394 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



Let us be thankful that we are born at least 

 among the appliances of civilization — that if it 

 is our destiny, in a general way, to put out our 

 branches very near the spot where we first took 

 root, let us rejoice that this spot did not happen 

 to be the summit of an iceberg. Yet in this cu- 

 rious ordering of nature, we see a wise purpose. 

 Were it otherwise, the tendency would undoubt- 

 edly be toward the temperate portions of the 

 globe, giving them an undue population, while 

 the rest of the world would be thinned of its in- 

 habitants. One sees at a glance how the arts 

 and sciences would suffer, and how many com- 

 forts we should be deprived of, which flow di- 

 rectly from an intercourse with people of differ- 

 ent climates, habits and customs. 



Doubtless some adventurous Dr. Kane would 

 still pay a visit to the North Pole, but if there 

 were no human beings in that region, native to 

 the soil, his sojourn would be likely to be more 

 desolate than any explorations we have yet heard 

 of. But, to use another's language, "Where no 

 trees grow, where no vegetables come to matu- 

 rity, and gales from every quarter of the Icy Sea 

 beat the last faint life out of nature, men will 

 still persist in living, in apparent defiance of all 

 natural laws." 



"Well is it for us, that there are people whose 

 ideal of life consists merely in possessing a suf- 

 ficient quantity of whale oil, blubber and seal 

 skins, with a warm den underground. To the 

 torrid zones we are still more indebted. Our 

 finest fruits, our precious woods, are all brought 

 from countries about the equator. 



But we have got upon a subject involving too 

 many considerations to be fully dealt with here. 

 One inference strikes us, — that what at a first 

 glance seems mere accident, will be found, on a 

 closer view of the subject, to be the result of a 

 special design. It is so in this case, and we be- 

 lieve it will always be found to be so, where our 

 own limited faculties do not stand in the way of 

 full investigation. So may we always 



"Look from Nature, up to Nature's God." 



potash and soda, all of which are known, when 

 separately applied, to produce a good effect on 

 clover crops, and to constitute an important part 

 of the food of all grasses. 



The following experiment by an English far- 

 mer, may shed some light on the subject: The 

 ground selected contained three percius (rods) 

 of clover ; the first had no manure, and produced 

 ttiirty-eight pounds when cut in fall head; the 

 second, where four quarts of sifted coal ashes, 

 which had not been exposed to the weather, 

 were applied, the produce was fifty pounds ; 

 on the third perch, one quart of plaster was 

 sown, and the crop weighed fifry-four pounds. 

 It will be seen that the ashes increased the clo- 

 ver nearly one-quarter above that on which no 

 manure was applied, which goes to prove that 

 this substance is a valuable fertilizer. Coal is 

 said to be of vcgatable origin ; therefore, we can 

 see no reason why its ashes should not contain 

 the food of phints. Experiments on various soils 

 and crops might be made by any farmer at a small 

 txpense, as coal is employed as fuel in nearly 

 every town. — Ex. 



COA.L ASHES AS A MANUBE. 



But few experiments have been made by Amer- 

 ican farmers, says a writer, to test the fertilizing 

 pro])erties of coal ashes. While we are import- 

 ing guano and other m?inures from foreign lands 

 in enormous quantities, and at great expense, it 

 may be well to employ substances nearer home, 

 which are now neglected and cast aside as worth- 

 less. Thousands of tons of ashes might be ob- 

 tained in cities where coal is extensively em- 

 ployed for fuel, which, when applied to the soil, 

 would doubtless greatly augment its productive 

 powers. It is stated in "Faulkner's Farmers' 

 Manual," an English publication on manures, that 

 coal ashes contain sulphate of lime, with some 



FARM DRAINAGE. 



Everybody has heard of F. O. J. Smith, as one 

 of the pioneers in telegraphing, as a politician 

 who generally prophesies correctly, arid a thor- 

 ough going business man. 



It may not be so generally known that Mr. 

 Smith is, also, always interested in agricultural 

 affairs, residing upon one of the most picturesque 

 and beautiful estates in New England, known as 

 Forest Home, near Portland, Me., where he 

 amuses his leisure hours with his thorough-bred 

 stock and the high culture cf his broad acres. 

 Thus he speaks in the Eastern Argus of Drain- 

 age, and Judge French's treatise on that subject. 

 A BOOK FOR FARMERS. 



Of all departments of agricultural science, that 

 which teaches the value, and best methods of 

 THOROUGn DRAINAGE of lands for cultivation, 

 has no rival in practical usefulness. No other is 

 marked more distinctly in its results, when lis- 

 tened to and properly obeyed in its teachings. It 

 is the base line of all wise agricultural improve- 

 ment upon a major part of all lands on this con- 

 tinent. 



Ditching grounds is the rude, superficial and 

 temporary reir.edy of a positive evil. 



Drainage is the perfection of ditching, reduced 

 to a system of lasting effects. 



One is the scratching of the scab which ap- 

 pears on the surface, and for temporary relief; 

 while the other is the cure of the disease which 

 produces the scab. 



That farmer has a good look towards advan- 

 itages, W'ho ditches his grounds extensively. 

 I But that farmer marches far in advance of the 

 first, vvho appreciates and executes a well stu- 

 I died system of drainage. 



In this country quite too little importance has 

 , been attached by farmers in general to either 

 j ditching or drainage; although many have un- 

 I stood and practised them well. 



