,24 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



ain how much cold water must be added to that 

 I the kettle, for the same purpose ; it being ev- 

 Jent that the lye is too strong. This must be 

 ■one before the salt is put in. A larger quanti- 

 •y of lime put in while boiling, will make the 

 aoap still harder. 



You may harden it, also, by adding, while the 

 soap is boiling, a little sulphate of iron. This 

 will give it a marbled or mottled appearance. 



SQUASHES. 



I have never seen any superior in size and 

 beauty, to some grown at South Danvers the 

 present season. 1 believe these all sprung from 

 a squash grown on the ground of Wm. Walcott, 

 Esq., in the season of 1858. The largest of these 

 squashes grew in the garden of Mr. Andrew 

 Porter, near the fence. It weighed, when entire- 

 ly clear of the vine, 1G4 pounds. It was sym- 

 metrical in form, and girted 79 inches, or 6 feet 

 7 inches. There were several other squashes in 

 the immediate vicinity, that would weigh from 

 30 to 40 pounds each. Whether any of them 

 came from the same vine, I cannot say — buti 

 think they did. From what I have seen of oth- 

 er squashes, I should think the meat of this 

 must be three or four inches ihick. Of its qual- 

 ity I cannot speak — it not having been opened. 

 The original from which the seeds were taken 

 made as good pies as any I ate for the season. 

 What was required to be mingled with the 

 squash to bring this about, I cannot say, never 

 having taken a part in the making of pies, until 

 after they were baked. Another neighbor, Mr. 

 Wm. S. Osborne, grew on one vine two squash- 

 3S, weighing 138 pounds and Gl'.] pounds — but 

 not so handsome a? the first mentioned. The 

 soil on which Porter's squash grew was a hard 

 gravel, well fertilized with manure from his tan- 

 nery and currier's shop. J. W. Proctor. 



September, 1809. 



DOMINIQUE FOWLS — BAYBERRY BUSHES. 



V/here can I get a pair of Dominique fowls 

 and at what price ? Can you tell me through the 

 monthly Farmer, what will kill Bayberry bushes ? 

 the berries from which we make bayberry tallow 

 of. They are over-running my pastures very fast. 



Epping, N. H., Sept., 18.59. J. J. Lane. 



Remarks. — We cannot tell you about the 

 fowls — do not know. 



Cut and burn the bushes and plow, if you can. 

 If too stony for that, sow grass on the ashes 

 and scratch it in with an iron rake. If very 

 rocky, let it grow up to wood. We hope some 

 one has a better practice, and will communicate 

 to you and us what it is. 



BEST TIME FOR CUTTING FENCE POSTS. 



In answer to the inquiry of Mr. John W. 

 Townsend, as to when to cut fence posts, I will 

 state that I'believe the month of June to be the 

 best time to cut them ; peal the bark off, and set 

 them green, and I think they will last three or 

 four years longer than they will, cut at any other 

 time. R. c. H. 



ifudlow, Vt., 1859. 



DRAINING — DOUBTS. 



Can you answer a question or two which are 

 of much interest to me, and I presume may be 

 to many others, novices in this department of 

 farming. I have underdrained a muck meadow 

 in which the depth of the muck varies from six 

 inches to a foot and more ; a stratum of blue 

 clay mixed with sand, very hard, underlies some 

 parts, and sand the rest. 



What I am desirous to know is this — will it be 

 well in plowing, to bring much or any of this 

 clay to the surface, mixing it with the muck? 

 Will this thin layer of very hard clay })e an inju- 

 ry to the meadow, by holding surface water too 

 long, or an advantage, by keeping the meadow 

 from leaching ? In short, will it be best to break 

 it up entirely, if possible? T. 



Keene, N. II., 1859. 



Remarks. — The understratum will probably 

 be found to contain more sand than clay, and 

 when exposed to the atmosphere, will soon pul- 

 verize and so give more firmness to the soil, and 

 at the same lime furnish silex which is wanting 

 in muck soil — to the plants. We should not 

 hesitate to plow up a couple of inches of the sub- 

 soil, whether sand, clay or gravel, with the 

 muck. 



It is rare that a stratum of clay is found be- 

 neath muck, in your locality, close enough to be 

 impervious to water. What is called compact 

 clay, in such positions, is in nine cases in ten 

 founa on examination to be mostly sand, and to 

 be readily drained. We do not believe much in 

 the advantage of any compact subsoil to hold up 

 water. 



Soil that is of any value holds water enough 

 by attraction to prevent drought, and stagnant 

 water in tlie soil is death to most valuable 

 plants. So we advise to drain deep and plow deep, 

 and trust to the higher laws of nature to supply 

 moisture, rather than to the lower notion of ar- 

 resting the water near the surface. 



French's "Farm Drainage" discusses these 

 points fully. 



CAN I MAKE A CRANBERRY MEADOW. 



I have a meadow in Rochester, N. H., which 

 lies on a high ridge of land, and is made up of 

 the finest vegetable deposit I ever saw. A stream 

 runs through it, and at its mouth there is a dam, 

 so that in twelve hours I can throw three feet of 

 water over the whole. On a portion of it I have 

 planted potatoes, — but what I wish to do, is, to 

 get it into cranberries. Shall I haul on yellow 

 loam, as I cannot get sand ? Shall I plow it ? 

 Shall I set wild or cultivated vines ? 



Lawrence, Oct., 1859. O. Pearl. 



Remarks. — The condition of your land is un- 

 like that of any which has come to our knowl- 

 edge, where the cranberry culture has been at- 

 tempted, and we do not feel sure that any advice 

 we can offer will be serviceable. You say the 

 meadow is "the finest vegetable deposit you ever 



