230 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



gardener of the gardens of the Luxembourg' 

 Paris. G. H. Lodge. 



Swampscot, March 3, 1859. 



Remarks. — We are glad to find attention 

 drawn to this important subject, and thank Dr. 

 Lodge for the interest he manifests in it. We 

 did not intend to say, nor, upon reference to our 

 article, do we find that we did say, that midsum- 

 mer is the only time to perform that work. We 

 say this — that in our judgment, midsummer 

 pruning is best, but we have often said in these 

 columns, that if not done then, any time after 

 the fall of the leaves, and while the tree is in a 

 state of rest, or, at least comparatively so, prun- 

 ing may be safely performed. But this state of 

 rest is much shorter than most persons are 

 aware of. Elms, maples, and other trees, whose 

 twigs were as smooth as pipe stems, showing no 

 swelling of the buds whatever, on the first of Jan- 

 uary last, had their tops so thickened up by the 

 \5th of February, as entirely to change their ap- 

 pearance ! We have called the attention of 

 many persons to this fact during the winter 

 Our opinions seem to be at variance with that of 

 the Doctor, not so much in regard to the proper 

 time for pruning, as to what time the tree is in a 

 state of repose. We are writing now on the Sth 

 day of March, and any person who visits the 

 Common may see trees whose buds are already 

 so swollen as to essentially darken the heads of 

 the trees. These buds were so minute on the 

 1st of January as not to be perceptible ; they 

 have grown since, and consequently the tree, 

 during warm days, has been in a state of activi- 

 ty. That activity will continue until about the 

 middle of June, when the elaborated sap has 

 mostly returned to form wood, fruit, and perfect 

 seeds. 



with her toes in a warm, feather bed. If her 

 toes lap over and under a roost, her feathers can- 

 not reach them, and her toes will certainly be 

 frozen, and in repeated freezing she becomes 

 sick and finally dies, before she has time to lose 

 her flesh. Make your roost five inches in diam- 

 eter ; the hen sits on the highest point and warms 

 her own feet. E. 



Biddeford, Me., Feb. 14, 1859. 



POWEKS INSTITUTE. 



Ji'or the New England Farmer. 

 LAME HENS THAT DIE. 



"M. O. H." informs you he has lost fifteen or 

 twenty hens since last fall. A few years since I 

 had occasion to fix over my hen-house, just as 

 winter -was coming in. I had some nice poles, 

 one and one-half inches in diameter, unseasoned 

 from the woods, and being very straight, I thought 

 they would make good roosts for my hens, and 

 accordingly I put up sufficient for them all with 

 these poles. In the winter, I found some of my 

 hens limping, and some died; they were fat, but 

 their toes indicated that they had been frozen. 

 I had seldom ever seen a hen on the cold ground 

 with both feet, as one is usually up among the 

 feathers for a short time, and then the other has 

 its turn ; but I have never noticed a hen with 

 one foot on the roost and the other among the 

 feathers. It then occurred to me that I had 

 made them a bad roost. 



The hen needs a roost of sufficient size so that 

 the toes and foot can be protected from the cold 

 by her own feathers ; in this condition she sleeps 



On Thursday evening, the 17th of March, we 

 had the pleasure of meeting the officers of this 

 Institute, the officers of Instruction and Govern- 

 ment, the pupils and many of the citizens of the 

 beautiful town of Bernardston, at the recitation 

 rooms and Hall of the Institute. L. F. Ward, 

 A. M., is the Principal ; Mrs. E. H. Ward, Pre- 

 ceptress, and teacher of the Ornamental Depart- 

 ment ; Miss S. L. Leacii, Preceptress ; Servik 

 SciINELL, native of Germany, teacher of German 

 and Librarian ; C. F. SCHUSTER, teacher of Mu- 

 sic ; J. B. Cantel, native of France, teacher of 

 French ; Charles G. Allen, teacher of Pen- 

 manship ; Edward B. Phillips, teacher of Vocal 

 Music, and William Dwigiit, M. D., lecturer 

 on Physiology. 



This Institute had its origin in the munificence 

 of Edward Epps Powers, late of Columbus, 

 Georgia. To his native town, Bernardston, he 

 devised ten thousand dollars, the income of which 

 is to be used for purposes of education in said 

 town. To this bequest, the citizens have added 

 liberal sums, so that they have constructed a fine 

 building containing commodious rooms for reci- 

 tation, library, philosophical apparatus, &c., and 

 a large and beautiful Hall for declamation and 

 lectures. 



But what is more attractive to us than any of 

 these, and gives this pioneer institution its crown- 

 ing merit, is its agricultural feature. Before en- 

 tering the Hall, we were invited into one of the 

 recitation rooms, where Professor Ward intro- 

 duced us to his class in agriculture. This class 

 numbered seventy, about one-third being young 

 women, and both sexes being of the ages of sev- 

 enteen to twenty-two. A more gratifying spec- 

 tacle than this we have rarely witnessed. Ques- 

 tions were put to them in relation to chemistry, 

 plants and soils, which were answered promptly, 

 intelligently, and with a most lively interest. 

 While they understood the purport of the words 

 they were uttering, they seemed to feel the im- 

 portance to the world, of the noble Art whose 

 mysteries they were exploring. From such a 

 germ as this, what grand results may flow ! 

 What investigations, what intellectual labor and 

 profits may result from this beginning ! The es- 

 tablishing of such a class as this in so popular an 



