366 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEE. 



Aug 



A NEW TRANSPLANTER. 



I forward for your inspection an instrument I 

 have invented for transplanting vegetables or 

 flowers without disturbing the earth around their 

 roots. A gentleman in this city removed over 

 100 strawberry plants in full bloom the other 

 day, and he says they did not wilt at all. If it 

 meets with your approbation, you will much 

 oblige a constant subscriber to your valuable 

 monthly by a friendly notice of it in your paper. 



John Burgun. 



Concord, N. H., June, 1859. 



Remarks. — Certainly, friend Burgun, you 

 shall have a friendly notice, or rather the "Trans- 

 planter" shall, because it is a labor-saving, as 

 well as plant-saving, and very convenient article. 

 The house you mention is a good one to sell for 

 you. 



PROSPECTS FOR FRUIT. 



The peach crop is an entire failure this year. 

 Apples now look well, and I hope were not in- 

 jured by the frost of the 5th inst. Pears look well. 

 Strawberries, (now ripe,) in abundance. A fine 

 prospect for a large crop of Lawton blackberries. 

 Currants and gooseberries full. Grapes were 

 somewhat injured by the winter — about half a 

 crop. We have had a fine spring for the growth 

 of all crops, and the prospects are good for the 

 farmers. Sylvesteh. 



Lyons, JVew Yorh, June 8, 1859. 



a colt's hind foot. 



I have a yearling colt which has a bunch on the 

 fore part of hind foot, between fetlock joint and 

 hoof. It appeared March 1st, has increased to 

 three fingers' width, and extends nearly round 

 the foot. 



Can you or any of your correspondents sug- 

 gest a remedy ? E. P. Chase. 



Deerfield, Me., June 11, 1859. 



CISTERNS. 



I wish to inquire through your excellent pa- 

 per the best and cheapest way to construct a cis- 

 tern for the purpose of watering farm stock. I 

 think you published an article about a year since, 

 in which the writer recommended digging in the 

 same manner as wells are dug, and then simply 

 lining it up with cement, puting on two or three 

 coats. Can one be made in that way and be 

 durable, or will it be necessary to brick it up 

 and then cement on to them ? 



Haverhill, Mass., June, 1859. N. P. 



that what is sometimes called winter-killed, pro- 

 ceeds from causes that operated before the com- 

 mencement of winter. 



This is no trifling effect on some fields, extend- 

 ing to a quarter or more of the expected crop. I 

 should be gratified, Mr. Editor, if you, or some 

 of your experienced correspondents, would ex- 

 plain this matter. As has been before remarked, 

 the farmers of this county realize more money 

 from the hay they send to market, than from any 

 other product of their farms. Whatever, there- 

 fore, diminishes their prospect of income one- 

 fourth part, becomes an essential consideration 

 in their farm management. Essex. 



June 13, 1859. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ■WINTER-KILLING OF GRASS. 



On all hands, I learn, the prospect for a crop 

 of grass is good, where it was not winter-kiiled. 

 What is to be understood by this phrase? Is it 

 simply, where the ice had so formed as to adhere 

 closely to the grass, and in yiis way to destroy 

 the vegetating power of the plant, or is it some 

 other operation or process P 



I have witnessed this effect on fields of rye, to 

 a considerable extent. I have a strong suspicion 



For the Neic England Farmer. 

 THE BEST MOWEH. 



Mr. Editor : — Permit me to avail myself of 

 the medium furnished by the columns of your 

 useful and impartial agricultural sheet, for the 

 purpose of saying a few words to the farmers, to 

 whose homes it makes its weekly visit, concern- 

 ing mowing machines. 



Our little town was all astir yesterday, with ex- 

 citement occasioned by an exhibition and trial 

 of mowers, on the farm of Capt. Lambert Lam- 

 son. Though your correspondent intends to 

 speak principally of this occasion, he »vould say 

 that he has often witnessed the operations of 

 some of the rival mowers used in this section of 

 the country, and consequently whatever opinions 

 he may advance, are not based entirely upon the 

 proceedings at this trial. 



The machines put upon trial were Ketchum'a 

 improved patent, 1859, mower, both one horse 

 and two horse, manufactured by Nourse, Mason 

 & Co., Boston and Worcester. Manny's patent 

 mower, also one and two horse, maile by Alzirus 

 Brown, Worcester, and a one horse Ketchum 

 mower, made down in Connecticut. The trial 

 was first between the one horse machines, each 

 of which cut two swarths on the side of the field. 

 The Manny began, followed by a Ketchum ma- 

 chine from Connecticut, and then by the Ketch- 

 um machine from Nourse, Mason &; Co. The 

 Manny mower did its work well, but its swarth 

 lacked the evenness and smoothness of the Wor- 

 cester Ketchum's when raked. It cut a swarth 

 three feet six inches wide. The Ketchum (mean- 

 ing always the Worcester machine) cut a swarth 

 four feet wide, and its work was satisfactory to 

 all the spectators. I understand that this ma- 

 chine, cutting four feet, was strictly a two horse 

 mower, but placed upon trial as a one iiorse ma- 

 chine by the proprietors, in the complete confi- 

 dence of success. The regular one horse mower, 

 I was told, cuts three feet, six inches. Another 

 circumstance worthy of notice, is the fact, that 

 the horse used with the Manny mower was ta- 

 ken fresh from the barn, and harnassed to the 

 machine, whereas the horse used with Ketch- 

 um's had cultivated corn all the forenoon at 

 Worcester, and had been driven ten miles since 

 one o'clock, and was harnessed to the machine at 

 two and a half o'clock. Yet, notwithstanding its 

 advantages in shortness of cutting-bar, and fresh- 

 ness of horse, the Manny mower was inferior to 

 the Ketchum. 



