184 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



says that the crop is cultivated mostly with the I interest in this most fascinating branch of study 



plow — dispensing almost entirely with hilling, and 

 using the hoe as little as possible. The corn is all 

 shelled by horse power machinery, but the propri- 

 etor has it in serious consideration to use steam. 



But even this large corn field is beaten by that 

 of H. L. Ellsworth, formerly Commissioner of 

 Patents, and now of Indiana. He cultivates twelve 

 thousand acres of corn. Just imagine a corn field 

 ten times as large as the territory on which Boston 

 proper is located ! 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHAT BIRD IS THAT? 



Friend Brown : — I received your note, describ- 

 ing a new bird which has appeared on your farm, 

 and which you accuse of destroying the blossom 

 buds of your apple trees, an offence which I should 

 be tempted to punish capitally, although I have 

 never shot a single bird on my farm since I occu- 

 pied it, and suffer the crows to sit daily on my 

 tall pine within reach of my rifle, unharmed. I 

 am willing to pay the birds for their society and 

 music, in almost any kind of grain, and feel that 

 there is a balance due them still, for relieving my 

 fields of myriads of worms and insects, which make 

 up their animal diet. But when it comes to 

 "making game" of my fruit buds, I am not pre- 

 pared to agree to their proposition. 



The bird you describe is the Pine Grosbeak, or 

 Bullfinch, described by Nuttall as follows : 



"The wings with two white bands and the tail 

 black, secondaries edged with white ; length about 

 9 inches. Adult male tinged with reddish orange, 

 beneath inclined more to yellow, above varied with 

 blackish brown. In the young male the same 

 parts and the rump are carmine of different shades, 

 except the flanks, abdomen and vent, which are 

 cinereous. Female, with the top of the head and 

 rump brownish orange, below cinereous, Avith*i 

 faint tinge of orange." 



This bird is confined almost exclusively to the 

 arctic regions, and appears in the Northern States 

 of the Union, only in very severe winters. They 

 probably have come south to warm themselves this 

 winter in our genial climate, where they find the 

 thermometer only 20° below zero ! 



They feed principally upon berries and upon the 

 buds of trees. In my collection of stuffed birds, I 

 have two specimens, which I procured at Chester, 

 N. H., in the winter of 1836-7. 



I find in my catalogue, a memorandum showing 

 that these birds were very abundant during that 

 winter ; and that I could not learn that they had 

 ever been seen before. At that time they ap- 

 peared very tame, and feasted themselves upon the 

 berries of the mountain-ash close by the house. I 

 have never seen any but young birds, of the spe- 

 cies. 



They look about the size of the robin, of a rath 



Any country boy of common ingenuity, may ob- 

 tain at very little cost of money, a collection of 

 native birds, which will constitute one of the most 

 beautiful and useful ornaments for his home that 

 can be imagined. A taste for the subject as a sci- 

 ence would soon lead to an accurate knowledge of 

 the habits of birds, and prevent their wanton de- 

 struction. Yours truly, 



Henry F. French. 



THE FOREST TREE. 



BY ELIZA COOK. 



Up with your heads, ye sylvan lords, 



Wave proudly in the breeze, 

 For our cradle bands and coffin boards 



Must come from the forest trees. 



We bless you for your summer shade, 



When our weak limbs fail and tire; 

 Our thanks are due for your winter aid, 



When we pile the bright log fire. 



O ! where would be our rule on the seas, 



And the fame of the sailor band, 

 Were it not for the oak and cloud-crowned pine 



That sprung on the quiet land ? 



When the ribs and the mast of the good ship live 



And weather the gale with ease, 

 Take his glass from the tar who will no give 



A health to the forest trees. 



Ye lend to life its earliest joy, 



And wait on its latest page; 

 In the circling hoop for the rosy boy, 



And the easy chair for age. 



The old man totters on his way, 

 With footsteps short and slow, 

 But without the stick for his help and stay, 

 ■ Not a yard's length could he go. 



The hazel twig in the stripling's hand, 



Hath magic power to please; 

 And the trusty staff and slender wand 



Are plucked from the forest trees. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ONIONS. 



Mr. Editor : — I wish for a little information on 

 the subject of raising onions. I tried some two or 

 three years, and have utterly failed; the immediate 

 cause is maggots, which attack the roots about the 

 time they begin to bottom. If you can give the 

 desired information through the columns of your 

 valuable paper, you will confer a favor on at least 

 one subscriber. R- 



Jan. 24, 1852. 



Remarks. — There should be no difficulty in rais- 

 ing, generally, a plentiful crop of onions. They 

 require a friable, loamy, rich and deep soil, not a 

 sandy, or a clayey one. After a crop has been 



L , taken off the onion tops should be dug in with 

 er shorter and more chubby form, and have a short,' , c ,, ,, , ,,„ T „ ,, n _„_;_„ „„„ Q - 



thick bill. I should think gentlemen interested in P lent y of well-rotted manure. In the spring cover 

 Ornithology would be glad to avail themselves of the bed liberally with ashes and dig it in, then 

 the aid of yourself and your man James to pro- roll the ground with a moderate pressure and sow 

 cure specimens of a bird so rare and beautiful. the seed. If under this treatment you do not get 

 My collection, by the way, which comprises L g00( j crop f onions, friend "R.," it will be from 

 about a hundred specimens, and which I picked some oth WCBMe than the want of good cultiva- 

 up trom time to time about fifteen or eighteen, . _ ,. ,■, . . . . e r, n ,„„.„„+ 



years ago, are in almost as perfect preservation as , tl0n - You must then look to see if there are not 

 when first procured. I say this by way of encour- shade trees too near or that the onion patch is m 

 agement to any of your readers, who may feel an some way deprived of the full influences of the sun. 



