314 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Ujlt 



chased for from $5 to $10 per acre, it seems to 

 me that when they can be brought into good con- 

 dition in three years, by water, at very little ex- 

 pense, it is folly to expend $50 per acre to has- 

 ten the growth two years. Besides, it is usually 

 considered here that the deep muck of swamps 

 is more favorable for the growth of cranberries 

 than sand. 



Land for cranberries, it is almost indispensa- 

 ble to have plowed in winter ; in fact, their cul- 

 tivation, where the land is not flowed, will al- 

 ways be attended by trouble and considerable 

 expense, as the frost is sure to throw them out of 

 the ground in winter. 



I should like to inquire if anything can be 

 done to prevent the frost injuring the berry? 

 Would peat, old hay and brush, burnt in the 

 meadow during frosty nights, save the berries ? 

 Addison Flint. 



North Reading, May, 1859. 



P. S. — Since writing the above I have seen a 

 query in the Farmer in regard to the time of set- 

 ting cranberries. 



In answer to that I would say that experience 

 has taught me that October is the best season to 

 set vines, if they are to be covered with water ; 

 otherwise, May. A. r. 



Remakks. — Mr. Flint is one of the most suc- 

 cessful cranberry producers in our knowledge. 

 We have visited his meadows, and found them 

 exceedingly fruitful, and the fruit of the finest 

 kind. 



When we spoke of covering land with sand, 

 we intended to refer only to small patches suffi- 

 cient to raise a supply for a single family's use. 

 When a sand bank is directly on the margin of 

 the meadow, however, the reclamation may some- 

 times be profitably made in this way. 



all, or nearly all, if I had not applied the guano, 

 as I had in years before. 



That trial was in 1S57. In 1858 I applied the 

 guano in season and had no trouble with the mag- 

 got. They might not have troubled me if I had 

 not used the guano. I do not know every rope 

 in the ship. I raise very few onions — ^^iust a small 

 bed for family use. Never raised ioO bushels 

 in my life, and most likely never shall. 



I sprinkled the guano on the onions, probably 

 at the rate of 400 or 500 lbs. to the acre. I was 

 satisfied with the result, and shall try it again. 



Ed. Emerson. 



EolUs, N. H., April 29, 1859. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 GUANO ON ONIONS. 



Mr. Editor : — In the N. E. Farmer for April 

 23d, I saw a communication from "South Dan- 

 vers." lie says, "my neighbors wish to know 

 something more about Mr. Emerson's discovery 

 whereby he received a good crop of onions." 

 And yet he says those same neighbors know every 

 rope in the ship. No one can tell them anything 

 about onions, &c. I only stated a fact that passed 

 under my own observation, not to instruct peo- 

 ple who know every rope in the ship, who can- 

 not learn anything new, because they know every 

 thing about it. For such people are beyond be- 

 ing benefited by any teaching. 



I wrote it for the benefit of those who were 

 not perfect, who, like myself, like to read the ex- 

 periments of others, and profit by them, or, at 

 least, try such as may benefit them. 



I stated that I noticed that my onions were wilt- 

 ing ; I should think one-third were down. I exam- 

 ined the wilted ones and found a maggot in the 

 stalk, just above the onion. I sprinkled on a 

 good coat of guano, and no more died, but the 

 two-thirds grew finely. Whether all died that 

 would have died, if I had not applied the guano, I 

 could not tell. I supposed I should have lost them 



EXTRACTS AND EEPLIES. 

 BEET SUGAR, AND PAPER FROM BEET3. 



I was pleased to see the sensible article from 

 the pen of your intelligent correspondent, Mr. 

 Cruickshank, in the Farmer of May 7, on the 

 value and use of beets for making sugar and pa- 

 per. I have often thought, as I have been 

 through a pretty thorough school of mechanics, 

 and now a farmer, that if I had the capital, I 

 would go to France and see the thing done, of 

 making beets into sugar and paper, and then 

 start it here. I am quite sure that there is no 

 place where there is a greater per centage of su- 

 gar in the beet, and but few where it is so large, 

 as in the free, sandy soils of Plymouth county. 

 I have not a doubt it would be a paying business, 

 combining Yankee ingenuity with French expe- 

 rience. 



Please keep the "ball in motion" until capital- 

 ists can see that they can make money in pro- 

 ducing clean sugar for our own use, sugar that has 

 not been through the careless, slatternly hands 

 of persons who have no interest in making it or 

 keeping it clean. Caleb Eates. 



Kingston, May 9, 1859. 



GRASS ROOTS AND "S'U'ARD WORMS." 



As your paper is made a medium through 

 which the ignorant can display their ignorance 

 and the learned impart their knowledge to oth- 

 ers, I wish to make a little inquiry. 



I have a field the soil of which is a deep, dark- 

 colored, firm, moist loam, free from rocks, with 

 the exception of a few granite boulders. After 

 having been laid down to grass about three 

 years, the grass roots are entirely destroyed, 

 leaving but little sward on the field, and destroy- 

 ing the grass crop almost entirely. From the 

 fact that there are great numbers of large white 

 worms, known as "sward worms," to be found in 

 the soil, I have been led to suppose that it is 

 this worm that commits the depredation. If you, 

 or any of your correspondents, have had any ex- 

 perience similar to this, or have seen anything 

 of the kind, and can give or suggest a remedy, 

 it will be gratefully received through your paper. 



Greene, Me., April, 1859. Androscoggin. 



HOW TO RAISE CABBAGE. 



Make a hole in the ground three or four inches 



deep with a stick, and put about a teaspoonful 



of fine salt at the bottom of the hole ; rattle a 



little dirt in on to the salt, and then set the 



