280 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DOUBTFUL ITEMS IN CULTUEE. 



In one of our fruit books we find the following : 

 "Seedlings may be brought into early bearing by 

 grafting into bearing trees, and some varieties, 

 that are twelve to fifteen years in bearing natu- 

 rally, can be made to bear in a few years by this 

 process." 



I tried this "process," a few years since, by 

 placing some 10 or 12 scions from as many three- 

 year-old seedling stocks upon a dwarf pear tree. 

 I watched these, from year to year, as they 

 grew, for six years ; the scions grew well, but 

 showed no appearance of flowering, and hence I 

 felt rather doubtful that this would necessarily 

 hasten its bearing. On the spring opening, seven 

 years from the operation, I was sadly disappointed 

 in finding the tree dead, root, and branch. 



The same writer says : — "Foreign, and other 

 tender kinds, may be made more hardy, or accli- 

 mated, by grafting into hardy, native stocks." 

 This acclimation, as it has been called, induced 

 the above writer to recommend raising peach 

 trees, "from the stone here, as being more hardy, 

 than if raised in New Jersey, or any warm cli- 

 mate." I never observed the least difference be- 

 tween those raised in Jersey and from seed here. 

 I once fruited about three hundred peach trees 

 from seed, and about the same time received one 

 hundred and fifty budded trees from Hancock, 

 N. J., and never, in after years, could see any 

 possible difference in the hardiness of the former 

 over the latter. In a conversation with the late 

 Robert Manning on this subject, I found him 

 decidedly of my opinion in this matter, remark- 

 ing that his finest bearing peach trees were orig- 

 inally from the South. 



Another extract : — "A fruit may be raised on 

 a soil not congenial to it, by grafting into a stock 

 adapted to such soil." This I consider at least 

 doubtful; I have, however, never known this to 

 have been tried. If any of your readers are able 

 to enlighten me in this matter, I should like to 

 hear from them. 



Still another: — "By cutting off all the blossoms 

 in the bearing year of the apple, it will change 

 the year of its bearing." I find that most of our 

 Baldwin apple trees bear in the even year, so 

 called, and in order to change this to the odd year, 

 one of our most experienced cultivators tried this 

 method most effectually in the garden of his em- 

 r)loyer, without success. I have never, as yet, 

 eard of this being done successfully. 



Salem, Mass., 1859. j. m. I. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NE"W "WAY OF SALTING CATTLE. 

 Friend Brown: — Last fall I adopted a new 

 method for salting my cattle, and am so well 

 pleased with it that 1 am induced to make it 

 known, so that others may adopt it if they like. 

 I bought a lump of the mineral salt, weighing 

 82 lbs., and put it in a dry place in my cow-yard. 

 where the cattle can go and lick at their leisure. 

 My stock consists of one pair of oxen, six cows, 

 and two calves. They work upon it almost every 

 day, and in seven months have used about one- 

 third part of it. I think this plan has thfe advan- 

 tage over the old one, in at least three ways, viz.: 



1st. It is always by them. 



2d. It is not so liable to be wasted. 



3d. It is not so much care and trouble to give 

 it to them. 



The salt may be obtained of B. Thatcher & Co., 

 No. 184 State Street, formerly 15 Long Wharf, 

 Boston, at one cent per lb. B. F. Cutter. 



Felham, JV. II., 1859. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HOW I BUY, KEEP AND SELL OXEN. 



Mr. Editor : — I see by your paper that you 

 publish the weight of some of our largest hogs, 

 and likewise our big cattle ; but you do not tell 

 how it is done, whether on corn or ])umpkins. I 

 thought some of your readers might like to know 

 the difference in price between working oxen and 

 when they are fit to go to Brighton. 



I will tell you the course pursued by me the 

 past thirty years. I raise all my cows and buy 

 all my oxen. I want them six years old and to 

 weigh thirty hundred when bought. I weigh them 

 when I buy, and before selling, to know some- 

 thing what they are worth. I will give the price 

 paid and received, and the number of years kept. 



Cost. Time kept. 

 $72 00 6 years. . 



70,00 1 " .. 



105,00 5 " .. 



8.5,00 3 " .. 



80 00 3 " .. 



90,00 1 " .. 



95,00 2 " .. 



75.00 1 " .. 



50,00 2 



Sold at 

 .$115,00 

 . . .95.00 

 ...98,00 

 ..112,00 

 ..110,00 

 ..105,00 

 ..110,00 

 ..110 00 

 ..170.00 



No. 1 0, $150,00 176,00 



$li0,00 3 yc'.iM 160,00 



160,00 1 " 175,Q0 



1.50.00 2 " 2('0,00 



170,00 2 " 170,00 



$1492,00 



$1906.00 

 1492,00 



$4U,00 



During that time the oxen have been the only 

 team for farm work. I keep no horse. The fol- 

 lowing is the manner I feed : The latter part of 

 summer they have green corn fodder. During 

 the winter a bushel of turnips once or twice a 

 week, according to the quantity raised. From 

 the 1st of March, meal ground from corn and 

 cobs, two bushels of cobs and one bushel of corn 

 on the cobs, well seasoned with oats. Of this 

 mixture they have a peck each day. 



No. 10 I kept only twelve weeks and the pair 

 gained 50 pounds per week on two bushels of 

 turnips and one-half bushel of meal a day. They 

 were not worked. I do not feed any meal with- 

 out mixing with cut hay, roots and chaff, and 

 should think it vp-hill work to feed icithavt roots, 

 any way. My cows are fed with mangel wurtzels 

 throughout the winter and spring, to which is 

 added a little meal. 



I send you some samples of Merino wool. My 

 sheep, tv/enty years ago, did not shear four lbs. 

 a head, with good care and no roots. My last 

 sale of twelve hundred pounds — and there were 

 no wether's fleeces — averaged 5.60 pounds. 



George Dewey. 



Hanover, N. II., April \5th, 1859. 



Rem.vrks. — Thank you, Sir. This is the kind 

 of information we want; it is tangible; if yoii 



