890 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Aug. 



EXTRACTS AIJD REPLIES. 



SALT ON PLUM TREES. 



Mr. Editor :— In June 7th, of the JV. E. Far- 

 mer, "Norfolk" recommends sifting fine salt liber- 

 ally on plum trees. I would inquire of your read- 

 ers who have tried it, if they have seen any bad ef- 

 fects from salting plum trees. I have a fine tree 

 in my yard, bearing plums for the first time, and 

 was anxious to have the fruit mature, so I sifted salt 

 on the top, which killed the leaves where it re- 

 mained and dissolved, and the tree now looks like 

 one scorched with fire. 



I would say to "J. T. W.," of Marlboro', that I 

 have a plum scion set one year ago last spring, that 

 is 4f in. in circumference at the but, 5 ft. 5 in. high, 

 had 8 limbs Saturday, that measured 



No. 1 2 ft. 1 in. 



No. 2 1 ft. 10 in. 



No. 3 1 ft. 9 in. 



No. 4 1 ft. 11 in. 



No. 5 1 ft. 9 in. 



No. 6 2 ft. 4^ in. 



No. 7 ft. 11 in. 



No. 8 1ft. 4 in. 



I cut one foot off the top, and 12 side sprouts, last 

 spring. 



J^ashua, JV. H., July, 1856. 



Remarks. — You are not the only one who has 

 destroyed the foliage of plum trees by the too free 

 use of salt. As is necessary, in most othtr experi- 

 ments on the farm, the salt should be used sparing- 

 ly, until its efiect can be ascertained. 



A profitable cow. 



Mr. David Heath, of North Troy, Vt., week be- 

 fore last made from the milk of one cow of Dur- 

 ham breed, fifteeen pounds of butter. This we 

 deem extra for a cow that has had nothing but 

 common pasturage. From the first three days' 

 milking, he made seven pounds and ten ounces, 

 thi^ being about eighteen j)ovmds per week. The 

 cow probal)ly would have made that had not a part 

 of the milk been taken for family use. 



O. N. Elkins. 



JVorth Trorj, Vt., June 26th, 1856. 



BLOSSOMS, BUT DOES NOT BEAR! 



I have a standard Duchess d'Angouleme pear, 

 which blossoms every spring l)ut matures no fruit. 

 I have seen a remedy somewhere, but cannot now 

 call to mind where I saw it, or what the operation 

 was. Who can inform me? s. T., JR. 



Swampscott, 1856. 



CROPS IN VERMONT. 



The weather is extremely warm ; grass and grain 

 crops look well ; fruit trees did not blossom much, 

 many trees are dead, and I think owing to the 

 great growth they got last season, and the severe 

 winter. We had more meadow moles this spring 

 than ever known here before, who ate grass roots 

 and young trees very much last winter. All stock 

 is high ; wocl is selling from 40 to 50 cents 

 per pound. I think there are many thousand sheep 

 less than there has been any year for the last 20 

 years in this country. W. T. GOODRICH. 



Middlehury, Vt., June, 1856. 



A GOOD APPLE. 



I send you a few of my Washington Royal ap- 

 ples to show you their keeping qualities. They 

 are below an average size, but I think are eatable. 

 They have been kept without any extra care, 

 and have proved themselves a good apple to keep 

 for late as well as early eating. I can furnish sci- 

 ons from bearing trees of this fruit the ensuing 

 spring, to those who may wish to obtain them. 

 Ephraim Robbins. 



Leominster, July, 1856. 



Remarks. — The apples came in good condition, 

 and were as crisp, juicy and fine-flavored as any 

 we ever tasted in the month of July. Judging from 

 these, we should think them well worth a place in 

 any orchard. 



ASHES on BEET LEA\'ES. 



Your correspondent inquires how to preserve 

 beet leaves from the maggot. My beets have been 

 infested with them this year, and last too ; my 

 remedy is to sprinkle wood ashes on the leaves, 

 when the dew is on, and I find it effectual, as in a 

 short time they look as fresh as ever. 



Cordaville, 1856. A SUBSCRIBER. 



OCTAGON BARNS. 



Mr. Editor : — I notice a correspondent of yours, 

 C. C, suggests that there is much room saved by 

 building an octagon, instead of a square barn. 

 Will he or yourself give me an idea of its internal 

 arrangements ? Respectfully, M. 



Hlgldand, Madison Co., JV. Y., June, 1856. 



For:m of the Earth. — The earth being roimd 

 like a ball, it follows that at a certain distance, even 

 though our vision can reach much further, its form 

 will prevent us from seeing objects even if its sur- 

 face were perfectly smooth. It has been calculated 

 that at 600 yards an object one inch high cannot 

 be seen in a sti-aight line ; at 900 yards, two inch- 

 es; at 1400 yards, five inches; at one mile, eight 

 inches ; three miles, six feet, — so at that distance a 

 man would be invisible. In leveling, it is usual to 

 allow the tenth of an inch in every two hundred 

 yards, or eight inches in a mile, for convexity. 



Scientific American. 



BOYS' DEPARTMENT. 



A VISIT TO LUTHER'S SCHOOL. 



[A correspondent of the JMassachusetts Teacher, 

 "W. L. G.," gives the following interesting account 

 of a visit to a school in which Martin Luther was 

 once a pupil, in Mansfeld, Germany :] 



In the last number of the "Teacher" I gave its 

 readers a translation from the treatise of Madame 

 de Stael, on Germany ; I wish in this to describe a 

 visit made to a very remarkable school ; remarka- 

 ble not for its size, not for its Hberal endowment, 

 not for the learning of its teachers, but because it 

 was the school which Luther attended. In the 

 public school of Mansfeld he was a pupil from so 

 tender an age, that his father used to bring him in 

 his arms, up to the time when in his fifteenth year 



