NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



269 



comes by its glad smile and graceful motions the 

 glorious orb of day, and as he sinks beneath the 

 western horizon, it waves its tiny bands, as if to 

 bid it a kind adieu for the night. When set on a 

 lawn singly or in groups, it forms a dense mass, 

 and produces a deep shade ; perhaps it is best 

 when planted in this way. I know a place where 

 stands four or five noble hemlocks, beneath whose 

 shade crops out a somewhat grotesque ledge of 

 rocks — and I must say, though the location is far 

 from good, that I never pass that spot without 

 mingled feelings of love and admiration, and have 

 often wished that I could live, die, and be buried 

 there, that they might sing a requiem over the 

 grave of a humble lover of nature's beauty. It is 

 also valuable for screens and hedges ; again allow 

 me to quote from Emerson : — "As it bears pruning 

 to almost any degree, without suffering injury, it is 

 well suited to form screens for the protection of 

 more tender trees and plants, or for concealing dis- 

 agreeable objects. By being planted in double or 

 triple rows, it may in a few years be made to as- 

 sume the appearance of an impenetrable wall — 

 really impenetrable to the wind and to domestic 

 animals. 



"A hedge of this kind, seven or eigbt feet high, 

 on a bleak, barren plain, exposed to the northwest 

 winds, gave Dr. Greene, of Mansfield, a warm, 

 sunny, sheltered spot, for the cultivation of deli- 

 cate annual plants. When I saw it the annuals, 

 several of which were rare exotics, were beautiful ; 

 the hemlock screen was mucb more so." After 

 having cited the above, it is useless for me to try to 

 add anything in its favor as a hedge plant. I have 

 spoken of some of its advantages, and now me- 

 thinks I hear some one say it is difficult to trans- 

 plant, and that it grows slow while young. The 

 latter objection is real to some extent, it does not 

 grow very fast — I mean small plants — for the first 

 year or two ; after that, if the land is good, it makes 

 very good growth, though it grows even when 

 young, as well, or better than many other things 

 with which we take much pains, which are inferior 

 to this. The former objection I shall answer by 

 adding my own experience in transplanting this 

 tree. In the spring of 1849, I pulled up about 

 two hundred small trees, in height from a foot and 

 a half, to three feet, out of the moss of a swamp, 

 saving nothing on the roots ; set them out imme- 

 diately in a moist place ; three-fourths lived and 

 did well. The next year I tried the same experi- 

 ment on a larger scale, got about five hundred, 

 pulled them up in the same way, set them out as 

 I did the others — four-fifths of them lived and did 

 well ; this spring I shall transplant some of them, 

 and in two or three years I shall have fine trees 

 for sale, from this lot. These trees have now a 

 great many fibrous roots, and can be moved with- 

 out loss. Last spring I tried larger trees from a 

 different soil, a loam somewhat gravelly, moved 

 about twenty-five, of sizes from three to eight feet 

 in height, chose a moist day, took them up with a 

 ball of earth, and set them out as soon as possible ; 

 when taking them up I was careful not to disturb 

 the roots in the ball of earth. Every one lived, 

 though last summer with us was the driest we 

 have had for many years. From experience I am 

 satisfied that they are not difficult to make live, if 

 properly treated. That it does not occupy the po- 

 sition among our ornamental trees that it ought 

 to, I think all will allow. I hope some of your 



subscribers will try the experiment of transplant- 

 ing it— if experiment it can be called — and perhaps 

 sometime report success. 



Yours,&c, j. f. h. 



Newton Centre, April Qlh, 1852. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CATTLE GNAWING BONES. 

 Mr. Brown : — Allusion was made in your pa- 

 per not long since, to cattle gnawing bones. 

 When this is the case can anything be given them 

 to promote their health? n. w. 



Colebrook, April 19, 1852. 



Remarks. — Certainly ; bones are ground and 

 neatly put up in bags of fifteen to twenty-five 

 pounds each, for the very purpose of feeding to 

 cows. The pasture becomes exhausted of some of 

 the peculiar elements which go to form the 

 bones, and nature prompts the cow how to sup- 

 ply them ; she gnaws old bones for hours togeth- 

 er. Give her a small amount of this bone dust and 

 she will gnaw no more bones, though they lie 

 about her as thick as "bugs in cucumber time." 

 The dust may be found at the seed store of Rug- 

 gles, Nourse, Mason & Co., Quincy Hall. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE PLOWMAN'S LIFE. 



Upon the hill the sun is streaming, 

 On vale and meadow faintly gleaming, 

 In at my chamber-window beaming; 



I wake, and hie me to the plow. 

 For me the redbreast cheerly singeth, 

 To yonder bough her way she wingeth, — 

 What glad heart-hopes to me she bringeth; 



I wake, and hie me to the plow. 



Let slumbering sluggards act the craven, 

 To vain, ignoble dreamings given, 

 But 1 will breathe the air of heaven, 



The first fresh air of early morn. 

 Yes, let them sleep ! the air seems sweeter, 

 And rosy Day seems coming fleeter, 

 When sleepy Sloth goes not to meet her, 



To meet her at the early morn. 



What health is in the breeze of morning, 

 What beauty in the flowers adorning 

 The dewy wayside, when at dawning 



I wake, and high me to the plow. 

 There is no earthly life that's purer, 

 There is no earthly joy that's surer, 

 There is no earthly bliss maturer, 



Than he may have who guides the plow. 

 Ludlow, Ft. S. H. Ingalls. 



FACTS ABOUT MILK. 



Cream cannot rise through a great depth of 

 milk. If milk is therefore desired to retain its 

 cream for a time, it should be put into a deep nar- 

 row dish ; and if it be desired to free it most com- 

 pletely of cream, it should be poured into a broad 

 flat dish, not much exceeding one inch in depth. 

 The evolution of cream is facilitated by a rise, and 

 retarded by a depression of temperature. At the 

 usual temperature of the dairy, 50° Fahrenheit, 

 all the cream will probably rise in twenty-six 

 hours, but at 76°, it will probably all rise in less 

 than half that time, and when milk is kept near 





