338 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMEB. 



July 



withstanding, and the grain crops are up and 

 appearing well. Corn has come up promptly, 

 and looks well, and so do many fields of potatoes. 



Winter rye and winter wheat are of good height, 

 and fine color, and have a fine start for rich har- 

 vests. Spring wheat also looks well. 



As the season progresses, the fatal eff'ects of the 

 winter are more and more obvious. A gentle- 

 man informs us, that of one hundred peach trees 

 that have been in bearing two or three years, not 

 one is left to be of any value, while one hundred 

 £ind fifty trees that have not yet come into bear- 

 ing are not in the slightest degree injured. Grape 

 vines, quince bushes, and various shrubs that 

 have shown no signs of starting until within a 

 few days, are now pushing buds, and possibly 

 may recover from the palsying stroke which they 

 received. Grass has been badly winter-killed, 

 ■which leaves many fields with rather a leprous 

 appearance. 



'What has been the cause of this widely-spread 

 destruction ? Who can tell us ? Was it ex- 

 treme and sudden variations in temperature, the 

 great depth to which the frost penetrated, or 

 did the impenetrable covering of ice, which, rest- 

 ing upon the surface during a good portion of 

 the winter, cut off a certain aeration or breath- 

 ing, necessary to the plants ? Who will solve 

 these mysteries for us, and enable us, by the ex- 

 ercise of enlightened art, to protect ourselves 

 against future ravages of a similar nature ? Sure- 

 ly, the farmer needs the best native ability, the 

 most varied and abstruse learning, and the ex- 

 ercise of the ripest judgment, to penetrate the 

 arcana of nature, and tell us how to avoid the 

 losses which are perpetually occurring. 



On Friday morning, June 3d, there was a brisk 

 thunder shower in this region, the first of the 

 season. 



For the New> England Parmer. 

 ABOUT PKUNING. 



Mr.' Editor : — I had seen, in the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, many articles on the pruning of 

 trees. I believe it is time that the subject, and 

 the discussion of the subject, should be pruned. 

 As you and your May number appear to be al 

 most cloyed with the subject, I feel some hesi- 

 tancy in undertaking it, with my dull tools. But 

 in doing it, I pledge myself that the sap shall 

 not ilow very copiously from m>y head, nor from 

 my pen. 



The object of pruning is to rid the tree of its 

 Bupeifiuous branches. The right time of prun 

 ing is, when the sap is gone up, and is elab 

 orating, by vegetable process, in the formation 

 of a pulpy substance, (camhicam,) which be- 

 comes wood ; and adds one grain to the tree 

 If a limb be cut off' at this time, the new wood 

 forms between the bark and that part of the 

 limb which remains. Thus a covering begins to 

 be formed over the naked wood, where the am 



putation was made ; and this process goes on 

 from year to year, till the whole is covered ; the 

 wound is healed. 



If it be asked, when does this pulpy substance 

 between the bark of the wood commence in fruit 

 trees, I shall not answer by giving the date ; for 

 there is more than three Aveeks difference in dif- 

 ferent seasons. But I am prepared to say, it 

 takes place about the time the blossom bud is 

 ready to open. DiS'erient kinds of trees require 

 different times for pruning. The pine should be 

 pruned about the middle of June. I make these 

 remarks, not with the expectation of convincing 

 any one who has expressed a different opinion, 

 but to relieve my own mind of an item of knowl- 

 edge, which I have had on hand, and in hand, 

 many years. 



Now I recommend it to any one, and to every 

 one, who feels interested in the subject, to make 

 the following experiment. At the middle of each 

 month in the year, take a limb from tlie same 

 tree, or from trees of the same class, and notice 

 definite and minutely the result. Knowledge 

 gained in this way is one's own knowledge, and 

 it is as much better than borrowed knowledge, 

 as earned capital is better than borrowed capital. 



Milford, N. H., May 24, 1859. H. M. 



For the New England Farmej^ 

 "BUTA BAGA AND COHN CBOPS." 



I fully concur with Mr. Brigham, (in your pa- 

 per of the 28th of May,) in relation to the culture 

 of the ruta bagas or any of the turnip tribe. 

 From a long experience in the cultivation of the 

 soil, I am convinced that the turnip is one of the 

 most exhausting crops that the farmer cultivates. 

 I say exhausting, for it takes a longer time and 

 costs more to renovate the soil after raising a 

 crop of turnips, than any other crop I cultivate. 

 My experience is similar to Mr. Brigham's in the 

 succeeding crops. I think the deterioration is 

 fully one-half. Many argue that the turnip crop 

 is not exhausting, as the broad leaves receive 

 their nourishment from the atmosphere and the 

 dews. If that be the case, and the food of plants 

 is not imbibed by them in undue proportions, 

 then I would suggest that they draw from the at- 

 mosphere poisonous substances and impregnate 

 the soil with its deadly exudations. All I ask is, 

 let the sticklers of the turnip crop make a fair 

 experiment, (as Mr. Brigham has done,) side by 

 side with other crops, and I opine they will aban- 

 don its culture as a field crop. I trust the day is 

 not distant, when all prudent farmers will aban- 

 don its cultivation, for as the Hon. Mr. Brooks 

 very truly says, "It costs too much to raise ruta 

 bagas to justify their cultivation in this region.'* 



There are other root crops less exhausting or 

 less poisonous to the soil, and as easily cultivated, 

 containing more nutriment, and more palatable to 

 our stock, viz., carrots, mangold wurtzel, beets, 

 parsnips, &c. ike, that the farmers may find it for 

 their interest to raise, and without any percepti- 

 ble exhaustion of the soil. I think it would be 

 wise in our legislators to withhold the bounties 

 of the State from those county agricultural soci- 

 eties that offer premiums for the turnip crops. 



The individual may think he can plant an acre 

 of turnips with impunity, and never realize his 



