NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



45 



How hard to part with this property, so much 

 needed in the well-regulated requirements of his 

 farm ; but so it is ; who will deny it. 



Then where should he look, to what end should 

 he apply his larbor, but to supply that most needy 

 of all things, tread, which may be made to spring 

 from the farm, "the blade, the ear, and the lull 

 corn in the ear." 



Apathy has long brooded over the public mind. 

 Distrust of climate and soil have been erroneous 

 and preconceived notions. And now, when the 

 sunlight of experience, confined to no one single 

 farmer, and to no one single State, hereabout can 

 testify to its entire practicability, why nut adopt 

 it ?• 



Mr. Edit >r, if you doubt, put the question to the 

 farmer, and I will guarantee you an honest response. 

 Ask Mark Morse, Esq., of Francistown, N. II., 

 one of the largest and most intelligent, practical 

 farmers of that State, and he will say to you, from 

 seed raised in Massachusetts, he has taken twen- 

 ty-five bushels of winter wheat from one bushel of 

 seed, that makes "sweeter flour" than any he can 

 purchase from the west, and as "white," too. His 

 opinion, publicly made in your valuable paper, 

 would do good to the cause. May we call on that 

 gentleman for his views. 



All we need is light. Let every farmer speak 

 his experience, and thereby a host of practical be- 

 lievers will follow. 



Yours truly, h. p. 



North Andover, Dec. 13, 1851. 



MR. THOMAS SWEETSER. 

 In a recent number of the Granite Farmer, pub- 

 lished at Manchester, N. II., we find an obituary 

 notice of the person whose name we have given 

 above. Although we had no acquaintance with 

 the deceased, and no knowledge of him excepting 

 what Ave gather from the notice before us, we copy 

 a portion of it with pleasure, because it is given in 

 good taste, cherishes the memory of a good man, 

 and affords evidence that our own efforts in the 

 broad held of husbandry have not been in vain. 

 The writer says : 



"Mr. Sweetser was an industrious, worthy citi- 

 zen, and an intelligent farmer. When a worthy 

 professional man, or a mechanic of notoriety, is ta- 

 ken away from the community, there are usually 

 foimd many ready to eulogize their characters, and 

 lament their departed worth. Nor do I complain 

 of this. Bat when from humble life a successful and 

 intelligent farmer is removed, though it may be in 

 the meridian of life, and in the midst of successful 

 effort, how seldom, as a farmer, has his obituary 

 notice been given to the press. I do not recollect, 

 at this moment, a solitary instance of the kind; and 

 it was reflection on this point that led me to send 

 this notice." 



After speaking of the early opportunities which 

 the subject of these remarks enjoyed for early edu- 

 cation, which were very limited, and of the various 

 pursuits in life in which he engaged, he adds : — 



"He 'read what books he could,' and reduced to 

 practice every feasible suggestion. He relied much 

 upon the New 'England Farmer, and indeed made 

 that his text-book to direct his fanning operations. 



He gave great attention to composting manures, 

 and spent very much time and labor upon them ; 

 and his waving fields gave tangible proof that his 

 crops were fed by them; and his Hocks, that fed 

 upon these products, showed by their thrift that 

 they received from them the elements of life and 

 health. 



"lie also reclaimed meadow and swamp land with 

 good success, and had others under progress when 

 he died. 



"Here are the results of 'Book Farming,' and 

 they are having an excellent effect upon the com- 

 munity in which he lived. While they have lost 

 a kind and friendly neighbor, they have the plain 

 results of judicious, intelligent and efficient labor 

 left." 



Who can tell where the good examples of tins 

 "honest laborer in God's vineyard" shall end? 

 What waving fields and crowded garners may 

 spring from the word which he spoke, or the work 

 which he did ? Or how many, quoting his precepts 

 and copying his examples, shall labor on guided by 

 intelligence, crowning the hills with verdure, and 

 pressing the vales with fatness. Such are the men 

 v^io "constitute a state," of whom the poet says : 



"His youth was innocent; his riper age 

 Marked with some act of goodness every day; 



And watched by eyes that loved him, calm anil sage, 

 Faded his late declining years away. 



Cheerful he gave his being up, and went 



To share the holy rest that waits a life well spent." 



For the Neiv England Farmei . 

 SIBERIAN CRAB APPLE STOCKS. 

 Mr. Brown : — The Siberian Crab is generally 

 considered very hardy. It is not affected by cold 

 and heat, nor by sudden changes of weather, as 

 most varieties are. Are stocks from the seed of 

 the same nature, and do they make as large and 

 long-lived trees, as stocks from the seed of other, 

 and large varieties I Mr. Downing, in the Horti- 

 culturist, vol. 4, page 197, says, "we know nothing 

 of the effect of grafting the apple on the Siberian 

 Crab stock." Mr. Ives, in his Book of Fruit, pa«-e 

 34, in speaking of dwarfing the apple, says, "our 

 Crab makes a good stock for this purpose." Does 

 he refer to the Siberian Crab stock? Cannot some 

 of your pomological readers give information in re- 

 gard to this matter? A Young Digger. 



Apples. — One of the samples sent us by Mr. 

 Harrison Keyes, of Ludlow, Vt., we should think 

 the Esopus Spitzenberg. Some good judges were 

 of the same opinion. This apple originated at 

 Esopus, on the Hudson, and Mr. Downing says is 

 unsurpassed as a dessert fruit. The other samples 

 are Russet Sweets, but of what origin or name we 

 are unable to say. 



Canadian Farmer. — A beautiful paper in the 

 quarto form, with the above title, is published 

 monthly at Montreal. Unlike any agricultural j:>e- 

 riodical in the States, its pages are embellished 

 with illuminated letters, descriptive of country 

 scenery or farm husbandry. It is printed hand- 

 somely and conducted with ability. We are glad 

 to find it upon our table. 



