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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



If the land is not dry, first plow the ground, 

 spread the manure, turn the furrows together and 

 plant the corn (or potatoes) where the furrows 

 meet. The above is intended to apply to old 

 ground. If you wish to plant a piece of very wet 

 grass land, spread your manure on the grass before 

 plowing, turn the furrows together, plant where 

 the furrows meet, which leaves the seed on the lev- 

 el of the surface of the earth. 



If you wish to apply manure to a young orchard, 

 the best way is, if manure is plenty, to spread over 

 the whole surface and plow in ; if you are short of 

 manure, be sure and put what you have as far 

 from the body of the trees as the feeding roots are. 

 To apply manure near the body of a tree is as in- 

 consistent as to apply milk to the skin of a calf in- 

 stead of to his mouth. a. g. s. 



Wilmington, Feb. 11, 1852. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PHTHISIC IN PIGS. 



Mr. Editor : — Can you inform a subscriber, 

 what is the cause of pigs having the phthisic ? Is 

 it a complaint they are by nature subject to 1 It 

 must certainly retard their growth and fatting 

 very much. 



Can you inform me by what process the Shak- 

 ers pulverize their thyme and other herbs, that 

 we see in tin canisters 1 



A Constant Reader. 



Jan. 29, 1852. 



Remarks. — The difficulty inquired about above, 

 is undoubtedly occasioned by exposure. A large 

 proportion of the pigs fatted in New England are 

 brought from the West. They are often driven 

 till nearly exhausted with fatigue, and then, with- 

 out sufficient food to keep up the accustomed 

 stimulus and warmth, they are obliged to remain 

 through the night in bleak and perhaps wet pla- 

 ces, where they not only contract colds which 

 produce coughs, but rheumatic diseases which 

 often deprive them of the use of their limbs. 

 Pigs lying on plank floors with cracks in them 

 where the wind comes up while the animals are 

 sleeping, are very likely to have colds and rheu- 

 matism. Wallow as they will, there is no animal 

 that likes a dry nest better than the pig ; and if 

 you intend to make anything out of him, in addi- 

 tion to good wholesome food, yovi must give him a 

 comfortable bed to lie and digest it in. 



The Shakers get their herbs pulverized at the 

 "Forrest Mills," in Lynn. 



Trees. — While we are cutting down our noble 

 trees with a rapidity which posterity will deplore, 

 a French chemist has been experimenting for live 

 years to ascertain whether it will pay to stimulate 

 the growth of trees by manuring them. It appears 

 from his experiments that the residum of soda and 

 potash works, freely scattered in woods, will aug- 

 ment their productiveness one hundred per cent. 



For the New England Farmer. 



NAMELESS POTATO. 



Mr. Brown : — I have taken the liberty to for- 

 ward to you a small parcel of potatoes, directed to 

 the "care of Shaw, Provision dealer," No. 2 Cross 

 Street, Boston. I do not know any name for the 

 potatoes, and they are very scarce in this region; 

 indeed, I do not know of their having been raised 

 by more than one person besides myself in this 

 vicinity. 



The peculiarity of the potatoes is, that they 

 come to maturity so early as entirely to escape 

 disease, at the same time that they attain good 

 size and remain perfectly fresh and sound through 

 the winter. 



I had but half a dozen of the potatoes three 

 years ago, from which the yield last year, (the 

 third planting) is about 45 bushels. The year be- 

 fore the last these potatoes were planted in the 

 same field with Carter's and Chenangoes, and were 

 every one sound, while both the last mentioned 

 kinds were two-thirds worthless, on account of 

 disease. For the whole three years these have 

 proved perfectly sound. I think therefore that 

 the use of this kind of seed comes nearer to being 

 a prevention of disease in potatoes than any I 

 have heard suggested. 



Should you, on examination, think them worthy 

 of attention, please notice them. 



Very respectfully yours, 



L. Matthews. 



Cornwall, Vt., Feb. 4, 1852. 



Remarks. — We are obliged to friend Matthews 

 for his favor ; we will cook and plant some of the 

 potatoes, and report progress. The potato resem- 

 bles what is known in this part of our State as the 

 Early White. It comes a little earlier than the 

 Chenango, and is an excellent potato. 



|3F To Correspondents. — We are encouraged 

 and strengthened by the increased interest so 

 plainly manifested in our favorite pursuit. Agri- 

 culture is inviting into its service many of the 

 best minds in the country, and these minds are 

 seeking mediums of imparting the results of their 

 investigations to the world. This interest is evi- 

 dent in the communications made on the various 

 departments of farm husbandry, and the qualifica- 

 tions requisite successfully to pursue them. They 

 have increased upon our table, and have been de- 

 layed, until we fear some of our correspondents 

 may have become impatient. They are assured 

 that their favors are not only appreciated, but 

 that the beneficial influences of the paper will de- 

 pend in a considerable degree upon them. We 

 gather our weekly harvest from among them, as 

 they seem to us most suitable for tlie time. 



(ST "Ours is no common lot," as the hogs 

 said when they got into the clover field. 



Vertical Gate. — The editor of the Plow may 

 inform his correspondent at Osceola, N. Y., that 

 the patentee of the Vertical Gate is Lorenzo 

 Smith, of North Easton, Mass. The price for a 

 town is $10,00 for each thousand inhabitants. 



