82 



NEW ENGLAND FAE:MEII. 



Feb. 



of these discrepancies. I am friendly to the present 

 agricultural organizations — and hope they wiH be 

 sustained fairly and honorably — but no such in- 

 equalities should exist. 

 Dec. 15, 1858. _ 



FOUR years' observation OF MOWING MA- 

 CHINES IN THE OLD COUNTY OF ESSEX. 



Mr. Humphrey, of Lancaster, one of the most 

 beautiful towns of the county of Worcester, has 

 given us his experience in the use of mowing 

 machines, chiefly of the Ketchum stamp. He be- 

 gins by saying that it took him one hour and a 

 half to cut an acre of grass. Such has not been 

 the experience of good laborers in the county of 

 Essex. I can show you several, who with a me- 

 dium-sized span of horses, weighing only 1000 

 lbs. each — have cut their acre an hour, yielding 

 one ton and a half to the acre. This has l)een 

 only their ordinary operation. If Mr. H. uses 

 up an hour and a half in doing the same work, 

 he is not fit to be a file leader in the use of mow- 

 ing machines. I am too old and clumsy to do 

 much myself, but I will name Levi A. Merrill, of 

 Salem, and Horace Ware, of Marblehead, — and 

 guarantee that either of them will do with their 

 machines and their horses, twice as much as he 

 has done, I have repeatedly seen them operate, 

 and know whereof I speak. r. 



Essex Co., Dec. 20, 1858. 



Remarks. — If our correspondent will look at 

 Dea. Humphrey's letter again, he will find that 

 when it required an hour and a half to cut an 

 acre of grass, it was in his first essay with the 

 machine. Of the last season he says — "With one 

 Irishman to trim out the borders after the ma- 

 chine Avas done, occupying perhaps about one- 

 fourth as much time as the machine, we have cut 

 sixty-eight acres, and I think he has not worked 

 more hours than he has cut acres." Indeed, Dea, 

 Humphrey informed us that he had frequently 

 cut an acre, and cut it well, in forty minutes. 



ELECTRICITY AND VENTILATION, 

 I noticed some few weeks since, in your paper, 

 a, communication signed by "Electricity," in re- 

 gard to "Lightning not striking buildings that 

 were M'ell ventilated." Will "Electricity," or any 

 one else, explain through the Farmer why it is? 

 What difierence is there on the outside of a 

 building that is well ventilated, and one that is 

 not, or why the building that is ventilated will 

 not be struck by the bolt. 

 Pdchmond, Me., 1858. Non-Electricity. 



AFRICAN BALD BARLEY. 



The sample of Bald Barley I send you is said 

 to have come from seed brought from the gulches 

 in the Himmaleh mountains, by a gentleman in 

 "Virginia engaged in the African trade, I pro- 

 cured three heads of him, which gave me 72 ker- 

 nels ; these I planted 10 inches apart, and ob- 

 tained 1300 heads. The grain grows rapidly, has 

 a broad leaf, and beautiful blossom, and ripens 

 early, I have never known the fly, rust or smut 

 to trouble it. I think there will be no difliculty in 

 raising 40, 50, or even 60 bushels per acre, on 



land that will produce 20 bushels of wheat or 40 

 of oats. When the wheat crop fails, the next 

 best thing is good barley, and this, I feel confi- 

 dent, must make flour nearly equal to wheat. 

 Henry R. Hosford. 

 Fawlet, Paitland Co., Vt., 1858. 



Remarks. — A warm barley cake, of rather» 

 coarse meal, in a June m.orning, with butter only 

 an hour out of the churn, is not bad to take. 



THE state house. 

 As there are no strictly tvinter trees, or ever- 

 greens, upon Boston Common, and probably will 

 not be, through fear of their mutilation, I think 

 that many persons would agree with me that two 

 Norway Spruce, planted in the enclosures front 

 of the State House, would add much to the beau- 

 ty of its grounds in the summer, and more par- 

 ticularly in the winter, when nothing green in 

 inanimate nature is to be seen. D. w, L. 



FINE HOGS. 



Mr. F. Keith, of this place, slaughtered two 

 pigs on the od inst. aged 13 mos. 20 days, whose 

 weight was as follows : — male, GIO l!)s. (includ- 

 ing loose fat:) female, 494 lbs. (including loose 

 fat.) Mrs. K. has had entire charge of the ani- 

 mals, and we think that they reflect great credit 

 upon her management. F. G. 



North Easton, Afs., Dec. 13, 1858, 



BEAR TREE SEEDS. 



Can you give me information where the seeds 

 of pear trees can be obtained ? 

 Middleton, Vt., 1858, Elbridge Scholar. 



Remarks. — Nourse & Co., 13 Commercial 

 Street, Boston, will supply you with pear tree 

 seeds. 



SALT LEY. 



Will some of your correspondents inform me 

 what is the value and the best mode of using salt 

 ley, so called by the soap manufacturers? 



' Harwich, 1858. N. u. 



V7ILIi SaiiPHUBIC ACID DISSOLVE 

 BONE? 



In view of the many thousands of tons of su- 

 perphosphate of lime manufactured and rendered 

 soluble through the agency of sulphuric acid, and 

 of the deserved honors conferred on the distin- 

 guished Giessen Professor of Chemistry, who 

 first suggested the use of oil of vitriol for dis- 

 solving bones, it is almost startling to see the 

 value of this acid for such purposes called in 

 question from a chemical "laboratory," and by a 

 teacher of the science. Prof. Gilham deserves 

 the thanks of the public for giving his experience 

 in this matter, for it is evident that the prepara- 

 tion of bone manure is not so well understood 

 as it ought to be, A practical Scotch farmer of 

 large experience, Mr. Tenant, thus describes his 

 process : 



"1 put 25 bushels of bones into three old boil- 

 ers, and next pour in two bottles of acid of about 

 170 pounds each, and 3G Scotch pints (IS impe- 



