1859, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



101 



For the Neic England Farmer. 

 INTBIiliECT OW THE FARM. 



Mr. Editor : — There is at the present day a 

 very general effort among those who are consid- 

 ered leaders of agricultural improvement, to in- 

 fuse more mind into the various operations of 

 the farm. Your correspondent has often referred 

 to this subject. There is no danger whatever of 

 a man being too learned to carry on a farm ; he 

 may possibly make brains pay better in some 

 other calling, but there is no other which will 

 make a greater demand upon it, if he takes hold 

 of the business in earnest, and as it is capable of 

 receiving. My desire is to see our New England 

 farmers put more of this material into farm busi- 

 ness than they have done heretofore. I feel con- 

 fident if they will do so, they will find an increase 

 of profits. True, muscle and mind or brain 

 must go together. Our people, both men and 

 women, particularly the latter, work too hard. 

 I do not take into the account loafers and the 

 lazy ; it makes little odds what becomes of these. 

 They do not give themselves that leisure for in- 

 tellectual improvement which they ought to have. 

 A farm, of all the places in the wide world, of- 

 fers the greatest field for mental culture, and I 

 am happy to know that our New England farm- 

 ers, their wives and daughters, as well as the 

 sons, are beginning to appreciate their calling in 

 this light; depend upon it, farmers, you are in 

 the right road ; it v/ill lead you safely and hap- 

 pily to glorious results. 



Permit me to call your attention to a delight- 

 ful source of entertainment as well as instruction. 

 How few farmers, or of those not such, know 

 much about the habits, offices and structure of 

 the hosts of insects found on the farm ; many of 

 them great helpers, accomplishing more in a day 

 for the benefit of the farm, than all the hands of 

 the farm could muster ; while others are equally 

 desti'uctive. Do you know which are your friends 

 and which your foes ? Do you know the vari- 

 ous transformations many of these insects pass 

 through ? Do you understand the general char- 

 acters by which the different species are known, 

 and v/henever seen, easily recognized ? Here 

 is a study for you, full of interest, and easily 

 understood. One that nine-tenths of our New 

 England farmers can comprehend, if they will 

 only take the little trouble required to do so. I 

 know that in order to obtain the information, 

 and make insect study interesting, you will need 

 a microscope, and my object in writing this ar- 

 ticle is to tell you where you can obtain just the 

 instrument you need, and its cost. If you will 

 send to J. & W. Grunew, of New Haven, Ct., 

 inclosing twelve dollars, they will send you one 

 of the most beautiful little microscopes in this 

 or any other country, every way complete and 

 ready for use. With this little instrument you 

 can devote an hour at the close of the day's work 

 to the study of such insects, or any thing else 

 suitable, which you may have collected through 

 the day. My word for it, you would soon have 

 wife and children and hired men about you, all 

 eager to behold the wonders and the wisdom of 

 God as manifested in the minutest of His works, 

 and you would soon learn that there is one gen- 

 eral law or type peculiar to each and every spe- 

 cies, Tbpn. tor>. Rs von •n'jss nvmir-d in the or- 



chard, you might see some particular favorite 

 tree, its leaves looking sickly and its limbs and 

 trunk covered with moss or fungi. You guess 

 something is the matter with it, but what, that's 

 the question ; you take a leaf or two, a bit or so 

 of moss, place them under your glass, and you 

 need not doubt longer ; a great and interesting 

 truth finds its lodgment in your brain, to be 

 brought out on some future time for a useful 

 purpose, and many dollars saved thereby. 



What I wish is that you farmers should know 

 the whys and wherefores of those thousands of 

 operations which are every day going on about 

 that glorious farm of yours, and be able to ex- 

 plain those operations, so far as it is in the pow- 

 er for human intellect to do. This privilege is 

 yours, and a little effort on your part will accom- 

 plish the business ; though you may not be a 

 Harris or an Agassiz, still, you may be an intel- 

 ligent, go-ahead, thinking farmer, and this is 

 honor enough, and what Norfolk wishes to see 

 you. Norfolk. 



King Oak Hill, 1859. 



CULTIVATIOKT OF THE YEIiLOW 

 LOCUST. 



For the information of D. P. Powers, of Mad- 

 ison, Wis., I will undertake to answer his inquir- 

 ies respecting the growing of locust timber. I 

 believe I "really know something about it," hav- 

 ing sown the seed in three different localities, 

 and brought them to a profitable maturity in each 

 case. And permit me to say, that I look upon 

 the locust as the most profitable timl)er for cul- 

 tivation in our country; and have often, in my 

 visits to the prairies of AVisconsin and other 

 Western States, wondered why it was not more 

 generally cultivated, both for timber and shelter 

 from the wind. 



The yellow is the kind used here, and proba- 

 bly the best for timber or fuel. The seed can be 

 procured at any of the large seed stores of Alba- 

 ny, llochester or Buffalo, and probably at Chica- 

 go. If the trees can be found of sufficient age 

 in Illinois or Wisconsin, seed can be obtained 

 from them at this time, as it remains on the trees 

 all winter, and is not injured by the storms. I 

 have seen trees bearing seed, on the prairie a few 

 miles west of Racine. Probably plenty can be 

 procured in that region merely for the gathering. 

 Plant the seed about the 15th of May, or when 

 the ground is in good condition to plant corn. 



Prepare the seed for planting, by pouring on 

 it rain water, nearly boiling hot. Let it stand 

 in a warm place, say under the stove, or near the 

 chimney corner, until the seeds have most of them 

 swelled to about double their usual size ; and 

 are so soft as to be easily cut in two, by pressure 

 between the finger and thumb nail. This re- 

 quires twenty-four to forty-eight hours' soaking, 

 and if all are not swollen, sow those that are so, 

 and repeat the soaking, but with water not quite 

 so warm as at first. 



Prepare the ground in the most thorough man- 

 ner. It should be rich, dry and mellow, and free 

 from the seeds of weeds. I have succeeded well, 

 on a green sward, freshly plowed, and the sur- 

 face well mellowed with the rake. The ground 

 should be in fit order for sowing onions, as the 

 Tilant when it first shoots is verv tender and smalL 



