NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



279 



were called, and across these a "lander." Such 

 wall, no matter what the superstructure may be, 



if laid in an easterly and westerly direction, on 

 moist land having a southern exposure, is sure to 

 fall down ; hacause the frost, coming first from 

 the south side of the wall, the "cobbles" on this 

 side settle first, and generally slip a little down 

 the hill, carrying the "binders" with them ; and 

 this process being repeated for a few years, the 

 binding stones slip off from the "cobbles" on the 

 upper side of the wall, and resting only on the 

 lower stone, it usually happens that the top of the 

 wall is thrown off on the northerly side. To pre- 

 vent this, some recommend digging a ditch of suffi- 

 cient width for the foundation, fill it with small 

 stones, and build on them. I have never seen a 

 wall of this kind, and do not know how it stands. 

 Where there is an abundance of small stones, and 

 the ditch would answer at the same time for a use- 

 ful drain, I think it would do well. My farm 

 abounds in large stones. I draw these, some- 

 times as large as two yoke of oxen can move down 

 hill, and always of sufficient length for a good 

 foundation, and placing them along in the line of 

 my wall, build on them. The ground should be 

 levelled when necessary, and care should be taken 

 that one end of the foundation does not rest on a 

 stone, while the other lies on the earth ; for one 

 end resting on a stone already fast in the earth, 

 the other end will settle ; and thus make a breach 

 in the wall. The face of the wall, on the up hill 

 side, should be nearly perpendicular; thus bring- 

 ing the bearing on that side. I never have had 

 any trouble with wall constructed in this manner. 

 Yours, &c. s. f. 



Lyme, N. II. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 



AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM. 



[The following remarks are in reply to a letter from an ex- 

 perienced farmer making suggestions upon various subjects.] 



Reflecting upon the many valuable suggestions 

 contained in your note of the 13th, it occurred, that 

 I had entirely omitted to notice the suggestion of 

 forming an Agricultural Museum, and bringing in 

 that plow of much service, with many other things 

 of like character. The thought is a good one, that 

 must not be overlooked. Suppose, for instance, 

 that the several models of plows, from the time 

 Jefferson and Pickering applied their minds to the 

 formation of the mould-board, up to the time when 

 the Michigan sod and subsoil plow came into be- 

 ing, could be arranged in order, with an appropri- 

 ate explanatory index, where could a more practi- 

 cal l*on be studied? Let young Stockwell, and 

 other young men like him, have free access to 

 such models, and it would not be long before oth- 

 er improvements would be matured, that have nev- 

 er yet been imagined. I speak of the plow, by 

 way of illustration, but the same remark may be 

 extended to every other implement, the use of 

 which is found desirable. Connected with this, 

 there should be a geological department, in which 

 should be brought together from every part of the 

 earth, specimens of the rocks and soil, systemati 

 cally arranged. Let this be so, and some one of 

 easy manners and ready words to explain them, 

 and a visit to such a collection would be more useful 

 to the young farmer than any other collection that 

 could be made. I was deeply impressed with this 

 consideration, during an hour that I spent with 



President Hitchcock, the last autumn, among the 

 curiosities that he has gathered. He is decidedly 

 a practical man — although he may not be looked 

 upon by farmers as such. Men may be practical, 

 who do something else beside handling the fork 

 and the plow ; there is a practice of the mind, 

 equally valuable with that of the hands, the prop- 

 er union of which will be found the perfection of 

 operations. 



It will be remembered, by those who were pres- 

 ent at the early plowing matches in Brighton, that 

 many of the first premiums were taken by the 

 plows and teams of Worcester county. '■'■That 

 plow of much service^ before mentioned, is under- 

 stood to be now in being", and in the hand of a gen- 

 tleman, who will be pleased to place it in a muse- 

 um, such as we have contemplated. How can our 

 new State department better commence operations 

 than by laying the foundation for such a museum 1 

 Verbum sap sapienti. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 A LARGER CALF, STILL. 



Mr. Editor : — In your valuable New England 

 Farmer of last month, in which you publish the 

 account of a large calf owned by Mr. B. F. Dud- 

 ley, of Milton, which, at the age of six weeks, 

 weighed 222 pounds, you remark that people in 

 that neighborhood consider this calf an extraordi- 

 nary specimen of his kind. You wish, if any of 

 your readers should know of any thing surpassing 

 it, they would mention its whereabouts. 



Happening to pass part of the present week with 

 my friend, E. Murdock, Jr., Esq., of Winchendon, 

 Worcester Co., I was shown a calf owned by him, 

 and it was weighed while I was at his house, and 

 its weight was 240 pounds the day the calf was 

 six weeks old. 



I was also informed by my friend Murdock, that 

 the calf had not taken all the milk which its moth- 

 er gave, any one day since it was dropped. 



Roxbury, May 1, 1852. A Subscriber. 



SPORTING. 



Mr. John Partridge, of this town, killed on Tues- 

 day, of this week, seventeen crows at two shots. 

 A few days before he killed fifteen at two shots. 

 Mr. P. informs us that two or three years since he 

 procured some carrion and distributed it in a straight 

 line at intervals of a few feet, this attracted the 

 crows in great numbers. He succeeded, in one 

 day, with six shots of an old musket, in capturing 

 76 crows, at one time killing twenty. The above 

 facts are reliable. — Culturist and Gazette. 



Remarks. — Mr. Partridge had better have blast- 

 ed rocks with his powder, and made an aqueduct 

 pipe of his old gun, than shot the crows with them. 

 In the "dark ages," some years ago, New Hamp- 

 shire, and we believe Massachusetts was equally 

 enlightened, offered a bounty on dead crows ; but 

 after paying out some thousands of dollars, found 

 out that they had offered a premium for the scalps 

 of some of their best friends,! and very wisely re- 

 pealed the law. 



"We often mistake our friends for foes." 



@^" Industry and perseverance merit success. 



