1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



567 



a good draught, the perusal of this book may be 

 worth ten dollars to him, or ten times ten. We 

 knew a man build a house, who rather churlishly 

 refused to listen to our suggestions about the 

 construction of his chimneys, and after torment- 

 ing himself and family with smoke and flame for 

 six months, expended $400 to put them right! 

 The verdict of most persons would be, — "sarved 

 him right !" 



EXTRACTS AND BBPLIES. 



IS MARL A FERTILIZER? 



A neighbor of mine wishes an answer to the 

 following inquiry : he says — "I wish to be in- 

 formed whether leaves and other vegetable sub- 

 stances, falling into shallow water and sinking to 

 the bottom, will, in process of time, turn to 

 marl?" j. l. c. 



BaverhiU, M H., Oct. 20, 1859. 



Remarks. — No. Marl is an earthy, not a veg- 

 etable substance ; and any earthy substance in 

 which the proportion of calcareous — that is, limy 

 matter is apparent, mixed with sand or clay, is 

 styled in popular language, a marl. Of this there 

 are three principal varieties, 1. Clay marl. 2. 

 Sand marl; 3. Slate or stone marl; 4. Shell 

 marl. If you find a substance which you suppose 

 may be marl, pour a little vinegar upon it, and 

 if it effervesces, it will probably be marl, and will 

 contain fertilizing properties. 



QUESTION ABOUT A CRANBERRY MEADOW^. 



I have, in the county of Norfolk, a piece of 

 land which is valuable principally on account of 

 its descent from my great grandfather, it having 

 been in the name over one hundred and fifty 

 years. There is upon the lot about two acres of 

 swale which has been mowed yearly for seventy 

 years, but is too strong to plow. There are 

 many beds of cranberries upon the land, of a 

 good quality. Contiguous to this swale are four 

 or five acres of moist upland, where good crops 

 of corn have been raised, also rye and potatoes ; 

 the land is very free from frost, as only one year, 

 that of 1816, for a half century has the frost in- 

 jured corn. The soil is rather shallow, with 

 many small round stones. Tne question is, wheth- 

 er it would be advisable to try the crati berry cul- 

 ture upon this lot? .Tesse Whiting. 



Oroton Junction, Oct., 1859. 



Remarks. — We cannot tell, away from the 

 meadow, but should think it would. Try a por- 

 tion of it, and see how it succeeds. 



"saw-dust as a FERTILIZER." 

 In answer to the inquiry contained in your 

 journal of Oct. 29 as to the value of saw-dust as 

 a fertilizer, I would«say its virtue in the raising 

 of beans, equals, if not surpasses, any enricher ci 

 soil I ever saw. As a fertilizer to other vege- 

 table products I have never as yet seen it at- 

 tempted, but purpose the coming year to test it 

 further. It was found most productive by being 



dampened when used, and applied rather gener- 

 ously, well incorporated with the soil receiving 

 the deposite iieans. Oak Hill. 



Nov. 4, 1859. _ 



FINE OXEN. 



I saw at the Esses House, in Salem, to-day, a 

 pair of oxen, grown at Greenland, N. H., six 

 years old, that weighed 7000 lbs. — varying only 

 about 25 lbs. from each other. They were of a 

 beautiful red color, bright eyes, and well formed. 

 I have never seen any cattle superior to them. I 

 have heard of individuals animal, nine years old, 

 that weighed 4000 lbs., but I think these sur- 

 passed such an ox — all things considered. I 

 hope the proprietor will be well rewarded for 

 exhibiting them — their sight is more interesting 

 than that of elephants or wild boars. P. 



Oct. 27, 1859. _ 



carrots. 



Mr. B. H., one of the most successful cultiva- 

 tors in this town, informed me that he had gath- 

 ered six tons of as handsome carrots as he ever 

 saw, from 27 square rods of land. This would be 

 about one ton to six square rods, or 27 tons to 

 an acre. The price of carrots at this time is $8 

 per ton, consequently the produce of an acre 

 would amount to 8 times 27, or $216 per acre. 

 Considering that carrots are not an exhausting 

 crop, I look upon this as good doings. Few crops 

 yield so well this seamn — cold as it has been. 



South Danvers, Oct. 27, 1859. P. 



BREMEN GEESE. 



Will you be good enough to inform your read- 

 ers who has the pure blood Bremen Geese for 

 sale, described in your paper of Sept. 24. 



Eartland, TY., Oct., 1859. W. S. Grow. 



Remarks. — AVe do not know. Will some one 

 who has them reply by letter to the inquirer ? 



APPLE OR CIDER STAINS ON LINEN OR COTTON. 



Will you permit an old subscriber and faithful 

 re-ader of your valued journal to inquire, if any 

 of our good mothers of New England can inform 

 me of the best and most eff"ective manner of re- 

 moving stains of apple or cider from linen or 

 cotton, after being fully dried in ? If so, they 

 will oblige their suffering friend, 



"Oak Hill." 



THE CONCOKD GRAPE. 



The more we know of this grape, 'ihe better 

 we like it; and this appears to be the case with 

 nearly everybody. The exceptions are those who 

 have long settled in their minds that the Fox 

 grape, being a universally condemned variety, 

 every seedling possessing any portion of its fla- 

 vor, must necessarily be worthless. To us, and 

 to ninety-nine in a hundred, the Fox grape aro- 

 ma is agreeable, and constitutes one of the most 

 attractive qualities. The Southern Cultivator, 

 published at Richmond, Va., thus refers to it. 

 "A fine bunch of grapes, of the variety called 

 Concord, was brought to our office a few days 

 ago, by Mr. E. G. Eggeling, florist and nursery- 

 man, near this city. The bunch weighed four- 



