382 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



Hampshire, were using these coverings. There 



can be little doubt but that the saving by their 

 use in a single season like the past, nearly paid 

 their cost. 



It is a great loss to hurry over, or to perform 

 indifferently, the labor of harvesting, because 

 then the crop has matured, and only needs one 

 step more to return to the cultivator its profit. 

 The gathering in, and stowing away in the barn, 

 should be conducted with great care, to prevent 

 waste of grain, to protect it from vermin, and to 

 give it proper ventilation, so that it shall not heat 

 and start the germ of the seed. 



fered, there are a greater number of named pears 

 than would be give by the generality of our most 

 experienced cultivators ; for out of the hundreds 

 that have been introduced, it would be difficult 

 to name over 20 that we should commend for 

 general culture. J. M. IVES. 



Salem, May 25, 1859. 



For the Hew England Farmer. 

 ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In the "Sixth Annual Report of the State 

 Board of Agriculture," I find the gentleman who 

 ■was appointed to visit the fall exhibition of our 

 society, speaks of the show of fruits, which 

 he says was "very large and ])erfect specimens, 

 both of apples and pears," but that he was 

 "somewhat disajjpointed in the comparatively 

 small number of dishes of fruit presented, and 

 that upon inquiry, learned that premiums were 

 only offered for certain varieties, and that all 

 others were excluded." He is right when he 

 says, "This course has been adopted for the pur- 

 pose of keeping out a flood of ordinary and infe- 

 rior varieties which would otherwise crowd the 

 tables." But when he goes on to say, "that it 

 is only by comparing the good with the bad 

 that the superior qualities of the one and the 

 imperfection of the other are brought out," I 

 would ask him, "how long are we to lumber our 

 tables with worthless varieties ? At what time 

 shall we commence this reform ?" I apprehend 

 that when a variety of pear or apple has been 

 grown by various individuals, and they all uni- 

 formly consider it as worthless, or at any rate, 

 not at all comparable with other and vastly bet- 

 ter sorts, the time has arrived when this expur- 

 gation should begin. Regarding the "small num- 

 ber of dishes of fruit," I would inquire of him, at 

 what county Agricultural Society he saw exhibi- 

 ted the past season, more than was seen at Dan- 

 vers ? Nearly one tlioiisond dislie" and plates ! 

 The premiums were offered, not by "a certain ar- 

 bitary standard, nor for the consideration of the 

 amateurs," but for the benefit of the farmers of 

 Essex county, that they may be induced to cul- 

 tivate those varieties which may be most remu- 

 nerative. Ours is not a horticultural, but an 

 agricultural society, and in additon to the list 

 of premiums, we award gratuities for any "ac- 

 knowledged superior fruit" or new varieties pre- 

 sented. 



He says, "there were some important omis- 

 sions of generally acknowledged superior fruits." 

 If he means by this, superior flavored pears, we 

 admit that there are fine sorts which may suc- 

 ceed in the sheltered gardens of our cities, that 

 will not flourish in open farm culture. Then, 

 again, there are others ; the St. Michael and St. 

 Germaine, that are still cultivated at the South, 

 that blast all over New England. Regard;ng the 

 number of varieties for which premiums are of- 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 

 WHITE SPECKS IN BUTTEIi. 



I would say in reply to Mr. Holmes, of Graf- 

 ton, Vt., that he is correct in regard to keeping 

 the cream which adheres to the churn and covers 

 during the process of churning entirely from the 

 butter ; but in order to avoid it in your next churn- 

 ing be equally as careful to keep it from your 

 cream-pot, or you will not only have plenty of 

 the said specks, but an unpleasant flavor to the 

 butter. It need not be lost, as every good house- 

 wife knows well how to enrich her biscuit with it, 

 or whatever she chooses. 



Mrs. "L. E. H.," of Ludlow, Vt., is on the right 

 track, but I hope by my own experience and that 

 of others, to help her along one pace more. I 

 agree with her in saying it is the same milk 

 which adheres to the cream in the process of 

 skimming, but instead of stirring each day, would 

 say, not stir, but let each day's gathering of cream 

 be put on the top and remain so, thus keeping 

 more closely the air from the older cream, which 

 is very necessary to promote a fine flavor to your 

 butter, and thereby exclude the necessity of rins- 

 ing butter, which should never be done without 

 washing until the water is perfectly clear. Please 

 try the experiment in saving cream, and riiy word 

 for it, you will not be troubled with white sjjccks 

 Keep the cream-pot covered close, to avoid both 

 white and black specks. 11. E. c. 



Fulney, Vt., 1859. 



PATENT KOCK LIFTER. 



Can you inform me who is the proprietor of 

 the Rock Lifter, recently employed by the Shak- 

 ers at Harvard, Mass. ? Was that the same ma- 

 chine, the operation of which you describe in the 

 JST. E. Farmer, sometime last summer or fall ? 

 Can it be used to advantage for pulling stumps as 

 well as lifting rocks ? 



Remarks. — Thomas Ellis, Esq., Rochester, 

 Mass., or Nourse, Mason & Co., Boston, sell the 

 machine. Some persons who have tried it say that 

 it pulls moderately sized stumps well. Price, 

 $2'2o. We have sent youa- letter to Mr. Ellis. 



A GOOD COW. 



Mr. Secretary Dodge informs me that he has a 

 cow, which he purchased five years since, for .$37. 

 He has kept her for his own family u^e, and fed 

 her as good cows should be fed. Since the 1st 

 of May, there has been made from her milk 77 

 pounds of butter, over and above the milk and 

 cream needed for family use. He is entirely con- 

 fident, if all her milk could have been used for 

 the making of butter, she would have yielded at 

 least two pounds of butter per day. While such 

 butter stock can readily be found on our own 

 native hills, there will be no occasion to go 



