388 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



on the seat. To this is secured a strap, which pass- 

 es around above the hips, ard is buckled tight in 

 front. The seat of the stool is about four inches 

 thick, and is held to its place in the leg by an iron 

 spur. The blacksmith puts it on behind and be- 

 tween his thighs and buckles it in front, and the 

 horse's foot is placed on the seat ; it thus supports 

 the weight of the animal's leg, and relieves the 

 back of the sheer from that severe strain which 

 makes horse-shoeing such hard work. — Scientific 

 American. 



For the New England Fanner. 



SCENERY AND POTATOES IN NOVA 

 SCOTIA. 



A few remarks on potato culture may not be 

 without interest from a Vermont farmer, who in 

 his travels "away down East" finds himself in 

 Acadia, the land of the potato. When the English 

 took the country from the French, the name was 

 changed to Nova Scotia, or New Scotland. In the 

 distance may be seen the village where lived 

 "Benedict Bellefontaine, the wealthiest farmer of 

 Grand Pre, and Evangeline, his daughter," also, 

 "Gabriel the faithful, and his father, Basil the black- 

 smith ;" the basin of Minos washing its shores, and 

 Blomidon cape rising aloft in the distance, looking 

 quietly down upon one of the most loeautiful 

 scenes imaginable. Its summit affords the finest 

 water and landscape that I ever looked upon. The 

 valley of Cornwallis and Hooton is about two miles 

 wide, on each side of which rides a rklge of land, 

 called here, the North and South mountain, run- 

 ning parallel to each other, extending from Cape 

 Blomidon to Digby — -just one hundred miles. The 

 The shores of this valley, at the eastern part of 

 Cornwallis, is washed by Minos Basin ; and former- 

 ly, the tide, which rises here sixty feet, flowed up 

 numerous rivers, running into the country many 

 miles, overflowing large tracts of land at every 

 flood, and depositing a rich alluvial soil. The old 

 French Acadians, between one and two hundred 

 years ago, built abouteauls or dykes across the riv- 

 ers, excluding the tide, and making the richest grass 

 land in the world ; which now, after a century has 

 passed away, without ever having received a parti- 

 cle of manure of any kind, yields a burden of hay, 

 the amount of which, per acre, exceeds anything 

 that a Vermont farmer ever dreamed of. The 

 statement made by persons who are perfectly reli- 

 able is this ; that many portions of this dyke land 

 yield at one mowing,ybMr and sometimes five tons 

 per acre of the best hay, and that too, when well 

 made, and after it has been kept in a barn until 

 winter. The same land yields four hundred bush- 

 els of potatoes per acre. 



The farms on the upland are generally superior. 

 Very seldom will one be found having less than ten 

 acres under cultivation with potatoes ; and our 

 farm has now sixty acres planted with the favorite 

 esculent. The method of culture is quite different 

 from what is practised in Vermont. One eye to 

 the hill is all that is used, the hills being two feet 

 apai't each way. The number of bushels required 

 to plant an acre is four, and the average yield two 

 hundred bushels yiev acre. Large potatoes are pre- 

 ferred for seed. Indeed, few small potatoes are 

 raised in Cornwallis. Small potatoes, when raised 

 on poor land and well ripened, yield a large crop 

 when planted on good land ; but the small ones 



raised on rich land are generally what is called the 

 second settings, and probably do not fully ripen, 

 and are not considered good seed. One of the best 

 farmers in the country, John T. Newcomb, has in- 

 formed me that a few years ago, in a time of scar- 

 city, he planted an acre of land with one and a half 

 bushels of small potatoes, putting one eye to a hill, 

 the piece of potato with the eye often being no 

 larger than a pea ; from that acre of land he re- 

 ceived over five hundred bushels of very large po- 

 tatoes. 



Wheat is raised here, though not largely. They 

 do not sow it until June, usually about the 10th. — 

 One farmer sowed a piece of land to wheat the 

 29th of June, and received a good yield. Wheat 

 that is sowed in April and May is taken by the 

 weevil. 



The business of the country has received a won- 

 derful impetus from the high price which ])otatoe8 

 have demanded for the last few years. The price 

 of real estate has advanced one hundred per cent. 

 More of what is termed Yankee enterprise has 

 been manifested. The schools are becoming supe- 

 rior to their former estate ; and church sjiires are 

 more frequently seen pointing toward heaven, the 

 desired goal of all humanity. 



The pending difficulty between the two countries 

 is now a matter of great interest to the good people 

 of the province. They feel much concern for the 

 poor Yankees, and compassionate their condition, 

 in case a war should take place. You cannot con- 

 vince them but that Great Britain is almighty to 

 destroy every seaboard town and city on the At- 

 lantic shores in an inconceivably short space of 

 time, and would carry devastation and death in- 

 land. This, in their loving kindness, they would re- 

 gret, — -for il would destroy the market for their po" 

 tatoes. P. Pines. 



Cornwallis, JVbva Scotia, July 14, 1856. 



THE SEASON. 



Crops of all kinds, and in all sections of our wide- 

 ly-extended country, so far as we can learn from 

 our own observations, and from our numerous ex- 

 changes, are abundant, well-ripened, so far as they 

 have been cut, and generally the weather has been 

 such as to enable the farmer to secure them in good 

 condition. The hay crop is a heavy one ; wheat 

 looks finely ; rye is good ; so are oats. Corn is 

 rather backward, but of fine strength and color, 

 and the recent extremely hot days are bringing it 

 forward rapidly. No complaint is yet made of rot 

 in the potatoes, and the -s-ines are now looking well 

 and promise a plentiful crop. Apple trees gave a 

 fair blossom, but through the activity of the curcu- 

 lio, or some other cause, the young fruit has dropt 

 from the tree in large quantities, so that the pros- 

 pect now is that the apple crop in the eastern part 

 of the New England States will be a light one. 

 Squash, cucumber and melon vines are generally 

 small and look tired, or, as though they had just 

 got up and had not decided whether they will grow 

 or not. Beans look well. 



In some of the western States it has been a little 

 too dry, but no general complaint is made. In- 



