1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



31 



to ascertain if this sajang is correct. Reflection 

 would probably suggest a reason why it is so. 



This spring, more complaint has been made of the 

 bad quahty of parsnip and onion seeds than of any 

 other ; but the beet beds show many vacancies. 



Douljtless the failure of many seeds is due to the 

 ignorance or carelessness of the sower. It will take 

 but a few lines to remark that, in a dry season, cov- 

 ering the seed sown, for three or four days, with a 

 board or a piece of old carpet, will sometimes cause 

 it to vegetate, when otherwise it might not. 



Can you, Mr. Editor, give a list of the seeds 

 which lose their vitality soonest, and of other seeds 

 which retain their vitality longest ? Honest seed- 

 raisers, and all are honest, for aught I know, would 

 be glad to learn. Yours, &c., S. HLlLE. 



Keene, JV. H. 



We fully agree with our correspondent, that 

 there is great need of improvement in the quality 

 of garden seeds. We have long been aAvare that if 

 there is anything in which the pubhc are hum- 

 bugged, it is in garden seeds. But the cause must 

 not be laid to the established seed dealers ; it be- 

 longs wholly and exclusively to the purchasers. 

 They require cheap seeds, and always buy of those 

 who sell the lowest, and of course, they get them ; 

 for no honest, upright seedsman could supply pure 

 fresh seeds at the unusually low prices at which 

 they are now sold. 



The truth is, the mass of the people buy garden 

 seeds as they would a pound of sugar or a bushel of 

 corn ; the cheapest always finding the most custom- 

 ers. The standing of the seedsman is no consider- 

 ation, and the seeds of an unknown dealer are just 

 as readily taken as those from the merchant who is 

 well known, and has a reputation to lose. The 

 competition among dealers, and the eagerness to se- 

 cure customers, has lowered prices, and as they are 

 below what fresh seeds can be raised for, they must 

 of course be adulterated to afford a living. The 

 dishonest seedsman, if there are any such, must pur- 

 sue this course, or i)urchase, hap-hazard, any .seed 

 offered for sale, of which there is always an abun- 

 dance, without knowing anything about them. 

 Probably not one in ten of those who buy seeds 

 are aware that the best seedsmen, who can be re- 

 lied upon, have their seeds raised expressly for 

 them, and often furnish the stock, or know that it 

 is pure ; it is the only way they can be certain of 

 their genuineness. The only remedy is, therefore, 

 to deal with first rate houses, with men who are 

 known, and to be willing to pay a fair price for a 

 piu-e article. If, however, they must be had at a 

 low price, purchasers must expect to have them 

 mixed with old seeds ; for it is the only way in 

 which the dealer can compete with the cheap seeds- 

 man. Our advice is, to buy nothing in the way of 

 seeds, plants or trees, because they are cheap. — 

 Hovey^s Magazine. 



Superphosphate of Lime as a Fertilizer. — 

 We were induced, last spring, on the recommenda- 

 tion of a friend, to use some superphosphate of lime 

 upon some corn which we were planting. In order 

 to make the experiment fairly, we left one row of 

 corn without any of this fertilizer. The rows in 

 which we placed the superphosphate came up the 

 first, grew the rankest, and looked the best all 

 through the season. A week ago to-da}' we har- 

 vested the crop, and, as all the piece was equally 



manured before the superphosphate was applied, 

 and had equal culture, we give the result of our 

 experiment. Gathering and husking the row with- 

 out superphosphate, we found they weighed 36 

 pounds, not ten ears of which were hard or perfect, 

 having suff"ered from the frost some four weeks ago, 

 while the next was perfectly matured and the ears 

 weighed 60 pounds. We are convinced that the 

 superphosphate saved our entire crop of corn, al- 

 though we used only a table-spoonful in a hill. 

 What wiW our neighbor of the J^ew England Far- 

 mer, — which is one of the best agricultural and fam- 

 ily newspapers in the world, — say to this? — Chelsea 

 Telegraph. 



Remarks. — Your neighbor of the jV. E. Far- 

 mer thinks the experiment a very favorable one, and 

 would advise you to continue it next year , and see 

 if the result will be the same. We have raised be- 

 tween fifty and sixty bushels of corn to the acre, 

 this year, where only a handful of superphosphate 

 was apphed, — but the land was heavily manured 

 last year. 



THE YIELD OF LESS THAN AN ACRE 

 OF GROUND. 



I see going the rounds of the papers the products 

 of a two-acre farm, amounting after nine years' 

 preparation to the annual sum of $133,20 : and the 

 writer concludes he "will have his reward, if the ac- 

 count he gives. Mill stimulate others to do the like 

 out of nothing." To add a further stimulus I give 

 the following account of the productions of a house- 

 lot containing but 139 perches and 83i feet. At 

 least one-third of this is taken up by house and 

 out-buildings, and about one-third of the balance 

 too steep for cultivating anything but grass and 

 trees. It came into my possession four years ago, 

 with the portion now cultivated stri])ped of its soil 

 by grading to fill up terrace walls. There are three 

 of these, 5 to 8 feet high. It has produced during 

 the past season : 



- $61,60 



- 3,00 



- 200 



306 quarts of Strawberries, 20 cts., 

 60 bunches Asparagus, 5 cts., 



200 lbs. Grass, $1 



38 quarts Gooseberries, 

 16 quarts Currants, 

 20 quarts Peas, 

 27 quarts Raspberries, 

 10 bunches Rhubarb 

 6 quarts Cherries, 

 5 bushels Grapes, 



8 cts., 



6 cts., 



8 cts., 

 15 cts., 



6 cts., - 

 10 cts., 

 $2 



lOJ bushels Peaches, extra, $2 - - 

 4j bushels Peaches, common, 60 cts.. 

 Grass, second crop, _ . . 



470 Peach trees, 1 year, bud. fine, 8 cts., 

 100 Gooseberry trees, 5 cts., 



14 bushels Onions, 75 cts., - 



2 lbs. Hops, 40 cts., 



8 Gourds, 5 cts., 



12 Grape Vines, 1 year, 10 cts.. 



Total 



3,04 



- 96 

 1,60 



- 4,05 



- 60 

 60 



10,00 



- 21,00 



2,25 



- 1,00 

 37,60 



- 5,00 

 1,12 



80 



- 40 

 - 1,20 



$157,42 



Every tree, shrub and plant has been set by my 

 own hands — excepting about one dozen and three 

 old peach trees — within the four years, and had my 

 attention only before breakfast and after supper. 

 In addition to my own labor, the whole lot has not 

 received more than 20 days' work during the sea- 

 son, perhaps less. 



If the ".Yew England Farmer," or any other can 

 beat this, let us hear from them. — Robert Ar- 

 thurs, Pitt Township, Alleghany Co., Penn. — 

 Western Jlgriculturist, Pittsburg. 



