18 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



We have thus undertaken to show, that the 

 practice of manuring on the surface is not incon- 

 sistent with admitted chemical principk^s, when 

 properly applied ; and we submit the explanation 

 to the judgment of practical men, familiar with 

 the processes of fai-m management. — American 

 Farmer. 



For the New England Fanner. 



HOW TO KEEP PARSNIPS FOB WINTER 

 AND SPRING USE. 



Let them remain in the ground as long as they 

 can, without danger of being frozen in for the 

 winter. Then dig them, cut off the tops, and 

 pack them in boxes, barrels, or casks of any kind, 

 cover them with moist earth, shaking it down so 

 as to fill pretty solid ; cover over the tops so as to 

 keep out too much wet, and let them stand out of 

 doors until they are well frozen, then move the 

 vessels into the cellar, being careful not to disturb 

 ^he roots, and let the frost work out graduaHy. 

 The best parsnips that I have ever eaten were 

 treated in this manner, and they were in fine eat- 

 ing order, from the middle of January to the mid- 

 dle of June. Those that follow the old method of 

 letting their parsnips remain in the ground until 

 spring, cannot know how much they lose in good 

 eating, and economy. I think that parsnips would 

 be a profitable crop to cultivate for feeding stock, 

 particularly swine, since the failure of the potato. 

 To insure a good crop, and good roots, be very 

 particular in the choice of seed ; always choose 

 the largest, smoothest, and best shaped roots to 

 raise seed from, and see that no wild parsnips are 

 suffered to grow in their neighborhood. 



Mks. N. Darling. 



New Haven, Conn., Nov. 6th, 1857. 



HOW CAN SETTING HENS BE TAUGHT 

 TO FORSAKE THE LAZY HABIT ? 



Make a small open pen, of laths, or some simi- 

 lar material, in one corner of your hen-house, 

 about eight inches wide, and of any convenient 

 length and height. Let one of the laths or slats 

 be so secui'ed that it may be easily taken out, or 

 moved one side, so that a hen may be convenient- 

 ly passed into or taken out of the pen. On the 

 bottom of this pen, and running lengthwise 

 through it, set up a couple of laths on edge, and 

 fasten them about the same distance from each 

 other, and from the sides of the pen. Run a small 

 perch across the pen and the work is done. When 

 a hen wishes to set, put her in there. She will 

 soon find that she can walk leisurely upon the 

 floor, or roost comfortably u^Don the perch, but 

 she can't set without "riding on a rail," and that, 

 they seem to think, isn't decorous. The length 

 of time for which they will have to be confined 

 will vary somewhat, and in obstinate cases it may 

 be necessary to put a few pegs or tacks into the 

 edges of the laths. — Genesee Farmer. 



Hens. — If the legs of hens become broken, 

 the^' will lay their eggs without shells until the 

 fracture is repaired, all the lime in the circulation 

 being employed for the purpose- of reuniting the 

 bones. — Ohio Valley Farmer. 



HYBRIDIZATION. 



Mr. Brown : — In reading the address deliver- 

 ed by A. R. Pope, before the Middlesex A;p-ictd- 

 tiiral Society, I noticed a few remarks upon the 

 hybridized ion of idants. Will you please inform 

 me through the columns of the Farmer, concern- 

 ing the manner in which it is performed. 



A. DeWolf. 



Deerfield, Mass., Oct. 12th, 1857. 



Remarks. — Shake the pollen or dust of the 

 blossoms of one species into the blossom of anoth- 

 er, and that makes a cross, and is called hybridi- 

 zation. The subject is one of interest, and ought 

 to be better understood than it is. We have ex- 

 amined some authorities, and give the following 

 as a brief illustration of the principles involved 

 in the process. 



Observing that farmers who rear cattle improve 

 the progenj^ by means of crossing the breed, Mr. 

 Knight argued from analogy, that the same im- 

 provement might be introduced into vegetables. 

 His principal object was that of procuring new 

 and improved varieties of the apple and pear, to 

 supply the place of such as had become diseased 

 and unproductive. But as the necessary slowness 

 of all experiments of the kind, with regard to the 

 fruit in question, did not keep pace with the ar- 

 dor of his desire to obtain information on the 

 subject, he was induced to institute some experi- 

 ments upon the common pea ; a plant well suited 

 to his purjiose, both from its quickness of growth, 

 and from the many varieties in form, size and 

 color which it afforded. In 1787, a degenerate 

 sort of pea was growing in his garden, which had 

 not recovered its former vigor even when removed 

 to a better soil. Being thus a good subject of ex- 

 periment, the male organs of a dozen of its im- 

 mature blossoms were destroyed, and the female 

 organs left entire. When the blossoms had at- 

 tained their mature state, the pollen of a very 

 large and luxuriant grey pea was introduced into 

 the one-half of them, but not into the other. The 

 pods of both grew equally ; but the seeds of the 

 half that were unimpregnated, withered away 

 without having augmented beyond the size to 

 which they had attained before the blossoms ex- 

 panded. The seeds of the other half were aug- 

 mented and matured, as in the ordinary process 

 of impregnation ; and exhibited no perceptible 

 difference from those of other plants of the same 

 variety ; perhaps because the external covering 

 of the seed was furnished by the female. But 

 when they were made to vegetate in the succeed- 

 ing spring, the effect of the experiment was obvi- 

 ous. The plants rose with great luxuriance, in- 

 dicating in their stem, leaves, and fruit, the in- 

 flence of this artificial impregnation ; the seeds 

 produced were of a dark grey. By impregnating 

 the flowers of this variety with the pollen of oth- 



