1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



511 



sat down to an excellent dinner. The tables were 

 well filled, and after the wants of the body were 

 satisfied, "the feast of reason" commenced, and an 

 hour was spent in a very pleasant manner. We think 

 there is no other town in the county of Worcester, 

 with the exception of the city of Worcester, that 

 can get up so fine an exhibition of fruits. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



BMNE AND ONION SEED. 



Having just been into my garden, I found my 

 onions were bottoming finely. For some ten 

 years past, insects have almost entirely prevented 

 raising onions, so much so, that but few in this sec- 

 tion have tried it at all. I was speaking, last spring, 

 with one of my neighbors, about raising onions. 

 He said there would be no trouble about the in- 

 sect, if I would soak the seed in salt waler, but he 

 had forgotten the quantity, so I guessed at it. I 

 made a tea-cup two-thirds full of brine, as strong 

 as could be made by pouring hot water to 

 salt, which I let cool, and then put a paper of seed 

 in it, which remained until the next morning. On 

 examining it in the morning, a small white maggot 

 was plainly to be seen in the brine ; the brine v/as 

 poured off, and ashes added to the seed, so I could 

 sow it. The seed came up as well as any I ever 

 saw, and have grown undisturbed by insects. 

 JFest Windsor, Ft, 1856. * * * 



HOW SHALL I PROTECT GRAPE VINES? 



I have a grape vine which has grown from the 

 root ten feet since the first of July last ; it is now 

 very green, and like a sprout in June, and it has 

 occurred to me that if left unprotected, the winter 

 might be too severe for it. I am desirous of pre- 

 serving it, and wish to know the best plan for doing 

 so. If you will inform me of the best one to adopt, 

 I shall be greatly obliged. A Subscriber. 



Boston, Sept., 1856. 



Remarks. — Lay it upon the ground and throw 

 leaves, coarse weeds, hay or brush of any kind over 

 it. It ought not to be compactly covered. 



ON HARVESTING CORN. 



I have been trying the different methods for a 

 number of years, to satisfy myself which is best. — 

 I have tried breaking the corn off, and cutting up 

 the butts, (for the slovenly practice of leaving the 

 butts in the field, I cannot put up with,) and cut- 

 ting the butts and corn together ; and I have tried 

 cutting all together, and shocking it in the field, 

 which I think is decidedly the best waj'. T. n. 



Gloucester, Sept., 1856. 



posed to the gambling, horse-racing tendency to 

 which our fairs seem tending, and who think it 

 much better to improve the morals of man, than 

 the speed of the horse. Z. White. 



Middlebury, Ft, 1856. 



PRICES CURRENT. 



Mr. Editor : — The Monthly Farmer comes to 

 hand in good form, and I am much pleased with 

 its contents. But there is one thing missing, that 

 is the market price of all the field and garden pro- 

 ducts that it teaches us to raise. As it is in the 

 weekly, would it not be a good plan to insert a list 

 in the monthly ? Then we can judge of the value 

 of these things. Some of your subscribers raise 

 more than they want for themselves. 



JVilliamstown, 1856. A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — We are occasionally asked why we 

 publish no prices current in the Monthly Farmer, 

 The reason is that the matter for the Monthly is 

 in the printer's hands some weeks before it is 

 issued, and the delays occasioned by printing, fold- 

 ing, &c., are so great that subscribers do not re- 

 ceive their papers until a fortnight after the copy is 

 prepared. Of course we could give nothing like 

 an accurate statement of prices, and any other is 

 useless. 



fine peaches. 



Dear Sir : — Something was said in a former 

 letter about my furnishmg you with a practical ar- 

 ticle. I send you one now, the product of my 

 hands, if not my head. Please accept it from 



Truly yours, S. H. Hildreth. 



Westford, Sept., 1856. 



Remarks. — This year, friend Hildreth, such a 

 practical illustration of "bestowing your goods," 

 comes home to men's "bosoms," at any rate. The 

 box was received in good order, and its "contents 

 noticed" with unusual satisfaction. 



ELDER berry WINE. 



I would inquire through you, or your excellent 

 paper, of the best method of making elder berry 

 wine ? A Subscriber. 



Dover, JV. H., Sept., 1856. 



Remarks. — To one quart of elderberry juice, add 

 two quarts of water and three pounds of sugar — the 

 better the sugar, the better will be the wine. As 

 soon as it is done fermenting, strain it, and put it 

 in vessels that are perfectly clean. It will improve 

 by age. _ 



AN EXPLANATION. 



Mr. Editor : — I notice in your account of the 

 Vermont State Fair, a statement that $20,000 was 

 offered for the famous Ethan Allen horse, and re- 

 fused. Permit me to state the facts : $20 000 was 

 offered for the horse, by Mr. Austin, of Orwell, 

 one of the owners of the horse ; but there was no 

 one, not interested, ready to purchase at quite so 

 high a price. By publishing the above, you will 

 oblige one, and I think, many who are much op- 



bugs in peas — trimming pear trees— borers. 



What can be done to seed peas to prevent the 

 bugs from eating holes in them ? 



Will it do to trim a young pear tree at this sea- 

 son of the year, and how much take off ? 



How can borers be prevented from getting in 

 trees, and how killed after they are in ? Is there 

 any wash that will destroy the egg before it is 

 hatched ? if so, what is it, when and how applied ? 

 How proceed with the wound after they are out ? 



Orange, August, 1856. A Subscriber. 



