218 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



the State, generally about $600 a year, there 

 should be a committee of this character, whose 

 duty it should be, by personal inspection, corres- 

 pondence, or otherwise, to ascertain and digest 

 a complete statement, in tabular form, in their 

 respective precincts, and make returns, of the 

 same to the Secretary of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture. Let such statements be made with such 

 authority, from year to year, and brought togeth- 

 er in the secretary's report, and they will, in a I 

 great measure, remunerate for the money ex- 

 pended in support of such societies. I forbear 

 to enlarge, always bearing in mind the maxim, 

 "A word to the wise is sufficient." 

 March, 1859. 



THE MANGOLD WURTZEL. 



Please state the process of preparing the soil 

 for a crop of mangolds, and where I can obtain 

 the seed. T. W. Sawyer. 



West Millbury, Ms., 1859. 



Remarks. — Plow and cultivate so as to make 

 the soil quite fino. Manure well, broadcast, fur- 

 row out good wide and deep furrows, fill them 

 with manure, and sprinkle salt over it, then turn 

 two furrows upon this, one on each side, rake 

 down, roll it, and sow the seed. Under such 

 treatment you ought to get a thousand bushels 

 per acre, if you tend them well. The seed can be 

 had of Nourse & Co., 34 Merchants Row, Bos- 

 ton, 



ELECTRICITY. 



I noticed in the Farmer remarks by "Electric- 

 ity," in answer to questions made by "Non-Elec- 

 tricity," in reference to ventilation and electrici- 

 ty. Will "Electricity" answer the question, — 

 "Why the electricity strikes a tree, or even the 

 lightning rod standing in the open air, when the 

 atmosphere and all the gases are reduced to an 

 equilibrium ? When this question is satisfacto- 

 rily answered, I shall then be prepared to remove 

 the cause and save the expense of protectors. 



Derry, N. H. Inquirer. 



ACID SUGAR MAPLE SAP. 



Will acid sugar maple sap affect paint or 

 strike through it so as to taint the wood of the 

 tub ? What will cleanse vessels painted on the 

 inside, so that they will not affect sap or water ? 



Ashfield, Feb., 1859. Henry Taylor. 



Remarks. — Will some sugar-making friend 

 reply ? 



A GOOD PIG. 



Mr. John R. Walker, of this city, dressed a 

 pig on the third of March, nine months old that 

 day, which weighed alive 075 lbs.; dressed 320 

 lbs. It was quarter breed Suffolk. It was hand 

 some, and had not been hurried any, but had 

 lived on the usual pig food, corn meal principal- 

 ly, until within two months past, when some 

 ground wheat has been added. I give this item, 

 so that you will know that New Hampshire far- 

 mers are not much behind the times — in the 

 porous line, at any rate. Rockingham, 



Porismonth, N. H., March, 1859. 



a FINE COLT. 



I noticed a statement in the Farmer a few 

 weeks since, with regard to a large colt that I 

 own, that needs some correction. 



The writer called him a Morrell colt, which in 

 Vermont is equivalent to saying he was sired by 

 the old Morrell, of Danville, Vt. 



Justice to all concerned requires me to state 

 that the colt was sired by the Morrell Cham- 

 pion now owned by William T. George and Hen- 

 ry Whicher, of Topsham and Newbury, Orange 

 county, Vt. 



The colt is now eighteen months old ; color 

 dark chestnut, height 16^ hands, and his weight 

 in ordinary flesh is over one thousand pounds. 

 Perley Roberts. 



Washington, Vt., Feb. 23, 1859. 



white pine seed. 

 Will you be so kind as to inform me through 

 the columns of your paper the best season for 

 planting the pine seed, and likewise for gather- 

 ing the cone? As I have some fifty acres plain 

 land that I wish to plant with the same, this sea- 

 son. A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — Friend Cutter, of Pelham, will 

 please answer this. 



pumpkin and squash. 



Can you, or any of your scientific correspon- 

 dents, inform me of the chemical composition — 

 organic and inorganic — of the ])umpkin and 

 squash? C. Blaisdell. 



West Needham, March, 1859. 



how many pounds of milk for a pound op 

 cheese? 



Can you, or any of your correspondents, tell 

 how many pounds of new milk it takes to make 

 a pound of merchantable cheese ? ENQUIRER. 



Lyndeboro', N.H., Feb., 1859. 



For the Netp England Farmer. 



PREMIUMS FOR SPEED OP HORSES. 



Mr. Editor : — I have just received the Re- 

 port of the doings at the Annual Meeting of the 

 State Board of Agriculture of Ohio. Among oth- 

 er votes passed at the meeting, were the foUow- 



^"e-~" . . , . , 



"1. JResnJved. That paying premiums by agricul- 

 tural societies for speed of horses, simply as such, 

 without due reference to qualifications for pur- 

 poses of general utility, is a perversion of the 

 original design." 



"2. Ilesolved, That trials of such speed have a 

 great tendency to divett attention from every 

 thing else, and with what seems to be their in- 

 separable accom])animents, are degenerating and 

 demoralizing, and therefore we will nototfer such 

 premiums, and will discourage their being of- 

 fered by county and district societies." 



This opinion, thus forcibly expressed, is en- 

 titled to much respect. It comes from a great 

 agricultural State, and where at the same time the 

 breeding of horses enters into the occupation of 

 farmers very largely. 



Very truly yours, A Farmer. 



