1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



35 



and other vegetation have as good a right to a 

 livelihood as their destroj'er, (as he would have 

 us believe the robin to be,) "notwithstanding 

 the title deeds of the most grasping miser ?" 

 Why save the robin, if he is such a wholesale 

 slaughterer of insects that God created and en- 

 dowed with instinct to sustain life ? 



The aim of man is or ought to be, progress. 

 Are we not having wiser and better laws in every 

 succeeding generation ? Are they now perfect ? 

 By no means, and never can be while man is finite. 

 Is it not known that committees draft all our 

 laws ? Even they do not at all times see the ef- 

 fects of them in all their bearings ; they pass 

 through their usual stages without much debat- 

 ing as to their merits, and frequently with no 

 apparent interest felt in regard to them ; then 

 they become the laws of the land. If our laws are 

 perfect, what need of further legislation ? for this 

 day our statute-books are voluminous, (he 

 would have us believe,) containing just laws, 

 burdensome to no virtuous and honorable call- 

 ing. "Those living in glass houses should not 

 throw stones." 



I was much interested in the perusal of INIr. 

 Flagg's communication^ may not the bird that 

 survived in his imprisonment have had an ac- 

 quired appetite, a vitiated appetite, not dissimi- 

 lar to the user of opium, arsenic and tobacco ? or 

 may he not require to sustain his nature, some 

 inorganic material, such as phosphate of lime, or 

 some other inorganic matter found on the sur- 

 face of the ground ? Did not that bird find in 

 the wings of those bugs some silica, or a sub- 

 stance akin to it ? I have never discovered the 

 robin take any insect from the ground except the 

 angle-worm. He says the extermination of the 

 robin is out of the question, as it would hardly 

 be desirable to sacrifice the interest of all the 

 staple products of agriculture, to preserve a few 

 bushels of cherries. 



Is the robin man's guardian angel? Must he 

 starve without him, and the earth become a bar- 

 ren waste ? J. S. Needham. 



West Danvers, Nov. 20, 1858. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 BOOT CROPS. 



The above is the heading of an article which 

 appeared in the New England Fanner of Nov. 6, 

 signed E. E., in reply to an article of D. Need- 

 ham, on English turnips, rutabaga, &c. 



Having raised some 300 bushels of rutabaga 

 turnips this season, and not having had much ex- 

 perience in feeding turnips, I was about to in- 

 quire, through the columns of the Farmer, as to 

 what stock, and in what manner, I could feed 

 them to the best advantage, when I saw the ar- 

 ticle from E. E. 



I raised the above number of bushels upon 48 

 rods (or 3-10 of an acre,) of sandy land, and not 

 very highly manured at that, no pains taken to 

 transplant and thin out ; hoed them but twice, 

 sowed them the 17th of June. The expense 

 of pulling, cutting off the tops, Src, putting 

 them into the cellar, as follows : — First half-day, 

 Avith the assistance of a man over 70 years of 

 age, I pulled, cut the tops, and put in the cellar, 

 100 bushels ; the next day, with the assistance of 



two boys under 16 years of age, I put in 200 

 bushels in four hours' time. The turnips were 

 large and very smooth, being free from fibers. 



I have commenced feeding them to cows, and 

 think they not only increase the quantity, but 

 also the quality of the milk. I also boil them 

 and mix corn and rye meal and feed my fatting 

 hogs, and if the turnips are no other benefit, they 

 certainly improve the food so that the hogs eat 

 it more readily and fat faster than they will upon 

 the meal without the turnips. I hope to heai 

 from others, more experienced in raising and 

 feeding turnips than I am. A. J. DoDGE. 



Lowell, rt., Nov. 11, 1858. 



SXTBACTS AND' REPLIES. 

 THE BALDWIN APPLE. 



I wish you to inform me through the Farmer 

 the age of the Baldwin apple. I have of late 

 trimmed a very large tree of the above-named ap- 

 ple, the owner of which says it must have been 

 grafted over forty years ago. It is a Baldwin, as 

 he produced one of the very apples that grew upon 

 it. I had my fears as to tlie truth of the state- 

 ment ; I think that the apple was known by some 

 other name a long time ago. J. A. F. 



Remakks. — The Baldwin apple has probably 

 been known for about one hundred years — but 

 originally under the name of "Woodpecker," 

 which was abbreviated to the "Pecker" apple. 

 The apple was brought into notice by Col. Bald- 

 win, and received his name. 



EQUESTRIANISM BY LADIES. 



"Where SO many people may receioe so miivli 

 pleasure also little personal sacrifice, pray allow 

 them." 



This is the comment of an eminent member of 

 the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, upon the 

 equestrian exhibition by ladies at one of the county 

 shows, in this commonwealth in 1857. What did 

 he mean by this P Certainly not to approve of 

 such exhibitions. He simply meant to speak of 

 it as a harmless foible. Is this the purpose for 

 which $1200 a year is drawn from the treasury 

 of the commonwealth ? If one species of vain 

 amusements can be countenanced, why not oth- 

 ers ? Who will say that billiard saloons are not 

 places of healthy exercise? Grave and reverend 

 seniors should be careful what they write. 



Nov. 22. 



Remarks. — We are not at all surprised at such 

 strictures as the above. Our people, especially 

 our farmers, are slow to find fault with what 

 seems to afTord pleasure to others. But they 

 have learned that some practices prevail at our 

 county shows .which are subverting the princi- 

 ples upon which they were founded, while the 

 number which they please is far from being a 

 majority. 



SWAMP MUCK. 



I have a large quantity of swamp muck which 

 can be carted to any part of my farm, a part of 

 which is sandy, and the rest a sandy loam. What 



