1856. 



NEW ENGLAND F.\RMER. 



251 



from four to five pounds the pair, bring from $1,25 

 to $1,50, which is a large per cent, above what they 

 ought to cost ; and to obtain such, you must have a 

 healthy stock. Change your male bird every year, 

 and avoid in-and-in breeding, for of that comes 

 ricket, deformed bodies, gapes, pip, &c. Set as 

 many hens in March and April as desire to do so, 

 none after that time, and as many in the former 

 month as possible, for one early chick is worth 

 three late ones. 



Never set a hen upon hay or straw without earth 

 underneath, as the heat escapes more readily, and in 

 the early season is very essential ; also when she 

 leaves her nest for food it will retain the warmth 

 longer. The bottom of the nest should have two 

 or three inches of earth, and nearly level, to ena- 

 ble the hen to move her eggs when instinct prompts 

 her so to do. Always provide food and water where 

 she can readily obtain them, and return as quickly 

 as possible. Leave her to herself for twenty-one 

 days, at which time one-half of the brood will be 

 out. Remove the shells and give no food to the 

 chicks for forty-eight hours ; nature having provid- 

 ed for them, until about that time, when fine cob 

 meal, and clean meal and shorts in equal propor- 

 tions, mixed with milk, sour or sweet, until they are 

 three or four weeks old. 



The hens should be cooped on the earth, or 

 where they can have gravel and sunshine, and 

 avoid wet and damp places. When old enough, 

 cracked corn and buckwheat, barley, iS:c., can be 

 added. 



At the age of four or five weeks the hens can be 

 set free, and with meal, corn, chopped scraps 

 mixed with sour milk, to go to when they want, 

 they will need but little attention after. 



PREPARATION FOR THE MARKET. 



Chicks that weigh three pounds alive, will dress 

 two pounds. Having provided yourself with a gar- 

 ment suitable for the business, and having your 

 fowls boxed the day previous, you take the chick 

 by the legs, head down, and with one smart rap on 

 the head with a stick an inch in diameter, and a 

 foot in length, stun it ; then place the body between 

 your knees, and with a sharp knife cut the upper 

 part of the mouth from eye to eye ; waste no time, 

 but commence with the wings, and pluck the fowl 

 as quickly as possible. In dressing, draw the en- 

 trails only, but they must be done properly and 

 without accident, otherwise the value is lessened. 

 Leave on the head, and remove no crop. 



I have been somewhat particular in the dressing, 

 as poultry poorly prepared for Boston market will 

 have to be sold 25 per cent, below others of same 

 value otherwise. H. 



Concord, Mass. 



Curious Habits of Mackerel. — The habits of 

 these fish are very peculiar. And although they 

 have been taken in immense numbers for three- 

 quarters of a century, their habits are not well un- 

 derstood. They often move in immense bodies, 

 apparently filHng the ocean for miles in extent. 

 They are found near the surface. Sometimes they 

 will take the hook with the greatest eagerness. 

 At other times, not a mackerel will bite for days, 

 although millions of them are visible in the water. 

 When they are in the mood for taking the bait, ten, 

 twenty, and even thirty barrels, are taken by a sin- 

 gle vessel in a few hours. They usually bite most 



freely soon after sunrise in the morning, and tow- 

 ards sunset at evening. They all cease to bite 

 about the same time, as if they were actuated by a 

 common impulse. They are easily frightened, and 

 will then descend into deep water. It has often 

 happened, that a fleet of vessels has been lying off 

 the Cape, a mile or two from shore, in the midst 

 of a school of mackerel, and taking them rapidly 

 upon their decks, when the firing of a gun, or the 

 blast of a rock, would send every mackerel fathoms 

 deep into the water, as suddenly as though they 

 had been converted into so manypigs of lead ; and 

 perhaps it would be some hours before they would 

 reappear. They are caught most abundantly near 

 the shore, and very rarely out of sight of land. — 

 Peter Gott. 



THE BALDWIN APPLE. 



During the interesting discussion upon TTie Cul- 

 tivation of Fruits, at the last agricultural meeting 

 at the State House, the conclusion of which is giv- 

 en in another column, Mr. Sheldon, of Wilming- 

 ton, spoke of Col. B.ALD'VNTN as the person who 

 gave this renowned apple notoriety, and said that 

 there is now but one person living, who knows, for 

 an absolute certainty, the spot where the original 

 tree stood. He said a monument ought to be erect- 

 ed, not only to mark the spot, but with a suitable 

 inscription to perpetuate the name of Col. Baldwin, 

 who discovered the merits of the fruit, and took 

 pains to extend it over the land. The chairman, 

 Col. Wilder, said it would afford him pleasure to 

 aid such a movement, and so did others who were 

 present. 



For the New England Fanner. 



THE RHODE ISLAND GREENING. 



Mr. Editor : — Can any of your readers tell us — 

 who live in this neighborhood — what we shall do to 

 our trees of the yellow cheeked greening — the Rhode 

 Island greening P 



Some twenty-five years since, the trees produced 

 very large crops, perhaps more abundantly than 

 any other variety of apple in this region ; for ten 

 years past they don't bear at all well. The bloom 

 is abundant ; a large number of small apples fill 

 the branches, but when the fruit is about the size of 

 a pea, and thence up to the size of a hen's egg, it 

 begins to drop, and at harvest time, the trees are 

 bare; the fruit doesn't set well. One of my neigh- 

 bors says it is the drought, the dry summer, that 

 causes this. Another looks for the cause to the ex- 

 haustion of the soil. Both the old and yomig trees 

 of Rhode Island Greening no longer produce crops. 

 Shall we remedy the evil by sending to Rhode 

 Island for new trees ? Shall we try grafts from 

 old trees ? Some say this apple has run out. I 

 don't think that any variety runs out, if the trees 

 are properly taken care of. What is wanting to 

 the apple tree that the stem does not hold to the 

 tree ? Having always used barn manure, must we 

 try the manufactured fertilizers ? Will guano help 

 us ? Some say the east winds produce this result 

 with the trees ; but the east winds blew thirty years 

 ago, when this kind of apple was produced in the 

 greatest abundance. Subscriber. 



Duxhury, 1856. 



