1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



407 



The plants put out leaves and buds early, and with 

 great vigor, many of the former have grown near a 

 foot in height, the leaves of an uncommon size, and 

 the yield was I think extraordinary. 



Now, whether the hoe'ng, the snow, or the coal 

 ashes produced the result I, cannot say, but as I 

 have faith in coal ashes as of some efficacy, and it 

 is quite evident they have done the plant no harm, 

 my opinion is that there is something in the ashes 

 adapted to the wants of the strawberry. If this is 

 the fact, it will be well to make it known, and I trust 

 others will try this and other experiments with this 

 article, and let the public know the result. 



Brookline, July, 1856. L. T. S. 



"NO." 



There's a word very short, but decided and plain. 



And speaks to the purpose at once ; 

 Not a child but its meaning can quiclily explain. 



Yet oft 'tis too hard to pronounce ; 

 What a world of vexation and trouble 'twould spare. 



What pleasure and peace 'twould bestow, 

 If we turned when temptation wouU lure and ensnare, 



And firmly repulsed it with — "No !" 



When the idler would tempt us with trifles and play 



To waste the bright moments so dear ; 

 When the scoffer unholy our faith would gainsay. 



And mock at the world we revere ; 

 When deception, and falsehood, and guile would invite. 



And fleeting enjoyments bestow, 

 Never palter with truth for a transient delight, 



But check the first impulse with — "No !" 



In the morning of life, in maturity's day. 



Whatever the cares that engage, 

 Be the precepts of virtue our guide and our stay 



Our solace from youth unto age ! 

 Thus the heart shall ne'er waver, no matter how tried, 



But firmness and constancy show, 

 And when passion or folly would draw us aside. 



We'd sourn the seducer wi!h — "No !" 



For the New England Farmer. 



ABOUT POULTRY. 



Friend Brown : — I must say that I am high- 

 ly pleased with the JV. E. Farmer; the moment it 

 arrives it is read in my family with pleasure ; al- 

 though there are some pieces that do not exactly 

 agree with my experience, still there is much that 

 is very useful. As I am an old man, may be I had 

 better give you some of my experience. I was 

 born a farmer's boy, have owned a farm and lived 

 on it for foi'ty-five jxars ; in that time I have bought 

 and sold a goodly number of oxen, cows, sheep, 

 hogs, guinea pigs, jackasses, mules, and all kinds of 

 poultry, from the full-blooded Cochin China down 

 to the little white bantam. The former and the 

 latter are "small potatoes ;" the Polands I should 

 like if their flesh was a little better, and if they 

 could see like other hens, and would not be under 

 foot in the stable ; other animals often step on them. 

 The frizzled fowl, if kept at all, must be for fancy. 

 For fifteen years I have been trying to get a kind 

 that would lay from two to four eggs a day. Two 

 years ago I had all Polands ; they lay well, but I 

 have new a m.ixed breed. The Chittagongs lay 

 large eggs, but their flesh is not the best ; they have 

 large bodies, but after all, I like smaller hens ; the 

 old-fasl)ioned yellow \egf, I think, will lay as many 

 egg?, and are as profitable, taking all into consider- 



ation ; when cooked for the table I find the great 

 folks like them best. I might say something about 

 all kinds, but it would only take time, and when 

 the needle came to settle it would ])oint directly at 

 the half-blooded yellow leg Dorkings, one nearly 

 like the old native sort. All pullets' lay the best. 

 I never keep a hen more than three years, they are 

 apt to get so fat that they will not "lay an egg a 

 month. Were my hens all old, I would not feed 

 them only once a day, and then not all they would 

 eat. 



Turkeys are profitable, if your farm is right for 

 them. Geese and ducks are good eating, and very 

 profitable if you live near a pond of water, and can 

 keep them away from your neighbor's premises. I 

 have bought and sold from two to three thousand 

 horses and a lot of mules, and some jackasses. I 

 have lived on the Green Jlountain all my days since 

 1816, and have seen a great deal that relates to the 

 farm, and have laid up a large stock of 



Experience. 



For the Netc England Farmer. 



CULTUEE OF EOOTS. 



Friend Brown :— I notice in a late number of 

 the Farmer, a paragraph urging upon farmers the 

 importance of raising more roots than they usually 

 do, which is a timely suggestion. 



It would certainly be for the interest of every one 

 to bestow more attention upon crops that are easi- 

 ly cultivated. If any one will take the right course 

 in the culture of roots, he will double the value of 

 his crops over that of hay for the purpose of feed- 

 ing stock. The course I v/ould pui'sue, is to take 

 a piece of grass land that will not produce more 

 than a ton or so to the acre, and then with a plow 

 of the right construction, so as to completely invert 

 the sod , a piece of ground can be had for the pur- 

 pose with a smooth surface. Put on about twenty 

 cart loads of fine manure to the acre, and work it 

 into the ground well with the harrow; sow ruta- 

 baga seed at the rate of a pound to the acre, about 

 the middle to the twentieth of June, and with good 

 care, thinning them so that the plants be left a foot 

 apart, and I feel confident that a cro]) of at least 

 four hundred bushels can be obtained from an acre, 

 worth twentj--five cents a bushel. I would here 

 suggest a plan in sowing, although it is no new thing 

 to some, but may be so to many, which is to sow 

 three feet apart, instead of the old way of eighteen 

 or twenty inches, thereby avoiding much severe 

 manual labor with the hoe, substituting horse-power 

 with the cultivator, which will lessen the expense 

 of raising roots, as every one must know who has 

 tried it. 



I wish to inquire of you or j'our numerous read- 

 ers, if you know of any successful experiments ever 

 being made in the way of cooking turnips or other 

 food for stock ? I have in my mind a plan that I 

 think would work to a charm. It is to procure a 

 large boiler that can be seen and purchased at 

 Nourse, Mason & Co.'s, manufactured by Mann & 

 Torrance, of X. Y., holding about two barrels, or 

 five bushels; after being sufficiently cooked, take 

 them out into a large trough, then add the requi- 

 site quantity of meal, and a little salt, mashing the 

 whole together while scalding hot. After it has 

 cooled enough put it into boxes or on a clean floor, 

 and I know it would be eagerly devoured by them, 

 which I think would be better than in a raw state 



