 
since.     Eight  were  killed  yesterday  at  the  next 
I  station  west  of  this  by  simply  stampeding  ah^-rd 
'and  driving  them  over  a  high  creek  bank,  where 
I  so    many    broke   their   necks.      Buffalo-meat    is 
hanging  or  laying  all  around  us,  and  a  calf  t^.  o 
jor  three  months  old  is  tied  to  a  stake  fast  besi'  e 
our  Avagons.     He  was  taken  by  rushing  a  herd 
up  a  steep  creek  bank  ;  which   so   many   couid 
not  possible  climb  at  once  ;  this  one  was  picked 
up  in  the  melee  as  most  worth  having,  and  taken 
jwitharope.     Though  fast  tied   and  with   but   a 
1  short  tether,  he  is  true  game,  and  makes  at  who- 
i  ever  goes  near  him  with  desperate  intent  to  butt 
I  the   intruder  over.     We   met   or  passed   to-day 
I  two  parties  of  Pike's  Peakers  who  had  respective- 
'ly  lost  three  oxen  or  steers,  stampeded  last  night 
I  by  herds  of  buffalo.     The  mules  at  the   Express 
I  stations  have  to  be  carefully  watched  to  preserve 
them  from  a  similar  catastrophe — to  their  owners. 
I      I  do  not  like  the  flesh  of  this   wild  ox.     It  is 
[tough  and  not  juicy.     Of  course,  I  remember  that 
our  cooking  is  of  the  most  unsophisticated  pat- 
tern— carrying  us  back  to  the  age  of  the  building 
;of  the  pyramids,   at  least — but   I  would  rather 
see  an  immense  herd  of  buffalo  on  the  prairie 
^than  eat  the  best  of  them. 

!  The  herbage  hereabouts  is  nearly  all  the  short 
fine  grass  known  as  the  buftalo-grass,  and  is 
closely  fed  down.  We  are  far  b-'yond  the  stakes  of 
the  land  surveyor— behind  the  usual  haunts  of 


-.08 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


■hite  men.     Santa  Fe  trail  is  far  south   of  us; 

.le  California  is  considerably  north.     Very  prob- 

.bly  the  buffalo  on  Soloman's  fork  were  never 
"anted  by  while  men  until  this  Spring.     Should 

■ne  of  these  countless  herds  take  a  fancy  for  a 
man-hunt,  our  riflemen  would  find  even  the  Ex- 
press wagons  no  protection. 


VEKMONT  STATE  FAIR. 
We  have  been  disappointed  in  not  receiving 
from  some  ot  our  numerous  and  usually  attentive 
correspondents  in  Vermont,  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  late  State  Fair  at  Burlington.  From 
the  reports  which  we  have  seen,  we  suppose  it  was 
a  good  one,  equal,  and  superior  in  some  respects, 
to  any  that  has  preceded  it.  On  Tuesday,  the 
13th,  the  weather  was  exceedingly  rough.  The 
correspondent  of  the  Journal  says  : 

All  night  long  the  wind  blew,  increasing  to  a 
gale,  and  this  morning  was  one  of  the  bluest  that 
can  be  imagined.  Dark,  angry  clouds  swept 
over  the  sky,  rising  in  dark  masses  from  beyond 
the  Adirondack  Mountains.  The  lake  was  lashed 
to  fury,  and  the  waves  dashed  at  times  clear  over 
the  breakwater  which  guards  the  harbor,  dashing, 
and  foaming,  and  churning,  till  the  entire  reach 
of  Champlain  was  a  white  expanse.  The  streets 
were  lined  with  branches  of  trees,  and  on  one  of 
the  streets  a  tall  Lonibardy  poplar  came  down 
with  a  crash,  just  clearing  a  house  which,  had  it 
been  struck,  would  have  been  cut  clear  through 
from  ridgepole  to  basement.  There  was  a  great 
fluttering  of  canvas  among  the  show  tents  at  the 
Fair  Ground,  and  the  Ethiopian  Opera  Troop 
had  their  theatre,  stage,  scenery,  auditorium  and 
ail,  tumbled  into  a  promiscuous  heap. 

There  were  Jive  hundred  and/orty-Jive  horses, 
entered — a  larger  number  than  was  ever  en- 
tered at  one  Fair  before.  They  were,  Matched 
horses,  58  pairs  ;  Woodbury  Morgan  stallions, 
50 ;  Woodbury  Morgan  mares,  16 ;  Sherman 
Morgan  stallions,  68  ;  Sherman  Morgan  mares 
and  fillies,  18  ;  Bulrush  Morgans,  30;  foreign 
horses,  24 ;  Hambletonians  and  others,  60 ; 
mares  and  geldings,  127.  Very  many  of  these 
horses  were  of  exquisite  form  and  action,  and  are 
not  only  a  great  credit  to  the  Vermonters,  but 
ajso  a  source  of  great  profit. 

The  total  number  of  Sheep  presented  was  352. 
The  entries  were — Spanish  Merino  bucks,  22  ; 
Spanish  Merino  ewes,  197  ;  French  Merino 
lambs,  14  ;  Long  and  Middle  wool,  119. 

The   entries   of   Cattle  were — Durham,  39 ; 
Ayrshire,   3 ;    Devons,   21 ;    mixed   and   native, 
39  ;    working   oxen,   19  pairs  ;    steers,  21  pairs 
milch  cows,  4  ;  Herefords,  8  ;  fat  cattle,  7. 

There  were  also  about  forty  coops  of  Poultry, 
and  a  small  show  of  swine. 

At  half-past  5,  P.  M.,  of  the  second  day,  Gov 
Banks  and  Gen.  Wool  were  received  by  Col 
Needham  and  Gen.  Clark,  and  escorted  to  the 
American  House,  where    speeches   were  made, 


and  general  hilarity  prevailed.  During  the  day, 
the  wind  blew  a  hurricane,  with  occasional  dashes 
of  rain  and  snow  flakes.  Mansfield  Mountain 
was  white  with  snow,  and  the  lake  was  churned 
into  soap  suds.  The  air  was  filled  with  dust,  but 
notwithstanding  all  this-,  there  was  a  respectable 
attendance  in  the  afternoon. 

On  Thursday,  the  third  day,  the  sun  rose  clear, 
but  through  a  winter's  atmosphere.  East  and 
west,  the  mountain  peaks  were  white  with  snow. 
But  the  Vermonters  are  not  arrested  in  their 
movements  by  trifles,  and  soon  poured  in  from 
every  quarter  to  see  and  be  seen,  to  talk  and  to 
hear,  and  to  make  their  show  one  of  profit  and 
pleasure.  So  they  went  through  the  usual  rou- 
tine with  horses,  cattle,  music,  (S:c.,  until  the  hour 
arrived  to  listen  to  the  Address  by  Gov.  Banks, 
when  all  repaired  to  the  great  stand,  where  Col. 
Needham,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  recep- 
tion, recently  one  of  our  own  citizens,  remarked 
that  the  vast  assembly  present  indicated  how 
great  was  the  interest  felt  by  the  citizens  of  the 
State  in  agriculture.  There  was  a  time  when  ag- 
riculture was  neglected,  but  science  and  art  had 
lent  helping  hands,  and  had  raised  it  to  a  higher 
dignity.  He  spoke  briefly  of  the  progress  which 
had  been  made,  of  the  interest  which  had  been 
manifested,  and  introduced  Gov.  Banks,  who 
was  received  with  hearty  cheers. 

The  Governor's  topic  was  the  origin  and  growth 
of  popular  institutions,  but  we  have  space  to 
give  only  here  and  there  a  leading  thought  of 
his  excellent  address.     He  said  : 

The  Industrial  Exhibition  should  present,  in 
one  form  or  another,  the  life  of  the  people,  and 
the  character  of  the  age  it  represents — its  pro- 
ducts, its  habits,  its  labor,  its  leisure.  What  is 
not  exhibited  in  products,  should  be  witnessed 
in  the  people  themselves.  But  it  is  among  the 
wonders  of  life  that  the  most  manifest  and  in- 
dispensable aids  to  human  eflbrt  in  every  age  and 
every  land,  should  have  been  successfully  resist- 
ed for  extended  periods  of  time.  The  introduc- 
tion of  machinery,  gas,  pure  water,  railways,  and 
many  of  the  common  articles  of  food,  have  met 
with  such  opposition.  Products  with  capacity, 
to  endure  every  soil  and  climate,  have,  by  such 
prejudices,  been  restricted  to  special  latitudes. 
Even  in  New  England,  where  young  men  are 
leaving  health  and  home  for  the  newer  country 
of  the  West,  and  a  little  more  land — even  in 
New  England,  one-half  of  the  soil,  and  some- 
times of  the  best  capacity,  is,  out  of  custom  and 
usage,  unimproved  and  useless.  The  surest  meth- 
od of  breaking  into  such  customs,  that  have  held 
men  in  poverty,  is  to  bring  them  together,  not 
for  a  single  object,  but  for  every  practicable  pur- 
pose and  interest.     *     *     » 

The  multitudes  here  to-day  are  gathered  from 
every  part  of  the  State  to  witness  the  strength 
of  the  State,  the  extent  of  its  acquisitions,  the 
riches  of  its  industry,  the  achievements  of  its 
invention  and  discovery,  working  harmoniously 


1S59. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


509 


in  purpose  and   process  with  the  laws  of  nature 

and  of  God  ! 

They  come  from  every  walk  of  life — both  sexes 
and  of  every  age.  Welcome  all !  thrice  wel- 
come !  This  is  the  day  of  the  people — a  regular 
bread  and  butter  day.  Hosts  and  guests  are  one! 
We  come  to  see  and  hear,  what  is,  and  what  is 
to  be  in  the  kitchen  and  the  parlor  for  the  com- 
ing year — what  shall  be  the  order  of  our  life,  and 
how  to  accomplish  it?  What  is  the  size  of  po- 
tatoes, and  how  many  in  a  hill.-'  How  about  the 
rot?  (Thank  G  d,  not  a  sign  of  it  yet.)  Where 
are  the  fattest  cattle,  and  how  are  they  fed? 
Who  has  the  fastest  nag,  and  what  is  his  time? 
Let  us  see  the  reaper  that  rides  the  field  like  a 
ship  at  sea,  and  cuts  down  the  yellow  grain  as 
the  Italians  and  French  did  the  Austrinn-s  at  Sol- 
ferino?  Is  there  any  improvement  in  the  peo- 
ple ?  Are  the  young  to  grow  up  wiser  and  bet- 
ter than  their  fathers  ?  These  are  the  things  we 
desire  most  to  know. 

'iVe  are  the  people  ! 
Kot  ooe  i=  for  a  party 
But  all  are  for  the  State  5 
The  rich  man  htlps  the  poor 
And  the  poor  man  loves  the  great. 
Oar  lands  are  fairlj  portioned, 
Our  products  fairlv  told. 
And  we  are  what  our  fathe  rs  were 
As  in  the  honest  da^s  of  old. 

We  come  just  as  we  are.  There  is  no  sh?me 
in  us.  If  we  are  intemperate,  profligate,  idle, 
vicious,  disorderly,  you  will  see  it.  If  we  are 
quiet,  inquisitive  and  interested — if  order  vainly 
seeks  for  disorder,  with  a  policeman  out  of  em- 
ployment to  aid  her,  you  will  know  it.  It  is  vain 
for  a  multitude  to  assume  virtues  to  which  it  has 
no  Utle.  We  have  a  life  interest  in  all  things 
here.  It  is  by  them  we  live,  and  in  the  triumphs 
of  industry  over  all  obstacles  is  our  hope  of  pros- 
perity and  happiness.     *     *     * 

Physical  recreation  is  essential  to  our  mental 
and  moral  culture.  It  is  as  essential  for  artisans 
and  farmers  to  knov*'  how  a  man  with  a  voice 
like  a  willow  whistle  can  be  transformed  to  a  full- 
chested  and  strong  lunged  stentor,  how  tiny  limbs 
and  puny  frame,  by  exercise  and  right  I  ving,  may 
attain  something  of  the  tendons  and  flesh  of 
Hercules,  as  to  know  by  what  process  cattle  may 
be  reared  in  three  years  for  the  market,  instead 
of  six.  Why  not?  Are  not  7iien  of  as  much 
consequence  to  the  world  as  the  most  delicious 
of  tenderloin  steaks?  One  who  can  hear  a  mus- 
ket-shot at  his  ear  without  moving  a  muscle  of 
his  face,  has  an  attribute  of  power  which  none 
of  us  have;  and  at  the  first  public  disaster,  a  ri- 
ot, or  conflagration,  or  scene  of  danger,  we  should 
see  the  superiority  of  his  training  over  ours.  If 
ever\  man  knew  his  full  capacity  of  power,  it 
would  be  a  different  world  in  which  we  live. — 
"Measure  us"  should  be  our  constant  cry.  *  *  * 

in  conclusion,  it  was  remarked  that  he  had 
seen  in  our  own  New  England  homes,  life  stripped 
of  everything  but  the  barest  existence  and  the 
dullest  labor — no  fruits  or  flowers — not  a  shot- 
gun-- not  a  saddle-horse — scarcely  a  vegetable? 
growing-  nothing  that  ministers  ti>the  beautiful 
— all  the  old  sports  dropped — not  a  jest  left  to 
throw  at  a  dog.  If  we  hope  to  retain  our  young 
men  on  their  paternal  acres,  we  must  show  them 
that  it  does  not  doom  them  to  the  joyless  labor 
of  the   galleys,  the   fasts  of  Anchorites,  or  the 


solitudes  of  Celibates.  Let  it  be  seen  that  if 
agricultural  or  industrial  toil  does  accumulate  in 
our  iron  coffers  the  golden  sorrows  of  the  mil- 
lionaire, it  returns  for  honest  labors  the  only  sub- 
stantial and  permanent  independence.  Let  its 
serene  contentment  and  laughing  pleasures,  as 
well  as  its  solid  compensation  of  health  and  hap- 
piness, be  written  in  our  countenances,  seen  in 
our  enjoyments  here,  in  our  industrial  festivals, 
as  it  is  redolent  in  the  atmosphere  of  our  pros- 
perous, laborious,  happy  homes. 

The  address  was  not  a  superficial  one, — but 
had  evidently  been  prepared  after  much  research 
and  thought,  as  it  abounded  with  philosophical 
remarks  and  illustrations.  Gen.  Wool,  Mr. 
GiDDlNGS,  of  Ohio,  and  several  other  distin- 
guished gentlemen,  were  present. 

An  esteemed  correspondent  in  Vermont  writes 
us:  "It  is  very  gratifying  to  me  to  observe  the 
gradual  improvements  of  our  people  from  year 
to  year.  These  annual  gatherings  enlarge  ideas, 
improve  manners,  and  practices  in  agriculture, 
also.  Gov.  Banks  gave  us  a  magnificent  address 
— sound,  sensible,  able  and  practical,  and  we 
were  all  pleased  with  him  as  a  man." 

Will  some  one  of  our  able  Vermont  corres- 
pondents tell  us,  by-and-bye,  what  the  several 
State  fairs  have  done  to  help  or  hinder  the  pro- 
gress of  farming  in  their  State.  Indeed,  it  is 
time,  now,  that  a  careful  review  should  be  made 
in  every  State,  and  also  in  their  several  coun- 
ties. Who  will  do  it  ?  If  made  after  proper  in- 
vestigation, and  by  a  competent  hand,  such  ser- 
vices will  be  more  valuable  than  any  other  labor 
in  the  cause. 


CONTRACTION  OP  HORSES'  FEET. 
THE   CAUSE   AND   REMEDY. 

The  tendency  of  a  horse's  feet,  in  a  healthy 
condition,  is  to  expand  whenever  the  weight  of 
the  body  is  thrown  upon  them.  Being  a  very 
complicated  piece  of  mechanism,  they  are  very 
easily  disarranged,  and  once  out  of  order,  are 
difficult  of  repair  ;  hence  the  necessity  of  preserv- 
ing them  in  a  sound  condition. 

Contraction  is  caused — 1st,  by  cutting  away 
the  bars  of  the  feet,  which  are  the  main  stays  for 
the  support  of  the  quarters.  2d,  By  (opening  the 
heels,  as  the  smith  calls  it)  cutting  away  a  por- 
tion of  the  frog,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
moisture  of  the  frog  becomes  absorbed,  losing 
its  elasticity,  and  destroying  its  function,  thus  ex- 
posing the  feet  to  injury  by  concussion.  3d,  By 
standing  upon  plank  floors.  4ih,  By  improper 
shoeing. 

An  ordinary  observer  will,  upon  an  examination 
of  the  common  shoe,  notice  that  it  inclines  from 
without  inwards  at  the  heels,  th  s  forming  a  con- 
cavity for  the  feet  to  rest  in ;  the  consequence 
is  a  lateral  resistance  to  the  expansion  of  the 
hoofs,  when  the  weight  of  the  animal  is  thrown 
upon  them.  The  effect  of  this  resistance  is  to 
force  the  heels  together,  creating  pressure  upon 
the  sensitive  parts  within  the  horny  case ;  estab- 


510 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


lishing  fever,  by  which  the  moisture  of  the  hoofs 
is  rapidly  absorbed,  rendering  the  hoofs  hard, 
brittle,  and  liable  to  crack,  and  frequently  causing  i 
corns,  navicular  joint  lameness,  bony  deposits  to  I 
be  thrown  out  from  the  lateral  wings  or  pro-i 
cesses  of  the  cofRn  bones,  rendering  the  animal! 
permanently  lame  or  unsound.  These  are  but  aj 
few  of  the  bad  effects  arising  from  contraction  ; 
enough,  however,  to  serve  our  purpose  at  present  - 
Remedy. — Preserve  a  level  bearing  by  making' 
the  shoe  perfectly  flat  on  the  quarters,  so  as  not 
to  interfere  with  the  expansion  of  the  feet. — 
Should  contraction  already  exist  to  a  considera- 
ble extent,  bevel  the  shoe  slightly  outward  at  the 
heels,  in  order  to  facilitate  expansion.  Care 
should  be  taken  not  to  bevel  too  much,  or  bulg- 
ing of  the  lower  part  of  the  hoofs  at  the  quarters 
will  be  the  result.  The  shoe  should  in  all  cases 
be  forged  and  not  twisted,  as  is  sometimes  done 
to  save  trouble  by  the  bungling  smith.  Proper 
applications,  to  soften  the  horny  parts  and  pro- 
mote elasticity,  should  also  be  used.  Such  prep- 
arations are  put  up  in  the  form  of  hoof  ointments. 
— B.  Jennings,  V.  S. 


the  irrigation  system  is  less  rich  and  juicy,  and 
the  trees  are  not  so  hardy.  In  Santa  Clara  the 
evils  of  numerous  wells  of  this  sort  are  already 
seriously  felt.  The  earth  is  parched  up,  and  bit- 
ter complaints  come  from  all  quarters.  All  the 
surface  water  of  the  country  is  drawn  ofi"  by 
means  of  artesian  wells — drawn  down  to  their 
channels,  and  then  sent  up  again  in  one  stream 
instead  of  ten  thousand  through  the  pores  of  the 
surface  earth.  Instead  of  being  showered,  the 
land  is  flooded  by  profuse  irrigation. 


I^or  the  New  England  Farmer. 
QUALITIES  OF  THE  HOBSE. 

We  should  take  more  pains  to  breed  horses  of 
beautiful  carriage,  fine  proportions,  good  tem- 
pers, courage  and  docility,  than  for  high,  Gilpin 
speed.  We  want  horses  for  all  purposes,  that 
are  not  cowardly,  that  will  not  take  fright ;  for 
those  of  that  temperament  are  ever  dangerous  to 
whomsoever  may  use  them,  and  to  persons  in  the 
streets.  Much  damage  is  done,  annually,  by  such 
horses,  to  carriages,  harnesses  and  other  proper- 
ty. Many  limbs  are  broken  and  lives  lost  by 
these  afi"righted  animals.  It  should  be  an  indicta- 
ble off"ence  to  bring  such  horses  into  the  market. 
Courage  and  other  good  traits  and  qualities  in 
the  horse  are  hereditary,  as  in  the  human  race. 
We  should  look  to  the  pedigree  for  purity  of 
blood,  health  and  constitution,  also. 

The  gait  of  the  horse  is  less  easy  and  graceful 
when  pressed  to  a  high  rate  of  speed.  It  is  much 
more  healthy,  pleasant  and  safe,  to  ride  at  a  mod- 
erate pace,  upon  a  horse  of  an  easy  gait.  When 
riding  for  pleasure,  it  is  more  pleasant  and  safe, 
at  a  six  mile  speed,  than  at  2.40  or  under.  We 
have,  thus,  the  best  and  most  perfect  view  of  the 
country  or  town  through  which  we  may  ride. 
Moderate  horses  are  the  best,  and  most  comfort- 
able of  management,  for  business  and  domestic 
purposes  and  uses.  Those  of  high  speed  are 
more  liable  to  accidents,  are  more  easily  injured, 
are  less  hardy  than  others. 

Now-a-days,  we  travel  by  steam,  when  we 
journey,  and  our  swift-winged  messages  are  sent 
by  the  aid  of  electricity. 

Swiftness  is  only  a  fancy  and  sportive  quality, 
and  too  much  regard  to  it,  in  the  breeding  and 
rearing  of  horses,  is  a  public  injury. 

Geo.  O.  Betton. 


Artesian  Wells  Injurious. — The  California 
Farmer  condemns  artesian  wells  as  a  curse  in 
California,  in  some  parts  of  which  they  are  nu- 
merous, being  used  for  irrigating  the  country 
for  agricultural  purposes.     The  fruit  raised  by 


EXTHACT3  AND  REPLIES. 
SEEDING    LAND   TO    GRASS. 

Will  it  answer  to  seed  down  a  piece  of  strong, 
heavy,  orchard  land,  full  of  witch  grass?  or, 
rather,  will  seeding  down  be  the  most  effectual 
method  of  killing  it  out?  or  try  root  crop  ?  It 
has  been  up  two  years.  Reader. 

Remarks. — It  is  too  late  to  seed  land  to  grass 
this  fall,  with  much  certainty  of  success.  Better 
plow  it  this  fall  as  late  as  you  can,  and  then  again 
in  the  spring  as  soon  as  the  ground  will  permit, 
give  it  a  dressing  of  compost  manure,  and  sow 
grass  seed  with  oats  or  barley.  If  the  land  is 
high,  and  a  gravelly  loam,  sow  with  barley ;  if 
of  a  heavier  character,  use  oats. 

A  crop  of  roots  on  such  land,  well  tended, 
would  probably  eradicate  the  witch  grass,  but 
the  process  would  be  rather  an  expensive  one. 

IMPORTING   SCIONS. 

Intending  to  imporc  a  iev/  of  the  better  kinds 
of  apples  and  pears  from  the  continent,  I  beg 
you  to  inform  me,  through  your  paper,  if  scions 
may  successfully  be  imported  ?  Which  would 
be  the  best  season  for  it,  how  long  would  they 
continue  fresh,  and  how  should  they  be  packed 
to  prevent  their  spoiling? 

Samuel  B.  Tracy. 

Dorchester,  Mass..  Sept.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  have  no  doubt  but  scions  may 
be  brought  here  from  the  continent  successfully. 
The  nurserymen  there  will  probably  know  how 
to  pack  them.  A  great  many  of  the  pear  trees 
that  are  imported  are  undoubtedly  six  months 
before  they  are  put  into  the  ground  here.  Sci- 
ons properly  packed  in  damp  moss,  we  think 
would  keep  plump  and  fresh  for  many  months, 
if  they  were  kept  in  a  suitable  place. 

NATIVE   grapes. 

My  object  in  sending  you  this  box  of  grapes 
is  to  know  if  they  are  worth  raising  ?  They 
were  raised  in  grass  land,  and  have  never  been 
trimmed,  or  had  manure  of  any  kind.  If  in  your 
opinion  there  is  any  kind  of  native  grape  any 
better,  you  would  do  me  a  kindness  to  give  me 
the  names  of  a  few  ?      Leonard  Chandler. 

Princeton,  Sept.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  have  had  many  samples  of 
native  grapes  sent  us  to  taste,  and  have  trans- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMED 


&il 


planted  and  cultivated  the  best  we  pyamu  o.r»d  in 
the  wccii,  uv...  ..-.T^  iii-t  yec  round  one  worth  en- 
couraging. The  samples  you  send  are  sour  and 
foxy,  with  a  hard  acid  core  about  the  seeds,  and 
are  not  worth  cultivating,  because  they  will  re- 
quire as  much  care  as  a  grape  that  all  will  ac- 
knowledge good.  The  wild  grapes  make  excel- 
lent jel  y,  and  tolerably  good  preserves,  but  are 
not  fit  for  the  dessert.  Manuring  will  not  im- 
prove the  quality  of  the  fruit  much. 

HYDKAULIC    RAMS. 

The  promised  information  is  wanted  of  your 
Concord.  (Mass.)  correspondent,  concerning  hy- 
draulic rams.  I  want  to  know  what  kind  of  pipe 
is  the  best — what  size  will  be  necessary  to  sup- 
ply twenty  cattle — and  any  other  infoxxnation  he 
can  give.  Pay. 

BakersfielcL,  Vt.,  Sept.,  1859. 


KOCKIWGHAai,  N.  H.,  FAIB. 

[REPORTED    FOE   THE    SEW   ENGLAND    FARMKR.] 

Messrs.  Nourse,  Eaton  &  Tolman  :  —  At 
ten  this  morning,  the  farmers,  with  their  wives, 
sons,  daughters,  oxen,  &:c.,  were  in  full  attend- 
ance to  assist  in  opening  the  exercises  of  the 
Seventh  Annual  Exhibition  of  the  Rockingham 
Fair. 

The  exercises  commenced  with  a  procession  led 
Dy  Chief  Marshal  Palmer,  composed  of  the  va- 
rious bands,  fire  and  military  companies,  and  cit- 
izens, with  town  teams  from  various  parts  of  the 
county,  bringing  up  the  rear.  These  teams  made 
a  very  fine  appearance,  made  up,  as  they  were, 
mostly  of  the  famous  "Red  Oxen,"  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

The  Nottingham  team  had  a  few  very  heavy 
yokes  of  cattle,  and  as  each  yoke  bore  a  banner, 
with  the  name  of  its  town  marked  upon  it,  the 
effect  was  pleasing. 

The  Hampton  team,  however,  was  tJie  attrac- 
tion ;  its  car  beautifully  adorned  externally,  and 
infinitely  more  beautiful  within,  with  the  anima- 
ted grace  and  loveliness  of  the  fair  daughters  of 
that  town,  all  indicated  that  Hampton  women 
take  an  interest  in  agriculture,  as  well  as  Hamp- 
ton men. 

The  stock  pens  were  well  filled,  and  the  vari- 
ous breeds  of  cattle,  Devon,  Durham,  Jersey  and 
native,  were  fairly  represented,  though  there 
were  few  cattle  showing  any  marked  superiority 
of  system,  either  in  breeding  or  feeding.  A  fair 
show  of  horses,  sheep  and  swine  completed  the 
list  of  stock  in  the  pens. 

The  plowing  match  came  off  at  2\  o'clock,  P. 
M.,  and  was  very  well  attended.  There  were 
some  fourteen  entries  of  horse  and  ox  teams, 
with  plows  rigged  exclusively  for  sod  plowing. 
Two  of  the  famous  universal  plows,  and  several 
others,  were  entered  for  trial  by  their  respective 
owners.  The  land  to  be  plowed  was  of  a  light, 
sandy  loam,  with  little  or  no  sward,  and  not  of 
that  character  to  bring  out  all  the  good  qualities 
of  a  plow,  or  to  fully  test  the  skill  of  the  plow- 
man. 

The  universal  plow,  entered  by  Joseph  H. 
Weare,  of  Seabrook,  soon  became  the  object  of 


general  attention.  The  soil  came  from  its  mould- 
board,  completely  disintegrated,  and  the  land 
plowed  looked  much  like  a  garden,  so  complete- 
ly and  smoothly  did  the  plow  do  its  work.  .1  am 
confident  that  this  plow  will  take  the  first  pre- 
mium, satisfied  as  lam,  that  of  the  many  farmers 
who  witnessed  its  work,  not  one  went  away  who 
did  not  decree,  in  his  own  mind,  this  award  to  it. 
All  the  others  performed  well,  but  owing  to  con- 
ditions of  soil,  before  mentioned,  a  sod  plow 
could  hardly  be  said  to  have  had  a  complete 
trial.  Much  must  always  depend,  in  a  trial  of 
plows,  upon  the  skill  which  the  plowman  pos- 
sesses, in  rigging  them,  or  adjusting  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  soil  to  be  worked.  Many  good  plows 
are  often  condemned  and  thrown  aside  as  worth- 
less, simply  from  an  ignorance  of  these  requisites. 

Immediately  after  the  plowing  match,  a  trot, 
(for  a  purse  made  up  out  of  the  society,)  was  an- 
nounced ;  the  names  of  the  contesting  parlies,  or 
the  result  of  the  trial,  I  did  not  take  the  trouble 
to  learn,  as  I  do  not  consider  this  a  part  proper 
of  an  agricultural  fair. 

The  address,  by  Chas.  G.  Davis,  Esq.,  Pres- 
ident of  the  Plymouth,  Mass.,  County  Society, 
was  next  in  order,  and,  as  an  instance  how  much 
a  good,  sound  address  will  attract  that  class  of 
people  who  frequent  fairs  only  to  see  speed,  it  is 
proper  to  state  that  ere  the  conclusion  of  the  ad- 
dress, two -thirds  or  four-fifths  of  those  in  at  its 
beginning,  had  left. 

I  would  suggest,  that  if  trials  of  speed  are  to 
become  the  rule  at  our  fairs,  the  managers  shall 
arrange  to  have  half  the  trot  before  and  half  af- 
ter the  address  ;  this  will  secure  the  attendance 
of  the  people  to  hear  the  address,  and  may  lead 
the  popular  mind  to  entertain  more  exalted  no- 
tions of  the  aim  and  end  of  agricultural  improve- 
ments. Duties,  in  another  direction,  prevented 
my  enjoyment  of  Mr.  Davis's  address.  I  judge, 
however,  that  those  who  heard  it  through,  went 
to  their  homes  with  a  new  impression  of  the  dig- 
nity of  their  calling. 

A  glimpse  at  the  hall  showed  that  to  be  the 
great  point  of  interest.  Here  is  felt  the  influ- 
ence of  woman's  hand  and  taste,  in  the  various 
adornments,  natural  and  artificial,  which  it  con- 
tains. Upon  its  tables  are  displayed  all  imagi- 
nable productions  of  the  garden  and  greenhouse, 
arranged  as  only  woman  can  arrange  to  show  all 
their  good  points. 

Trie  mechanical  department  was  almost  no- 
where, and  furniture,  etc.,  was  not  much  better. 

The  second  day  was  devoted  to  "Female  Eques- 
trianism," horse  racing,  a  shoio  of  a  market  fair, 
or  sale  of  stock,  which  a  shower  and  a  scarcl'y  of 
buyers  brought  to  an  untimely  end.  In  the  an- 
nouncement of  premiums,  I  found  that  Mr. 
Weare  drew  the  first  for  the  universal  plow.  No. 
121.  After  this  came  another  race,  and  then  the 
close.  Yours,  very  trulv,  NoMAD. 

Exeter,  N.  H.,  Sept.  28,  1859. 


113^  The  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to  an 
article  in  another  column  upon  the  meaning  of 
the  words  "Type — Species — Variety."  as  con- 
stantly used  by  farmers  and  gardeners,  in  speak- 
ing of  their  various  products.  There  will  be  a 
better  understanding  between  each  other  when 


512 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


the  precise  meaning  of  these  words  is  generally 
understood  by  those  who  employ  them  in  speak- 
ing of  agricultural  matters. 


AQRICULTaKAL  SHOWS. 

We  are  desirous  to  give  some  notice — even 
though  it  be  a  brief  one — of  each  of  the  State 
and  county  shows,  as  a  record  of  passing  events 
in  agriculture,  and  in  order  to  afford  a  means  of 
contrast  in  the  future.  The  Montfdy  Farmer  is 
in  book  form,  and  is,  therefore,  convenient  for 
preservation,  and  each  number  is  stereotyped,  so 
that  as  editions  are  exhausted,  they  are  easily 
supplied.  In  this,  accounts  of  these  shows  may 
be  preserved,  and  they  will  afford  the  means  of 
enabling  us  by-and-by  to  ascertain  what  progress 
has  been  made  in  the  art.  But  as  we  are  not 
able  to  attend  all  the  meetings  and  report  them, 
we  are  obliged  to  refer  to  the  daily  papers  for 
brief  sketches  of  their  proceedings.  Some  of 
them  we  give  below. 

East  Franklin  Agricultural  Society. — 
We  learn  from  a  correspondent  that  the  second 
annual  meeting  of  the  East  franklin  Agricultu- 
ral Society  was  held  at  Montague  on  the  24ih. 
Fine  horses  and  cattle  crowded  the  streets,  and 
an  endless  variety  of  apples,  fruit,  roots,  melons, 
squashes,  fancy  articles,  and  all  the  other  etcet- 
eras of  such  a  show,  filled  the  town  hall.  An 
address  was  given  by  Prof.  Ward  of  Bernardston. 
Music  was  furnished  by  the  Montague  Brass 
Band.  A  dinner  was  furnished  at  the  hotel,  of 
which  about  two  hundred  partook.  Speeches 
were  made  by  Mr.  Eastman,  of  the  Greenfield 
Oazdte  and  Courier,  Rev.  Mr.  Tandy,  Prof. 
Ward,  xMajor  Reed,  A.  D.  Hubbard  and  S.  B. 
Pratt.  Mr.  Ward's  address  was  the  great  fea- 
ture of  the  occasion,  it  being  delivered  in  a  pleas- 
ing, off-hand  manner. — Journal. 

Middlesex  North  Agricultural  Society. 
— The  fifth  annual  exhibition  of  this  society  took 
place  on  Wednesday,  Sept.  20,  in  Lowell.  The 
number  of  entries  of  cattle  and  stock  was  much 
larger  and  of  better  quality  than  on  any  previous 
exhibition.  Several  fine  mares  and  colts  attracted 
much  attention.  There  were  several  good  spec- 
imens of  Cotswold,  Merino  and  Smyrna  sheep 
with  lambs.  The  rain  interfered  very  materially 
with  the  out-of-door  exhibitions.  At  the  ap- 
pointed hour  the  officers  of  the  society  and  the 
invited  guests  partook  of  a  dinner  in  French's 
Hall.  After  the  cloth  was  removed  an  address 
ivas  delivered  by  Hon.  George  N.  Boutwell,  after 
which  toasts  were  given,  and  responses  were 
made  by  Hon.  C.  L.  Knapp,  Mr.  Bushnell,  of 
Sheffield,  Mr.  Reynolds,  of  Concord,  and  others. 

Middlesex  South  Agricultural  Society. 
— The  Annual  Exhibition  and  Cattle  Show  ot  this 
Society  began  on  Wednesday  morning,  Sept.  20, 
at  Framingliam.  The  display  of  stock  was  not 
so  good  as  that  of  last  year.  Some  of  the  ani- 
mals that  took  premiums  last  year,  were  entered 
for  this  year's  prizes.  The  exhibition  of  vegeta- 
bles was  very  fine,  and  was  much  better  than  was 


expected,  as  it  was  thought  the  recent  winds  had 
damaged  it  very  materially.  There  were  excel- 
ent  specimens  of  grapes,  and  a  good  display  of 
manufactured  articles,  carriages  and  fancy  work. 
The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  "entries  : — 

Plowing,  single  teams  5  ;  double  teams  7  ;  horse 
teams  5  ;  fat  cattle  3  ;  bulls  14  ;  cows  12  ;  milch 
cows  3  ;  heifers  37;  heifer  calves  13;  workin.g 
oxen  7  ;  steers  4 ;  carriage  horses  15  ;  stallions 
7  ;  breeding  mares  8 ;  colts  18 ;  farm  horses  5 ; 
fat  hogs  4  ;  boars  6  ;  sows  10  ;  litters  of  pigs  7  ; 
miscellaneous  2G — total  221.  Fancy  articles  110 ; 
loaves  of  bread  40  ;  vegetables  132  ;  varieties  of 
fruit  382— total  654.     Total  875. 

Philadelphia,  Sept.  26.  The  State  Agricul- 
tural Fair  commences  at  Powelton  tomorrow, 
and  will  be  the  most  prosperous  ever  held.  The 
entries  are  very  numerous.  All  the  departments 
are  well  filled.  The  premiums  to  be  awarded 
amount  to  $8000. 

St.  Louis,  Sept.  26.  The  fourth  annual  fair 
of  the  St.  Louis  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
Association  opened  to-day,  and  although  a  heavy 
rain  fell  in  the  morning,  the  grounds  were  vis- 
ited by  about  15,000  people.  Nearly  every  State 
in  the  Union  is  represented  either  by  delegates, 
stock,  or  in  the  mechanical  and  agricultural  de- 
partments. The  number  of  entries  exceeds  5000, 
more  than  twice  as  many  as  any  previous  fair, 
and  still  more  are  to  be  made. 

The  exhibition  is  unprecedentedly  large,  and  su- 
perior in  quality.  The  $1000  premiums  for  the 
best  roadster  bred  stallion,  and  thorough  bred 
bull,  have  drawn  here  many  of  the  most  celebrated 
animals  in  the  country. 

In  a  ring  of  twenty  draft  stallions  to-da3%  the 
first  premium  was  awarded  to  Charles  B.  Mack, 
Rockport,  Ky.  The  first  premium  for  matched, 
horses  was  taken  by  Wm.  Reed,  of  Butler  county 
Ohio. 

The  city  is  densely  thronged,  and  every  train 
and  steamboat  comes  loaded  with  additional 
crowds.  Should  the  weather  be  propitious,  the 
present  will  eclipse  any  fair  ever  held  in  the 
Union. 

MASSACHUSETTS  SCHOOL  OF  AGRICUL- 

TUJRB. 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  recently,  the  fol- 
lowing officers  of  this  society  were  chosen  for 
the  ensuing  year: 

Marshall  P.  Wilder President. 

Richard  S.  Fat Treasurer. 

Charles  C.  Sewall Corresponding  Secretary. 

Asa  French Recording  fcecretary. 

By  the  act  of  incorporation  the  Trustees  of  the 
society  are:  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Benja- 
min V.  French,  George  W.  Lyman,  Richard 
S.  Fay,  Samuel  Hooper,  Joseph  S.  Cabot, 
Charles  O.  Whitmore. 


Coal  and  Iron. — From  the  official  returns  of 
the  British  Mineral  Districts,  it  appears  that  the 
produce  of  the  coal  mines  in  the  United  Kingdom 
during  a  recent  year  amounted  to  65,394,707 
tons  ;  the  estimated  value  of  the  coal  at  the  mines 
was  $97,433,380.  The  pig-iron  produced  during 
the  year  was  valued  at  $64,000,000. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


513 


i> 


THE  PUKE  DEVOIJ"  CO'W,  FAIEY 


"We  have  before  us  the  third  volume  of  the 
Devon  Herd  Book,  containing  pedigrees  of  Dev- 
on cattle,  with  the  names  of  their  breeders.  It 
is  an  American  edition,  edited  by  Sanfokd 
Howard,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  as  well  qualified  for 
the  task,  perhaps,  as  any  other  man  in  the  coun- 
try. The  publishers,  Messrs.  Brown,  Taggard 
&  Chase,  Cornhill,  Boston,  have  sent  us  one  of 
the  fviw  copies  which  comprise  the  edition,  and 
also  two  of  the  electrotype  cuts  which  illustrate 
it.  One  of  these  we  gave  in  a  former  number, 
and  to-day  we  present  the  reader  the  portrait  of 
as  symmetrical  and  perfect  a  specimen  of  the 
Devon  race  of  cattle  as  he  has  probably  e%'er 
seen.  This  cow  was  calved  in  1851,  and  bred 
by  G.  Shapland,  of  Oakland,  England,  and  is 
now  the  property  of  R.  Linsley,  of  West  Mer- 
iden,  Conn.  Fairy  has  taken  several  premiums 
at  shows  of  the  Connecticut  State  Agricultural 
Society. 

Persons  who  are  not  familiar  with  "blood 
stock,"  may  think  such  outlines  as  are  presented 
in  this  portrait  exaggerations, — but  we  can  as- 
sure them  that  they  are  not,  as  similar  specimens 
may  be  seen  at  most  of  our  State  exhibitions, 
and  quite  often  at  county  fairs.  It  shows  not 
only  what  may  be  accomplished,  but  what  may 
be  continued,  by  skill  and  care. 


j  Sparrows  FGa  New  Zealand. — In  New 
Zealand  the  country,  at  particular  seasons,  is  in- 
jvaded  by  armies  of  caterpillars,  which  clear  off 
the  grain  crops  as  completely  as  if  mowed  down 
iwith  a  scythe.  With  the  view  of  counteracting 
jthi*  plague  a  novel  importation  has  been  made. 
■It  IS  thus  noticed  by  the  Southern  Cross: — Mr. 
jBrodie  has  shipped  three  hundred  sparrows  on 
board  the  Svvordfish,  carefully  selected  from  the 
best  hedgerows  in  England.  The  food  alone,  he 
[informs  us,  put  on  i)oard  for  them,  cost  £18.  This 
sparrow  question  has  been  a  long  standing  joke 
in  Aukland  ;  but  the  necessity  to  farmers  of  small 
birds  to  keep  down  the  grubs  is  admitted  on  all 
sides.  There  is  no  security  in  New  Zealand 
against  the  invasion  of  myriads  of  caterpillars 
whioli  deva^-tate  the  crops.  Mr.  Brodie  has  all 
reidy  acclimatized  the  pheasant,  which  is  abun- 
dant in  the  north.  The  descent  from  the  pheas- 
ant to  sparrows  is  somewhat  of  an  anti-climax; 
but  should  the  latter  multiply,  the  greatest  ben- 
efit will  have  been  conferred  on  the  countrv." 


How  LONG  DO  Wooden  Water  Pipes  last? 
— In  excavating  for  the  State  Street  sewer,  the 
laborers  came  upon  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
^iystem  of  water  works,  the  exact  date  of  which 
is  unknown,  but  supposed  to  have  been  made  in 
1819,  '20,  or  in  1827.  The  pipes  are  of  pine 
wood,  a  foot  or  so  in  diameter,  and  in  very  ex- 
cellent preservation.  When  first  reached,  the 
logs  retained  the  bark.     Recent  discussion  re- 


514 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


specting  the  utility  and  durability  of  wooden  again,  and  we  i^-now  we  get  more  wheat  by  spread- 
water  pipes,  gives  to  this  discovery  consid^rablej^ng  the  manure  a  month,  or  six  weeks,  before 
interest,  and  it  may  be  important  to  note  alli^i^^jj^^,,  Upon  mv  suggestion  that  it  was  evi- 
these  evidences  of  the  durability  ot  such  artiL- 
cial  water   courses.     We  are  informed   that  the 


corporation  of  Elmira  have  adopted  wooden  aw 
ter  pipes  for  a  system  adapted  to  supply  the 
wants  of  that  village. — Rochester  Dem. 


For  the  New  Ensland  Farmer. 

SURFACE  MANURING. 
BY   JUDGE   FRENCn. 

Lincoln  is  one  of  the  best  counties  in  England. 
The  wheat  crop  on  Lincoln  Heath  averages  near- 
ly thirty  bushels  to  the  acre.  This  same  heath 
was  an  open  common,  a  century  ago,  and  so  bar- 
ren and  desolate,  that  a  tower  was  erected  in 
1751,  and  a  light  kept  burning  to  guide  travel- 
lers in  the  night  in  their  uncertain  journeys 
across  the  waste.  The  writer  visited  this  land 
light-house  in  July,  1857,  and  passed  a  week  in 
the  county,  with  some  of  its  best  farmers.  It  is 
a  beautiful,  highly  cultivated  region,  now, 
abounding  in  the  finest  sheep  and  horses,  with 
broad  fields  of  grain  carefully  drilled,  hoed,  and 
weeded  by  hand  ;  enclosed  with  well  cut  haw- 
thorn hedges,  indicating  plainly  and  surely  that 
the  farmer  there  understands  his  business,  and 
that  it  is  not,  as  it  is  often  with  us,  a  matter  of  luck 
and  chance,  whether  a  good  crop  repays  the  cul- 
ture, but  a  certainty  almost,  that  the  well  estab- 
lished system  of  the  county  will  afford  the  ex- 
pected reward.  Their  system  is  that  which  is 
there  usually  called  "the  four-field  system" — 
sometimes,  the  four-course  or  four-shift  system  ; 
of  turnips  the  first  year,  barley,  the  second, 
"seeds,"  i.  e.,  rye-grass  and  clover,  and  some- 
times vetches,  the  third,  and  wheat  the  fourth, 
and  this  repeated  forever.  On  the  heavy  clayj 
lands  a  five  years'  course  is  adopted,  and  on  the 
fens  an  entirely  difi'erent  system. 

Walking  over  the  fields  of  "seeds"  as  this 
grass  is  termed,  I  observed  on  the  land  of  one 
of  my  friends,  that  fresh  manure  from  the  "creme- 
yard"  had  already  been  spread  on  the  surface, 
and  this  was  before  the  middle  of  July,  and  there 
it  must  lie  till  plowed  in,  in  September.  It  struck 
me  as  a  wasteful  course,  and  as  injuring  the  grass 
for  the  sheep  then  grazing  upon  it,  and  1  so  said 
to  my  friend.  He  is  a  man  of  education,  and  a 
practical  English  farmer,  with  no  other  occupa- 
tion but  that  of  husbandry,  and  farms  for  profit, 
and  not  for  fancy.  He  gave  me  his  views  freely 
and  decidedly.  "We  understand,"  said  he,  "that 
theory  seems  to  be  against  us,  and  that  there 
must  be  a  loss  of  some  of  the  elements  of  fertili- 
ty by  evaporation,  and  that  it  seems  more  rea 
Bonable  to  plow  in  the  manure  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble, but  we  have  tested  it,  all  of  us,  again  and 


owine. 
dent  tne  manure  was  wasmig,  oecause  mc  ww..-, 
was  then  very  strong  all  about  us, — "Certainly," 
he  said,  "there  is  some  waste,  but  not  so  much, 
perhaps,  as  many  imagine.  The  odor  is  from  the 
ammonia,  and  a  very  small  quantity  is  quite  per- 
ceptible to  the  senses.  A  few  shillings  worth  of 
ammonia  from  the  shops  will  furnish  all  the  odor 
we  perceive  from  an  acre." 

Afterwards,  I  rode  from  Salisbury  to  Stone- 
henge,  in  a  carriage,  with  five  or  six  farmers 
from  various  counties  of  England,  who  had  acci- 
dentally met  at  the  Great  Agricultural  Fair,  and 
stated  to  them  what  I  had  observed  in  Lincoln- 
shire. Nearly  all  of  them  bore  testimony  that 
the  same  practice  of  spreading  manure  some 
weeks  before  plowing,  for  whea^,  prevailed  in 
their  respective  districts,  and  so  far  as  I  could 
learn  by  observation,  the  practice  is  general  in 
England,  though  by  no  means  universal. 

The  climate  of  England  differs  from  ours  in 
this,  that  they  have  much  less  hot  weather  than 
we.  Yet  there  are  many  bright  warm  days,  and 
many  days  of  sunshine,  with  occasional  showers  ; 
and  perhaps  alternate  wettings  and  dryings  fa- 
vor decomposition,  and  loss  by  evaporation,  more 
than  steady,  burning  heat ;  and  besides,  except- 
ing in  the  summer  months,  there  is  not  so 
marked  a  difference  between  the  climate  of  New 
and  Old  England.  If  it  be  the  true  policy  to  ap- 
ply manure  to  the  surface  there,  in  July  and  Au- 
gust, to  be  plowed  in,  weeks  after,  we  might 
think  better  than  heretofore,  at  least,  of  top- 
dressings  for  grass  in  autumn  in  our  own  coun- 
try. In  Lincolnshire,  too,  they  feed  their  sheep 
in  hurdles  un  their  turnips,  and  plow  in  the  ma- 
nure thus  made,  with  a  wheel- plow  but  two 
inches  deep,  to  keep  it  near  the  top  for  the  bar- 
ley crop  which  follows. 

The  Mark  Lane  Express,  published  in  London, 
has  recently  given  a  series  of  articles  upon  ma- 
nures, insisting  that  the  true  mode  of  applying 
manures  is  upon  the  surface.  The  writer  boldly 
makes  such  statements  as  these  : 


"Mr.  Hudson,  of  Castleacre,  Norfolk,  states 
the  fact  from  his  own  experience,  that  the  quali- 
ty of  farmyard  dung  is  improved  by  an  exp  >sure 
of  months  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  ;  and  that 
the  crops  are  better  from  dung  that  has  been  ex- 
posed, than  on  lands  in  which  the  dung  has  been 
covered  in  the  usual  moist  and  half-rotted  condi- 
tion. This  observation  is  not  quite  new,  though 
but  little  known  ;  and  when  mentioned,  it  has 
been  completely  smothered  by  the  overwhelm- 
ing weight  of  the  established  dogma  on  the  use 
of" farmyard  dung.  My  own  experience  is  able 
to  confirm  the  statement  of  Mr.  Hudson,  during 
a  long  and  very  extensive  practice  in  using  farm 
dung  on  clay  fallows  for  wheat.  *     •     *     * 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


515 


"Mr.  Hudson's  observation  is  very  much 
strengthened  by  the  liean  farminj?  of  Ea^t  Lothi- 
an, crack  county  of  Scotland.  The  land  is  par- 
tially wrought  in  February  and  March,  drills  are 
opened  as  for  green  crops,  rough  but  well  moist- 
ened farm-yard  dung  is  spread  along  the  inter- 
vals, the  beans  are  sown,  and  the  drills  are  re- 
versed. During  these  operations,  the  weather, 
being  unsteady  at  that  early  season,  often  inter- 
rupts the  progress,  and  leaves  the  farm-yard 
dung  lying  in  heaps,  and  even  spread  along  the 
drills,  exposed  to  every  change  of  weather — 
washed  by  the  rain  and  snow,  bleached  by  th" 
frost,  and  dried  by  the  strong  winds,  for  many 
weeks  ;  the  crop  of  beans  has  been,  in  every  case, 
superior  to  the  lands  manured  in  the  usual  way." 

This  writer,  however,  admits  that  his  notions 
are  not  in  accordance  with  those  of  others.  He 
says,  after  giving  other  facts  to  the  same  point, 
"all  the  above  statements  clash  with  the  doc- 
trines of  chemistry,  and  are  against  even  the 
most  approved  and.  settled  practice  ;  but  facts 
are  stubborn  things."  And  again — "However 
much  these  statements  may  clash  with  the  chem- 
istry of  Kensington  or  Hanover  Square,  such 
facts  are  stubborn  things." 

Now,  at  "Hanover  Square"  is  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Eoyal  Agricultural  Society, 
where  they  hold  their  regular  weekly  meetings, 
and  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  and  hear- 
ing some  of  the  first  agriculturists  of  all  Eng- 
land, and  to  my  mind  the  writer's  admissions 
that  his  theories  are  in  conflict  with  the  '"doc- 
trines of  chemistry"  and  "the  most  approved  and 
eeitled  practice,"  and  his  slurs  at  "Hanover 
Square"  are  rather  stranger  than  his  own  facts. 

In  the  Country  Gentleman  of  about  Dec,  1857, 
— the  date  is  gone — there  is  an  article  by  J.  W. 
Clark,  on  "Spring  and  Fall  Manuring."  It  is 
there  stated  that 

"Prof.  Stoekler  of  the  Royal  Agricultural 
College,  Cirencester,  England,  together  with 
Prof.  S.  W.  Johnson,  of  Y  de,  and  several  far- 
mers in  the  State  of  New  "Vork  and  elsewhere, 
are,  it  seems,  convinced  that  manures  hauled  out 
and  spread  broadcast  on  the  soil  during  late  fall 
and  winter,  do  not  suffer  any  material  loss  of 
ammonia,  and  other  plant  food,  from  such  expos- 
ure ;  that  the  evaporation  which  invariably  af- 
fects manure  in  such  conditions,  does  not  carry 
off  any  considerable  quantity  of  the  elements 
used  as  food  by  the  plants,  and  which  therefore, 
it  is  desirable  to  prevent  the  waste  of,  whether 
such  waste  results  from  evaporation  or  other- 
wise." 

The  writer's  idea  in  brief  is,  that  ammonia,  the 
principal  substance  supposed  to  be  lost  by  ex- 
posure of  manure  to  the  air,  is  not  set  free  ex- 
cept by  fermentation,  and  that  considerable  heat 
is  requisite  to  produce  this  fermentation,  and 
that  manure  exposed  in  winter  would  not  there- 
fore lose  much  by  this  process,  "because  fermen- 
tation is  prevented  by  the  cold  air  of  this  season, 


and  no  loss  of  nutriment  takes  place  by  the  mere 
evaporation  of  water  without  fermentation ; 
hence  manure  does  not  lose  its  ammonia  by  be- 
ing exposed  during  the  winter,  even  if  it  l)low  and 
rain  and  snow  and  freeze." 

If  manure  be  spread,  there  are  certain  portions 
of  its  fertilizing  substances  which  are  washed 
out  by  the  rains,  but  which  are  not  thereby  lost, 
but  are  taken  into  the  soil.  I  will  not  attempt  to. 
talk  like  a  chemist,  because  I  am  not  one,  but 
there  are  evidently  valuable  elements  of  fertility 
which  cannot  be  evaporated.  Common  salt  is  of 
this  class.  It  may  be  dissolved  in  water  and  ex- 
posed to  the  sun.  The  water  evaporates,  but  the 
salt  remains.  .John  Johnson,  near  Geneva,  N.  Y., 
in  the  Country  Gentleman,  of  June  16,  1859, 
goes  the  whole  figure  for  surface  manuring. 

"If  I  had  no  foul  seeds  to  destroy,  and  my 
manure  had  not  a  large  quantity  of  straw  in  it,  I 
would  take  it  right  from  the  yard  to  a  grass  field, 
in  April  or  early  in  May  ;  spread  it  on  the  sur- 
face, letting  it  Liy  one  or  two  years  before  plow- 
ing ;  at  least  I  would  try."     *     *     •     * 

"I  notice  Prof.  Mapes,  also,  comes  out  in  the 
N.  Y.  Tribune  again.st  surface  manuring,  ft  is 
possible  that  plowing  down  the  manure  may 
answer  a  better  purpose  for  the  Professor  in 
raising  carrots,  beets,  turnips,  squashes  and 
pumpkins,  but  not  for  our  crops  here.  Surface 
manuring,  like  under  draining,  has  to  meet  with 
much  opposition  for  a  time,  but  it  must  ultimate- 
ly, like  under-draining,  become  an  established 
necessity  in  successful  farming. 

"I  know  it  is  difficult  to  change  the  minds  and 
plans  of  men  so  far  advanced  in  life  as  S.  W. 
and  myself,  (Prof.  Mapes  I  h^.ve  never  seen.) 
but  surface  manuring  is  gradually  getting  into 
favor  with  all  progressive  farmers ;  and  before 
ten  years,  will  be  generally  adopted  ;  but  there 
may  be  some,  as  in  the  chess  question,  who  may, 
against  all  opposition,  still  stick  to  the  old  cus- 
tom of  plowing  the  manure  down  a  foot  deep." 

Here,  again,  we  find  the  writer's  language  has 
a  double  edge.  He  advocates  surface  manuring, 
and  cites  Prof.  Mapes  as  authority  against  the 
practice.  Now,  Prof.  Mapes  is  not  only  a  man 
of  science,  but  one  of  the  most  successful  far- 
mers in  getting  a  profit  from  his  land,  within  my 
knowledge,  and  so  we  cannot  help  having  more 
faith  in  science  illustrated  by  practice,  than  in 
practical  results  by  men  who  pretend  to  no  sci- 
entific knowledge.  The  man  of  science  is  always 
a  more  accurate  and  reliable  observer  than  the 
merely  practical  man. 

The  object  of  this  article  is  not  to  talk  dog- 
matically, but  rather  to  present  fairly  the  views 
of  "good  men  and  true"  who  differ  in  their  ideas. 
Perhaps  my  own  opinion  should  be  given.  I  will 
state  my  practice,  which  I  see  no  occasion  at 
present  to  change.  For  grass,  I  prefer  to  lay 
down  my  land  in  August  or  September,  either 
with  winter  rye  or  nothing,  as  winter  wheat  does 


616 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


not  thrive  with  me.  If  I  break,  up  sward  land,  I 
do  not  first  spread  the  manure,  but  turn  with  a 
double  plow,  spread  ra^v  manure,  generally  com- 
post, and  plow  it  in  wiih  one  horse,  lightly,  not 
disturbing  the  sod.  The  same  course  I  pursue 
on  my  sandy  land  for  corn  and  potatoes.  I  use 
a  double  or  Michigan  plow  even  on  old  ground 
and  do  not  like  to  put  the  manure  so  deep,  as 
such  a  plow  buries  it.  I  top  dress  my  heavy 
land  grass  fields,  once  in  three  or  four  years  in 
autumn,  with  compost,  and  should  practice  this 
more,  were  it  not  that  my  land  produces  white 
weed  and  briars  and  other  weeds,  and  I  like  to 
plow  it  occasionally  to  give  the  grass  the  advan 
tage  of  them.  Where  grass  is  the  most  valua- 
able  crop,  top-dressing  is,  on  heavy  lands,  though 
there  be  some  loss  of  manure,  convenient  and 
profitable. 

I  certainly  have  not  yet  concluded  to  spread 
fresh  manure  a  month  exposed  to  the  air  in  sum 
mer,  before  plowing  in,  though  I  cannot  deny 
that  my  Lincolnshire  friends  may  be  correct  in 
their  opinion  that  in  their  climate  and  with  their 
system,  they  get  more  wheat  by  this  praclice. 
Still,  this  method  does  not  yet  look  right,  nor 
smell  right,  nor  seem  right,  for  our  adoption. 


For  the  Neir  England  Farmer. 

A  WSLL  ARRA-NGED  COW-STABLE. 

Sufherland  Falls,  Vt,  Sept.  13,  1859. 
Hon.  F.  Holbrook  :— Z>eor  Sir, — 1  am  keep- 
ing a  small  dairy  of  twenty-lwo  cows,  and  intend 
to  keep  about  thirty.  Will  you  oblige  me  by  tell 
ling  me  the  best  plan  of  arranging  stables  to 
keep  them  in  ?  Would  it  be  good  economy  to 
stable  them  nights  during  the  summer,  givinp 
them  a  little  extra  feed  in  the  stables  ?  What  li- 
the best  plan  for  fastening  them  in  the  stalls  ? 
Yours  truly,  A.  C.  Powers. 


Brattltboro\  Sept.  22   1859. 

A,  C.  Powers,  Esq,:— i^fa?-  *S'tV,— 1  have  joui 
favor  of  the  13th  inst.,  inquiring  for  a  good  ar 
rangement  of  stables  for  cows.  As  I  occasional- 
ly have  letters  of  similar  import,  I  take  the  lib 
erty  of  answering  yours  through  the  medium  ol 
the  New  England  Farmer,  hoping  that  other  per- 
sons may  thereby  find  the  information  they  art 
seeking  for  in  common  with  yourself. 

I  would  make  the  mangtr  of  your  stables 
about  two  feet,  and  six  inches  wide,  and  aboui 
three  feet  and  six  inches  long — the  latter  dimen- 
sions, of  course,  being  the  width  of  stall  or  space 
in  the  clear,  allotted  to  each  cow.  The  mangers 
should  be  suitably  divided  off,  by  partitions,  tr 
each  animal,  so  th  t  you  can  feed  each  one  as 
you  please,  without  the  interference  of  one  cow 
■wiih  the  food  of  another.  The  bottom  of  thi 
mangers  should  be  elevated  three  or  four  inches 
from  the  stable  floor,  for  the  convenience  of  tht 
cows  when  eating.  If  the  sides  of  the  mangers 
are  made  perpcndicuUtr,  the  right  angled  or 
sharp  corners  formed  by  their  junction  with  tht 
bottom  should  be  filled  out  with  narrow  strips 


of  board  or  plank,  nicely  fitted  in,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent meal  or  other  fine  messed  food  from  lodg- 
ing ;  but  a  better  way  would  be,  to  make  the 
sides  considerably  flaring,  and  then  the  cattle  can 
get  their  noses  into  the  corners  of  the  manger, 
and  clean  them  of  meal  or  other  fine  food.  Each 
manger  should  have  an  upright  post  or  standard, 
firmly  set,  and  roun  ed  part  way  up,  and  with  an 
iron  ring  to  slip  up  and  down  on  this  rounded 
part,  for  the  purpose  of  fastening  the  animal,  and 
of  allowing  it  to  raise  or  lower  its  head  at  pleas- 
ure. The  board  or  plank  forming  the  side  oi  the 
manger  next  to  the  animal,  should  be  about  one 
foot  high  or  wide,  and  the  ring  on  the  standard 
should  not  slip  below  that  height. 

Leather  straps,  with  strotig  buckles  and  loops, 
to  go  around  the  necks  of  the  cows,  are  better 
than  chains  or  stanchels.  The  straps  should  be 
one  and  three-foui  ths  inch  wide,  and  ab'Ut  three 
and  a  half  feet  long  ;  and  there  should  be  a  halt* 
ring,  of  iron,  slipped  on  to  the  strap,  and  made 
fast  to  it,  by  stitching  a  strong  loop  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  strap,  and  nearest  the  end  which  has 
the  buckle  ;  and  then  there  should  be  a  swivel 
link,  connecting  the  strap-ring  to  the  ring  on  the 
standard  or  manger  post.  This  swivel  arrange- 
ment prevents  the  strap  from  becoming  twisted 
on  the  neck  and  choking  the  animal.  You  can 
readily  judge  for  yourstlf  where  is  the  best  place 
in  the  strap  to  confine  the  half-ring,  so  as  to  ren- 
der the  fastening  and  loosening  of  the  cow  iiandy 
and  convenient  every  way.  Leather  straps  will 
last  many  years,  and  are  very  safe  and  conven- 
ient for  tying  up  the  cattle,  as  well  as  comforta- 
ble to  their  necks.  1  have  a  set  which  have  been 
in  use  some  fifteen  years,  and  are  still  as  good  as 
new.  There  is  an  oily  or  lubricating  substance 
imparted  to  them  from  the  necks  of  the  cattle, 
which  preserves  the  leather  perfectly,  and  keeps 
i      ofl  and  pliable. 

The  floor-planks  should  be  placed  lengthwise 
the  stalls,  or,  in  other  words,  parallel  with  the 
way  the  cows  stand  ;  they  should  be  about  five 
feet  and  six  inches  long,  outside  the  mangers  ; 
and  should  rise  sliahll}  from  the  rear  end  to  the 
manger,  so  that  liquids  will  not  stand  on  them. 

1  here  should  be  a  water-tight  trench,  immedi- 
ately behind  the  cows,  made  four  inches  deep 
and  about  twenty  inches  wide,  in  t!  e  clear,  and 
extending  through  the  whole  range  of  stables, 
and  Ijiiglevtl  from  end  to  end.  Here  is  the 
place  of  all  places  to  make  compost  manure. 

Then  there  shouUl  be  a  walk,  of  about  two  feet 
in  width,  between  the  trench  and  the  rear  side  of 
the  stable. 

Throw  the  manure  out  of  the  stable  windows, 
under  a  shed-roof,  or  through  scuttles  in  the 
walk  behind  the  trench,  whichever  you  may  pre- 
fer, though  I  should  prefer  a  deep  shed,  on  the 
.south  side  of  the  buildings. 

Provide  a  dry,  warm  place,  for  the  storage  of 
compost  materials,  conveniently  accessible  fiom 
the  stables,  and  in  the  summer,  or  fall,  fill  the 
storage-place  with  swamp  muck,  dug  and  piled  a 
tew  months,  or  a  year  previously,  so  as  to  have 
become  dry  and  fine,  and  a  good  absorbent  of  li- 
quids and  gases,  or  with  leaves  and  vegetable 
mould  dug  up  in  the  hollows  and  rich  places  in 
the  woodlands.  Each  day,  throughout  the  fod- 
dering season,  clean  out  the  trench,  and  then  fill 
it  again  with  muck  or  leaf-mould,  putting  about 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


517 


a  bushel  of  it  behind  each  grown  animal,  and  it 
will  become  well  saturated  and  mingled  with  the 
cattle  droppings,  and  make  the  very  best  of  ma- 
nure ;  indeed,  far  better  than  that  which  is  com- 
monly saved  in  the  farmers'  stables.  No  one  who 
has  ever  fairly  tried  this  method  of  composting, 
would  dispense  with  it,  nor  would  he  regard  the 
expense  of  fitting  up  the  stables  for  it,  or  of  sup- 
plying the  raw  material  in  the  trench,  as  to  be 
named  in  comparison  with  the  advantages  realiz- 
ed therefrom. 

It  would  undoubtedly  be  a  good  plan  to  tie 
the  cows  in  the  stables,  nights,  through  the  sum- 
mer and  fall,  or  after  the  full  flush  of  spring  pas- 
turage has  passed,  and  feed  them  at  night  with 
green  corn,  or  other  soiling  crops,  raised  for  that 
purpose.  The  trench  should  also  be  daily  filled 
with  muck  or  rich  mould.  Thus  you  would  in- 
crease both  milk  and  manure. 

For  oxen,  the  floor-planks  should  be  about  six 
feet  and  nine  inches  long.  The  ox-stalls  being 
made  all  at  one  end  of  the  stable-range,  no  in- 
convenience will  arise  from  having  a  jog  in  the 
trench  where  the  cow-stalls  commence. 

Very  truly  yours,         F.  HoLBROOK. 


For  the  New  England  Farmet , 
BLACK  KNOT  ON  PEACHES, 

Mr.  Editor  : — Some  months  since  I  noticed 
an  article  in  the  Farmer  on  ''Doubtful  Items  in 
Culture,"  by  your  correspondent,  J.  M.  Ives. 
From  some  remarks  in  that  article,  I  infer  that 
he  has  had  much  experience  in  testing  different 
varieties  of  peaches,  as  well  as  other  fruits,  and 
1  should  be  m.uch  pleased  to  see  a  list  of  those 
kinds  which  he  esteems  most  valuable,  and  par- 
ticularly, which  among  the  late  ripening  varie- 
ties he  thinks  the  most  profitable.  The  late 
Crawford  seems  to  be  our  standard  late  peach, 
but  in  many  places  it  has  proved  too  unproduc- 
tive to  be  profitable.  Is  there  a  better  late  va- 
riety ?  If  I  remember  aright,  some  years  since 
the  late  Robert  Manning  recommended  a  late 
peach,  called  the  Welch  Freestone.  Can  your 
correspondent  give  me  any  information  concern- 
ing it?  Has  the  Druid  Hill  been  sufficiently 
tried  to  determine  its  value? 

I  also  wish  to  inquire  if  peach  trees  are  ever 
much  troubled  by  the  black  knot  ?  Until  very 
recently  I  was  not  aware  that  they  ever  were,  but 
a  short  time  since,  while  I  was  looking  at  a 
young  peach  tree,  I  was  much  surprised  to  dis- 
cover upon  it  one  of  our  old  enemies,  a  veritable 
black  knot;  it  was  about  two  inches  in  length, 
and  was  upon  the  last  year's  wood  ;  the  tree  is 
only  two  years  from  the  stone,  and  is  not  budded ; 
with  the  exception  of  this  knot  it  seems  to  be 
perfectly  healthy  and  thrifty.  I  have  thought  that, 
perhaps,  the  injury  which  this  tree,  in  common 
with  all  peach  trees,  received  from  the  severe 
cold  of  last  winter,  might  have  som.ething  to  do 
with  the  production  of  this  knot ;  yet  this  tree 
did  not  appear  to  have  suffered  more  than  the 
others. 

I  have  heard  of  cherry  trees,  and  of  wild  plum 
trees,  (American,)  being  affected  by  the  knot,  but 
I  have  never  heard  of  their  being  found  upon 
the  peach;  yet,  perhaps,  they  are  not  uncommon. 

Sey>t.  20,  185a.  X.  t.  z. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
A  PLEA  FOR  THE  ROBIN. 

On  page  542,  vol.  10,  of  the  monthly  Farmer, 
is  a  communication  from  J.  S.  Needham,  West 
Danvers,  in  which  he  says  many  hard  things 
about  the  robins.  He  denounces  legislative  en- 
actments to  protect  these  birds,  and  asserts  it  as 
the  "right  and  duty"  of  man  to  disobey  the  law, 
by  destroying  all  those  birds  that  taste  the  ripen- 
ing fruit. 

All  the  weeds,  shrubs  and  bushes  which  infest 
the  pastures, — hence  the  deterioration  of  pasture 
land,  and  its  consequent  depreciation  in  value, 
and  the  increase  in  the  price  of  butter, — are  laid 
to  the  poor  robin.  Really,  such  an  amount  of  in- 
jury would  consign  a  human  being  to  infamy,  if 
he  were  guilty,  and  who  can  uphold  such  prac- 
tices in  birds  ?  But  I  am  far  from  believing  the 
robin  guilty  of  all  that  is  charged  to  his  account. 
Other  small  birds  are  quite  as  plenty  as  robins, 
and  some  species  feed  almost  wholly  upon  seeds, 
without  being  very  particular  in  their  choice. 
As  soon  as  any  seed  is  grown  the  common  yel- 
low bird  may  be  seen  upon  plants,  gathering  his 
daily  food.  The  lady's  flower-bed  receives  a  due 
share  of  attention,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  sum- 
mer and  in  autumn,  thistles,  mullins,  burdocks, 
and  almost  every  other  noxious  weed,  furnish 
their  quota  of  food,  and  we  hear  nothing  about 
the  utility  of  destroying  them,  but  on  the  con- 
trary all  admire  them  ;  yet  it  appears  to  me  that, 
if  the  "germ  of  the  seed  is  not  killed  in  passing" 
through  the  digestive  apparatus  of  birds,  the 
yellow  bird  deserves  a  full  share  of  the  denunci- 
ation for  scattering  seeds  of  injurious  weeds. 

On  page  332,  vol.  11,  is  another  article  writ- 
ten in  the  same  strain,  by  a  correspondent  who 
signs  himself  "N."  The  article  in  entitled,  "Or- 
nithology," but  his  animosity  to  robins  seems  to 
have  led  him  from  his  subject,  for  I  think  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find,  in  his  communication, 
much  that  pertains  to  the  science.  He  says,  "To 
my  mind,  the  robin  possesses  no  taste,  but  se- 
lects its  food  to  the  fancy  of  its  eye,"  and  that 
the  bird  swallows  angle- worms  "only  to  gratify 
his  vicious  destructiveness."  I  am  glad  the  wri- 
ter will  admit  that  the  poor  bird's  destructive- 
ness sometimes  leads  him  to  destroy  worms.  I 
will  also  admit  that  he  eats  fruit,  and  so  do  sev- 
eral other  species  of  small  birds,  occasionally, 
but  I  do  not  believe  the  robin  would  live  entire- 
ly upon  that  kind  of  food,  if  he  could  have  his 
■choice.  Indeed,  I  think  I  have  very  good  proof 
to  the  contrary,  for  during  the  present  season  I 
have  seen  a  robin  fly  from  the  fence,  and  pick  up 
worms  and  swallow  them,  when  a  cherry  tree, 
laden  with  ripe  fruit,  was  quite  as  near.  Many 
a  time  have  I  seen  robins  follow  the  plow,  pick- 
ing up  every  worm  and  bug  that  came  in  their 
sight.  This  was  in  New  Hampshire,  where,  it  is 
true,  angle-worms  were  not  as  plenty  as  in  some 
parts  of  the  country,  yet  robins  were  abundant, 
and  fruit  was  plenty.  The  great  number  of  in- 
sects which  birds  destroyed,  was  generally  con- 
sidered a  full  remuneration  for  all  the  fruit  they 
eat,  yet  there,  as  everywhere,  the  robin  had  ene- 
mies. Persons  called  men  would  kiH  any  small 
bird  rather  than  allow  it  to  take  a  few  cherries 
or  raspberries.  I  am  glad,  however,  that  all  are 
not  of  that  class,  and    that   some   men    can  be 


518 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


found  who  are  willing  to  give  their  votes  to  pre- 
vent the  wanton  destruction  of  our  real  friends 
among  the  feathered  tribes. 

Let  all  who  are  in  any  way  engaged  in  mold- 
ing the  character  of  the  rising  generation,  en- 
deavor to  inculcate  a  spirit  of  kindness,  and  I  be- 
lieve the  time  will  come  when  the  robin  can  live 
unmolested  in  every  garden.  Aquila. 

Bloomjickl,  C.  W.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HOKTICULTUBAL  HINTS. 

CURRANTS — MILDEW    ON     GOOSEHERRTES — RASPRER- 
KIES — PEAR  TREES — RHUBARB  —  MANURE — SEED. 

Those  currant  bushes  that  I  trail  up  beside  the 
fence  in  the  manner  that  grape  vines  usually  are 
upon  the  side  of  houses,  1  find  yield  more  cur- 
rants than  those  which  are  left  to  take  their  own 
course. 

Mildew  on  gooseberries  can  be  prevented 
easily,  one  would  think,  on  n-ading  articles  in 
regard  to  it  in  the  papers,  but  my  experience 
says  different.  I  think  that  some  varieties  are 
affected,  while  others  are  not ;  one  bush  in  my 
garden  has  not  been  subject  to  it,  and  from  it  I 
have  propagated  ten  others,  which  never  have 
been. 

Raspberry  bushes  need  looking  after ;  cut  the 
old  and  weak  new  stocks  off,  leaving  the  strong, 
healthy  ones  for  the  hearers  next  year  ;  take  good 
care  to  manure  well,  and  the  time  spent  will  well 
be  paid  for. 

Pear  trees  whose  trunks  are  protected  from 
the  hot  sun.  I  find  have  made  more  wood  than 
those  exposed. 

If  you  wish  to  have  rhubarb  early,  cover  up 
the  roots  this  fall  with  horse  manure ;  the 
strength  of  it,  which  will  get  soaked  out  by  the 
rains,  will  not  hurt  the  roots. 

My  three  porkers  have  three  wheelbarrow 
loads  of  muck  each  day  to  convert  into  manure, 
which  they  do  by  the  aid  of  that  which  is  thrown 
from  the  horse  and  cov/  to  mix  with  it. 

Give  heed  to  the  seed  which  is  ripe — do  not 
let  the  birds  gather  it,  and  you  be  obliged  to  call 
on  the  seedsman  to  get  that  which  you  are  not 
sure  is  so  good.  My  seed  corn  1  gather  from 
those  ears  which  ripen  first.  Crops  of  all  kinds 
look  finely.  s.  P.  M. 

Cape  Elizabeth,  Sept.,  1859. 


Mysteries  of  the  Bank  Parlors. — The 
New  York  Trihime  says,  the  discount  clerk  of 
one  of  the  city  banks  recently  resigned  his  situ- 
ation. His  resignation  was  accepted,  his  accounts 
investigated  and  pronouced  all  right,  and  a  com- 
plimentary vote  passed  by  the  Board  for  his  at- 
tention to  his  duties,  &c.  He  then  stated  to  the 
Board  that  he  had  a  communication  to  make,  as 
a  caution  to  induce  them  to  watch  his  successor. 
He  stated  that,  notwithstanding  his  accounts 
were  all  correct  at  the  time  of  resignation,  he  had, 
in  fact,  been  using  the  bills  receivable  of  the 
bank  for  years  as  collateral  for  loans,  and  em- 
ploying the  funds  in  the  purchase  of  paper  at 
usurious  rates.  By  this  course  he  had  accumu- 
lated sufficient  property  to  meet  his  moderate  de- 
sires, and,  having  no  further  use  for  the  facili- 
ties he  had  enjoyed,  he  had  resigned. 


MIDDLESEX  CATTLE  SHOW. 

The  sixfy-ffth  annual  anniversary  of  this  an- 
cient and  honorable  society  took  place  at  Con- 
cord, on  Wednesday,  the  28th  of  September.  The 
heavens  were  propitious — the  solar  rays  bting 
softened  by  an  awning  of  thin  intervening  clouds, 
with  a  kind  of  half  promise  from  them  and  the 
winds,  that  there  would  be  no  present  rain.  The 
air  was  mild,  the  roads  moist  and  free  from  dust, 
so  that  these,  and  the  charming  scenery  of  the 
autumnal  woods,  invited  everybody  forth  to  en- 
joy this  time-honored  festival  of  the  farmers  of 
Middlesex. 

By  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  everybody  in 
the  ancient  and  quiet  old  town  of  Concord  was 
in  motion,  and  showed  that  the  gala  day  had  be- 
gun. 

The  first  exercise  was  that  of  the  Floioing 
Match,  which  was  numerously  attended,  and  con- 
tested with  much  earnestness  and  skill.  There 
were  seven  entries  of  doublii,  three  of  single,  and. 
nine  of  horse,  teams.  The  trial  was  one  of  more 
than  ordinary  value,  because  some  of  the  lands 
laid  out  were  rough  and  wet,  and  thus  compelled 
the  workman  to  show  his  skill  and  the  team  its 
training.  The  usual  order  of  things  succeeded, 
such  as  the  trial  of  working  oxen  and  horses, 
the  cavalcade  of  horses,  then  the  exhibition  of 
stallions,  colts,  farm  horses  and  roadsters, — all 
of  which  seemed  to  afford  gratification  to  the 
throng  that  surrounded  them. 

The  exhibition  in  the  Hall  was  greatly  ad- 
mired,— the  fruit  exceeding  what  had  been  an- 
ticipated, after  a  summer  of  so  few  fervid  suns  to 
ripen  up  and  color  it.  The  show  of  apples  was 
very  good.  The  fine  Maiden's  Blush  by  W.  W. 
Wheildon,  of  Concord,  and  several  samples  of 
the  same  by  others,  the  rich  varieties  of  James 
Eustis,  of  South  Reading,  of  Asa  Clement,  of 
Dracut,  of  A.  G.  Sheldon,  of  Wilmington,  B. 
Stone,  of  Acton,  John  B.  Moore  and  J.  M.  Che- 
ney, of  Concord,  and  the  basket  of  Pumpkin 
Sweetings  of  M.  K.  Prescott,  of  Concord,  could 
scarcely  be  excelled  in  any  year. 

The  show  of  pears  was  excellent — not  large  but 
made  up  of  good  specimens  of  most  of  the  best 
varieties.  Some  of  the  persons  exhibiting  in  this 
department,  were  John  Gordon,  of  Brighton,  Ja- 
cob Eaton,  Henry  Davis  and  Jesse  Haley,  of 
Cambridgeport,  Walter  M.  Allen,  of  North  Cam- 
bridge, J.  B.  Moore,  A.  H.  Wheeler,  and  J.  M. 
Cheney,  of  Concord.  We  noticed  several  bas- 
kets of  varieties  of  fruit,  and  among  them  one 
each  of  great  excellence,  from  Asa  Clement,  of 
Dracut,  from  R.  S.  Stewart,  of  Concord,  and 
from  Edwin  Wheeler  of  Concord.  Only  one 
small  basket,  and  a  shallow  plate  of  peaches,  were 
presented.  The  basket  was  from  James  O.  Free- 
man, of  Framingham.     The  show  of  grapes  was 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


519 


very  fine,  considering  the  cold  season  and  the  un- 
timely frosts  of  May.  Mr.  Bull,  of  Concord, 
made  a  splendid  show  of  the  Concord — though 
rather  excelled  in  this  by  Mr.  Clement,  of  Dra- 
cut — and  of  the  Black  Hamburg,  Grizzly  Fron- 
tignac  and  White  Nice.  It  was  a  little  wicked 
in  him  to  tempt  us  with  such  forbidden  fruit. 
We  do  not  feel  certain  that  we  shall  ever  drink 
his  health  again,  unless  he  finds  the  wine.  Fine 
Isabellas  were  exhibited  by  George  B.  Cutter,  of 
Weston,  bearing  the  record  that  the  vines  had 
not  been  girdled.  Good  samples  of  the  Concord 
were  also  presented  by  F.  A.  Wheeler,  of  Con- 
cord, and  George  W.  White,  of  North  Cam- 
bridge. The  show  of  vegetables  was  large,  in- 
cluding most  that  are  raised  in  the  gardens  or 
on  the  farms  of  our  people,  and  they  were  of  ex- 
cellent quality. 

E.  L.  Reynolds,  Concord,  presented  a  Yankee 
cotton  plant  in  full  vigor,  with  one  of  the  bolls 
expanded  and  the  snowy  cotton  streaming  out. 

Some  100  cattle,  and  200  horses,  were  entered, 
and  among  them  were  many  of  merit.  The  show 
of  swine  was  not  large,  but  we  think  in  quality  it 
was  the  best  we  have  ever  seen  at  any  place 
We  ought  not  to  withhold  the  names  of  the  per^ 
sons  presenting  them.  H.  G.  O.  Merriam,  of 
Tewkesbury  had  one  estimated  to  weigh  1000 
lbs.,  and  several  others  that  were  excellent.  A. 
Upton,  of  Wilmington,  Joseph  Derby,  J.  B. 
Moore  and  Cyrus  Stow,  of  Concord,  Thomas  J. 
Damon,  of  Wayland,  James  Pierce,  of  Lexing- 
ton, and  Col.  Wm.  Hastings,  of  Framingham,  all 
presented  animals  which  gave  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  they  are  judges  of  good  stock. 

There  was  a  pleasant  display  of  poultry.  That 
of  John  Brown  2d,  of  Concord,  and  the  White 
Shanghais  of  Charles  R.  Damon,  of  Cochituate, 
attracted  much  attention. 

For  the  first  time  for  many  years,  we  believe, 
the  Society  did  not  set  down  to  a  regular  din- 
ner ;  there  was  no  lack  of  provent,  however,  on 
the  ground  or  at  the  hotel  near  by.  At  2  o'clock 
a  procession,  heralded  by  music,  marched  to  the 
Town  Hall,  where  a  sound,  philosophical  and 
able  address  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Stebbins,  of  Woburn.  It  lashed  the  follies  of 
the  times,  while  it  abounded  with  practical  sug- 
gestions that  must  be  of  value  to  every  farmer, 
if  he  will  but  ponder  upon  and  adopt  them.  The 
address  was  an  hour  and  a  quarter  long,  yet 
none  could  be  weary  or  inattentive  under  the 
sparkling  thoughts  that  rolled  from  the  rich,  full 
voice  of  the  speaker.  We  hope  to  see  it  print- 
ed, and  to  refer  to  it  again.  He  was  followed  by 
Gov.  BouTWELL,  Mr.  Brown,  of  Concord,  Mr. 
EsTY,  President  of  the  South  Middlesex  Socie- 
ty, Gen.  Dana,  of  Charlestown,  and  others. 
•  I.  F.  Shepherd,  Esq.,  of  Somerville,  being 


called   on,  apologized  for  spoiling  a  committee 

book  he  held  in  his  hand  by  concocting  a  little 
agricultural  poem,  while  the  orator  was  speak- 
ing ;  and  to  punish  him  for  this  breach  of  pro- 
priety the  President  made  him  read  it,  and  a 
capital  thing  it  was,  glowing  with  onions  and 
orchards,  cabbages  and  cattle,  pigs,  poetry  and 
pumpkins,  and  many  a  sly  hit  at  the  girls  about 
their  frisettes  and  curls, — matters  that  he  ought 
to  know  nothing  about.  But  we  overlooked  his 
want  cf  gallantry  in  consideration  of  the  excel- 
lence of  the  poem,  and  made  him  more  than  half 
promise  that  we  might  show  the  whole  of  it  to 
the  world ! 

The  speeches  being  arrested,  reports  of  com- 
mittees were  read,  and  then  the  society  went  in- 
to an  election  of  officers  for  the  ensuing  year, 
with  the  following  result : — 

Geokge  S.  BorxwELL,  Groton,  President. 
GnonoE  O.  Bu.vsxow,  Somerville,     (       Vice 
Andkew  Weli,i>gton,  Lexington,  ^Presidents. 
Joseph  Reynolds,  Concord,  Secretary. 
George  Heywood,  Concord,  Treasurer. 

Col.  Keyes,  of  Concord,  who  has  been  the 
most  earnest  and  efficient  presiding  officer  for  two 
years,  declined  a  re-election.  Though  not  a  far- 
mer, the  attention  and  thought  he  has  given  to 
the  society  has  greatly  promoted  its  interests, 
and  sustained  its  ancient  and  honorable  reputa- 
tion. The  Society,  grateful  for  his  past  endeav- 
ors, tendered  him  a  cordial  vote  of  thanks. 

In  the  exhibitions  of  this  Society  there  is  always 
one  thing  worthy  of  imitation  by  all ;  that  is,  the 
promptness  with  which  it  takes  up  the  several 
exercises  of  the  day  as  the  moment  occurs  to 
which  they  are  assigned,  and  the  celerity  with 
which  it  goes  through  them.  This  enables  them 
to  accom,plish  all  in  one  day,  and  prevents  those 
unpleasant  delays  and  confusion  which  always 
attend  upon  procrastination. 

Below  we  give,  as  an  example,  the  programme 
of  the  day,  struck  on  a  little  card,  and  presented 
to  the  committees  and  others,  who  desired  them. 
It  was  prepared  by  the  President  to  prevent  mis- 
takes and  prevent  inquiry,  and  was  found  a  most 
happy  expedient. 

Middlesex  Agricultural  Society. 


CATTLE-SHOW,   FAIR  AND  MARKET  DAY. 

Obcer  of  Arrangements. 

Plowing  Match,  at 9  o'clock. 

Trial  of  Working  Oxen 10  " 

Cavalcade  of  Forjes lOJ  " 

Exhibition  of  Fruits,  &c U  " 

"  of  Stallioos 11  " 

"  or  Colt^f llj  " 

"  of  Family  ami  Matched  Horses 12  •' 

"  of  Farm  Horses 12^  " 

"  of  Roadsters 1  " 

Procession  and  Address 2  " 

Auction  Sale 3  " 

Annual  Meeting 4  " 

JOHN  S.  KEYES,  President. 

Concord,  Sept.  28, 1859. 


520 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMEK. 


Nov. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
COMPOSTING  MUCK  FOR  Ma.NUKE. 


potatoes.     At  the  place  where  the  heap  is  to  be 
:  laid  up,  prepare  a  temporary  lime-bed,  of  boards 
;ii'   you    please,  or  by  smoothing  off  the  ground, 
Warner,  jV*.  11.,  Sept.  22,  1859.      'and  with  water  handy  to  the  lied.     ])i.ss<olve  the 
Mr.    Holbrook  :— Z)ear  Sir,— Will  you  in-  salt  in  just  water  enough  to  dry-slake  the  lime, 
form  me  of  the  best  means  to  be  used  in  compost-  or  cause  it  to  crumble  to  a  fine  dry  powder,  us- 
ing muck  so  that  it  may  be  used  as  a  fertilizer  for  ing  about  one  bushel  of  cheap  salt  to  five  or  six 
crops?  I  bushels  of  fiesh  lime.     Slake  the  lime  no  faster 

I  would  like  to  know  how  much  lime  that  is  than  it  is  wanted  for  a  given  layer  of  muek,  and 
slaked  in  salt  water  should  be  used  to  a  load  of  apply  it  immediately,  while  warm  by  slaking,  to 
muck;  also,  how  much  plaster,  or  if  you  prefer  the  muck.  Allow  one  bushel  of  fresh  limeto 
ggjjggP  leach   half-cord   of  muf^k,  the  lime,  however,  in- 

When  is  the  best  time  to  compost  it,  and  how  creasing  very  much  in  bulk  by  slaking.  A  larger 
long  is  it  best  to  let  it  remain  in  heap?  ^ proportion  of  lime   may  be  used,  and,   indeed, 

It  has  been  recommended  to  mix  it  at  the  time  may  be  necessary,  if  the  muck  is  quite  green  and 
the  ground  freezes,  and  let  it  remain  until  spring  wet,  but  one  bushel  to  the  half-cord  is  the  least 
before  turning  it.  !  quantity    of  lime   that    will    properly  expel   the 

This  muck  which  we  have  hauled  out  was' acids  of  the  muck.  Pile  the  muck  in  thin  layers 
formed  in  a  valley,  between  two  hills  which  are 'at  a  time,  say  five  or  six  inches   thick,  and  put 


covered  with  trees;  and  when  you  put  in  the,  the  right  proportion  of  lime  on  each  layer  of 
Bpade,  it  cuts  like  old  cheese  when  it  is  mouldy.]  muck.  Make  the  pile  about  five  feet  high,  and 
There  is  not  a  particle  of  sand  or  gravel  in  it.  [of  a  convenient  width  and  length.  Do  the  work 
Any  information  in  relation  to  the  best  modes  of  composting  nicely  and  accurately,  for  the  val- 
of  composting  will  be  gratefully  received. 


Yours,  respectfully, 

Oliver  N.  Moulton. 


REPLY. 

Brattlehoro\  Sept.  28,  1859. 


lue  of  the  heap  will  much  depend  upon  its  proper 
[mixture.  After  the  pile  is  completed,  let  it  lie 
[two  to  four  weeks,  and  then  shovel  it  over  thor- 
'oughly,  after  which  it  may  lie  through  the  win- 
jter.  Or  you  can  make  the  compost  next  spring, 
a  few  weeks  before  it  is  wanted  for  use,  shovel- 
ling it  over  once.  The  best  time  of  all,  however, 
Mr.  O.  N.  Moulton  -.—Dear  Sir, — I  have!  to  make  the  heap,  is  in  the  hot  weather  of  sum- 
your  letter  of  the  22d  inst,  making  inquiries!  mer,  as  that  greatly  insures  a  decided  fernienta- 
about  various  modes  of  composting  muck  to  fit[  tion  and  decomposition.  After  being  shovelled 
it  for  use  as  a  manure.  1  have  several  times,  over,  the  heap  can  lie  till  the  following  spring,  or 
written  articles  upon  these  matters  for  the  iVck;  until  wanted.  But  then  you  are  not  confined  to 
£'7;^?ancZ  i^rtnner,  but  even  now,  occasionally  re- [any  particular  s-asoii,  and  can  make  the  com- 
ceiving  letters  of  inquiry,  similar  to  yours,  I  con- [post  at  any  time,  only  give  the  heap  a  few  weeks' 
elude  to  answer  you  through  the  i'arm(?r,  that:  age  after  mixing,  and  shovel  it  over  well  once, 
other  persons  desirous  of  the  information  you  re-jlf  this  compost  is  spread  broadcast,  apply  thirty 


quest  may  have  it  in  common  with  yourself. 

From  your  description,  I  judge  that  your  muck 
is  purely  a  vegetable  deposit,  of  great  value  as  a 
fertilizer,  if  properly  prepared  for  the  purpose. 
Muck  is  not  only  valuable  for  its  large  amount 
of  vegetable  matter,  as  food  for  plants,  but  also 
for  its  great  capacity  as  an  absorbent  of  those 
matters  which  are  so  liable  to  slip  away,  and  be- 
come, in  a  large  measure,  lost  to  the  land  and 
crops, — the  liquids,  gases  and  salts  of  the  ma- 
nure. To  realize  the  full  benefits  that  may  be 
derived  from  the  use  of  muck,  it  is  important 
that  it  should  be  dug  from  the  swamp  and  piled 
on  dry  ground  some  months  before  using  it  in 
compost,  and  if  it  could  thus  lie  for  one  or  two 
years,  so  much  the  better.  While  in  the  green 
and  wet  state,  the  vegetable  matter  of  which  it  is 
composed  is  more  or  less  locked  up  in  acids  del- 
eterious to  cultivated  plants,  and  is  therefore  un- 
available to  them  as  food,  and  its  qualities,  as  an 
absorbent,  are  but  in  part  developed.  But  give 
it  age,  and  the  water  and  acids  will  in  a  large 
degree  pass  out  of  it,  so  that  it  is  lighter  and  ev- 
ery way  more  convenient  for  handling,  and  bet- 
ter for  becoming  the  food  of  plants ;  and  being 
thus  dry  and  finely  pulverized,  it  is,  next  to  pul- 
verized charcoal,  the  best  absorbent  of  the  liquids 
and  volatile  matters  of  manure  that  we  can  em 
ploy. 

You  inquire  particularly  about  composting 
muck  with  lime  and  salt.  This  makes  an  excel- 
lent compost  for  putting  in  the  hills  of  corn  and 


to  forty  loads  per  acre. 

Plaster  is  not  valuable  for  composting  with 
muck  ;  but  unleached  ashes  are  valuable  for  that 
purpose.  If  ashes  can  be  procured  for  not  more 
than  fifteen  to  eighteen  cents  per  bushel,  perhaps 
a  given  outlay  in  them,  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
posting with  muck,  would  be  more  profitable 
than  the  same  amount  laid  out  in  lime  and  salt. 
If  ashes  are  used,  put  up  the  compost  heap  in 
thin  layers  at  a  time,  as  directed  in  composting 
with  lime,  and  use  two  bushels  of  good  unleached 
ashes  to  each  half-cord  of  muck.  A  larger  pro- 
portion of  ashes  will  be  well  if  the  muck  is  con- 
siderably green.  Two  bushels  of  ashes  to  a  half 
cord  of  old,  dry,  well  pulverized  muck,  is  as  good 
as  fcur  bushels  would  he  with  the  same  bulk  of 
muc'i,  raw  and  wet  from  the  swamp.  The  same 
conditions  are  to  be  observed  in  managing  this 
compost,  as  to  the  time  of  mixing,  shovelling 
over,  &c.,  as  those  mentioned  for  the  muck  and 
lime  mixture.  The  muck  and  ashes  mixture 
makes  an  excellent  fertilizer  to  put  in  the  hills 
of  corn  and  potatoes.  I  have  seen  remarkable 
crops  of  potatoes,  both  as  regards  quantity  and 
quality,  and  continuing  very  healthy  throughout 
the  season,  raised  on  old  pastures  broken  up 
from  the  sod,  and  manured  with  a  shovelful  of 
this  kind  of  compost  in  each  hill.  It  is  also  a 
good  dressing  for  the  ladies'  flower-beds,  for 
trees  and  shrubs  of  all  kinds,  and  for  lawns  and 
grass  lands  generally. 

Muck  may  be  composted  with  pot»>h,  dissoU- 


x859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


521 


ing  the  potash  in  water,  and  sprinkling  the  11-  parts  of  muck,  if  it  is  old  and  fine,  to  one  of  horse 
quid  upon  each  layer  of  muck,  while  making  up  i  manure. 

the  heap.  My  fiiend,  Mr.  Dudley,  of  Chester-  But  I  have  neither  time  nor  space  now  to  go 
field,  N.  H.,  a  few  miles  from  here,  informs  me] fully  into  the  various  details  of  composting.  It 
that  he  has  for  two  or  three  years  past  been  us-jis  a  large  subject.  If,  however,  there  are  some 
ing  potash,  alone,  for  manuring  his  corn  in  the  |  particular  points,  not  touched  in  this  letter,  which 
hills,  and  with  satisfactory  results.  I  have  sev-iyou  would  like  to  confer  with  me  about,  I  shall 
eral  times  promised  to  go  and  see  the  corn,  while  be  happy  to  answer  your  inquiries. 


growing  under  this  treatment,  and  suppose  I 
should  have  visited  him  before  this  time,  but  one 
thing  and  another  has  prevented.  It  appears  to 
me  that  if  potash  works  so  well,  alone,  in  the 
corn  hills,  it  would  be  still  more  valuable  if  suit- 
ably composted  with  good  dry  muck.  I  think  I 
shall  try  it  another  year.  The  only  rule  neces- 
sary to  observe,  as  to  the  quality  of  potash  to  be 
used  in  the  compost,  is  to  keep  within  reasona- 
ble bounds  of  expense,  as  compared  with  other 
composts. 

A  mixture  of  muck  with  superphosphate  of 
lime  makes  a  good  dressing  to  put  in  the  hills 
of  corn  and  potatoes.  In  a  recent  communica- 
tion of  mine  in  the  Farmer,  I  described  the  ef- 
fects  of  this  compost,  as  used  by  my  neighbor. 


Very  truly  yours, 


F,   HOLBKOOK. 


THE  MAPLE. 


HIS    is  one   of    the   most 
splendid  of  American  for- 
est trees.    There  are  com- 
monly enumerated    three 
species  of  the  maple,  viz.: 
White  maple,   Acer  cln.irj- 
carpum,  Red  Maple,  Acer 
rubrum,  and  the  Hard  or  Rock  Maple,  Sugar 
Maple,   Acer  saccharinum.     The  first  is  a  tall, 
MrrRufurCkTk^By  mlxin"g\he"sup7rpho^^^^^  tree  of  two  varieties  ;  one  of  which  pre- 

with  old,  dry,  fine  muck,  it  becomes  well  diffused  :sents  a  straight  an  smooth  grain,  and  is  much 
through  the  muck,  and  is  safer  and  more  effec-!used  for  a  variety  of  purposes  connected  with  the 
tive  in  the  hills  of  corn  than  when  used  alone.  A '  mechanical  arts,  for  ship  timber  and  for  fuel ;  the 
week  or  two  previous  to  planting-tnne,  mix  thci    .,       •    i       <■       •      -/-^  ,•  n 

a        ■        J        1         •  u  I-        1  other  IS  less  tree  in  nit,  presenting:  usuailv  grains 

two  on  a  floor  in  a  dry  place,  in  such  proportions!  '^  »  Jw        ° 

as  to  give  a  large  handful  of  the  compost  to  each  ^i^ore  corrugated  and  convolved.  The  latter  is 
hill,  and  include  a  moderate  table-spoonful  of :  often  called  "birds-eye,"  and  is  really  a  most  de- 
superphosphate  in  each  handful,  being  careful  to  sirable  and  durable  wood.  Like  the  former,  it  is 
use  muck  which  is  dry  and  fine.  _  ;  much  used  for  various  artistic  purposes,  being 

Construct  your  cattle-stables  on  a  plan  similar      „imuj^  i         j  i 

i    *L  ..     u-  i:   T  ..1  •      *i,      IT-  ..     remarkably  hard,  nrm  and  ponderous,  and  cana- 

to  that  which  I  recently  gave  m   the  tarnifr  to  r  ■  i      "  xv^uo,  ani^  K,a^a 

Mr.  A.   C.  Powers,  making  the  stable  floor  just,  ^le  of  receiving  a  high  polish, 
long  enough  for  the  cattle  to   stand  or  lie  upon  i     The  Acer  saccharinum,  or  rock  maple,  is  pro- 
comfortably;  and  immediately  behind  them  have  I  bably  the   most    beautiful   and   valuable  of  the 
a   water-tight  plank  trench,  about   four   inches i^^ree.     It  is  sometimes   known  by  the  appella- 
deep  and  twenty  inches  wide,  and  use  your  muck  ^,.         ~  .,  ^  /-a       i     \_     ,        n    ^ 

daily  in  the  trench  during  the  season  that  the  |^J°"  ^^  ^^^  ^"g^^'  ^''''-  «"  ^he  banks  of  the 
cattle  are  stabled,  putting  about  a  bushel  of  it  {  Saco,  in  Maine,  where  it  imbibes  the  rich  matters 
behind  each  grown  animal.  This  is  one  of  the, essential  to  its  gro.wth  from  the  inexhaustible 
very  best  ways  for  making  compost ;  for  you  thus  deposits  contained  in  the  fertile  alluvial  soil,  it 
save  the  liquids,  which  are  the  most  valuable  part 'attains,  ordinarily,  a  most  majestic  development. 
01  the  manure,  you   mix   the  various  parts  mi-  rp,  i      i  i  •     i     ■ 

nutely  and  perfectly  and  make  a  large  quantity  ^^^  ^"g^'^  "^P^^  abounds  extensively  in  most  of 
of  effective  and  enduring  manure,  excellent  for]  the  New  England  States,  though  it  is  most  com- 
any  kind  of  a  crop.  I  mon  in  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont. 

In  the  fall,  spread  muck  six  to  twelve  inches  in  Massachusetts,  it  is  also  quite  common,  and 
thick  over  the  bottom  of  your  yards  and  sheds, '^^^^^ij^gg  constitutes  extensive  forests  which 
to  become  mingled  with  the  manure  and  utter  ,     „  ,,,,., 

made  in  them  through  the  winter,  carting  out|  are  possessed  of  great  value,  both  for  the  wood, 


the  contents  to  the  tillage-fields  in   the  spring; 


which  is  much  prized  for  fuel,  and  for  fine  cabi- 


or,  after  spring  work  is  over,  piling  them  snugly,  net  work,  and  for  the  sap,  which  is  boiled  into 
for  use  the  next  fall  or  spring.  A  still  better  [sugar.  The  maple  is  very  easily  propagated, 
way,  howev^er,  is  to  draw  the  muck  by  sledding,  1^^^^  ^j^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ornamental  purposes,  is  un- 
at  two  or  three  different  times  during  the  winter,!  '■     ^ 


and  spread  it  thinly  in  the  yards  and  sheds,  say 
three  or  four  inches  thick  each  time,  thus  ex- 
posing it  thoroughly  to  the  frost,  as  well  as 
more  perfectly  mingling  it  with  the  litter  and 
manure. 

Put  muck  into  the  pig-pens,  a  little  at  a  time, 
and  often.  Put  the  horse  manure  in  there  also, 
and  the  pigs  will  keep  it  from  over-heating  and 
burning,  and  mix  it  well  with  the  muck.  Or  the 
horse  manure  may,  from  time  to  time,  at  short 
intervals,  be  composted  directly  with  muck,  mix- 
ing the  two  in  thin  layers,  and  using  t  v^o  or  three 


rivalled  in  the  richness  of  its  luxuriant  shade. 
The  white  maple  has  a  rapid  growth,  does  well 
on  almost  any  kind  of  soil,  and  when  transplant- 
ed in  the  spring,  and  properly  tended,  grows  with 
scarcely  any  diminution  of  vigor. 


The  Practical  MAeniNisx  is  a  new,  hand- 
somely printed  and  well  filled  paper — published 
in  New  York,  weekly,  by  T.  H.  Leavitt  &  C©. 
Price  one  dollar  per  annum. 


622 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


IJfVITATIONS— THINKS.  remedies    as  similar  ones   have  heretofore  con- 

The    agricultural  festivals  of   this   and  other  gained,  we   would   condemn    it   at   once;  hue  it 

States  have  taken  place  this  autumn  in  unusual  h'^^™^  to  adviae  to  the  use  of  moderate  ones.    If 

number,  and    have   clashed  with    each    other  so  I ^^e  usual  Homceopathic  remedies  were  added,  as 

that  in  some   instances  three    or  four   have  oc- [they  are  in  Youatt  and  Martin's  work  on  cattle, 

curred  on  the  same  day.     The  three  great  conn- 1  ^he   book  would   be   still    more    valuable.     The 

..        c  T7<  n/r- 1  ]i  I  \\r  „„     !„,.   „ii  1-,,  1,1  work  is   very    neatly   printed    and    hound,    and. 

ties  oi  Essex,  Middlesex  and  VVorctster,  all  held  I  j  j    r-  > 

^1.1  ,  .,1.  ^-         ^1        1       •   •       *v,    lousht  to  be  on  the  table  of  stock-owners  who  do 

their  shows  at  the  same  time,  thus  depriving  thej"  »  "'  ^     _ 

people  of  the  opportunity  of  attending  the  exhi- 
bition of  their  nearest  county  neighbors. 

We  have  been  kindly  invited  to  attend  most 
of  the  county  shows  in  this  fetate,  and  to  attend 
the  State  and  county  shows  in  other  States.  As 
many  of  these  as  we  have  had  opportunity  and 
strength  to  reach,  we  have  attended,  found  much 
to  commend,  and  but  little — though  some  things 
— to  condemn.    We  desire  to  express  our  thanks 


not  now  own  one. 


For  the  New  Ens;land  Farmer. 
BA.RNS  FOR  ISEW  ILKGLAND. 


In  your  paper  of  Sept.  10  we  have  a  long  and 
ably  written  article  from  "J.  VV".  K.,  Stravvberry 
Bank,  Durham,  X.  H.,"  upon  the  construction  of 
"Our  Barns."  Will  you  allow  me  to  say  that  I 
fear  many  of  your  intelligent  readers,  who  have 
an  eye  i'or  the  practical,  and  a  keen  perception. 

for  invitations  to  the  Vermont,  New  York,  New  for  the  useful,  will  justly  imagine  that  "J.    W. 

Hampshire   and    Maine  State    societies,  and  to  I K."  was  but  throwing  out  marks  for  others  to 

the  Nantucket,  Plymouth,  Barnstable,  Essex,  I  «hoor  at,  instead  of  giving  us  what  we  are  ever 
„      ,     •    ,  „     ^,    ,,.  ,  ,,  „       ,      anxious  to   receive,  i.   e.,  practical  information 

Worcester,  North  and  South  Middlesex,  Frank-  ^^^.^^  ^^^j^j^^^g  ^^^^^^g^^^^  ^^.-^j^   ^.^^  farming   and 

lin,  Martha's  Vineyard,  Norfolk,  Worcester  North  Iquj.  farm  "buildings. 

and  Bristol  county  societies,  and  to  various  town  |      Ai.d  allow  me  to  accept  the  proposition  of  "J. 

associations  in  Massachusetts,  and  to  several  coun-iW.  K."as  regards  the  three  important  requisites 

,  ,  .  •  .•      •     ^.1 c*,.  „  Ifor  a  f'ood  barn,  viz  :  "stowage,  stable   and   ma- 

ty and  town  societies  in  other  ot  ites.  p  »         i    .i         ^  ^?        i  •     ■ 

■',.,^      ,    ,,  ,       ,1  .        ,  1  1-  1     J  nuie-lactorv,      and    then    follow     his    imaginary 

We  shall  be  glad  to  receive  the  published  trans-!  .^..^y.  tluo'ugh  his  unimaginable  barn,  which  re- 
actions of  any  of  the  societies  in  the  State,  or  minds  one  of  the  wanderings  of  a  huge  ant  among 
country,  and  to  call  attention  to  any  new  and] a  box  of  berries  from  that  "Strawberry  Bank," 
useful  facts  and  suggestions  which  they  may  con-;  moie  than  the  every  day  cAo;  wh^  in  a  farmer's 
tain,  or  warn  the  managers  of  these  institutions 
of  the  approach  of  any  insidious  foe  that  we  may 
discover  from  our  stand-point,  so  that  this  new 


barn. 


And,  1st,  our  friend  "K."  objects  to  our  plans 
of  barns,  and  suggests  the  most  common.  Let 
him  consider  that  a  barn  without  a  sizeable  floor- 
fabric,  reared  with  so  much  pains  and  cost,  may  j  way,  with  a  good  tight  floor,  is  as  deficient  as  a 
not  be   crushed,  like   those   of   old,  under   the  hou«e  without  a  cellar  or  cook-stove.    I  ask  every 

1  •  1 1       1  •  1    V  r      •4.  t     .•         ireader  of  the  i*^a?"Hier,   how  could  vou   dispense 

shields  which  it  assumes  lor  Its  own  protection.       .  .  '  ,       ,•      'n  ■     -^     .■   1  j 

'■  with   your  threshing-noor,  spacious,    tight   and 

handy?     The  machine  may  do  the  most  of  our 

BTSW  PUBLICATIONS.  threshing,  but  the  machine  is  not  always  at  hand 

for  our  Indian  wheat,  buckwheat,  peas  and  beans, 

DaBB  on  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  the  Diseases  of  Cattle,         1     n  .1       1  n-rii'iis        Ao-ain     wp    want    the 

with   Descriptions  and   Illuftrations  of  vari<,us   Organs  and  i  ^J^^  ^11  the  le^^er   grains.      Again,    we    M  dnt    ine 

Functions  of  ti^e  Animal  Economy.     Containing,  also,  us^eful   floors  tO  Store  COrn  lOr  husking,  to    paSS    tO    and. 

fro,  as  we  feed  the  various  kinds  of  stock  with 
as  various  kinds  of  fodder  ;  and  will  not  "J.  W. 
K."  require  as  much  room  when  he  feeds  stock 
Every  stock-breeder,  and  even  the  farmer  who  j  [^^  hj^  "clapped  up  stalls  anywhere  ?"  to  say  noth- 
keeps  ten  or  a  dozen  head  of  cattle,  and  raises  ing  of  his  "horse  pitch-fork,  and  machinery"  for 
two  or  three  annually,  must  find  himself  occasion- ;  dohig  so  much  of  his  work  ?  Say,  farmers,  will 
ally  with  a  sick  animal  before  him,  whom  heyo^g!^'^  up  the  floorway  ?  Imagme  "J  VV.  K." 
,  1-.  1     1         .  .  ,    ^  .1  •  ..    i  wheeling    his   uncut   hay  upon    a   wheelbarrow, 

knows  little  how  to  treat,  so  that  the  anxiety  without  space  to  move  !  The  floor  is  never  neces- 


and  practical  Information  on  Breeding,  Vfutilation  and  Diet. 
By  Georoe  H.  Dadd,  Veterinary  Surgeon,  &c.,  &c.  Boston : 
Joiin  P.  Jewett  85  Co.    New  Yorli  :  (J.  M.  Saxton. 


about  the  creature  occasions  more  trouble  than 
would  its  actual  loss.  He  cannot  judge  from 
symptoms,  and  is  puzzled  to  know  whether  the 
disease  is  in  the  head  or  heart,  lungs  or  liver,  or 


sarily  expensive,  and  when  not  wanted  for  other 
uses,  may  be  filled  with  hay  or  corn  fodder,  with- 
out a  horse-fork,  or  any  machinery  whatever. 
2.  "The  cellar  is  at  best  an  ugly,  inconvenient^ 
,     ,       ,        ,      11      1    .   .  .  ,        I  costly  and  dangerous   affair,  and  should  never 

whether  he  should  administer   tonics  or  cathar-  ^     ^^'^j  ^^  ^  ^^^.^.    New  England  farmers,  who 

tics,  or  let  nature  take  her  own  course,  and  cure  j  have  good  cellars,  what  do  you  think  of  this  ?  It 
if  she  can.  In  such  cases  there  is  really  aid  and  j  inconvenient,  keep  out  of  it;  if  costly,  make 
comfort  iui  the   possession  of  a  pkin,  sensible, cheaper  next  time,  and  if  dangerous,  fill  it  with 

book,  treating  of  the  diseases  of  animals,  show-^/^^f  T'''^  ^  ^'^^V     ^"^  i^'"  ''^''"^'   ff'  '' 
,         ,.°  .  .  \.  often  built  where  either  a  cellar  or  a  Iramed  base- 

mg  what  diseases  certain  symptom.s  indicate,  ^^3^^^  ^.^^^^not  be  made  to  good  advantage,  and  il 
and  what  medicines  ought  to  be  given  to  cure! convenience  and  profit  are  consulted,  no  barn 
them.     If  this  book  recommended  such  terrible  ever  will  be.     The  manure  and  muck  to  be  mixtd 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


523 


are  here  in  a  position  where  they  can  be  much 
more  easily  composted  than  when  they  are  both 
to  be  wheelbarrowed  to  a  separate  room  and 
there  mixed.  When  "J.  W.  K."  has  taken  care 
of  a  stock  equal  to  his  500  tons  of  hay  one  winter, 
won't  he  bless  the  institution  of  wheelbarrows? 
Drop  the  manure  from  the  stable  upon  the  muck, 
and  then  throw  in  more  muck,  and  the  work  is 
done  until  overhauled.  The  space  for  muck  may 
be  under  the  floor,  and  by  dumping  it  through 
the  floor  the  labor  of  shovelling  it  into  "J.  W. 
K.'s"  muck  room  is  entirely  saved,  while  it  will 
be  exactly  where  wanted  for  composting. 

'The  cost  of  digging  and  stoning  a  cellar,  and 
building  a  floor  over  it,  is  as  much  as  a  good 
barn  with  ten  times  as  much  convenience  for 
making  and  saving  manure  ought  to  cost." 
In  most  of  our  New  England  towns,  a  good 
cellar,  fifty  feet  by  seventy,  and  eight  feet  high, 
may  be  dug  and  stoned  in  a  safe  and  durable 
manner,  open  on  one  end  or  one  side,  at  a  cost 
of  from  one  to  three  hundred  dollars.  Will  "J. 
W.  K."  build  his  great  box  30  ft.  high  and  80  lo 
100  feet  square,  of  stone,  sand  and  gravel,  with- 
out either  floors  or  conveniences,  for  ten  times 
this  cost  ?  "We  say  then  the  most  approved 
plan  of  barns  in  New  England  is"  not  "defective 
in  these  two  requisites  of  a  good  barn." 

3.  The  height  of  our  barns.  Where  we  can  so 
arrange  as  to  drive  in  above  the  sills  we  may 
build  higher.  But  where  the  ground  is  level, 
and  we  \\u\ti  no  "horse-forks," &:c.,  this  is  about 
as  high  (fifteen  feet)  as  is  convenient. 

4.  The  roof.  Our  barns,  generally,  are  not 
roofed  at  an  angle  of  45°,  but  about  40°  to  42°, 
and  nearly  every  foot  of  the  space  covered  is 
available  for  storage,  especially  if  we  have  the 
horse-fork,  and  can  pitch  as  easy  30  feet,  as  15, 
while  the  cover  to  "J.  W.  Iv.'s"  being  flat,  will 
render  a  space  of  several  feet  useless  for  want  of 
room  to  work  his  pulleys  and  ropes.  The  cost  of 
our  friend's  roofing,  when  he  takes  into  account 
the  shovelling  ofl'snow  and  the  extra  number  of 
posts,  and  strength  of  inside  supports  to  his  flat- 
topped  barn,  will  be  found  to  be  no  less,  either 
in  first  cost  or  future  repairs,  than  a  good 
shingled  or  slated  roof.  Comp'^sition  roofing  is 
far  more  expensive  than  shingles,  or  even  slating 
in  most  sections  of  New  England,  and  so  far  as 
experience  proves,  is  not  so  durable  as  either, 
for  common  buildings. 

5.  "The  walls  shall  be  of  stone,  &c.,  30  feet 
high,  with  convenient  doors,  &c."  Now  let  any 
experienced  mason  calculate  the  cost  of  these 
huge  walls,  and  report  the  same  to  "J.  W.  K.," 
an(l  his  barn  v;ill  be  built — never  ! 

Now,  considerate  readers  of  the  Farmer,  for 
such  by  personal  acquaintance  I  know  fousands 
of  you  to  be,  will  jou  take  the  trouble  to  read 
over  "J.  W.  K.'s"  plan  of  a  (cheap)  barn.  See 
how  easily  he  can  "drive  all  over  the  barn  and 
into  every  corner  of  it  (when  empty  !)  and  with  a 
horse  pitch-fork,  &c."  Imagine  you  see  him  un- 
load one  tier  of  loads  over  the  sand  floor,  and 
where  will  he  drive  next  ?  No  floor-way,  no  win- 
dows. What,  then,  but  to  his  ever  ready  wheel- 
barrow!  Wheel  in  and  wheel  out !  Well,  this 
is  an  age  of  improvement.  Won't  that  hay  be 
musty  when  taken  out  next  spring  from  his  damp 
mud  floor?  Finally,  look  over  his  summing  up 
of  advantages.     "I  can  take  the  dry  muck,"  &c. 


As  he  has  no  floor,  his  muck  has  been  wheel- 
barrowed into  its  room,  and  then  so  re-wheeled 
out.  Look,  also,  to  the  fact  that  he  is  going  to 
sell  his  hay,  after  making  all  this  preparation  for 
keeping  stock,  and  tell  me  if  our  cautious  editor 
has  not  admitted  to  his  columns  one  chapter  on 
"Book  Farming,"  from  a  man  whose  theory  will 
not  b&ar  to  be  carried  out  in  practice,  except  by 
those  whose  cash  is  more  plenty  than  ours.  Yet 
we  need  an  occasional  antagonist  in  order  to 
wake  up  sluggish  energies,  and  set  us  to  think- 
ing. 

And  now,  Mr.  Editor,  if  you  can  find  time  and 
space  for  this  hasty  review,  please  do  so,  and  after- 
wards give  us  your  views  upon  the  most  conve- 
nient plan  of  a  common  barn  for  common  New 
England  farmers.  p.  j. 

Glover,  VL,  Sept.,  1859. 


Remarks.— "J.  W.  K.'s"  article  has  had  the 
efi'ect  we  expected  from  it — roused  up  one  mind, 
at  least,  to  the  important  subject.  But  'P.  J." 
has  found  it  easier  to  pull  down  than  to  build 
up.  What  is  his  plan  for  the  "most  convenient 
and  economical  plan  of  a  common  barn  for  com- 
mon New  England  farmers  ?"  That  question 
settled  beyond  cavil,  will  be  of  great  value  to  the 
world. 


EXTRACTS  AND  KBPLIE3. 
SOFT,  INTO  HARD  SOAP. 

Can  you,  or  any  of  your  readers,  give  a  receipt 
to  change  common  soft  soap  into  hard  soap  ?  By 
what  means  is  it  done  ?  A  Subscriber. 

East  Wullingford,  ft.,  1859. 

REMARKS. — We  find  the  following  in  Miss 
Leslie's  House  Book. 

Having  made  from  hickory  ashes,  or  the  best 
oak,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  lye,  which  must  be 
strong  enough  to  bear  up  an  egg,  allow  to  each 
gallon  three-quarters  of  a  pound  of  clean  kitf  h- 
en  fat  of  the  best  kind,  (that  has  been  clarif'^d 
by  melting  it  with  water,)  and  a  bit  of  lime  the 
size  of  a  large  hickory  nut.  Put  it  into  a  lar.,:e 
kettle,  boil  it  very  fast,  and  stir  it  frequently,  it 
must  boil  hard  for  several  hours.  Try  it  by  tak- 
ing out  a  little  and  cooling  it  on  a  plate.  Whtn 
you  find  that  it  becomes  a  thick  jelly,  and  no 
grease  appears  about  it,  stir  fine  salt  into  the 
kettle,  allowing  a  pint  of  the  salt  to  three  gal- 
lons of  the  soap.  Let  it  boil  for  ten  minutes  af- 
ter the  salt  is  in.  Then  take  it  out  of  the  kettle, 
and  put  the  soap  in  tubs  to  cool,  and  wash  the 
kettle  clean.  Next  day  cut  the  soap  out  of  the 
tubs,  and  melt  it  again,  and  cool  it  in  wooden 
moulds,  if  you  have  them.  When  it  is  firm,  cut 
it  into  square  j)ieces  of  convenient  size  for  wash- 
ing, and  place  it  on  the  shelves  lo  harden,  not 
allowing  the  pieces  to  touch  each  other. 

The  best  kitchen  fat  for  soap  is  that  of  beef 
and  pork,  or  bacon.  Should  any  pork  or  bacon 
skins  be  among  it,  you  must  allow  a^  pound  of 
fat  to  each  gallon  of  lye. 

If  in  tr}iiig  it  in  the  plate,  before  putting  in 
the  salt,  you  find  the  soap  too  liquid,  add  a  little 
water  to  that  on  the  plate,  for  ihe  purpose  of 
making  it  jelly.     You  will  then  be  able  to  a«cpr- 


,24 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


ain  how  much  cold  water  must  be  added  to  that 
I  the  kettle,  for  the  same  purpose  ;  it  being  ev- 
Jent  that  the  lye  is  too  strong.  This  must  be 
■one  before  the  salt  is  put  in.  A  larger  quanti- 
•y  of  lime  put  in  while  boiling,  will  make  the 
aoap  still  harder. 

You  may  harden  it,  also,  by  adding,  while  the 
soap  is  boiling,  a  little  sulphate  of  iron.  This 
will  give  it  a  marbled  or  mottled  appearance. 

SQUASHES. 

I  have  never  seen  any  superior  in  size  and 
beauty,  to  some  grown  at  South  Danvers  the 
present  season.  1  believe  these  all  sprung  from 
a  squash  grown  on  the  ground  of  Wm.  Walcott, 
Esq.,  in  the  season  of  1858.  The  largest  of  these 
squashes  grew  in  the  garden  of  Mr.  Andrew 
Porter,  near  the  fence.  It  weighed,  when  entire- 
ly clear  of  the  vine,  1G4  pounds.  It  was  sym- 
metrical in  form,  and  girted  79  inches,  or  6  feet 
7  inches.  There  were  several  other  squashes  in 
the  immediate  vicinity,  that  would  weigh  from 
30  to  40  pounds  each.  Whether  any  of  them 
came  from  the  same  vine,  I  cannot  say — buti 
think  they  did.  From  what  I  have  seen  of  oth- 
er squashes,  I  should  think  the  meat  of  this 
must  be  three  or  four  inches  ihick.  Of  its  qual- 
ity I  cannot  speak — it  not  having  been  opened. 
The  original  from  which  the  seeds  were  taken 
made  as  good  pies  as  any  I  ate  for  the  season. 
What  was  required  to  be  mingled  with  the 
squash  to  bring  this  about,  I  cannot  say,  never 
having  taken  a  part  in  the  making  of  pies,  until 
after  they  were  baked.  Another  neighbor,  Mr. 
Wm.  S.  Osborne,  grew  on  one  vine  two  squash- 
3S,  weighing  138  pounds  and  Gl'.]  pounds — but 
not  so  handsome  a?  the  first  mentioned.  The 
soil  on  which  Porter's  squash  grew  was  a  hard 
gravel,  well  fertilized  with  manure  from  his  tan- 
nery and  currier's  shop.  J.  W.  Proctor. 

September,  1809. 

DOMINIQUE   FOWLS — BAYBERRY   BUSHES. 

V/here  can  I  get  a  pair  of  Dominique  fowls 
and  at  what  price  ?  Can  you  tell  me  through  the 
monthly  Farmer,  what  will  kill  Bayberry  bushes  ? 
the  berries  from  which  we  make  bayberry  tallow 
of.  They  are  over-running  my  pastures  very  fast. 

Epping,  N.  H.,  Sept.,  18.59.         J.  J.  Lane. 

Remarks. — We  cannot  tell  you  about  the 
fowls — do  not  know. 

Cut  and  burn  the  bushes  and  plow,  if  you  can. 
If  too  stony  for  that,  sow  grass  on  the  ashes 
and  scratch  it  in  with  an  iron  rake.  If  very 
rocky,  let  it  grow  up  to  wood.  We  hope  some 
one  has  a  better  practice,  and  will  communicate 
to  you  and  us  what  it  is. 

BEST    TIME  FOR  CUTTING  FENCE  POSTS. 

In  answer  to  the  inquiry  of  Mr.  John  W. 
Townsend,  as  to  when  to  cut  fence  posts,  I  will 
state  that  I'believe  the  month  of  June  to  be  the 
best  time  to  cut  them  ;  peal  the  bark  off,  and  set 
them  green,  and  I  think  they  will  last  three  or 
four  years  longer  than  they  will,  cut  at  any  other 
time.  R.  c.  H. 

ifudlow,  Vt.,  1859. 


DRAINING — DOUBTS. 

Can  you  answer  a  question  or  two  which  are 
of  much  interest  to  me,  and  I  presume  may  be 
to  many  others,  novices  in  this  department  of 
farming.  I  have  underdrained  a  muck  meadow 
in  which  the  depth  of  the  muck  varies  from  six 
inches  to  a  foot  and  more  ;  a  stratum  of  blue 
clay  mixed  with  sand,  very  hard,  underlies  some 
parts,  and  sand  the  rest. 

What  I  am  desirous  to  know  is  this — will  it  be 
well  in  plowing,  to  bring  much  or  any  of  this 
clay  to  the  surface,  mixing  it  with  the  muck? 
Will  this  thin  layer  of  very  hard  clay  })e  an  inju- 
ry to  the  meadow,  by  holding  surface  water  too 
long,  or  an  advantage,  by  keeping  the  meadow 
from  leaching  ?  In  short,  will  it  be  best  to  break 
it  up  entirely,  if  possible?  T. 

Keene,  N.  II.,  1859. 

Remarks. — The  understratum  will  probably 
be  found  to  contain  more  sand  than  clay,  and 
when  exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  will  soon  pul- 
verize and  so  give  more  firmness  to  the  soil,  and 
at  the  same  lime  furnish  silex  which  is  wanting 
in  muck  soil — to  the  plants.  We  should  not 
hesitate  to  plow  up  a  couple  of  inches  of  the  sub- 
soil, whether  sand,  clay  or  gravel,  with  the 
muck. 

It  is  rare  that  a  stratum  of  clay  is  found  be- 
neath muck,  in  your  locality,  close  enough  to  be 
impervious  to  water.  What  is  called  compact 
clay,  in  such  positions,  is  in  nine  cases  in  ten 
founa  on  examination  to  be  mostly  sand,  and  to 
be  readily  drained.  We  do  not  believe  much  in 
the  advantage  of  any  compact  subsoil  to  hold  up 
water. 

Soil  that  is  of  any  value  holds  water  enough 
by  attraction  to  prevent  drought,  and  stagnant 
water  in  tlie  soil  is  death  to  most  valuable 
plants.  So  we  advise  to  drain  deep  and  plow  deep, 
and  trust  to  the  higher  laws  of  nature  to  supply 
moisture,  rather  than  to  the  lower  notion  of  ar- 
resting the  water  near  the  surface. 

French's  "Farm  Drainage"  discusses  these 
points  fully.  

CAN   I   MAKE   A   CRANBERRY   MEADOW. 

I  have  a  meadow  in  Rochester,  N.  H.,  which 
lies  on  a  high  ridge  of  land,  and  is  made  up  of 
the  finest  vegetable  deposit  I  ever  saw.  A  stream 
runs  through  it,  and  at  its  mouth  there  is  a  dam, 
so  that  in  twelve  hours  I  can  throw  three  feet  of 
water  over  the  whole.  On  a  portion  of  it  I  have 
planted  potatoes, — but  what  I  wish  to  do,  is,  to 
get  it  into  cranberries.  Shall  I  haul  on  yellow 
loam,  as  I  cannot  get  sand  ?  Shall  I  plow  it  ? 
Shall  I  set  wild  or  cultivated  vines  ? 

Lawrence,  Oct.,  1859.  O.  Pearl. 

Remarks. — The  condition  of  your  land  is  un- 
like that  of  any  which  has  come  to  our  knowl- 
edge, where  the  cranberry  culture  has  been  at- 
tempted, and  we  do  not  feel  sure  that  any  advice 
we  can  offer  will  be  serviceable.  You  say  the 
meadow  is  "the  finest  vegetable  deposit  you  ever 


1859.  NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER.  525 

SaWk"      If   you  mean  by  this  expression  that  it  is  For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

rich,  black,  highly  decomposed  vegetable  matter, 
and  continues  so  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three 
feet,  we  do  not  think  you  will  succeed  in  makin 


ESSEX  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

The  fortieth  exhibition  by  the  Essex  Agricul- 
tural Society  came  off  at  Danvers,  on  Wednes- 


a  profitable  cranberry  meadow  of  it.     But  if  of  J^>'  ^"^  Thursday,  28th  and  29lh  of  September 
,,•      ,         i      /•     ^  .      1      •     1         f..v  I  i he  conveniences  lor  the  exhibition  on  the  mar- 

this  character  for  ten  or  twelve  inches  of  the  sur-  ^j^  ^f  p^,^^^  p-^j^  ^^^^j^^  ^^^  ^^jj^j^^  ^^^.^  ^^  ^j^^ 


e 
tirst  order ;  and  the  several  parts  were  well  sus- 
tained. 

On  the  forenoon  of  Wednesday,  was  the  annu- 


face,  and  then  comes  white  or  yellow  sand  or 

gravel,  you  may  be  encouraged  to  pi'oceed. 

If  it  were  ours,  and  we  were  desirous  to  get  it 

into  cranberries,  we   should  plow  one-eighth  ofi^^/J^;'^'^  ""^  officers,  when   Col.  Daniel  Adams, 

„.      .  .,.,',  ,  ,,'ot    JNewbury  was  re-elected  President,  and  also, 

an  acre  of  it  six  or  eight  inches  deep,  take  out  all  g^^^gi^  ^f  ^^^  p^.^^^^j  trustees,  with  the  veteran 

the  weeds  and  grass,  and  then  set  the  best  wild  j  Treasurer  and  Secretary,  remain  in  office,  to  en- 
vines  we  could  find,  about  as  close  together  as  sure  the  safety  of  the  society  for  one  year  more, 

we  could  conveniently  getihem  in  with  a  garden  i^''^^^^** 

4         1     T    iu-  iU         -u    u   J         J  II  was  so  occupied  with  the  constitutional  con- 

trowel.    In  this  manner  they  will  shade  and  pro-!  f  *u  •  .    ..u  ..   t  r  -i      '-'^"'-'""."^  ^"" 

,       ,  .  -^  ,  ,     p         ■,    icerns  01   the  society  that   I  failed  to   notice  the 

tect  each  other,  and  prevent  the  growth  of  weeds  jpai-ticulars  of  the  exhibiiion,  to  all  of  which  full 
and  grass,  and  at  the  same  time  you  indulge  justice  will  be  done  by  the  intelligent  commit- 
the  plant  in  growing  up  in  its  thick  and  natural  tees  selected  from  all  parts  of  the  county.  I  be- 
\yQ\^\l^  jlieve  there  is   no  society  in  the  county,  that  has 

T    ",           •        .r          .                11^11        I  been  more  uniform  and  consistent  in  its  move- 
in  the  spring,  the  water  may  be  kept  back  SO'     ,„.„  ^1 ,.-„        i  tu  *    u      i 

1       ^5  J  I'  ments  than  this,  and   none  that    has  been   more 

as  to  come  around  the  plants,  or  to  completely: careful  to  save  its  funds,  intact.  Nearly  all  the 
cover  them,  as  the  weather  may  be,  and  it  will  money  it  has  ever  received  from  the  State  is  now 
also  check  the  growth  of  other  plants.  At  the, securely  invested  in  dividend-paying  stocks  ;  and 
time  of  blossoming  and  setting  of  the  youngl^^.V"  ^^'If  courses  for  fast  horses,  or  decaying 
/..,.»,,  .  ^    c  e      2.  ^\.  ^     i halls,  or  fancy  gardens,  as  some  would  1  ave  ad- 

fruit,  if  there  is  a  prospect  of  frost  the  water;  ^^j^^^^  j^^  permanent  fund  exceeds  $10,000,  not- 
may  be  thrown  back  to  cover  them,  letting  it  j  withstanding  for  the  last  twenty  years,  it  has  ex- 
down  in  the  morning,  and  flooding  towards  night!  pended  more  than  $1000  a  year  in  premiums 
for  a  few  days  until  the  danger  is  over.  [paid,  and  the  publications  of  the  society.     It  has 

When  the  water  is   off,  and  weeds  and  grasses  i  ^,^^^^^4   itself   of  the    considerate  wisdom  of   a 
,      .    ^  ..        .        ^    •  -J  .^^t.       ,    iFickenng,  a  Lolman  and  a  Bay,  in   the  manage- 

begm  to  grow,  the  utmost  vigilance  must  be  ob-j^^g^^  „f  j^^  concerns.  It  has  found  it  true  that 
served  to  pull  them  out  before  they  take  much |  old  men  are  good  for  council,  while  young  men 
root, — for  in  pulling  them  afterwards,  they  start! are  best  for  action.  May  it  always  have  due  re- 
the  roots  of   the   cranberry   runners   and   ruin  ;gard  for  this  rule  of  action. 

them.  We  have  a  small  plantation  now  doing!  As  I  glanced  my  eye  along  the  stock  in  the 
^     ,  J        -  ,    ,        ,  .        ,.  .        pens,  1  noticed  twenty-nve  much  cows  in  one  pen, 

finely,  and  mainly  by  observing  this  suggestion.  ^^^  f,^^  ^^^  farm-the  same  that  exhibited  about 
The  extent  of  space  which  we  have  indicated— [the  like  number  the  last  year.  This  is  coming  at 
one-eighth  of  an  acre — will  be  quite  likely  to  af-  a  view  of  stock  in  the   natural  way,  without  any 


pampering  or  extra  eff"ort  to  show  off.     I  should 
value  such  a  view  of  the  stock  of  half  a   dozen 
farms,  more  than  all   the    animals    kept,  singly 
and  alone,  that  could  be  collected  in  the  county. 
I  think  that  societies  would  do  well  to  offer  pre- 
You  or  any  of  your  numerous  readers  would i^i'^'^s  ^o""  the  best  herd  of  milch   cows,  not  less 
greatlv  oblige  a  constant  reader  of  your  valuable! ^^an  twelve  m  number,  with  a  specific  statement 
paper,' by  informing  me  through  your  columns  ^^  their  feed  and  products,  for  six  months  next 


ford  you  as  much  of  an  exercise  or  amusement, 
as  you  will  desire  for  the  first  experiment. 

LEAKY   WALLS   AND    WINDOWS. 


what  is  the  cheapest  and  best  method  of  pre 
venting  water  from  beating  through  the  lime  or 
mortar  of  a  new  house?  Also  what  is  best  to 
put  around  the  windows,  as  the  water  comes  in 
around  them?  Brick  Tenement. 

South  Beading,  Sept.,  1859. 

Remark. — These  are  home  questions,  and  we 
hope  some  of  our  able  correspondents,  who  are 
masons  and  carpenters,  will  answer  them. 


preceding  their  exhibition.  P. 

September  29,  1859. 


ATTENDING  THH  FAIRS. 


Let  evei'y  one  get  some  good  at  the  fairs.     Go 

with  a  distinct  object,  and  aim  at  becoming  wiser. 

Seek  what  is  superior,  and  take  advantage  of  tlie 

labor  and  skill  of  others.  The  practice  of  finding 

fault  with  everything  seen,  is   despicable.     The 

man  who  is  heard  saying  be   has  better  sheep, 

better  cows,  better  oxen  and  better  pigs  at  home, 

may  be   set  down  as  one  who  would  get  in,  and 

.11  •  •        1  ^,  -11     ,.      ,         T  not  pay  his  entrance  fee.    We  despise,  above  all 

prevented  her  giving  down  the  milk  freely,     t      .   i"  .^  .'  .    i^  „  ' 


BUNCHES   IN   cow's   TEATS. 

I  had  a   cow  with  bunches  in  her  teats  which 


prevented  her  giving  down  the  milk  freely.     I     ..u        .t.  u  ^  ..u      «•    .        .u 
^       ij  1-1      ,.    iv             u  ..  •     xu                ii.^v,iy.     -i  others,  the  man  who  sneers  at  the  efiort  another 
would  like  to  know  what  is  the  cause,  and  what                i      c     ■              ™  ^   *      n^u        ■    „  ^i,„o  ^f 
],i  . ^  :^                      A7-„..,.„  -^,.,._1  may  make  for  improvement.     1  here  is  a  class  ot 

men  who   appear  to  live  by  fault-finding.     That 


would  prevent  it.  Young  Farmer. 

Candia,  A*.  H.,  Sept.,  1859. 


class  are  the  self-constituted  judges-general  at 


526 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


Nov. 


the  fairs.  They  not  only  criticise  the  arrange- 
ments, but  they  ridicule  the  show.  Well,  let  them. 
Society  must  drag  along  the  dead  carcases  of 
such  ones.  They  may  as  well  vent  their  spleen 
upon  the  fairs  and  their  management,  as  upon 
their  neighbors.  Let  them  chafe  and  fret.  The 
world  gets  along  with  them,  and  could  get  along 
without  them. — JV.  H.  Journal  of  Agriculture. 


For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 

INFLUENCE   OF  THE   MOON  UPON  THE 
WEATHER. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  just  read  an  interesting: 
article  from  your  Springfield  correspondent,  J. 
A.  A.,  and  the  candor,  good  sense  and  informa- 
tion pervading  it  induces  me  to  notice  it.  Hib 
remarks  respecting  the  influence  of  the  moon 
on  crops,  long  vines,  iS:c.,  are  just.  His  average 
of  observations  on  high  and  low  moon  for  the 
year  does  not  seem  to  favor  either  theory.  Still, 
I  wish  he  would  make  his  average  for  the  five 
successive  summer  months  for  a  serits  of  years, 
commencing  with  May,  and  let  us  have  the  re- 
sult. But  there  is  one  remark  to  which  I  cannot 
yet  assent ;  that  "early  and  late  frosts  did  not 
often  occur  when  the  moon  was  high,  but  as  of 
ten  when  it  was  low,  and  as  often  at  new  moon 
as  at  full  moon."  The  last  clause  militates  most 
against  r.iy  own  experience,  though  I  regret  that 
I  have  not  the  precise  facts  at  command. 

In  the  latitude  where  I  reside  we  rarely  ever 
have  a  frost  in  September,  till  the  full  moon,  and 
if  we  can  pass  by  that,  we  are  not  usually  trou- 
bled with  a  killing  frost  till  the  full  moon  in  Oc- 
tober. Exceptions  I  know  do  occur,  but  I  be- 
lieve I  have  stated  the  general  rule.  I  can  give 
no  theory  ;  nor  would  I  be  too  presumptuous  in 
opposing  an  opinion  so  carefully  presented  by 
your  correspondent.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
these  differences  are  more  marked  where  I  reside, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  White  Mountain  range,  and 
at  an  elevation  of  650  feet  above  tide  water,  than 
in  Springfield.  His  closing  remarks  respecting 
a  series  of  observations  extending  over  a  term 
of  years  are  valuable,  and  it  is  just  such  facts  as 
he  has  presented  that  will  decide  many  of  these 
now  unsettled  questions.  His  observations,  sev- 
enty-four in  number,  on  the  mean  temperature 
of  high  and  low  moon,  giving  almost  three  de- 
grees colder  in  high  than  in  low  moon,  is  as  wide 
a  difference  as  I  should  have  expected,  for  even 
one  degree  too  low  in  sometimes  pretty  trying  to 
the  farmer. 

It  is  now  well  understood  that  the  moon  does 
influence  the  temperature  in  the  upper  regions 
of  the  atmosphere.  Prof.  Piazzi  Smith  made 
experiments  on  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe  two  years 
ago,  at  the  heights  of  eight  and  ten  thousand  feet, 
which  settled  conclusively  this  point.  Still,  there 
are  so  many  modifying  circumstances  connected 
with  the  whole  subject  that  it  is  not  best  to  be 
too  positive. 

"Morlest  doubt 
Is  called  the  beacon  of  the  wise." 

Then  again  it  is  a  question  how  much  influence 
the  moon  has  in  promoting  crystallization  in  the 
freezing  process. 

I  wish  your  correspondent  would  give  us  the 
average  of  the  temperature  of  high  and  low  moon 


for  a  number  of  years  past  in  September  and  Oc- 
tober. Also  answer  this  question :  Do  we  sel- 
dom have  a  frost  till  the  full  moon,  or  two  or 
three  days  after  in  September?  And  do  we  not 
almost  invariably  have  a  frost  at  this  time  ?  I 
speak  of  the  latitude  of  forty-five  degrees.  Per- 
haps he  may  not  have  it  cold  enough  at  his  local- 
ity, so  far  south.  I  believe  here  is  a  legitimate 
and  fruitful  field  of  inquiry,  and  without  know- 
ing J.  A.  A.,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  him 
the  man  to  pursue  the  subject. 

I  believe  a  book  might  he  written  on  Meteor- 
ology, adapted  to  agriculture,  containing  essen- 
tially the  following  chapters  :  A  description  of 
the  different  forms  of  clouds,  and  their  indications 
of  the  weather.  The  barometer,  including  not 
only  the  mercuriil  instrument,  but  all  m.-chanicil 
contrivances  to  indicate  the  weight  and  changes 
of  the  atmosphere.  The  influence  of  the  moon 
on  the  weather,  and  on  the  temperature  of  the 
earth  at  its  difi'erent  periods  of  revolution.  The 
instinctive  conduct  of  plants  and  animals,  espe- 
cially just  before  a  storm.  A  consideration  of 
the  combination  of  various  causes  in  effecting  at- 
mospheric changes,  miscellmeous  topics  and  con- 
clusions. The  merely  negative  results  of  such  a 
work  would  be  valuable,  especially  on  the  pre- 
vailing opinions  in  rega-'d  to  the  moon. 

Bethel,  Me.,  Sept.  26,  1859.  x.  T.  T. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  LA-WTON  BLdLCKBERRY. 

I  think  the  reply  to  your  Newbury,  Vt.,  "Sub- 
scriber," about  the  Lawton  blackberry,  partially 
erroneous.  From  experience,  I  am  satisfied  that 
Massachusetts  is  not  too  far  mrth  to  grow  the 
Lawton  blackberry  successfully  It  is  an  enor- 
mous hearer,  and  the  vines  grow  to  a  geat  size. 
I  have  them  now  sixteen  feet  in  height,  and  lat- 
erals three  to  five  feet  in  length,  all  the  growth 
of  this  season.  I  had  berries,  fully  ripe,  previt)U3 
to  the  first  of  August,  and  yesterday  1  found 
some  fine  fruit  from  the  same  vines. 

When  fully  ripe  they  are  very  sweet,  and  the 
flavor  is  not  equalled  by  any  l)eiry  that  I  ever 
tasted.  I  measured  ime  btrry — and  many  oth- 
ers were  as  large — and  found  it  three  and  three- 
fourth  inches  in  circumference  ! 

Many  people  call  tbtm  sour — so  is  other  un- 
ripe fruit.  They  should  never  be  plucked  till  a 
gentle  touch  of  the  finger  will  cause  them  to 
drop  from  the  stem,  which  will  be  many  days  af- 
ter they  are  perfectly  black.  They  are  illy  calcu- 
lated for  marketing,  for  when  fully  ripe  they 
cannot  be  carried  to  market  in  a  state  fit  to  be 
seen, — even  in  the  most  careful  manner  ;  more 
wine  than  berries  would  be  for  sale.  Please  call 
upon  me  next  August,  and  1  will  satisfy  you  that 
all  of  the  above  is  correct.        A  Subscriber. 

jVew  Bedford,  Sept.  24,  1859. 


Remarks. — We  sincerely  hope  we  are  mista- 
ken in  saying  that  "Vermont  and  Massachusetts 
are  too  far  north  to  ripen  the  Lawton  blackber- 
ry." AVe  have  had  ample  demonstration  of  its 
rapid  growing  and  great  bearing  qualities,  but 
never  procured  a  ripe  berry.  We  cultivated  it 
carefully  for   three  successive  years,  in  a  warm 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


527 


and  early  jiiece  of  land;  the  canes  grew  mo^t  new  feature  of  the  occasion  was  a  dish  of  Davis 
vigorously,  blossoms  were  abundant,  and  the, Seedling  potatoes,  boiled.  Address  by  Gov. 
fruit  grew  in  profusion,  attaining  the  largest  size  Boutwell. 


and  most  beautiful  form,  hut  none  of  it  ever  ri 
pened!     In  the  early  part  of  last  October  we  had 


MERKIMACK   CO.,   N.   H.,   SHOW. 

,      .  Two  days— Sept.  28  and  29.     A   large  atten- 

an  abundance  of  it,  but  no  person  on  the  farm,  i,  •  n       u       *u     v,  ^     .  *u« 

'  '  •      T   J      1  dance,  especially  when  the   horses   were   on  the 

not  even  the  hired  men,  could  eat  it.  Indeed,  wel        ,       „        ...  ,    , ,    r„  ,„   u  ,(.  »^ 

'  ;  track.     No  military  attended,  we  believe,  but  to 

have  not  put  it  too  strong  when  we  say  that  not,       ,  ^-^    a  e.  •  .u  „ *•  t 

'  .      ,         °        .  ,     ^     ,    ,        make  up  the  deficiency,  there  was   a  portion   of 

the  Concord  fire  department,  three  engine  com- 
panies and  two  bands  of  music. 

NORFOLK   COUNTY    SHOW. 
This  energetic   society   held  its   annual  show 


a  berry  on  our  bushes  ever  ripened.  Such  has 
been  the  general  result  where  we  have  known  it 
in  Massachusetts.  On  the  same  soil  where  the 
Lawton  grew  we  have  no  trouble  in  ripening  the 
Dorchester  or  the  wild  blackberry. 

We  presume    the   climate  of   New  Bedford  is 


two  days,  S-^pt.  27  and  28,   at   Dedham.     There 


much  milder  than  that  of  most  parts  of  Massa-;was  a  fine  display,  we  understand,  in  all  the  de- 
chusetts  or  Vermont.  But  we  hope  it  will  sue-  partments,  and  the  attendance  numerous.  The 
ceed  with  us,  and  it  will  afford  us  plea  ure  to  exercises  at  the  church  and  at  the  dinner-table, 
test  the  qualities  of  those  of  our  friend,  "A  Sub-  were  excedingly  interesting.  Mr.  President  WlL- 
scriber."  iDER  made  some   introductory  remarks   at    the 

church,  saying  this  anniversary  is  no  mean  occa- 

AGBICULTUBA.Ii  SHOWS.  Igjo,^^  f^j.  ^-^q  agricultural  art  was  the  basis,  the 

WORCESTER  COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY'.   1  foundation,  the  sustenance  of  all  Other  arts.    The 

This  old  and  inHuentiul  Society  held  its  annual' growth  of  interest  in  agriculture  within  a  quarter 
Show,  Sept.  28  and  29,  in  the  city  of  Worcester,  of  a  century  was  very  marked,  and  much  of  it 
A  good  many  people  attended,  and  we  suppose  wa^  due  to  the  existence  of  such  societies  as  this, 
they  had  a  good  time.  There  was  the  usual  show ,  He  said  that  succ-ss  had  attended  all  the  opera- 
of  stock,  and  the  several  exercises  common  toitions  of  the  society  the  past  year,  and  marked 
6uch  occasions.  At  the  horse  exhibition  on  the  ^  improvement  is  visible  in  every  branch  of  its  ex- 
second  day,  there  was  quite  a  large  attendance,  jhibitions  this  day. 

Eightv-four  horses  were  entered,  of  all  classes.!  '^he  address  was  by  Henry  F.  Durant,  Esq., 
At  the  dinner,  Wm.  S.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  the  Pres-'of  Boston,  and  from  portions  of  it  which  we  have 
ident,  congratulated  the  society  on  the  success  |  seen,  we  should  think  it  must  have  been  a  very 
oftheexhibition,  which,  in  spite  of  some  adverse  able  and  highly  interesting  production.  We 
influences,  was  equal,  he  thought,  to  those  of  for- 1  «ball  give  some  extracts  from  it  in  another  col- 
mer  years.     He  remarked  that  the  society  wasj'^^""* 

not  situated  as  it  once  was.  It  had,  in  former!  Col.  Wilder  presided  at  the  dinner-table,  and 
years,  a  cash  fund  of  over  820,000  invested  inji"his  felicitous  manner  introduced  the  distin- 
paying  securities  ;  but  now  it  had  its  real  estate  guished  gentlemen  whom  he  had  called  around 
and  a  large  debt.  It  lived  only  by  the  good-will  ^im.  Among  these  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Stone,  of 
of  its  friynds  i  Boston,  expressed  his  pleasure  at  seeing  so  many 

In  the  morning  there  was  a  trial  of  mowing '^^'^^^^  present: 
machines  in  a  field  at  some  distance  from  the  fair 
ground 

id 


■      There    was    an   intimate   connection    between 
The  "Manny"  and  Ketchum"  machines  I  tl^^   ^'i^'^^  ^"^^  daughters   of  agriculturists  and 


were  entered   by  their  manufacturers,  and   the.^^^g  ,^y  nature  a  helpmeet  to  man. 
"New  England   Mower"  by  Mr.  L   S.    Richard-: ^ife  could  Lnve  each  other  mutual 


the  interests  we  all  had  at  heart  to-day.     Woman 

Husband  and 
give  eacn  otncr  mutual  help  and  for- 
son.  of  Boston.  Experiments  were  made  with!  bearance  in  all  their  walks  in  life.  If  a  couple 
one  and  two  horses,  and  with  four  and  six  feet  wishing  marriage  came  to  him  with  any  other  in- 
cutter  bars.     The  committee  are  to  report  to  the  \(^^^^'^on   he  would  not  unite  them   no  matter  how 

'  .large  the  tee.     Not  that  he  disliked  the   tee — 

(laughter) — he  was  always  ready  at  his  othce, 
just  near  the  corner  of  Park  Street — (renewed 
laughter) — but  it  was  necessary  that  a  practical 
and  inti^Uigent  sympathy  should  always  exist  be- 


trustees  hereafter 

WORCESTER   NORTH   SOCIETY. 

This  Society  held  a  two  days  festival,  Sept.  27 
and  28.  The  show  of  fruits,  vegetables  and  man-  tween  husband  a'nd'wife 
ufactured  articles  was  very  fine.     Dr.  FisiiER,  of:      He  thought  many  ladies  might  know  more  of 
Fitchburg,  displayed  forty-two  varieties  of  fine  agriculture  to  their  profit  and  that  of  their  hus- 
„    fi  1  1         1  .       r  1    bands,  and  he  would  have  agricultural  works  on 

pears,  some  fine  peaches,  and  a  plate  of  superb'  ,  <  I'li  "^  p,  '  ^  ,i,i  c.,^o,a 

^       '  *  ,  -P  ,   ,  r,.  ,    ,      i  every  drawing-room  table.     Ladies  »uoald  spare 

Concord  grapes.     A  beautiful  dahlia  tree,  laden  i  „„  ^'^^^^  ^^  ,„^i^g  ^he  farmer's  home  one  of  re- 

with  yeliOW  blossoms,  contributed  by  Jo^iah  Shel-'finement.     And  the  younger  ladies  might  do   a 
don,  of  Fitchburg,  graced  one  of  the  tables.     A  i  good   part   toward   this.     Let   the  younger   la- 


528 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


dies  be  as  ready  to  place  their  delicate  hands 
into  the  full  healthy  hand  of  the  young  farmer, 
as  into  those  of  the  merchant's  clerk  and  the 
professional  aspirant.  He  had  looked  on  the 
sculptured  heroes  of  the  ancient  Olympic  games, 
and  read  their  story,  but  when  he  looked  upon  a 
farmer,  he  saw  a  nobler  man — a  man  who  had 
coped  with  nature  and  triumphed.  In  conclusion, 
Mr.  Stone  hoped  that  for  all  present  every  sea- 
son would  be  a  campaign,  every  harvest  a  victory, 
and  that  God  would  crown  them  all  with  his 
blessing,  even  as  they  were  already  crowned  with 
honors. 

He  was  followed  by  Judge  Rockwood,  who 
"warmly  complimented  that  most  successful  pre- 
siding officer,  Mr.  Wilder,"  and  closed  with  an 
excellent  sentiment  respecting  natural  laws.  Mr. 
George  B.  Emerson  spoke  of  the  means  of  im- 
proving/aj-mers'  liomes.  He  said  American  trees 
are  superior  to  those  of  Europe  in  beauty  and 
variety.  Charles  G.  Davis,  of  Plymouth,  made 
an  appropriate  and  valuable  address  upon  the 
rearing  and  management  of  sheep,  and  the  Rev. 
H.  N.  Chamberlain,  of  Canton,  closed  by  speak- 
ing of  the  poetry  of  the  farm.  The  minor  things 
of  the  field  he  said,  were  worthy  of  more  atten- 
tion than  they  had  received. 

The  tone  of  thought  and  feeling  in  all  these 
addresses  is  honorable  to  the  speakers  and 
creditable  to  the  society  that  called  such  men 
around  its  festive  board.  We  have  often  ex- 
pressed something  of  these  ideas  in  more  homely 
garb,  and  do  not  hesitate  now,  to  say  that  far- 
mers need  that  their  attention  shall  be  turned 
more  to  this  train  of  thought  and  feeling,  than 
to  any  manipulations  of  the  farm  itself. 


TEE  DRAINAGE  OF  PARIS. 

The  termination  of  the  great  conductor  be- 
neath the  pavement  of  Paris  is  regarded  as  an 
immense  success*  by  the  engineers  connected 
with  the  enterprise.  This  gigantic  drain  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  wonders  of  modern  engineer- 
ing, and  is  destined,  it  appears,  to  form  the 
great  artery  of  a  system  of  sewerage  which  has 
long  been  in  contemplation  both  for  the  salubrity 
of  the  city  and  for  economy  at  the  same  time. 
Two  of  these  stupendous  drains  are  to  be  con- 
structed in  a  line  parallel  with  the  Seine,  and  to 
conduct  the  refuse  water  of  the  city  into  a  vast 
reservoir,  whence  they  are  to  be  disseminated  as 
liquid  manure  over  the  most  barren  of  the  plains 
round  Paris.  The  system  adopted  is  that  exper- 
imentalised at  Berlin  with  such  eminent  success 
that  the  sandy  plains  in  the  midst  of  which  that 
city  is  situated  have  been  converted,  within  the 
space  of  a  few  years,  into  the  richest  meadow 
land  in  the  whole  of  Northern  Germany.  The 
prevalence  of  epidemics  and  miasma  during  the 
autumn  months  in  Paris  has  always  been  attrib- 
uted to  the  immense  mass  of  stagnant  waters 
left  to  corrupt  beneath  the  slightly  covered  drains 
which  run  beneath  the  houses,  whence  they  creep 
as  lazily  as  they  list  into    the    Seine.     The   new 


system,  which  will  come  into  action  in  October, 
is  considered  one  of  the  greatest  benefits  con- 
ferred as  yet  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Paris  by 
its  very  liberal  municipality. 


THE  AMERICAN  AUTUMN. 

BY   FAjrar   KEMBLE. 

Thou  comest  not  in  sober  guise. 

In  mellow  eloak  of  russet  clad — 
Thine  are  no  melancholy  skies. 

Nor  hueless  flowers,  pale  and  sad  ; 
But.  like  an  emperor,  triumphing, 

With  gorgeous  robes  of  Tyrian  dyes, 
Full  flush  of  fragrant  blossoming, 

And  glowinfi  purple  canopiee. 
How  call  ye  this  the  season's  fall, 

That  seems  the  pageant  of  the  year  ? 
Richer  and  britthter  far  than  all 

The  pomp  that  spring  and  summer  wear. 
Red  falls  the  western  light  of  day 

On  rock,  and  stream,  and  winding  shore  ; 
Soft  woody  banks  and  granite  gray 

With  amber  clouds  are  curtained  o'er ; 
The  wide,  clear  waters  sleeping  lie 

Beneath  the  evening's  wings  of  gold. 
And  on  their  glassy  breast  the  sky 

And  banks  their  mingled  hues  unfold. 
Far  in  the  tangled  woods,  the  ground 

Is  strewn  with  fallen  leaves,  that  lie 
Like  crimson  carpet=  all  around 

Beneath  a  crimson  canopy. 
The  sloping  sun,  with  arrows  bright, 

Pierces  the  forest's  waving  maze  ; 
The  universe  seems  wrapt  in  light, 

A  floating  robe  of  rosy  haze. 
O,  Autumn  !  thou  art  here  a  king — 

And  round  thy  throne  the  smiling  hours 
A  thousand  fragrant  tributes  bring, 

0:  golden  fruits  and  blushing  flowers. 

0,  not  upon  thy  fading  fields  and  fells 

la  such  rich  garb  doth  autumn  come  to  thee, 
My  home  !  but  o'er  thy  mountains  and  thy  dells 

His  footsteps  slowly  fall  and  solemnly. 
Nor  tlower  nor  bud  remaineth  there  to  him, 

Save  the  faint  breathing  rose,  that,  round  the  year, 
Its  crimson  buds  and  pale,  soft  blosfoms  dim, 

In  lowly  beauty  constantly  doth  wear. 
O  er  yellow  stubble  lands  in  mantle  brown 

He  wanders  through  the  wan  Octobtr  light: 
Still  as  he  goeth,  slowly  stripping  down 

The  garlands  green  that  were  the  spring's  delight. 
At  morn  and  eve  thin  silver  vapors  rise 

Around  tis  path  ;  but  sometimes  at  mid  day 
He  looks  along  the  hills  with  gentle  eyes, 

That  make  the  sallow  woods  and  fields  seem  gay. 
Yet  something  of  sad  sovereignty  he  hath — 

A  sceptre  crowned  with  berries  ruby  red, 
An  1  the  cold  sobbing  wind  bestrews  his  path 

With  withered  leaves,  that  rustle  'neath  his  tread  j 
And  round  him  still,  in  melancholy  state, 

Sweet  solemn  thoughts  of  death  and  of  decay, 
In  slow  and  hushed  attendance,  ever  wait, 

Telling  how  all  things  fair  must  pass  away. 


Culture  of  the  Onion. — Mr.  Milton  Wol- 
COTT,  of  Fairlee,  Vt.,  informs  us,  that  after  losing 
many  crops  of  onions  by  the  maggot,  all  the 
remedies  he  applied  having  completely  failed, 
he  has  at  length  succeeded  in  forming  a  com- 
pound that  has  in  one  or  two  trials  proved  com- 
pletely successful. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


529 


THE  SCOTCH  PINE,    (PINTJS  SYLVESTBIS.) 


Most  men,  and  all  women,  love  trees, — 
and  they  love  those  trees,  or  shrubs,  or 
plants  best,  that  they  have  cultivated,  or 
assisted  in  cultivating-,  wiih  their  own  hands. 
The  person  of  taste  who  erects  his  house  in 
a  charming  natural  grove,  though  it  may  be 
made  up  of  a  variety  of  the  most  showy  and 
graceful  of  our  forest  trees,  is  not  content 
to  stop  there.  He  wants  something  before 
him  that  he  has  been  instrumental  in  call- 
ing into  being  himself — something  to  which 
he  has  given  thought,  and  labor,  and  affdc- 
tion,  and  which  will  still  rtquire  his  care, 
and  will  bud,  and  bloom,  and  exhale  its  fra- 
grance or  bear  its  fruit,  especially  for  him. 

This  good  taste,  we  believe,  is  natural  to 
all  persons,  but  in  most,  remains  hidden  for  ?^V -^  %^^ 
want  of  circumstances   to  develop   it.     He      ■S^^^^/iOi 
who  delves  fifteen  hours   a  day  on  his  farm,  "     -  o—  ^ 

grudgingly  returning  to  the  bosom  of  hia 
family  to  partake  of  his  accustomed  meals, 
will  seldom  indulge  his  mind  in  meditations 
of  the  beautiful,  either  in  nature  or  art. 


"A  primrose  on  thi  river's  brim, 
A  yellow  primrose  is  to  him — 
And  nothing  more." 

But  as  literature,  commerce,  manufactures, 

and    the  various   arts,  combine  to   help  us 

to    the    necessities    and    luxuries    of    life, 

that   dormant    germ    for   the   beautiful    is 

unfolded,    and    man  seeks   to  surround  himself!  they  are  from  two  to  three  inches  long,  and  do  not 

with  the  creations  of  his  own   fancy  and  labor.  |  drop  from  the  tree  until  the  fifth  year.  The  cones 

He   carves  statues,  paints   pictures,  and    plants]  open  of  themselves  shortly  after  being  gathered 

and  gives   form  to  trees  and   shrubs,  and   thus  from  the  tree,  and  spread  out   in  the  sun.     The 

lives  delighted  in  a  little  world  that  he  has  long!  seed  should  be  sown  on  a  finely- prepared  sandy 

imagined,  and  at  length  brought  into  actual  be- j  soil,  in  March  or  April,  and  on  land  not  entirely 

ing.  'open  to  the  sun. 

When  this  taste  has  become  active,  he  seeks]  We  are  permitted  to  copy  our  engraving  from 
everywhere  for  objects  to  supply  the  form  or  j  Warder's  excellent  work  on  "Hedges  and  Ev- 
shade  that  seems  lacking  in  the  picture  which  he!  ergreens,"  published  by  A.  O.  Moore  (&  Co.,  Ag- 
has  formed,  and  lays  all  countries  under  tribute]  ricultural  book  publishers,  N.  Y. 

to  gratify  his  wants.     It  is   this  taste   that   hasj 

introduced  into  our  gardens  and  grounds  so  many 
beautiful  trees  and  shrubs  from  our  native  for- 
ests, and  80  many  of  the  exotics  that  grace  and 
bless  other  lands.     It  was  this  taste  that  intro- 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
USE  OF  TAN  BAKK. 
Mr.  Brown  : — Some  years  since  I  received  an 


duced  the  Scotch  Pine  into  our  collctions  of  or-  invoice  of  French  rose  bushes,  and  on  unpack- 

namental  trees,  a  portrait  of  which   embellishes  "]S  them,  found  the  roots  (luite  dry ;  I  set  these 

,    „  l)lants  out  at  once,  at  the  entrance  oi  the  garden, 

the  page  before  you.  ^^.j^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^   pj^^^j   ^^.^^  ^-^^^  ^^  ^-^^^^ 

This  pine  is  one  of  the  favorite  European  spe-  i  had  the  top  tan  taken  from  this,  and  the  land 
cies,  and  as  it  succeeds  remarkably  well  in  this  dug  over,  this  article  being  mixed  in  the  soil  in 
country,  will  be  likely  to  become  a  favorite' tree,  diff'erent  stages  of  decay  ;  upon  this  spot  I  placed 
It  has  many  varieties,  and  they  are  very  dissim-  ^^^  ^"P^es  thus  dry.  These  all,  with  but  two 
.,  T     p  II-.-  1       f,        ,     T^.       exceptions,  (say  some  thirty,)  grew  and  flowered 

liar.  In  favorable  situations,  the  Scotch  Pine  ^^e  following  summer.  Ever  since  that  time  I 
will  grow  eighty  or  one  hundred  feet  high.  The  have  continued  the  use  of  this  article,  placing  it 
leaves  are  glaucous,  and  in  pairs  ;  in  young  trees  around  the  gooseberry  and  currant  bushes,  and 


530 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMEil. 


Nov. 


also  around  dwarf  pears,  and  have  found  it  a 
good  dressing,  particularly  in  preserving  them 
from  insects.  I  have  placed  it  between  rows  of 
strawberries,  particularly  the  large  varieties, 
which  1  cultivate  as  single  plants,  by  cutting  off 
the  runners  ;  it  will  retain  heat  and  moisture 
during  the  warm  months.  For  all  purposes  of 
mulching  young  trees  in  the  fall,  I  have  found  it 
to  be  a  good  article.  J.  M.  I. 

Salem,  1859. 


THE  STATE  BEFOBM  SCHOOL. 

The  recent  partial  destruction  of  this  institu- 
tion by  fire  has  naturally  awakened  a  desire  in 
the  public  mind  to  know  its  history  and  practi- 
cal results.  That  there  is  a  widely  spread  im- 
pression that  it  has  failed  of  its  legitimate  pur- 
pose to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  is  most  evident. 
But  while  parties,  hostile  to  the  school,  are  loud 
in  its  denunciation,  the  discerning  and  the  phil- 
anthropic demand  facts  and  statistics,  and  re- 
serve their  judgment  till  these  are  furnished 
from  reliable  sources. 

One  inquiry  of  importance  in  deciding  the  gen- 
eral question  is,  the  cost  of  supporting  this  insti- 
tution, compared  with  other  institutions  of  a  sim- 
ilar character  ;  another  is,  wh'^t  proportion  of 
the  boys  committed  to  the  school  are  thoroughly 
reformed,  and  go  out  into  society  to  become  use- 
ful and  honorable  citizens? 

After  long  and  careful  investigation,  aided  by 
the  present  and  past  officers  of  the  school,  the 
writer  is  able  to  furnish  the  following  answer  to 
these  questions : — 

The  number  of  boys  committed  to  the  Reform 
School  since  its  opening  in  184cS  is  2.3;}".  The 
number  of  inmates  at  the  present  time  is  507. 
The  number  known  to  have  deceased  is  42.  This 
leaves  a  total  of  1988,  whose  history  is  the  sub- 
ject of  our  inquiry.  Of  this  number,  the  career 
of  about  300  cannot  be  traced  with  certainly. 
This  comprises  the  boys  who  were  committed  on 
short  sentences  ;  those  who  were  in  feeble  health; 
those  who  have  left  the  State  ;  those  who  were 
committed  under  assumed  names,  ^c. 

The  history  and  character  of  1Gj3  boys  who 
have  been  inmates  of  the  school  have  been  as- 
certained. 281  of  these  have  turned  out  badly. 
This  is  fourteen  and  one-seventh  per  cent,  on 
the  total  of  1988.  1372  of  these  boys  are  known 
to  have  done  well.  This  is  69  per  cent,  of  all 
who  have  gone  forth  from  the  institution. 

In  this  calculation,  in  all  cases  of  doubt,  the 
doubt  is  reckoned  against  the  Institution ;  al- 
though in  a  large  number  of  instances,  the  prob- 
ahUiiies  were  in  favor  of  a  thorough  i-eforma- 
tion. 

This  is  a  better  record  than  has  ever  been 
claimed  by  the  trustees ;  and,  considering  the 
disadvantages  under  which  the  Institution  has 
labored,  from  want  of  the  means  of  a  proper  clas- 
sification ;  the  advanced  age  of  the  majority  oi 
boys  when  committed ;  and  the  great  number  of 
short  sentences,  it  is  a  better  result,  the  writer 
confidently  believes,  than  the  truest  friends  of 
the  school  have  ever  dared  to  hope  for. 

But,  as  will  be  evident  to  any  one  familiar 
v?ith  the  school,  this  does  not  exhibit  the  actual 
results  of  the  training  and  discipline  of  the  Insti- 
tution.    It  is  well  known  that  provision  is  made 


in  the  statute  for  the  remanding  of  such  boys 
committed  to  the  school,  as  the  Trustees  find,  on 
a  brief  probation,  to  be  confirmed  and  hopeless 
criminals.  Such  are  sent  to  their  alternative 
sentence  in  the  House  of  Correction,  and  are  not 
thei-efore  the  subjects  of  the  Reform  School  dis- 
cipline. Deducting  the  number  thus  remanded, 
126,  leaves  as  the  true  result,  1372  reformed  boys 
in  a  total  of  1862  graduates,  which  is  seventy- 
three  and  two-thirds  per  cent. 

In  regard  to  the  expense  of  the  school  at 
Westborough  compared  with  other  kindred  In- 
stitutions, the  following  table,  compiled  from  pub- 
lished reports  for  1858,  will  show  the  cost  per 
capita  in  the  Institutions  named  : 

Maryland  House  of  Refuge $122 

ProvidcDce  Reform  School 94 

Industrifil  S.-hool  for  Girls  at  Lancaster 130 

Cliicago  Ref  rm  School 100 

St.  Louis  House  of  Refuge 122 

Western  House  of  Refuge,  New  York 100 

Cincinnati  House  of  Refuge 112 

Hou'c  of  Refuge,  Philadelphia 95 

State  Reform  School,  Maine 114 

House  of  Rijfuge,  New  Orleans 154 

State  Reform  School,  Connecticut 97 

House  of  Refuge,  Randall's  Island,  N.  Y 80 

State  Reform  School,  Massachusetts 80 

The  average  age  of  the  inmates  in  the  schools 
above  enumerated  is  about  13  years.  The  num- 
bers vary  from  95  to  590.  In  the  large  institu- 
tions the  cost  is  least.  $80  each,  at  Randall's 
Island  and  Westborough,  where  the  numbers  are 
540  and  590.  In  the  small  institutions  the  cost 
is  greatest.  $130  at  Lancaster,  with  95  inmates; 
$123  at  St.  Louis,  with  121  inmates;  $154  at 
New  Orleans,  with  95  inmates;  $114  at  the 
Maine  Reform  School,  with  214  inmates. — West- 
borouyli,  Sept.  28,  1859. — Daily  Advertiser. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
EAMBLES  ON  THE  MEBKIMACK. 

Having  just  returned  from  an  excursion  of 
about  eighty  miles,  along  the  bank  of  the  Merri- 
mack, I  thought  I  would  put  on  r  c;)rd  my  im- 
pressions, before  they  escaped  from  the  mind.  I 
started  with  a  view  of  seeing  the  great  show  of 
the  season  at  Albany — but  when  I  reflected  how 
well  that  would  be  described  by  their  indefatiga- 
ble Secretary,  a  man  of  all  work,  (as  we  say  of  a 
horse,)  I  thought  his  description  would  be  more 
instructive  than  any  observalion  I  could  make. 
Further,  I  do  not  entirely  coincide  with  the  for- 
eign taint  of  the  New  York  gentlemen,  in  their 
notions  of  cattle.  The  magnificent  Short-horns 
— the  beautiful  Jerseys — the  pampered  Ayrshires 
— and  the  fine  horned  I)evo;is,  so  fiU  their  eye, 
that  the  neglected  natives  stand  but  a  poor 
chance. 

As  I  walked  through  our  own  street,  this 
morning,  I  saw  Mr.  Rogers'  team  of  four  oxen, 
six  years  old,  averaging  in  giith  7-i  feet,  deep  red 
color,  equal  in  my  judgment  to  any  that  can  be 
brought  from  England,  Scotland,  or  Kentucky. 
When  such  animals  can  be  grown  among  us, 
what  occasion  is  there  to  go  abroad  for  better  ? 
I  know  of  none — therefore  I  do  not  feel  like  en- 
couraging any  such  movement. 

But  the  Merrimack  is  my  theme.  My  first  in- 
quiry was,  of  course,  as  to  the  corn  crop  of  the 
season  ;  this  I  am  sorry  to  say  is  not  as  good  as 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


531 


I  hoped  it  to  be.  The  fact  is,  there  have  been  no 
•warm  nights,  to  press  forward  and  mature  corn. 
On  some  pieces  where  the  land  was  thoroughly 
pulverized  to  the  depth  of  eight  inches  or  more, 
liberally  fertilized  by  home-made  manure,  and 
early  planted  with  the  right  kind  of  seed,  there 
will  be  sound  corn  to  the  amount  of  sixty  bush- 
els to  the  acre — but  generally  the  crop  will  not 
be  found  to  exceed  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre. 
The  old  fashioned  way  of  cutting  the  stalks  has 
genexdlly  been  followed,  but  nobody  can  toll  ex- 
actly why  it  is  done,  except  that  the  fodder  is 
better. 

When  the  corn  stalk  fodder  is  the  principal 
reason  for  growing  corn,  then  this  will  be  a  good 
reason  for  the  practice  of  cutting  the  stalks  ;  but 
while  it  is  grown  for  the  corn  that  will  mature 
the  best,  such  management  should  be  adopted  as 
will  yield  the  greatest  quantity  of  best  corn. 

Of  potatoes  the  report  is  highly  favorable — lit- 
tle or  no  rot,  of  large  size,  and  excellent  in  qual- 
ity.    What  more  can  be  asked? 

Of  grass — there  has  been  enough  of  it  where 
the  land  has  been  properly  taken  care  of,  and 
where  it  has  not,  there  is  no  right  to  expect  a 
crop.  My  attention  was  particularly  called  to 
the  ancestral  farm  of  the  Walker  family  in  Con- 
cord, N.  H.,  now  cultivated  by  the  Hon.  Joseph 
B.  Walker,  who  has  had  the  wisdom  to  leave  the 
law  of  quibbling  and  to  engage  in  the  law  of  cul- 
ture. If  more  of  our  kid-glove  gentry  would  do 
the  same  thing,  they  would  earn  a  reputation 
"more  durable  than  brass  or  bronze."  P. 

Oct.  6,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farvier. 
TOBACCO  VEESUS  USEFUL.  CROPS. 

It  is  not  without  much  hesitancy  that  I  at- 
tempt to  introduce  anything  into  the  i'^aj-mer  rel- 
ative to  the  most  worthless  of  all  cultivated  pro- 
ducts— tobacco.  I  have  observed, with  pleasure, 
thai  this  vile  weed  is  not  allowed  the  distinction 
of  ranking  among  those  farm  crops,  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  which,  and  the  best  method  of  raising, 
our  best  agricultural  journals  are  devoted,  and 
that  they  are  inclined  to  discourage  its  culture. 
But  the  rapidly  increasing  attention  paid  to  this 
crop,  and  its  usurpation  of  the  best  lands  of  the 
country,  which  might  otherwise  be  devoted  to 
useful  and  almost  as  remunerative  crops,  induces 
me  to  write  a  few  words  upon  the  subject. 

Many  farmers,  carried  away  with  the  idea  that 
growing  tobacco  is  superlatively  a  money-making 
jusiness,  devote  to  this  crop  the  attention  and 
■nanure  properly  belonging  to  the  other  and  more 
egitimate  farm  products,  and  often  find,  at  or 
before  the  sale  of  their  tobacco  crop,  that  "all  is 
•jot  gold  that  shines,"  and  that  money  cannot  be 
)lucked  from  the  passing  breeze,  or  obtained 
lonorably  without  hard  toil,  at  least  on  the  hills 
ind  pldins  of  New  England.  Recently  the  cul- 
:ure  of  tobacco  has  increased  surprisingly,  audit 
aas  been  stated  that  during  the  past  season  there 
have  been  250  acres  raised  in  each  of  the  towns 
of  Hatfield  and  Whately,  in  this  State,  200  in 
Hadley,  125  each  in  Northampton  and  West 
Springfield,  and  probably  100  in  Springfield  and 
W^estfield,  and  from  50  to  200  or  more  in  all  the 
owns  in  this  State  and  Connecticut  that  border 
on  the  Connecticut  river,  besides  a  large  amount 


in  other  towns,  and  patches  scattered  about  all 
over  the  New  England  States.  How  many  thous- 
ands of  bushels  of  corn,  or  rye  and  wheat,  or  of 
root  crops,  this  land  might  be  made  to  add  to  the 
annual  amount  of  these  crops  grown  in  New 
England !  and  how  much  richer  the  country 
would  be  by  their  culture  in  the  place  of  tobacco  ! 

1  propose  to  notice  a  few  items  in  regard  to 
the  real  profits  of  raising  tobacco.  First,  the 
very  best  land  must  be  employed,  and  highly 
manured,  to  ensure  a  remunerating  crop.  It  can- 
not be  manured  too  highly ;  and  a  field  that 
would  produce  a  fine  crop  of  corn,  an  old  tobac- 
co-raiser would  not  set  with  tobacco  plants. 

The  average  amount  of  tobacco  per  acre  is  gen- 
erally regarded  as  1700  pounds;  some  lands 
yielding  much  more,  while  a  good  deal  yields  less. 
Let  the  medium  price  be  twelve  and  a  half  cents 
per  pound,  and  it  will  give  $212,50  as  the  pro- 
duct of  an  acre  ;  though  I  believe  8200  is  consid- 
ered as  the  average  amount  of  money  per  acre  for 
tobacco.  The  cost  of  the  various  items  in  its 
culture  may  be  stated  as  follows,  after  the  land 
would  be  considered  well  fitted  for  a  crop  of  corn 
and  potatoes,  which  is  rather  a  low  estimate, 
however,  of  the  cost  of  raising  an  acre  of  good 
tobacco,  and  does  not  include  many  little  things 
always  occurring  to  be  done  in  the  culiure  of 
the  "weed  :" 

Cost  of  extra  plowing  and  harrowing $4  00 

'•        hilling  out 1.25 

"       plants 6,00 

"       setting 4,00 

"       hoeing  three  timej 12  00 

'■        topping,  mowing,  &c 3.75 

"       Buckering 4,25 

"       cut.ing  hanginc;.  twine,  &:c 12, fO 

"        stripping,  packing,  &c 9  CO 

$66,75 

In  addition  to  this  is  the  rent  of  slorage-room, 
while  the  tobacco  is  curing,  or  the  interest  of 
capital  invested  in  tobacco  sheds — say  at  least 
six  dollars,  for  I  have  heard  it  remarked  by  old 
tobacco-growers  that  a  barn  of  ordinary  height, 
40  feet  long  by  30  in  width,  is  none  too  ample 
accommodations  for  an  acre  of  stout  tobacco. 
And  the  expense  of  getting  plants,  when  not 
raised  at  home,  is  often  considerable  ;  for  in- 
stance, I  have  known  people  to  travel  twenty 
miles  and  back,  repeating  the  journey  two  or 
three  times,  in  procuring  ))lants  for  an  acre. 

The  money  received  for  tobacco  is  not  all  prof' 
its.  I  have  known  tobacco  culturists  to  offer 
fifty  dollars  for  the  use  of  an  acre  of  ground  for 
tobacco,  and  manure  to  fit  it  with,  or  eighty  to 
one  hundred  dollars  after  the  ground  was  fitted. 
Deducting  about  ninety  dollars  for  the  use  of 
the  ground,  manure,  fitting,  &c.,  in  addition  to 
the  expense  of  raising,  leaves  as  small  a  per  cent. 
of  profits  on  the  amount  of  capital  invested  as 
the  majority  of  farm  crops.  And  I  believe  that 
people  are  deceived  in  regard  to  the  real  amount 
of  profits  in  tobacco  growing,  by  the  large  am  'unt 
of  cash  received  as  the  avails  of  an  acre,  and  do 
not  stop  to  consider  the  costs  of  growing,  nor 
estimate  the  risks  incurred.  The  labor  bestowed 
on  one  acre  of  tobacco  would  cultivate  quite  a 
number  of  acres  of  corn,  which,  if  grown  on  the 
ground  devoted  to  tobacco,  would  yield  GO  to  70 
bushels  per  acre.  The  gain  on  the  money  invest- 
ed in  the  culture  of  corn  is  generally  from  thirty 
to   fifty   per  cent.,  but   by  the  above   estimate, 


532 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


drawn  from  actual  observation,  the  profits  in  to- 
bacco culture  generally  fall  to,  or  below,  thirty 
per  cent.,  besides  the  inconvenience  suffered  in 
growing  it.  Consequently,  I  strongly  incline  to 
the  opinion  that  the  notion  that  tobacco  "pays" 
better  than  any  other  crop,  or  than  other  crops 
in  general,  is  a  mistaken  one.  True,  there  are  in- 
stances of  large  profits  from  tobacco,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  high  price  in  conjunction  with  a  great 
yield,  and  the  lucky  man  tells  his  success  to  his 
neighbors,  and  it  gets  into  the  newspapers,  and 
sets  a  hundred  farmers  itching  to  engage  in  the 
business. 

To  sum  up  the  matter,  allowing  it  is  a  very 
profitable  crop,  there  are  at  least  six  good  rea- 
sons for  raising  other  crops  in  preference  to  to- 
bacco, worthy  of  consideration  by  every  farmer, 
especially  by  every  one  inexperienced  in  the  bus- 
iness, who  contemplates  raising  it. 

1.  It  is  a  very  exhausting  crop,  and,  as  above 
stated,  requires  land  in  the  highest  state  of  cul- 
tivation for  a  good  yield,  and  growing  rapidly, 
must  necessarily  draw  heavily  upon  the  resources 
of  the  soil,  as  experience  proves,  to  mature  so 
heavy  a  growth  of  foliage. 

2.  If  raised  by  a  farmer  in  common  circum- 
stances, it  robs  the  remainder  of  the  farm  of  its 
proper  food,  unless  the  manure  be  purchased.  It 
is  virtually  the  same  as  selling  the  manure  di- 
rectly from  the  farm,  comparatively  nothing  be- 
ing returned  to  the  soil  from  the  tobacco  ;  and 
instances  have  come  under  my  observation  of 
farms  becoming  considerably  reduced  by  this 
process. 

3.  It  is  more  risky  than  other  crops,  from  va- 
rious causes,  as  hail,  and  early  frosts  in  autumn. 
That  man  need  to  consider  himself  fortunate  who 
does  not  lose,  or  receive  great  injury  to  a  por- 
tion or  all  of  his  crop  of  tobacco  as  often  as  once 
in  four  or  five  years,  which  forms  a  material  dis- 
count on  the  general  profits.  A  heavy  hail  storm, 
or  a  severe  frost,  renders  the  crop  worthless  for 
market. 

4.  It  requires  skill  and  experience  more  than 
other  crops  ;  indeed,  by  some,  raising  tobacco  is 
regarded  as  little  less  than  a  trade,  and  many  are 
the  vexations,  and  often  losses,  the  inexperienced 
grower  meets  with. 

5.  It  is  a  disagreeable  and  hard  crop  to  work 
among.  With  the  exception  of  hoeing,  from  set- 
ting till  the  crop  is  harvested,  the  laborer  must 
bo  more  or  less  in  a  stooping  posture,  with  his 
head  in  an  unnatural  proximity  to  his  feet,  and 
his  face  brushing  the  green  tobacco  leaves,  as- 
suming the  characteristic  attitude  of  a  quadru- 
ped— 0)1  oil  fours — in  his  groveling,  eager  pursuit 
after  "filthy  lucre." 

In  the  business  of  suckering  and  harvesting, 
much  of  the  work  is  of  the  hardest  kind,  as  well 
as  nastiest,  and  a  chapter  might  be  written  on  its 
horrors;  of  the  back-aches  and  head-aches,  sick- 
ening odor  of  the  tobacco,  and  gummy  hands  and 
clothes.  If  a  man  would  grow  old  prematurely, 
let  him  raise  tobacco,  and  labor  in  it  himself. 

I  quote  from  the  Sprinfffitld  IiepulilicaH,  of 
Sept.  17th,  concerning  the  work  of  tobacco-grow- 
ing, and  the  appearance  of  the  workmen  ; 

•'If  there  is  any  dirtier  work  than  raising  to- 
bacco, except  chewing  it,  we  should  like  to  know 
it.  A  gum  issues  from  green  tobacco  that  cov- 
ers everything  that  it  comes  in  contact  with.     It 


is  sometimes  a  practice  among  tobacco-growers 
to  put  on  a  shirt  outside  of  their  clothes,  and 
wear  it  without  washing  ail  through  the  season. 
At  the  end  of  the  tobacco  year,  if  indeed,  it  lasts 
so  long,  it  goes  into  paper  rags,  but  usually  long 
before  that  it  loses  its  original  color.  We  mut  re- 
cently a  troop  of  men  fresh  from  the  tobacco 
field,  that  in  any  other  portion  of  the  world  than 
this,  would  pass  for  Hottentots.  They  looked  as 
if  they  had  always  burrowed  in  the  ground,  and 
in  hands  and  face,  as  well  as  dress,  were  the  col- 
or of  woodchucks.     Where  is  Barnura  ?" 

The  worthy  editor  would  have  found,  had  he 
approached  near  enough,  that  the  nauseating 
odor  of  green  tobacco,  from  their  person  and 
clothes.  Was  no  less  ofi'ensive  and  disgusting  than 
their  appearance.  The  gum  is  very  viscous,  and 
hard  to  remove  from  whatever  Jt  besmears. 

6.  It  is  a  icortlihss  crop,  and  a,  curse  to  the 
community,  which  alone  should  be  an  argument 
sufficient  to  prevent  a  conscientious  man  from 
raising  it,  because  he  thinks  it  profitable.  But 
few  approve  of  the  distillation  of  corn  or  other 
grain  into  intoxicating  liquors  ;  yet  the  tenden- 
cy of  tobacco-growing  is  the  same — a  useless 
waste — preventing  the  culture  of  useful  crops. 

May  every  man  who  has  grown  tobacco  the 
present  year  sum  up  the  expenses  of  his  tobacco 
crop,  the  risks,  the  tendency  of  the  business,  and 
then  ask  if  it  pat/s,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term 
— is  it  Iwnorahh  '?  And  let  every  man  who  con- 
templates raising  it  in  the  future,  investigate  the 
subject  well,  in  all  its  bearings,  before  he  com- 
mences. J.  A.  A. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  Sept.  27,  1859. 

Remarks. — "J.  A.  A."  has  our  hearty  thanks 
for  this  timely  and  excellent  article. 


Fjr  trie  New  Em^liind  Farmer. 
FISH  POND—MEADOW    MUD. 

Mu.  Editor: — As  you  are  always  ready  to 
give  information  on  anything  coiniected  with  a 
farm,  I  will  ask  a  question  or  two.  This  season, 
while  'he  water  was  low  in  a  meadow  near  my 
house,  I  dug  a  round  pond,  300  feet  in  circum- 
ference, which  will  hardly,  if  ever,  be  dry ;  it  is 
in  connection  with  a  stream  of  water  running 
through  the  farm.  I  dug  the  pond  for  two  pur- 
poses ;  first,  for  getting  the  mud  for  manure, 
from  which  I  got  a  large  quantity  ;  and  second- 
ly, for  the  purpose  of  having,  and  multiplying, 
some  kinds  of  fish.  The  stream,  which  1  can 
easily  control,  is  some  200  rods  in  length,  and 
from  three  to  six  feet  in  width,  through  the  mead- 
ow. Are  these  dimensions,  with  a  living  stream 
of  water,  sufficient  to  multiply  fish  to  advantage; 
and  if  so,  what  kind  would  be  most  suitable,  and 
in  what  manner  would  it  be  best  to  confine  them? 

Would  it  be  profitable  to  spread  meadow  mud, 
after  it  has  had  the  action  of  the  frost  one  win- 
ter, on  uplands,  to  be  plowed  in,  and  to  what  kind 
of  crops  would  such  land  be  best  adapted  ? 

Cordaville,  Oct.,  1859.  James  Howes. 


Remarks. — We  have  had  no  experience,  and 
not  much  observation,  in  relation  to  the  piscato- 
ry matter  upon  which  our  cori-espondent  asks  for 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


533 


information.  Mr.  Humphrey,  of  Lancaster,  or 
some  other  of  our  friends,  m^)'  be  able  and  will- 
ing to  communicate  valuable  information.  The 
application  of  the  muck,  as  you  propose,  would 
be  judicious,  and  the  land  under  such  treatment, 
aided  by  proper  dressings  of  manure,  would  be 
in  condition  for  any  of  our  common  crops. 


For  the  New  England  Farmet . 
"la  THERE  ANYPKOFIT  INFABMING?" 

Messrs.  Editors  : — Your  corresponctent,  T. 
J.  Pinkham,  judging  from  the  tenor  of  his  article 
under  the  above  caption,  published  in  the  Far- 
mer a  short  time  since,  and  from  the  "facts"  he 
has  given,  must  be  located  in  a  very  ill-favored 
portion  of  the  country  ;  but,  notwithstanding  the 
state  of  things  he  describes,  I  think  he  may  work 
long  before  he  will  convince  the  generality  of 
farmers  in  New  England  that  farming  is  unprof- 
itable, and  that  they  are  destined  to  the  poor- 
house,  if  they  continue  its  practice. 

That  farming  is  profitable,  and  that  farmers 
are  the  most  independent  class  of  people  in  the 
world,  and  that  the  major  part  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  M'ho  are  engaged  in  other  pursuits,  are 
dependent  upon  their  industry  and  products  for 
sustenance,  seems  to  be  perfectly  evident  from 
the  nature  of  things,  and  it  may  be  proved  to  be 
thus,  if  need  be,  by  practical  demonstrations 
without  number.  I  suspect  that  Mr  P.,  having 
probably  been  employed  in  other  pursuits  before 
engaging  in  agriculture,  "some  seven  or  eight 
years"  since,  may  possibly  be  lacking  somewliat 
in  agricultural  experience,  so  necessary  to  suc- 
cess, and  has  had  the  misfortune  to  locate  in  a 
bad  situation,  both  combining,  perhaps,  to  ren- 
der him  sick  of  his  new  vocation,  and  consequent- 
ly he  looks  upon  the  dark  side. 

It  is  well  in  all  matters  of  business  to  keep  an 
eye  for  the  profits,  and  not  a  bad  thing  to  count 
up  the  outlays  and  incomes  of  the  farm,  at  the 
end  of  the  year,  and  count  the  profits,  as  most 
farmers  can.  The  facts  he  has  given  in  support 
of  his  point  are  new  to  me,  certainly,  and  proba- 
bly are  to  most  of  the  readers  of  the  Farmer  ; 
that  it  "costs  twenty-three  dollars  to  raise  a 
yearling,"  and  $57,20  to  keep  a  cow  a  year,  and 
that  a  good  cow  gives  on  the  average,  four  quarts 
of  milk  per  day  through  the  year.  A  good  cow 
(and  none  other  should  be  kept,)  should  give 
four  quarts  at  each  milking,  at  least,  or  eight 
quarts  per  day,  through  the  greater  part  of  the 
year,  and  even  more  than  this  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  time,  which  would  double  the 
avails  of  the  cow,  at  your  correspondent's  low 
price  for  milk,  and  give  a  fair  profit  at  his  rather 
high  price  of  keeping.  I  believe  that  a  cow  may 
be  kept  well,  in  most  localities,  for  about  forty- 
five  dollars  per  year,  and  should  yield  an  average 
of  six  quarts  of  milk  per  day.  The  milk-men 
generally  get  from  four  to  six  cents  a  quart  for 
milk,  and  consequently  the  farmer  should  not 
receive  less  than  three,  or  three  and  a  half  cents, 
for  his  milk  at  his  door. 

It  is  a  curious  anomaly,  indeed,  that  so  large 
a  portion  of  the  intelligent  people  of  New  Eng- 
land should  be  engaged  in  such  a  disastrous  busi- 
ness as  friend  P.  represents  farming  to  be.     A 


ridiculous  idea,  cei^tainly,  that  the  thousands  of 
people  engaged  in  farming,  should  be  such  fools 
as  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their  infatuated 
predecessors  in  agriculture.  Does  it  appear  plau- 
sible that  of  all  the  money  made  in  the  world, 
none  is  gained  from  agriculture  ?  that  the  poor 
farmer  toils  and  digs  the  live  long  year  I'ur  a 
mere  living,  and  hardly  that,  while  the  results  of 
his  laI)ors  feed  the  world  ?  Farmers  know  loo 
well  that  this  is  not  their  reward,  to  need  to  be 
told  by  me  that  farming  is  profitable. 

There  are  some  departments  in  agriculture 
more  profitable  than  others,  I  have  no  doubt,  and 
while  the  growing  of  stock  and  the  dairy  are 
found  profitable  to  farmers,  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  generally  the  growing  of  crops  is  found 
more  so. 

I  might  occupy  several  columns  of  the  Farmer 
with  statements,  from  my  experience  and  obser- 
vation, in  various  departments  of  farming,  show- 
ing that  farming,  when  properly  conducted,  does 
really  pay  good,  and  often  large  profits  ;  but  J 
consider  it  unnecessary,  as  most  of  the  farmer? 
who  read  this  paper  can  call  up  numerous  in- 
stances from  their  own  observation  corroborating 
the  fact,  and,  from  their  o>.vn  experience,  are  al- 
ready convinced  that  farming  pays. 

Sprinc[field,  Oct.,  1859,  J.  A.  A. 


For  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 
THE  PEACH  AND  PLUM. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — A  writer  in  your  paper, 
in  allusion  to  an  article  which  I  forwarded  some 
weeks  since,  headed  "Doubtful  Items  in  Culture," 
infers  that  I  have  had  much  experience  in  the  cul- 
ture of  the  peach.  Without  pretending  to  have 
cultivated  many  varieties,  (as  few  have  in  New 
England,)  I  will  merely  state,  that  so  far  as  my 
experience  goes  in  this  matter,  I  have  found  that 
the  most  profitable  varieties  for  culture  in  Mas- 
sachusetts are  the  late  sorts.  Our  markets  are 
ordinarily  well- supplied  with  early  peaches  from 
New  Jersey,  and  consequently,  we  are  unable  to 
compete  with  them  in  the  market.  The  most 
profitable  variety  I  have  cultivated  is  the  Hod- 
Cheek  Melocoton ;  it  is  an  American  seedling, 
and  has  been  extensively  grown  in  some  parts 
of  our  country ;  it  often  reproduces  itself  from 
seed  under  new  forms.  Crawford's  Early,  as  well 
as  the  Late  Melocoton,  are  seedlings  of  this  sort, 
and  although  the  latter  produces  rather  larger 
fruit  than  its  parent,  it  is,  however,  not  so  pro- 
ductive. The  Oldmixon  Freestone  and  Prince's 
Late  Red  Rareripe  are  valuable  peaches  for  our 
culture ;  in  fact,  I  consider  the  Red-Cheek  Melo- 
coton, and  the  other  two,  to  be,  on  the  whole,  as 
good  as  any  we  have  grown  for  the  market ;  they 
come  when  the  southern  peaches  are  here  scarce. 
The  Heath,  as  well  as  the  Lemon  Clingstone,  so 
popular  at  the  South,  will  not  ripen  well  with  us. 

Regarding  early  peaches  for  the  amateur  or 
garden,  I  know  of  none  better  than  Coolidge's 
Favorite,  Malta,  Royal  George,  Noblesse  and 
Early  York.  As  regards  the  Druid  Hill,  a  Bal- 
timore seedling,  I  have  never  seen  it,  as  also  the 
Welsh  Freestone ;  I  do  not  find  the  latter  in 
"Manning's  Book  of  Fruits." 

As  to  the  inquiry,  "Whether  peach  trees  are 
ever  much  troubled  by  the  black  knot?"  I  can 


534 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov 


only  say,  that  I  have  never  observed  anything 
of  the  kind  upon  the  peach.  This  tree  frequently 
exudes  gum,  particularly  in  a  wet  and  cold  season  ; 
this,  and  the  work  of  the  "Grand  Turk,"  or  bor- 
er, and  the  curl  in  the  leaf,  are  about  the  only 
difficulties  I  encounter  in  the  cultivation  of  this 
fine  fruit.* 

In  regard  to  the  inquiry,  "Whether  the  wild 
plum  trees  of  our  country  are  affected  by  the 
knot,"  I  would  say  that  they  are  on  even  the 
Peach  plum  at  Ipswich,  Plum  Island,  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  and  I  have  not  as  yet  been  able 
to  say  whether  it  is  the  work  of  an  insect,  or  a 
diseased  state  of  the  sap,  that  produces  these 
unsightly  excrescences,  which  have  been  so  de- 
structive of  late  as  to  render  the  cultivation  of 
the  plum  not  desirable.  J.  M.  IVES. 

Sale7n,  Oct.,  1859. 


*  In  '-Karr's  Tour  round  my  G.irden,"  this  French  writer, 
in  referring  to  the  peach,  says.  '-We  find  upon  the  l)ranch  of  » 
peach  tree,  a  sort  of  tubero.-ity  whici  appears  to  be  a  gall  of 
the  tree,  produced  by  the  puncture  of  some  insect." 


I'or  the  New  Ensland  Farmer. 

FARMIII^G  IN  NOHTHBRN  NEW"  HAMP- 
SHIRE. 


Mr.  Editor: — This  region  is  one  of  the  most 
diversified  in  New  England.  From  almost  any 
elevated  point  the  eye  may  pass  over  barren 
granite,  rough  pasture,  good  upland  tillage,  fer- 
tile intervale  and  reedy  swamp — every  elevation, 
from  the  hillock  to  Mount  Washington— every 
size  of  stream,  from  the  rill  to  the  placid  Con- 
necticut. 

OJ  the  Farms. — The  acres  are  well  divided 
among  the  people  — the  farmer  usually  possess- 
ing from  one  hundred  to  four  hundred  acres. 
Each  farm  usually  presents  the  diversified  char- 
acter of  the  country  at  large.  Almost  every  farm 
borders  on  a  small  stream.  There  are  moist  hol- 
lows for  grass,  warm  hillocks  for  tillage,  and 
high  hills  for  pasture — while  here  and  there  are 
basins  filled  with  decayed  vegetable  matter,  and 
overgrown  with  flag  and  s^amp  grass.  Each  farm 
is  well  supplied  with  water,  wood  and  stone. 

The  staple  production  here  is  grass.  The 
roughest  and  mosc  distant  portions  of  each  farm 
are  devoted  to  pasture — the  most  moist  portions 
to  mowing.  Oats,  potatoes  and  corn  come  next  in 
importance.  Wheat  is  an  uncertain  crop,  and 
but  little  cidtivated.  Buckwheat  and  barley  are 
more  cultivated  than  formerly. 

Of  the  Dwellings. — The  dwellings  may  be  di- 
vided into  two  classes.  The  first  class  consists 
of  nearly  square,  one  or  two-storied,  small-win- 
dowed, ilat-roofed,  unpleasant  and  inconvenient 
buildings,  with  enormous  chimneys,  and  low 
dark,  damp  cellars.  Vermin  swarm  unmolested 
and  the  whole  is  protected  by  an  embankment  of 
chips  thrown  up  about  the  house  nearly  to  the 
windows.  Extending  from  the  dwelling  is  along, 
low,  narrow  building,  in  which  are  assembled  a 
wagon,  sleigh,  cart,  sled,  some  chains,  cast-off 
washing-machines  and  churns,  a  grind-stone,  old 
scythes,  scrajjs  of  iron,  old  harnesses,  ashes  and 
fire-wood.  Immediately  above  the  wood-pile  is 
the  hen-roost,  and  be\ond  it  the  odoriferous  pig- 
sty. Near  the  swine's  apartment  are  swill  kettles 
hanging  in  the  most  primitive  style. 


These  dwellings  were  erected  from  twenty  to 
forty  years  ago.  But  a  different  taste  is  now  pre- 
vailing. This  class  of  dwellings  is  rapidly  giv- 
ing place  to  a  second  class.  This  second  class 
consists  of  well  proportioned,  painted,  lighted 
and  ventilated  buildings,  with  neat  chimneys,  and 
cellars  protected  from  cold  and  vermin  by  walls 
of  brick,  lime  and  double  windows.  Connected 
with  the  dwelling  is  a  wood-house.  Beyond  the 
wood-house  is  a  carriage  depot,  and  further  a 
building  for  swine,  conveniently-arranged  boiler, 
bins  for  vegetables,  neat  eating  troughs  and 
warm  sleeping  apartments. 

Farm  house  architecture  has  rapidly  improved 
within  the  last  ten  years.  Twenty  years  ago  the 
builder  aimed  at  great  size,  while  economy,  beau- 
ty, convenience  and  ventilation  were  overlooked. 
But  there  is  yet  great  improvement  to  be  made. 
Farmers'  dwellings  are  too  expensive — often  in- 
conveniently lociited — without  shade  trees,  and 
neat  and  convenient  adjacent  fences  and  gates. 
Out-buildings  are  often  situated  so  near  that 
every  breeze  brings  to  the  parlor  a  disease-bear- 
ing stench,  and  every  shower  filters  through  the 
cattle-yard  into  the  wood-shed.  Large,  richly- 
furnished,  inconvenient  and  badly-located  farm- 
houses have  paralyzed  many  a  strong  arm  and 
blanched  many  a  blooming  cheek.  Farm-house 
architecture  is  an  important  subject,  and  one 
that  should  be  more  attentively  studied. 

But  more  of  this  in  my  next.  w.  C. 

Bath,  Grafton  Co.,  N.  H.,  Oct.  10,  1859. 


Remarks. — Thank  you.  Doctor.  Just  what 
we  want — short,  energetic,  picture-like  sketches 
of  the  homes  of  farmers,  pointing  out  defects, 
and  showing  how  to  remedy  them.  You  shall 
have  a  hundred  thousand  readers. 


THE  CONCORD  GRAFS. 

The  Concord  Grape  is  gaining  troops  of  friends 
at  the  South  and  West,  and  is  spoken  of  in  our 
agricultural  exchanges  in  high  terms.  Mr. 
George  Husman,  of  Hermann,  Missouri,  an  ex- 
perienced and  successful  grape-grower,  and  a 
person  well  acquainted  with  the  qualities  of  our 
grapes,  describes  it  as  follows  : 

"Bunch,  large  and  heavy,  compact  shouldered; 
berry  larger  by  one-third  than  Catawba,  round, 
black,  with  a  slight  bloom  ;  skin  somewhat  thick ; 
flesh  juicy,  pulpy,  buttery,  sweet,  and  luscious, 
with  an  agreeable  flavor.  Not  aff'ected  in  the  least 
by  mildew  and  rot ;  very  productive.  Ripens  two 
weeks  before  Catawba.  Not  tried  here  for  wine, 
but  said  to  make  a  good  red  Avine. 

"Vine,  a  strong  and  robust  grower,  very  hardy, 
and  will  keep  its  leaves  fresh  and  green  till  frost, 
ripening  its  shoots  well  to  the  remotest  points,  yet 
not  so  rampant  but  it  can  be  well  kept  in  order  in 
the  vineyard.  It  is  a  fine  vine  to  cover  arbors,  as 
it  has  a  very  large,  healthy  leaf,  and  will  never 
suffer  from  frost  in  winter. 

"The  real  value  of  the  Concord  can  only  be  ap- 
preciated when  we  compare  its  healthy  appearance, 
and  its  beautiful,  perfect  bunches  of  fruit,  with 
the  sirkly  foliage,  and  imperfect  bunches  of  the 
Catawba.  While  we  have  lost  full  one-half  of  our 
Catawba  crop  this  season,  hy  rot  and  mildew,  the 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


535 


Concord  lost  not  a  berry,  and  is  a  truly  glorious 
sight.  Take  aU  its  qualities — its  splendid  larc;e 
bunch  and  berry,  its  good  quality,  and  its  early 
ripening — and  we  have  a  market  grape  which  is 
truly  'hard  to  beat.'  " 

Mr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Calmdale,  Pa.,  says 
that— 

"At  the  east  and  north  they  do  not  know  what  a 
really  good  Concord  !>■•,  ard  the  further  it  is  re- 
moved south,  the  better  it  becomes  in  quality. 
Such  is  the  Concord,  as  I  have  found  it,  the  last 
two  unfavorable  seasons,  and  my  firm  belief  is, 
that  it  will  never  fail  to  bring  a  good  crop  here.  I 
hope  that  all  your  leaders  who  have  a  few  feet  of 
ground  to  spare  for  a  grape  vine,  will  try  it." 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HARVESTING  COSN. 

The  question  as  to  which  is  the  best  mode  of 
harvesting  corn  seems  to  remain  undecided.  In 
these  parts,  the  old  method  of  topping  and  leav- 
ing the  corn  to  ripen  on  the  butts  has  been 
mostly  abandoned.  Farmers  now  generally  cut 
up  their  corn  and  shock  it  as  soon  as  it  begins 
to  grow  hard  or  gets  glazed. 

In  this  way  we  avoid  the  labor  of  cutting  the 
stalks,  which  requires  nearly  as  much  time  as  it 
does  to  cut  up  the  whole  at  the  roots  and  shock 
it. 

The  quality  of  the  fodder  is,  also,  much  better. 
When  the  butts  are  left  standing  in  the  hill,  they 
become  hard  and  dry,  and  are  worth  but  little 
to  feed  out;  but  if  cut  when  they  are  green  and 
properly  cured,  they  make  excellent  food  for  cat- 
tle, an  acre  being  nearly  equal  in  value  to  an  acre 
of  hay.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  the  quality 
of  the  grain  is  not  as  good  as  it  would  be  if  it 
was  left  to  ripen  in  the  hill,   but,  from  my   own 


when  he  "came  away  fully  convinced  that  th^t 
was  not  the  best  way  to  harvest  corn.'' 

It  seems  to  me  that  he  must  be  very  easily 
"convinced,"  or  he  had  no  great  desire  to  ascer- 
tain the  facts  of  the  case.  If  we  draw  our  con- 
clusions from  such  slight  premises,  we  shall  sel- 
dom arrive  at  the  truth.  I  think  if  he  would 
carefully  consider  the  quf^stion,  and  give  it  a  fair 
investigation,  he  would  come  to  a  different  con- 
clusion. E.  H.  H. 

Truij,  Oct.  3,  lS.5y. 


FALL.   PLOVS/"ING. 
We  ask  the  attention  of  the  reader  long  enough 
to  consider  two  or  three  reasons  for  plowing  stub- 
ble land  in  the  fall. 

1.  It  makes  the  name  work  easier  in  the  spring. 

2.  It  covers  the  grass  and  weeds  that  have 
sprung  up  since  the  last  hoeing,  or  on  land  that 
brought  a  grain  crop,  and  places  them  in  a  con- 
dition to  get  rotted  before  planting  or  sowing  the 
land  again. 

3.  By  plowing  in  the  fall,  a  large  quantity  of 
fresh  soil  is  brought  to  the  surface  to  he  fertil- 
ized, in  si  me  degree,  by  atmospheric  influences 
through  the  winter.  Then,  when  it  is  again 
plowed  in  the  spring,  still  another  portion  is 
brought  up  to  be  in  turn  made  richer  in  the  same 
manner.  It  may  seem  to  some  that  little  or  no 
benefit  will  be  derived  from  this  process,  but  we 
feel  quite  confident  that  examination  into  the 
subject  will  satisfy  any  inquirer  that  it  will  be  of 
especial  advantage. 

4.  The  finer  our  soils  are  made,  the  more  fer- 
tile they  will  be,  and  the   more   easily  they  may 


experience  and  the  testimony   of  many  farmers 

in  this  neighborhood,  I  am  s^^.tisfied   that,   when  be  wrought — so  that  if  these  objects  alone  were 


well  secured   in  the   shock,  the  corn  will  be 
sound  and  bright,  and  will  weigh  full  as   much 
as  it  would  if  allowed  to  mature  in  the  hill. 

Another  advantage  secured  by  this  mode,  is 
the  protection  v.'hich  it  ensures  against  fro^t.  In 
many  paits  of  New  England,  frost  often  occurs 
before  ^orn  is  far  enough  advanced  to  be  out  of 
danger  ;  and  when  left  standing  in  the  butts,  it 
is  often  seriously  damaged.  I  know  of  several 
cases  this  fall  where  farmers  neglected  to  cut  up 
their  corn  in  s?ason  ;  and  it  was  so  badly  injured 
by  frost  as  to  be  nearly  worthless. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  and  manifest  ad- 
vantages secured  by  this  mode  of  harvesting, 
some  still  continue  to  advocate  the  old  method 
of  topping. 


sought,  it  would  be  advisable  to  plow  in  the  fall. 
5.  The  shortness  of  the  time  allowed  us  to  get 
in  spring  crops,  makes  it  expedient  to  do  every- 
thing we  can  to  expedite  the  spring  work. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

HORTI-AQRICULTUEAIi  SH:0"W  AT  ISTEW- 
BUSYPORT. 

This  exhibition  at  Newburyport  was  made  on 

Tuesday  last,  in  their  commodious  City  Hall ;  one 

of  the   best  rooms   for  a  display  of  the   various 

articles  usually  seen  at  such  shows.     One  of  the 

I  noticed  a  casein  the  Farmer  ofj  features  of  the   exhibition  in  the  hall  reminded 

Sept.  24th,  which   is   a  fair  sample  of  the  argu-'us  of  the  annual  festival  of  the  American  Insti- 

ments  used  by  those  who  support  this   method,  jtute  at  New  York,  in   their  admission  of  shop 


Mr.  Underwood,  writing  from  Lexington,  says 
"A  few  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  pass  along 
the  road  by  a  neighbor's  corn-field  that  had  been 
cut  up  at  the  roots  and  shocked  about  two  weeks 
previous.  Some  of  it  was  standing  up  straight, 
some  leaning,  some  half-way  over,  and  some 
wholly  prostrate."  From  this  description  the 
corn  was  not  well  secured,  and  should  not  have 
Deen  taken   as  an  example  ;  but  he  "selected  a 


goods.  The  carpets,  rugs,  fancy  pictures  and 
flowers  were  very  tastefully  arranged,  which  I 
was  told  v,as  due  to  the  ladies  of  the  city.  The 
fruits  were  fine.  The  most  notable  dishes  of 
pears  were  the  Duchess  of  Angouleme,  many 
dishes  of  large  size,  Uvedale's  St.  Germain,  Ca- 
talac,  Seckel  and  Beurre  Diel.  Of  apples,  the 
Hubbardston  Nonsuch  and  New  York  Pippin,  of 
r.  C.  Thurlow,  of  West  Newbury,  were  very  con- 


shock  that  had  nearly  fallen  over,"  and  examined  spicuous.     Fine  dishes   of  the   Moody,  (a  seed- 
o;?e  ear  which  happened  to  be  in  a  bad  condition,  hing  of  Newlniry,)  as  well  as  the   Gravenstein, 


536 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Nov. 


•were  equal  to  any  I  have  ever  seen.     The  show 

of  vegetables,  particularly  corn,  potatoes  and  cau- 
liflowers, was  excellent.  This  part  of  the  exhi- 
bition was  very  creditable  to  persons  in  the  north 
part  of  the  county. 

Among  the  fancy  articles,  I  was  struck  with 
the  paintings  of  autumnal  leaves,  so  true  to  na- 
ture, executed  by  Annie  B.  Ashby.  Two  land- 1 
scapes  in  oil,  by  Bricher.  The  mcirine  aquarium,, 
or  ocean  world  in  miniature,  and  a  collection  of 
insects,  from  W.  H.  Merrill,  and  the  fine  hair 
work  of  li.  E.  Mosely,  were  much  admired. — 
There  were  upwards  of  twenty  contributors  of 
wines,  from  rhubarb,  currants,  grapes  and  black- 
berries. The  above,  with  the  market  day  and 
the  trial  of  fire  engines  in  the  afternoon,  brought 
together  a  large  company  to  the  city.  I. 


FoT  the  New  England  Farmer. 
HUSKING    COBN. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Will  you  allow  a  subscriber 
to  suggest  to  those  who  have  stocked  their  corn 
this  fall,  to  try  the  plan  of  brealiing  off  the  ears 
before  they  husk  them.  Let  one  hand,  (or  the 
thumb  and  fingers,)  be  pressed  tightly  against 
the  butt ;  take  hold  near  the  top  of  the  ear  with 
the  other,  and  bend  over,  and  break  off.  A  lit- 
tle skill  and  practice  will  enable  one  to  break  off 
many  of  the  ears,  so  that  very  few,  if  any,  of  the 
husks  will  remain. 

To  do  the  thing  easily,  lay  the  stook  upon  the 
floor,  (a  platform  made  of  a  door  or  boards,  and 
high  enough  to  get  your  feet  and  legs  under,  is 
better,)  the  butts  to  the  right,  and  tops  to  the 
left.  Begin  on  one  side,  and  take  the  ears  "clean 
as  you  go."  The  stook  need  not  be  untied,  but 
may  be  put  away  when  all  the  ears  are  off.  Just 
try  the  plan,  fellow-farmer  ;  we  doubt  whether 
you  will  be  willing  to  go  back  to  the  old  method 
of  stripping  down  the  husks  of  stooked  corn, 
first,  especially  if  they  stick  close. 

October,  1859.  Coknhill. 


LADIES'  DEPARTMENT. 

CARVIUQ  AT  DINNER. 

This  extract  from  the  recently  published  vol- 
ume entitled  "Dinner,  Breakfast  and  Tea,"  fur- 
nishes some  very  interesting  facts  touching  that 
most  oppressive  and  laborious  accomplishment, 
carving,  and  how  burdensome  it  was  made  in 
olden  time  : 

Carving  was  anciently  taught  as  an  art,  and  it 
was  performed  to  the  sound  of  music.  In  later 
times,  we  read  in  the  life  of  Lady  Mary  W.  Mon- 
tague, that  her  father,  the  Duke  of  Kingston, 
"having  no  wife  to  do  the  honors  of  his  table  at 
Thoresby,  imposed  that  task  upon  his  eldest 
daughter,  as  soon  as  she  had  bodily  strength 
for  the  office,  which,  in  those  days,  required  no 
small  share  ;  for  the  mistress  of  a  country  man- 
sion was  not  only  to  invite — that  is,  to  urge  and 
tease  her  company  to  eat  more  than  human 
throats  could  conveniently  swallow,  but  to  carve 
every  dish  when  chosen,  with  her  own  hands. 
The  greater  the  lady,  the  more  indispensable  the 
duty.  Each  joint  was  carried  up  in  its  turn  to 
be  operated  on  by  htr,  and  her  alone  ;  since  the 
peers  and  knights  on  either  hand  were  so  far 
from  being  bound  to  offer  their  assistance,  that 
the  very  master  of  the  house,  posted  opposite  to 
her,  might  not  act  as  her  croupier  ;  his  depart- 
ment was  to  push  the  bottle  after  dinner.  As 
for  the  crowd  of  guests,  the  most  inconsiderable 
among  them,  if  suffered  through  her  neglect  to 
help  himself  to  a  slice  of  the  mutton  placed  before 
him,  would  have  chewed  it  in  bitterness ,  and  gone 
home  an  affi<jnted  man.  There  were  at  this  time 
professed  carving  masters,  who  taught  young  la- 
dies the  art  scientifically,  from  one  of  whom  La- 
dy Mary  took  lessons  three  times  a  week,  that 
she  might  be  perfect  on  her  father's  public  days, 
— when,  in  order  to  perform  her  functions  with- 
out interruption,  she  was  forced  to  eat  her  own 
dinner  alone,  an  hour  or  two  beforehand. 


TR.4NSPLANTING  Trees. — We  have  but  a  mo- 
ment to  call  attention  to  this  important  item  of 
autumnal  work.  As  soon  as  the  leaves  have  fall- 
en, it  is  a  good  time  to  transplant  apple,  pear, 
or  shade  trees.  Some  think  the  fall  a  better  time 
than  the  spring,  saying  that  the  small  roots  start 
a  little,  and  get  a  hold  that  helps  them  very 
much  the  first  summer.  But  the  trees  should 
be  well  banked  up  with  earth,  to  keep  them  in  a 
steady  position.  Business  is  not  usually  so  press- 
ing in  the  fall  as  in  the  spring,  and  the  trees 
will,  for  this  reason,  stand  a  better  chance  of  be- 
ing icell  transplanted. 


Thanks. — Friend  Stanley,  of  South  Attle- 
boro',  will  please  accept  our  thanks  for  the  po- 
lite invitation  extended  to  us.  Engagements  for 
some  time  to  come,  will  prevent  us  from  availing 
ourselves  of  the  pleasure  and  profit  we  might  re- 
ceive by  the  proposed  visit.  But,  at  some  future 
time,  we  shall  be  glad  to  make  it. 


Disinterested  Love. — Yes  !  man  has  a  strong 
yearning  for  disinterested  love  ;  much  more  so 
than  woman.  Once  convince  a  man  that  you  love 
him,  truly  for  himself — for  his  own  self — inde- 
pendently of  riches,  rank,  station,  position,  or  any 
of  the  thousand  and  one  advantages  that  he 
may  be  possessed  of— only,  I  say,  make  him  feel 
that  and  you  need  not  be  very  nice  about  the  mode 
in  which  you  go  to  work.  Men  are  as  voracious 
as  boa- constrictors,  they  will  swallow  almost  any 
quantity  of  flattery,  provided  always  that  it  be  of- 
fered at  the  right  time.  It  won't  do  to  flatter 
one  man  in  the  presence  of  another.  Be  careful 
of  that ;  but  let  a  woman  take  the  lucky  moment, 
seize  upon  the  right  opportunity,  and  she  may 
make  a  man — ay,  in  spite  of  all  his  wondrous 
sense  and  reason — her  slave  for  life. — Millicent 
Neville. 

Gloves. — In  the  early  ages  of  Christianity, 
gloves  were  a  part  of  monastic  custom,  and,  in 
4ater  periods,  formed  a  part  of  the  Episcopal 
habit.  The  glove  was  employed  by  princes  as  a 
token  of  investure  ;  and  to  deprive  a  person  of 
his  cloves  was  a  mark  of  divesting  him  of  oflice. 


DEVOTED  TO  AGRICULTURE    AND    ITS   KINDRED   ARTS  AND    SCIENCES. 


VOL.  XI. 


BOSTON,  DECEMBER,  1859. 


NO.  12. 


NOUKSE,  EATON  &  TOLMAN,  Proprietors,      oriwrow  T?T?nwTir    ptittor  FREn'K  HOLBROOK,  I  Associate 

OPFIOE...34  Merchants  Row.  feiJViUJN  BKOWN,  EDITOR.  HENRY  F.  FRENCh!     Editors. 


DECEMBER. 

"Old  Winter  i?  coming  again,  alack  '. 

How  icy  and  cold  is  he  ! 
He  cares  not  a  pin  for  a  shivering  back — 
He's  a  saucy  old  chap  to  white  and  black — 
He  whistles  his  chills  with  a  wonderful  knack, 

For  he  comes  from  a  cold  countree." 


;i^ 


ECEMBER  has  come 
round  again,  and 
we  must  now  pre- 
pare for  that  "three 
months  of  winter," 
and  nine  months  of 
'-  considerable  "cold 
'  weather,"  which 
somebody  says  is 
,  the  usual  allotment. 
There  are  vari- 
ous ways  of  prepar- 
^  "=-- — ^^^  ing  for  the  unwel- 
come  tyrant,  in  or- 
der to  make  his 
reign  as  tolerable  as  possi- 
ble, and  it  is  curious  to 
note  the  eiforts  for  this  end 
made  by  man  and  beast.  The  bear 
retires  to  his  den,  and  "sucks  his 
paws  till  spring,"  it  is  said,  which 
■we  always  considered  a  highly  philosophical  pro- 
ceeding, besides  being  a  great  saving  of  food  and 
fuel,  to  say  nothing  of  wear  and  tear  of  nerves  in  i 
bewailing  those  contingencies  which  cannot  be 
avoided. 

The  birds,  those  summer  friends  of  ours,  [we 
hardly  know  whether  it  is  quite  fair  to  call  those 
robins  that  stole  all  our  cherries  and  strawber- 
ries, "our  friends,"]  most  of  them  leave  us,  and 
sing  their  songs  to  other  ears.  The  frog  goes 
down  somewhere  out  of  sight,  and  never  deigns 
another  croak,  till  spring  lets  loose  the  streams 
and  rivers  once  more.  He  greatly  enjoyed  his 
summer  life  in  that  pool  with  the  yellow  cowslips 
on  its  bosom,  and  the  wild  pines  and  hemlocks 


on  its  margin.  The  old  moss-covered  log  that 
fell  across  it  ten  years  ago,  and  has  been  slowly 
going  to  decay  ever  since,  has  got  to  be  a  kind 
of  home  to  him,  but  he  knows  too  much  to  put 
his  head  out  such  weather  as  this,  so  we  will  leave 
him  to  his  meditations  till  next  April. 

And  the  dragon-fly  and  devil's  darning-needle, 
which  used  to  hold  their  carnivorous  revels  over 
that  same  pool,  where  are  they  now  ?  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  creatures  so  insignificant,  are  remem- 
bered by  the  great  mother  Nature,  and  have  had 
imparted  to  them  the  secret  of  self-preservation  ? 

Go,  lean  over  the  tumble-down  rail  fence  by 
that  "frog  pond,"  next  summer,  and  you  will  be 
convinced  that  it  is  so  indeed  ;  for  you  will  see, 
if  not  the  identical  insects  that  you  knew  a  year 
ago,  at  least,  their  children  and  grand-children. 

But  man,  the  lord  of  creation,  cannot  shirk 
out  of  winter  by  retiring  to  his  den,  or  diving 
into  the  mud,  there  to  await  returning  spring. 
It  is  his  to  battle  with  the  elements,  and  to  turn 
their  fury  to  his  own  account.  Those  animals 
which  lie  torpid  during  the  winter,  lose  nothing 
thereby.  To  be  active,  would  be  to  suffer ;  while 
they  sleep,  they  are  not  falling  behind  the  march 
of  progress,  but  they  will  come  out  of  their  tor- 
pidity precisely  on  a  level  with  the  rest  of  their 
race.  Yes,  even  the  toad  which  lives  a  hundred 
years  imbedded  in  a  solid  rock,  will  be  no  whit 
behind  his  fellow  toads,  who  have  enjoyed  all  the 
privileges  of  the  age.  But  man  cannot  afford  to 
lose  three  months  in  ignominious  oblivion.  There 
are  planets  to  be  discovered,  Atlantic  telegraphs 
to  be  invented.  Great  Easterns  to  be  got  to  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  and  balloons  to  be  perfect- 
ed ;  so  he  builds  him  a  house  for  shelter,  he  has 
a  fur  coat  to  brave  the  northwester,  and  fires  to 
make  his  dwelling  of  summer  temperature.  So 
to  every  creature,  according  to  its  degree,  is  giv- 
en wisdom  sufficient  for  its  comfort  and  preser- 
vation. 

The  mere  matter  of  warming  our  houses,  by 


538 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


the  way,  forms  a  pretty  important  item  in  our  are  balls,  parties,  and  theatres,  for  the  pleasure- 
preparations  for  winter,  and  we  are  inclined  to 'loving,  operas  and  concerts  for  the  musical,  and 
think  the  ne  plus  ultra  has  not  yet  been  invent- 'lectures  for  the   more   sober-minded.     In  short, 


"the  season  opens"  for  all  but  the  poor  !  and  it 
opens  to  them  with  the  sad  question,  how  shall 
they  keep  off  cold,  and  nakedness,  and  hunger 
and  yet  not  be  tempted  to  break  the  command- 
ments, and  covet  or  steal  their  neighbors'  goods  * 

"Yes,  winter  is  coming,  and  God  help  the  poor  ! 
[  wish  he  were  going  away  !" 

Winter  in  the  country — what  a  scene  of  deso- 
lation, where  a  few  months  since  all  was  so  calm 
and  beautiful !  Where  the  green  leaves  trembled 
in  the  breeze,  naked  branches  now  bend  before 
the  north-west  wind.  The  houses  which  were 
softened  and  shaded  by  the  trees  and  vines,  now 
as  if  it  had  a  squalling  child  shut  up  in  it,  and  stand  out  in  bold  relief,  like  beauty  bereft  of  the 
you  begin  to  think  the  customs  of  your  ances-'veil  with  which  she  delights  to  enhance  her 
tors  maybe  improved  upon  in  some  respects.  |  charms.  The  broad  stretch  of  land  which  you 
You  next  try  an  air-tight  stove.  It  is  an  inven-|have  often  likened  to  the 
tion  of  the  adversary,  unattended  by  the  proper 
ventilation.  Why  !  a  pair  of  bellows  could  not 
blow  in  such  an  atmosphere  !  But  it  is  cheap, 
and  does  warm  the  room, — so  air-tight  stoves  are 


ed,  and  that  a  triumph  still  remains  for  somebody 
in  this  line.  The  old-fashioned  fireplace  is  fault- 
less as  it  regards  ventilation,  or  as  an  ornamen- 
tal object,  merely,  but  it  lacks  the  one  essential 
quality  of  warming  the  room  !  You  may  sit  and 
gaze  at  it  in  a  poetic  ecstacy,  and  see  all  manner 
of  things  in  the  coals,  and  think  how  your  great 
grandmother  sat  by  just  such  a  fire,  but  you  feel 
a  cold  wind  playing  about  your  ankles  ;  you 
change  your  seat,  and  a  blast  sweeps  over  your 
shoulders,  and  creeps  down  the  back  of  your 
neck  ;  you  change  your  seat  again,  and  are  greet- 
ed by  a  gale  from  that  closet,  which  always  howls 


"Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood," 

are  now  one  bleak,  unbroken  desert  of  snow, — 
and  how  the  wind  blows  the  snow  about,  down 


'in  the  very  spot  where  only  a  few  months  ago, 
t  little  bare-footed  children  were  out  blueberrying, 
[laughing,  as  they  filled  their  baskets,  with  the 


almost  universally  used  where  wood  alone  is 
burned,  and  will  be,  till  something  shall  be  in- 
vented possessing  these  advantages,  and  some: 
besides. 

All  furnaces  are  open  to  one  objection.   There  .       •.    ,  ,  ... 

.,  „  ,  ,  1    •  w  i watch  the  sunset,  as  it  throws  aglow  on  the  tree- 

is  no  "mgle-side"  to  gather  around — no  bright, !  ,  .1       i        i        •  i  1  •  .  .1 

„     °  „  °  ,    ^         •       /<     .1     :tops,and  the  church  spire,  and  listen  to  the  many 

cheerful  fire  to  form  a  centre  01  attraction  tor  the  i     '.  .,      ,.,  •  ,•  ,-i 

[voices  with  which   nature  is  speaking,  while  you 


ringing,  happy  laugh,  which  only  children  have ! 
No  longer  can  you  sit  at  your  front  door   and 


family  group, — and  the  heat,  moreover,  is  by  no 
means  as  agreeable  as  that  of  an  open  fireplace, 
provided  you  could  contrive  to  escape  the 
draughts  attendant  thereon.  But  of  all  contriv- 
ances yet  discovered  for  warming  dwellings,  man- 
ufactories, workshops,  or  public  buildings,  noth- 
ing is  so  healthful,  so  easily  managed  and  cheap 
in  the  long  run,  as  steam.  A  moderate  amount 
of  steam  will  pervade  and  warm  a  large  room, 
much  quicker  than  furnace  or  stove  heat, — and 
as  there  are  no  outlets  for  the  escape  of  air,  there 
will  be  no  cold  currents  as  in  the  case  of  open 
stoves  or  fireplaces.     The   reason  why  steam  is 


think  of  Abraham  at  the  door  of  his  tent,  or 
Adam  in  the  garden  of  Eden.  No  pleasant  rev- 
eries, no  quiet  musings  now.  But  still  there  is 
work  to  do — and  the  season  brings  with  it  the 
very  energy  which  we  need  to  accomplish  it. 
Well  is  it  for  us  that  we  have  not  to  contend 
with  the  stern  requisites  of  winter,  without  this 
additional  vigor. 


I  For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

[fakming  in  northern  n.  h.~barns. 

1      Mr.  Editor  : — At  a  distance,  the  barns   are 
,,  ,        i      .1        T.  ..  •  the    most  prominent   objects   upon    each    farm, 

not  more  generally  employed,— though  it  is  nowir^j^^^.^  ^^^  usually  two  to  four  in  number— each 
coming  into  use  in  private  dwellings, — is  the  |  measuring  about  forty  by  fifty  feet.  They  are 
first  cost  of  the  fixtures.  As  the  materials  fori  well  roofed  with  shingle  and  walled  with  single 
conducting  steam  are  expensive,  and  as  the  work  1  boards.  They  are  so  arranged  as  to  form  a  part 
,      111  .    »i       n    .         t  •     v  1,       .!,„    [of  a  hollow  square  for  the  protection  01  the  cat- 

must  all  be  exact  the  first  cost  is   higher  than    ,  ,      ,,,,1        ,,  .      1  i     ki„  „^a 

,       .,       .         ,        ^     .  !  tie-yard.      1  he  walls  present  a  large  double  and 

for  any  other  mode  of  heating;  but  in  the  usei^^^  ^^  ^j^^^g   gj^^gj^  ^^^^^^  and  a  row  of  manure 

of  steam  for  a  series  of  years,  there  is  so  much! windows.  A  shed  usually  extends  from  one  side, 
saving  of  fuel,  that  the  cost  of  the  fixcures  would  1  Through  the  middle  of  the  interior  extends  the 
be  paid  for  in  that  item.  i  Aoor-upon  one  side  the  "bay"-upon  the  oppo- 

site  the  "stable"  and  "scaffold."     A  grain  room 
often  occupies  a  portion  of  the  bay 


Though  keeping  warm  is  a  great  desideratum, 
it  is  not  the  only  thing  to  be  attended  to,  for  win- 
ter brings  with  it  an  entire  change  in  our  mode 
of  life. 

To  the  dwellers  in  cities,  amusements  increase, 
rather  than  diminish,  as  winter  approaches.  There 


This  is  the  most  usual  arrangement  of  our 
barns.  Connected  with  it  are  many  evils.  From 
the  number  there  is  waste  of  building-material, 
space  and  labor.  It  certainly  requires  more  ma- 
terial to  build  two  or  three  small  barns  than  one 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


539 


barn  covering  an  equal  space.  Proportionally 
less  flooring  would  supply  the  one  larger  barn — 
and  time  and  labor  would  be  economized  in 
feeding,  clearing  and  stabling  the  cattle. 

Improvements  in  barns  have  been  made. 
Many  have  converted  their  two  or  three  forty  by 
fifty  feet  barns  into  one  measuring  fifty  or  sixtj' 
by  ninety  or  one  hundred  feet — a  floor  extending 
the  whole  length.  But  these  are  not  models. 
The  form  necessitates  proportionally  more  floor 
building  material  than  if  it  were  more  nearly 
square. 

xVgain,  many  have  increased  their  "barn-room" 
by  making  to  one  side  of  a  barn  of  usual  size, 
sufficient  addition  for  a  stable — and  converting 
the  old  floor  into  bay  and  the  old  stable  into 
floor.  Thus  the  amount  of  stowage  is  almost 
double,  at  small  expense.  This  is  a  profitable 
plan  for  those  who  are  slowly  but  surely  increas- 
ing their  amount  of  hay  and  grain — and  one  that 
is  extensively  followed. 

The  proper  protection  of  domestic  animals,  the 
making  of  manure,  the  economizing  of  labor  and 
building  material,  the  safe  and  convenient  stow- 
age of  the  bulky  farm  products,  and  the  fact  that 
much  of  the  farmer's  labor  and  nearly  all  his 
available  property  are  in  and  about  the  barn  for 
full  one-half  the  year,  render  this  the  most  im- 
portant subject  connected  with  agriculture.  Sav- 
ing as  well  as  producing  is  necessary  to  success- 
ful farming. 

But  improvements  in  building  are  not  so  rapid- 
ly or  generally  diffused  through  the  community, 
as  those  of  the  various  farming  implements.  An 
improved  tool  may  be  manufactured  and  scat- 
tered among  thousands  of  farmers,  while  an 
improved  styde  of  buildings  would  be  unknown 
beyond  the  adjoining  farms.  Again,  from  the 
expense,  an  old  cannot  be  often  exchanged  for  a 
new  and  improved  style  of  building. 

This  evil  should  be  counteracted  by  engaging 
experienced  builders — by  off'ering  prizes  for  the 
best  plans  and  models  at  our  fairs — and  discuss- 
ing the  subject  in  the  agricultural  journals. 

But  more  of  this  again.  W.  C. 

Bath,  N.  H.,  Nov.  3,  1859. 


COST  OF  FABM  PKODUCTS. 

In  another  column  we  give  an  article  upon 
this  subject,  which  may  prove  discouraging  to 
some,  but  one  which  well  deserves  attention  and 
critical  investigation.  We  understand  that  the 
world  is  sustained  by  agriculture  ;  that  in  it,  it 
lives  and  moves  and  has  its  being ;  so  there 
must  be  profit  somewhere.  Whether  that  profit 
is  to  be  found  among  our  New  England  people, 
is  the  question  to  be  solved. 

In  looking  over  the  items  set  down  by  our  cor- 
respondent, we  believe  he  has  allowed  about 
twenty-six  days'  labor  as  necessary  to  produce 
one  acre  of  corn.  On  referring  to  the  "Transac- 
tions of  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Agriculture,"  we  find  that  in  the  vear 
1800,  they  sent  out  a  series  of  questions  all  over 
the  State,  making  such  inquiries  as  would  elicit 
replies  likely  to  show  the  average   cost   of  our 


common  farm  crops.  Among  these  questions 
was  the  following : 

^^Hoio  many  days'  labor  of  a  man  are  usually 
employed  on  an  acre  of  Indian  corn,  including 
the  getting  in  of  all  the  stover  and  stripping  the 
liushs  from  the  earsT' 

No  question  among  the  fifty  which  tliey  pro- 
pounded brought  so  many  widely-diff'erent  an- 
swers as  this. 

Dr.  Payne,  of  Worcester,  set  it  at  ten  days ; 
Dr.  Hubbard,  of  Concord,  at  fifteen ;  Mr.  Bab- 
bit, of  Brookfield,  at  sixteen ;  Mr.  Heath,  of 
Brookline,  at  fourteen,  and  Mr.  Gardner,  of  the 
same  town,  at  eighteen ;  the  Middlesex  Society 
at/ourteen ;  Mr.  Kent,  of  Newbury,  at  twenty; 
Mr.  Packard,  of  Marlborough,  the  same ;  and 
Col.  Parsons,  of  New  Gloucester,  at  thirty-two. 
The  average  of  these  returns  gives  seventeen  and 
tivo-thirds  days'  work  for  a  man  to  produce  an 
acre  of  corn,  beginning  with  the  plowing  and 
placing  the  corn  in  the  bin.  With  the  improved 
implements  of  the  present  day,  we  ought  to  be 
able  to  accomplish  the  work  with  two  or  three 
days'  less  labor  than  they  did  then. 

The  subject  is  an  important  one,  and  we  hope 
it  will  receive  careful  attention. 


EFFECTS  OF  HEAT  UPON  MEAT. 

Prof.  Johnston,  in  his  Chemistry  of  Common 
Life,  says  that  a  well  cooked  piece  of  meat  should 
be  full  of  its  own  juice,  or  natural  gravy.  In 
roasting,  therefore,  it  should  be  exposed  to  a  quick 
fire,  that  the  external  surface  may  be  made  to 
contract  at  once  and  the  albumen  to  coagulate, 
before  the  juice  has  had  time  to  escape  from 
within.  The  same  observations  apply  to  boiling  ; 
when  a  piece  of  beef  or  mutton  is  plunged  iiito 
boiling  water,  the  outer  part  contracts,  the  al- 
bumen which  is  near  the  surface  coagulates,  ar.d 
the  internal  juice  is  prevented  either  from  being 
diluted  or  weakened  by  the  admission  of  waitr 
among  it.  When  cut  up,  therefore,  the  meat 
yields  much  gravy,  and  is  rich  in  flavor.  Hence, 
a  beefsteak  or  mutton  chop  is  done  quickly,  and 
over  a  quick  fire,  that  the  natural  juices  may 
be  retained.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  meat  be 
done  over  a  slow  fire,  its  pores  remain  open, 
the  juice  continues  to  flow  from  within  as  it  has 
dried  from  the  surface,  and  the  flesh  pines  and 
becomes  dry,  hard  and  unsavory.  Or  if  it  be  put 
in  cold  and  tepid  water,  which  is  afterwards 
brought  to  a  boil,  much  of  the  albumen  is  ex- 
tracted before  it  coagulates,  the  natural  juices, 
for  the  most  part  flow  out,  and  the  meat  served 
is  nearly  tasteless.  Hence  to  prepare  good  boiled 
meat  it  should  at  once  be  put  into  water  already 
brought  to  a  boil.  But  to  make  beef  tea,  mutton 
broth,  and  other  beef  soups,  the  flesh  should  be 
put  in  cold  water,  and  this  afterward  very  slowly 
warmed,  and  finally  boiled.  The  advantage  de- 
rived from  simmering — a  term  not  unfrequent  in 
cookery  books — depends  very  much  upon  the 
eff"ects  of  slow  boiling,  as  above  explained. 


540 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


THE  NOSTH  AMERICAN  BEVIEW  AND 
AGRICULTURE.  | 

We  deem  it  a  good  sign  of  the  times,  that  the 
leading  literary  publication  of  the  country  in  its 
October  number  gives  to  the  world  an  able  arti- 
cle upon  "Educated  Labor." 

The  treatise  of  our  associate,  Judge  French, 
upon  "Farm  Drainage,"  is  made  the  principal 
text  upon  which  the  writer  has  based  an  elabo- 
rate article  of  twenty-five  pages,  which  we  should 
be  glad  to  copy  into  our  columns,  could  we  find 
pace. 

We  recognize  in  the  finished  and  classical  style 
of  this  article,  and  in  its  bold  and  vigorous 
tone,  the  well  trained  mind  of  an  old  correspond- 
ent of  the  Farmer,  formerly  of  New  Hampshire, 
but  now  known,  and  hereafter,  we  doubt  not,  to 
he  more  and  more  distinguished,  as  Chancellor  of 
the  Washington  University  at  St.  Louis. 

When  such  men  as  Chancellor  Hoyt,  of  St. 
Louis,  and  Dr.  Peabody,  the  learned  editor  of 
the  North  American,  come  before  the  public  as 
the  advocates  of  the  interests  of  agriculture,  we 
may  well  rejoice  in  the  assurance  that  our  cause 
will  have,  at  least,  a  fair  hearing  before  the  world. 
In  no  way  can  we  so  well  indicate  the  general 
drift  of  the  writer  of  this  article,  as  by  a  few  ex- 
tracts. See  how  "like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures 
of  silver"  are  his  "words  fitly  spoken  :" 

"A  nation  is  strong  only  when,  like  the  fabled 
Libyan  giant,  it  rests  its  feet  upon  the  solid 
earth.  Land  is  the  basis  of  our  power  ;  the  ev- 
erlasting hills  are  the  pillars  of  our  imperial  sov- 
ereignty. Men,  in  successive  generations,  may 
give  themselves  up  in  mad  frenzy  to  slaughter 
and  extermination  ;  dynasties  may  follow  dynas- 
ties in  lengthening  cycles  of  misrule  and  oppres- 
sion ;  the  refluent  wave  of  barbarism  may  dash 
against  the  broken  arches  of  a  former  civiliza- 
tion ;  palaces,  temples,  capitols,  all  the  trophies 
et  art,  may  pass  away  in  the  ages  like  the  ephem- 
era of  a  summer  morning  ;  but  Nature  is  eternal, 
and  the  husbandman  is  her  minister,  and  should 
be  her  interpreter." 

Land  drainage  is  the  principal  topic  of  discus- 
sion throughout  the  article,  and  the  recent  work 
of  Judge  French  comes  in  for  the  following  no- 
tice: 

"Every  book  which  sheds  new  light  upon  the 
principles  and  processes  of  agriculture  in  any  of 
its  departments,  we  welcome  as  a  contribution  to 
the  public  welfare.  Such  is  the  work  whose  ti- 
tle we  have  placed  first  at  the  head  of  this  arti- 
cle. Elaborate  in  its  explanation  of  methods, 
and  lucid  in  its  philosopical  statements,  it  leaves 
little  to  be  said  by  others  on  altogether  the  most 
important  branch  of  American  husbandry.  It  is 
tastefully  printed  and  illustrated  ;  and,  if  read  at 
every  farmer's  fireside  morning  and  evening  with 
'judicious  care,'  it  would  soon  renovate  the  face 
of  the  country,  clothing  the  exhausted  fields  at 
the  East  with  fresh  verdure,  and  turning  the 
ocean-like  prairies  of  the   West,  now  to  a  large 


extent  too  wet  for  tillage  or  for  health,  into  the 
very  garden  of  the  world.  The  author  is  one  of 
those  versatile,  open-eyed  men,  whose  constant 
and  careful  observation  of  minute  and  discon- 
nected facts  is  happily  accompanied  by  a  rare 
power  of  analysis  and  generalization.  He  pre- 
sents a  pleasant  combination  of  scholarly  culture 
and  practical  energy,  and  is  equally  at  home  at 
the  forum  and  in  the  field,  discharging  with  sin- 
gular tact  the  two-fold  function  of  an  accom- 
plished jurist  and  a  skilful  tiller  of  the  soil.  He 
seems  to  receive  from  frequent  contact  with  the 
earth  fresh  vigor  for  wrestling  with  hard  ques- 
tions of  law.  For  many  years  associate  editor  of 
the  A'*e?y  England  Farmer,  and  special  contrib- 
utor to  other  similar  journals,  he  has  devoted 
the  leisure  wrung  from  a  laborious  profession  to 
the  study  and  practice  of  agriculture.  His  arti- 
cles and  addresses  are  not  the  mere  speculations 
of  a  white-handed  theorist,  but  they  all  have  the 
flavor  of  fresh-plowed  fields  and  new-mown  hay. 
As  a  racy  and  instructive  writer  upon  the  vari- 
ous topics  connected  with  the  garden,  the  orch- 
ard and  the  farm,  he  has  no  superior  and  few 
equals  in  this  country.  He  has  the  faculty  of 
making  all  his  resources,  of  whatever  nature,  con- 
tribute to  the  illustration  of  the  particular  sub- 
ject in  hand,  no  matter  what  that  subject  may 
be.  The  necessity  of  'gratings  at  the  outlet  of 
drains,'  in  order  to  keep  out  all  sorts  of  vermin, 
is  not  a  very  promising  topic  for  pleasant  rhet- 
oric, and  yet  the  pages  occupied  by  him  in  its 
discussion  sparkle  with  flashes  from  Virgil  and 
Shakspeare,  Coleridge  and  Matthew  Prior." 

"  'There  are,'  he  says,  'many  species  of  vermin, 
both  creeping  things  and  'slimy  ihings  that  crawl 
with  legs,'  which  seem  to  imagine  that  drains  are 
constructed  for  their  especial  accommodation.  In 
dry  times  it  is  a  favorite  amusement  of  moles, 
and  mice  and  snakes,  to  explore  the  devious  pas- 
sages thus  fitted  up  for  them ;  and  entering  the 
capacious,  open  front  door,  they  never  suspect 
that  the  spacious  corridors  lead  to  no  apart- 
ments, that  their  accommodations,  as  they  pro- 
gress, grow  'fine  by  degrees  and  beautifully  less,' 
and  that  these  are  houses  with  no  back  doors, 
or  even  convenient  places  for  turning  about  for 
a  retreat.  Unlike  the  road  to  Hades,  the  de- 
scent to  which  is  easy,  here  the  ascent  is  inviting ; 
though,  alike  in  both  cases,  'Bevocare  gradum, 
hoc  opus,  hic  labor  est.'  They  persevere  upward 
and  onward,  till  they  come,  in  more  senses  than 
one,  to  an  'untimely  end.'  Perhaps,  stuck  fast 
in  a  small  pipe  tile,  they  die  a  nightmare  death ; 
or  perhaps,  overtaken  by  a  shower,  of  the  effect 
of  which,  in  their  ignorance  of  the  scientific 
principles  of  drainage,  they  had  no  conception, 
they  are  drowned  before  they  have  time  for  de- 
liverance from  the  strait  in  which  they  find  them- 
selves, and  so  are  left,  as  the  poet  strikingly  ex- 
presses it,  'to  lie  in  cold  obstruction,  and  to  rot.' 
In  cold  weather,  water  from  the  drains  is  warmer 
than  the  open  ditch,  and  the  poor  frogs,  reluc- 
tant to  submit  to  the  law  of  nature,  which  re- 
quires them  to  seek  refuge  in  mud  and  oblivii/US 
sleep  in  winter,  gather  round  the  outfalb,  as 
they  do  about  springs,  to  bask  in  the  warmth  of 
the  running  water.  If  the  flow  is  small,  they 
leap  up  into  the  pipe,  and  follow  its  course  up- 
ward. In  summer,  the  drains  furnish  for  them  a 
cool  and  shady  retreat  from  the  mid-day  sun,  and,. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


541 


they  may  be  seen  in  single  file  by  scores,  at  the 
approach  of  an  intruding  footstep,  scrambling  up 
the  pipe.  Dying  in  this  way  affects  these  crea- 
tures as  'sighing  and  grief,'  did  Falstaff, — it 
'blows  them  up  like  a  bladder.' " 

As  to  advantages  of  Drainage  at  the  West,  Dr. 
Hoyt  remarks  : 

"It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  agricultural 
districts  of  this  country  are  lower  and  flatter 
than  those  of  England,  and  that  they  receive 
double  the  amount  of  rain-fall  per  annum.  We 
have  no  doubt  that  the  value  of  the  prairie  lands 
in  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa  and  Missouri  might  be 
at  least  trebled  by  a  proper  distribution  of  drain 
tiles,  four  feet  under  ground.  Corn,  instead  of 
being  dropped  into  sub- aqueous  drills  from  a  raft, 
in  June,  with  poor  prospect  of  a  harvest,  might 
be  planted  on  dry  ground,  early  in  May,  with  an 
assurance  of  reaping  a  hundred-fold.  Wheat,  no 
longer  frozen  out  of  the  clayey  soil  every  winter, 
might  yield,  not  twelve,  but,  like  John  Hudson's 
on  his  Castle  Acre  farm,  'forty-eight  bushels  to 
the  acre.'  The  farmers  themselves,  now  shaking 
■with  intermittent  chills  amidst  the  noxious  mi- 
asmata that  rest  like  a  pall  upon  coarse  sedge 
and  miry  pools,  might  riot  in  fragrant  clover  and 
luxuriant  health." 

The  following  remarks  forcibly  express  the 
principles  which  we  have  constantly  advocated 
in  our  columns  and  elsewhere,  wherever  our 
voice  could  be  heard. 

"Every  profound  thought  lifts  a  shadow  from 
the  earth.  Every  good  book,  whether  it  treat  of 
"Farm  Drainage"  or  "Celestial  Mechanics,"  helps 
forward  the  millennium. 

"The  advantages  of  intellectual  culture  are  as 
obvious  in  those  pursuits  involving  manual  la- 
bor, as  in  the  learned  professions,  so  called.  A 
good  education  is  of  some  consequence  to  the 
lawyer  and  physician ;  it  is  of  not  less  conse- 
quence to  the  mechanic  and  the  farmer.  We  have 
known  professional  men  who  could  make  a  little 
learning  go  a  great  way  with  the  wondering  mul- 
titude ;  but  such  poor  tricks  cannot  be  played  oil 
upon  the  hidden  forces  of  nature.  It  is  the  finger 
of  Intelligence  alone  which  can  touch  the  secret 
springs  that  set  the  mountain  streams  to  the  mu- 
sic of  machinery,  and  clothe  the  naked  fields  with 
waving  grain.  It  is  a  maxim  in  New  England 
factories,  v/here  a  fluctuating  and  often  hostile 
tariff  has  taught  a  wise  economy,  that  they  can- 
not afford  to  hire  cheap,  ignorant  labor.  Not 
many  years  ago  a  factory  in  Lowell  imported  a 
large  number  from  England.  But  it  turned  out 
that  these  persons,  though  paid  but  half  the 
wages  of  the  better-educated  operatives  at  home, 
were  nevertheless  an  expensive  luxury  to  their 
employers.  They  could  not  earn  their  living, 
and,  in  a  few  weeks,  they  were  all,  with  three  or 
four  exceptions,  dismissed.  A  partner  in  one  of 
the  most  respectable  mercantile  houses  in  Bos- 
ton, having  the  principal  direction  of  extensive 
cotton-mills,  stated,  a  few  years  ago,  in  reply  to 
the  interrogatories  of  a  Congressional  Commit- 
tee, that,  of  the  twelve  hundred  operatives  annu- 
ally employed  by  him,  forty-five  only  were  una- 
ble to  write  their  names ;  and  that  the  difference 
between  the  average  wages  of  these  forty-five  and 


of  the  remaining  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-five 
was  just  twenty-seven  per  cent,  in  favor  of  the 
latter.  There  were  also  in  the  same  mills  one 
hundred  and  fifty  girls  who  had  been  engaged  in 
teaching  school.  The  wages  of  these  school- 
mistresses was  seventeen  and  three-fourths  per 
cent,  above  the  general  average,  and  more  than 
forty  per  cent,  above  the  wages  of  those  who 
were  obliged  to  make  their  mark.  It  is  safe  to 
affirm,  that  there  is  not  a  cotton-mill  in  the  coun- 
try, with  operatives,  whether  native  or  foreign, 
too  ignorant  to  read  and  write,  which  could  be 
made  to  yield  a  profit  in  the  best  times.  The 
fabrics  would  be  inferior  in  quality  and  in  quan- 
tity ;  the  machinery  Vt'ould  be  misused  and  pre- 
maturely worn  out ;  and  the  stockholders  would 
be  soon  brought  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  difl'er- 
ence  between  dividends  and  assessments." 

The  following  sly  hit  at  our  political  aspirants, 
deserves  to  be  i-epeated  :  "We  may  in  accord- 
ance with  a  well-known  political  principle,  select 
for  our  premium  crop  a  piece  of  land,  which,  like 
a  candidate  for  some  high  ofl5ce  in  the  nation, 
has  a  southern  exposure,  and  which  will,  there- 
fore, receive  a  greater  number  of  solar  rays  on  a 
given  area  than  a  northern  slope  or  a  horizontal 
level." 

We  hardly  know  where  to  stop  in  our  extracts 
from  this  article.  Every  page  abounds  with  sen- 
tences which  are  worthy  to  be  written  in  letters 
of  gold  and  displayed  on  the  door-posts  of  every 
farm-house  in  New  England.  The  dignity  of 
labor,  the  superiority  of  force  guided  by  intelli- 
gence over  mere  physical  power,  and  the  impor- 
tance of  cherishing  a  taste  for  the  beautiful  in 
the  farmers'  home,  are  among  its  prominent 
topics. 

Then  the  writer,  by  various  illustrations, 
brings  out  clearly  to  view  the  advantages  of  sci- 
entific knowledge  to  the  agriculturist,  showing 
the  effect  upon  vegetation  of  heat,  of  light,  of  air 
and  of  moisture,  and  as  incidental  to  those  essen- 
tial conditions  of  vegetable  growth,  the  impor- 
tance of  thorough  drainage  and  deep  culture. 

Then  follow  some  carefully  considered  re- 
marks upon  protection  of  crops  from  insects, 
showing  that  the  farmer  has  in  the  insect  world 
friends  as  well  as  foes,  and  the  necessity  of  his 
knowing  how  to  discriminate  between  his  friends 
and  foes. 

Then  we  have  a  kind  word  for  the  beautiful 
singing-birds,  and  finally  an  exhortation  to  cher- 
ish our  Home,  as  the  centre  of  all  true  civiliza- 
tion, with  which  we  must  take  leave  of  an  article 
which  we  trust  will  be  generally  read  throughout 
the  country. 

"How  shall  we  render  our  homes  more  pleas- 
ant and  attractive  ?  Some  one  has  said  that  the 
three  most  beautiful  words  in  the  English  lan- 
guage are  Mother,  Home  and  Heaven.  They 
naturally  go  together,  either  of  them  implying 
the  two.     The  great  error  in  Plato's  Republic  is 


542 


NEAV  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


his  subversion  of  the  family.  No  mere 'commu- 
nity,' whether  foreshadowed  by  a  Grecian  philos- 
opher or  organized  by  a  French  Socialist,  can 
develop  in  men  the  deepest  sympathies  and  the 
highest  energies  of  their  nature.  Sunder  the 
ties  which  unite  them  in  family  groups,  and  the 
incentive  to  labor  is  gone.  The  sweet  charities 
and  beautiful  amenities  which  spring  up  and 
flourish  in  the  magic  circle  of  home,  cannot  take 
root  by  the  wayside  of  a  nomadic  life.  They  re- 
quire 'a  local  habitation.'  Family  and  property 
are  correlative  terms  ;  the  love  of  the  one  cre- 
ates a  desire  for  the  other.  The  incentives  which 
impel  men  to  the  drudgery  of  the  shop  or  field 
lie  in  the  fact  that  they  'have  given  hostages  to 
fortune  ;'  that  they  can  in  reality,  or  in  prospect, 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  industry  around  some 
warm  domestic  hearth-stone. 

*  #  #  *  * 

There  are  many  homesteads  which  are  not 
homes.  Philosophically  speaking,  a  true  home 
has  an  attractive  outward  seeming  and  a  lumi- 
nous inward  life.  To  secure  the  former,  there 
must  be  some  architectural  fitness  about  the 
buildings,  and  an  exhibition  of  good  taste  in  the 
grounds.  To  secure  the  latter,  there  must  be 
books,  social  and  intellectual  culture,  and  the 
hallowing  influence    of  every  Christian   virtue. 


and  a  sluggish  circulation,  except  in  these  spots 
where  the  inflammation  is  intense.  The  cure  in 
the  early  stages  is  efi"ected  usually  by  kneading 
the  bag,  frequent  milking,  and  washing  with 
warm  soap  and  water,  or  spirits  and  water,  or 
both  ;  often,  however,  the  bag  is  so  sensitive  that 
the  cow  will  neither  allov/  the  calf  to  suck  nor 
the  udder  to  be  touched,  even.  The  use  of  Tinc- 
ture 0/  Arnica  has  come  in  great  repute  for  the 
allaying  of  this  sensitiveness.  Its  effects  are  won- 
derful. We  have  known  this  tried,  when  immedi- 
ately, a  cow  with  a  most  painful  udder,  at  once 
permitted  it  to  be  pressed  and  worked  by  the 
hands,  washed  with  soap  and  camphor,  etc.,  al- 
lowing the  application  of  any  of  the  common 
remedies. 

We  advise  in  this  and  similar  cases  to  use  ar- 
nica at  once.  Take  tincture  of  arnica  and  dilute 
it  with  twice  as  much  water,  or  rum  and  water, 
and  wash  the  bag  with  it.  Then  milk  and  knead 
it,  and  then  let  a  hungry  calf  take  a  turn  at  it 
awhile  ;  wash  thoroughly  with  soap  and  water, 
and  then  anoint  with  sweet  oil. — Uomesiead. 


ABOUT  DBYING  APPLES. 

October  and  November  are  the  best  months 


Human  beings  may  exist  m  a  habitation  whose  L^U  varietTes  are  by  far  the  best  for  the  purr 
uncouth  ugliness,  concealed  by  no   overshadow-  o  ,     have  an  idea  that   anvthin- ir 


for  drying  apples,  and  the  well-ripened,  choice 

pose. 

-  ,.    ,  .         .       .  .  ,  .Some  people  have  an  idea  that  anything  in  the 

ing  tree  or  climbing  vine,  is  a  pain  to  the  eye.  I  ,      ^  ^^  ^^        1     ^.     ^         y^  ^^  ^,^^  ^^^ 

They  may  accustom  themselves  to  its  shapeless  I  Q^e,  let  the  flavor  be  what  it  may,  is  just  as  good 
deformity;  to  the  rude  inconveniences  which  ^^^  ...  ^^  ^n^ther.  We  beg  leave  to  correct 
fruitlessly  exhaust  time  and  strength;  to  the 'ear-  L  j^j^  ^/^^°  j^  j  -^^^  ^^  important  to  have  a  good 
piercing  fife'  of  half-starved  squea  ing  brutes  [.^  ^^  ^  J ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^j.  ^^  ^^^^_  ^o 
looking  wistfully  from  hollow  eyes,  like  animated  ^^^  therefore,  who  want  good  dried  apple,  we 
'anatomies  of  melancholy,   or  wallowing  in   im-  -  - 

passable  mud  before  the  kitchen  door ;  to  the 
stercoraceous  stenches  which,  exhaled  from  con- 
tiguous manure-heaps,  do  not 'waste  their  sweet- 
ness on  the  desert  air,'  but  pour  through  the 
windows,  checked  by  no  intervention  of  'shock- 
ing bad  hats,'  and  neutralized  by  no  fragrant 
breath  of  flowers.  Such  a  place  is  not  a  home, 
but  rather  a  lair  for  wild  beasts  ;  and  the  chil- 
dren who  come  forth  from  it  will  carry  its  taint 
and  its  barbarism  to  the  grave. 

A  fine-looking  house,  on  the  other  hand,  like 
a  fine-looking  woman,  cannot  but  exert  a  cheer- 
ful and  elevating  influence  upon  the  community. 
There  is  a  renovating  power  in  every  object  of 
beauty  and  of  worth  on  which  the  eye  of  man 
can  rest.  Steele  was  not  extravagant  when  he 
said  of  a  certain  lady,  whom  the  poet  Congreve 
had  admired  and  celebrated,  'that  to  have  loved 
her  was  a  liberal  education.'  We  always  grow 
into  the  likeness  and  catch  the  spirit  of  our  sur- 
roundings.' " 

TREATMENT  OF  GARGET. 

Within  a  year  or  two  past  some  of  our  cows 
have  been  troubled  by  one  quarter  of  their  udders 
becom.ing  hard,  and  would  give  bloody  milk  for 
a  few  days,  then  would  dry  away  and  lose  the  use 
of  it  entirely.  G.  M.  K. 

This  is  a  clear  case  of  garget,  and  if  taken  early, 
the  remedy  is  simple  ;  but  first  it  is  an  inflamma- 
tion of  the  bag  or  one  or  more  of  the  quarters, 
and  arises  from  various  causes.  Almost  univer- 
sally it  is  accompanied  by  coagulation  of  milk 


will  off'er  a  few  suggestions. 

1.  Let  your  apples  be  of  good  size,  fair  in 
shape,  choice  in  flavor — sweet  or  tart,  as  you  may 
prefer  ;  both  are  good  for  a  variety  of  purposes. 
They  should  be  gathered  without  bruising  ;  laid 
by  till  nearly  ripe,  but  not  quite  ripe  ;  pared  with 
a  machine — if  you  have  a  good  one-  and  quar- 
tered, or  half-quartered,  according  to  the  size  of 
the  fruit,  or  the  use  to  be  made  of  the  article 
when  dried. 

2.  Let  the  work  be  done  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
for  the  fruit  may  ripen  too  fast  after  beginning 
to  do  them,  and  keep  the  cutting  and  coring  up 
with  the  paring  ;  for  the  moment  the  open  flesh 
of  the  fruit  becomes  exposed  to  the  atmosphere, 
or  heated,  it  begins  to  lose  its  aroma,  moisture, 
and  flavor,  all  to  the  damage  of  its  quality  when 
dried. 

3.  If  you  choose  to  string  them,  which  may 
be  done,  or  not,  as  you  prefer,  do  it  as  soon  as 
you  can.  Wc  should  not  dry  thus,  preferring 
wire-racks  for  the  purpose.  Then  instead  of 
hanging  them  up  by  the  side  of  the  house,  in  the 
sun,  or  in  the  kitchen,  where  millions  of  flies  will 
alight  upon,  and  live  on  them  for  several  days, 
put  them  in  a  kiln,  or  drying-room,  with  a  heat 
of  a  hundred  degrees  of  thermometer.  Let  the 
kiln  be  ventilated  at  the  bottom  and  top,  to  pass 
ofl'  the  exhaling  moisture,  but  not  enough  to 
make  a  perceptible  draft  through  it. 

4.  When  the  drying  heat  has  sufficiently  closed 
the  pores  of  the  cut  fruit  to  prevent  the  escape 
of  its  aroma,  the  heat  may  be  modified  ten  or 
twenty  degrees,  and  so  continue  until  they  are 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


543 


sufficiently  cured  for  storing  away,  which  may  be  I 
known  by  breaking  a  few  pieces,  and  the  absence! 
of  any  settled  moisture  in  the  flesh,  showing  fer- 
mentation, j 

5.  When  sufficiently  cured,  pack  them  away 
in  small  bags,  or  sacks,  not  closely  crowded  in, 
but  as  they  will  naturally  fill  ;  tie  them  closely,; 
and  hang  them  to  nails  on  the  side  of  a  dry  room. , 
They  will  thus  keep  indefinitely,  or  till  you  want 
to  use  them.  ] 

A  well  selected  apple,  properly  pared,  cut, 
cored  and  cured,  is  one  of  the  best  luxuries  of 
the  table,  while  indifferent  varieties,  carelessly 
worked  up,  strung  and  dried  in  the  kitchen,  half 
covered  with  flies,  fused  with  the  steams  of  cook- 1 
ery,  dust,  and  the  accumulations  and  exhalations; 
of  an  open  and  disordered  living  room,  are  not 
fit  to  eat,  nor  even  to  sell.  We  have  seen  apples! 
dried  after  the  latter  fashion,  even  in  the  house-' 
holds  of  otherwise  tidy  people  ;  and  to  those  whoi 
are  in  the  habit  of  doing  so,  we  say,  try  the  oth-^ 
er  plan,  and  if  they  do  not  acknowledge  it  a  bet- 
ter way,  in  every  possible  use  an  apple  can  be 
put  to,  call  upon  us  for  the  difference  in  expense. 
— American  Agriculturist. 


Fur  the  Neic  England  Farmer. 
CALEDONIA  COUNTY  PAIR. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — The  annual  fair  of  the 
Caledonia  County  (Vt.)  Agricultural  Society  was 
held  upon  the  new  fair  ground  in  St.  Johnsbury, 
Sept.  2Sth  and  29th  ;  and  the  grounds  were  occu- 
pied by  the  company  for  a  trial  of  speed  and 
equestrianship,  the  30th.  The  weather  during 
the  last  two  days  was  exceedingly  fine,  and  the 
exhibition,  as  a  whole,  was  considered  a  complete 
success.  The  ground  has  been  in  preparation 
for  about  two  years,  and  at  an  expense  of  nearly 
$8000,  has  been  put  in  readiness  for  the  present 
year's  exhibition.  It  comprises  twenty  acres  of 
land,  and  is  surmounted  by  a  substantial  fence. 
The  chief  building,  comprising  the  Ladies'  or 
Floral  and  Mechanics'  Halls,  is  240  feet  in  length ; 
the  principal  part  two  stories  high,  with  an  obser- 
vatory. The  judges'  stand  is  a  very  convenient 
little  building,  of  two  stories  from  the  ground, 
the  judges  occupying  the  first  and  the  music  the 
second  story  ;  the  lower  or  ground  floor  is  fin- 
ished for  a  committee-room.  Both  buildings  are 
very  conveniently  arranged,  tastefully  ornament- 
ed and  well  painted.  Directly  in  front  of  the 
judges'  stand  are  elevated  seats  for  the  accom- 
modation of  those  desiring  them.  Within  the 
enclosure  is  a  half-mile  trotting-course,  which  is 
well  made,  and  properly  guarded  by  a  railing  on 
each  side.  As  a  whole,  probably  this  fair  ground 
is  second  to  none  in  the  State. 

But  to  the  fair.  The  first  day  was  devoted 
principally  to  the  show  of  stock.  There  was  a 
large  number  of  cattle  present,  particularly  oxen. 
The  town  of  Waterford  led  in  this  department, 
presenting  111  pairs.  St.  Johnsbury,  also,  pre- 
sented 75  pairs  ;  many  from  both  towns  being 
extra  cattle.  The  show  of  bulls,  milch  cows  and 
young  cattle,  generally,  was  good,  some  of  them 
possessing  very  fine  qualities.  The  Devons  and 
Durham  bloods  are  most  prevalent  in  the  coun- 
ty, although  there  are  many  fine  specimens  of  the 
Ayrshires  and  Herefords,  each  possessing  their 


peculiar  "superiorities,"   as    claimed    by    their 
owners. 

The  exhibition  of  horses,  including  stallions, 
matched  spans,  mares  and  foals,  and  roadsters, 
was  a  credit  to  the  county,  many  very  su])erior 
animals  being  present.  They  are  principally  of 
the  Morgan  blood,  and  exhibit  very  generally, 
their  especial  traits  of  character. 

The  number  of  sheep  was  not  large,  but  there 
were  some  fine  specimens — bucks  in  particular, 
which  were  worthy  of  note.  The  show  of  swine 
was  similar  to  that  of  sheep  ;  few  in  number,  but 
good  in  quality. 

The  second  day  was  devoted  more  particularly 
to  the  display  of  horsemanship,  the  ladies'  handi- 
work, mechanical  exhibitions,  and  the  balloon 
ascension,  by  Mr.  Wise.  The  display  of  matched 
horses  was  unusually  large  ;  there  was,  also,  a 
very  good  show  of  stallions  and  roadsters. 

But  the  great  central  point  of  attraction  was 
Floral  Hall.  The  ladies  did  nobly,  in  adorning 
and  beautifying  their  apartment  so  extensively 
with  their  rich  handiwork.  Nearly  400  entries 
were  made  for  premiums,  besides  many  which 
were  presented  merely  for  exhibition.  There 
were  some  fine  specimens  of  painting,hair-wreaths 
and  embroidery,  which  exhibited  much  taste  and 
skill  on  the  part  of  the  ladies  of  the  county. 
Mechanics'  Hall  contained  specimens  of  high 
order,  which,  together  with  Floral  Hall,  formed 
a  very  interesting  feature  of  the  fair. 

The  show  of  farm  products  and  garden  vege- 
tables was  very  good,  considering  the  season. 
Corn,  potatoes  of  extra  size,  pumpkins,  squashes, 
melons,  onions,  turnips,  peas,  beans,  tomatoes, 
&c.,  were  numerously  exhibited.  The  display  of 
fruit  was  quite  meagre,  but  little  having  been 
raised  in  the  county,  the  present  year. 

The  ascension  of  the  aeronaut  was  a  capital  af- 
fair. The  day  was  unusually  favorable,  it  being 
very  fair  and  the  sky  clear.  Mr.  Wise  ascended 
at  about  3  o'clock,  and  after  an  aerial  voyage  of 
about  an  hour  and  a  half  in  duration,  descended 
in  an  adjoining  town  only  ten  miles  from  the 
point  of  starting. 

The  third  day  was  occupied  in  exhibiting  the 
speed  of  horses,  either  in  or  out  of  the  county, 
and  by  a  display  of  equestrianship.  There  were 
several  horses  entered  to  compete  for  the  pre- 
miums offered  by  the  fair  ground  committee,  but 
no  very  fast  time  was  made.  The  fastest  was 
2.45  by  "Arctic  Maid,"  a  horse  owned  by  Charles 
B.  Ballard,  of  White  River  Junction,  Vt.  E.  H. 
Oilman's  "Baldwin  Horse,"  of  Bradford,  made 
the  same  time. 

Five  equestriennes  displayed  their  skill  in 
horsemanship  very  satisfactorily.  They  made  a 
good  appearance,  and  did  their  work  admirably. 

This  was  followed  by  a  display  of  equestrian- 
ship by  eight  young  lads,  who  came  forward  like 
so  many  marshals  upon  a  muster-field,  and  did 
themselves  honor  in  their  exhibition  of  horse- 
manship. 

Thus  ended  Caledonia  County  Fair  for  1859. 
It  was  estimated  that  twelve  thousand  people 
were  in  attendance,  which  is  sufficient  proof  of 
its  popularity  and  success.       I.  W.  Sanborn. 

"The  Meadoios" Lyndon,  Vt. 


There  is  many  a   man   whose  tongue   might 
govern  multitudes,  if  he  could  govern  his  own. 


544 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


THE  HONEY,  OB  SWEET,  LOCUST. 


The  Honey  Locust,  Gledltscliia  triacantlios,  is  I 
common  in  New  England,  but  flourishes  best  in 
the  Virginia  valleys,  or  on  the  fertile  bottoms  | 
which  are  watered  by  the  streams  emptying  into] 
the  Mississippi  river.  We  have  seen  it  in  great! 
perfection  and  beauty  growing  on  the  banks  ofi 
the  Potomac  river,  with  the  spurs  or  thorns  ten 
inches  in  length.  Michaux  measured  several 
stocks  in  Ohio,  which  were  three  or  four  feet  in 
diameter,  and,  which  appeared  to  equal  inheighti 
the  loftiest  trees  in  the  immemorial  forests  ofi 
that  State.  Some  of  them  had  the  trunk  undi-l 
vided  for  forty  feet.  This  plant  makes  admira-j 
ble  hedges  when  properly  trained,  and  endures  j 
the  climate  well.  We  have  one  which  has  been 
growing  ten  years,  and  presents  so  many  sharp 
points  that  few  animals  would  venture  to  pass 
through  it.  We  copy  the  engraving,  by  permis- 
sion, from  Warder's  Hedges  and  Evergreens, 
published  by  A.  O.  Moore,  N.  Y.  | 

The  sweet  locust  is  easily  known  by  its  bark, 
which,  at  intervals  of  a  few  inches,  detaches  it- 
self laterally  in  plates  three  or  four  inches  wide 
and  two  or  three  lines  thick,  and  by  the  form  of 
its  trunk,  which  appears  to  be  twisted,  and  which 
presents  three  or  four  crevices  of  inconsiderable 
depth,  opening  irregularly  from  the  bottom  to- 
wards the  top.  The  large  thorns  which  cover  the 
branches,  and  frequently  the  trunk  of  youngi 
trees,  afford  another  very  distinct  cliaracteristic. 
These  thorns  are  sometimes  several  inches  long, 
ligneous,  of  a  reddish  color,  and  armed,  at  some' 


distance  from  the  base,  with  two  secondary 
thorns,  about  half  the  size  of  the  first. 

The  leaves  of  the  sweet  locust  are  pinnated, 
and  composed  of  small  oval,  serrate,  sessile  leaf- 
lets. This  foliage  is  elegant,  and  of  an  agreea- 
ble tint ;  but  it  is  thin,  and  scarcely  obstructs 
the  passage  of  the  sunbeams.  It  is  shed  annual- 
ly at  the  approach  of  winter. 

The  flowers  are  small,  not  very  conspicuous, 
and  disposed  in  bunches.  The  fruit  is  in  the 
form  of  flat,  crooked,  pendulous  pods,  from 
twelve  to  eighteen  inches  long,  and  of  a  reddish- 
brown  color.  The  pods  contain  brown,  smooth 
hard  seeds,  enveloped  in  a  pulpy  substance, 
which,  for  a  month  after  their  maturity,  is  very 
sweet,  and  which  then  becomes  extremely  sour. 


PEHUVIAN-  GUANO. 

We  find  an  article  in  the  papers  stating  that 
the  importations  of  Peruvian  guano  have  greatly 
decreased.  We  are  glad  of  it.  Not  because  we 
think  the  article  is  worthless  in  itself — but  be- 
cause we  are  satisfied  that  the  extravagant  pri- 
ces demanded  and  paid  for  it,  make  it  worthless 
to  the  farmer.  We  are  glad  the  importations  are 
falling  off,  because  the  prices  fixed  by  the  Peru- 
vian government  are  exorbitant  and  unfair,,  and 
such  as  ought  not  to  be  submitted  to,  if  there  is 
any  way  of  preventing  it ;  if  not,  let  us  refuse  to 
purchase  a  single  ton  of  it.  It  ought  to  be  af- 
forded in  Boston  for  less  than  $40  a  ton.  The 
American  guano  is  a  safe  article,  and  is  probably 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


545 


as  good  a  fertilizer  as  the  Peruvian,  and  we  pre- 
dict that  vast  quantities  of  it  will  be  sold  the 
coming  year  for  $40  or  less,  per  ton. 

The  quantity  of  guano  shipped  from  the  Chin- 
cha  Islands  in  1857,  was 490, Go?  tons;  in  1858  it 
was  266,709  tons, — a  falling  off  in  a  single  year 
of  nearly  one-half.  In  the  first  six  months  of 
1859,  it  was  46,577  tons,  a  much  smaller  amount 
than  at  the  same  time  last  year. 

The  quantity  of  guano  on  the  islands  has  been 
computed  at  three  millions  of  tons — an  amount 
absolutely  inconceivable  by  any  of  us,  and  yet, 
with  thousands  of  vessels  lyingidleat  the  wharves 
for  want  of  employment,  we  are  told  we  must  pay 
$65  per  ton  for  the  Peruvian  guano  !  We  should 
be  glad  if  all  our  people  v/ould  refuse  to  purchase 
another  pound  of  it. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  YEAR  CROWNED  WITH  GOODNESS. 

And  when,  Messrs.  Editors,  have  we  seen  a 
year  that  was  not  ?  All  not  equally  so,  but  enough 
every  year  to  fill  all  hearts  with  wonder,  grati- 
tude and  praise.  And  yet,  how  many  complaints 
are  uttered  every  year  of  cold,  backward  spring, 
of  late  or  early  frosts,  drouth,  blighting,  hail, 
wind,  insects  or  something  else  destructive  to 
the  crops  and  ruinous  to  the  hopes  of  the  hus- 
bandman !  But  has  any  man  living  ever  seen  a 
year  crowned  with  wrath  ?  Would  such  a  year 
be  strange  ?  Shall  unthankful  and  disobedient 
children  receive,  year  afteryear,  only  good  at  the 
hands  of  God  ?  This  is  not  the  manner  of  men. 
God's  ways  are  not  our  ways,  nor  His  thoughts 
our  thoughts.  He  causeth  His  sun  to  shine  on 
the  evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth  the  rain  on 
the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  What  living  man, 
indeed,  has  ever  seen  such  a  year  of  scarcity  and 
want  as  we  read  of,  2  Kings,  sixth  chapter, 
when  an  ass's  head  was  sold  for  four- score 
pieces  of  silver,  (about  840,)  and  a  fourth  part  of 
a  cab  of  dove's  dung,  (supposed  to  be  an  almost 
worthless  vegetable  resembling  dove's  dung,)  for 
five  pieces  of  silver  (about  82,50) ;  or,  when  one 
mother  said  to  another,  "Give  thy  son,  that  we 
may  eat  him  to-day,  and  we  will  eat  my  son  to- 
morrow." Had  we  ever  witnessed  one  such  year, 
it  might  cure  our  complaining,  and  inspire  our 
hearts  with  gratitude  for  years  of  no  greater 
abundance  than  the  present. 

I  have  been  young,  Messrs.  Editors,  and  now 
am  old,  yet  I  have  never  seen  a  year  that  was 
not  crowned  with  goodness,  especially  as  respect- 
ed the  productions  of  the  earth.  I  remember 
that  in  my  boyhood,  the  crops  were  sometimes 
shortened  by  drouth,  insects,  or  some  other 
cause,  and  there  were  no  such  facilities  then  as 
now,  for  getting  supplies  from  a  distance.  I  re- 
member going  to  mill,  ten  or  twelve  miles,  on 
horseback,  with  the  last  bushel  of  corn,  and  then 
going  into  the  field,  and  gathering  the  first 
ripening  ears,  and  drying  them  in  the  sun,  or  by 
the  fire,  for  the  next  grist.  But  still  we  had 
Thanksgivings,  and  thought  we  had  something 
to  be  thankful  for.  But  now,  instead  of  "eating 
and  giving  God  thanks,"  as  was  then  customary. 


I  often  hear  complaints  (Moses  might  call  them 
murmurings)  of  bad  weather,  unfruitful  seasons, 
light  crops.  Have  we  not,  at  this  moment,  much 
greater  cause  to  speak  of  His  goodness  ?  "O, 
that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  His  good- 
ness." 

My  father,  who  has  long  since  gone  to  his  rest, 
used  to  tell  us  of  a  British  soldier,  who  remained 
in  this  country  after  the  Revolutionary  war.  He 
said  he  never  saw  such  complainers  as  the  Yan- 
kees were.  It  was  always  too  wet  or  too  dry — 
too  hot  or  too  cold  ;  and  if  there  came  ever  so 
pleasant  a  day,  they  were  suspicious  of  it.  It 
must  be  a  weather-breeder.  I  have  often  mar- 
velled, after  hearing  the  complainings  of  people 
in  spring  and  summer,  to  see  what  crops  they 
have  gathered  in  the  fall. 

The  years  vary.  Rarely  does  the  earth  yield 
every  kind  of  crop  in  abundance.  Indian  corn 
and  the  smaller  grains,  wheat,  rye,  &c.,  do  not 
often  yield  largely  the  same  yeai\  In  some  lo- 
calities in  this  region,  there  is  but  little  fruit, 
and  corn  will  be  light.  All  other  crops  are  not 
often  better.  It  seems  good  to  see  potatoes  come 
out  of  the  ground  free  from  rot,  and  of  good 
size  and  quality.  Some  old  writer  has  said,  "He 
that  will  observe  providences,  will  have  provi- 
dences to  observe,"  and  he  will  often  find  that 
what,  at  the  time,  seemed  a  judgment,  was  a  real 
blessing. 

Some  five  or  six  years  since,  we  had  a  very 
warm  April,  and  it  hatched  out  an  innumerable 
multitude  of  grasshoppers.  But  in  the  early  part 
of  May  there  came,  not  merely  a  frost,  but  a  hard 
freeze,  which  killed  them  before  their  depreda- 
tions became  visible.  The  frosts  of  last  May  and 
June  had  a  similar  effect.  Some  years  it  has 
seemed  as  if  the  grasshoppers  would  devour 
every  green  thing.  This  year,  there  have  been 
but  very  few.  I  did  not  see  one  until  the  18th 
of  July,  and  he,  though  ])retty  fully  grown,  had 
been  so  excluded  from  the  air  and  light  in  the 
thick  grass,  that  he  could  neither  fly  nor  hop.  I 
doubt  not  that  frosts  in  May  and  June  that  nip 
our  vines,  and  are  regarded  as  a  calamity,  do 
much  less  injury  than  would  be  done  by  the  in- 
sects which  they  destroy. 

Let,  then,  farmers  of  every  class  learn  this  con- 
soling truth,  that  whatever  else  may  be  wrong. 
He  that  ruleth  the  weather  and  causeth  the  earth 
to  yield  her  increase,  understands  His  work,  and 
doeth  all  things  well.  N.  s. 

Monadnoclc,  No.  4. 


BUCKLIN'S  IMPROVED  HARROW. 

Messrs.  Hobart  and  Spaulding,  of  East  Pep- 
perell,  Mass.,  are  introducing  a  new  implement 
called  Bucldin's  Improvement  in  GultliHttor  and 
Harrow  Teeth,  one  of  which  we  have  used  several 
times,  and  on  different  kinds  of  soil.  It  is  a 
heavy  implement,  and  requires  g,  strong  team, 
and  when  provided  with  it,  accomplishes  a  great 
deal  of  work  in  a  given  time.  On  wet  lands,  the 
soil  adheres  to  the  teeth — the  teeth  being  some- 
what in  the  form  of  cultivator  teeth — and  conse- 
quently the  draft  is  heavy  ;  on  sandy  loarns,  it 
will  bring  a  newly-turned  sward  into  a  finely  pul- 


546 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


verized  seed-bed,  so  that  the  labor  of  planting 
and  hoeing  is  very  light.  Our  use  of  it  has  not 
been  sufficiently  extended  to  justify  a  positive 
opinion  in  regard  to  its  merits,  anJ  v/e  can  only 
say,  as  we  do  of  all  implements  and  machines, 
that  the  farmer  should  be  slow  in  adopting  them 
until  he  has  given  them  personal  attention  and 
investiaration. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
CROP3  IN  ESSEX  COTJIf TY. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — Below  may  be  seen  some 
statements  as  to  the  yield  and  quality  of  crops  in 
this  town  and  vicinity. 

Although  the  nature  of  the  season  has  been 
favorable,  our  people  have  realized  only  a  fair 
crop  of  English  hay  ;  but  it  is  of  the  finest  qual- 
ity, having  been  well  matured  in  growth  and 
cured  in  the  best  order ;  some  stubbles  have 
come  in  well,  while  old  bound-out  lands  have 
produced  light  burdens.  A  few  fields  have  pro- 
duced two  tons  per  acre,  but  in  such  cases  the 
ground  has  I'eceived  outside  dre-sing,  or  has  late- 
ly been  laid  down.  Although  some  of  our  farm- 
ers have  given  their  attention  to  the  improve- 
ment of  mowing  lands  by  converting  intervales 
and  previously  unproductive  land  into  English 
mowing,  yet,  generally,  this  is  not  the  case,  and 
though  the  present  progressive  age  calls  loudly 
for  such  improvements,  there  are  hundreds  of 
acres  still  in  the  crude  state,  only  waiting  to  be 
turned  upside  down  and  sown  to  hay  seed  to  pro- 
duce the  owners  two  tons  of  hay  to  the  acre. 

The  meadows  on  Mill's  river,  and  the  "River 
Meadows"  in  Topsfield,  have  produced  well. 
Some  seasons,  when  heavy  and  early  rains  fall, 
these  valuable  meadows  are  flowed,  and  in  many 
cases  cannot  be  cut  during  the  season.  This  year 
they  vt^ere  cut  early,  and  are  well  secured. 

Rye  has  yielded  well,  and  is  of  very  good  qual- 
ity. Some  pieces  of  winter  rye  were  so  stout  as 
to  make  harvesting  quite  slow  and  difficult. 

Barley  generally  yields  well,  has  a  good  ker- 
nel, and  pays  as  well  for  the  land  and  labor  as 
any  kind  of  grain  grown  by  our  farmers. 

Oats  are  raised  to  some  extent,  and  peculiar 
soil  in  favorable  seasons  will  produce  oats  of  a 
fair  quality,  but  I  have  never  yet  seen  among  the 
farmers  in  our  own  community  oats  that  would 
begin  to  compare  with  those  produced  in  Ver- 
mont and  Canada,  either  in  quantity  or  quality. 

Pastures  became  short  very  early  in  the  sea- 
son, and  of  course,  this  has  essentially  diminished 
■  the  products  of  the  dairy.  Mr.  Preston  Lov- 
ERING,  of  this  town,  informs  me  he  has  thus  far, 
in  feeding  his  stock  of  twenty  head  at  the  bai'n, 
consumed  over  three  tons  of  English  hay.  Cut- 
ting "second  crop"  this  season  is  quite  out  of  the 
question. 

Corn,  owing  to  the  early  frosts,  heavy  rains, 
no  drying  winds  following,  has  proved  next  to  a 
failure.  The  ears  have  very  sharp  tips,  though 
more  in  a  hill  than  some  seasons,  and  the  husk 
has  lain  so  close  to  the  ear,  being  so  green  and 
moist,  that  in  some  instances  sprouts  of  half  an 
inch  long  may  be  seen  on  the  ear.  While  there 
are  some  good  fields,  the  universal  cry  is  poor 
corn.    Mr.  Wm.  Potter  has  a  field  confaininsr 


ten  to  twelve  acres  of  heavy  corn,  which,  on  ac- 
count of  its  size,  and  the  quality  of  the  corn,  is 
worthy  of  notice.  This  field  was  planted  early, 
on  a  large  plain,  and  manured  well — the  ears  are 
large  and  well  filled  out,  and  the  yield,  per  acre, 
though  not  known,  must  be  great  for  this  region. 
Truly,  twelve  acres  of  heavy  corn  upon  a  plain  is 
no  mean  sight !  Mr.  Potter  has,  in  all,  about  fif- 
teen acres  of  corn. 

Potatoes  are  better  in  yield  and  quality  than 
for  several  years  past.  The  disease,  which  has 
been  slight,  did  not  commence  till  quite  late  in 
the  season,  and  fortunately,  (providentially,  we 
may  say,)  that  most  valuable  of  vegetables  has, 
to  a  great  extent,  escaped  the  rot,  and  we  have 
reason  to  hope  that  the  fatal  epidemic  will  soon 
disappear.  The  quality  of  potatoes  this  season 
is  particularly  spoken  of,  both  in  grain  and  flavoi*. 
The  "Jackson  White"  and  "Scotch  Apple"  are 
of  the  very  finest  quality.  Potatoes  yield  from 
ten  to  sixteen  hills  to  the  bushel.  Mr.  Jarvis 
Lamson,  a  good  farmer  here,  who  raises  large 
quantities  of  produce,  I  am  informed,  is  digging 
potatoes,  where  they  uniformly  turn  out  at  ten 
hills  to  the  bushel !  The  Chenango,  which  has 
been  so  highly  esteemed  for  years  past,  and  which 
has  rotted  the  most  extensively  with  us,  has  be- 
come quite  unpopular,  and  seldom  planted. 

Onions  are  extensively  raised  on  the  place  of 
Mrs.  Saunders,  of  Salem,  superintended  by  Mr. 
James  Manning.  Good  crops  have  been  realized 
for  a  few  years  past,  but  the  crops  of  last  season 
and  the  present,  here,  suffered  from  the  maggot. 
Some  two  thousand  bushels  a  season  have  been 
raised  on  this  place. 

Pumpkins  and  squashes  did  not  suffer  so  much 
in  the  early  part  of  the  season  from  bugs  as  in 
former  years,  and  have  yielded  a  good  supply  for 
family  use. 

Pears  and  peaches  are  not  produced  among  us 
to  any  extent.  Some  gardens  have  aftorded  a 
few  bushels  of  that  most  delicious  fruit,  the 
"Bartlett  pear,"  which  have  readily  brought  from 
$4  to  $5  per  bushel. 

Apples  are  few  and  far  between,  generally, 
though  some  orchards  will  yield  a  surplus  above 
home  demand,  and  some  others  will  just  supply 
the  wants  for  family  use. 

The  cranberries,  owing  to  the  early  frosts,  will 
not  be  equal  in  quantity,  if  they  are  in  quality, 
compared  with  past  seasons.  The  grass  and  bush- 
es which  grow  among  the  vines  and  shade  them, 
serve  to  protect  the  fruit  from  the  effects  of  frost 
and  therefore  these  should  never  be  mown  off. 
Z.  A.  Appleton. 

Eamilton,  Oct.  10,  1859. 


Annual  Meeting  of  the  Massachusetts 
Horticultural  Society. — The  annual  meeting 
of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society  took 
place  in  their  building  in  School  Street.  From 
certain  causes  well  understood  among  the  mem- 
bers, but  of  no  public  concern,  there  was  an  un- 
usually full  attendance,  and  much  interest  was 
manifested. 

Three  tickets  were  in  circulation  for  officers  of 
the  Society  for  18G0 — all,  however,  bearing  the 
name  of  the  present  very  acceptable  President, 
Joseph  Breck,  Esq.,  for  re-election,  and  differing 
only  in  a  few  of  the   candidates  presented  for 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEMER. 


547 


some  of  the  minor  offices.  The  following  was  the 
successful  ticket — a  total  number  of  143  votes 
being  cast. 

President — Joseph  Breck. 

Vice  Presidents — E.  S.  Hand,  Eben.  Wight,  J. 
r.  C.  Hyde,  W.  C.  Strong. 

Treasurer — William  R.  Austin. 

Corresponding  Secretary — Eben.  Wight. 

Recording  Secretary — F.  Ljman  Winship. 

Professor  of  Botany  and  Vegetable  Physiology 
— Prof.  Asa  Gray. 

Professor  of  Zoology — J.  W.  P.  Jenks. 

Professor  of  Horticidtural  Chemistry — E.  N. 
Horsford. 


LETTER  FKOM  MR.  BROWN. 

An  Old  Town — >feiT3papcr  establisheil — First  Editorial — A 
Young  Bride  and  a  New  Baby — Tyranny  of  Business — An 
Old  Church,  and  an  Old  Swamp— Effects  of  Draining  and  Cul- 
tivation— Profits — Sheep  on  Old  Pastures — Rural  Residences 
near  the  Ocean — Uood  Examples — Sunday — and  Considera- 
tion for  Hoops. 

Eingham,  Mass.,  Oct ,  1859. 

Gents.  : — Many  years  ago,  I  was  a  citizen  of 
this  ancient  and  pleasant  town, — and  here,  after 
a  ramble  through  most  of  the  States  of  the  Union 
in  order  to  see  what  lay  outside  of  the  pasture  I 
had  been  feeding  in,  I  embarked  in  business. 
That  business  was  the  establishment  of  the  first 
newspaper  of  the  place,  in  connection  with  a 
young  chum  as  full  of  zeal  as  myself.  Never  to 
be  forgotten  by  me,  are  some  things  that  hap- 
pened at  this  period.  It  was  easy  to  set  up  a 
press  and  finger  the  types,  but  where  were  the 
editorials  to  come  from  ?  The  village  must  have 
its  newspaper — its  advertisements,  its  political 
calls,  and  notices  of  various  kinds,  together  with 
its  marriages,  deaths,  poetry  and  stories.  All 
these  now  stood  in  fair  array  before  us,  but  there 
was  no  editorial.  There  was  nothing  to  write 
about — nothing — the  world  was  blank  !  "No 
man  knows  what  he  can  do  until  he  tries."  This 
old  saw  haunted  me  continually,  until  in  a  fit  of 
desperation  the  pen  was  seized,  and  the  first  edi 
torial  was  born  !    Eureka  ! 

Here,  too,  I  brought  my  young  bride,  scarce- 
ly nineteen,  and  only  a  ninety-six  pounder,  but 
as  full  of  energy  as  the  largest  girl  that  ever 
bewitched  a  boy  on  the  South  Shore.  In  the 
progress  of  events,  it  seemed  sort  of  strange 
that  there  were  three  of  us  in  the  family ;  the 
house  appeared  odd ;  there  was  an  air  of  im- 
portance about  every  body,  and  a  sly  winking 
that  betokened  something  either  good  or  bad  ! 
But  when  the  outsiders  told  me  such  was  the 
way  of  the  world,  I  reconciled  myself  to  it  with 
the  best  grace  I  could,  and  concluded  to  let  it 
wag  on.  But  I  could  scarcely  make  up  my  mind 
which  delighted  me  most, — the  birth  of  the  first 
editorial,  or  the  birth  of  the  first  baby  ! 

All  my  associations,  business  and  social,  with 
the  good  people  of  the  town,  were  of  the  most 
pleasant  character ;  acquaintances  were  rapidly 


formed,  and  mutual  benefits,  1  trust,  were  re- 
ceived from  contact  and  labor  with  each  other. 
The  newly-born  paper  flourished  in  its  youth, 
and  grew  into  a  manly  vigor,  so  that  "news  from 
all  nations  is  lumbering  at  its  back"  at  this  day. 

Business  is  a  tyrant,  gentlemen.  It  had  cut  us 
off, — by  the  word  us,  I  mean,  not  the  editorial 
plural,  but  the  corporeal,  flesh  and  blood,  tis,  my 
good  wife  and  myself, — business  had  cut  us  off 
from  all  association  with  our  early  and  excellent 
friends,  now,  for  some  fifteen  years,  and  that  is  a 
loss  not  to  be  balanced  by  gold.  So  we  resisted 
the  temptations  of  business,  and  came  to  this  old 
town  to  see  our  old  friends,  when  the  sun  was 
shining  softly  upon  October  leaves,  and  the  earth 
seemed  as  lovely  as  on  that  delightful  May  morn- 
ing, when  I  entered  the  town  with  a  young  lady 
at  my  side,  under  a  Leghorn  hat  almost  as  capa- 
cious as  the  hoops  of  to-day. 

This  accounts  for  my  dating  at  this  place  ;  and 
this  essential  preliminary  being  settled,  I  will 
leave  personal  reminiscences,  and  proceed  to  re- 
gale your  readers,  if  I  can,  with  some  account  of 
what  I  have  seen  and  heard  here. 

HiNGHAM  lies  on  Boston  harbor,  about  a  doz- 
en miles  from  the  city  by  water,  and  a  trifle  more 
by  land.  The  town  nestles  pleasantly  among  the 
graceful  undulations  that  form  the  surface,  hav- 
ing several  streets  lined  with  substantial  dwell- 
ings, churches,  stores  and  school-houses.  The 
old  church — the  oldest  in  Massachusetts,  I  be- 
lieve, if  not  in  the  country — stands  upon  a  gen- 
tie  eminence,  still  in  good  condition,  and  has  had 
but  five  pastors  in  the  space  of  tioo  hundred  and 
tiventy-four  years !  The  population  of  the  town 
is  mainly  agricultural,  though  at  a  former  period, 
a  brisk  and  profitable  business  was  done  in  the 
mackerel  and  cod  fishery. 

Unusual  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  agri- 
cultural capacities  and  interests  of  the  town  with- 
in a  few  years,  which  has  resulted  in  frequent 
gatherings  of  those  interested  in  the  subject,  in 
the  organization  of  a  vigorous  town  society,  and 
in  the  reclamation  of  new,  and  the  better  culti- 
vation of  old,  lands.  One  of  the  finest  exam- 
ples I  have  ever  seen  of  reclaiming  a  bog  swamp, 
is  on  the  farm  of  Jedediah  Farmer,  Esq.  I 
saw  this  swamp  several  years  ago,  when  it  was 
in  reality  a  dismal  sioamp  ;  it  was  low,  wet,  un  ■ 
even,  and  covered  with  water  brush,  brakes,  and 
uncounted  numbers  of  wild  rose  bushes,  that 
made  it  perilous  to  enter  its  repulsive  borders. 
When  these  had  been  cut  and  cleared  off,  and  the 
plow  put  in,  the  moss  was  ten  inches  deep,  and 
would  so  rise  up  under  that  implement  as  to  raise 
it  two  feet  from  the  level.  But  the  axe,  hoe, 
plow  and  fire,  reduced  all  obstacles,  aided  by  the 
draining  which  preceded  them,  and  now  that 
home  of  frogs,  muskrats  and  miasma,  is  a  fertile 


548 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


Dec. 


and  smiling  field,  whereon  corn  and  cabbages, 
beets,  bagas,  and  potatoes  and  pumpkins,  do  most 
exceedingly  abound.  Three  tons  per  acre  of  the 
best  hay  has  been  cut  upon  it,  and  the  finest  gar- 
den vegetables  grow  equally  well.  And  yet,  this 
land  has  lain  there  in  gloomy  repulsiveness  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years,  an  eye-sore  and 
nuisance,  for  the  want  of  some  one  possessing 
faith  and  energy  to  take  it  in  hand.  When  the 
present  proprietor  commenced  upon  it,  he  was 
told  that  "others  had  attempted  to  subdue  it,  but 
failed ;  that  he  might,  possibly,  make  maples 
grow  there,  but  nothing  else  would — they  knew 
it."  They  ridiculed  the  effort,  and  sagely  re- 
minded him  that  "a  fool  and  his  money  were 
usually  soon  parted."  But,  there  stands  the  re- 
sult, gentlemen  ;  send  all  your  doubters  to  see 
it.  Each  acre  of  it  wiil  yield  more  profit  than 
two  or  three  of  the  uplands  which  surround  it, 
and  it  is  well  worth,  to-day,  $200,00  per  acre  for 
agricultural  purposes.  Being  near  the  village, 
the  land  cost  about  $40  per  acre,  and  it  cost  as 
much  more  to  reclaim  it.  Now  let  us  see  how 
the  account  stands  with  it  ?  It  now  yields,  and 
with  the  aid  of  a  little  top-dressing  will  continue 
to  yield  for  many  years. 

Three  tons  of  hay  per  acre,  at  $18,00 $54,00 

Fall  feed,  per  acre 3,00 

$57.00 

Interest  on  $80,00 $4,80 

Fencing  and  taxing 5,00 

Cost  of  malilng  the  hay 9,00—  $18,80 

Profit $38,20 

I  only  give  the  figures  as  an  approximation  of 
the  true  result,  being  aware  that  the  land  must 
be  manured  annually  to  keep  up  this  degree  of 
fertility.  But  thirty-eight  dollars,  or  even  twen- 
ty-five of  it,  is  a  pretty  good  income  from  an  in- 
vestment on  $80,00,  and  would  be  thought  so 
by  most  nersons  engaged  in  mercantile  business. 

SHEEP   ON   OLD   PASTURES. 

Some  of  the  finest  examples  are  afforded  here, 
of  the  effects  of  feeding  sheep  upon  pastures 
that  have  become  exhausted  of  nutritious  grass- 
es, and  grown  up  to  bushes,  briers,  brakes  and 
moss.  I  have  seen  pastures  to-day  that  had  be- 
come almost  worthless,  but  now  green  and  smil- 
ing as  a  lawn,  with  every  inch  among  the  rocks 
covered  with  the  richest  pasture  grasses,  and  not 
a  blackberry  vine,  wild  rose  bush,  mullein,  or 
other  worthless  plant  in  sight.  The  sward  does 
not  seem  compact  and  bound,  but  loose  and  po- 
rous, and  filled  with  the  most  healthy  and  vigor- 
ous roots.  The  sheep  grazing  upon  these  pas- 
tures, afford  ample  evidence  of  the  richness  and 
luxuriance  of  the  grasses  upon  which  they  feed. 
These  examples,  with  similar  ones  that  I  have 
observed  in  other  places  widely  remote,  would 
seem  to  shed  light  upon  the  perplexing  question 


so  often  asked — "How  shall  I  reclaim  my  old 
pasture  ?"  All  over  New  England  there  are 
thousands  of  acres  producing  little  or  nothing 
that  might  be  renovated  by  the  introduction  of 
sheep  upon  them,  while  the  profits  from  the 
sheep  themselves,  I  believe,  would  be  larger  than 
from  the  same  amount  of  money  invested  in 
cows.  I  have  been  told  of  an  instance  where  a 
hundred  acre  pasture  fed  scantily  only  twelve 
sheep  and  six  cows  the  first  year,  but  on  the  sec- 
ond summer  fed  well  twenty  sheep  and  twelve 
cows,  and  continued  to  increase  in  fertility  until 
more  than  double  this  number  was  well  fed  up- 
on it  ! 

Men  of  means,  and  full  of  love  for  agricultural 
improvement,  have  erected  pleasant  country 
seats  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  bay,  or  a  little 
back  among  the  hills,  as  fancy  or  convenience 
has  suggested,  giving  striking  examples  of 
what  an  acre  of  land  may  be  made  to  produce 
These  examples  are  of  much  value  to  the  com 
mon  farmer,  if  he  is  but  an  observing  one,  ait 
they  suggest  to  him  what  he  can  himself  accom- 
plish on  his  own  premises,  if  he  will  but  contract 
his  operations,  cultivate  less,  and  cultivate  bet- 
ter, and  by  a  moi'e  thorough  preparation  of  the 
land  by  draining,  subsoiling,  manuring,  and  care- 
ful tending.  In  this  good  work  I  found  valua- 
ble examples  on  the  farms  of  the  Hon.  Albert 
Fearixg,  Alfred  Hersey,  Esq.,  John  R. 
Brewer,  Esq.,  and  that  of  Thomas  S.  Bouve, 
Esq.  These  gentlemen  are  all  leading  members 
of  the  town  agricultural  society,  and  mingle  the 
influence  of  their  personal  example  with  that  of 
well  cultivated  fields  and  abundant  harvests. 
Some  of  them  you  know  not  only  as  merchants 
of  unbending  integrity  and  honor,  but  as  men 
whose  philanthropy  is  as  universal  as  the  want 
which  calls  it  into  being.  They  are  public  ben- 
efactors. Fine  dwellings  crown  the  hills  that 
overlook  the  harbor,  as  well  as  the  wide  expanse 
of  sea,  strongly  contrasting  with  the  huge  moss- 
covered  rocks  that  everyv/here  line  the  coast, 
and  lovingly  look  out  from  the  dark  cedars  that 
are  indigenous  to  the  soil.  The  grounds  around 
these  dwellings  are  usually  under  a  high  state 
of  cultivation,  and  many  of  the  elegancies  of  ru- 
ral life  are  introduced,  such  as  flower-gardens, 
walks,  avenues  of  trees,  choice  shrubbery  and 
green-houses ;  and  these  form  examples  of  taste 
which  most  common  farmers  may  pi-operly  and 
profitably  imitate  in  some  degree.  The  whole 
country — naturally,  rough  and  uninviting — is 
greatly  improved  by  the  introduction  of  these 
dwellings,  and  the  true  taste  exercised  in  the 
laying  out  and  managing  their  grounds.  I 
can  scarcely  recall  to  mind  any  portion  of  our 
coast  offering  so  many  romantic  and  beautiful 
spots  for  summer  residences,  as  on  the  graceful 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAR:MER. 


549 


hills  overlooking  the  harbor  and  ocean  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  this  charming  old  town. 

To  show  you  that  I  observe  my  home  habits 
when  I  am  abroad,  I  will  tell  you  that  yesterday 
I  attended  a  Sunday  School  in  the  old  church, 
and  then  listened  to  an  excellent  sermon  in  the 
North  Church,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Noyes,  upon  the 
text — ''And  he  was  transfigured."  I  could  give 
you  its  outlines  if  I  had  room.  As  I  am  an  ob- 
serving man,  and  mean  to  "catch  the  manners 
living  as  they  rise,"  I  must  note  one  thing  espe- 
cially comforting  to  ladies,  even  if  it  does  show 
that  I  had  my  eyes  open  in  church!  I  could  not 
help  noticing  that  the  men,  with  their  compact 
legs  in  their  compact  pantaloons,  sat  in  the  far- 
ther portion  of  the  pews,  and  the  women  in  the 
end  next  the  aisle  !  But  my  letter  is  too  long 
now,  and  I  must  subscribe  myself, 

Truly  yours,        Simon  Brown. 

Messrs.  Noukse,  Eaton  &  Tolman. 


For  the  Netc  England  Farmer. 
KEPORTS   COMPAEED. 


and  I  am  candid  to  say,  after  looking  every  arti- 
cle carefully  over,  and  reading  most  of  them  with 
some  care,  the  question  presented  itself  to  my 
mind,  Does  such  a  report  as  this,  emanating  from 
the  government,  pay — is  it  worth  the  cost  ?  My 
answer  is,  No.  Either  give  the  farmers  of  this 
great  and  progressive  country  something  better 
than  this,  or  stop  it  altogether,  and  devote  the 
money  which  these  two  hundred  and  fifty  thous- 
and books  cost,  to  the  purchase  of  the  Diosco- 
rea  Batatas,  and  send  each  ownur  of  a  farm  one, 
throughout  the  Union.  NOEIOLK. 

King  Oak  Hill,  Oct.,  1859, 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

FACTS  FOH  THE  SCIENTIFIC. 

A  neighbor  of  mine  has  sown  the  French   tur- 
nip  for  several  years,  with  marked  success,  for 
the  last  three  years,  from  the  same  seed,  and  has 
raised  a  good  crop  each  year.     This  year  he  sowed 
as  usual  on  ground  precisely  like  his  former  fields, 
and  manured  and  tended  in  the  same  way,   and 
not  a  turnip  from  his  whole  field  !     The  plants 
came  up  and  looked  finely  until  July,  when  they 
all  went — to  seed.     No  root  on  any  plant  more 
than  on  mustard.     A  fine  lot  of  good  plump  tur- 
nip seed  is  all  he  gets  for  his  crop. 
Mr.  Editor:— On  the  table  before  me  lay  two      Is  there  a  fixed  time  in  which  turnip  seeds, 
Reports  on  Agriculture  ;  the  title  of  one  is.  Pa- j kept  well,  will  mature,  so  as  to  invariably  go  to 
tent  Ofl[ice  Report,  1858 — ^Agriculture  ;  the  oth-  seed  as  above,  oris  this  a  freak  of  nature  ?     Will 


er,  New  York  State  Agricultural  Report,  by  B. 
P.  Johnson,  Secretary.     Just  look  at  these  two 


any  one  give  us  facts  in  reply  ? 

1  also  will  state  a  hydraulic   fact  or  two,  and 


books,  Mr.  Editor;  for  you  have  them,  and  your  ask  for  a  scientific  answer  upon  philosophic  pi-in- 
very  just  and  interesting  review  of  the  latter  in  ciples.  As  is  often  done,  I  have  water  running 
the  i'''arOTer,  a  week  or  two  since,  proves  that  you  j  to  my  barn  by  syphon  from  a  well  12  rods  dis- 
have  digested  the  contents  of  one  of  them,  at|  tant,  and  18  feet  deep.  It  invariably  runs  well 
least,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  what  you  found  i  from  October  to  the  next  season  of  warm  weaih- 
it  very  wholesome  and  agreeable  food.  The  er,  when  it  as  invariably  lessens  gradually  and 
question,  however,  I  wish  to  ask  you  is.  Can  you 'stops,  and  cannot  be  made  to  run  again  for  more 
digest  the  former — have  you  a  stomach  capacious  1  than  a  day  or  two,  till  cold  weather  sets  in.  No 
and  powerful  enough  for  that  ?  I  doubt  it ;  but!  matter  what  the  depth  of  water  in  ihe  well,  it 
we  shall  see  what  we  shall  see.  The  one  is  all' i{)iZZ  ?io^  run  steady  in  hot  weather.  When  the 
full,  as  an  e^^  is,  of  nourishment  of  the  most!  force  pump  is  applied,  the  air  or  gas  (which  is  it?) 
interesting  and  instructive  matter,  relating  to -appears  from  the  upper  end,  and  all  is  right  for  a 
the  farm  and  its  management,  in  door  and  out.  day  or  two,  when  it  again  diminishes  till  the 
It  is  a  "complete  guide  to  the  carrying  on  of  a^  stream  stops  entirelj'.  As  many  others  in  this 
farm,"  in  all  its  departments,  and  that  of  the  region  are  troubled  in  the  same  way,  we  are  anx- 
highest  order.  I  have  read  it  with  all  the  inter- jious  to  know  the  cause  and  the  cure.  Is  it  gas 
est  of  a  "sensation  novel,"  and  the  farmers  of;  formed  by  chemical  action  of  the  water  upon  the 
New  York  may  well  be  proud  in  being  the  means,  lead  in  warm  weather  and  not  in  cold,  or  is  there 
of  bringing   out  such  an  instructive   book,  and  some  other  cause  ?     What  is  the  remedy  ? 


by  this  means  shoM'ing  the  farmers  of  other  States 
how  they  do  their  business  at  home. 

But  the  other  Report,  book,  what  shall  we  say 
of  this  ?  I  have  read  its  first  article,  on  Educa- 
tion, with  some  interest,  because  I  have  children 
to  educate  ;  but  its  exact  bearing  on  the  agri- 
cultural matters  of  the  United  States  I  do  not 
precisely  understand  ;  that,  I  presume,  is  of  no 
consequence,  provided  D.  J.  B.  does.  The  last 
article,  on  Meteorology,  by  Prof.  Henr}-,  is  well 
worthy  of  being  digested ;  it  is  good,  strong 
food  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  though, 
probably,  very  few  of  the  farmers  in  these  United 
States  are  sufficiently  interested  in  the  subject 
to  read  his  paper.     Beside   these,  there  is  little 


I  also  notice  in  the  operation  of  all  hydraulic 
rams,  that  at  each  motion  of  the  spindle  valve, 
the  water  in  the  driving  pipe  is  suddenly  checked 
in  its  downward  motion,  and  is  reversed  and  sent 
back  into  the  spring  or  fountain  head.  Now  in 
all  the  explanations  I  have  ever  read,  I  can  find 
no  mention  made  of  the  fact,  and  much  less  a 
reason  given  for  it.  In  the  American  Agricul- 
turist for  December,  1858,  and  in  several  numbers 
of  the  Farmer  during  the  past  season,  we  have 
an  explanation  of  the  Hydraulic  Ram,  and  its 
operation,  but  in  none  of  them,  nor  in  any  school 
philosophy,  can  I  find  a  mention  of  the  fact,  or  a 
reason  for  it.  By  this  I  infer  that  the  writers  of 
the  above  newspaper  articles  were  but  superficial 


in  the  volume  of  any  interest  to  the  general  observers  of  the  ram  audits  operations,  as  are 
farming  mind,  in  my  estimation.  D.  J.  B.  seems  too  many  of  our  writers  for  the  various  agricul- 
to  be  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the  whole  Report,  tural  papers.     What  we  want  is  plain  common 


550 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


sense  explanations  of  facts,  with  the  "whys  and 
wherefores." 

From  ten  years'  experience  with  various  kinds 
of  hydraulic  rams,  in  every  variety  of  location,  I 
am  fully  convinced  that  any  arrangement,  or 
want  of  arrangement,  by  which  this  reverse  mo- 
tion of  the  water  in  the  driving  pipe  is  wholly 
prevented,  will  wholly  prevent  the  successful  op- 
eration of  the  ram  for  any  length  of  time.  A 
practical  prevention  causes  very  imperfect  oper- 
ation. Hence,  one  great  cause  of  failure  in  the 
scores  of  rams  set  by  inexperienced  workmen  in 
every  part  of  New  England. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you  or  your  scientific  cor- 
respondents soon,  I  will  anxiously  watch  your 
columns.  P.  J. 

Vermont,  Sept.,  1859. 


EXTEACTS  AND  REPLIES. 
INFLUENCE   OF   THE    GENTLER   SEX. 

In  perusing  the  last  number  of  the  Farmer, 
which  contains  so  much  interesting  information, 
I  was  ready  to  query  why  the  value  of  this  use- 
ful work  should  not  be  appreciated  by  every  til- 
ler of  the  soil  in  New  England,  at  least  ?  It  has 
been  my  privilege  to  peruse  its  contents  from  its 
commencement,  and  it  has  often  occurred  to  me, 
that  a  single  number  had,  to  me,  been  worth  a 
year's  subscription,  and  from  present  appear- 
ances I  think  it  is  increasing  in  interest. 

I  have  again  and  again  perused  with  deep  in- 
terest an  article  in  the  last  number  by  one  of  the 
gentler  sex.  I  think  it  must  commend  itself  to 
the  admiration  of  all,  as  replete  with  sound 
sense,  and  is  an  honor  both  to  herself  and  her 
sex.  Let  others  do  likewise.  She  says,  "Farm- 
ing is  an  occupation  in  which  Avoman  has  a  part 
to  perform ;  then  let  her  express  her  estimation, 
her  interest  in  it,  and  she  will  help  to  lend  an 
enthusiasm,  a  charm  to  agriculture,  such  as  will 
interest  and  animate  our  young  men ;  and  she 
will  prove  her  influence  to  be  more  potent  than 
all  the  wise  counsellors  found  among  our  grand- 
father and  father  farmers  of  old  New  England." 
What  can  be  more  truthful  ?  I  rejoice  to  see 
such  noble  contributions  of  the  gentler  sex  to  a 
paper  that  I  already  take  so  deep  an  interest  in, 
fully  believing  that  such  contributions  will  have 
an  influence  on  the  circulation  of  the  Farmer. 
Constant  Reader. 

Vassalboro',  Me.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Such  commendations  as  the  above 
are  not  unfrequent  in  the  letters  we  receive,  and 
they  serve  to  encourage  us  in  our  labors.  But 
grateful  as  they  are,  they  are  not  so  encouraging 
as  the  fact  to  which  our  correspondent  alludes, 
that  women  are  becoming  more  and  more  inter- 
ested in  the  business  of  the  farm.  There  are 
many  who  are  good  horticulturists,  as  well  as 
floriculturists,  now,  and  some  who  manage  whole 
farms  with  ability.  The  cold  barrier  of  indiffer- 
ence is  broken,  and  a  new  era  in  agriculture  is 
dawning  upon  us.  

TIME   TO   CUT   FENCE   POSTS. 

I  wish  to  thank  "R.  C.  H."  for  his  opinion  in 
your  paper  of  Oct.  8,  in  regard  to  an  inquiry  of 


mine,  of  Sept.  24th,  about  cntting  fence  posts. 
But  first,  I  should  thank  you  for  the  valuable 
space  you  give  us  in  which  to  make  inquiries. 

Will  "R.  C.  H."  give  us  his  reasons  for  "cut- 
ting them  in  the  month  of  June,  and  setting 
while  green  ?"  I  have  always  noticed  that  stakes, 
withs  and  fence  poles,  cut  when  full  of  sap,  de- 
cayed sooner  than  those  cut  when  there  was  the 
least  sap  in  them.  John  W.  Town  send. 

JVorth  Lisbon,  jY.  E.,  1859. 

A  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  MILK  FOR  YOUNG  PIGS  AND 
CALVES. 

A  porridge  made  of  Indian  meal  and  hot  wa- 
ter is  an  excellent  substitute  for  milk  for  young 
pigs,  when  milk  is  scarce,  or  not  to  be  easily  ob- 
tained. It  will  well  repay  the  trouble  of  making 
the  porridge  to  witness  the  thrifty  condition  of 
the  pigs,  they  doing  equally  as  well  upon  it  as 
upon  milk,  if  not  better.  One  pint  of  meal  is  suffi- 
cient for  every  gallon  of  water,  sifting  it  in  grad- 
ually, while  the  water  is  boiling.  Or  it  may  be 
made  nearly  as  thick  as  pudding,  thinning  with 
water  while  hot.  The  same  is  also  excellent  for 
young  calves,  adding  a  little  salt  occasionally. 
This,  although  it  has  been  well  tested,  has  not 
become  as  extensively  used  as  it  is  worthy  to  be, 
and  I  am  not  aware  of  its  publication  before. 

Springfield,  Mass.,  1859.  J.  A.  A. 

SAW-DUST   AS    A   FERTILIZER. 

Can  some  of  your  numerous  correspondents 
inform  me  through  the  Farmer  of  the  compara- 
tive value  of  saw-dust  as  a  fertilizer,  and  of  the 
best  manner  of  preparing  and  using  the  same  ? 
J.  Brad.  Philbrick. 

South  Deerfield,  JV.  E.,  1859. 

Remarks. — Saw  dust,  as  a  litter,  and  an  ab- 
sorbent, is  excellent — whether  it  has  fertilizing 
properties  of  its  own  that  are  valuable,  we  must 
leave  to  others  to  decide. 

WITCH  grass. 

I  noticed  in  one  of  your  numbers  that  a  gentle- 
man wished  to  get  the  seed  of  dog  grass  or  v/itch 
grass.  I  call  it  devil  grass,  as  I  know  of  no  oth- 
er seed  or  grass  that's  a  greater  thorn  to  the 
flesh.  All  he  need  do  is  to  get  a  few  roots  and 
set  them  fifty  feet  apart,  and  I  guaraiitee  he  will 
have  his  farm  seeded  as  fast  as  he  wants  it. 

M.  Robinson. 

WareJiam,  Mass.,  Oct.,  1859. 

CONTRARY   COLTS. 

What  is  the  best  method  of  preventing  con- 
trariness in  colts  that  seem  inclined  that  way  ? 
If  the  habit  is  once  formed  in  a  horse,  young  or 
old,  can  it  be  broken  ?     If  so,  hov/  ?      QuERO. 

Remarks. — A  friend  at  our  elbow,  who  knows 
every  hair  in  a  horse's  hide,  says,  "Be  gentle, 
be  patient ;  use  soft  and  persuasive  language ; 
make  the  animal  understand,  what  you  want  to 
teach  him  by  kind  words  and  acts,  and  when  he 
learns  that,  he  will  serve  you  cheerfully  to  the 
extent  of  his  power.     You  must  be    in  sympathy 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAEJIER. 


551 


with  him,  and  he  will  soon  appreciate,  and  re-  fruit  raising,  it  often  looks  strange  to  me  that  so 
ward  it,  by  his   obedience.     It' is   hard  to  teach  large  a  majority  of  orchards  should  be  left  to 

1  ,  ,  ,,  11    1 „„„,  j„-  1  „     take  care  of  themselves,  and  then  charged  Vv'ith 

an  old  horse,  as  well  as  an  old  dog,  new  tricks    ,  ,  „    ,.         e    -^c  ^  i       -^  i    i  ^    *t, 

,       .„  '     ,  .  .        ,    ,°     .      ...       ,     biame  tor  unfruitfulness,  when  it  belongs  to  the 

but  if  you  can  change  a  vicious  habit,  it  will  only  owner.  D.  Taber. 

be  by  kindness.  i      Vassalboro',  1859. 


GOOD   CROP   OF  OXIONS— HINT  FOR  A  NEAV  LAAV. 

As  you  and  your  numerous  subscribers  are  al- 
ways glad  to  hear  of  a  good  crop,  and  how  pro- 
cured, I  will  state  for  mutual  benefit,  that  Mr.  I'C. 
Drake,  one  of  my  neighbors,  raised  on  7  J  rods 
of  land,  36.i  bushels  of  silver  skin  onions,  worth 
80  cents  on  the  ground  ;  yielding  him  the  neat 
little  profit  of  $20.  He  used  hog  manure  and 
ashes. 

Will  our  Legislature  pass  a  law  this  coming 
winter,  making  it  a  criminal  offence  for  every 
robin  detected  in  stealing  our  cherries,  strawber- 
ries, currants,  &c.  ? 

We  have  a  very  stringent  law  for  one  race  of 
bipeds,  of  tne  genus  homo  species.  Should  a  poor 
half-starved  boy  pick  up  an  apple,  or  get  a  few 
cherries  or  currants  to  eat,  they  fine  him  $100, 
or  send  him  to  the  Reform  School, — the  mean 
little  rascal !  But  don't  hurt  the  poor  robins, 
they  are  of  more  consequence  than  those  whom 
Christ  called  fit  for  Heaven.  C.  Clark. 

BtougUon,  Oct.  10,  1859. 


Remarks.  —  Thank  you,  friend  Taber  ;  we 
hope  to  hear  from  you  often.  These  are  the 
kind  of  facts  to  set  people  thinking,  and  actings 
too. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

■WHY  DON'T  MY  ORCHARD  PRODUCE 

BETTER? 

The  above  inquiry  is  often  made,  and  with 
some,  at  least,  I  apprehend,  without  much  inves- 
tigation to  ascertain  for  themselves  the  cause, 
which,  in  most  cases,  to  a  close  observer  and  a 
rational  thinker,  would  be  found  so  plain  as  to 
need  no  reply. 

I  will  instance  one  case  of  a  similar  inquiry, 
out  of  many  of  a  similar  character,  that  might 
be  added.  A  neighbor,  pointing  to  his  orchard, 
wished  to  know  what  I  thought  could  be  the  rea- 
son that  his  trees,  which  used  to  bear  so  finely, 
and  which  were  not  old,  had  for  several  years 
become  so  barren  ?  I  asked  him  how  long  it  had 
been  mowed  without  manure  ?  His  reply  was, 
sixteen  or  seventeen  years.  I  asked  him  how 
long  he  thought  his  cornfield  would  produce  un- 
der similar  treatment  ?  Well,  he  supposed  it 
wouldn't  do  very  well  ;  but  he  didn't  know  but 
apple  trees  would  bear  without  manure  ?  Such 
are  the  limited  views  of  some  ;  but  it  is  proba- 
ble there  are  but  few  farmers,  or  fruit  cultivators 
but  that  would  reason  very  dift'erently. 

I  visited  another  orchard  in  Nova  Scotia  of 
about  two  hundred  trees ;  the  ground  was  in  a 
good  state  of  cultivation,  and  the  trees  and  fruit 
showed  a  very  striking  contrast  to  the  one  allud- 
ed to  above,  and  the  results  much  more  satisfac- 
tory. The  proprietor  informed  me  that  he  sold 
his  apples  the  preceding  fall  for  $1200,  and  he 
thought  his  present  crop  would  be  five  hundred 
barrels,  worth  two  dollars  per  barrel,  giving  him 
$2200  for  two  years. 

It  is  an  old,  and  I  think,  true  maxim,  that  what 
is  worth  doing  is  worth  well  doing;  and  as  it 
has  been  proved  beyond  question,  that  no  part 
of  farming  will  reward  the  husbandman  equal  to 


EXAMPLE  IN  A  POPLAR  TREE 

OF  WHAT  NATURE  WILL   EFFECT  WHEN  ASSISTED 
BY   ART. 

On  the  10th  of  August,  1842,  the  lightning 
struck  our  Lombardy  Poplar  tree,  not  far  from 
the  house,  with  a  crash  as  though  the  house  it- 
self had  fallen  in  ruins.  This  tree,  at  18  feet  from 
the  ground,  branches  out  into  three  principal 
leaders.  The  one  which  faces  the  west  received 
the  full  force  of  the  thunder  storm,  and  it  exhibit- 
ed an  excavation  of  26  feet  in  length,  and  at  one 
part  of  22  inches  in  breadth.  Independent  of 
this  sad  stroke  at  the  western  side  of  tne  tree,  its 
bole  to  the  north  was  struck  at  the  same  time, 
and  denuded  of  its  bark  to  the  extent  of  6  feet  by 
14  inches.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  vast 
injury  which  this  tree  received  when  the  reader 
learns  that  I  picked  up  fragments  of  its  wood  full 
[50  yards  from  the  spot  where  it  stands. 

After  a  close  inspection  of  the  lacerated  parts 
1 1  conjectured  that  there  was  still  enough  of  solid 
wood  remaining  to  resist  the  violence  of  the  win- 
;  try  wind.  Having  cut  out  all  the  shattered  parts, 
I  placed  a  series  of  thick  slates  on  a  solid  bed  of 
mortar,  quite  up  to  where  the  tree  takes  its  three 
leaders:  thus  forming  a  hard  and  permanent  cov- 
ering of  18  feet  in  extent.  At  the  edges  of  the 
slates  we  applied  Roman  cement  nicely  sloped 
I  off;  so  that  the  future  wood  and  bark  might  have 
i  an  easy  passage  over  them,  at  each  returning  sea- 
son, for  increase  of  growth.  Thus,  all  being  ren- 
'  dered  safe  from  wind  and  rain  we  ceased  our 
j  work,  and  left  the  tree  to  Nature's  healing  care. 
She  has  not  disappointed  us.  Yesterday  I  got 
up  into  the  tree,  and  I  inspected  minutely  the  in- 
jured parts  throughout  their  whole  extent.  Their 
condition  was  prosperous  in  every  point  of  view. 
I  The  new  wood  and  bark  have  rolled  over  the 
slates  to  a  close  or  joining  within  11  inches,  bind- 
ing the  slates  down  in  an  everlasting  prison. 

A  Spanish  proverb  says  :  "Thou  art  welcome, 
evil,  if  thou  comest  alone."  But,  in  this  instance, 
our  poor  poplar  could  not  have  such  a  consola- 
tion ;  for  another  thunder-storm  broke  over  it, 
and  the  lightning  struck  it  on  the  northern  side, 
riving  off  the  l)ark  for  a  space  of  33  feet  in  length, 
and  at  places  of  15  inches  in  width.  Singular  to 
tell,  no  apparent  injury  was  inflicted  on  the  wood 
itself.  The  bark  alone  had  sufiered,  so  that  a 
new  supply  of  slates  and  mortar  was  not  required. 
This  victim  to  the  lightning's  fearful  rage  is  now 
in  health  and  vigor,  whilst  its  summer  foliage  is 
of  as  rich  a  hue  as  that  of  its  surrounding  neigh- 
bors. Should  future  tempests  spare  it,  the  tree 
will  be  quite  right  again  in  a  few  years  more ; 
and  its  bole  will  be  as  beautiful  as  I  remember 
it   in  times  long  gone  by.     The  day  may  come 


552 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


•when  this  Lombardy  Poplar's  history  shall  be 
forgotten.  Then,  should  it  be  felled,  to  serve  do- 
mestic purposes,  woe  to  the  carpenter's  axe  and 
saw  !  They  will  have  hard  work  when  they  shall 
have  penetrated  into  the  interior  of  the  tree. 

From  this  brief  account,  the  admirer  of  trees 
may  learn  that  it  may  be  in  his  power  to  do  won- 
ders with  them  in  their  hour  of  accident,  provid- 
ed that  he  goes  the  right  way  to  work,  and  lets 
Dame  Nature  have  her  own  wise  course.  A  lof- 
ty and  majestic  tree  is  a  jewel  of  inestimable 
beauty  on  a  villa's  lawn,  and  is  worthy  of  the 
owner's  utmost  care. —  Charles  Waterton,  Walton 
Hall,  in  Horticulturist. 


INFLUENCE  OF  BUBAL  LIFE. 

The  following  just  and  eloquent  remarks  we 
quote  from  the  Address  of  Henry  F.  Durant, 
Esq.,  of  Boston,  delivered  before  the  Norfolk 
County  Agricultural  Society,  Sept.  29,  1859. 
Mr.  D.  said : 

He  did  not  come  here  to  attempt  any  instruc- 
tion in  agriculture.  But  there  was  a  common 
ground  where  we  could  all  meet  and  learn  some- 
thing from  each  other.  Other  lessons  might  be 
learned  in  the  green  fields,  than  the  best  mode 
of  raising  crops.  Education  in  the  widest  sense 
was  the  great  end  and  mystery  of  life.  We  were 
here  to  unfold  and  educate  ourselves — to  find  the 
development  of  heart  as  well  as  of  brain,  of  the 
affections  and  the  moral  nature.  In  the  country 
might  such  an  education  be  the  most  usefully 
obtained. 

He  first  spoke  of  the  democratic  aspect  of  ru- 
ral life,  of  the  happiness,  the  necessity,  the  dig- 
nity of  labor,  and  its  tendency  to  elevate  the 
mind  as  well  as  to  secure  competence.  Labor 
was  the  law  of  our  being.  Its  results  were  fixed 
in  the  Almighty  decrees.  Sunrise  and  sunset, 
winter  and  summer,  were  not  more  sure  than  the 
results  which  waited  upon  the  footsteps  of  strong 
endeavor.  The  law  of  "no  work,  no  wages," 
should  be  to  us  a  source  of  deepest  gratitude. 
The  New  England  farmer  should  be  peculiarly 
grateful  for  the  hard  soil  which  he  finds  in  this 
section  of  the  land — calling  forth  those  eff"orts 
which,  under  the  guidance  of  Christianity,  have 
elevated  him  high  up  in  the  lists  of  true  manhood. 

Rural  life  had  its  lessons  for  the  heart  and  the 
affections.  In  the  city,  men  hardly  knew  the 
names  of  their  next  door  neighbors  ;  in  the  coun- 
try, though  half  a  mile  apart,  men  were  neigh- 
bors. Country  life  taught  men  the  value  of  sym- 
pathy and  of  society.  It  gave  woman  her  true 
sphere,  too,  as  no  city  homes  ever  gave. 

The  country  refined  and  elevated.  It  taught 
us  on  every  hand  lessons  of  infinite  good.  Scenes 
of  grace  and  beauty  spread  themselves  abroad  on 
every  hand.  In  Rome  stands  a  great  obelisk, 
brought  long  centuries  ago  from  Egypt — from 
the  centre  of  mysterious  ruins — and  men  travel 
thither  from  every  land,  and  seek  to  read  the 
story  of  the  ancient  days,  and  gather  wisdom 
from  the  strange  hieroglyphics  inscribed  upon 
the  column.  Yet  all  around  us,  we  had  greater 
my&teries  than  those  of  ancient  hieroglyphics  or 
Egyptian  obelisks.  Every  blade  of  grass  which 
raised  itself  in  the  breeze  was  a  tower,  built  story 


on  story,  with  its  foundations  deep  in  the  earth, 
mocking  with  its  elastic  strength  and  beauty  the 
poor  imitations  of  man.  It  had  its  origin  long 
before  towers  and  obelisks  sprang  into  being  at 
the  touch  of  man,  and  came  down  to  us  perpetu- 
ated, from  year  to  year,  fraught  with  wondrous 
memories  and  suggestions. 

This  was  but  one  form  of  that  strange  mystery 
which  enveloped  us  on  every  hand,  which,  for 
want  of  a  better  name,  were  called  beauty.  Its 
influence  on  man  was  boundless,  and  the  son  of 
labor,  "Gerard  Massey,"  in  one  of  his  songs, 
called  "The  People,"  sang  of  it  in  fitting  strains. 
This  wonderful  book  Avhich  we  called  nature,  ru- 
ral life,  was  a  pleasant  story  which  had  no  end, 
and  on  every  page  we  found  the  word  "Excelsi- 
or." Taught  by  the  flowers  which  raised  their 
beauties  up  from  the  cold  ground,  taught  by  the 
trees  which  lifted  their  arms  heavenward,  taught 
by  the  mountains  whose  lofty  peaks  seemed  to 
unite  earth  with  heaven,  taught  by  the  constella- 
tions which  never  ceased  their  progress  through 
the  grand  and  boundless  realms  of  space,  we 
should  seek  to  make  our  lives  like  the  star  which 
waited  never,  but  hastened  on  its  appointed  way 
to  the  zenith  of  eternity. 


For  tlie  New  England  Farmer. 
CHARITY  FOR  THE  ROBIK. 

Friend  Brown  : — In  your  issue  of  Sept.  3d, 
"Charity"  has  attempted  to  furnish  facts  gathered 
from  the  investigations  of  Prof.  Jenks.  He  says 
that  nine-tenths  of  the  food  of  the  robin  found 
until  the  first  of  May,  consisted  of  the  larva^  of 
the  Bibio  allissennis,  an  insect,  in  the  opinion  of 
entomologists,  capable  of  producing  one  million 
from  each  parent,  each  season. 

Prof.  Jenks  demonstrates  that  th^  robin,  dur- 
ing the  months  of  March  and  April,  sixty-one 
days,  consumed  from  one  hundred  to  two  hun- 
dred of  those  terrible  scourges  to  the  tillers  of 
the  soil,  daily,  each  bird  destroying  some  six  or 
eight  thousands  yearly.  During  those  months, 
robins  are  very  scarce,  not  many  having  returned 
from  their  southern  quarters,  averaging  two,  or, 
at  the  most,  three  pairs  to  a  farm. 

(),  what  incalculable  benefit  to  the  poor  soil- 
tilier  are  four  or  six  birds  destroying  some  five 
or  six  hundred  worms  daily  out  of  millions  of 
millions  !  How  soon  they  must  all  be  destroyed, 
and  then,  cock  robin  must  starve. 

If  the  Professor's  theory  is  correct,  to  annihi- 
late the  Bibio,  robins  must  abound  pltritifully 
enough  to  out-number  all  olher  birds  in  exis- 
tence. Why,  sir,  the  number  must  be  so  vast, 
that  ten  months  starvation  must  follow,  for  all 
the  crops  used  by  the  human  family  would  not 
suffice  to  sustain  the  robins  needed  for  such  a 
glorious  worm-slaughter. 

"Charity"  would  have  us  protect  the  highway- 
man, the  banditti,  the  poacher,  becarse  they  may 
have  some  redeeming  qualities  ;  generosity,  even 
charity  may  be  dispensed  by  them,  when  it  comes 
cheap — stolen  charity. 

I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  about  the  bird  law. 
Common  law  gives  a  citizen  self-protection  in 
person  and  property  from  poachers.  Massachu- 
setts statute  law  says  he  shall  be  mulcted  for 
every  robin  killed,  or  found  dead  on  his  premi- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


553 


ses  ;  he  ismulctable  (if  I  may  use  the  word,)  for 
every  robin's  grave.  The  statutes  ought  to  have 
provided  a  robin  cemetery,  then  all  will  be  saved 
from  being  dragged  before  some  Justice  Innocent. 

Know  Sir  Walter  Scott's  idea  on  the  law,  and 
its  process  of  being  carried  out.  ''If  the  citizen 
makes  over  to  society  the  natural,  indisputable 
and  inalienable  right  of  self-defence,  society  is 
bound  to  maintain  its  share  of  the  contract  in 
full  and  adequate  protection,  and  the  contract  is 
violated  unless  it  does  so.  When  society  fails  to 
protect  personal  rights,  it  becomes,  for  the  time 
being,  and  for  the  purposes  of  that  act,  resolved 
into  its  elements,  and  the  power  goes  back  by 
primary  right  to  its  constituents.  No  majority, 
however  large,  may  place  men  under  a  sham 
government,  and  make  them  amenable  to  its 
penalties,  v/hile  it  refuses  to  protect  them  in 
those  rights  which  they  hold  from  a  source  higher 
than  government.  Still  less  can  it  assume  to 
prevent  them  from  redressing  those  wrongs 
which  its  authority  sanctions  or  permits  by  its 
neglect." 

Government  binds  the  citizen  to  loyalty  no 
farther  than  it  is  itself  bound  to  justice.  If  gov- 
ernment does  not  adequately  protect,  every  man 
may  take  law  into  his  own  hands  against  poach- 
ers upon  his  labor,  his  ov/n  and  his  family's  liv- 
ing, answerable  only  to  his  fellow-man.  He  only 
transfers  his  allegiance  from  a  sham  statute  to 
common  law.  J.  S.  Needham. 

South  Banvers,  Sept.,  1859. 


AUTUMN. 
Leaf  by  leaf  the  roses  fall, 

Drop  by  drop  the  springs  run  dry  ; 
Ons  by  one,  beyond  recall, 

Summer  beauties  fade  and  die; 
But  the  roses  bloom  again, 

And  the  spring  will  gush  anew, 
In  the  pleasant  April  rain, 

And  the  summer  sun  and  dew. 

So,  in  hours  of  deepest  gloom, 

When  the  springs  of  gladness  fail. 
And  the  roses  in  the  bloom 

Drop  like  maidens,  wan  and  pale, 
We  shall  find  some  hope  that  lies 

Like  a  silent  gem  apart, 
Hidden  far  from  careless  eyes, 

In  the  garden  of  the  heart. 

Some  sweet  hope  to  gladness  wed. 

That  will  spring  afresh  and  new, 
When  grief's  winter  shall  have  fled. 

Giving  place  to  rain  and  dew — 
Some  sweet  hope  that  breathes  of  spring, 

Tlirough  the  weary,  weary  time, 
Budding  for  its  blossoming. 

In  the  Spirit's  glorious  clime. 


SAWYEH'S  IMPROVED  CULTIVATOB. 

During  the  past  summer,  we  have  used  in  our 
fields  an  implement  with  the  above  name,  and 
have  found  it  in  reality,  a  labor-saving  imple- 
ment. It  is  our  practice  to  hill  potatoes  at  the 
first  hoeing,  all  we  intend  to  hill  for  the  season, 
— because  we  have  found  each  successive  hilling 
to  induce  a  new  set  of  roots  to  start  out  higher 
up  the  stalk,  and  from  these  a  new  crop  of  pota- 


toes. Under  this  practice,  the  forming  of  a  large 
hill  is  a  work  of  considerable  labor,  and  the  Im- 
proved Cultivator  performs  it  quickly  and  admi- 
rably. It  may  be  conveniently  changed  to  throw 
up  a  little  earth,  or  a  good  deal,  by  removing  the 
side  shares,  or  allowing  them  to  remain  on. 
Wherever  it  is  wished  to  hill  up  plants,  it  is  the 
best  implement  in  our  knowledge.  It  works 
clean,  also,  cutting  up  all  the  weeds  in  its  path. 
We  like  it  much.  We  do  not  know  who  sell  or 
make  it.     They  must  speak  for  themselves. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

FALL  PLOWING,  AND  THE  ADVANTA- 
GES OP  DEEP  PLOWING. 

It  is  always  desirable  to  do  as  much  of  the 
farm-work  in  the  fall,  preparatory  to  spring  op- 
erations, as  possible.  If  the  plowing  for  next 
year's  crops  can  now  be  done,  that  will  relieve 
the  team  from  a  heavy  task  in  the  spring,  as  well 
as  give  considerable  more  time  in  that  hurrying 
season  to  devote  to  other  needful  work.  The 
fore  part  of  November  is  a  favorable  time  for 
plowing,  the  land  then  being  generally  in  fine  con- 
dition to  plow,  the  weather  cool  and  bracing,  the 
team  hearty  and  vigorous  for  the  work,  and  there 
is  usually  leisure  to  devote  to  it. 

Sod  land,  well  plowed  in  late  autumn,  will  be 
mellower  to  cultivate  and  clear  of  grass  and  weeds, 
the  next  season,  than  if  it  were  plowed  in  spring, 
— the  frosts  of  winter  killing  the  up-turned  roots 
and  disintegrating  and  crumbling  the  soil,  so 
that  in  the  spring  it  will  readily  yield  a  deep, 
mellow  and  clean  seed-bed,  fit  for  any  kind  of 
a  field-crop.  Not  only  will  the  land  be  clean  of 
grass  and  weeds,  but  clean  of  grubs  and  cut- 
worms also.  By  plowing  green-sward  as  late  as 
November,  the  worms  and  their  eggs  are  turned 
to  the  surface  in  a  torpid  state,  their  arrange- 
ments are  reversed,  and  the  frosts  of  winter  im- 
mediately succeeding,  they  are  cleared  out  of  the 
land.  I  have  found  late  fall  plowing  a  perfect 
mode  of  ridding  my  land  of  these  two  varieties 
of  worms. 

November  is  a  good  time  to  plow  stubble  or 
old  ground,  that  is  to  be  sowed  with  grain  and 
stocked  to  grass  the  next  spring.  If  the  land  is 
in  corn-stubble,  it  will  be  well  first  to  put  on  a 
heavy  harrow,  and  passing  with  it  once  in  a  place, 
astride  of  a  row  each  time,  loosen  the  hills  and 
scatter  the  corn-stubs  about,  which  will  make  the 
plowing  easier  and  more  effective,  and  the  stubble 
being  separated  in  loose  pieces  by  the  harrow, 
will  more  readily  fall  to  the  bottom  of  the  fur- 
row than  if  remaining  in  unbroken  hills  or  clumps 
of  roots  and  stems.  Lying  beneath  the  furrow 
through  the  winter,  with  the  soil  settled  down 
upon  them,  the  stubs  are  not  liable  to  be  pulled 
up  to  the  surface  when  harrowing  in  the  grain  in 
the  spring.  I  have  practised  the  plowing  of  corn- 
stubble  and  potato-ground  in  the  fall,  for  sever- 
al years  past,  and  like  it  well,  on  such  of  my  lapd 
as  is  not  subject  to  overflow  by  freshets  from  the 
river,  or  is  not  on  so  steep  a  declivity  as  to  be 
liable  to  be  washed  by  heavy  rains  in  the  winter 
or  early  spring.  The  land  does  not  need  plow- 
ing again  in  spring,  but   is  ready  to  receive  the 


554 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


seed  the  very  first  day  that  the  surface  has  be- 
come sufficiently  dry  to  harrow  well,  which  will 
usually  be  several  days  earlier  than  the  land 
would  do  to  plow,  or  could  be  got  ready  for  seed- 
ing, if  to  be  plowed.  The  grain  and  grass-seeds 
committed  to  the  ground  thus  early,  have  the 
benefits  of  the  early  rains,  and  become  well  root- 
ed before  the  hot  and  dry  weather  comes  on. 

In  the  older  settled  districts  of  New  England, 
it  is  often  the  case  that  the  land,  by  long  and 
quite  shallow  cultivation,  together  with  a  system 
of  close  cropping,  is  now  too  compact  and  hard, 
and  needs  deeper  plowing  and  more  thorough 
pulverization  than  when  it  was  new,  and  natu- 
rally more  mellow  and  friable  by  the  presence 
of  vegetable  substance  in  the  soil.  Then,  again, 
the  oft-repeated  treading  of  the  cattle,  and  pres- 
sure of  the  sole  of  the  plow,  in  invariably  shal- 
low furrows,  has,  in  all  those  lands  of  a  close  tex- 
ture approaching  to  clay,  with  a  strong  and  com- 
pact subsoil,  created  an  artificial  hardpan,  quite 
too  near  the  surface,  which  operates  deleterious- 
ly  upon  the  crops,  both  in  a  wet  and  a  dry  sea- 
son :  in  the  former,  by  preventing  the  superabun- 
dant moisture  from  readily  sinking  below  and 
relieving  the  surface  of  wetness  and  cold;  and  in 
the  latter,  by  preventing  the  roots  of  vegetation 
from  striking  deeply  into  the  soil,  away  from  the 
parching  effects  of  the  sun.  The  roots  of  our 
cultivated  plants  will  adapt  themselves  to  the  pe- 
culiarities of  the  season,  if  jiermitted  to  do  so; 
that  is,  in  a  dry  season,  they  will  strike  deep  in- 
to the  soil  for  moisture  and  a  grateful  tempera- 
ture, and  in  a  wet  season  keep  nearer  the  surface, 
especially  if  iriade  dry  and  warm  by  deep  tillage. 

Where  the  land  is  of  a  close  texture,  with  a 
strong  compact  subsoil,  it  is  not  unusual  to  find 
a  better  farm  underneath,  than  that  which  has 
been  worked  so  long  and  so  shallow  on  top.  By 
breaking  through  this  artificial  hardpan  or  crust, 
and  bringing  up  a  portion  of  the  under  soil  to 
the  light  of  day  and  the  influence  of  manure,  the 
crops  are  by  that  operation  considerably  in- 
creased, even  though  no  more  than  the  customa- 
ry quantity  of  manure  per  acre  is  applied.  And 
if  high  manuring  is  practiced  in  connection  with 
the  deeper  cultivation,  the  crops  will  be  very 
much  increased  over  what  could  be  realized  from 
the  old  shallow  plowing  and  artificial  hardpan 
near  the  surface,  accompanied  by  as  high  manui*- 
ing.  Then  there  is  the  difference,  too,  in  the 
case  of  tilling  the  crops  raised  on  deep,  mellow 
land,  as  compared  with  those  on  hird,  shallow 
plowed  land. 

If  deep  sod  plowing  is  to  be  practiced,  it  is  es- 
pecially desirable  to  do  it  in  thj  autumn,  that 
the  atmospheric  influences  may  ameliorate  and 
modify  the  upturned  subsoil,  preparatory  to  fu- 
ture cultivation.  Plow  the  green-sward  in  No- 
vember, say  eight  to  nine  or  ten  inches  deep,  ac- 
cording to  the  quality  of  the  subsoil.  In  the 
spring  spread  a  good  coat  of  manure,  which,  if 
fine  compost,  can  be  sufficiently  mingled  with  the 
soil  and  covered  by  the  harrow  and  cultivator; 
or  if  coarse,  can,  by  lightly  cross-plowing,  be 
•turned  under  three  to  four  or  five  inches  deep, 
according  to  the  depth  of  plowing  in  the  fall.  If 
the  plowing  was,  say  nine  inches  deep,  there  will 
be  no  difficulty  in  guaging  a  light  plow,  with  a 
sharp  share,  and  wheel  on  the  beam,  so  as  to 
cross-plow  in  the  spring  and  cover  the  manure 


about  four  inches  deep,  without  disturbing  the 
sod  underneath.  Green  manure,  well  covered 
that  depth,  will  decompose  readily,  and  be  more 
active  and  effective  on  the  succeeding  corn  or 
other  hoed  crop  than  if  turned  down  under  the 
sod. 

A  neighbor  of  mine  spread  his  manure  on 
grass-land,  a  year  ago  last  spring,  and  turned  it 
under  the  sod,  about  six  inches  deep,  and  plant- 
ed the  field  with  corn.  Nearly  half  the  crop  was 
destroyed  by  grub  worms  ;  and  the  soil,  being  a 
close  compact  loam,  the  manure  under  the  sod 
was  too  inactive,  so  that  the  corn  which  did  sur- 
vive was  backward  in  maturing.  Last  fall  he 
consulted  with  me  as  to  what  he  had  better  do 
with  a  piece  of  green-sward  adjoining  and  simi- 
lar to  his  corn-field,  and  which  he  wished  to 
plant  the  present  season  with  corn,  but  the  sod 
of  which  was  infested  with  grubs,  as  any  one 
could  see  by  digging  into  it.  I  advised  him  to 
plow  it  in  November,  turning  the  sod  over  from 
nine  to  ten  inches  deep.  He  did  so ;  and  in  the 
spring  harrowed  the  ground  lightly  first,  to  level 
the  furrows  and  make  cross-plowing  convenient, 
then  spread  the  manure  on  the  furrows,  and  cross- 
plowed,  turning  the  manure  under  four  to  five 
inches  deep,  harrowed  lightly,  marked  the  field 
off  in  hills  each  way,  dropped  a  spoonful  of  su- 
perphosphate in  each  hill,  and  planted  it  with 
corn.  No  traces  of  worms  have  been  discovered 
in  the  field  this  year,  and  although  the  season 
has  not  been  ftivorable  for  the  corn  crop,  he  has 
considerably  more  corn  to  the  acre  than  last  year 
— probaljly  twice  as  much.  The  land  has  also  been 
very  mellow,  and  free  from  grass  and  weeds,  and 
easier  to  till,  every  way,  than  the  piece  last  year 
that  was  plowed  six  inches  deep.  The  subsoil  here 
was  a  close,  light-colored  loam,  of  a  clay  nature, 
and  by  spring  had  changed  to  a  darker  color,  by 
several  shades,  than  when  first  turned  up  in  the 
fall.  The  field  will  doubtless  show  the  good  ef- 
fects of  deep  plowing  for  several  years  to  come, 
especially  while  in  grass  again,  lasting  considera- 
bly longer  in  productive  mowing  than  if  the 
plowing  had  been  not  more  than  five  or  six  inch- 
es deep.  The  grass-roots,  having  a  deeper  range, 
will  not  so  soon  become  webbed  and  tangled  to- 
gether, and  the  sod  "bound  out,"  as  it  is  termed. 

A  friend  of  mine,  who,  a  few  years  since,  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  old  worn-out  plain  land,  is 
having  remarkable  success  in  rejuvenating  the 
land  by  deep  plowing,  accompanied  by  high  ma- 
nuring. The  land  had,  for  many  years,  been  un- 
der the  wasting  effects  of  shallow  plowing  and 
severe  cropping  with  rye,  until  at  length  it  was 
quite  exhausted,  and  abandoned  to  pasturage, 
yielding  a  scanty  herbage  in  the  early  part  of 
the  season,  but  becoming  dry  and  sere  by  mid- 
summer, and  remaining  so  through  the  remain- 
der of  the  year.  My  friend  found  that  the  sur- 
face soil  was  of  little  or  no  account  any  way,  but 
thought  there  might  be  some  hopes  of  making 
productive  land  of  the  subsoil.  He  accordingly 
commenced  upon  a  piece  of  the  tract,  of  about 
five  acres,  by  at  once  putting  in  his  universal  sod 
and  subsoil  plow  ten  inches  deep,  in  the  month 
of  November,  and  turned  up  a  subsoil  of  yellow 
loam,  fine-grained  and  free  from  stone,  and  that 
had  never  before  seen  the  day.  In  the  spring 
following  the  plowed  land  was  manured  broad- 
cast, at  the  rate  of  about  twelve  cards  rtr   acre, 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


555 


and  cross-plowed  with  a  sharp  steel  plow,  turn- 
ing the  manure  under  four  to  five  inches  deep. 
The  field  was  then  harrowed,  furrowed  out  in 
rows  each  way,  a  table-spoonful  of  superphos- 
phate put  in  each  hill,  and  the  piece  planted  with 
corn.  It  yielded  about  seventy  bushels  of  shelled 
corn  per  acre,  and  the  next  year  a  good  crop  of 
oats,  and  is  now  well  set  in  grass,  for  a  mowing- 
field.  Other  portions  of  the  condemned  old  plain 
are  now  undergoing  a  similar  process  of  deep 
plowing  and  high  culture,  with  good  results  ; 
and  this  desert  will  doubtless  soon  blossom  as 
the  rose. 

Where  land  is  of  a  loose,  sandy  or  gravelly  na- 
ture, with  a  feeble  subsoil,  and  has  never  been 
plowed  deeply,  it  v/ill  not  be  advisable  to  plow 
so  deep  at  once  as  nine  or  ten  inches,  unless 
there  is  a  large  amount  of  manure  applied.  But 
even  such  S'iis  may  be  gradually  deepened,  with- 
out the  necessity  of  extra  large  dressing  of  ma- 
nure, by  bringing  up  an  inch  or  two  of  the  sub- 
soil at  each  rotation  of  crops ;  and  thus,  in  time, 
a  good  depth  of  active  soil  may  be  obtained. 
The  best  general  rule,  however,  in  farming,  is 
deep  plowing  and  high  manuring. 

F.   HOLBROOK. 

Brattleboro' ,  Oct.  26,  1859. 


MAKE  PAEM  LABOB  FASHIONABLE. 

At  the  base  of  the  prosperity  of  any  people 
lies  this  great  principle — make  farm  labor  fash- 
ionable at  home.  Educate,  instruct,  encourage  ; 
and  ofl'er  all  the  incentives  you  can  offer,  to  give 
interest  and  dignity  to  labor  at  home.  Enlist  the 
heart  and  the  intellect  of  the  family  in  the  sup- 
port of  a  domestic  system  that  will  make  labor 
attractive  at  the  homestead.  By  means  of  the 
powerful  influences  of  early  home  education,  en- 
deavor to  invest  practical  labor  with  an  interest 
that  will  cheer  the  heart  of  each  member  of  the 
family,  and  thereby  you  will  give  to  your  house- 
hold the  grace,  peace,  refinement  and  attraction 
which  God  designed  a  hotne  should  possess. 

The  truth  is,  Ave  must  talk  more,  think  more, 
ivork  more,  and  act  more,  in  reference  to  ques- 
tions relating  to  home. 

The  training  and  improvement  of  the  physical, 
intellectual,  social  and  moral  powers  and  senti- 
ments of  the  youth  of  our  country,  require  some- 
thing more  than  the  school-house,  academy,  col- 
lege and  university.  The  young  mind  should  re- 
ceive judicious  training  in  the  field,  in  the  gar- 
den, in  the  barn,  in  the  workshop,  in  the  parlor, 
in  the  kitchen — in  a  word,  around  the  hearth- 
stone at  home. 

Whatever  intellectual  attainments  your  son 
may  have  acquired,  he  is  unfit  to  go  forth  into 
society  if  he  has  not  had  thrown  around  him  the 
genial  and  purifying  influences  of  parents,  sis- 
ters, brotliers,  and  the  mnn-saving  influence  of 
the  family  government.  The  nation  must  look 
for  virtue,  wisdom  and  strength,  to  the  education 
that  controls  and  shapes  the  home  policy  of  the 
family  circle.  There  can  be  no  love  of  country 
where  there  is  no  love  of  home.  Patriotism,  true 
and  genuine,  the  only  kind  worthy  of  the  name, 
derives  its  mighty  strength  from  fountains  that 
gush  out  around  the  hearthstone  ;  and  those  who 
forget  to  cherish  the   household  interests,  will 


soon  learn  to  look  with  indifference  upon  the  in- 
terests of  their  common  country. 

We  must  cultivate  roots — not  the  tops.  We 
must  make  the  famihj  government,  the  school, 
the  farm,  the  church,  the  shop,  the  agricultural 
fairs,  the  laboratories  of  our  future  greatness. 
We  must  educate  our  sons  to  be  farmers,  arti- 
zans,  architects,  engineers,  geologists,  botanists, 
chemists — in  a  word,  practical  men.  Their  eyes 
must  be  turned  from  Washington  to  their  states, 
counties,  townships,  districts,  homes.  This  is  true 
patriotism ;  and  the  only  patriotism  that  will 
perpetually  preserve  the  nation. — Gov.  Wright. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

FARMING  IN  NORTHEKN  NEW  HAMP- 
SHIRE. 

Mr.  Editor  : —  Farm-house  architecture  was 
mentioned  in  my  last.  The  interior  of  our  dwel- 
ling is  somewhat  deficient.  First — a  small  apart- 
ment often  serves  as  wash,  cook,  eating,  library 
and  living  room.  Here  are  assembled  a  steam- 
ing wash-tub,  seething  cook-stove,  cupboard,  ta- 
bles, chairs,  sink  and  wood  box.  Various  arti- 
cles of  clothing,  files  of  newspapers,  almanacs 
and  shelves  of  books,  are  hanging  on  the  wall — 
dried  apple  and  pumpkin  depending  from  the 
ceiling.  Here  the  family  take  their  meals  and 
pass  their  leisure  time. 

Second — the  larger  and  more  pleasant  portion 
of  the  dwelling  is  divided  into  two  or  three  well 
papered,  painted,  carpeted  and  curtained  rooms. 
Here  are  costly  mirrors,  paintings,  tables,  chairs, 
gifts,  gilt-covered  books,  artificial  flowers,  an  or- 
namented stove,  polished  shovel  and  tongs  and 
the  family  ambrotypes.  But,  alas,  these  rooms 
are  Holy  of  Holies,  to  the  family.  The  mother 
alone,  as  high  priest,  enters  there  semi-annually 
to  overturn  and  then  re-adjust  their  contents. 

Now  here  are  two  great  evils — first,  confining 
the  family  to  so  small  an  apartment,  and  allowing 
papers,  books  and  clothing  to  become  injured 
by  steam  and  smoke  ;  second,  expending  so  much 
time,  labor  and  money  in  furnishing  those  spa- 
cious but  useless  apartments — the  parlors. 

The  remedy  is  simple  and  inexpensive.  C(  n- 
vert  the  most  spacious  of  these  rooms  iiito  a  well 
lighted,  ventilated  and  warmed  living  apartment 
— render  it  free  from  vapor  and  smoke,  and  ex- 
change that  costly  but  useless  furniture  for  a 
globe,  maps,  a  variety  of  engravings,  scientific 
and  other  works.  Have  these  tastefully  and  con- 
veniently arranged. 

Such  a  reformation  in  our  dwellings  would  be 
of  incalculable  value.  If  farmer's  workmen  and 
sons  could  assemble  in  such  a  room  after  the 
day's  labor ;  there  would  be  less  murmuring — 
thought  would  be  awakened,  and  youth  be  pro- 
tected from  the  fatal  allurements  of  idleness. 

Who  shall  begin  this  reformation  ?  None  so 
competent  as  the  wives  of  farmers.  If  parents 
desire  honorable  men  and  noble  women  for  sons 
and  daughters,  they  must  remember  that  youth 
must  have  an  acquaintance  with  facts — with  the 
true,  beautiful  and  useful  things  of  nature.  Then 
make  home  attractive,  and  let  that  attraction  con- 
sist of  something  profitable. 

This  is  a  ])ractical  question.  Fashion  is  the 
great  obstacle.     All  are  pecuniarily  able  to  have 


556 


NEW  ENGLAND  FAKMER. 


Dec. 


"uch  an  apartment,  if  they  have  parlors.  Now 
..hall  an  injurious,  inconvenient  and  expensive 
iiabit  be  cultivated,  because,  forsooth,  we  must 
imitate  our  wealty  city  friends?  Shall  we  ex- 
pend time,  labor  and  money  for  that  which  can 
be  of  no  possible  benefit  to  any  one  ?  Let  those 
who  think  farming  unprofitable  and  unpleasant, 
consider  this  question.  "W.  C. 

Bath,  N.  E.,  Oct.  24,  1859. 


Remakks.— "Excellent — these   are   the  phases 
of  rural  life  that  need  especial  attention. 


For  the  Neto  England  Farmer. 

IS  THE  STOMACH  MERELY  A 
COWDENSBB? 

Agricultural  chemists — perhaps  the  majority 
of  them — inform  us  that  vegetable  or  animal 
food  passed  through  the  stomach  and  body  of  an 
animal,  receives  no  element  which  makes  it  more 
valuable  as  a  manure  than  it  was  before.  One 
hundred  pounds  of  hay  passed  through  the  body 
of  an  animal,  will  give  about  forty  of  manure — 
the  sixty  pounds  loss  being  carbon  and  water 
expired  as  carbonic  acid  gas,  of  little  value — in 
so  great  a  proportion,  as  is  stated — in  the  ma- 
nure heap.  In  other  words,  that  the  hay  is  sim- 
ply reduced,  having  neither  lost  nor  gained  any- 
thing of  much  value  as  a  manurial  agent.  And 
so  with  all  other  kinds  of  food  ;  as  is  the  charac- 
ter of  the  latter,  so  is  the  manure. 

The  late  Prof.  J.  W.  F.  Johnston  entertains 
the  same  opinion  in  his  "Elements  of  Agricultu- 
ral Chemistry  and  Geology."  He  says  :  "The 
vegetable  food,  by  respiration,  is  freed  from  a 
large  portion  of  its  carbon,  which  is  discharged 
into  the  air,  while  nearly  the  whole  of  the  nitro- 
gen remains  behind.  In  the  food  consumed,  the 
carbon  was  to  the  nitrogen  as  nine  to  one  ;  in 
that  which  remains  in  the  body  after  respiration 
has  done  its  work,  the  carbon  is  to  the  nitrogen 
in  the  proportion  of  only  two  to  one."  Mr. 
Juhnston  observes,  that  loeir/lit  for  tveigJit,  the 
rnuiure  of  an  animal  must,  in  all  its  important 
forces^ be  richer  than  the  vegetable  food  con- 
sumed ;  but  he  does  not  admit  that  it  contains 
anything  more,  but  rather  less,  besides  the  loss 
of  carbon,  which  he  regards  as  an  unimportant 
ingredient. 

In  the  last  February  number  of  the  Genesee 
Farmer,  the  able  editor  asserts  the  sam.e  doctrine 
in  a  still  more  unequivocal  manner.  "It  cannot 
be  too  often  repeated,"  he  observes,  "that  the 
value  of  the  manure  depends  primarily  on  the 
composition  of  the  food  eaten  by  the  animals. 
'You  cannot  make  a  whistle  out  of  a  pig's  tail,' 
neither  can  you  make  a  good  manure  out  of  an 
old  straw  stack.  You  may  rot  it  down,  or  feed 
it  to  animals  ;  but  it  is  straw  still."  *  *  *  *  "Un- 
less the  substances  from  which  the  manures  are 
derived  contain  the  necessary  elements,  it  is  in 
vain  to  expect  to  make  a  valuable  manure  from 
fhem  by  any  known  process  of  feeding  or  fer- 
mentation." 

In  an  article  entitled  "Barn-yard  Manure,"  in 
the  "Annals  of  Science,"  by  Hamilton  L.  Smith, 
it  is  stated:  "There  are  no  fertilizing  properties 
gained  by  passing  food  through  the  body  of  an 


animal,  and  there  may  be  nothing  of  material 
consequence  lost." 

All  this  authority  would  seem  to  shake,  if  not 
entirely  dissipate,  the  common  belief,  that  vege- 
table food  receives  important  fertilizing  matter 
from  the  perpetual  waste  of  the  animal  system, 
or  that  it  is  transformed  into  such  by  the  influ- 
ence of  respiration  and  the  mysterious  process  of 
digestion.  If  non-nitrogenous  or  even  azotized 
food,  however,  takes  from  the  system  more  than 
it  gives,  the  animal  in  time  must  grow  poor  up- 
on it,  unless  it  has  other  resources  of  nutrition 
— from  the  air  it  breathes  and  the  water  it  drinks, 
or  unless  the  stomach  has  the  power  of  chemi- 
cally changing  the  food,  or  of  creating  new  sub- 
stances— which  may  find  more  belief.  If  heavy 
drafts  are  made  upon  the  food  alone  to  build  up 
or  sustain  the  animal  system,  enough  for  the  for- 
mation of  muscle  or  of  fat,  then  the  food  must 
lose  important  substances  in  its  passage,  and 
would  suggest  to  the  reflecting  agricultural  econ- 
omist, whether  there  is  not  some  better  method 
of  manufacturing  manure  than  the  feeding  of  an- 
imals. In  respect  to  growing  animals.  Prof. 
Johnston  acknowledges  their  manure  is  not  so 
rich  as  those  which  are  fattening  ;  but  he  seems 
to  admit  no  important  loss  in  that  of  the  latter, 
as  nothing  is  taken  but  starch  and  sugar. 

But,  per  contra,  I  pass  to  what  another  writer 
says.  In  the  last  volume  of  the  "Massachusetts 
Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture,"  there  ap- 
pears a  Prize  Essay  on  manures,  by  Joseph  Rey- 
nolds, M.  D.,  who  seems  to  entertain  the  more 
common  belief  that  there  is  an  important,  nitro- 
genous and  saline  accretion  in  vegetable  matter 
in  its  transit  through  the  animal.  In  this  partic- 
ular, he  seems  to  ignore  the  doctrine  of  those 
quoted  above,  though  he  does  not  directly  com- 
bat it.  The  essay  is  clearly,  logically  and  forci- 
bly written,  generally,  without  extra  verbiage  or 
abstruse  technical  terms  ;  and  appears  to  me 
well  worthy  the  award  it  received.  In  the  ex- 
tract made,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  italicize  a 
few  words  or  phrases,  for  an  obvious  reason. 
Dr.  Reynolds  observes : 

"Vegetable  substances  are  also  decomposed  in 
the  digestive  organs  of  animals,  by  a  process,  in 
many  respects,  similar  to  that  which  we  have  al- 
ready described.  The  vegetable  fibre  is  commu- 
nicated by  the  teeth,  and  softened  and  permeated 
by  the  fluids  contained  in  the  organs  of  the  ani- 
mal. A  large  portion  of  the  starch,  gum,  sugar, 
gluten  and  salts,  are  dissolved  out  and  taken  vsp 
by  the  lacteal  vessels  of  the  animal,  to  serve  the 
purposes  of  nutrition.  The  remainder,  mixed,  as 
we  have  said,  with  the  juices  of  the  animal,  con- 
taining in  solution  various  substances,  is  ejected. 
This  process  is  accomplished  much  more  rapidly 
than  the  ordinary  process  of  vegetable  decay, 
and  the  substance  resulting  is  mixed  with  a  large 
amount  of  animal  matter,  which  fits  it  for  rapid 
putrefaction.  The  animal  matter  acts  the  part 
of  a  leaven,  which  sets  up  the  putrefacting  pro- 
cess, wherever  the  necessary  conditions  are  pres- 
ent. There  is  this  difference  between  the  reduc- 
tion of  vegetables  by  the  ordinary  process  of 
composting,  and  by  the  process  of  animal  diges- 
tion, viz  :  that  in  the  latter  process,  vegetables 
are  made  to  afford  nutriment  to  animals  while 
undergoing  reduction,  and  yet  in  consequence  of 
the  condition  to  which  they  are  brought,  and  of 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


557 


the  additions  which  they  receive,  they  are  more 'place  of  leather.  It  is  a  very  economical  fabric, 
valuable  as  manures,  than  when,  without  serving  or  rather  series  of  fabrics,  cemented  together 
the  purposes  of  nutrition,  they  are  reduced  by  [  with  caoutchouc,  wholly  inodorous,  and  of  amaz- 
the  former  process.  These  two  processes,  vegeta-  ing  strength  and  tenacity.  It  assumes  a  polish 
ble  composting,  and  the  feeding  of  animals  with  |  like   leather,  is   marked   in  some   instances,  like 


vegetables,  are  the  sources  from  which  carbona- 
ceous manures  are  chiefly  obtained." 

Digestion  is  a  vital  process  and  seems  to  pos 


morocco,  bears  a  beautiful  enamel,  is  susceptible 
of  the  most  delicate  embossing,  resists  the  stains 
to  which  leather  is  subject,  damp  does  not  affect 


sess  the  power  of  changing  the  nature  of  food  jit,  and  the  application  of  a  sponge  removes  all 
submitted  to  it  ;  of  causing  re-formation  ;  and,  dirt  and  restores  it  at  once  to  its  pristine  charRc- 
perhaps  by  the  aid  of  respiration,  (drawing  in  ter.  It  is  being  already  applied  to  countless  pur- 
ine gases  of  the  atmosphere,)  of  generating  or  I  poses,  and  maybe  ranked  amongst  the  most  val- 
si.  cumulating  nitrogenous  substances.  Whether  ]uable  of  the  boons  which  the  discovery  of  caout- 
a  man  or  brute  live  on  vegetable  or  animal  food,|chouc  has  conferred  upon  civilized  humanity. — 
his  body  is  the  same.  The  flesh  and  bones  of  the.  Globe. 
lion  and  the  lamb  are  alike.  The  processes 
which  go  on  in  the  stomach  are  not  well  under- 
stood, and  probably  never  will  be.  That  the  lat- 
ter is  not  a  machine  which  compounds  or  mixes 
up  its  food,  but  a  receptacle  having  peculiar  and 
mysterious  functions,  seems  to  be  admitted.  The 
celebrated  John  Hunter  once  laconically  observed 
to  his  students  :  "Some  physiologists  will  have 
it,  that  the  stomach  is  a  mill  ;  others,  that  it  is 
a  fermenting  vat ;  others  again,  that  it  is  a  stew- 
pan  ;  but  in  my  view  of  the  matter,  gentlemen, 
it  is  neither  a  mill,  a  fermenting  vat,  nor  a  stew- 
pan  ;  but — a  stomach,  gentlemen,  a  stomach." 

At  present,  it  is  confessed,  physiology  and 
chemistry  are  unable  satisfactorily  to  explain  the 
animal  economy.  Liebig's  beautiful  theory  of 
nutrition  is  said  to  be  rapidly  losing  its  hold 
upon  the  scientific  mind,  and  confusion  and  mys- 
tery still  reign.  The  blood  is  supposed  to  be  the 
nutritive  vehicle  in  animals ;  yet  substances  are 
found  in  the  tissues  and  bones  which  cannot  be 
discovered  in  the  blood — nor  in  the  food,  in  suf- 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
COAL  ASHES  AS  A  FERTILIZER. 

Friend  Brown  : — Your  paper  is  taken  at  our 
ofnce  by  A.  H.  Grosvenor,  for  the  general  in- 
struction in  agricultural  gardening,  &c.,  at  our 
section  of  the  Shaker  Village  at  Harvard.  Among 
the  farmers'  reading  matter  it  contains,  I  have 
been  pleased  to  observe  an  occasional  article  up- 
on the  general  uses  of  coal  ashes  as  a  fertilizer. 

In  your  last  issue,  the  editor  of  the  Commer- 
cial Bulletin  has  presented  to  the  public  a  good 
article  on  this  subject,  but  in  perusing  it,  I  was 
led  to  suppose  that  many  disposed  to  be  skepti- 
cal on  this  subject  would  argue  that  the  editor's 
test  cf  anthracite  coal  was  not  a  clear  one,  be- 
cause he  incorporated  with  said  ashes  equal  parts 
of  horse  manure  and  loam  in  one  general  heap, 
as  an  auxiliary  to  his  pleasant  half  acre. 

Such  skeptical  friends  would  be  apt  to  contend 
that  the  horse  manure  and  loam  did  all  the  work, 
while  the  ashes,  like  the  white  soft-handed  gen- 


ficient  Quantities.    Neither  is  the  blood  the  same  .  ,  -  ,  • 

in  any  tVo  individuals,  and  is  perpetually  varying  tleman  farmer  that  simply  rides  through  his 
in  the  same.  Phosphate  of  lime  is  found  in  the  i  plantation,  received  the  honor,_  and  made  all  the 
whole  organism  of  man  ;  yet  it  is  said  none  has,  noise.  But  as  we  too  think  difl'erent,  please  a_l- 
ever  been  found  in  the  blood.  Azotized  food  ^ow  us  to  state  our  reasons  for  endorsing  his 
has  been  regarded  as  the  most  nutritious ;  yet  a 
writer  in.  Blackwood's  Magazine  says  that  "water 
is  as  nutritious  as  roast  beef."  It  may  perhaps 
be  well  supposed,  that  the  water  which  animals 
drink — charged  with  various  salts,  in  connection 
with  the  influence  of  the  atmosphere — would 
greatly  modify  the  food  in  the  stomach,  and  en- 
rich that  which  is  passed  off  as  manure. 

Prof.  Johnston  states  that  thirty-six  pounds  of 
sheep  manure  are  worth  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five   of  cow.     In   feeding   one    hundred  pounds 


opinion. 

We  consume  at  our  large  dwelling-house  a 
number  of  tons  of  coal  each  winter,  and  having 
added  portions  of  it  to  our  composts,  with  little 
calculation  or  observation,  we  determined  to  test 
it  singly  this  past  season,  and  closely  observe  its 
effects.  On  an  old  mowing  field  too  much  run 
down,  we  top-dressed  a  square  piece  of  ground 
fairly  with  clear  coal  ashes  early  in  the  spring. 
While  the  crop  was  growing,  at  all  stages  the 
di'Serence  was  perceptible.     When  ready  for  the 


of  English  hay  to  a  cow,  and  the  same  to  a  sheep,  [scythe,  it  was  more  in  quantity  ;  and  as  to  qual- 
in  which  do  we  get  the  greater  value  as  manure  ?|'>y.  it  produced  about  equal  parts  of  herds  grass 

and  red  clover.  If  the  clover  was  not  introduced 
by  the  agency  of  the  ashes,  we  know  not  how  it 
was  introduced,  for   four   years  none  was 


Or  is  the  product  from  either  more  valuable 
than  the  hay  would  have  been — aside  from  its 
reduction — or  does  it  contain  more  nitrogen  and 
other  manurial  ingredients  ? 

I  would  not  pretend  to  answer  these  questions  ; 
and  although  I  believe  rich  food  will  produce 
rich   manure,  I  am  in  doubt  whether   poor  food 


there  before,  or  in  any  other  part  of  the  field, 
and  this  was  the  only  clover  seen  in  said  field  the 
past  season.  Both  grass  and  clover  was  more 
vigorous,  green  and  lively  within  the  top-dressed 


may  not  give  a  manure  of  higher  relative  value  square,  and  just  as  visible   all   around   was   the 


than  the  substance  consumed. 
West  Medford,  Oct.  13,  1859. 


exhausted  crop,  which  said  as  audibly  as  grass 
could  say,  in  its  declining  state,  that  it  had  re- 
ceived no  such  assistance  from  this  individual  fer- 
tilizer. 

Vegetable  Leather. — Messrs.  Spill  &  Co.,i  On  a  hill-side  not  at  all  renowned  for  its  weal- 
the  well  known  army  contractors,  are  issuing!  thy  properties  in  soil,  we  planted  the  Davis  Seed- 
from  their  works  at  Stepney,  portions,  as  sam- 1  lings  and  Jenny  Lind  potatoes  in  clear  coal  ashes, 
pies,   of  a  novel  material,  intended  to  take  the  half  a  shovel  full  in  a  hill.     Below,  on  equally 


558 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


as  good  ground,  we  planted  the  same  kinds  of 
potatoes  in  compost  manure,  and  the  coal  ashes, 
single  handed,  turned  out  the  largest,  best,  fairest 
and  most  numerous  quantity  of  potatoes.  In  re- 
ality, they  were  the  best  we  raised  on  the  farm. 
Almost  side  by  side,  in  compost  manure,  our  po- 
tatoes were  somewhat  infected  with  rot ;  in  the 
ashes  they  were  all  healthy  and  sound  almost  to 
a  potato. 

In  kindling  fires,  it  is  true,  we  use  shavings 
and  a  little  light  wood,  but  the  quantity  I  con- 
sider almost  too  insignificant  to  take  into  the  ac- 
count. 

These  experiments  convince  us  that  as  a  ferti- 
lizer, anthracite  coal  ashes  possess  the  life  and 
energy  to  produce  the  above  effects  on  common 
crops.  Hence,  whatever  theoretical  lecturers  or 
writers  may  present  to  undervalue  the  better 
qualities  of  the  article,  while  it  continues  to  im- 
prove quantities  and  qualities  of  grass,  and  give 
us  sounder  and  larger  crops  of  potatoes,  we  con- 
clude to  give  it  an  honorable  standing  among 
the  general  agents  which  have  long  held  undis- 
puted station  in  the  farmers'  compost. 

South  Groton,  Oct.,  1859.     Wm.  Leonard. 


■WINTEK  BARLEY. 

Winter  barley  is  a  variety  of  grain  that  has 
only  been  tried  in  this  State  for  a  few  years,  and 
has  not  yet  got  largely  into  cultivation. 
Wherever  it  has  been  given  a  fair  chance,  it  has 
done  well,  as  we  know  by  the  crops  which  we 
have  seen.  In  a  letter  to  the  Branch  County  lie- 
publican,  Mr.  James  Clisbee,  a  well  known  and 
prominent  farmer,  thus  writes  of  winter  barley  : 

"The  winter  barley  has  been  grown  in  this  vi- 
cinity for  the  last  three  years,  and  is,  consequent- 
ly, no  longer  an  experiment.  With  us  it  has 
done  well  in  every  instance  where  it  has  had  any 
chance.  The  general  yield  is  from  20  to  24  bush- 
els to  the  acre.  Judging  from  Avhat  we  have  seen 
of  the  grain,  it  is  capable  of  yielding  80  bushels 
per  acre.  During  the  past  season,  it  has  been 
raised  by  the  side  of  spring  barley,  and  has  pro- 
duced four  bushels  to  one  of  the  spiing  variety. 
Mr.  Amos  Culver,  of  this  place,  (Quincy,)  has 
raised  during  the  past  season  60  bushels  per  acre 
on  oat  stubble  once  plowed,  or  180  bushels  on 
three  acres,  and  on  laud  that  has  been  cropped 
for  eight  years  in  succession. 

We  think  it  has  decided  advantages  over 
spring  barley,  viz : 

L  It  may  be  sown  after  farmers  get  through 
with  their  hurry  in  sowing  winter  wheat. 

2.  It  may  be  harvested  before  wheat  is  ripe. 

3.  It  has  no  black,  or  false  heads. 

4.  It  yields  two  to  one,  at  least. 

5.  The  insect  will  not  hurt  it  in  the  fall,  and  it 
is  so  early  that  the  weevil  will  not  hurt  it. 

We  are  in  hopes  this  barley  will  prove  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  wheat  crop,  if  we  should  be  obliged 
to  give  up  the  cultivation  of  that  grain  in  conse- 
quence of  the  insects  and  weevil,  which  at  pres- 
ent threaten  its  destruction  in  Michigan. 

This  variety  of  barley  should  be  sown  some- 
time between  the  15th  of  September  and  the  1st 
of  November,  requiring  about  two  bushels  of  seed 
per  acre.  It  will  ripen  ten  days  earlier  than 
wheat,  and  leaves  the  ground  in  good  condition 
for  that  grain. — Michigan  Farmer. 


For  the  New  England  Farmet , 
THE  HYDBAULIC  RAM. 

Mr.  Brow^N: — Some  months  ago  I  sent  you 
an  article  upon  the  hyraulic  ram.  One  of  your 
readers  reminds  me  that  something  more  was 
promised. 

Perhaps  I  had  better,  at  once,  give  you  my  ex- 
perience. In  the  spring  of  1858,  I  bought  a  hy- 
draulic ram,  and  about  one  thousand  feet  of  half- 
inch  lead  pipe.  At  the  time,  the  pipe  was  in  the 
ground,  and  the  ram  in  the  mud.  It  had  been 
set  up  where  the  fall  was  wholly  insufficient,  and 
had  proved  of  little  value. 

I  placed  the  ram  near  a  little  pond  in  my  nur- 
sery, from  which  there  is  a  fall  of  four  feet. 

The  driving  pipe  is  stout  inch  and  a  half  size, 
and  sixteen  feet  long.  The  service  pipe  is  half 
inch  size — weighs  twelve  ounces  to  the  foot.  This 
is  laid  along  in  the  brook,  from  the  dam  to  the 
Assabet  River  ;  then  on  the  bed  of  the  river  to 
the  opposite  shore.  I  there  dug  a  trench  two  and 
a  half  feet  deep,  to  the  barn  and  houses,  where 
the  water  is  carried.  It  was  an  interesting  mo- 
ment, I  will  confess,  when  I  watched  at  last  for 
the  water  at  the  end  of  the  pipe  a  fifth  of  a  mile 
from  the  ram,  that,  it  was  hoped,  might  force  it 
there.  I  was  engaged  in  this  work  of  getting  the 
ram  in  operation  while  the  country  was  on  tip- 
toe about  the  Atlantic  cable.  I  had  dragged  my 
■"able  through  a  body  of  water  (!)  and  felt,  like 
Mr.  Cyrus  W.  Field,  some  anxiety.  The  water 
came!     It  was,  "All  right — De  Sauty!" 

This  advantage  about  the  ram  was  soon  mani- 
fest. Wherever  I  wanted  the  water,  there  I  could 
have  it.  I  was  bound  to  no  "level  of  the  spring." 
I  arranged  to  have  an  outlet  in  the  barn-yard 
for  the  cows  to  drink  as  they  came  in  at  night ; 
— one  in  front  of  the  cattle  in  the  barn,  where  are 
watered  twenty-five  head  with  pails,  during  the 
winter  ;  and  one  in  front  of  the  horses. 

I  also  laid  a  side  pipe  into  a  rented  house, 
which  supplied  two  tenants,  who  had  previously 
pulled  up  all  their  water  with  an  "old  oaken  buck- 
et," without  ever  discovering  the  poetry  about 
the  thing  either ! 

Then  I  attached  another  branch  pipe  which 
carries  the  stream  into  my  own  dwelling-house, 
where  it  keeps  tv/o  barrels  full  in  a  closet  adjoin- 
ing the  chambers.  Although  I  have  two  good 
pumps  at  the  sinks  in  the  kitchens,  it  is  less  work 
to  draw  down  the  water  from  the  barrels  when  a 
large  quantity  is  required,  as  on  wash-days. 

I  consider  these  barrels  of  water,  with  pails 
near,  a  great  safeguard  against  fire. 

Then,  having  the  water  in  every  place  where 
it  could  be  of  use,  I  attached  another  pipe  to  the 
"main,"  which,  with  a  suitable  nozzle,  aff"orded 
me  a  pretty  fountain.  To  be  sure,  it  was  not  much 
like  the  Croton,  or  Cochituate  fountains,  but  I 
liked  it  far  better.  It  was  in  my  door-yard!  The 
site  of  the  fountain  is  about  fifteen  feet  above  the 
ram.     The  jet  is  thrown  fifteen  feet  high. 

Not  long  after  I  got  the  machine  in  operation, 
leaves  and  dirt  got  in  and  stopped  its  working. 
This  annoyance  I  easily  remedied  by  making  the 
little  enclosure  at  the  dam,  double,  and  packing 
the  space  between  the  double  boarding,  with 
sawdust ;  so  that  the  water  was  strained  before 
entering  the  driving  pipe.  I  found  out,  too,  that 
it  was  not  well  to  have  a  small  strainer  immedi- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


5,-9 


ately  over  the  end  of  the  pipe.  It  lessened  the 
force  of  the  water,  which  should  fall  into  the 
driving  pipe  without  the  slightest  hindrance. 

I  suppose  some  will  like  to  know  how  1  kept 
the  ram  from  freezing.  It  works  well  under  wa- 
ter, and  I  had  only  to  settle  it  down  until  the 
moving  part  was  covered.  Great  care  must  be 
taken  that  the  ram  be  so  boxed  around  that  the 
dirt  will  not  wash  over  it. 

Your  readers  may  remember  that  while  the 
ground  was  almost  bare,  last  January,  we  had  a 
very  cold  time.  My  pipe  froze  up  that  supplied 
the  barn.  I  dug  down  to  it  and  found  the  ground, 
to  my  surprise,  stiff  with  frost,  below  the  pipe. 
The  two  and  a  half  feet  was  not  deep  enough  to 
bury  it.  It  was  with  great  regret  that  we  werc- 
obliged  to  get  along  at  the  barn  for  weeks  till 
milder  weather,  without  this  convenient  stream 
of  water.  It  was  at  once  double  the  work  to  turn 
out  the  Brighton  cattle,  water  them  at  the  pump, 
and  get  them  back  to  their  places  again,  than 
•what  it  had  been  to  just  set  down  before  them 
some  two  to  four  bucktts  of  water  in  the  barn. 

And,  besides,  I  noticed  that  the  change  was 
not  beneficial  to  the  cattle.  In  the  barn  I  had 
•watered  all  twice  a  day,  the  cows  three  times. 
The  store  cattle  now  were  "turned  out"  but  once, 
and  if  they  felt  like  capering  or  fighting,  or,  if 
the  day  were  windy  and  cold,  they  went  without 
water  the  whole  day.  When  water  was  given 
them  in  the  barn  they  ate  more,  and  as  the  haj 
was  of  that  quality  that  the  more  consumed  the 
better,  that  v/as  a  gain. 

On  the  whole  the  ram  has  already  been  of 
great  value,  and  promises  to  continue  to  save 
much  labor.  I  would  not  part  with  it  for  five 
times  its  cost,  and  can  most  sincerely  recommend 
it  to  all  who  wish  a  cheap  and  abundant  supplj 
of  water,  and  are  in  the  vicinity  of  a  fall. 

I  have  connected  with  my  "water  works"  a  va- 
riety of  contrivances  to  enable  me  to  control  the 
stream  and  direct  it  where  desired.  These  con- 
sist of  waste  stop  cocks,  hose,  couplings,  &c.. 
•which  are  readily  obtained  at  the  Boston  plumb- 
ers. 

I  shall  be  very  happy  to  show  any  of  your 
readers  what  I  have,  I  fear,  very  imperfectly  des- 
cribed, if  they  will  favor  me  with  a  call. 

,      Your  friend,  Wm.  D.  BROW>f. 

Concord,  Mass.,  Oct.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
ORDER  AND  ECONOMY  ON  THE    FARM. 

Messes.  Editors  : — I  was  glad  to  see  the  re- 
marks of  your  correspondent,  "W.  C,"  in  your 
last  issue,  and  1  wish  he  had  pursued  the  subject 
still  further,  and  said  something  of  idleness  and 
economy  on  the  farm.  Where  you  see  buildings 
in  the  plight  spoken  of  by  W.  C,  it  may  be  in- 
ferred that  the  occupant  is  lazy,  and  not  a 
"church-goer."  Whenever  you  see  a  neat  and 
well-filled  ■wood-shed,  the  owner  is,  generally 
speaking,  a  patron  of  churches  and  schools.  It 
is  lamentable  to  see  how  fev/  farmers  are  suffi- 
ciently careful  to  lay  in  a  good  supply  of  wood, 
that  it  may  be  at  hand,  dry,  for  use,  while  too 
many  either  burn  their  wood  green  or  half  rotten. 
A  small  wood-lot  will  afford  an  ample  supply  for 
a  fire,  without  injury  to  the  growth,  if  properly 


attended,  in  clearing  the  broken  off  branches,  and 
decaying  trees.  How  much  waste  wood  could  be 
gathered  about  a  farm  and  saved  from  becoming 
rotten,  by  giving  a  little  care  to  the  subject? 
Waste  land,  also,  could  be  reclaimed,  and  if  too 
stony  for  cultivation,  made  to  bear  a  fine  growth 
of  oak,  by  giving  a  little  care  to  collect  and  plant 
acorns. 

Our  friends  in  New  Hampshire  are  improving 
in  the  science  of  farming,  and  are  becoming  more 
liberal  in  the  general  improvemen"  of  th>i  land. 
Instead  of  skimming  their  farms,  and  looking  for 
that  which  will  supply  their  daily  wants  by  sell- 
ing all  they  can,  they  strive  to  enrich  the  ground, 
and  many  obtain  four-fold  more  from  farms,  than 
was  gathered  ten  or  twenty  years  ago  from  the 
same.  Less  land  is  cultivated  than  there  was 
twenty  years  since.  Such  is  the  fact,  generally 
I  think,  throughout  New  Enghnd. 

The  tendency  is  to  expensive  buildings  on  a 
farm,  and  firmers,  as  well  as  mechanics,  traders, 
and  professional  men,  are  not  careful  to  live  with- 
in their  own  means.  A  farmer  is  the  last  person 
who  should  buy  more  than  he  has  the  means  to 
pay  for.  J.  D. 

Bosto?i,  Oct.  22,  1859. 


BIENNIALS  AND   PERENNIALS. 

The  following  will  answer  several  inquiries 
about  the  nature  of  biennials  and  perennials  : 

Biennials,  speaking  in  a  general  sense,  are  sown 
one  summer,  and  bloom  and  die  the  next,  as  soon 
as  they  have  ripened  their  seeds.  Most  of  them 
are  hardy  enough  to  stand  our  winters,  for  one 
summer  is  not  long  enough  to  complete  their 
growth,  even  with  the  help  of  the  hot-house, 
green-house  or  frame.  Many  stocks  are  bienni- 
al ;  the  Canterbury  bell  is  a  biennial,  and  if  sown 
about  June,  and  planted  out  when  large  enough, 
will  flower  about  the  same  time  next  year. 

Perennials  are  plants  which  do  not  die  at  any 
given  period,  but  wouid  live  on  like  an  oak  or 
vine,  if  the  necessary  conditions  could  be  sup- 
plied, and  the  great  family  of  plants  comprises 
most  of  this  kind. 

Hardy  perennials  will  grow  many  years  in  the 
same  spot,  and  spread  into  large  masses.  Bulbs 
increase  in  number.  Fibrous  and  tuberous  root- 
ed subjects  spread  out  into  many  plants  all  round, 
and  only  want  to  be  separated  from  the  parent. 
Many  of  them  separate  themselves,  and  when 
they  degenerate,  it  is  from  remaining  too  long  in 
the  same  spot  of  soil,  which  they  in  time  exhaust. 

Stove  perennials,  cultivated  in  pots,  are  from 
time  to  time  shifted  from  one  sized  potto  anoth- 
er, and  new  soil  is  filled  up  round  the  old  ball 
of  earth,  and  the  plant  continues  to  grow  so  long 
as  this  can  be  done. — Artisan. 


To  Make  Pure  Wine  of  Apples. — Take 
pure  cider  made  from  sound  ripe  apples  as  it  runs 
from  the  press ;  put  sixty  pounds  of  common 
brown  sugar  into  fifteen  gallons  of  the  cider,  and 
let  it  dissolve  ;  then  put  the  mixture  into  a  clean 
barrel,  and  fill  the  barrel  up  to  within  two  gal- 
lons of  being  full  with  clean  cider ;  put  the  cask 
in  a  cool  place,  leaving  the  bung  out  three  or 
four  weeks. 


060 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


HOW  TO  FATTEN  CHICKENS. 
We  make  the  following  extracts  from  an  arti- 
cle on  this  subject  in  the  London  Cottage  Gar- 
dener, and  commend  them  to  our  readers  : 

"It  is  hopeless  to  attempt  to  fatten  them  while 
they  are  at  liberty.  They  must  be  put  in  a  prop- 
er coop  ;  and  this,  like  most  other  poultry  ap- 
purtenances, need  not  be  expensive.  To  fatten 
twelve  fowls,  a  coop  may  be  three  feet  long, 
eighteen  inches  high,  and  eighteen  inches  deep, 
made  entirely  of  bars.  No  part  of  it  solid — neith- 
er top,  sides,  nor  bottom.  Discretion  must  be 
used  according  to  the  sizes  of  the  chickens  put 
up.  They  do  not  want  room  ;  indeed,  the  closer 
they  are,  the  better, — provided  they  can  all  stand 
up  at  the  same  time.  Care  must  betaken  to  put 
up  such  as  have  been  accustomed  to  be  together, 
or  they  may  fight.  If  one  is  quarrelsome,  it  is 
better  to  remove  it  at  once ;  as,  like  other  bad 
examples,  it  soon  finds  imitators.  A  diseased 
chicken  should  not  be  put  up. 

"The  food  should  be  ground  oats  ;  and  may 
either  be  put  in  a  trough,  or  on  a  flat  board  run- 
ning along  the  front  of  the  coop.  It  may  be 
mixed  with  water  or  milk  ;  the  latter  is  better. 
It  should  be  well  slaked,  forming  a  pulp  as  loose 
as  can  be,  provided  it  does  not  run  off  the  board. 
They  must  be  well  fed  three  or  four  times  per 
day — the  first  time  as  soon  after  day-break  as  may 
be  possible  or  convenient,  and  then  at  intervals 
of  four  hours.  Each  meal  should  be  as  much 
and  more  than  they  can  eat  up  clean.  When 
they  have  done  feeding,  the  board  should  be 
wiped,  and  some  gravel  may  be  spread.  It  caus- 
es them  to  feed  and  thrive. 

"After  a  fortnight  of  this  treatment  you  will 
have  good  fat  fowls.  If,  however,  there  are  but 
four  or  six  to  be  fatted,  they  must  not  have  as 
much  room  as  though  there  were  twelve.  Noth- 
ing is  easier  than  to  allot  them  the  proper  space  ; 
as  it  is  only  necessary  to  have  two  or  three  pieces 
of  wood  to  pass  between  the  bars  and  form  a  par- 
tition. This  may  also  serve  when  fowls  are  put 
up  at  diff"erent  degrees  of  fatness.  This  requires 
attention,  or  fowls  will  not  keep  fat  and  healthy. 
As  soon  as  the  fowl  is  sufficiently  fatted  it  must: 
be  killed  ;  otherwise  it  will  still  get  fat,  but  iti 
will  lose  flesh.  If  fowls  are  intended  for  the  mar-1 
ket,  of  course  they  are,  or  may  be,  all  fatted  at 
once  ;  but  if  for  home  consumption,  it  is  better 
to  put  them  up  at  such  intervals  as  will  suit  the 
time  when  they  will  be  required  for  the  table. 
When  the  time  arrives  for  killing,  whether  they 
are  meant  for  market  or  otherwise,  they  should 
be  fasted,  without  food  or  water,  for  fifteen  hours. 
This  enables  them  to  be  kept  for  some  time  after 
being  killed,  even  in  hot  weather." 


that  is  necessary  for  the  transport  of  the  heavi- 
est load.  The  three  wheels  being  almost  close 
together,  the  act  of  turning  the  barrow  in  the 
smallest  space  becomes  as  easy  as  possible.  The 
workman  has  but  to  lean  on  one  of  the  handles, 
and  the  front  wheel  is  lifted  from  the  ground 
leaving  the  barrow  free  to  be  manoeuvred  like  a 
common  hand-cart. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
DISEASED  APPLE  TKEES. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  am  desirous  of  ascertaining 
from  yourself,  or  some  of  your  numerous  sub- 
scribers, what  ails  my  apple  trees.  I  noticed  last 
season  on  several  of  my  trees,  which  are  young, 
thrifty  Baldwins,  Hubbardston  Nonsuch,  &c., 
that  the  bark  on  the  south  side  from  the  lower 
limbs  to  the  roots  had  a  black  appearance,  as 
though  a  fire  had  scorched  them.  I  did  not  pay 
much  attention  to  it  then,  as  it  was  late  in  the 
season  when  I  made  the  discovery,  but  the 
present  season  the  same  appearance  has  extended 
itself  to  quite  a  number  of  other  trees,  invariably 
on  the  south  side  of  the  trees,  the  bark  turning 
black  and  assuming  a  charred  look,  and  becom- 
ing loosened  from  the  tree  and  falling  off,  leaving 
the  wood  bare  for  large  spaces. 

These  trees  have  been  standing  in  grass  land, 
on  au  elevated  situation,  the  soil  of  a  clay  loam, 
until  two  years  since,  when  the  ground  was  broke 
up  and  cultivated  with  potatoes,  and  manured 
from  the  barn-yard,  for  the  benefit  of  the  trees. 
In  removing  the  bark  from  one  of  the  trees  with 
the  point  of  a  knife,  something  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  white  worm  or  grub,  apparently 
about  one  inch  long,  fell  to  the  ground,  but  could 
not  be  found  afterwards.  Is  it  probable,  that  so 
extensive  and  destructive  an  effect  could  have 
been  produced  by  the  operation  of  any  kind  of 
grub,  worm,  or  borer  ?  I  greatly  fear,  that  un- 
less the  cause  can  be  discovered,  and  an  effectual 
remedy  applied,  I  shall  lose  my  trees,  which  have 
cost  me  much  time  and  care,  and  be  disappoint- 
ed in  my  long-cherished  anticipations  of  having  a 
good  bearing  orchard  of  choice  fruit.  Any  infor- 
mation calculated  to  throw  light  on  the  subject, 
will  be  read  with  much  interest  by  at  least  one 
subscriber  to  the  monthly  J^ew  England  Farmer. 

Still  River,  Oct.  21,  1859. 


A  New  FRENcn  Wheelbarrow. — The  new 
wheelbarrow,  which  is  worked  by  the  men  em- 
ployed to  repair  the  damages  occasioned  by  the 
fetes  in  the  gardens  of  the  Tuilleries,  is  attract- 
ing much  attention.  The  novelty  of  the  ma- 
chine consists  in  two  legs  of  the  barrow  being 
replaced  by  two  wheels,  smaller  than  the  one  in 
front,  which  are  fixed  immediately  under  the  body 
of  the  barrow.  The  handles  are  raised  so  as  to 
be  on  a  level  with  the  hands  of  the  workman  ; 
and  thus,  upon  a  level  road,  a  slight  push  is  all 


Remarks. — We  have  seen  no  trees  in  the  con- 
dition of  those  described,  and  cannot  with  any 
feeling  of  certainty  tell  either  cause  or  remedy. 
We  do  not,  however,  think  the  injury  is  occa- 
sioned by  an  insect — it  must  be  climatic.  We 
have  several  hundred  apple  tree's,  but  they  have 
no  "ails"  such  as  you  describe.  We  hope  or- 
chardists  will  be  able  to  throw  light  upon  the 
subject. 

There  are  four  millions  of  people  in  France 
who  eat  no  bread.  Some  eat  chestnuts,  and 
some  other  kinds  of  vegetables.  The  people  of 
Ireland,  for  a  long  time,  subsisted  mainly  on  po- 
tatoes. These  facts  prove  not  only  that  there 
are  large  numbers  in  civilized  countries  who  do 
not  raise  their  own  bread,  but  an  equally  impor- 
tant fact, — they  have  not  the  means  of  buying  it. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


561 


THE  GUEIiDE  BLAND  FOWL. 


In  placing  some  of  the  breeds  of  fowls,  which  i 
we  have  occasionally  introduced,  before  the  read- 
er, we  do  it  to  afford  him  an  opportunity  of 
learning  something  of  the  various  kinds  that 
have  been  brought  among  us  within  ten  years,  or 
that  have  been  gained  by  crosses  with  the  old 
stock  of  the  country.  We  give  their  merits  and 
defects,  as  we  have  observed  them  in  the  poul- 
try yard,  or  as  we  find  them  described  by  others. 

In  Bennett's  "Poultry  Book"  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  these  fowls  : — 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  H.  L.  Devereux,  of 
Boston,  for  the  following  account  of  the  original 
importation  of  this  breed,  and  a  description  of 
those  in  his  possession. 

"The  Guelderland  fowls  were  imported  from 
the  north  of  Holland,  some  years  since,  by  Cap- 
tain John  Devereux,  of  Marblehead,  in  the  ship 
Dromo  ;  and  since  that  time  have  been  bred 
purely  by  him,  at  his  place  in  that  town.  They 
are  supposed  to  have  originated  in  the  north  of 
Holland.  They  are  clad  in  a  beautiful  blue-black 
plumage,  but  the  flesh  is  white,  tender  and  juicy. 
They  have  no  comb,  but  a  small,  indented,  hard, 
bony  substance,  instead,  and  large  red  wattles. 
They  are  of  good  size,  great  layers,  seldom  in- 
clining to  sit ;  bright,  active  birds,  and  are  not 
surpassed,  in  point  of  beauty  or  utility,  by  any 
breed  known  in  this  country.  Their  weight  is 
from  five  pounds  for  the  pullets,  to  seven  pounds 
for  the  cocks.     The  laying  qualities  of  the  hens 


are  very  respectable,  and  in  this  respect  they  will 
prove  profitable  to  their  owners.  It  is  safe  to 
pronounce  the  Guelderlands  to  be  a  first-rate 
breed  for  profit,  and  especially  for  beauty." 


SPAYIH&  COWS. 


We  learn  that  a  gentleman  at  Newburyport 
had  two  cows  spayed  last  spring.  They  have  done 
so  well,  and  given  him  such  satisfaction  that  he 
has  recently  had  the  operation  performed  on  an- 
other. They  are  all  fine  milkers.  One  of  the  cows 
spayed  last  spring,  a  fine  young  Durham,  gives 
as  much  milk  now,  in  October,  as  she  did  last 
May,  a  few  weeks  after  calving.  The  other,  an 
old  cow,  is  now  in  rather  low  flesh  and  has  fallen 
ofi"  somewhat  in  her  milk.  Their  milk  has  varied 
in  quantity,  according  to  the  keeping  they  have 
had.  But  they  have  neither  of  them  fallen  oflf 
as  much  as  cows  in  the  ordinary  condition.  This 
gentleman  keeps  four  cows,  and  he  intends  to 
have  a  fourth  spayed  soon,  so  that  he  may  have 
his  whole  set  in  this  condition.  We  shall  watch 
the  result  of  this  experiment  with  much  interest. 


|^=  "Commentators  are  folks  that  too  often 
write  on  books  as  men  with  diamonds  write  on 
glass,  obscuring  light  with  scratches. 


562 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
PROPAGATION  OF  BROOK  TROUT. 

Mr.  Editor  : — I  notice  in  the  Farmer  of 
Oct.  22d  that  a  correspondent  describes  his  fa- 
cilities for  fish  culture,  and  inquires,  "What 
kind  would  be  most  suitable,  and  in  what  man- 
ner would  it  be  best  to  confine  them  ?"  In  your 
reply  you  refer  him  to  me  for  information.  I  am 
happy  to  respond  to  any  question  relating  to 
the  propagation  of  the  common  brook  trout,  (hav- 
ing never  investigated  the  habits  of  any  other 
species,)  if  I  have  any  information  which  the 
public  does  not  already  possess.  Before  refer- 
ring to  my  own  personal  experience  and  obser- 
vation on  the  subject,  I  will  reply  to  Mr.  Howes, 
by  saying,  that  if  he  has  constructed  a  pond 
where  he  can  maintain  a  living  stream  through 
it  of  the  dimensions  stated,  it  is  perhaps  the  best 
natural  arrangement  that  can  be  procured  for  the 
common  brook  trout,  providing  he  can  keep  out 
other  kinds  of  fish.  If  the  stream  running  into 
the  pond  is  provided  with  a  gravelly  bottom,  it 
is  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  habits  of  the 
brood  trout  to  ascend  the  rivulet  during  the 
month  of  October,  deposit  their  eggs,  cover  them 
up,  and  descend  to  the  deepest  part  of  the  pond 
for  their  winter  quarters  about  the  last  of  No- 
vember. If  Mr.  Howes  can  now  add  a  fixture 
whereby  he  can  prevent  the  "young  fry"  return- 
ing to  the  pond  too  soon,  his  arrangement  will 
be  nearly  complete. 

I  have  but  one  year's  experience  in  my  "trout 
dissipation,"  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  but  this 
little  experience  has  proved  a  complete  triumph 
in  some  respects,  but  in  others  a  partial  failure. 
I  have  proved  (to  myself,  at  least,)  that  the  pa- 
rent trout  will  readily  domesticate  and  familiar- 
ize themselves  to  artificial  arrangements,  so  as 
to  deposit  and  cover  up  their  eggs,  and  leave 
them  to  hatch  out  after  the  natural  process,  with- 
out limit  or  failure.  To  my  mind,  this  is  an  in- 
teresting consideration,  inasmuch  as  it  relieves 
us  from  all  the  difficult  and  nice  labor  of  artifi- 
cial propagation. 

Having  discovered  this,  it  only  remains  to  se- 
cure the  young  fish  from  being  destroyed  by  the 
older,  who  feed  upon  them.  To  do  this  effectu- 
ally, several  pools  or  ponds  must  be  provided, 
so  as  to  classify  and  preserve  them  ;  an  object 
not  often  obtained  without  considerable  expense. 
With  such  provisions  as  I  have  intimated,  there 
is  manifestly  no  limit  to  the  natural  production 
of  the  trout. 

In  my  eff"orts  to  hatch  them  artificially,  I  did 
not  succeed,  and  I  think  it  was  owing  wholly  to 
the  fact  that  I  did  not  follow  the  teachings  of 
the  female  trout,  and  cover  up  the  eggs  with 
gravel.  Following  the  directions  of  writers  who 
have  published  on  the  subject,  I  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  compressing  both  the  male  and  female, 
and  procuring  thereby  the  materials  necessary 
for  the  artificial  propagation  ;  and  for  about  one 
month  every  appearance  corresponded  to  results 
stated  in  published  accounts.  But  eventually, 
they  all  turned  white,  which  was  evidence  that 
they  had  lost  vitality.  This  is  one  of  the  fail- 
ures alluded  to  above.  The  other  was  this  :  The 
connection  between  the  spawning  ground  and 
the  home  of  the  brood  fish  was  not  sufficiently 
secured  by  wire  screening,  so  as  to  prevent  the 


young  brood  getting  in  with  the  parent  fish,  and 
before  I  was  aware  of  it,  schools  of  them  were 
there,  and  becoming  less  every  day,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  voracious  habits  of  the  older  fish; 
under  these  circumstances,  and  having  no  facili- 
ties for  separating  them,  the  result  was,  that  when 
I  drew  off'  the  pond  to  transfer  the  brood  trout 
to  the  spawing  bed  this  fall,  I  found  only  about 
thirty  of  last  winter's  hatching.  These  varied 
from  three  to  five  inches  in  lengih,  and  when  first 
discovered  about  the  first  of  last  April,  they  were 
from  one-half  to  three-fourths  inch.  As  I  hav 
watched  the  movements  and  propensities  of  the 
trout,  I  am  convinced  that  the  destruction  of  the 
younger  by  the  older  is  immense,  when  not  pre- 
vented by  artificial  arrangements. 

As  the  result  of  close  observation,  I  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  young  associate  with 
the  old,  indiscriminately,  until  they  find  that  in- 
stead of  natural  protectors  their  parents  are  nat- 
ural enemies.  They  then  proceed  forthwith  to 
shallow  water,  or  hiding  places,  where  the  older 
cannot  follow,  and  thus  a  few,  comparatively,  are 
preserved.  Charles  Humphrey. 

Lancaster,  Mass.,  wVou.  1,  1859. 


For  t?ie  New  England  Farmer. 

HO\'5r  TO  RECKON  THE  COST  OF  FARM 
PRODUCTS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — One  of  the  great  reasons  why 
farmers  do  not  succeed  any  better  in  their 
business,  is  that  they  do  not  stop  to  figure — they 
are  negligent  in  this  particular,  and  seldom,  if 
ever,  know  the  precise  cost  of  a  single  article 
they  produce.  They  work  hard  and  long,  taxing 
their  physical  powers  to  the  utmost,  and  neglect- 
ing the  mental,  till  they  have  been  persuaded  to 
believe  that  it  is  all  right  that  they  should  pro- 
duce for  others  to  consume,  without  adequate  re- 
compense to  themselves. 

Now,  what  I  want  to  see  is  this  : — I  want  to 
see  every  farmer  who  produces  any  article  to  sell, 
know  exactly  what  it  costs — no  guess-work 
about  it ;  but  to  know,  that's  the  point.  I  pre- 
sume no  one  doubts  but  that  everything  we  pro- 
duce has  a  positive,  definite  cost,  for  whether  we 
know  it  or  not,  such  is  the  fact ;  then  why  de- 
ceive ourselves  in  the  matter  ?  I  know  it  is 
thought  to  be  very  difllicult  to  ascertain  the  pre- 
cise cost  of  farm  products  ;  but  if  it  is  difficult  it 
is  not  impossible.  Then  let  us  try  to  systema- 
tize the  business  to  such  a  degree  as  to  become 
familiar  with  it,  and  in  time  it  will  become  so 
easy  that  we  should  be  almost  ashamed  not  to 
know  all  the  facts  in  the  matter.  How  long 
would  a  merchant  or  manufacturer  stand  if  they 
did  not  know  the  cost  of  their  goods.  Take,  for 
instance,  a  pair  of  fine  gaiter  boots.  How  is  the 
cost  of  them  to  be  reckoned  ?  The  material  of 
which  they  are  composed  is  taken  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe;  many  islands  of  the  ocean 
are  bi'ought  into  requisition  to  produce  them.  The 
French,  the  English,  the  Italian  and  the  shrewd 
Yankee,  have  all  had  a  finger  in  the  matter ;  also 
various  machinery,  as  well  as  busy  hands,  have 
been  brought  into  requisition  by  many  different 
people,  and  yet  any  manufacturer  would  be 
ashamed  not  to  know,  within  one  cent,  the  cost 
of  every  pair  he  makes. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


563 


Let  us  reckon  up  the  cost  of  cultivating  an 
acre  of  corn  in  the  same  manner  that  a  manufac- 
turer reckons  the  cost  of  his  goods,  and  see  what 
■we  shall  make  of  it.  We  will  take  an  average! 
acre  of  New  England  land,  such  as  is  usually  put ! 
to  corn  in  this  section,  and  see  what  it  does  cost 
to  raise  a  bushel.  I  will,  in  the  first  place,  makej 
the  figures,  and  then  give  some  reasons  for  reck-j 
oning  as  I  do.  The  reader  will  understand  that 
we  are  considering  the  matter  as  it  actually  is, 
and  not  as  it  is  under  some  extraordinary  circum-  j 
stances  made  to  appear.  We  will  suppose  thisi 
acre  to  be  worth  forty  dollars  in  the  market,  and| 
located  one-fourth  of  a  mile  from  the  buildings, 
and  we  will  cultivate  it  in  the  usual  way. 

One  Acre  of  Corn.  Dr. 

May  10,  Two  meo,  two  yoke  oxen  and  plow  one  day $4,25 

"    15,  One  man,  four  oxen  and  cart  one  day  hauling 

manure 3,25 

May  15,  Ten  loads  manure 10^00 

"     16,  One  man  one  day,  and  yoke  oxen  and  harrow 

half  day,  spreading  manure  and  harrowing 1,75 

May  17,  Man,  horse  and  boy  \  day  furrowing 75 

"    18,  Man  and  boy  one  day  planting,  $1,50,  seed  25.... 1,75 

"     19,  To  putting  up  line,  &c 25 

June  G,  Two  men,  horse  and  plow  cultivating  and  hoeing. 2,50 

"      6,  To  replanting  and  asiiing 2,00 

"    25,  To  hoeing  and  cultivating 2.50 

July  10,  To  pulling  weeds  50 

Sept.  10,  To  two  men  cutting  stalks  and  stooking  do 2,00 

"    25,  To  carting  stalks  to  barn,  &c 50 

Oct.  12,  To  harvesting 2,ro 

"    13,  To  husking  and  taking  care  of  butts 2,oo 

"    13,  To  interest  on  land,  capital  and  taxes 3,0J 

"     13,  To  fencing  and  rents  of  barn  and  corn  house 3,00 

Dec.  15,  To  shelling  and  marketing  corn 5,00 

$47,00 
Acre  of  Corn.  Cr. 

Dee.  15,  By  30  bush,  shelled  corn  sold $30  00 

"    15,  By  6  bush,  ears  soft  corn  sold 2,(0 

"    15,  By  stover  and  pumpkins 5,00 

$37,00 

Net  loss  on  crop $10,00 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  we  have  cultivated 
our  crop  in  the  most  prudent  and  economical 
manner  ;  we  have  charged  nothing  to  the  crop 
but  what  rightly  belongs  there,  and  have  allowed 
a  high  average  yield,  and  sold  it  for  much  more 
than  farmers  usually  get,  and  yet  have  made  a 
net  loss  of  ten  dollars  ! 

I  want  to  say  here,  that,  in  my  opinion,  there 
are  but  comparatively  few  acres  of  corn  planted  in 
this  State  but  what  run  the  owner  in  debt  more 
than  this  has.  And  what  is  true  in  regard  to 
this  crop  is  true  of  most  others  ;  only  much  more 
so,  for  aside  from  the  hay  crop  the  corn  is  the 
most  reliable,  as  it  is  the  most  important  upon 
the  farm.  I  do  not  wish  the  reader  to  under- 
stand by  this  that  I  suppose  the  farmers  usually 
sell  their  corn.  This  is  not  so.  Farmers  in  this 
section  are  generally  buyers  of  this  article,  and 
consume  upon  their  farms  this  and  most  other 
crops,  and  by  this  way  of  doing  business  do  not 
generally  realize  more  than  one-half  what  we 
have  allowed. 

The  farmers,  I  think,  have  a  peculiar  way  of 
mystifying  their  business  by  running  one  thing 
into  another,  as  by  feeding  out  their  hay,  corn, 
&c.,  to  make  more  manure  at  a  loss  of  some  fifty 
per  cent. — to  raise  more  corn  at  still  another 
loss,  and  in  this  way  go  on,  year  after  year,  and 
do  not  find  out  their  mistake  till  their  physical 
energies  are  broken  up,  and,  unless  they  have 
had  some  outside  successes,  a  portion,  at  least,  of 
their  capital  is  exhausted. 


It  seems  to  me,  that  farmers,  like  all  other 
classes  of  men,  should  call  things  by  their  right 
names,  and  if  hay  will  bring  a  dollar  a  hundred, 
and  corn  a  dollar  a  bushel,  why  not  sell  it,  and 
not  feed  it  out  to  stock,  when  we  cannot  possibly 
get  more  than  one-ihird  of  it  on  the  growth  of 
our  cattle,  and  oftentimes  not  anything.  I  very 
well  know  that  stock  makes  manure,  and  manure, 
judiciously  applied,  makes  hay  and  corn  ;  but  all 
these  things  have  a  dollar  and  cent  value,  and 
should  not  be  purchased  at  too  great  a  cost. 
What  I  want  is  this,  (as  we  have  it  from  the  best 
authority,  "that  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his 
hire,")  that  the  man  who  labors  upon  his  farm, 
(if  judiciously,)  should  so  understand  his  busi- 
ness as  to  realize  as  much  as  other  laborers  get. 
I  can  see  no  reason  why  a  man  who  owns  a  farm 
should  throw  his  labor  away,  or  any  considerable 
portion  of  it,  any  more  than  the  merchant  or 
manufacturer,  who,  to  save  clerk-hire,  do  their 
own  work.  One  of  two  things  is  evident,  that 
the  farmer  gets  no  return  or  per  cent,  on  his  cap- 
ital ;  or,  reckoning  six  per  cent,  on  his  capital, 
he  gets  no  pay  for  his  labor.  I  mean,  of  course, 
by  work  on  the  farm. 

I  know  very  well  that  it  will  be  considered  un- 
usual to  reckon  some  things  which  I  have  put  in- 
to this  crop.  But,  what  if  it  is  unusual?  Do 
they  not  rightly  belong  there  ?  The  old  custom 
of  half  reckoning,  or  not  reckoning  at  all,  is  what 
i  want  to  see  broken  up,  and  let  every  crop  and 
every  animal  upon  the  farm  answer  for  itself.  In 
this  way,  and  in  no  other,  can  the  farmer  ever 
hope  to  stand  on  an  equality  with  all  other  class- 
es of  men.  I  am  perfectly  aware  that  different 
localities,  seasons  and  circumstances,  will  vary 
the  figures  somewhat,  so  that  no  positive  rule 
can  be  given  which  will  always  be  applicable ; 
yet,  this  rule  will  always  hold  good, — never 
deceive  yourself,  nor  cut  your  corners  too  close, 
lor  there  will  always  be  some  waste  or  losses 
which  no  system  can  prevent.  Our  business  is 
extremely  hazardous.  Crops  are  liable  (o  be  cut 
off  or  broke  in  upon,  cattle  to  sicken  and  die,  and 
being  exposed  to  the  extreme  variableness  of  the 
climate,  we  find,  after  the  utmost  care,  that  we 
are  constantly  running  great  risks  to  health  and 
future  enjoyment. 

However,  let  us  stick  to  our  caption,  and  see 
what  we  can  do  to  make  up  this  loss  on  our  corn 
crop,  for  we  have  made  a  positive  loss  there,  and 
the  shrewdest  Yankee  that  ever  was  made,  can- 
not figure  it  any  other  way.  Suppose  we  go  into 
the  stock  business,  and  see  if  that  will  extricate 
us  from  the  dilemma?  This  is  a  very  important 
part  of  agriculture,  and  most  of  our  friends  who 
are  fond  of  good  roast  beef  and  good  sweet  but- 
ter and  milk,  (barring  the  naughty  milk-man,) 
consider  it  very  profitable.  Let  us  see.  When 
a  calf  is  first  dropt,  his  hide  is  worth  one  dollar, 
the  meat  will  pay  for  taking  it  oflf  for  the  pigs, 
and  I  presume  that  no  farmer  would  make  any 
other  use  of  it.  Then  the  account  will  stand  thus: 

Calf.  Dr. 

To  self $1,00 

To  5  qts.  milk  per  day  one  week,  at  2  ctg.  per  quart 70 

To  6  qts  skim  milk  per  day  seven  weeks,  at  1  cent 2,94 

To  1^  bushels  meal 1,50 

To  care  and  attention,  3  cents  per  day 2,94 

To  18  wetks  at  grass,  at  10  cts.  per  week 1,80 

To2S  weeks  barn,  at  50  ctg.  per  week 13,00 

$22,88 


564 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  our  calf  has  cost  us 
at  one  year  old,  $22,88.  Now  shall  we  sell  it  or 
grow  it  up  into  an  ox  or  cow  ?  If  it  is  decided 
to  sell  it,  a  loss  of  more  than  one-half  must  be 
sustained.  If  to  keep  it,  my  word  for  it,  the  loss 
will  be  greater  still.  This  is  stock-raising.  It 
will  be  seen  that  there  are  several  small  items 
that  I  have  not  put  into  the  cost  of  this  calf,  such 
as  rents,  interest,  &c.,  which  legitimately  belong 
there.  Usually  in  reckoning  the  cost  of  cattle, 
we  offset  the  labor  account  against  the  manure  ; 
but  no  one  will  suppose  that  a  calf  can  be  taken 
from  the  cow  at  one  week  old  and  cared  for  till 
it  is  eight  weeks  for  any  such  pay. 

I  know  that  the  question  comes  up  here,  how 
is  it,  then,  that  the  farmers  get  along?  lean 
very  easily  answer  that  question,  but  can  do  so, 
perhaps,  in  no  better  way  than  in  the  language  I 
have  used  before,  and  say  that  no  poor  man  can 
live  by  farming,  unless  he  works  for  wages.  I 
am  perfectly  aware  that  this  view  of  the  matter 
is  directly  antagonistical  to  the  views  of  those 
who  undertake  to  shape  public  opinion.  But 
what  if  it  is?  If  it  is  true,  it  will  stand,  if  not,  it 
will  fall.  To  take  a  narrow  view  of  the  subject, 
I  might  say  the  popular  one,  it  would  seem  to  be 
for  the  interest  of  all  other  classes  of  men  but 
the  farmers  to  have  farm  products  cheap.  But, 
if  the  farmers  were  wise,  they  would  at  once  dis- 
pel this  popular  clamor  of  glorifying  them  in  or- 
der to  fatten  upon  credulity.  I  freely  admit  that 
such  arguments,  in  times  past,  seemed  plausible 
and  generous,  but  I  begin  to  see  through  the 
film  that  has  been  placed  upon  my  eyes,  and  rath- 
er reluctantly  admit  that  it  now  looks  a  little 
foxy.  Why  is  it  that  all  farmers  who  have  no 
outside  help,  find  that  it  is  with  the  greatest  dif- 
ficulty that  they  can  meet  their  engagements,  and 
are  continually  in  debt  to  the  merchant,  the  me-! 
chanic  and  the  money-lender.  It  is,  because  they 
have  to  sell  their  products,  almost  universally, 
under  the  cost — many  less  than  one-half  what  it 
costs  to  produce  them.  And  1  hesitate  not  to 
say  that  many  farm  products  do  not  pay  mechan- 
ics' wages,  simply  to  harvest  and  market  them. 
The  amount  of  the  loss  to  the  farmers  of  New  I 
England  this  year,  on  the  corn  crop  alone,  is  suf-l 
ficient,  if  sustained  by  the  traders  and  manufac-} 
turers,  to  close  the  tills  of  every  bank  in  thej 
State,  and  "nary  red,"  would  be  the  universal  re- 1 
spouse.  In  all  other  kinds  of  business,  as  far  as| 
I  know,  some  system  or  uniformity  of  prices  pre-i 
vails.  What  the  mechanic  charges  for  a  certain  job 
to-day  will  be  the  price  all  the  year,  always  charg- 
ing u  small  profit  on  the  material  used  and  a  liv- 
ing price  for  his  work.  This  is  right,  and  with 
this  arrangement  we  find  no  fault.  We  expect 
to  pay  the  traders  and  mechanics  a  fair  profit;! 
but  how  is  it  when  we  have  anything  to  sell  ! — is! 
there  ever  a  word  said  about  profit  or  cost  ?  Not  i 
at  all !  We  can  buy  the  article  so  and  so,  and 
that  settles  the  matter.  Now,  what  I  want  is, 
to  have  the  farmer  know  what  the  article  costs, 
and  not  scab  the  craft.  T.  J.  Pinkham. 

Chelmsford,  Oct.,  1859. 


der.  Now  take  a  doubled  piece  of  flannel  and 
lay  on  the  bottom  neatly,  that  no  sand  can  run 
through.  Place  a  layer  of  sand  thereon,  to  about 
the  depth  of  six  inches,  and  pulverize  charcoal 
and  make  a  very  thin  layer,  then  another  layer 
of  sand  of  the  same  depth,  again  another  layer 
of  charcoal,  the  last,  a  heavier  layer  of  sand. 
This  barrel  of  sand  and  charcoal,  is  to  set  over  a 
tub  which  the  cider  can  run  in.  The  process  of 
cleansing  now  commences.  Draw  from  yovir  ci- 
der barrel  and  pour  on  the  sand,  &c.,  taking 
care  not  to  stir  up  the  sand  much,  rack  the  whole 
through,  putting  the  rectified  into  another  sweet 
barrel,  in  which,  afterwards, put  in  a  pint  of  mus- 
tard seed,  and  your  cider  is  fit  for  any  company. 
Too  much  charcoal  is  a  damage,  as  it  colors  it. — 
Rural  Neic-Yorker. 


Keeping  Cider  Sweet. — Take  a  barrel  that 
will  not  leak  in  the  sides,  with  bottom  in  and  top 
out,  bore  enough  holes  in  the  bottom  that  there 
will  be  no  trouble  in  the  escapement  of  the  ci- 


HOW  TO  KEEP  CROPS  GOOD. 

"Let  this  be  held  the  farmer's  creed — 
For  stock,  seek  ni:.t  the  choicest  breed ; 
In  peace  and  plenty  let  them  feed  ; 
Your  land,  sow  with  the  best  of  seed  ; 
Let  it  nor  dung  nor  dressing  need  ; 
Inclose,  plow,  reap,  with  care  and  speed, 
And  you  will  soon  be  ricli  indeed." 

Never  keep  a  poor  or  malformed  animal  to 
breed  from,  and  in  selecting  seed,  strive  always 
to  procure  the  best.  If  you  have  a  good  animal, 
reserve  it,  and  sell  your  mean  calves,  lambs  and 
pigs  to  the  butcher  ;  he  can  turn  them  to  more 
advantage  than  you  can,  and  your  stock  will  es- 
cape contamination  by  having  them  taken  away. 

In  the  vegetable  kingdom,  the  most  healthy 
and  vigorous  plants  are  invariably  those  which 
spring  from  the  most  healthy  and  vigorous 
stocks.  Corn,  or  indeed  most  other  vegetables, 
may,  by  selecting  inferior  seed  for  several  con- 
secutive seasons,  be  so  deteriorated  in  quality  as 
to  be  comparatively  worthless.  In  the  same  man- 
ner, and  with  almost  the  same  facility,  we  may 
destroy  the  cow  or  ox.  By  selecting  our  most 
valuable  and  symmetrical  animals  for  the  sham- 
bles, and  reserving  to  ourselves  as  breeders  only 
those  that  are  worthless  or  deformed,  we  are  cer- 
tain to  perpetuate  the  deformities  and  diseases 
which  have  been  the  curse  of  the  breed,  and 
which,  acting  by  obvious  and  irresistible  laws 
over  which  we  can  exercise  no  efficient  control, 
produce  a  distinctive  or  family  configuration  as 
thoroughly  inwrought  and  inalienable  as  the 
principle  of  life  itself. 

Every  person  who  understands  the  principles 
of  vegetable  physiology,  knows  that  it  is  one  of 
the  great  fundamental  laws  of  nature,  that  "like 
produces  like,"  and  this  law  is  equally  as  pervad- 
ing a  principle  in  animal,  as  in  vegetable  life, 
and  presents  us  with  an  injunction  for  the  regu- 
lation of  our  efforts  at  improvement ;  and  this  is 
eminently  worthy  of  our  regard. 

In  casting  our  eyes  around  us,  we  shall  at  least 
perceive  that  this  law  has  not  only  been  syste- 
matically developed  by  scientific  breeders  in  for- 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


665 


eign  countries,  but  that  it  has  every  where  re- 
ceived from  the  intelligent  and  reflecting  portion 
of  the  community,  the  attention  and  encourage- 
ment it  deserves. 

Were  we  to  go  through  our  several  field  crops 
at  the  commencement  of  the  season  of  matura- 
tion, and  select  the  best  and  earliest  ripe  of  the 
divers  sorts,  we  should  soon  find  the  benefit  of 
such  a  course,  and  our  fields  would  present  at 
harvest  a  very  different  appearance  from  that 
which  now  so  frequently  causes  us  to  turn  from 
them  with  dissatisfaction.  It  would  cost  but  a 
mere  trifle  to  select  seed  in  this  way,  even  in  the 
case  of  the  cereal  grains. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
REVIEW  OF  THE  SEASOM". 

Mr.  Editor  : — It  may  be  instructive  as  well 
as  useful  to  the  public,  to  examine  the  records  of 
the  past,  and  define  the  peculiar  characteristics 
of  the  season,  which  have  a  bearing  on  the  pros- 
perity of  the  farmer,  and  compare  them  with  the 
records  of  former  years.  Although  we  have  had 
a  partial  failure  in  some  crops,  yet  others  have 
yielded  abundantly,  so  that  kind  nature,  in  dis- 
pensing her  gifts  to  man,  only  changes  her  abun- 
dance from  one  crop  to  another.  The  growing 
season  commenced  under  favdrable  circumstances 
in  regard  to  crops.  The  weather  was  rather  dry, 
and  the  earth  moderately  warm,  which  fitted  it 
well  for  the  reception  of  seed,  which  was  com- 
mitted to  the  soil  in  the  proper  season,  with  what 
effect  a  review  of  the  months  will  now  fully  ex- 
plain. 

April  had  a  mean  temperature  of  39.36  being 
2.12  below  the  mean  for  the  past  seven  years. 
The  amount  of  rain  was  2.26  inches — about  the 
same  quantity  that  fell  in  April,  last  year  ;  it  fell 
on  eleven  days.  Two  inches  of  snow  fell  during 
the  month.  Grass  commenced  growing  about 
the  14th,  but  was  backward  during  the  month, 
and  the  forests  were  bare  and  leafless.  The 
amount  of  cloudiness  was  about  fifty  per  cent. 

May  had  a  mean  temperature  of  o8.72,  being 
4.69  above  the  mean,  and  was  the  warmest  May 
for  the  last  seven  years.  We  had  1.89  inches  of 
rain,  being  an  unusually  small  amount  for  May. 
The  amount  of  rain  in  May,  1858,  was  3.56  inches, 
and  in  1857,  5.64  inches.  Here  was  the  com- 
mencement of  a  season  much  too  dry  for  vegeta- 
tion, for  the  ground  had  not  yet  been  fully  satu- 
rated with  water.  The  first  five  days  of  the  month 
were  entirely  free  from  clouds,  which  is  a  very 
unusual  phenomenon  in  this  region.  The  amount 
of  cloudiness  during  the  month  was  about  fortj^- 
two  per  cent.  There  were  frosts  on  the  od,  11th, 
23d  and  31st  days,  besides  others  on  low  lands 
not  noticed.  The  last  was  quite  severe,  killing 
corn  and  other  vegetables  in  many  places.  The 
first  thunder  storm  took  place  on  the  7th,  and 
another  on  the  night  of  the  26th ;  these  were  the 
only  thunder  storms  during  the  month.  There 
was  a  beautiful  halo  around  the  sun  on  the  31st 
day,  which  lasted  from,  ten  A.  M.,  to  one  P.  M., 
and  was  extremely  bright  between  eleven  and 
twelve  A.  M. 


June  had  a  temperature  of  62.44,  being  2.24 
colder  than  the  mean,  and  is  the  coldest  of  the 
past  seven  years,  with  the  exception  of  1857. 
The  first  half  of  the  month  was  extremely  dry, 
and  the  last  part  moderately  wet.  The  amount 
of  rain  was  4.12  inches,  being  more  than  in  any 
other  month  except  September,  during  the  sea- 
son. The  amount  of  cloudiness  was  fifty-seven 
per  cent.  Rain  fell  on  seventeen  days.  There 
were  four  thunder  storms,  and  a  high  wind  ac- 
companying the  last,  on  the  29th.  On  the  same 
day,  the  mercury  stood  at  92,  at  one  P.  M., 
which  was  the  highest  during  the  summer.  The 
extremes  of  temperature  were  36  and  92.  White 
frosts  occurred  on  the  mornings  of  the  6th  and 
12th  days. 

July  had  a  mean  temperature  of  67.30  being 
2.35  colder  than  the  mean,  it  being  the  coldest 
July  for  the  past  seven  years  with  the  exception 
of  1853.  The  extremes  of  temperature  were 
41.50  and  90.  This  was  the  only  month  that 
escaped  frost  in  this  region,  but  report  says  there 
was  frost  in  some  places — probably  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  5th,  which  was  the  coldest,  with  a  tem- 
perature of  41.50,  bordering  on  frost.  Rain  fell 
on  11  days,  and  its  amount  was  1.315  inches, 
which  was  less  than  the  mean  of  the  three  previ- 
ous years  by  1.48  inc.es,  being  less  than  half 
the  usual  quantity.  Thunder  was  heard  on  four 
days.     Amount  of  cloudiness,  44  per  cent. 

August  had  a  mean  temperature  of  67.76,  being 
2.05  warmer  than  the  mean,  and  was  the  warm- 
est August  for  the  past  seven  years.  The  ex- 
tremes of  temperature  were  43  and  87.50.  Rain 
fell  on  11  days,  and  its  amount  was  2.845  inches, 
which  was  3.09  inches  less  than  the  mean  of  the 
three  preceding  years.  The  earth  was  extremely 
dry  during  the  month.  Many  wells  and  springs 
were  dry,  and  all  streams  exceedingly  low.  There 
was  a  light  frost  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  suf- 
ficient to  injure  crops  on  low  lands. 

September  had  a  mean  temperature  of  56.43, 
being  2.10  colder  than  the  mean,  and  was  the 
coldest  of  the  past  seven  years.  Rain  fell  on  17 
days,  and  its  amount  was  4.615  inches,  being  a 
little  more  than  the  average  fall,  but  was  not  suf- 
ficient to  affect  the  lower  springs,  nor  give  the 
surface  its  usual  amount  of  moisture  in  conse- 
quence of  the  protracted  drought  of  summer. 
Since  the  frost  on  the  15th,  the  forests  have  put 
on  their  hues  of  "purple  and  gold,"  the  fading 
beauties  of  their  autumnal  dress,  and  the  precur- 
sor of  early  decay.  Soon  the  deciduous  forests 
will  be  striped  of  their  foliage,  which  has  been 
so  beautiful  in  its  green  and  sombre  hues,  show- 
ing nature  beautiful  even  in  decay. 

This  may  be  said  to  be  a  cold,  dry  summer, 
for  the  nights  have  been  unusually  chilly.  There 
has  been  a  large  proportion  of  chilling  south- 
east winds,  consisting  of  nightly  aspirations, 
when  the  wind  has  been  at  every  other  point  dur- 
ing the  day.  This  has  had  a  bad  efi'ect  on  some 
crops,  especially  corn.  The  whole  number  of  con- 
secutive days  free  from  frost,  was  78,  while  last 
year  we  had  142  days.  The  last  frost  of  spring 
occurred  on  the  12th  of  June,  and  the  first  of  au- 
tumn on  the  30th  of  August.  The  mean  temper- 
ature of  the  past  six  months  was  57.50,  and  the 
amount  of  rain  17  inches,  being  an  average  of 
2.83  inches  to  each  month. 

The  corn  crop  was  the  nearest  a  failure  of  any 


566 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


crop,  being  light  and  late,  and  somewhat  frost- 
bitten, so  that  the  yield  will  be  small  and  of  poor 
quality.  Grass  was  our  next  lightest  crop,  yet 
it  was  of  excellent  quality  and  well  secured.  In- 
tervale meadows  yielded  nearly  an  average  crop, 
but  upland  was  unusually  light.  Wheat  was 
good,  yet  there  was  but  little  sowed.  Oats  were 
a  first  rate  crop — perhaps  were  never  better. 
Potatoes  are  a  full  average  crop,  and  entirely 
free  from  rot,  and  are  tolerably  plenty.  Buck- 
whe  at  was  destroyed  by  the  frost  and  was  mostly 
lost.  Apples  are  quite  plenty,  although  of  poor 
quality.  Plums  are  an  entire  failure,  as  well  as 
fruits  of  the  drupe  kind  generally. 

Shall  we  hear  similar  reports  of  the  season 
and  the  crops  from  other  parts  of  the  country  ? 

Brandon,  Vt ,  Oct.  24, 1859.     D.  Buckland. 


HEVP"  PUBLICATIONS. 

Wells'  Pkinciples  and  Applications  op  Chemistry;  for  the 
use  of  Academies,  Hiah  Sclicoli  and  Colleges.  Introducing 
the  latest  results  of  Sciectific  Discovery  acd  Research,  and 
arraneed  with  special  reference  to  the  Practical  Application  of 
Chemistry  to  the  Arts  and  Employments  of  Common  Life. 
With  Two  Hundred  and  Forty  Iliustrations.  By  David  A. 
Wells,  A.  II.  •  New  York  :  Ivison  &  Phinney.    1859. 

This  book  is  especially  prepared  for  the  use  of 
academies,  seminaries  and  colleges,  and  will  un- 
doubtedly prove  of  great  utility  in  that  direction  ; 
but  it  is  not  there,  after  all,  where  its  usefulness 
ought  to  be  mainly  felt.  There  are  other  places, 
vastly  more  numerous  and  none  the  less  appro- 
priate, where  it  would  charm  the  mind,  give  it 
mental  strength,  and  prepare  it  better  to  under- 
stand the  principles  which  govern  everything  we 
do.  For  every  employment,  however  simple  and 
humble,  requires  something  of  the  aid  of  art  and 
science.  In  cooking  the  breakfast,  both  are  in- 
dispensable, and  so  in  sewing  the  patch  upon  the 
knee  of  the  pantaloons,  in  cutting  the  dress,  or 
any  of  the  most  common  and  ever-recurring  em- 
ployments of  life.  The  moment  the  Indian  be- 
gins to  construct  his  wigwam  of  bark  or  boughs, 
or  the  Esquimaux  to  construct  his  snow-hut,  he 
calls  to  his  aid  something  of  the  arts  and  scien- 
ces, and  civilizes  and  enlarges  all  his  powers  by 
the  operation.  And  this  is  the  effect  upon  us  all 
in  opening,  as  it  were,  and  investigating  natural 
laws. 

The  com.mon  mind  needs  more  of  this  knowl- 
edge ;  a  better  understanding  of  what  gravity  is, 
for  instance,  or  cohesion,  attraction  and  crystalli- 
zation. It  knows  that  the  sun  is  warm,  and  yet 
is  told  that  it  is  nearer  in  the  winter  when  the 
thermometer  is  at  zero,  than  during  the  fervent 
heat  of  midsummer  !  How  perplexing  this  must 
be,  and  how  refreshing  and  gratifying  to  learn  in 
an  easy  and  familiar  way,  the  reasons  for  these 
seemingly  contradictory  assertions. 

Let  this  book,  then,  become  the  companion  of 
the  fireside,  the  quiet,  unassuming  and  intelligent 
friend  for  every  leisure  hour ;  let  it  be  remem- 
bered during   the   engagements  of  the  day,  and 


perplexing  questions  that  arise  during  working 
hours  be  noted,  so  that  reference  may  be  had  to 
the  work  on  precise  points,  and  a  store  of  inval- 
uable knowledge  may  be  acquired  that  shall  give 
the  labors  of  life  a  new  value.  The  book  is  a  li- 
brary in  itself.  It  contains  the  kind  of  informa- 
tion most  needed  by  the  young  of  both  sexes. 

Wells'  Science  op  Common  Things  ;  a  Familiar  Explanation 
of  the  First  Principles  of  Physical  Science.  For  Schools, 
Families  and  young  Sturients.  Illustrated  with  numerous 
Engravings.  By  David  A.  Wells,  A.  M.  New  i''ork :  Ivison 
&  Phinney.    1859. 

Wliat  do  we  know  of  matter,  and  liow  do  we 
know  it  ?  There  may  be  a  sensible,  and  in  some 
degree,  satisfactory  answer  to  these  questions — 
but  who  will  give  it  ?  Can  you,  young  man  ?  We 
observe  that  you  are  studious  and  inquisitive, 
but  these  questions,  and  a  thousand  others,  puz- 
zle you  daily.  This  book  will  help  and  interest 
you,  and  in  seeking  instruction  from  its  pages 
your  life  will  be  a  happier  and  more  useful  one. 
Let  us  illustrate  it, — or,  rather,  let  it  illustrate 
itself,  in  an  agricultural  point  of  view. 

Why  does  dew  fall  more  ahtindanily  on  cultivat- 
ed soils  than  on  barren  lands  ? 

Because  cultivated  soils  (being  loose  and^o- 
rous)  very  freely  radiate  by  night  the  heat  which 
they  absorb  by  day ;  in  consequence  of  which 
they  are  much  cooled  down,  and  plentifully  con- 
dense the  vapor  of  the  passing  air  into  dew. 

Pause,  my  brother  laborer,  a  moment,  and 
look  at  the  wisdom  and  beauty  of  this  arrange- 
ment, and  it  will  nerve  the  arm  which  guides  the 
plow  and  hoe,  and  cheer  the  heart  that  hopes  for 
abundant  harvests.  We  are  all  too  ignorant  of 
the  common  things  of  life, — the  things  we  see, 
upon  which  we  work  and  depend  for  comfort  and 
subsistence.  Let  us  devote  more  leisure  hours 
to  their  investigation,  so  that  we  may  better  un- 
derstand nature's  laws,  and  thus  shield  ourselves 
against  those  losses  which  spring  from  a  want  of 
knowledge  of  nature's  changes  around  us.  But 
we  will  let  the  book  give  another  familiar  illus- 
tration of  itself. 

7s  tlie  air  of  our  rooms  alivays  in  motion'^ 

Yes  ;  there  are  always  two  currents  of  air  in 
the  room  we  occupy ;  one  of  hot  air  flowing  out 
of  the  room,  and  another  of  cold  air  flowing  into 
the  room. 

How  do  you  hnoio  that  there  are  these  tioo  cur- 
rents of  air  in  every  occupied  room  ? 

If  I  hold  a  lighted  candle  near  the  crevice  at 
the  top  of  the  door,  the  flame  will  be  blown  out- 
wards (towards  the  hall ;)  but  if  I  hold  the  can- 
dle at  the  bottom  of  the  door,  the  flame  will  be 
blown  inioards  (into  the  room.) 

This  book  contains  two  thousand  and  fifteen 
questions,  of  a  character  similar  U  the  above.  If 
a  person  is  building  a  house,  and  does  not  under- 
stand how  to  construct  chimneys  so  as  to  afford 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


567 


a  good  draught,  the  perusal  of  this  book  may  be 
worth  ten  dollars  to  him,  or  ten  times  ten.  We 
knew  a  man  build  a  house,  who  rather  churlishly 
refused  to  listen  to  our  suggestions  about  the 
construction  of  his  chimneys,  and  after  torment- 
ing himself  and  family  with  smoke  and  flame  for 
six  months,  expended  $400  to  put  them  right! 
The  verdict  of  most  persons  would  be, — "sarved 
him  right !" 

EXTRACTS  AND  BBPLIES. 

IS   MARL   A   FERTILIZER? 

A  neighbor  of  mine  wishes  an  answer  to  the 
following  inquiry  :  he  says — "I  wish  to  be  in- 
formed whether  leaves  and  other  vegetable  sub- 
stances, falling  into  shallow  water  and  sinking  to 
the  bottom,  will,  in  process  of  time,  turn  to 
marl?"  j.  l.  c. 

BaverhiU,  M  H.,  Oct.  20,  1859. 

Remarks. — No.  Marl  is  an  earthy,  not  a  veg- 
etable substance  ;  and  any  earthy  substance  in 
which  the  proportion  of  calcareous — that  is,  limy 
matter  is  apparent,  mixed  with  sand  or  clay,  is 
styled  in  popular  language,  a  marl.  Of  this  there 
are  three  principal  varieties,  1.  Clay  marl.  2. 
Sand  marl;  3.  Slate  or  stone  marl;  4.  Shell 
marl.  If  you  find  a  substance  which  you  suppose 
may  be  marl,  pour  a  little  vinegar  upon  it,  and 
if  it  effervesces,  it  will  probably  be  marl,  and  will 
contain  fertilizing  properties. 

QUESTION   ABOUT   A   CRANBERRY   MEADOW^. 

I  have,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  a  piece  of 
land  which  is  valuable  principally  on  account  of 
its  descent  from  my  great  grandfather,  it  having 
been  in  the  name  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  There  is  upon  the  lot  about  two  acres  of 
swale  which  has  been  mowed  yearly  for  seventy 
years,  but  is  too  strong  to  plow.  There  are 
many  beds  of  cranberries  upon  the  land,  of  a 
good  quality.  Contiguous  to  this  swale  are  four 
or  five  acres  of  moist  upland,  where  good  crops 
of  corn  have  been  raised,  also  rye  and  potatoes  ; 
the  land  is  very  free  from  frost,  as  only  one  year, 
that  of  1816,  for  a  half  century  has  the  frost  in- 
jured corn.  The  soil  is  rather  shallow,  with 
many  small  round  stones.  Tne  question  is,  wheth- 
er it  would  be  advisable  to  try  the  crati  berry  cul- 
ture upon  this  lot?  .Tesse  Whiting. 

Oroton  Junction,  Oct.,  1859. 

Remarks. — We  cannot  tell,  away  from  the 
meadow,  but  should  think  it  would.  Try  a  por- 
tion of  it,  and  see  how  it  succeeds. 

"saw-dust  as  a  FERTILIZER." 
In  answer  to  the  inquiry  contained  in  your 
journal  of  Oct.  29  as  to  the  value  of  saw-dust  as 
a  fertilizer,  I  would«say  its  virtue  in  the  raising 
of  beans,  equals,  if  not  surpasses,  any  enricher  ci 
soil  I  ever  saw.  As  a  fertilizer  to  other  vege- 
table products  I  have  never  as  yet  seen  it  at- 
tempted, but  purpose  the  coming  year  to  test  it 
further.     It  was  found  most  productive  by  being 


dampened  when  used,  and  applied  rather  gener- 
ously, well  incorporated  with  the  soil  receiving 
the  deposite  iieans.  Oak  Hill. 

Nov.  4,  1859.  _ 

FINE    OXEN. 

I  saw  at  the  Esses  House,  in  Salem,  to-day,  a 
pair  of  oxen,  grown  at  Greenland,  N.  H.,  six 
years  old,  that  weighed  7000  lbs. —  varying  only 
about  25  lbs.  from  each  other.  They  were  of  a 
beautiful  red  color,  bright  eyes,  and  well  formed. 
I  have  never  seen  any  cattle  superior  to  them.  I 
have  heard  of  individuals  animal,  nine  years  old, 
that  weighed  4000  lbs.,  but  I  think  these  sur- 
passed such  an  ox — all  things  considered.  I 
hope  the  proprietor  will  be  well  rewarded  for 
exhibiting  them — their  sight  is  more  interesting 
than  that  of  elephants  or  wild  boars.  P. 

Oct.  27,  1859.  _ 

carrots. 

Mr.  B.  H.,  one  of  the  most  successful  cultiva- 
tors in  this  town,  informed  me  that  he  had  gath- 
ered six  tons  of  as  handsome  carrots  as  he  ever 
saw,  from  27  square  rods  of  land.  This  would  be 
about  one  ton  to  six  square  rods,  or  27  tons  to 
an  acre.  The  price  of  carrots  at  this  time  is  $8 
per  ton,  consequently  the  produce  of  an  acre 
would  amount  to  8  times  27,  or  $216  per  acre. 
Considering  that  carrots  are  not  an  exhausting 
crop,  I  look  upon  this  as  good  doings.  Few  crops 
yield  so  well  this  seamn — cold  as  it  has  been. 

South  Danvers,  Oct.  27,  1859.  P. 

BREMEN    GEESE. 

Will  you  be  good  enough  to  inform  your  read- 
ers who  has  the  pure  blood  Bremen  Geese  for 
sale,  described  in  your  paper  of  Sept.  24. 

Eartland,  TY.,  Oct.,  1859.  W.  S.  Grow. 

Remarks. — AVe  do  not  know.  Will  some  one 
who  has  them  reply  by  letter  to  the  inquirer  ? 

APPLE   OR   CIDER   STAINS   ON  LINEN  OR  COTTON. 

Will  you  permit  an  old  subscriber  and  faithful 
re-ader  of  your  valued  journal  to  inquire,  if  any 
of  our  good  mothers  of  New  England  can  inform 
me  of  the  best  and  most  eff"ective  manner  of  re- 
moving stains  of  apple  or  cider  from  linen  or 
cotton,  after  being  fully  dried  in  ?  If  so,  they 
will  oblige  their  suffering  friend, 

"Oak  Hill." 


THE  CONCOKD  GRAPE. 

The  more  we  know  of  this  grape,  'ihe  better 
we  like  it;  and  this  appears  to  be  the  case  with 
nearly  everybody.  The  exceptions  are  those  who 
have  long  settled  in  their  minds  that  the  Fox 
grape,  being  a  universally  condemned  variety, 
every  seedling  possessing  any  portion  of  its  fla- 
vor, must  necessarily  be  worthless.  To  us,  and 
to  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred,  the  Fox  grape  aro- 
ma is  agreeable,  and  constitutes  one  of  the  most 
attractive  qualities.  The  Southern  Cultivator, 
published  at  Richmond,  Va.,  thus  refers  to  it. 
"A  fine  bunch  of  grapes,  of  the  variety  called 
Concord,  was  brought  to  our  office  a  few  days 
ago,  by  Mr.  E.  G.  Eggeling,  florist  and  nursery- 
man, near  this  city.     The  bunch  weighed  four- 


568 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


teen  ounces;  the  fruit  above  an  average  size,  be- 
ing about  as  large  as  a  Black  Hamburg,  in  ap- 
pearance very  much  like  it,  with  a  very  thin  skin, 
a  perfect  bag  of  juice,  and  of  the  most  delicious 
flavor." — Germantown  Telegraph. 


AN"  EXTENSIVE  PEAK  ORCHARD. 

The  past  week  we  visited  a  very  extensive  pear 
orchard  in  this  country,  perhaps  the  largest  in 
Western  New  York,  planted  by  Messrs.  Starks 
&  Mattison,  embracing  forty-five  acres,  on  which 
are  growing  over  4,800  young  standard  pear  trees, 
all  healthy,  and  making  a  good  growth,  and  many 
of  them  bearing  good  fruit.  So  well  pleased 
were  we  with  the  appearance  of  this  orchard,  that 
we  made  a  rather  careful  examination,  and  gained 
some  facts,  which  may  be  of  interest  and  profit 
to  our  readers.  These  trees  were  from  three  to 
five  years  old  when  planted,  which  was  done  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1857-8.  The  winter  being  un- 
usually mild,  planting,  which  commenced  in  De- 
cember, was  continued  through  January,  Febru- 
ary, March  and  April.  Occasionally,  freezing 
weather  would  put  a  stop  to  the  work  for  a  few 
days.  No  diff'erence  is  apparent  in  the  growth  of 
the  trees  between  those  which  were  planted  in 
the  fall,  spring,  or  winter,  and  not  a  dozen  out 
of  the  number  died.  The  varieties  are  as  fol- 
lows : 


Flemish  Beauty 224  Dearborn's  Seedling. 

Kosliezer 112  Gfinsel's  Bergamot.. 

Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey. . .  .231  Columbia 

Bartlett 1,000  Beurre  Diel 

Doyenne  Gris  d'Hiver 27  Winter  Nelis 

Seckel 270  Lawrence. 


..58 
..50 
.58 
.294 
..58 
.311 

Virgalieu 1 ,316    Glout  Morceau 116 

Onondaga 58    Vicar  Winlifield 373 

Sheldon 151    Easter  Beurre 70 

The  soil  is  a  clay  loam,  or  as  the  proprietor 
expressed  it,  a  "limestone  loam"  for  eight  to  ten 
inches  or  more,  subsoil  clay,  though  not  very 
stifi',  having  an  admixture  of  loam,  with  a  little 
sand,  the  whole  resting  upon  fossil  lime  rock. 
The  ground  was  prepared  by  subsoiling,  about 
eighteen  inches  deep,  and  the  trees  planted  twen- 
ty feet  apart  each  way.  In  setting  them  out  the 
roots  were  covered  with  earth  to  the  depth  of 
about  one  inch,  over  which  v/as  spread  something 
like  two  inches  of  stable  manure.  The  remain- 
ing portion  of  the  opening  was  then  filled  with 
earth  to  grade.  The  planting  being  completed, 
the  upper  portion  of  the  roots  were  about  one 
inch  below  the  average  grade  of  the  soil.  About 
one-half  a  bushel  of  earth  was  placed  at  the  foot 
of  each  tree,  in  a  conical  form,  immediately  after 
planting,  which  was  allowed  to  remain  until  the 
middle  of  May,  and  was  then  levelled  and  the 
earth  spaded  as  deep  as  practicable  without 
interrupting  the  roots,  for  a  space  of  six  feet 
in  diameter.  In  the  fall  of  1858  a  mulching  of 
about  two  bushels  of  manure  was  given  to  each 
tree,  over  which  M'as  placed  earth  in  pyramidal 
form  to  the  depth  of  one  foot,  to  protect  from 
mice  and  severity  of  winter.  This  was  allowed 
to  remain  until  the  first  of  May,  last  when  all  was 
made  level,  and  spaded  as  before,  over  an  area 
seven  feet  in  diameter. 

The  trunk  of  every  tree,  from  the  ground  to 
the  branches,  is  covered  v/ith  a  bag  made  of  cot- 
ton  cloth,  sufficiently  large  to  admit  of  three  or 


four  years'  growth,  the  cloth  being  fastened  to 
the  lower  branches,  and  hanging  to  the  ground. 
This,  the  proprietors  believe,  protects  the  trunks 
from  the  sun,  and  from  sudden  changes  of  tem- 
perature, and  in  a  great  measure  prevents  blight 
and  other  evils,  such  as  the  hardening  of  the 
bark,  the  contraction  of  the  pores,  thus  prevent- 
ing the  free  flow  of  sap,  necessary  exhalation,  &:c. 
Two  cedar  stakes  are  driven  by  each  tree,  to 
which  it  is  fastened,  preventing  swaying  by  the 
wind,  in  any  direction. 

The  rows  run  east  and  west  for  about  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile,  and  are  as  true  as  it  is  possi- 
ble to  plant  trees.  At  the  western  extremity  is 
planted  a  belt  of  Norway  spruce,  across  the  en- 
tire orchard,  consisting  of  two  rows  ten  feet 
apart,  and  the  trees  in  the  rows  twenty  feet  apart, 
those  in  one  row  being  opposite  the  open  space 
in  the  other,  leaving  the  trees  ten  feet  apart. 
Two  similar  belts  are  planted  through  the  orch- 
ard, at  about  equal  distances,  though  the  high- 
est points  of  land  are  selected  for  the  purpose, 
and  these  it  is  thought  will  aff'ord  all  necessary 
protection  from  the  wind,  as  the  trees  are  made 
to  head  low. 

Now,  for  the  result  thus  far.  The  trees  are 
healthy  and  vigorous,  and  making  a  fine  growth, 
many  having  already  made  shoots  from  three  to 
four  feet  in  length.  Although  having  had  but 
one  season's  growth  since  planting  previous  to 
the  present,  many  of  the  trees  are  bearing  fruit. 
On  one  Seckel  we  counted  131  specimens,  and 
on  the  Bartlett,  Flemish  Beauty,  &:c.,  fullj'  as 
many  as  the  trees  should  be  allowed  to  bear.  On 
removing  the  cloth  from  the  trees  we  found  the 
bark  glossy,  smooth,  and  soft  to  the  touch,  yield- 
ing under  the  pressure  of  the  finger.  No  blight 
has  ever  been  seen  in  the  orchard,  and  this  ex- 
emption the  proprietors  think  is  mainly  attribu- 
table to  the  protection  afl"orded  the  trunks  by  the 
cloth. 

The  proprietors  are  entitled  to  great  credit  for 
their  enterprise,  and  we  hope  to  see  them  amply 
remunerated,  as  we  have  no  doubt  they  will  be 
before  many  years.  Mr.  Mattison  is  an  expe- 
rienced nurseryman,  who  knows  how  trees  should 
be  grown  and  cultivated,  and  practices  himself 
the  thorough  course  that  he  recommends  to  oth- 
ers, of  which  this  orchard  gives  abundant  proof. 
Nearly  every  tree  he  has  grown  from  the  seed  ; 
and  here  we  may  say  that  Mr.  M.  claims  an  im- 
proved method  of  cultivating  pear  seedlings,  by 
root-pruning  during  growth,  thereby  securing  a 
larger  number  of  fibrous  roots,  which,  to  some 
extent,  prevents  leaf  blight,  and  ensures  greater 
safety  in  the  removal  of  trees,  even  when  large. 

This  orchard,  if  well  cared  for,  for  a  few  years 
longer,  must  yield  a  princely  revenue.  We  hope 
these  gentlemen  will  have  many  imitators  in 
Western  New  York  ;  and,  indeed,  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  where  fruit  can  be  grown  with  profit. 
— Mooters  Rural  New-Yorker. 


Acquaintance  Resumed. — We  are  happy  to 
call  the  attention  of  readers  to  an  article  by  "JVor- 
folk,"  in  another  column,  and  to  learn  that  New 
Hampshire  air,  and  New  Hampshire  fare,  have 
brought  back  to  our  correspondent  health,  en- 
ergy and  action  once  more. 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


569 


CURE  "WANTED. 

I  have  a  three  year  old  colt  that  settles  back 
on  his  halter,  brings  his  under  lip  up  on  the  hitch 
strap  and  grunts  or  makes  a  noise  like  a  horse 
cribbing.  I  don't  know  but  it  is  the  first  stages 
of  cribbing,  but  I  have  never  seen  him  get  hold 
of  anything  and  grunt — nothing  more  than  to 
bear  down  on  the  halter  and  grunt.  What  is  the 
matter  with  him  ?  J.  Warren. 

Charleston,  N.  JET.,  1859. 


Remarks. — It  is  difficult,  from  such,  or  any  de- 
scription, to  tell  what  the  matter  is  with  the  colt. 
There  is  some  morbid  affection,  or  the  animal 
would  stand  quietly  in  the  stall  when  properly 
fed.  There  is  actual  disease,  of  some  kind,  or 
there  remains  some  want  unsupplied.  It  appears 
that  the  colt  is  stabled — is  he  there  constantly? 
If  so,  let  him  run  an  hour  or  two,  each  day  in 
the  field  where  he  can  have  access  to  plowed 
ground ;  add  to  this  regular,  and  sufficient  feed- 
ing, and  try  the  plan.  If  this  fails,  some  wiser 
head  than  ours  must  prescribe  for  him,  from  an 
investigation  of  the  case. 


PHOSPHATE  OF  LIMB  VS.  ASHES. 

Messrs.  Editors  : — I  have  heretofore  been 
slow  to  adopt  the  new  notions  in  agricultural  im- 
provements, especially  in  the  use  of  the  so-called 
fertilizers.  But  within  the  last  two  years  I  have 
learnt  of  some  good  results  from  the  application 
of  superphosphate  of  lime,  and  this  season  I  have 
for  the  first  time  used  that  fertilizer.  I  obtained 
some  of  Coe's  superphosphate  of  lime,  and  on  the 
23d  of  May  planted  my  potatoes,  and  about  the 
same  time  planted  my  garden  vegetables.  I  had 
spread  and  plowed  in  a  small  quantity  of  stable- 
manure.  According  to  my  usual  custom,  I  planted 
in  drills — tubers  about  20  inches  apart  in  the 
row,  and  cut  so  as  to  be  not  more  than  three  or 
four  sprouts  in  a  hill.  I  planted  two  rows  side  by 
side.  In  one  I  put  unleached  ashes,  as  many  as 
I  could  well  hold  in  my  hand  at  once,  in  each  hill. 
In  the  other  I  put  two-thirds  of  a  gill  of  super- 
phosphate of  lime  in  each  hill.  Very  early  in  the 
season  there  Avas  a  marked  difference.  Where 
the  phosphate  was  put,  the  vines  grew  more  rap- 
idly, and  when  they  had  attained  their  growth, 
hey  were  one-third  to  one-half  larger  than  those 
where  the  ashes  were  put.  I  have  now  dug  the 
potatoes,  and  will  here  state  the  result : 

I  dug  ten  hills  where  ashes  were  put,  which 
contained  36  of  good  size — weight,  8^  lbs. ;  small 
size,  weight,  |  lb.=9i  lbs.  Ten  hills  where  the 
phosphate  was  put,  55  of  good  size — weight,  15^ 
lbs.  ;  small  size,  weight,  15  lbs.=17^  lbs. 

I  thought  the  difference  was  so  great  that  this 
statement  might  not  be  believed,  and  my  neigh- 
bor, Mr.  William  Reed,  accepted  my  invitation 
to  be  present  at  another  trial.  Mi-.  II.  made  the 
figures  : 

I  dug  ten  hills  where  ashes  were  put,  34  of 
good  size — weight,  6  lbs.  5  ounces  ;  small  size, 
weight,  11  ounces=7  lbs.  Ten  hills  where  phos- 
phate was  put,  48  of  good  size — weight,  15  lbs. 
3  ounces  ;  small  size,  weight,  1  lb.  9  ounces=16 
lbs.  12  ounces. 


Mr.  Reed  thought  there  must  be  a  difference 
in  the  condition  of  the  land  that  made  a  part  of 
the  difference  in  quantity.  I  then  dug  five  hills 
of  each  kind  in  another  place. 

Five  hills  where  ashes  were  put,  16  of  good  size 
— weight,  3  lbs. ;  small  size,  weight,  2  ounces= 
3  lbs.  2  ounces.  Five  hills  where  phosphate  was 
put,  28  of  good  size — weight  6  lbs.  11  ounces; 
small  size,  weight,  7  ounces=7  lbs.  2  ounces. 

In  the  growth  of  my  other  \egetables,  I  think 
I  have  seen  much  benefit  by  the  use  of  the  phos- 
phate of  lime.  A  knowledge  of  these  facts  may 
be  of  some  advantage  to  farmers  and  gardeners. 
— John  R.  Howard,  in  Boston  Cultivator. 


THE  SMALL  STINQIWQ  NETTLE. 


This  nettle  is  the  plant  so  common  all  over 
New  England,  and  one  which  is  well  remembered 
through  life  by  those  who  were  brought  up  on  a 
farm.  The  quaint  old  herbalist,  Culpepper,  re- 
marks, "that  they  may  be  found  by  feeling  on 
the  darkest  night."  The  small  figures  are  the 
flowers  of  the  plant  enlarged. 

Nettle,  Urtica,  (from  uro,  to  burn  ;  in  refer- 
ence to  the  stinging  properties  of  most  of  the 
species.)  An  extensive  genus  of  herbaceous  or 
shrubby  plants  of  little  beauty,  and  which  are 
justly  looked  upon  in  the  eyes  of  the  agricultur- 
ist as  mere  weeds.  The  herbage  in  all  the  spe- 
cies is  copiously  armed  with  venomous  perforat- 
ed bristles,  each  of  which  has  a  bag  of  liquid 
poison  at  its  base.  This  liquor,  by  the  slight 
pressure  required  to  pierce  the  skin,  is  transmit- 
ted into  it,  causing  great  irritation.  Many  of 
the  numerous  exotic  species  have  not  this  sting- 
ing property ;  but  the  sting  of  common  nettles 
is  not  to  be  compared  with  that  of  some  of  the 


670 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


Indian  species  grown  in  the  gardens  of  Europe. 
These  are,  however,  all  surpassed  in  virulence  by 
one  which  in  Timor  is  called  duoim  setan,  or  dev- 
il's leaf,  the  effects  of  which  are  said  by  the  na- 
tives in  many  cases  to  cause  death.  In  England, 
the  indigenous  species  of  nettle  are  three  ;  viz. 
1.  Roman  nettle  (U.  pilulifera,)  an  annual  plant, 
growing  in  waste  ground  amongst  rubbish,  chiefly 
near  the  sea.  The  herb  is  armed  all  over  with  pe- 
culiarly venomous  stings.  The  stem  is  branched, 
leafy,  bluntly  quadrangular,  often  purple,  about 
two  feet  high.  2.  The  small  nettle  (U.  urens)  is 
found  to  be  in  all  cultivated  ground  a  trouble- 
some weed,  especially  on  a  light  soil.  It  is  an- 
nual in  habit,  flowering  from  June  till  October, 
smaller  than  the  last,  and  of  a  much  brighter 
green  ;  its  copious  stings  hardly  less  virulent. 
The  several  parallel  ribs  of  the  leaves  form  its 
distinguishing  character.  The  whole  plant  be- 
ing refused  by  every  kind  of  cattle,  should  be 
carefully  extirpated  from  pastures.  3.  The  com- 
mon or  great  nettle  (U.  dioica,)  which  is  a  nox- 
ious perennial  weed,  growing  almost  everywhere, 
and  flowering  in  July  and  August.  The  root  is 
branching  and  creeping,  with  fleshy  roots,  and 
many  fibrous  radicles.  The  herb  is  of  a  duller 
green  than  the  last,  erect,  three  feet  high,  with 
less  irritating  stings.  Leaves  large,  heart-shaped, 
spreading,  pointed,  strongly  serrated,  veiny.  The 
leaves  are  employed  for  feeding  poultry,  espe- 
cially in  the  winter  ;  when  boiled,  they  are  said 
to  promote  the  laying  of  eggs.  Asses  devour 
nettles  eagerly,  but  all  other  live-stock  refuse 
them  unless  they  are  dried.  In  the  western  islands 
of  Scotland,  a  rennet  is  prepared  by  adding  a 
quart  of  salt  to  three  pints  of  a  strong  decoction 
of  nettles  ;  a  tablespoonful  of  which  is  said  to 
be  sufficient  to  coagulate  a  bowl  of  milk.  The 
young  tops  of  the  common  and  smaller  nettles 
may  be  boiled  as  potherbs  during  spring,  and 
eaten  as  a  substitute  for  greens  ;  being  not  only 
nourishing,  but  mildly  aperient.  The  tough 
fibres  of  the  stem  may  be  manufactured  like 
hemp,  and  are  often  found  in  winter  naturally 
separated  and  bleached.  The  roots  are  astrin- 
gent and  diuretic. 


"sap  settles  to  the  roots  in  a  visible  form,  that  is 
owing  to  temporary  causes,  the  removal  of  which 
causes  its  instant  reascent."  My  method,  for 
years,  has  been  to  take  the  vines  and  lay  them 
along  upon  the  ground,  throwing  over  them  a 
light  covering  of  leaves,  litter  or  the  refuse  of 
the  garden.  Should  the  vine  be  so  situated  that 
I  cannot  conveniently  take  it  down,  I  tack  up 
matting  or  any  slight  covering  sufficient  to  keep 
oft"  the  sun's  rays.  That  it  is  the  warm  days  of 
winter  that  kill  many  of  our  half-hardy  shrubs, 
as  well  as  vines,  is  exemplified  in  the  culture  of 
the  Moras  Multicaulis.  This  plant  was  found  to 
winter  better  on  the  north  side  of  hills  than  up- 
on the  south.  J.  M.  I. 
Salem,  Oct.,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

LAYING  DOWN  THE  ISA-BELLA.  VINE. 

Mr.  Brown  : — At  this  season  of  the  year,  the 
open  air  grape  vines  that  are  trained  up  upon  a 
wall  or  building  should  be  taken  down  and  laid 
upon  the  surface.  I  have  thought  that  my  former 
directions  given  some  time  since,  may  be  repeat- 
ed. Most  cultivators  are  aware  that  the  Isabella 
vine  suffers  more  or  less  every  winter.  Long 
shoots  of  the  previous  year's  wood,  and  occasion- 
ally the  whole  vine,  is  winter-killed,  (so  called.) 
Many  attribute  this  to  the  extreme  cold  ;  I  believe 
it  to  be  caused  by  the  warm  days  of  winter.  In  our 
variable  climate,  where  the  thermometer  sinks  to 
zero,  followed  the  next  day  by  a  bright  sun  with 
the  warmth  of  spring,  a  plant  so  susceptible  as 
the  vine  is  generally  affected  by  these  sudden 
changes,  particularly  as  the  sap  does  not  take 
lodgment  in  the  roots,  but,  as  Dr.  Lyndley  says, 
"is  always  in  motion  at  all  seasons,  except  in  the 
presence  of  intense  cold."  Can  we  wonder  at 
these  results  ?     "If  ever,"  says  the    same  writer, 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 

SA.W  DUST  AND  SHAVINGS  A3  FERTI- 
LIZBBS. 

Mr,  Editor: — In  your  last  issue  I  noticed  a 
piece  on  Saw-Dust  as  a  Fertilizer.  I  would  say 
that  whether  it  is  a  fertilizer  or  not,  it  depends 
very  much  upon  how  it  is  used  and  of  what  wood 
it  is  made.  Dry  saw-dust  is  one  of  the  best  of 
articles  for  bedding  horses  and  cattle,  to  take  up 
the  urine  and  keep  the  cattle  clean.  But  hard 
wood  is  the  best,  and  rock  maple  the  best  with- 
out doubt  for  the  land.  Many  of  your  readers, 
1  presume,  can  recollect  how  well  the  grass  used 
to  grow  on  Rock  Maple  land,  and  where,  espe- 
cially, the  trunks  were  left  on  the  ground  to  rot, 
as  they  used  to  be  fifty  years  ago,  as  I  very  well 
remember. 

Saw-dust  put  on  land,  right  from  the  saw,  I 
think  is  not  just  the  thing,  unless  on  dry,  cobbly 
land.  I  recollect  of  putting  a  load  on  a  spot 
some  two  square  rods,  where,  being  on  a  side- 
hill,  there  was  not  soil  enough  to  make  it  grass 
over  for  years  before,  but  since,  I  have  seen  no 
signs  of  barrenness.  I  believe  it  to  be  a  retain- 
er of  moisture,  if  nothing  more. 

Hard  woud  shavings  are  also  good  for  bedding, 
such  as  come  from  planing  machines  in  making 
wash-boards,  &c.,  &c.,  they  being  very  fine  and 
soft.  They  cause  the  manure  to  heat  much  faster, 
and,  of  course,  will  need  overhauling  much  soon- 
er than  usual.  I  think  hard  wood  saw-dust  and 
shavings  should  be  used  freely  for  bedding,  even 
if  you  have  to  go  miles  after  them,  and  they  will 
answer  every  purpose  of  going  to  Peru  for  guano. 

Meadow  mud  is  not  good  for  bedding,  being 
very  soft  when  wet,  but  good  to  put  into  the 
yard  or  barn  cellar,  and  even  to  spread  on  ground 
when  you  sow  down.  I  did  this  on  a  piece  of 
ground  I  took  up  from  pasture,  and  have  noticed 
that  my  cattle  graze  on  that  part  where  I  put  the 
mud,  two  or  three  times  as  much  as  they  do  right 
by  the  side  where  I  did  not  put  any,  and  yet  the 
land  where  I  put  it  was  the  poorest. 

Something  is  said  in  these  days  against  barn  cel- 
lars, because  manure  heats,  and  the  stench  arising 
injures  the  hay,  and  also  the  cattle,  where  they 
have  to  breathe  the  foul  air.  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that  if  cattle  have  to  breathe  this  bad  air,  it  must 
be  injurious  to  them,  as  well  as  to  the  hay  they 
eat.  But  why  have  it  so?  This  heating  and  bad 
odor  should  not  be  suffered  to  accumulate.  My 
father-in-law  (who  is  about  90  years  old,)  said 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


571 


to  me  this  summer,  that  nothing  is  lost,  and  if 
it  goes  off  in  the  air,  it  comes  down  in  the  dew. 
True,  1  said,  but  it  might  come  down  in  some  old 
swamp  of  my  neighbor's,  and  I,  as  well  as  he, 
■would  not  get  much  use  of  it.  To  save  it,  put  in 
anything,  even  sand,  that  is  worthless,  apparent- 
ly, if  you  can  get  nothing  better,  to  take  up  the 
moisture,  and  that,  by  overhauling,  will  prevent 
heating,  and  double  the  quantity  and  value  of 
manure  will  be  made  to  what  would  be  in  the  old 
way  of  cows  in  the  yard  in  summer,  and  manure 
in  winter  thawed  out  under  the  eaves,  and  wind 
and  water  driving  off  all  this  bad  odor  people  are 
so  afraid  of  in  cellars.  There  is  no  l)ody  so  hard 
up  but  that  they  can  find  sand  for  this  purpose, 
if  nothing  better.  Keep  the  cattle  in  the  barn  at 
night  and  put  one  or  two  shovels-full  of  sand  to 
each  animal,  together  with  straw,  old  meadow 
hay,  saw-dust,  or  shavings  that  are  fine,  to  make 
a  good  bed,  and  you  will  be  astonished  at  the 
amount  of  manure  you  will  make.  By  so  doing, 
you  will  have  it  all,  and  ready  for  corn. 

Some  farmers  not  only  put  sand  or  loam  on 
the  floor,  but  have  a  pile  on  the  barn  cellar  to 
throw  upon  the  droppings  every  morning. 

People  lose  much  manure  by  being  obliged  to 
let  their  cattle  out  in  winter,  and  perhaps  summer, 
to  some  brooks  or  springs  to  obtain  their  drink. 
Some  let  them  go  as  they  please,  (which  is  the 
best  way  to  ensure  the  cattle  to  drink  what  and 
when  they  wish.)  Others  drive  them,  perhaps 
twice  a  day,  and  if  they  drink  when  they  drive 
them,  well ;  if  not,  they  must  go  dry.  If  dry  they 
will  not  eat  their  hay  well,  and  cows  will  not 
give  their  expected  quantity  of  milk,  and  then 
the  boys  are  found  fault  with  because  they  gave 
too  much  hay  and  have  not  milked  clean. 

To  get  water  conveniently,  dig  a  well  near  the 
yard  or  under  the  shed,  which  should  join  the 
cellar,  and  will  not  generally  be  more  than  some 
20  or  30  feet,  and  many  of  them  much  less. 
Should  you  happen  not  to  find  as  much  water  as 
desired,  be  sure  and  dig  large,  so  as  to  stone  up 
some  five  feet  at  bottom,  so  as  to  make  a  reser- 
voir, put  up  an  eves  trough  on  barn,  and  conduct 
the  water  into  the  well,  and  then  get  one  of 
"Ayer's  Self-Acting  Farm  Wells,"  and  use  it. 
You  will  find  your  cattle  do  much  better  than 
they  will  to  go  dry,  or  have  to  go  some  20  to  80 
rods  for  their  drinks  in  cold  and  blustering 
weather.  Your  cows  will  water  their  milk  much 
better  than  their  owners,  and  suit  their  custo- 
mers a  vast  deal  better,  for  the  quality  as  well  as 
quantity  you  will  be  able  to  let  them  have.  I 
have  used  one  of  them  three  years  past  and  know 
of  a  certainty  the  good  of  them.  The  cattle  will 
go  freely  to  drink  as  to  an  aqueduct,  after  a  few 
times,  and  most  horses,  if  dry,  will  go  on  the 
platform  the  first  time  without  any  trouble  what- 
ever. The  freezing  is  not  half  so  bad  as  in  com- 
mon pumps  or  aqueducts,  as  only  occasionally 
any  trouble  occurs,  and  that  easily  corrected  by 
a  pitcher  of  warm  water.  Alvan  Ward. 

Ashburnham,  Oct.  31,  1859. 


heard  that  sour  buttermilk  was  good.  I  pro- 
cured some  and  washed  it  from  head  to  foot,  and 
in  three  days  his  breathing  was  very  regular,  and 
he  was  as  smart  as  need  be.  I  had  no  more 
trouble  with  him. — Rural  JVew- Yorker. 


Lice  on  Calves. — A  number  of  years  ago  I 
had  a  yearling  that  grew  poor,  and  I  could  not 
help  it.  Its  breathing  became  so  loud  that  it 
could  be  heard  several  rods.  I  thought  it  would 
die.     One  of  my  neighbors  told  me  that  he  had 


DEEPENING  THE  SOIL. 

The  depth  of  a  cultivated  soil  is  always  a  mat- 
ter of  importance.  Lands  on  which  the  vegeta- 
ble stratum  is  thin,  are  deficient  in  permament 
productive  power,  and  require  a  much  larger  ap- 
plication of  manure,  and  more  thorough  work- 
ing, than  those  which  have  a  greater  depth.  Dig- 
ging two  spits  deep,  as  is  practiced  in  Europe, 
or  gradually  going  deeper  with  the  plow,  tends 
to  obviate  this  difficulty,  and  will  eventually  ren- 
der the  soil  productive,  if  the  requisite  care  be 
exercised  in  cropping  and  manuring. 

Where  the  vegetable  stratum  is  thin,  and  re- 
posing on  a  poor  subsoil,  a  speedy  change  may 
be  effected  in  the  following  manner,  although 
from  the  great  cost  of  labor  in  this  countrj',  it 
may  not  be  advisable  to  adopt  it  except  on  a  lim- 
ited scale  :  Along  the  margin  of  the  piece  to 
be  improved,  be  it  more  or  less,  throw  the  soil, 
subsoil,  sods  and  all,  into  si  winrow  on  one  side, 
to  the  depth  which  is  desired,  say  twelve  or  twen- 
ty-four inches.  Then  commence  on  the  side  in 
the  direction  the  improvement  is  to  proceed,  and 
deposit  all  the  mould  and  sods  taken  from  the 
top  in  the  bottom  of  the  first  trench,  throwing 
that  taken  from  the  bottom  of  the  second  trench 
over  on  to  the  top  of  the  first,  and  in  this  man- 
ner, proceed  till  the  work  is  done.  Then  cart 
on  old,  well-decomposed  compost,  mixed  with 
an  equal  volume  of  green,  unfermented  stable 
manure,  and  work  the  whole  thoroughly  into  the 
yellow  earth  until  the  virgin  soil  is  approached. 
A  liberal  allowance  of  manure  is  requisite  in  or- 
der to  hasten  the  decomposition  of  the  soluble 
silicates  contained  in  the  fresh  earth,  as  well  as 
to  ensure  the  more  ready  absorption  of  the  fer- 
tilizing gases  from  the  atmosphere  which  are 
necessary  to  impart  vigor  and  activity  to  its  la- 
tent powers.  A  small  quantity  of  fresh  manure 
sprinkled  in  lightly  as  the  filling  goes  on,  will 
be  of  great  service,  and,  indeed,  any  kind  of  veg- 
etable matter,  such  as  straw,  forest  leaves,  or 
chip  manure,  will  materially  assist  the  process 
of  enriching,  and  furnish  food  for  the  plants. 

Lands  treated  in  this  manner  stand  the  drought 
much  more  successfully  than  untrenched  grounds, 
and  are  always  found  to  be  more  productive,  with 
the  same  amount  of  manure,  than  the  deepest 
soils  in  their  natural  and  unimproved  state. 

On  gardens  we  have  seen  it  tried  repeatedly. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  sand  and  coarse  gravel 
excavated  from  wells  and  cellars,  will,  when  ex- 
posed t     atmospheric  influences,  imbibe  princi- 


572 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


pies  of  fertility  rapidly,  where  no  manure  is  used, 
and  become  in  a  short  time  covered  with  verdure. 
We  have  known  the  common  yellow  sandy  loam 
taken  from  the  pit  and  spread  upon  upland  mow- 
ing fields  with  the  happiest  results.  This  loam 
is  full  of  fertilizing  salts,  which,  upon  being 
brought  to  the  influence  of  the  air  and  rains,  im- 
part them  to  the  roots  of  the  grass  with  surpris- 
ing effect. 

Plaster  and  charcoal  each  have  a  powerful  ten- 
dency to  absorb  enriching  principles  from  the 
air,  and  in  all  experiments  like  the  one  we  have 
suggested,  they  can  be  profitably  employed.  The 
second  year  after  digging,  a  very  decided  im- 
provement will  be  apparent,  and  a  single  opera- 
tion will  have  a  decided  influence  for  many  years. 

Those  who  have  but  little  land  should  attend 
to  this  suggestion  if  they  wish  to  make  it  highly 
productive.  We  have  tried  it  on  garden  lands, 
accompanied  with  thorough  draining,  and  think 
we  have  doubled  the  crop, — using  no  more  ma- 
nure than  we  did  before  the  trenching. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
THE  FABMER  AND  HIS  SUBBOUNDINGS. 

I  often  think,  while  at  work  in  the  fields,  that 
if  I  am  thankful  for  one  thing  more  than  another 
— in  temporal  affairs — it  is  that  I  was  born  &  far- 
mer, and  the  son  of  a  farmer ;  that  I  have  been 
brought  up  among  rural  scenes  and  rural  people, 
and  have  been  taught  to  labor  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits, and  thus  brought  into  intimate  connection 
with  the  wonderful  and  mysterious  workings  of 
Nature — the  manifestations  of  the  Divine  Hand. 
For  I  believe  it  is  the  farmer's  privilege  to  be  the 
"most  amiable,  the  most  comfortable,  and  the 
most  independent  man  in  the  world  ;"  and  that 
his  occupation  will  admit  of  more  opportunities 
for  thought  and  reflection  than  others  ;  and  that 
it  is  his  duty,  as  well  as  privilege,  to  rise,  intel- 
lectually as  well  as  morally,  in  his  "heaven-ap- 
pointed employment." 

Do  not  understand  me,  however,  to  despise  or 
disparage  other  vocations,  so  necessary  to  make 
up  the  harmonious  whole,  in  the  varied  round  of 
man's  toils,  and  pleasures,  and  necessities.  But 
that  there  is,  in  the  work-shop  or  manufactory, 
amid  the  clink  of  hammers  and  din  of  machine- 
ry, in  the  counting-house,  or  in  the  routine  of 
the  merchant's  duties,  such  an  inducement  to 
nealthy  thought,  and  such  a  field  for  noble  con- 
templation as  is  spread  out  constantly  around  the 
"armer,  in  his  free,  healthy,  out-door  employ- 
ments, is  hardly  supposat)le.  The  silent  work- 
ings of  Nature's  immutable  laws,  in  the  mysteri- 
ous germination  of  seeds,  magic  unfolding  of  leaf 
and  flower,  and  maturing  of  vegetation,  and  all 
the  phenomena  of  attending  circumstances,  invite 
his  investigation,  and  fill  him  with  admiration  at 
their  exquisite  harmony  and  beauty  of  adaptation. 
With  them  he  has  constantly  to  deal,  and  in  his  op- 
erations it  is  his  study  to  assist  Nature  in  bringing 
forth  an  abundance  of  things  useful  to  the  suste- 
nance of  his  race,  while  she  beautifies  without 
instruction,  and  decks   his  fields  with  friendly. 


out-of-the-way  flowers,  and  sprinkles  sparkling 
minerals  over  the  hills. 

A  pleasing  landscape  always  meets  his  eye, 
agreeable  in  the  diversity  of  noble  mountains, 
near  or  remote,  undulating  woods  and  open  lands, 
and  cultivated  acres,  and  fields  of  "waving  grain" 
in  summer-time,  or  whatever  aspect  the  chang- 
ing seasons  may  present.  No  brick  walls  shut 
in  his  vision,  or  contract  his  horizon,  but  on  the 
dewy  morns  of  summer  it  is  his  privilege  to  en- 
joy the  extended  view  spread  before  him  in  all 
its  freshness  and  beauty,  to  drink  in  the  pure, 
fresh  morning  air,  often  perfumed  with  the  sweet 
odors  of  countless  flowers,  and  in  his  every-day 
vocations  to  catch  the  thrilling  music  of  birds, 
free  as  nature's  air,  in  their  hedge-rows,  or  ren- 
dering him  essential  service  in  the  orchard  and 
garden,  besides  ministering  exquisite  pleasure  to 
his  finer  sensibilities,  if  he  will  but  open  his  soul 
to  their  influences.  A  pure  sky  is  spread  above 
him,  across  which  the  white  clouds  serenely  ride, 
or  are  suspended  in  picturesque  forms,  or  in 
mountainous,  silver-crested  masses  rest  on  the 
horizon  like  old  snow-capped  monarchs  ;  and  all 
the  grandeur  of  the  rising  thunder-storm  is  his 
to  enjoy,  of  which  the  city  inhabitant  knows  but 
little. 

Everywhere  the  tendency  is  to  an  ennobling 
influence,  and  if  the  farmer  is  not  virtuous  and 
high-souled,  if  his  mind  is  not  cultivated,  and  the 
taste  for  the  beautiful,  and  an  inclination  to 
contemplation  are  not  within  him,  the  fault  is 
chargeable  to  himself,  not  to  his  vocation  or  sur- 
roundings. Indeed,  all  those  elevating  influences 
that  poets  have  sung  of,  and  learned  orators  love 
to  tell  us  of,  are  constantly  surrounding  the  far- 
mer. 

It  would  take  a  long  time  to  recount  all  the 
pleasures  the  farmer  may  enjoy  if  he  will ;  yet,  I 
fear  that  the  mass  of  farmers  are  insensible  to  the 
charms  of  agriculture,  and  plod  on  like  the  ox 
they  follow,  as  they  walk  behind  the  plow,  whol- 
ly unmindful  of  the  higher  life  they  might  enjoy, 
and  which  no  one  can  do  so  much  towards  help- 
ing him  into  as  himself  Perhaps  I  am  telling 
you,  fellow-farmers,  an  old  story;  but  let  it  be 
harped  in  your  ears  till  you  leave  the  sluggish 
routine  you  have  followed  your  life-time,  acquire 
an  appreciation  of  progress  and  improvement, 
throw  off  your  narrow  conservatisms,  and  adopt 
liberal  views  of  life,  and  you  will  see  then  that 
your  occupation  is  a  noble  one,  and  that  you  may 
ever  make  it  a  delightful  one. 

The  occupation  of  the  farmer  furnishes  him 
with  an  ample  field  for  practical  and  sound 
thought ;  a  theme  for  intense  study,  if  he  wishes  ; 
for  indeed  the  science  of  farming  is  little  less 
than  a  combination  of  several  of  the  most  in- 
tensely interesting  sciences  in  nature.  The  oc- 
cupation of  the  farmer  may,  and  should  be,  an 
intellectual  pursuit ;  his  leisure  moments  should 
be  improved  in  study  and  reading,  and  thus  he 
will  be  furnished  with  food  for  reflection,  while 
engaged  in  the  physical  labor  of  the  field.  Far- 
mers are,  in  too  many  instances,  beneath  their 
calling;  if  not  morally  or  physically,  at  least  in- 
tellectually. Let  faruiers  cultivate  the  mind,  as 
well  as  the  soil.  Here  is  a  field  productive  of 
the  highest  pleasures,  and  conducive  to  pecuni- 
ary advancement. 

And  now,  brother  farmers,  let  us  take  pride  in 


1.859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


573 


our  vocation  ;  it  is  one  there  is  nothing  in  to  be 
ashamed  of,  but,  on  the  contrary,  much  to  appre- 
ciate and  be  proud  of.  With  less  temptation  to 
viciousness  than  the  city  denizens,  why  may  we 
not  be  more  virtuous  ?  AVith  less  temptations 
to  prodigality,  why  may  we  not  increase  in  this 
world's  goods  as  well  as  they  ?  With  more  leis- 
ure for  study,  why  not  be  more  intellectual? 
Springfield,  Nov.  7,  18i59.  J.  A.  A. 

Erratum. — In  my  article  on  "Tobacco  versus 
Useful  Crops,"  recently  published  in  the  Farmer, 
(Nov.  number  of  monthly,)  read  in  the  state- 
ment of  expenses,  for  "topping,  mowing,  &c.," 
topping,  worming,  &c. 


THE  CliOSINQ  YEAR. 

"We  take  no  note  of  Time 

But  from  its  loss  ;  to  give  it  then  a  tongue 
Is  wise  in  man." 

The  poet  means  the  passage  of  Time.  No  time 
is  lost,  that  is  well  spent.  There  is,  we  suppose, 
in  reality,  no  such  thing  as  the  lapse  of  time  : — 
It  is  all  NOW,  to  the  Eternal  Mind.  What  pass- 
es, and  decays,  and  disappears  from  our  view,  is 
the  finite,  that  upon  which  the  elements  act  and 
change  from  one  form  to  another. 

The  object  of  life  that  is  clearly  indicated  both 
by  Nature  and  Revelation,  is  Progress ;  pro- 
gress, not  only  in  subduing  and  replenishing  the 
earth,  but  Progress  in  the  attributes  of  the  soul. 
We  are  to 

"Learn  the  mystery  ot progression  duly: 
Not  to  call  each  glorious  change  decay ; 

For  we  know  we  only  hold  cur  treasures  truly. 
When  it  seems  as  if  they  passed  away. 

Nor  dare  to  blame  God's  gifts  for  incompleteness  ; 

In  that  want  their  beauty  lies  ;  they  roll 
Towards  some  infinite  depth  of  love  and  sweetness, 

Bearing  onward  man's  reluctant  soul." 

If  there  were  no  change,  there  would  be  no 
progress.  We  call  it  the  work  of  Time, — it  is  as 
much  the  work  of  Eternity.  All  is  tending  to 
the  great  work  of  perfection — upward  and  on- 
ward towards  the  Infinite  that  has  created  and 
governs  all.  JVotJiing  retards  and  alloys  but  sin. 
Nature  is  as  active  and  more  consistent  in  her 
progress,  than  man.  She  clothes  the  earth  in 
the  richest  attire,  and  gives  perfection  to  plant 
and  animal,  that  they  may  re-appear  in  still  more 
beautiful  forms.  The  mighty  forests  fall,  and  in 
their  progress  come  to  us  again  greatly  increased 
in  value.  Mountains  and  hills  yield  to  the  gen- 
eral law,  by  gradually  finding  their  level,  and  un- 
folding the  rich  treasures  which  have  for  ages 
been  hidden  in  their  deep  recesses.  And  so  the 
"tooth  of  Time"  will  touch  the  proudest  works  of 
man. 

"I  saw  him  grasp  the  oak, — 

It  fell ;  the  tower,  it  crumbled  ;  and  the  stone, 
The  sculptured  monument  that  marked  the  grave 
Of  fallen  greatness,  ceased  its  pompous  strain. 
As  Time  came  by." 


Now  that  another  year  has  passed, — while  its 
last  shifting  sands  are  noiselessly  gliding  out,  it 
becomes  ^(s,  brother  travellers,  to  review  this  pe- 
riod of  Time,  and  see  what  progress  we  have 
made  towards  the  divine  life,  the  end  and  object 
of  all.  Has  it  been  satisfactory?  Does  the  bal- 
ance sheet  stand  fair,  and  the  soul  serenely  wait 
the  verdict  of  the  Great  Judge  !  Then  all  is  well, 
— for  there  has  been  progress  in  the  very  heart 
of  life,  and  the  celestial  streams  lovingly  down 
into  the  terrene  world. 

The  year  that  has  passed  !  It  has  brought  to 
most  the  checkered  scenes  which  it  never  has, 
and  never  will,  fail  to  bring.  Sickness,  and 
death,  and  separation ;  poverty,  and  want,  and 
disappointment ;  sad  and  touching  words,  sting- 
ing realities  !  They  mark  the  progress  of  exis- 
tence everywhere,  —but  they  come  all  too  often, 
and  mainly  through  our  own  want  of  wisdom. 
Cannot  we  profit  by  the  past?  Let  us  lay  this 
inquiry  upon  our  hearts,  and  see  that  every  fu- 
ture thought,  and  word,  and  deed,  is  prompted 
by  that  wisdom  which  is  better  than  rubies,  and 
that  shall  be  our  stay  and  comfort  in  every  time 
of  trial. 

Farewell!  then,  Old  Tear!  It  has  been  rich 
in  blessings,  and  among  the  best  of  them  have 
been  the  pleasant  associations  with  those  who 
habitually  read  these  columns,  and  for  whose  pros- 
perity and  happiness  our  frequent  communings 
have  excited  a  sympathy  almost  as  lively  as  for 
those  that  gather  around  our  own  hearth-stone. 
Then  let  the  Old  Year  go, — let  others  come  and 
go,  and  give  us  no  anxious  thought,  while  we 
strive  to  progress  in  virtue  and  heavenly  wisdom 
as  well  as  in  material  things. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
SEED-EATING  BIBDS. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  your  issue  of  Oct.  15th, 
Mr.  "Aquila"  has  attempted  to  read  me  a  homily. 
He  says  that  all  seed-eating  birds,  such  as  the 
yellow  bird,  deserve  a  full  share  of  the  denuncia- 
tion for  scattering  the  seeds  of  injurious  weeds. 
It  is  an  incontrovertible  fact  that  seeds  having 
their  flinty  coverings  broken,  will  never  germi- 
nate. Mr.  Aquila,  nor  any  other  equally  scien- 
tific man,  ever  saw  any  seed-eating  bird  swallow 
a  seed  without  first  breaking  its  coating,  for  it  is 
the  kernel  required  for  sustenance,  which  is  not 
obtainable  with  its  indigestible  covering.  So 
much  for  seed-eating  birds,  which  I  protect,  hav- 
ing erected  several  houses  on  high  poles  for  their 
encouragement. 

^^Videre  est  credere."  Fruit,  or  pulp-eating 
birds  never  eat  the  seed  of  fruit,  if  it  is  avoida- 
ble ;  the  seed  of  the  pear  or  apple  they  never 
eat ;  but  their  stupidity,  or  greediness,  never 
discards  the  seed  of  small  fruits,  and  that  every 
seed  has  its  germ  perfect,  after  having  passed 
the  bird,  is  a  fact  not  disputable.  He  says,  "many 
times  have  I  seen  robins  follow  the  plow,  picking 


574 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


up  every  worm  and  bug  that  came  in  their  sight. 
How  did  he  know  that  they  did  not  discriminate 
picking  up  only  such  as  suited  their  fancy  ? 

"Aquihi"  asserts  that  he  has  seen,  this  very 
season,  a  robin  fly  from  a  fence,  pick  up  worms 
and  swallow  them,  when  a  cherry  tree  was  quite 
as  near.  Was  it  a  Tartarian,  an  Oxheart,  a  Reine 
Hortense,  or  some  Canadian  cherry,  a  robin 
proof  fruit  ?  if  so,  it  ought  to  be  disseminated  ; 
a  cherry,  in  reference  to  which  robins  will  play 
the  Hottentot,  and  eat  worms  in  preference, 
would  be  a  godsend  to  fruit-growers. 

Let  us,  in  moulding  the  character  of  the  rising 
generation,  inculcate  a  spirit  of  justice,  aid  and 
protect  each  other,  and  the  time  will  come  when 
every  man  can  sit  under  his  own  vine  and  tree, 
and  enjoy  the  fruit  of  his  labor,  lawfully  protect- 
ed from  freebooters  and  poachers. 

South  Danvers,  Mass.  J.  S.  Needham. 


HOLBHOOK'S  UNIVERSAL  PLOW. 

We  have  several  times  spoken  of  this  plow  in 
terms  of  commendation.  The  opinions  formed 
of  it  were  gained  by  actual  field  trial,  op  several 
occasions,  and  were  in  accordance  with  those  of 
some  of  the  best  plowmen  in  Middlesex  county. 
Quite  recently  we  spent  half  a  day  in  the  field, 
where  several  plowmen  whom  we  had  never  seen 
use  it  before,  held  it  and  used  it  with  several  of 
its  different  mould-boards  and  cutters. 

The  first  experiment  was  with  the  interval 
mould-board,  which  laid  the  furrows  over  flat  in 
a  very  handsome  manner.  The  next  was  the 
mould-board  used  for  stubble  plowing,  with  a 
common  cutter.  This  gave  a  furrow  ten  inches 
deep  and  twelve  inches  wide,  and  when  the  team 
was  kept  exact,  the  plow  would  pass  along  for 
several  rods  together  without  any  guiding.  The 
cutter  being  taken  off,  the  skim  plow  was  attached 
to  the  beam,  making  what  is  called  the  double 
ploiv  ;  by  this  arrangement  the  skim  plow  cut  the 
sward  about  two  inches  deep  and  laid  it  hand- 
somely away  on  the  bottom  of  preceding  furrows, 
while  the  stubble  mould-board  that  followed, 
rolled  up  the  soil  from  below,  breaking  it  into 
thousands  of  pieces,  and  laying  it  into  a  seed- 
bed, only  needing  the  passage  of  a  harrow  to 
prepare  it  for  the  reception  of  seeds  as  fine  as 
onion  or  carrot.  We  are  confident  that  this  mode 
of  plowing  will  save  a  very  considerable  amount 
of  labor  in  the  after  cultivation  of  the  crop.  The 
next  trial  was  in  the  use  of  the  stubble  mould- 
board  on  stony  land.  This  was  a  place  in  which 
we  had  never  seen  the  plow  used  before,  and  it 
certainly  accomplished  what  we  had  not  expected 
of  it.  The  ground  had  not  been  plowed  for 
twenty  years,  was  nearly  as  thick  with  stones  as 
they  could  lay,  and  flanked  occasionally  with  the 
roots  of  bushes.  Yet  we  never  saw  a  plow  work 
steadier  or  better.  In  passing  over  a  large  stone 
it  would  catch  in  more  readily,  and  work  up  to 


and  away  from  the  stone,  with  more  ease  and  cer- 
tainty than  any  s7i07't  plow  we  ever  saw. 

The  last  trial  which  we  witnessed  that  day  was 
in  a  meadow.  The  plow  was  rigged  with  a  wh^el 
cutter  and  a  very  long,  tapering  mould-board. 
Six  stout  oxen  were  attached  to  it,  but  the  off-ox 
of  each  pair  was  enabled  to  travel  on  the  sward 
— instead  of  the  bottom  of  the  furrow — by  hav- 
ing an  iron  rod  start  from  about  the  centre  of  the 
beam  to  the  forward  end  of  the  same,  and  stand- 
ing off  from  it  about  six  inches  in  front.  The 
furrow  slice  was  cut  ten  inches  deep  and  sixteen 
inches  wide,  and  the  meadow — three-quarters  of 
an  acre — was  completed  without  a  baulk  or  bad 
place  in  it,  and  a  harrow  passed  over  it  twice 
would  have  fitted  it  admirably  for  being  laid 
down  to  grass  ! 

The  furrows  in  all  these  trials  were  not  laid 
over  by  guess  work,  but  were  as  scientifically 
moved  as  is  the  locomotive,  or  printing  press,  or 
power-loom.  The  most  indifferent  beholder 
could  see  beauty,  as  well  as  utility,  in  the  opera- 
tion. We  hope  our  plowing  readers  will  look  at 
this  new  plow  for  themselves. 


For  the  New  England  Farmer. 
GARDEN  AND  FIELD  WORK. 
TRANSPLANTING  TREES. 
Is  the  fall  or  spring  the  best  season  to  trans- 
plant trees?  In  replying  to  this  question,  I  would 
say  that  it  depends  upon  the  weather  and  state 
of  the  ground.  If,  during  the  fall,  we  have  warm 
days  accompanied  with  rain,  extending  the 
growth  to  a  late  period,  the  wood  being  unripe  and 
succulent,  I  should  rather  hesitate  in  commend- 
ing the  fall ;  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  ground  is 
dry,  and  the  early  frosts  oeing  sufficient  to  take 
off  the  leaves,  the  wood  of  the  last  year  is  well 
ripened,  I  should  commend,  in  this  latitude,  to 
set  the  pear,  apple,  cherry,  currant  and  goose- 
berry in  the  fall.  The  peach,  apricot  and  necta- 
rine, I  should  invariably  set  in  spring. 

CURRANTS   AND   GOOSEBERRIES. 

Currants,  (the  White  Dutch  is  the  finest  va- 
riety for  general  culture,)  gooseberry,  (Hough- 
ton's Seedling.)  blackberry,  (Dorchester  Seed- 
ling,) raspberry,  (Franconia  Red,)  can  be  cul- 
tivated with  profit,  and  under  circumstances  as 
described  above,  the  fall  is  a  good  time  to  set 
them. 

SEEDLING   TREES. 

Trees  that  have  been  grown  from  seed  the 
past  summer,  such  as  the  peach,  pear,  apple  and 
quince,  that  have  not  attained  to  a  greater 
growth  than  six  or  eight  inches,  had  better  be 
taken  up  and  laid  in,  as  it  is  called,  in  a  shady 
place,  covering  them  slightly  with  litter,  suffi- 
cient to  keep  them  frozen  through  the  winter,  as 
they  are  apt  to  be  thrown  out  by  the  frost  if  suf- 
fered to  remain  in  the  seed  bed. 

HARDY    GRAPES. 
Grape  vines  trained  upon  a  building  or  wall  in 
a  warm   exposure   are    exceedingly    apt    to  be 


1859. 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


575 


killed,  particularly  the  wood  of  the  previous 
year,  by  the  warm  days  in  winter.  These  should, 
after  the  fall  of  the  leaves,  be  taken  down  and 
laid  along  upon  the  ground,  that  they  may  not 
be  exposed  to  the  alternate  freezing  and  thawing 
of  that  season. 

GUANO. 


more  importance  to  discover  and  introduce  vari- 
eties which  are  capable  of  general  and  out-of- 
door  cultivation,  than  of  such  as  require  the  aid 
of  expensive  buildings  and  artificial  heat.  The 
modes  of  artificial  culture  are  already  sufficiently 
understood,  and  the  kinds  which  require  it,  are 
not  likely  to  be  improved  or  increased  in  num- 
ber. It  is  far  different  with  our  native  grapes. 
It  is  very  desirable  to  find  or  produce  those 
which  will  ripen  early,  and   which  are  of  more 


In   our   hot   and   dry   climate,   the  Peruvian 
guano,  when  applied  to  the  land  in  spring,  often 

fails  of  producing  any  marked  effect;  on  the  con-  ,,         „  i  i  i 

trarv,  if   applied  in  the   fall,  spreading  it  over' excellent  flavor  and  texture  than   the   common 
the  soil  of  our  gardens,  and  turning  it  in  by  the  h'aneties  ;  and  also  that  the  mode  of  managing 
spade,  we  shall  find  it  a  good  fertilizer,  as  well  as  them  should  be  more  generally  understood, 
more  lasting  in  its   effect  than  when   applied  in       ^o  doubt    the   noble  bunches  of    hot    ho 


house 
The  usual  rate   of  manuring  is! grapes  which  we  see  at  horticultural  exhibitions 

present  a  more  engaging  outside  to  visitors  than 

any  of  the  native  varieties  either  do,  or  probably 

But  if  the  object  of  their  exhibitions  be, 


April  or  May. 

about  three  hundred  pounds  to  the  acre. 

INSECTS — CHERMES. 

The  currant  is  subject  to  a  curl  or  thickening 
of  the  leaf  in  spring,  produced  by  a  minute  in- 
sect called  chermes.  I  have  found  that  by  apply- 
ing air-slaked  lime  around  the  bushes  early  in  the 
spring,  I  have  entirely  succeeded  in  keeping  off 
this  pest.  I  have  also  for  some  years  applied 
spent  tan  around  the  gooseberry,  (Houghton's 
Seedling,)  with  marked  effect,  in  staying  the  rav- 
ages of  the  gooseberry  worm.  J.  M.  IVES. 

Salem,  Nov.,  1859. 


will. 

as  it  is  presumed  to  be,  to  encourage  a  taste  for 
gardening,  and  also  for  that  kind  of  gardening 
which  will  be  more  useful,  then  it  would  seem 
tliat  the  latter  should  claim  the  greatest  share  of 
attention.  Artificial  cultivation  is  within  the 
reach  of  but  few.  Out-of-door  cultivation  is  open 
to  every  one,  both  in  city  and  country,  who  has 
a  house  to  live  in.  The  former  must  be  confined 
mainly  to  the  rich,  and  those  who  cultivate  for  the 
market ;  while  there  are  none  so  poor  that  they 
cannot,  with  a  little  pains  and  at  almost  no  ex- 
jpense,  raise  fruit  enough  for  their  own  use  by  the 
latter  method,  if  they  only  knew  the  kinds  they 
should  select,  and  the  principles  on  which  they 
should  be  managed. 

The  success  which  has  attended  the  recent  at- 
tempts at  the  improved  cultivation  of  our  native 
varieties  gives  good  ground  for  expectation  that 
by  continued  attention  a  still  greater  improve- 
ment may  be  attained.  What  is  needed  is  ap- 
preciation and  encouragement.  The  foreign  cul- 
ture will  take  care  of  itself,  and  is  not  likely  to 
become  any  better  than  it  is.  The  native  is  yet 
in  its  infancy,  and  needs  all  the  aid  which  emula- 
tion or  reward  can  give  it.  E.  N. 

Remarks. — Excellent  suggestions — they  lead 
us  in  the  precise  direction  which  ought  to  be 
be  pursued.  

WITCH   GRASS. 


EXTRACTS  AND  REPLIES. 

ABOUT    FATTENING   TURKEYS. 

Will  you,  or  some  of  your  correspondents,  in- 
form me  of  the  best  mode  to  fatten  turkeys  ? 
Whether  to  shut  them  up,  or  to  let  them  run  at 
large,  and  what  kind  of  food  to  give  them  ? 

A  Subscriber. 

Oakham,  Mass.,  Nov.  1,  1859. 

Remarks. — Turkeys  are  sometimes  placed  on 
a  comfortable  roost  in  a  dark  cellar,  and  will  fat- 
ten rapidly  ;  but  it  is  a  cruel  process  to  deprive 
the  birds  of  the  cheerful  light.  A  better  way  is 
to  feed  them  liberally  for  two  months  before 
their  flesh  is  wanted.  Give  them  a  variety  of 
food,  such  as  corn,  oats,  wheat  or  barley,  and 
once  a  day  a  mess  of  boiled   potatoes  mashed 

while  hot  with  Indian  meal,  mingled  with  scraps,       _  ,,  ■      n  /-       xt  i        -»t 

.  .       ,  .      ,  .      ,  ,.  ,  ,.         In  your  monthly  Farmer  for  November,  Mr. 

bits  of  fresh  meat,  or  in  the  want  of  them,  a  ht-jQ^orge  Morrison  asks,  "If  you,  or  any  of  your 
tie  lard  or  tallow,  just  enough  to  season  the  correspondents,  can  tell  him  where  he  can  get 
■whole.  If  they  are  fed  regularly  on  such  food,!  witch  grass  seed,  and  at  what  price,  per  bushel?" 
and  have  a  supply   early  in  the   morning,  they  For  my  part,  I  tbink  he  will  not  be   able  to  find 

„-n       *      _ui  u         I     -11         .•         t  Imuch  of  the  seed  that  will  germinate;  but  if  he 

will  not  ramble  much,  and  will  continue  to  grow      •,,•,,,      ,,       ^       i  i      u  u 

,,        „  r      ,        rr.,  ,  1  I  will  just  take  the    trouble,  he    can    buy  up  anv 

as  well  as  fatten  freely.     There  may  be  a  better  iq^^j^^jfy  of  ^.^^^^^  ^nd  1  will  risk  their   growing 

way  than  this,  but  if  there  is,  we  have  not  learned  I  anywhere.     I  guess  there  will  be  no  fear  of  their 

it.  !not  taking,  even  if  he  takes  very  little  trouble 

jwith  them.     If  he  would   apply  to   me,  I   would 


sell  him  a  lot  pretty  cheap. 

Anti-Witch  Grass. 


CULTIVATION    OF  NATIVE    GRAPES. 

I  have  noticed  in  many  of  the  distributions  of 
premiums  for  specimens  of  grapes,  that,  to  judge 
by  their  relative  amounts,  the  greatest  impor- 
tance is  attached  to  the  cultivation  of  the  foreign 
varieties.  It  seems  to  be  worth  considering, 
whether,  if  the  general  interests  of  the  fruit- 
growing and  fruit-consuming  community  are  con-  j  being  about  to  change  my  place  of  residence,  and 
sidered,  a  different  principle  might  not  be  adopt- [having  on  hand  a  quantity  of  excellent  soft  soap 
ed   with  advantage.     It   would    seem  to   be    of  |  which   it  was   not  convenient   to   remove,  I  re- 


HOW   TO   MAKE   HARD   SOAP. 
Seeing  in  the  monthly  Farmer  an  inquiry  aa 
to  the  way  of  making  hard  soap,  1  will,  in  reply, 
give  my  experience.     Some  twenty   years    ago. 


676 


NEW  ENGLAND  FARMER. 


Dec. 


marked  that  I  wished  it  was  hard  soap.  My  hus- 
band, who  was  something  of  a  chemist,  said,  it 
could  easily  be  done,  by  heating  it  and  adding 
common  salt.  I  did  so,  adding  the  salt  a  little 
at  a  time,  and  trying  it,  by  cooling  a  little  of  it. 
When  I  found  a  thick  scum  rise  to  the  surface, 
it  was  dipped  into  tubs  and  allowed  to  stand  un- 
til next  day.  The  hard  crust  was  then  taken  off, 
melted  and  poured  into  moulds,  and  when  cold, 
cut  in  bars  and  dried.  It  proved  very  good — 
the  older  and  drier,  the  better.  Meg. 

J^ov.,  1859. 


BARK   BORERS. 

I  think  the  disease  in  the  trees  of  your  "Still 
River"  correspondent  is  evidently  caused  by  a 
species  of  bark  borer. 

I  have,  within  a  few  years,  had  one  tree  de- 
stroyed, and  two  others  seriously  damaged  by 
this  insect.  It  usually  attacks  the  tree  on  the 
south  side,  although  this  is  not  invariably  the 
case.  I  know  of  no  remedy  except  digging  them 
out  with  a  knife.  I  have  seen  a  description  of 
this  borer  in  some  of  my  agricultural  periodicals 
recently — think  it  was  the  Country  Oentlemaii — 
but  cannot  now  refer  to  it.  I  believe,  however, 
it  takes  some  two  or  more  years  to  complete  its 
growth,  which  would  give  time  to  destroy  it  be- 
fore serious  mischief  was  done,  if  the  trees  were 
closely  watched.  Wm.  F.  Bassett. 

Ashfield,  Mass.,  J^ov.,  1859. 

ARTIFICIAL  GUANO. 
I  saw  in  the  November  Farmer  a  formula  for 
artificial  guano  ;  would  night  soil  be  better  as  a 
substitute  in  place  of  garden  mould  ?  I  see  you 
have  referred  to  Dr.  Reynolds — will  he  please 
answer  the  question  ?  A.  l. 


For  the  Nets  England  Farmer. 
THE  LABGE  BBONZE  TURKEY. 

Mr.  Editor: — Having  been  requested  to  fur- 
nish for  the  JV*.  E.  Farmer  a  description  and  his- 
tory of  these  noble  birds,  with  my  method  of 
raising,  I  would  say,  as  to  their  history,  the  first 
I  heard  of  them  was  at  Point  Judith  some  years 
since  ;  from  there  they  were  brought  into  this 
county,  and  by  judicious  crossing  with  other 
families  of  the  same  breed,  their  size  has  been 
increased  until  I  was  able  to  show  a  male  bird 
last  April,  which  weighed  39  pounds.  The  hens 
are  much  smaller,  yet  I  have  one  weighing  over 
20  pounds,  and  a  friend  of  mine  has  one  weigh- 
ing 22  pounds.  I  knew  a  one-year-old  cock,  after 
it  was  dressed,  weigh  32  pounds,  and  have  known 
10  young  ones  dressed  in  winter,  to  weigh  200 
weight.  These  were,  of  course,  extra  birds,  but 
a  cock  well  cared  for  seldom  weighs  less  than 
from  25  to  27  pounds,  when  dressed,  at  one  year 
old.  For  tame  and  quiet  habits,  beautiful  plum- 
age, and  fine,  delicate,  juicy  flesh,  I  think  they 
have  no  equal  among  domestic  turkeys.  The 
plumage  of  the  cocks  is  thick  and  glossy,  with 
metallic  reflections,  rendering  them  exceedingly 
beautiful ;  that  of  the  hens  has  less  bronze,  yet 
is  strongly  marked  with  it.  I  will  give  you  my 
method  of  raising  them  in  another  article. 

H.  S.  Ramsdell. 

West  Thompson,  Conn.,  Nov,  1,  1859. 


For  the  New  England  Fartnei. 
OPINIONS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  GUANO. 

[Letter  from  Dr.  Holmes,  Editor  of  the  Maine  Farmer.'] 

Winthrop,  Me.,  Oct.  19,  1859. 

John  Means,  Esa.,  Augusta,  Me. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  have  made  use  of  the  Ameri- 
can Guano  that  I  purchased  of  you  last  spring, 
and  am  well  pleased  with  it  as  a  fertilizer.  1 
tried  a  comparative  experiment  with  it  in  the 
following  manner.  A  portion  of  a  cornfield  was 
marked  off.  The  American  guano  was  used  in 
the  hill,  say  a  gill  to  each  hill ;  beside  this  I  ap- 
plied the  Peruvan  guano  in  the  same  way  and 
quantity,  and  beside  this  the  fish  guano  in  the 
same  manner  and  quantity.  All  the  rows  of  corn 
did  well,  and  I  could  perceive  no  particular  dif- 
ference between  them.  This  proves  your  Amer- 
ican guano  to  be  equally  as  good  as  other  kinds, 
or,  in  other  words,  equally  as  good  as  what  has 
hitherto  been  considered  the  best. 

I  have  not  had  opportunity  to  give  it  a  fair 
trial  as  a  top-dressing  to  grass  land,  but  intend 
to  do  it  next  spring.  There  does  not  appear  to 
be  so  much  free  ammonia  escaping  from  the 
American  guano  as  from  the  Peruvian,  but  it 
seems  to  contain  enough  of  it,  and  as  far  as  I 
can  judge  from  its  action  on  crops,  and  not  by 
actual  chemical  analysis,  it  contains  as  much  of 
the  other  fertilizing  ingredients,  such  as  phos- 
phates and  other  salts,  if  not  more  than  the  Pe- 
ruvian.    With  much  respect,  yours  truly, 

E.  Holmes. 

Remarks, — In  confirmation  of  the  opinion 
which  Dr.  Holmes  has  formed  of  the  value  of  the 
American  guano,  we  will  state  that  we  have  used 
it  for  two  seasons  with  the  happiest  results.  The 
first  trial  of  it  was  on  corn  where  its  effects  were 
distinct  through  the  season  ;  the  corn  coming  on 
earlier  in  the  spring,  growing  faster,  with  a  dark 
green  color,  and  producing  abundantly  in  the 
ear.  This  last  season  we  tried  it  through  the 
centre  of  a  field  of  corn  with  similar  results.  It 
also  produced  carrots  and  potatoes,  without  oth- 
er manure,  of  most  excellent  quality,  and  liberal 
in  quantity.  On  beets  and  parsnips  the  result 
was  equally  marked.  But  the  point  to  which  we 
attach  the  most  importance  is.  that  it  may  be 
used  on  any  crops  as  a  stimulant  and  fertilizer 
in  the  hill,  without  endangering  the  germination 
of  the  seed,  and  thus  give  corn,  or  other  plants 
requiring  a  long  season,  an  early  start,  and  se- 
cure their  perfection  before  the  time  of  frosts. 
In  our  short,  cold  and  wet  springs,  it  is  essential 
to  give  the  corn  crop  an  early  growth,  and  this 
we  have  secured  by  the  use  of  the  American 
guano,  better  than  in  any  other  way. 

We  hope  our  farmers  will  generaUy  try  it,  and 
that  the  price  will  be  kept  within  moderate 
limits,  so  that  all  may  avail  themselves  of  its  ad- 
vantages. We  shall  continue  to  use  it  freely,  if 
the  price  does  not  exceed  $40,00  per  ton.