76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



Feb, 



pound of "rough" seed, as it is called, and it 

 weighs some 20 lbs. per bushel ; four bushels is 

 an ordinary seeding, and they contain 2,000,000 

 seeds, or 50 per square foot of land. This is the 

 number, too, of seeds in an ordinary seeding of 

 vetches. It is manifest that in both these cases 

 there is an enormous destruction either of young 

 plants or seed ; and these are the two great di- 

 visions under which the causes of this anomaly 

 must be classed : faults of seed and sowing, and 

 faults of cultivation. We are enabled, by the as- 

 sistance of Messrs. Rendle, of Plymouth, to lay 

 before them the following answers to the ques- 

 tion — how many seeds to the pound ? 



No. of seeds No. of !bs. 



Name. per lb. per bush. 



Wheat 10,500 58 to 64 



Barley 15,400 48 to 56 



Oats 20,000 38 to 42 



Kye 23,000 50 to 60 



Canary Grass 54,000 



Buckwheat 25,000 48 to £0 



Turnip (Rendle'3 Swede) 155,000 60 to 56 



Turnip (Cornish Holdfast) 239,000 " 



Turnip (Orange Jelley) 233,000 " 



Cabbage (Scotch Drumhead) 128,000 56 



Cabbage (Drumhead Savoy) 117,000 50 to 56 



Clover (Red) 249 600 60 



Clover (White) 686,400 59 to 62 



Rye Grass (Perennial) 314,000 20 to 28 



Rye Grass (Italian) 272,000 13 to 18 



Sweet Vernal Grass 923,200 8 



Scotch Paper. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 BEE HIVES. 



Mr. Editor : — I have a suggestion to make 

 respecting bee hives on Mr. Quinby's plan. I 

 like the leading idea of his plan, but not the ap- 

 plication of it. In his hives, the bees are obliged 

 to store all their surplus honey in boxes placed 

 on the top of the hive, and they must climb up 

 through the hive, when heavily laden with honey, 

 to get to the boxes. This must involve an im- 

 mense amount of labor for them ; at any rate, it 

 seems to me that it must be as difficult for them 

 to climb, as it is for a man who is carrying a 

 heavy load, and I think it is rather worse for 

 them to have to store honey on the top of the 

 hive, than it M'ould be for us to have to store the 

 products of our land on the tops of our houses, 

 for they are collecting and storing all the season, 

 ■whereas we are only a part of it. 



Instead of placing boxes on the top, why not 

 have a small hive, or large box, to set by the side 

 of the hive, and when it is full, open a communi- 

 cation between the two, and allow the bees to 

 store their surplus honey in it just as Mr. Quin- 

 by has his stored in boxes on the top ? 



In an article published in the Farmer not long 

 since by "Amicus," he remarks that he has a very 

 simple contrivance to aid the bees in supporting 

 themselves in the hive until they can commence 

 building their comb. Will not "Amicus" please 

 to let the readers of the Farmer know what this 

 contrivance is ? Progress. 



Leominster, Dec, 1858. 



The Virginia Farmers' Journal. Rich- 

 mond, Va., M. S. Crockett, Editor and Propri- 

 &tor. — This is anew journal, handsomely printed, 

 on fine paper, issued once a week, and is devoted 

 lo agriculture, news and miscellaneous reading. 



We like the editor's "Salutatory," as he seems 

 to appreciate the responsibilities of the position 

 he assumes, and also the wants cf the people of 

 his State. From the ability manifested in the 

 articles in this first number, we cannot doubt but 

 the Farmer's Journal will become an important 

 help in the Homes of the Old Dominion. 



THE MEADOW LANDS OF THE CON- 

 CORD BIVEB VALLEY. 



MEETING OF THE PROPRIETORS AT CONCORD. 



It is not generally known throughout the State 

 that thousands of acres of meadoAv land on the 

 Concord river, from Billerica to Framingham, 

 have been flooded by means of a dam at the for- 

 mer place, so as to seriously damage those lands. 

 The law granting the right of the water power at 

 Billerica was such that the proprietors have ever 

 been unable to obtain redress through the courts. 

 Several cases, growing out of this state of things, 

 have been in litigation for years. The amount - 

 of land damaged by these overflows is from ten 

 to fifteen thousand acres, all the way up the river 

 as far as Framingham. The mill proprietors 

 brought a suit against the city of Boston for di- 

 verting a part of the Concord river from its nat- 

 ural course, and reservoirs were built above from 

 which water was sent down when needed. This 

 usually happens in the haying season, and is 

 another great source of damage to the owners of 

 the meadows. 



Recently an attempt to unite all the interests 

 upon some plan for redress has been made. A 

 preliminary meeting was held some weeks ago, 

 and a committee was then appointed to consider 

 the matter and report something definite. 



A meeting was held December 27th, at the 

 Town Hall, in Concord. About two hundred 

 farmers were present, though this is but a small 

 part of the number interested in the lands. The 

 mill privilege at Billerica is now owned by Mr. 

 Talbot, and he was present, accompanied by his 

 counsel, but took no part in the meeting. 



The meeting was called to order at one o'clock 

 by Simon Brown, Esq., of Concord, and, on mo- 

 tion of Samuel H. Rhoades, Esq., of Concord, a 

 committee was appointed to report a list of of- 

 ficers for permanent organization. Simon Brown 

 was chosen President, Col. David Heard, of Way- 

 land, and seven others, Vice-Presidents, and Mr. 

 R. F. Fuller, of Wayland, and Dr. Joseph Rey- 

 nolds, of Concord, Secretaries. 



Mr. Brown opened the question with a clear 

 statement of the position of the proprietors of 

 those meadow lands. He said the first settlers 

 in this town and vicinity had been attracted by 

 its beautiful river and the fine meadows skirting 

 it, which were a yearly source of wealth to the 

 inhabitants. He said they came here to devise 

 some means of obtaining redress. All they wanted 

 was justice, and they came together with the 

 kindliest feelings towards every man. He urged 

 those who had an interest in this matter to or- 

 ganize — to take a stand, and raise their colors 

 and nail them to the mast. (Applause.) 



Col. David Heard, of Wayland, said he was 

 glad to see so many interested in a question in 

 which he had been Vi'orking for forty years. Some 



