1859. 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



175 



For the New England Fanner. 

 THE HUBBARD SQUASH. 



Mr. Editor : — I received last spring from Mr. 

 Gregory, of Marblehead, who I believe has the 

 honor of first introducing the Hubl)ard squash to 

 public notice, one dozen seeds, which I planted 

 in the usual manner of planting squashes, in a 

 rich, loamy soil, just turned from the green sward. 



From these twelve seeds, after the usual atten- 

 tion to weeds and bugs, I gathered eighty pounds 

 of squash, which I suppose is quite above the av- 

 erage yield* of the Marrowfat or Crookneck, in 

 similar localities. 



It is, however, for another purpose that I write 

 this. I wish to know if any of your numerous 

 experimenters in these things have noticed that 

 the Hubbard is less subject to decay than either 

 the Marrowfat or Crookneck ? 



Several barrels of other kinds in the same cel- 

 lar have become rotten, while scarce a speck is 

 seen on the rind of the Hubbard. 



I suppose fifty per cent, of Marrowfat squashes 

 put into cellars or stalls for winter consumption, 

 decay before they can be used or sold. If what 

 has been true with me in this respect, is a gen- 

 eral fact, it constitutes an important considera- 

 tion in favor of this kind, making really fifty lbs. 

 of the one worth seventy-five or one hundred of 

 the other. 



Hoping to hear from those who have cultivated 

 more extensively than myself, and thanking Mr. 

 G. through your paper for his favor, I remain, 



A'aiick, Jan., 1859. Oliver N. Bacon. 



MB. MOBHILL'S LAND BILL. 



Washington, D. C, Feb., 1859. 



The Agricultural College bill, introduced by 

 Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, which passed the House 

 by a large majority at the last session, has run 

 the gauntlet successfully in the Senate, and to 

 become a law awaits now only the concurrence 

 of the House in one or two amendments, and 

 the approval of the President. 



In its original shape the bill provides for the 

 donation of public lands to the several States for 

 the encouragement of agriculture and the me- 

 chanical arts, in the proportion of 20,000 acres 

 to each Senator and Representative to which 

 they are now entitled. All States which contain 

 within their own boundaries the requisite quan- 

 tity of public lands, of the value of 81,25 per 

 acre, are to receive them for the purposes of the 

 bill ; those States which do not, are to receive 

 land scrip to the amount of their respective shares. 

 The proceeds of the sale of these lands and scrip 

 are to be invested in stocks yielding at least 5 per 

 cenk annually, and constitute a perpetual fund — 



"The interest of which shall be inviolably ap- 

 propriated, by each State which may take and 

 claim the benefit of the endowment, to the sup- 

 port and maintenance of at least one college, 

 ■where the leading object shall be, without exclud- 

 ing other scientific or classical studies, to teach 

 such branches of learning as are related to agri- 

 culture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as 

 the legislatures of the States may respectively 

 prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and 

 practical education of the industrial classes in 

 the several pursuits and professions in life." 



Certain conditions are attached to these grants, 

 to which the assent of the several States, by leg- 

 islative enactments, is required. They are: — 



That "all the expenses of management and 

 superintendence of the lands, previous to their 

 sales, and all expenses incurred in the manage- 

 ment and disbursement of the moneys which may 

 be received therefrom, shall be paid by the States 

 to which they may belong, out of the treasury 

 of said States, so that the entire proceeds of the 

 sale of the lands shall be applied without any 

 diminution whatever to the purposes mentioned." 



That "any portion of the fund invested, as pro- 

 vided, or any portion of the interest thereon, 

 shall, by any action or contingency, be dimin- 

 ished or lost, it shall be replaced by the State to 

 which it belongs, so that the capital of the fund 

 shall remain forever undiminished ; and the an- 

 nual interest shall be regularly applied, without 

 diminution, to the purposes mentioned, except 

 that a sum, not exceeding ten per cent, upon the 

 amount received by any Stafe under the provi- 

 sions of the act, may be expended for the pur- 

 chase of lands for sites or experimental farms, 

 whenever authorized by the respective legisla- 

 tures of the States." 



That "no portion of the fund, nor the interest 

 thereon, shall be applied, directly or indirectly, 

 to the purchase, erection, preservation or repair, 

 of any buildings." 



That "every State which may claim the benefit 

 of the provisions of the act shall provide, within 

 five years, at least not less than one college, as 

 described, or the grant to such State shall cease; 

 and said State shall be bound to pay the United 

 States the aix-ount received of any lands previ- 

 ously sold." 



And that "an annual report shall be made re- 

 garding the progress of each college, recording 

 any improvements and experiments made, with 

 their cost and results, and such other matters as 

 may be supposed useful." 



Although the bill has been so long before Con- 

 gress that almost everbody is acquainted with its 

 general purport, I have thought the foregoing 

 minute recital desirable in view of the apparc-nt 

 certainty of its passeige. The amendments adopt- 

 ed by the Senate, are entirely consistent with the 

 intention of the bill. They include Minnesota 

 among its beneficiaries, that State not having 

 been admitted into the Union at the time the bill 

 originally passed the House ; they make an ad- 

 ditional grant of 20,000 acres for each Represen- 

 tive to which any State may become entitled un- 

 der the census of 1860 in addition to its present 

 number, but they do not, of course, make any 

 corresponding deduction for any diminution in 

 representation which any State may sustain ; and 

 they except mineral lands fiom the provisions of 

 the bill. — Boston Daily Adoertiser. 



Lice on Calves. — A number of years ago, I 

 had a yearling that grew poor, and I ould not 

 help it. Its breathing became so loud that it 

 could be heard several rods. I thought it would 

 die. One of my neighbors told me he had heard 

 that sour buttermilk was good. I procured some, 

 and washed it from head to foot, and in three 

 days his breathing was very regular, and he was 

 as smart as need be. I had no more trouble with 

 him. — Bural New- Yorker. 



