1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



445 



possible conditions on which this premium is of- 

 fered, (the time in which the award is to be made 

 rendering it utterly impossible to determine some 

 of the desirable qualities which are needed in a 

 good grape,) the fact that a single individual is 

 to have so much to do with the award of it will 

 detract greatly from the value of the experiment, 

 in the judgment of sensible men. In making 

 this remark, I will cast no reflections on the gen- 

 tleman offering the award ; he is entirely un- 

 known to me, and his idea of testing the com- 

 parative merits of new varieties on a large scale 

 is an excellent one ; but what the public want 

 is, that the question as to which is the best grape 

 for general out-door culture, shall be settled by 

 some responsible body that hive a wide reputa- 

 tion, and in whom we all have confidence. 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society could 

 place the public under lasting obligations, should 

 they take this matter in hand, with such varia- 

 tions from the plan of Mr. Dana as their exten- 

 sive knowledge and large experience might sug- 

 gest. No prophet is needed to foretell that in 

 the course of a few years a large number of new 

 seedling grapes will be in the market, the success- 

 ful sales of which may depend more on the finan- 

 cial capacity of the parties by whom they are in- 

 troduced, than on the merits of the grapes them- 

 selves. Would not the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society fill an honorable sphere by taking 

 the burden of an experimental test upon them- 

 selves, thus saving thousands of enterprising 

 men from a costly and annoying experience ? 



Marhlehead, Mass. J. J. H. Gregory. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A VISIT TO THE HOMESTEAD OF FARM- 

 BH, ALLEN. 



To one accustomed to the heat, noise, dust and 

 effluvia of a large city, the coolness and quiet of 

 a night in the country is eminently refreshing. 

 An exhausted frame with the fatigue of a day's 

 ride, induced me to retire early to rest, and my 

 dreams were pleasant, indeed. The gladsome 

 crowing of the cocks, the singing of the merry 

 birds, the echoing of the lowing kine, awoke me 

 with their melodious sounds at an early hour, and 

 I witnessed a joyful sight at sunrise in the coun- 

 try. The sun peeping over the eastern hills, and 

 athousand voices from all animated nature poured 

 forth a volume of music to my ears. Bold chan- 

 ticleer, perched on the garden-fence, commenced 

 the morning concert by one of his ringing pro- 

 clamations ; he was answered by his brothers 

 from all the neighboring barn-yards ; the meek 

 looking cows arose and welcomed the milkers 

 with their bright pails, who were soon draining 

 the sweet milk from their flowing udders ; the 

 birds gayly singing from the tree-top, and the 

 swallows twittering from the eaves of the barn, the 

 satisfied grunt of the swine in their well-cleaned 

 pens, all broke upon my sight and ears, and pro- 

 duced such harmony as I never experienced be- 

 fore, and the notes still linger, like a half-re- 

 membered lay, in my ear. 



I attended the country church on the Sabbath, 

 and was forcibly struck with the solemnity that 

 pervaded all. The people seemed to come not 

 to display the latest fashion, or the skill of their 



dressmakers, but to refresh their souls, and to 

 gather new courage to battle with the trials, dis- 

 appointments and sorrows of the coming week. 

 The next morning, after partaking of a plentiful 

 breakfast, my friend proceeded to show me over 

 the farm. We first inspected the barn, and the 

 first thing that I noticed on entering was the 

 neatness that pervaded the entire premises. — 

 Every harness, rake, pitchfork, everything in the 

 tie-up, the horses' stalls, and even the calf-pen, 

 were as neat and in as good order as if the barn 

 had never been occupied. Mr. Allen informed me 

 that he often harnessed a horse after dark with- 

 out the aid of a lantern, thus avoiding the dan- 

 ger of setting the building on fire. The barn ia 

 100 feet long and 50 wide, with a light and dry 

 cellar under th^* whole. He told me that he ob- 

 tained many of his valuable ideas about his farm 

 by inspecting the large barn of Hon. Mr. French, 

 at Bniintree. The tool-house next claimed ray 

 attention ; here, also, "order reigned supreme." 

 On looking round, it made me think of one of 

 our Boston agricultural warehouses. Here I saw 

 one of Willard's patent root-cutters, which Mr. 

 Allen considers a valuable machine for cutting 

 all kinds of roots for feeding to the stock ; even 

 pumpkins are easily cut with it previous to cook- 

 ing for the swine ; it is easily operated by a good 

 sized boy, and is a durable and labor-saving ma- 

 chine both to man and beast. 



But I cannot describe a quarter of the tools 

 and utensils that were hanging from the walls 

 and reposing on the floor in their respective 

 places, all ready to perform good execution in 

 lightening the labor of man. 



Emerging from the tool-house, I passed into 

 the orchard, with its regular rows of trees, all in 

 bearing condition. Mr. A. told me that when 

 he purchased the farm at about half of its pres- 

 ent value, of the former owner, there were 

 only about 50 old apple trees on the place ; he 

 immediately commenced digging round the old 

 and half-dead trees, and setting out new ones, 

 and the result has been in producing one of the 

 finest orchards in the neighborhood. I asked 

 Mr. A. if he ever used strong potash lye on his 

 trees. "O, no," said he, "I tried it once on that 

 tree," pointing to the meanest looking tree in 

 the orchard, "and the result has satisfied me of 

 its utter absurdity." I admired the straightness 

 of my friend's trees, and in reply to a question, 

 Farmer Allen told me that when his trees were 

 about as large as his wrist, he cut some crotched 

 limbs, sharpened one end, and sticking it into 

 the ground, put the crotch part against the trunk 

 or limb of the tree ; a little old matting is placed 

 between the tree and the stick to prevent it from 

 chafing the bark of the tree. My friend takes 

 almost as much pains in training up his trees in 

 the way they should go as he does with his chil- 

 dren. 



Among the summer apples that he recom- 

 mends, were the Early Harvest, which succeeds 

 well in all our northern States ; the Sweet Bough — 

 this is also a valuable apple ; it is a large, round- 

 ish shape, sometimes conical, of a pale gr/'enish 

 yellow, flesh very tender, and of an excellent 

 sweet flavor ; succeeds well in all the northern 

 States ; the Golden Sweet is a fine apple. Of 

 winter apples, Mr. Allen recommends the Bel- 

 mont, the Hubbardston Nonsuch, a large, round- 



