ij|)c iTarmcr's iHcintl)li} bisttor. 



109 



tion on such points, or nnakes expensive piir- 

 cliiise.s of piicli stock. 



Two cows that yield as much mills and liutter 

 and at the same time consume as niucli i)roven- 

 (h.'i-, as thrne of a stiiiiller size, are not a wliit 

 Mjoie pi-ofital)le. A huge slieep that shears as 

 much wool, and requires as njnch keep as two 

 small DUOS, is just as prolilahle and no more so, 

 (except some small ilifference in the lahor of 

 shcarinfT,) provided the quality of the fleece and 

 niution is equal. This is very apparent. 



The true test of the comparative profit of do- 

 meslic animals, is the proiluclion of the s;reatest 

 amount of profit, from a given amount of feed and 

 labor. 



As a matter of fact, we believe it is generally 

 found that with all kindr;, (unless, possihiy, sheep 

 may ho an exception,) a medium size is (jrodiic- 

 tive of the greatest prolit. 'I'his size is usually 

 accompanied with i,'reali'r hardiness and power 

 of emlurance, and easiness of keep. We have 

 reference, of course, to the size of the breed — not 

 so much to {.'reatcr or less size attained in the 

 same hroed hy ditference of keep; though there 

 is a medium here too. Tlie animal which has 

 been always continued in a thrifty condition, with- 

 out heii^sf stunteil hy starvatioti or exposme on 

 the one hand nor made tender and of flahhy 

 growth hy loo assiduous stuffing on the other, will 

 yield the most absolute profit, mdess designed 

 merely fur the knile, in which case the growth 

 can hardiv he too rapid. — Anon. 



Apple 91 classes. 



Most of our sweet apples aie either summer 

 or fall Iriiit, and of course cannot he preserved 

 for winter use. They must therefore he fed out 

 to cattle or hogs, or made into cider, or dried. — 

 The folll)^viug method of making molasses from 

 sweet apples, which we find in the transactions 

 of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society, may be 

 of service to many of our readers. 



Molasses, partaking slightly of the flavor of 

 new cider, is oiiiained hy boiling down the fresh 

 ly expressed juice of sweet apples, and is not 

 less agreeable to most palates than cane molas- 

 ses, and equally useful for most purposes of cook- 

 ery. 



A belter mode, liowever, of making it, is to 

 place the apples in a hogshead made light for the 

 purpose, and subject them to the operations of 

 stea tn. 



The saccharine juice soon begins to ooze from 

 them, and <lrops down into a vessel (a broad tin 

 pan is best) covering the bottom of the hogshead 

 and placeil there t()r that purpose, from which it 

 runs off", evaporated by boiling. Grinding and 

 pressing is thus avoided, and the remaining ap- 

 ples are ready cooked for hogs. Even sour ap- 

 ples affud good molasses when treated in this 

 way. Teti gallons may be thus ohiaiued from 

 fifteen bushels, or a gallon from a bushel and a 

 half. There is little di)ubt that, if iho same at- 

 tention were bestowed on the niannfactiiie of 

 molasses from apples which has been given to 

 others, it would prove one of ihe most valuable 

 branches of .^mel■ican manufactures. 



The liqniil thus obtained is a nmch purer ar- 

 ticle than that from tho beet or from the corn- 

 stalk by a similar process; that is, liefore clarify- 

 ing, straining, &c., while the cheapness of the 

 article is strongly in its favor. 



We hope some of our thinners, who raise large 

 quantities of apples suitable f()r this purpose, 

 will institute some experiments, and let us know 

 the results. It is certainly a simple |)rocess, and 

 may be easily tried. The steamer may be a com- 

 mon iron pot, with a woixlen cover, and tube in- 

 serted into the bottom of the hogshead. The 

 whole Jipparatiis, with the exception of the pot, 

 would not cost a dollar. — Maine Farmer, 



Passing Ihvougb Tewksbury, a few days since 

 we paid a visit to H. C. Merriam, Esq.'s iieaeh 

 and plumb urehard. We have freipienily heard 

 of llie thrift and beauty of his trees, and certaiiilv 

 there has been no exaggeration respecting them, 

 Mr. M. attriliuies their smooth, luxuriant ajipear- 

 ance, to a wash which he applies to them three 

 or four times a year; it consists of about half a 

 pail full of soft soap, a pint and a half of salt, 

 and a pint of saltpetre, the pail filled up with 

 warm water. The mixture is applied with a 

 paint brush to the body and the main limbs of 

 the tree. — Boston Ctiltivalor. 



Seed. 



It is of the utmost im|)orlancc that tho seeds 

 of all kinds of plant.s should have attained to per- 

 fect maturity, and should have been carefully and 

 healthily preserved. 



Seed which lias not reached maturity, may, it 

 is true, possess the power of germinating, but it 

 always retains a disposition to disease and weak- 

 ness. It is true that disposition may be so tar 

 conquered by a coincidence of favorable auspi- 

 ces, and by a soil and temperature, peculiarly 

 adapted to the nature of the plant, that imperfect 

 seeds do occasionally produce vigorous and 

 healthy plants; but there is always great danger 

 of the crop's fiiiling, and the saving which the 

 agriculturist may have eft'ected by using such 

 seed is not commensurate with the risk. I think 

 it the more necessary to lay particular stress u|)- 

 011 this point, as Mr. Banks, the great English 

 naturalist, has, in his observations on the causes 

 of corn being laid, stated it to be his opinion that 

 the grain of corn wliich has been laid is eipially 

 good for seed as any other, since it has not lost 

 the power of germinating. This opinion, pro- 

 mulgated by so celebrated a man, which might 

 have spread itself extensively and produced the 

 most baneful eflects, was soon contradicted by 

 the ex[)erience of numerous agriculturists. Al- 

 though some agricultural authors may have re- 

 commended that the smallest grain should be se- 

 lected for the purpose of being sown, because 

 then a given measure will contain a greater nuni- 

 ber of seeds, all practical men who have paid any 

 attention to the subject are not the less convinc- 

 ed of the advantages arising from sowing the 

 largest and most perfect grains; and it frequent- 

 ly liappens that by strictly adhering to this plan 

 they have obtained particularly good and very 

 marked results, and a stronger and healthier race 

 of plants have been created, which a little care 

 has afterward been sufficient to preserve. It is 

 this which partly accounts for the advantages 

 which are found to arise from sowing the dilier- 

 ent kinds of grain procured from abroad, w here 

 proper care has been employed in their selection, 

 in choosing llie seed, a preference ought to be 

 given to that portion of the grain which has been 

 grown upon a soil fiivorable to it, and calculated 

 to bring it to perfection; and it is worth while, 

 on more accounts than one, to take the trouldeof 

 gathering the seed from a field suited to the plant, 

 and also to pay all possible altentinn to Ihe har- 

 vest by weeding and isolating the ])lants during 

 their vegetation and hoeing up the earth, and, in 

 short, sparing no care or pains likely to be con- 

 ducive to the perfecting of the crop. I5y these 

 means we shall ensure the seed's becoming com- 

 pletely and uniformly matured. But where it is 

 one of the distinctive properties or peculiarities 

 of the plant for the seed to ripen unequally, those 

 ears or pods should be set apart (or the piir|)ose 

 of sowing which are perfectly ripe. 



The next point of importance is the preserving 

 of the seed or grain intended for sowing. It 

 ought to be carefully kept from damp: not only 

 tin: miiistiire inherent in it, but also that p'ortiou 

 whiirh it may absorb, should, if possible, be ab- 

 sliacted from il. In order to effect this, it must 

 be spread out to dry, and frequently turned, until 

 the moisture is all evaporated. For as soon as 

 the seed begins to deteriorate, which stale is of- 

 ten expressed by saying that it is heated, and 

 which becomes apparent in a very une(|uivocal 

 manner from the odor wliich such grain then ex- 

 hales, its success when sown will be very uncer- 

 tain. But such seed has not lost the power of 

 germinating : the young plants which shoot from 

 it very frequently look liesli ami green ; but as 

 they develop themselves, especially when they 

 begin to blossom, they become weak and sickly, 

 and the flowers fall off without fecundation tak- 

 ing place, or at any rate, when little or no grain 

 is formed. I have had op|iortunities of witness- 

 ing the triilh of this slatcment in a crop of oats 

 produced by grain which had been allowed to 

 become healed. The effect will be more or less 

 striking in proportion to the deterioration of the 

 grain, but it will in all cases he perce|itible ; and 

 very lietpieutly, when we atlrihuie the ill success 

 of the crops to other causes, ibis is the actual 

 one. 



Many persons consider a frequent change or 

 renewal of the sei:d 'as an indis[)ensable condi- 

 tion to the production of a fine crop. The ne- 

 cessity of this change is insisted on both by the- 



orists and practical men, especially in extensive 

 agricultural undertakings, where the great ob- 

 ject is to produce the largest possible amount of 

 matter. But, according to my own conviction, 

 the stienglh of which has been ralher increased 

 than diminislie<l, in pro|)ortion as I have acquired 

 new data, the advantage derived from the use of 

 seeds procured from foreign sources arises solely 

 from this cause, viz. that farmers are not in gen- 

 eral sufficiently careful in tho choice and preser- 

 vation of the seeds which they liave gathered 

 themselves. It may occasionally depend upon 

 locality, or upon the nature of the soil and cli- 

 mate not being favorable to the [lerfect forma- 

 tion of certain kinds of grain ; and, in that case, 

 recourse must be had to seed ]irocured else- 

 where. But it more frequeiuly happens that ihe 

 amount of labor required by the fiirm or agricul- 

 tural umlerlaking does not admit of the fiirmer's 

 being able to devote the necessary care and at- 

 tention to the grain intended for seed ; hence it 

 is often injudiciously selected, and suffered to ex- 

 perience fermentation, which deteriorates from 

 its value and heallhfulness. In all countries there , 

 are some districts and some particular farms 

 which are fiimons for producing certain kinds of 

 grain, and where the whole harvest is frequently 

 sold fi^ir seed at very high prices. In such local- 

 ities we generally find tliat this advantage arises 

 not less fiom the nature and properties of the 

 soil being favorable to the production of one par- 

 ticular kind of grain, than to the inlinitely creat- 

 er care and attention which is paid to the crop; 

 and we shall also find, even among the farmers 

 themselves, a conviction that they owe the repu- 

 tation their seeds enjoy as much to the latter as 

 to the former circumstance. 



In places where one or both of these advanta- 

 ges are not attainable, it may undonhiedly be ad- 

 vantageous to procure the seed elsewhere, even 

 though this can only be done at great expense ; 

 but I am by no means an advocate for the abso- 

 lute necessity of this mode of proceeding, for I 

 am convinced that if the soil he in other respects 

 fiivorable, any kind of seed which is at first im- 

 perfect v\ ill gradually iriqirove in qiialily, and, 

 with care and attention, eventually be rendered 

 perfect. 



Persons who maintain that a renewal or change 

 of seed is absolutely necessary, inquire whether 

 it ought to be taken from a richer or poorer, a 

 stronger or lighter soil, and from a milder tn a 

 colder climate. My reply is, procure it fiom tli.it 

 place where it is most perfect and healthy. This 

 is not always where the soil is richest, or the cli- 

 mate Ihe mildest; as in such places the corn is 

 olten loo thick on the ground, and consequently 

 not sufficiently exposeil to the influence of air 

 and light to allow the grain to actpiire absolute 

 perfection ; l.esides, the seed or grain is often too 

 large, and there is more husk than farina in its 

 conj[)oneiit parts, the latter of which is alone ca- 

 pable of afibrdiug nutriment to ihe young plants. 

 In those places, on the other baud, where 

 the soil is so weak that it is incapable of 

 fnruishinsr siiflieieut nourishment to effect the 

 complete formaiion of the grain, that grain will 

 be equally improper fur ihe reproduction of oth- 

 er plants; for wheat grown upon a soil wliich 

 only jiroduces stunted grain will alwajs bear an 

 imperfect seed, and will require to be replaced 

 by seed derived from really good wheat land. 



It is a well known fiict that, in plants as in an- 

 imals, strength and weakness, health or disease, 

 are transmitted not only to the first genination, 

 but ihrough several succeeding ones ; and that 

 ihcse dis|)Ositions can only be gradually eradica- 

 ted by the help of other influences. 



Seed wheat of one or two jcars old is almost 

 universally preferred, as being less liable to di- 

 sease. 



Most agriculturists are of a different opinion 

 as regards rye, and piefer quite new grain ; for 

 when it is more than a year old, tluy consider it 

 neces.-iary to sow it more thickly than they would 

 in the ti;irmer case; and, consequently, au equal 

 amount of seed would sow a smaller extent of 

 ground in the former than in Ihe latter case. 



Old linseed is far preferable to new. 



Clover seed keeps very well IVir two years; it 

 deteriorates on the third, and becomes quite fee- 

 ble and incapable of producing idants on the 

 Iburlh. 



As almost all kinds of seed keep nt least until 



