348 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



first care should be to put in plows and teams 

 strong enough to turn a furrow ten or twelve inch- 

 es deep and cut all small roots, without straining 

 either team or plow. There is no wear and tear 

 of spirit in this, and your good nature will hold 

 out until the last furrow is turned in such an op- 

 eration. It is cheaper, too, than to haggle with 

 it, fret the team, spoil the furrow, and find the 

 work at length only half done ! 



When the land is properly plowed, roll it with 

 a heavy roller, spread fine manure freely, and then 

 follow with a light, sharp-toothed harrow, drawn 

 by horses, and urge them to a lively walk. This 

 operation will cut an immense number of roots, 

 and bring the surface into a fine, deep tilth, alto- 

 gether unlike that effected by a heavy harrow 

 dragged along at a snail's pace by oxen. 



There is one point in laying down grounds of 

 sufficient importance to merit a separate para- 

 graph — and that is the quality of the manure ap- 

 plied. The smaller the seeds to be sowed the finer 

 should be the manure. It ought to be old, thor- 

 oughly decomposed and pulverized ; and where 

 such is freely applied and incorporated w r ith the 

 delicate tilth made by the quickly-moved and sharp- 

 toothed harrow, little complaint will ever be 

 heard of grass being winter-killed. In a soil thus 

 prepared, the minute seeds find all things necessa- 

 ry for a quick and healthy germination and rapid 

 growth. The air, light, heat and moisture are 

 admitted in such proportions as the seeds require 

 to give them a sure and early start. Thus by 

 deep plowing, fine manure and thorough cultiva- 

 tion, little or no loss is sustained in seed, while a 

 good crop is quite certain, let the succeeding sea- 

 son be either wet or dry. 



Land in corn may be laid down by sowing the 

 seed at the last hoeing and covering it with the hoe 

 or the hand rake. We have laid down land in this 

 way with excellent results. 



Budding. — This month is the suitable time for 

 budding apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, 

 &c. High and clean cultivation is as necessary in 

 the nursery as anywhere else. The process of bud- 

 ding is familiar to most persons, and has been ful- 

 ly described in our former volumes. It is simple 

 and easy, and all boys on the farm should practice 

 it. Select the best kinds of fruit. 



The Garden. — Farmers, generally, are not in 

 the habit of sowing garden seeds in this month — 

 yet if the season be favorable, cabbages sowed now 

 will do well for late autumn and winter use. So 

 will turnips, celery, and lettuce for fall use. Hoe 

 well and suffer no weeds to go to seed. 



Seeds. — Look out for your seeds to gather them 

 as they ripen — the birds will do it if you do not 

 The best turnip, carrot, onion, parsnip and other 

 seeds require daily attention. 



Ruta-bagas. — This is an exhausting crop and 

 would undoubtedly be increased and the land sus- 



tained by the application of ashes and plaster. 

 According to Boussingault the ruta-baga contains 

 nearly 42 parts of potash out of 100 ; 134 of lime, 

 and the same of sulphuric acid. 



Professor Johnston states that in a crop of 20 

 tons or 45,000 lbs., there are 900 lbs. of thick or 

 woody fibre, 4000 lbs. of starch, sugar, gum, G70 

 lbs. of fat or oil, and 300 lbs. of saline matter. 



Army Worm. — Visit your young apple trees, and 

 where you find these worms foraging on forbidden 

 ground, break their thick ranks by turning a pla- 

 toon of small, arms or fingers, upon them, and 

 make them "bite the dust." They are active now 

 and very destructive, cutting clean as they go. 



Cows. — During the hot weather of August, 

 milch cows require much water, and if possible 

 should have access to pure, sweet water at all 

 times during the day. They are something like 

 their owners in one respect, like to drink when 

 they are thirsty, and we do not think it yielding 

 too much to their taste to indulge them in this 

 particular. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LUSUS NATUR.SE. 



BY CHARLES SIEDIIOF. 



On the 6th inst., I noticed two white blossoms 

 on an apple tree in my garden after all the others 

 had fallen off, but was then prevented from exam- 

 ining them. The following day one of my pupils 

 picked one of those blossoms and showed it tome. 

 I was not a little astonished to see, that this blos- 

 som was double. It was 2 1-2 inches in diame- 

 ter ; perfectly white and as full as the flowers of 

 the double Oleander (Neriuse Splendeur.) It re- 

 sembled in its form and structure a Camellia. I 

 found, on examination, the other blossom not 

 quite so full as that one described. Both proceed- 

 ed from a fruit spur at the very end of a small 

 limb, laden with fruit. I marked, of course, the 

 fruit spur, and shall try to propagate it in some 

 way or other. Should I succeed in this, it would 

 make a beautiful addition to our flowering trees. 



Lancaster. c. s. 



MACHINE FOR PICKING STONES. 



There is no end to inventions. One could hard- 

 ly believe that the reaping and mowing machines 

 would perform their work until he had seen it done 

 with his own eyes. Then there is the machine for 

 cutting enormous blocks of marble with toothless 

 saws, and for hewing granite with precision and 

 rapidity. And now, after our back has ached over 

 many a thickly-strown field through many a wea- 

 ry day, comes the machine for picking stones. It 

 is a large cylinder on a common axle and cart 

 wheels containing four rows of teeth or lifters. 

 Gearing on the hubs of the wheels and on the ends 

 of the cylinder gives the latter a rotary motion, 

 when the teeth pick up the stones and deposit 

 tliem in a box. When the box is full, the cylin- 

 der is raised and the load carried off and upset 

 us from a common cart. What shall we have next? 



