274 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



march 11, 1*34. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 MANAGEMENT OP FIREWOOD. 



We hardly know of any business in which re- 

 form is more needed than in the management of 

 fire-wood ; and as this is the principal season of 

 cutting and procuring it, the following particulars 

 may be worthy of attention. 



Wood that' is cut by the cord, and designed to 

 stand through the summer, should not be lefj in 

 the woods, nor under shade of any kind. Raise 

 the bottom tier of sticks a few inches from the 

 ground, for without this precaution it will be much 

 damaged, and decayed timber enough to serve for 

 this purpose may be generally found in the woods. 

 The sticks when corded ought to range east and 

 west so that the sun may shine in at both ends, 

 the piles consequently extending north and south. 

 On account of its drying better, no stick should 

 be split into less than four pieces, except it be 

 very small, or except it be designed for bacK-logs ; 

 and to prevent the last from becoming ioied,it 

 ought to be placed on the top of the pile where it 

 can receive sun and air enough to compeisate for 

 its greater size. 



An honored friend of ours assures us that the 

 quality and value of fire-wood is much affected by 

 the time when it is first cut. He recommends it 

 to be done in winter, being careful to liave it fin- 

 ished before the sap begins to rise. We are dis- 

 posed to adopt his opinion ; and though it is not 

 in our power to furnish any estimate cf the com- 

 parative or relative value of two parcels of the 

 same kind of wood, cut at different seasons of the 

 year, — yet we have found a great difference, which 

 we know not how to ascribe to any other cause ; 

 and we should be much obliged for observations 

 on this subject. 



We intend the foregoing remarks more espe- 

 cially for those who have large quantities of wood 

 either for the market or to keep over year, and 

 who may wish to preserve it in the best order ; 

 but we have also a few words for such as do busi- 

 ness on a smaller scale. 



We have heard old mechanics say that " the 

 month of March is the best month in the whole 

 year for drying stuff" or timber; and we believe 

 the remark has been foundel on observation. We 

 would not assert that it would season more than in 

 one month of severe drought in summer; but such 

 droughts are very rare in this district; and taking 

 several years together we think the average would 

 best accord with that old saying. We shall there- 

 fore unhesitatingly recommend to every house- 

 keeper to have his wood ready split and piled up 

 to take advantage of the drying veather of that 

 month. 



If the wood stands out, exposed, let it have all 

 the benefit of air and sun-bine >y ranging it in 

 single, rows to the north and soutl. Where chips 

 are plenty they may be heaped 01 the top of the 

 •wood, and rounded so as to shed the rain. We 

 have found it by experience to be in excellent ar- 

 rangement. 



WORKING MEN. 



There are two sorts of labor, firt working for 

 profit — and working for nothing. Persons who 

 have nothing to do, generally havehard Work to 

 live. Let such read the following: 



A late distinguished senator said n the parlia- 

 ment of England, " man is born to labor as the 

 sparks fly upwards." This observatici is founded 

 on a thorough knowledge of the estiuy from 



which none can escape. The idle are always un- 

 happy, nor can mental vigor be preserved without 

 bodily exercise. Neither he who has attained to 

 inordinate wealth, nor he who has reached the 

 greatest heights of human intellect is exempt from 

 the decree, that every man must " work for his 

 living." If the "gentleman" does not work to 

 maintain his family he must to maintain his life ; 



hence he walks, rides, hunts, .-I is, and travels, 



and occupies his limbs as well as his mind ; hence 

 noblemen amuse themselves at the turning lathe, 

 and the workman's bench, or become mail coach- 

 men, " cutter-lads :" ami hence sovereigns some- 

 times " play at being workmen," or, what is worse, 

 at the " game" of war. 



Without exercise the body becomes enfeebled, 

 and the mind loses its tension. Corporeal inac- 

 tivity cannot lie persisted in even with the aid of 

 medicine, without symptoms of an asthenic state. 

 From this deliquium the patient must be relieved 

 in spite of his perverseness, or he becomes a ma- 

 niac or a corpse. Partial remedies render him "a 

 nervous man ;" his only effectual relief is bodily 

 exercise. — Genius of Temperance. 



From the Genesee Farrier. 

 DUNGING IN THE HILL. 



Dunging in the hill appears to us an injudicious 

 method of applying manure, even when the quan- 

 tity is small. It gives to the plant a luxuriant 

 start, provided (he manure is rotted, but too often 

 proves of little value afterwards. It is mostly 

 used in this way upon corn. If the manure is 

 long, or dry, anil di'y weather ensues, it firefimgs 

 or does not rot, and the crop is little benefitted ; 

 ami for the next crop it benefits only parts of the 

 soil where the corn has grown. The small fibres 

 of the roots are the mouths of the plants through 

 which the food passes to the stock. If we exam- 

 ine the roots of corn we shall perceive that they 

 extend as far in the ground as the stocks do above. 

 Hence it will be perceived, that the dung, if plac- 

 ed in the hill, cannot benefit the roots nor materi- 

 ally the plant, after they have extended beyond 

 the circle where it is deposited. Whereas if it is 

 spread and buried in the soil, it benefits them in 

 their whole extent ; there probably not being a 

 square inch of ground in the field into which the 

 roots do not penetrate in search of food. We 

 would thank some of our readers to make an ex- 

 periment, .and communicate to us the result. Let 

 half an acre have ten loads in the hole, and an- 

 other half acre ten loads spread broadcast, and 

 note the product of each in corn aud the crop 

 which follows it. 



SLAUGHTERING ANIMALS WITHOUT PAIN. 



In the Veterinary School at Edinburgh they prac- 

 tise a method of killing horses with comparative- 

 ly no pain, by opening the jugular vein, and insert- 

 ing a metallic tube, the thickness of a quill and 

 blowing in atmospheric air. Three forcible expi- 

 rations from the mouth are sufficient to cause the 

 animal to (lie instantly, with apparently no pain. 

 The " Association to Promote Rational Humanity" 

 would recommend this method for killing cattle, 

 if it should be found expedient. — .V. Y. Farmer. 



Canada thistles. Soon after they made their ap- 

 pearance in the spring of 1832, I carted pomace 

 from my cider mill, and spread it on a patch "t 

 them two or three inches thick ; and on scattering 

 stalks I put a shovel full, and left a heap fur future 

 use. A few stdks showed themselves through 

 the pomace, which I carefully covered up again, 

 treading it down pretty snugly. During the sum- 

 mer of 1833, I closely watched my old bed of 

 Canadians, and think there were but three stalki 

 that made their appearance — those I pulled up. 

 In the fall, I could nof see a single stalk alive." 



If I mistake not, I have mowed these thistles 

 n n in- fifteen years, and do not believe they ever 

 '.v< et tn seed more than once or twice since I first 

 discovered them. A Yankee. 



DOGS AND SHEEP. 



On Saturday night last, two dugs made terrible 

 havoc in a flock of sheep belonging to .Mr. Herman 

 Smith, who resides ill the western pan of this 

 town, near Shepherd's Factory. They killed IS 

 and wounded 1:2 more, most of them mortally, 

 and two are missing. They seemed to be expert 

 butchers ; they hit the slice)) in the heck and let 

 out their blood with as much dexterity as an old 

 wolf. We are informed that other flocks have re- 

 cently suffered some luss from dogs. Yet the dogs 

 cannot he found ; no man is 'willing to acknowledge 

 himself the owner of such villanous dogs. In this 

 state of things, dog-owners need not be surprised 

 if war is declared against the whole canine race. 

 There is a place in Southampton called " Hang- 

 dog Swamp." A hang-dog place is wanted in some 

 other towns, and frequent executions. — Hampshirt 

 Gazette. 



BREEDING. 



A cross of a merino buck, with a Leicester ewe 

 says Sinclair, in the course of four or five genera- 

 tions,will produce fleeces rivalling in fineness Span- 

 ish fleeces. This is on the principle laid down by 

 Cline and other breeders, that the male gives a 

 character to the exterior of the offspring. 



EVERGREENS FOR SHEEP. 



As food for sheep, evergreens are considered 

 rather medicative than nutritive, says Mr. Hogg, 

 in the Transactions of the Highland Society. 

 When obliged to eat them in considerable quanti- 

 ties, and frequently and constantly, loo, they can- 

 not have an effect other than injurious ; but when 

 in smaller quantities, in connexion with other 

 food, they very probably give a strengthening tone 

 to the Stomach. — Genesee Farmer. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 CANADA THISTLES. 



Observing the grass killed, in the spring where 

 pomace had been fed to cattle the fall before, 1 

 took the hint to make an experiment on a bed ol 



LEMON TREE. 



In the green house of the late Hon. T. Bigelow, 

 of Medford, there is a lemon tree, which,, besides 

 its foliage, its buds and flowers, has on it about 

 three hundred lemons. These are, of course, of 

 all sizes, from the smallest to the largest, which 

 are sixteen inches in circumference. The tree is 

 supposed to be about fifty years old. It was given 

 to Mr. Rigelow by the lady of'the late Hon. Wrrw 

 Gray, about twenty-five years ago. It is emphat- 

 ically a perennial, being never without foliage, 

 flowers and fruit. Perhaps some of the credit of 

 rearing and perfecting this splendid exotic may 

 belong to the gardener, whose watchfulness and 

 care have been applied to it during the whole tiiiM 

 that it has been in its present place. — Courier. 



