43S 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



pabilities, should stimulate him to the work. 

 There are no obstacles to overcome, saving pre- 

 judice, or a long established supineness that has 

 become a chronic disease. 



It is now a good time to look over and see how 

 many patches in the old mowing fields can be 

 turned to profitable account. Once begun, we 

 think your wheat crop will take the lead in the 

 grain calendar. H. PooK. 



Brooklyn, L. I., 1859. 



For the New Ens^land Farmer. 

 MEASURE METfT OF LUMBER. 



Mr. Editor: — I have noticed in the Farmer 

 several pieces relating to the incorrect mfasure- 

 ment of milk. There is another subject allied to 

 this, «hich corcerns many farmers as deeply as 

 this : 1 refer to the measurement of lumber. 



Most farmers out of the vicinity of the city 

 have hard-wood trees in their pastures or mow- 

 ings which they wish removed. Accordingly, 

 they cut them, have them sawed into plank, and 

 sell them. Now, the miller saws both sides of 

 the plank, and will have pay for all he saws ; and 

 it seems right that he should, but when we come 

 Lo sell our plank, the measure falls short. The 

 surveyor measures on the narrow side, allowing 

 us only what the plank will square. Some thick 

 plank fall short of the mill measure 20 per cent. 



When we buy heef, we pay for the weight ot 

 the bones, or if there is a deduction, it is made 

 in the price, not in the weight. So we should 

 have pay for the whole of our lumber ; if the wain 

 lessens the value of the lumber, let the deduction 

 be made in the price. 



The surveyors profess to give us hoard meas- 

 ure ; yet we know that a 4 inch plank, 8 inches 

 wide on the narrow side, and 12 inches on the 

 wide side, would measure a good deal more, if 

 we should conceive it to be made into boards 

 and then measured, than it will as they survey. 

 Our laws respecting the measurement of lumber 

 are very indefinite and loose. The legislature 

 should attend to them, J. A. E. 



Groton, Mass., July 80, 1869. 



What are Flowers Good for? — "I have 

 said and written a great deal to my countrymen 

 about the cultivation of flowers, ornamental gar- 

 dening and rural embellishments ; and I would 

 read them a homily on the subject every day of 

 every remaining year of my lite, if I thought it 

 would induce them to make this a matter of at 

 tention and care. When a man asks me what is 

 the use of shrubs and flowers, my first ioipulse 

 is always to look under liis hat and see the length 

 of his ears. I am heartily sick of measuring 

 everything by a standard of mere utility and 

 profit; and as heartily do I pity the men who 

 can see no good in life but in the pecuniary gain, 

 or in the mere animal indulgencies of eating and 

 drinking." — Coleman's Agricultural Tour. 



The Horticulturist. — The number for Au 

 gust is excellent. It has a fine engraving of the 

 Nabours Pear. It has a long and capital article 

 on the "Orchard House, or the Cultivation of 

 Fruit Trees in Pots under Glass." 



AUTUMNAL FARM WORK. 



In a former article we mentioned two items of 

 farm labor that ought to be attended to in the 

 autumn, viz.: seeding lands to grass and prepar- 

 ing rough lands for cultivation. The next item 

 to which we find pleasure in calling attention, 

 and which, strictly, ought to precede all others, 

 is that of 



DRAINING. 

 And we beg of the reader not to come to the 

 sudden conclusion that we mal*e a hobby of this 

 subject, but to give it thought, observation, and 

 such careful investigation as his opportunites 

 will permit. All of us have been taught to be- 

 lieve that manure is the great essential in farm- 

 ing ; it is so ; but thorough-draining follows 

 close upon it in importance, and we are con- 

 vinced that we cannot do any farmer a better 

 service than by pressing upon him a sense of its 

 great value. Judge French's new work on 

 Farm Drainage is finding its way into the farm- 

 houses in every direction, and will be the means 

 of adding large profits to the agricultural pro- 

 ductions of New England. 



It is not our intention now to give the details 

 of the operation, as that has been pretty thor- 

 oughly done in these columns, — but we desire to 

 call the attention of our readers to the subject, 

 and ask them to consider it well. In the mean- 

 time, we advise every farmer to get French's 

 P'arm Drainage, or Waring's Elements of Agri- 

 culture, or both, and make them a study as they 

 progress in the practical operation of the work. 

 From the latter work, we give below some of 

 the 



advantages of UNDER-DRAINING. 



1. It prevents drouth. 



2. It furnishes an increased supply of atmos- 



pheric fertilizers. 



3. It warms the lower portions of the soil. 



4. It hastens the decomposition of roots and 



other organic matter. 



5. It accelerates the disintegration of the min- 



eral matters in the soil. 



6. It causes a more even distribution of nutri- 



tious matters among those parts of the 

 soil traversed by roots. 



7. It improves the mechanical texture of the 



soil. 



8. It causes the poisonous excrementitious mat- 



ter of plants to be carried out of reach of 

 their roots. 



9. It prevents grasses from running out. 



10. It enables us to deepen the surface soil — by 



removing excess of water. 



11. It renders soils earlier in the spring. 



12. It prevents the throwing out of grain in 



winter. 



13. It allows us to work sooner after rains. 



