NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



419 



will do for this as well as other fruits — that the 

 society has deemed it advisable to offer a high prize 

 for a seedling, with the hope of still further iin 

 provement : for, although what few attempts have 

 been made in this way have not been attended with 

 very favorable results, there is still reason to be- 

 lieve that it will yield to the ameliorating influences 

 of cultivation, as well as the strawberry, the goose- 

 berry, or the raspberry." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DROUGHT— GRASS SEED. 



Friend Brown: — The last number of the TV. E 

 Farmer for myself, and also that for the Friends 

 School at this place, has not been received. Pre 

 sinning it to have been a mistake, I thought I 

 would inform thee, and ask thee to forward them. 



We are now experiencing a most severe drought. 

 Only one inch of rain fell here in last month, and 

 up to this date we have had but one rainy day 

 this month. The weather was very hot a consid- 

 erable part of the time during the past month, 

 and a strong, dry, westerly wind prevailed. Veg- 

 etation suffers extremely, especially garden vege- 

 tables. I think the potato crop must be light, 

 for they have not been wet to the bottom of the 

 hills since they came up. Some pieces of corn 

 look well, but on sandy land it is drying. This is 

 a good season to show the effect of manure. We 

 have about two and a half acres of corn that was 

 manured highly, and that has suffered very little, 

 while another piece planted with less manure, is 

 wilting and the lower leaves are dying. Pastures 

 are destitute of feed, and corn-fodder is dying before 

 it is half grown. Where the hay is taken off, 

 fields present a dry, sunburnt surface, on which 

 f\va would run without any coaxing. 



Such is a correct, though brief sketch of the 

 present aspect of things in this vicinity, and there 

 is still but little prospect of rain. Grass seed 

 sowed last spring almost entirely failed with us, 

 and I wish to know if seed can yet be sown so as 

 to secure a crop of grass next year. 

 Respectfully thy friend, Levi Varney. 



Providence, July 20th, 1852. 



Remarks. — Where grass seed was sown with 

 oats or other grain last spring, we "think you may 

 sow again in August with good prospect of success, 

 by spreading what fine compost manure you can 

 spare. Sow your grass seed and harrow with alight 

 harrow. If this is done just before or after a rain 

 the seed will probably take well. If the ground 

 was well manured in the spring the seed will be 

 likely to start ; but add the manure if not too in- 

 convenient. 



Although the drought of which you speak in- 

 creases the price of farm products, that enhanced 

 value does not meet his losses. Such droughts as 

 have been experienced the last and present seasons 

 are among the most discouraging features of the 

 farmer's occupation. But the fertility and great 

 extent of our country will be likely to prevent any 

 pinching want. Some portions of this teeming 

 territory will produce a surplus, and the great fa- 



cilities of transportation will tend to equalize 

 prices. In the mean time we must labor diligent- 

 ly in faith and hope, and all will be well. 



THE BEST TIME FOR CUTTING TIM- 

 BER, &G. 



Experience has proved that trees for timber, if 

 cut at one season of the year, are far more durable 

 than if cut at another. Various reasons have been 

 suggested why this is so, and it is not yet perhaps 

 fuily determined ; still as the time pointed as the 

 best for durability is during the autumn, it is gen- 

 erally supposed that this property is modified by 

 the amount of sap in the trunk, and the maturity 

 of the wood itself. In the spring, or at any earli- 

 er period of it, the trunk of most trees is pressed 

 with the ascending sap. The leaves as yet are 

 still folded in the bud, and the surfaces fur exha- 

 lation are only sufficient to carry off very slowly 

 the watery part of the sap. Even after the leaves 

 have expanded, or until mid-summer has arrived, 

 the tree abounds in juices. When, however, the 

 dry and sultry summer has arrived, and the new 

 wood and buds have been matured and formed, 

 the water part of the sap is mostly exhaled, and 

 probably, too, the circulation is less active as the 

 leaves become sere. 



It is stated by Mr. Emerson, author of the val- 

 uable report on the trees and shrubs of Massachu- 

 setts, that the soft maple cut in September, is 

 three times more lasting than ash or walnut cut 

 in the winter ; and from numerous inquiries which 

 he has made in some quarters, and from informa- 

 tion obtained from reliable sources, it seems he has 

 established the fact that autumn is the time for cut- 

 ting timber. When it is determined to cut timber, 

 it is of considerable importance to strip off the bark 

 in the spring that the body of the tree may dry 

 during summer. When, however, it is an object 

 to reproduce a forest from the remaining stumps, 

 then winter, or the very first of spring, is much 

 more favorable to the growth of sprouts. 



1^" There are, then, two seasons for cutting 

 wood ; if it is expected to last, it must he cut the last 

 of summer, or during the early part of autumn ; if 

 it is wished to clothe the surface with a new 

 growth of trees, the cutting must be made late in 

 winter. 



It is, however, possible to modify these arrange- 

 ments ; if, for example, the wood is designed for 

 timber, it is deprived of its bark in the spring, it 

 may be allowed to stand and season till winter ar- 

 rives, which is a period when farmers have less to" 

 do than in summer or autumn. 



In seasoning, wood retains an amount of water 

 which may be regarded as its constitutional sup- 

 ply. This constitutional water is very important ; 

 for upon its presence some of the most valuable 

 properties of the wood depend. I refer to elastic- 

 ity and strength. If wood, for example, is dried in 

 a water bath at 212° till it comes to lose weight, 

 its elasticity and strength is very much diminished. 

 Hickory, when dried in this way, becomes as brit- 

 tle as pine. In ordinary seasoning, or in steaming, 

 I believe the strength of wood is not diminished. 

 This observation may not be of much practical im- 

 portance, as this last plan of seasoning is but rare- 

 ly followed. The amount of water varies, as will 

 be observed, in different species of trees, as well as 

 in herbaceous plants. 



