556 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



those for which I subscribe,)— if agreeable, you 

 may hear again on more pleasant topics, from 

 Your humble servant, Uncle John. 



New England ville, Oct. 20, 1852. 



Remarks. — "Uncle John" has our sincere thanks 

 for his hints. They are evidence that he finds in- 

 terest in the paper ; we assure him that we can 

 find a cash value in them. Convenient to our el- 

 bow, we have a draw labeled with the names of 

 the months, into which we place such communi- 

 cations as appear to us unseasonable, with the in- 

 tention of publishing at a time when they would 

 have more direct application, and consequently 

 more force. But not appearing as soon as expect- 

 ed by their authors, some imagine that they have 

 been rejected, others, that the editor is careless or 

 indifferent, while a third takes the trouble to write 

 and ask why his communication does not appear? 

 These writers have been experimenting or think- 

 ing intently, perhaps, upon the subject which they 

 discuss and are desirous of giving the world the 

 benefit of their results while fresh upon the mind, 

 and in this way matters are sometimes introduced 

 which cannot be practically acted upon at the 

 time. Does "Uncle John" see our monthly issue 1 

 In that he will find an index to each number ; and 

 in the bound volumes a copious index, alliterated, 

 and arranged with care. 



Your suggestions upon the moral aspect of the 

 paper are just, and shall be properly considered. 

 We shall be happy to hear from you, as suggested. 



THE RIND OF FRUIT INDIGESTIBLE. 



This fact cannot be too strongly impressed upon 

 the public. It applies to all fruit, without excep- 

 tion, and includes also, the pellicle or skin of ker- 

 nels and nuts of all kinds. The edible part of fruit 

 i.s particularly delicate, and liable to rapid decom- 

 position if exposed to the atmosphere ; it is, there- 

 fore, a provision of nature to place a strong and 

 impervious coating over it, as a protection against 

 accident, and to prevent insect enemies from de- 

 stroying the seed within. The skin of all the plum 

 tribe is wonderfully strong, compared with its sub- 

 stance, and resists the action of water and many 

 solvents in a remarkable manner. If not thorough- 

 ly masticated before taken into the stomach, the 

 rind of plums is rarely, if ever, dissolved by the 

 gastric juice. In some cases, pieces of it adhere 

 t:> the coats of the stomach, the same as wet jxiper 

 clings to the bodies, causing sickness and other in- 

 convenience. Dried raisins and currants are par- 

 ticularly included in these remarks, showing the 

 best reasons for placing the fruit upon the chop- 

 ping board with the suet in making a pudding of 

 th iin, for if a dried currant passes into the stomach 

 whole, it is never digested at all. When horses 

 eat oats or beans that have not been through a 

 crushing mill, much of this food is swallowed whole, 

 and in this state, being perfectly indigestible, the 

 i.-.isk or pellicle resisting the advents of the stomach, 

 there is so much loss to nutrition. Birds, being 

 destitute of teeth, are provided with the apparatus 

 fir grinding their seed, namely, with the gizzard, 



through which the seed passes, and is crushed 

 prior to digestion. The peels of apples and pears 

 should always be cast away. Oranges we need 

 not mention, as this is always done. Orleans, 

 greengages, damsons, and all plums, should be 

 carefully skinned if eaten raw, and if put into 

 tarts, they should be crushed before cooking. Nuts 

 are as indigestible as we could desire, if the brown 

 skin be not removed or blanched, as almonds are 

 generally treated. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 



IMPROVEMENT OF OLD PASTURES. 



BY FREDERICK HOLBROOK. 



My Friend, Mr. Brown : — I have read Mr. 

 French's very interesting and valuable article upon 

 the renovation of old pastures, published in the 

 weekly Farmer, bearing date Sept. 25th. He 

 states the causes of the deterioration of pastures 

 so perspicuously, that any farmer may compre- 

 hend them. His article is particularly valuable and 

 timely to those whose pastures, tired of producing 

 the cultivated grasses, now only yield a poor herb- 

 age, so deficient in the elements of nutrition neces- 

 sary for the healthy support of milch cows as to 

 expose them to attack by the "bone disorder." 

 I am pursuaded that this disease is more and more 

 widely developing itself in the older settled dis- 

 tricts of New England ; and observation convinces 

 me that a great majority of those farmers whose 

 milch cows begin to show symptoms of the disease, 

 are utterly in the fog as to the causes and a reme- 

 dy. Would that all such might read and ponder 

 this article, and be practically influenced by it ; 

 they would no longer be in doubt as to the origin 

 of the disorder, and would find the remedy pre- 

 scribed effectual. In common with my friend, Mr. 

 French, I feel a great interest in the improvement 

 of old pastures ; and with your permission, and in 

 the hope of aiding him somewhat in his laudable 

 effort to promote improvement in this "much ne- 

 glected department of farming." I will now state 

 some modes of restoring fertility to such lands, 

 known to me, by practice or observation, to be 

 profitable and efficient. 



And first, I feel bound to speak well of green 

 crops, plowed in, for the improvement of poor pas- 

 tures. Green crops containing in their substance 

 not only all they have drawn from the soil, but 

 also a great part of what they have taken from the 

 atmosphere, when plowed in, necessarily add more 

 to the soil than they take from it. I have found 

 that successive green crops, plowed in, refresh and 

 invigorate an old pasture very much. I will cite 

 a case : 



A field of four acres, a thin yellow loam, before 

 coming under my management had been exhaust- 

 ed by successive crops of rye, and left to itself, 

 had in time acquired a thin herbage, which in the 

 spring tried to look green, but in early summer 

 became brown and dry, and for the remainder of 

 the season was valueless. The field being situat- 

 ed upon a high hill, distant from home, and dim- 

 cult of access with the manure-cart, I was for two 

 or three years in doubt as to what means I could 

 profitably adopt to enrich it. After revolving va- 

 rious plans, I finally determined to test the fer- 

 tilizing power of green crops, plowed in. My ob- 

 ject being two-fold, to test the merits of such ma- 

 nuring, «is well as to enrich mv land, I concluded 



