1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



829 



medicine. No one man has the time, even if he 

 had the means, to work out all the various kinds 

 of knowledge which he needs ; it would take a 

 lifetime. We must^jbe content to take it from 

 others ; and thus in a short time we can get more 

 knowledge by reading, than we could get in a 

 whole life, without it. The demand for books 

 oil agriculture, has increased greatly of late. — 

 The facilities of communication in the vicinity 

 of cities has led many business men to live in 

 the country, and thus made a great many ama- 

 teur farmers. They want agricultural knowledge 

 for immediate application ; they have not time 

 to acquire it by experience ; they go to work as 

 they do in other business, and consult those who 

 profess to teach the knowledge they want, just 

 as they consult an architect, a mechanic or a sea- 

 man ; they read books, and apply the knowledge 

 they get ; it may not always be the best, but it 

 is thQ best they can gei ; it is better than none. 

 This class of men create quite a demand for 

 books of many sorts ; this is a good class of men, 

 — in fact the best class ; they are active and en- 

 ergetic, and therefore successful ; they are pub- 

 lic spirited, and make good citizens in the towns 

 in which they reside. Notwithstanding the farm- 

 ers sometimes laugh at their operations, they 

 impart a portion of their business energy to the 

 farmers, and make experiments for them, which 

 they would never try for themselves ; and if they 

 fail, they teach the farmer what cannot be done, 

 as well as what can be. 



At the present day, a periodical which keeps 

 a man posted up in matters relating to his par- 

 ticular calling, is necessary to success. The min- 

 ister, the physician, the lawyer, the mechanic, the 

 merchant, the sportsman, the military man, must 

 each have a magazine which contains the latesi 

 inventions, discoveries, and information relating 

 to his business or profession ; without this he can- 

 not keep pace v/ith his competitors. This is no less 

 true in agriculture ; hence, agricultural papers 

 have become a necessity. If a farmer can read but 

 one thing, let him read an agricultural paper ; 

 but papers are for the most part filled with short 

 articles, hints, suggestions, single facts and ex- 

 periments. If a man wishes to study a subject 

 more fully, he must read books. Books upon 

 agriculture, as I have already remarked, have 

 rapidly multiplied, and are sold at a very low- 

 price. Libraries have been established, by means 

 of which farmers may refer to a great number 

 of books for a small sum. For those who can 

 afford it, I think the best way is to own and al- 

 ways have at hand a few good books, and then 

 add to the number one or two good books an- 

 nually. I think they will, in this way, read and 

 digest them better than when they are in a li- 

 brary at some distance, and they can keep them 

 but a week or two, when they get them. Many 

 eay most good agricultural books, are books to 

 be referred to frequently, rather than to be read 

 at once. Still, it is well to have a library, con- 

 taining many more books than one can afford to 

 own. 



Many of our agricultural books an of very 

 little value ; some of them are worse than noth- 

 ing, l)ecause they mislead those who rely upon 

 them ; many are published by book manufactur- 

 ers, and are mere compilations from other works, 

 made by men who have neither saffident judg- 



ment or experience to correct the errors and 

 misstatements they contain. When I take up a 

 book, and find it a mere compilation, by some 

 man in the employment of a publishing-house, I 

 shut it up ; I have not time to read such a book. 

 But when I find a book which is written by a 

 man because he has something to say, I general- 

 ly find that it pays for reading. I have frequent- 

 ly thought it would be a good thing, if some 

 competent man would set himself to review the 

 principal agricultural books in the market, and 

 point out their excellences and defects, and pub- 

 lish the results of his investigation in some of 

 the leading agricultural papers. Probably a 

 good many authors and publisher^ would not 

 thank him for his labor ; until such a review has 

 been made, I will not attempt to point out a list 

 of books, which I would recommend to our young 

 farmers. 



For the New England Farnier, 

 MIWIBTEK (WIWTBB) APPLE. 



This New England fruit was introduced to no- 

 tice by the late Kobert Manning, of Salem. It 

 originated on the farm of Mr. Saunders, of Row- 

 ley, in this State. The fruit is large and oblong, 

 resembling in form the Yellow Bellflower, of Nev; 

 Jersey, readi'ly identified from its beautiful stripes 

 of red from stem to eye ; it has been confounded 

 with another, Rowley Seedling, which has been 

 sold for the above. The true Minister apple, 

 when gathered in the fall, is quite acid, but if 

 kept into spring, becomes one of the finest fruits 

 of its season. The skin of this apple is very thin, 

 hence it requires to be gathered with the great- 

 est care to prevent its being bruised. With that 

 precaution, it will keep into IVIay. I have one 

 before me, raised irpon the farm of R. S. Rodg- 

 ers, Esq., of South Danvers, in the most perfect 

 keeping, with its fine aroma. I have always 

 found this variety to be a great bearer on alight 

 and warm soil, as well as upon one of a more re- 

 tentive nature. J. M. I. 



Salem, May, 1859. 



UNDERDRAIM IliTQ. 



Some good land requires underdraining, to in- 

 sure good crops. We might instance fiome of 

 the land near Cleveland, which is a warm, sandy 

 soil, but too swampy for cultivation, until drained 

 of its surplus water. Soils which contain standing 

 water within thirty inches of the top, must be un- 

 derdralned, or they will not, produce well. On 

 such land, there is a consvant* drainage of water 

 to the surface, as in a flower-pot, when, the wa- 

 ter is placed in a saucer at the bottom, but soon 

 moistens to the top. Constant evaporation keeps 

 the soil and air cold, and excludes the air from 

 the soil, which is wanted there, that the oxygen 

 in it may decompose the vegetable matter in the 

 soil, and change the juiisonous protoxide of iron 

 into the beneficial peroxyde. This kind of land 

 is composed of a hard clay sub-soil, on the,,top 

 of which is a layer of sand. If the water can- 

 not penetrate the clay, it is held, as in a saucer, 

 and unless drained off, its only way of escape is 

 liy rising to the surface and evaporating. This 

 will soon'drown out everything but water-grass 

 and pond lilies. — Ohio Farmer. 



