1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



107 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



JIANUKK — ASHES. 

 What is the best method of applying manure 

 to the land, to spread or apply it to the hill ? 

 Are not ashes good for dryish lands ? 



L. C. Darling. 

 Westminster, Vt., Jan., 1858. 



Remarks. — As a general rule, it is the quick- 

 est, easiest, and most economical Avay to spread 

 manure and plow or harrow it in. If some warm 

 and stimvdating substance could be applied to 

 the hill where corn is planted, it gives it an early 

 start, and is very useful. Ashes are excellent for 

 this purpose, and so are the droppings of the hen- 

 house, mixed with muck, loam or sand. 



Ashes are useful on most lands, but especially 

 on soils that are rather dry. 



ABOUT HOT-HOUSES FOR GRAPES. 



I am about building a hot-house for the culture 

 of grapes, principally, but being a novice at the 

 business, need some reliable advice as to the 

 structure, &c. I had contemplated building one 

 16 by 40 feet, and 8 feet high at side. What 

 would be the best mode of building one of those 

 dimensions? What sized glass, and if the glass 

 should lajJ or be matched ? If the north side is 

 much exposed, should it be built of stone ? Also 

 what is the best mode of heating, and to what 

 temperature should the enclosed surface be low- 

 ered ? Also, any other advice that is necesssary. 

 If you have any work on the culture of grapes, 

 please state the price and name, and I will send 

 for one. B. S. A ee. 



Providence, 1858. 



Remarks. — Perhaps Mr. Bull, of Concord, will 

 give our correspondent some hints in the matter. 

 Chorlton's "Grape Grower's Guide," price 60 cts., 

 and Allen's "Treatise on the Grape," price $1,25, 

 are excellent works. Leuchars on the "Construc- 

 tion and Management of Hot-houses" is more 

 elaborate, but is invaluable to one who desires 

 to construct a hot-house of any size. 



LIME AND MUCK COMPOST. 



1. What length of time should a compost of 

 lime and peat mud or salt mud be mixed to make 

 it suitable to apply to the soil for a crop ? 



2. What proportion of lime should be used 

 Vith the mud ? 



3. Which is best, the shell lime or common 

 lime ? 



4. Should it be water slaked or air slaked ? 



5. Should it be thoroughly pulverized and 

 mixed, or can a laying of mud, five, six or eight 

 inches thick be put down, and then a sprinkling 

 of lime be used ? A. D. M. 



Hy minis, Jan., 1858. 



Remarks. — 1. A compost bed of muck and 

 lime may be safely used in one week after it has 

 been thoroughly mingled ; but it would be riper 

 and better if suffered to lay a longer time. 



2. On clayey lands five or six bushels of lime 

 to a cord of muck would not be too much, but on 



common loams one or two bushels will answer 

 very well. 



3. It is said that shell lime, when well burned, 

 is stronger than stone lime. 



4. The lime should be water slaked, because 

 in this condition it is quite soluble, but is very 

 slowly so after it has been exposed to the atmo- 

 sphere and become like chalk. 



5. Prepare the compost heap in layers, and af- 

 ter it has remained so for several days, or weeks, 

 according to the time when it is wanted for use, 

 overhaul the whole by cutting down perpendicu- 

 larly through it, and pulverize and mix it thor- 

 oughly. It is then ready to be applied to the soil. 



BOARDS OF AGRICULTURE. 



I jierceive by the journals that come to hand, 

 that organizations of this character are now in 

 full tide of successful experiment in Maine, New 

 Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, &c. I 

 know of no modern improvement better fitted for 

 the instruction of the people, than the proper or- 

 ganizations and management of farmers' clubs. 

 I am pleased to see our own Gov. Banks taking 

 hold of the plow at the first Legislative meeting 

 of farmers, and promising his co-operating aid. 

 What better thing can he do ? Are not three- 

 fourths of all his constituents directly dependent 

 on the culture of the soil for their living and 

 their happiness ? As the head of the farmers' 

 club, the Governor has one of the best fields for 

 honorable and useful labor. Essex. 



January 28, 1858. 



A LUSUS NATURJE. 



Mr. Brown : — Mr. Albert Claflin, of this town, 

 had a cow whose time expired to calve on the 8th 

 of April last ; the calf did not make its appear- 

 ance. He milked her a short time and turned 

 her out to grass. In December, (eight months 

 after,) he butchered her and found the calf in a 

 perfect state of preservation, enclosed in a hard, 

 dark substance. It is something new to me, hav- 

 ing never heard or seen anything of the kind be- 

 fore. S. D. Davenport. 



Hopkinton, Jan. 11, 1858. 



A fine heifer calf, 

 Daniel Knowles, of Newton, raised last 

 season a heifer calf which at six months and ten 

 days old weighed 510 lbs. ; of native breed. M. 



To "E. IL," Itutland, Mass. — It is impossible for 

 us to give you any suggestion of value in rela- 

 tion to your cow, from the symptoms you de- 

 scribe. The difl^culty is probably local and tem- 

 porary, and will yield to the ordinary remedies 

 of mil-d cathartics or injections. 



^° The Children's Mission Society of this city 

 will send out another delegation of children to the 

 West about the lirst of April next. An agent of 

 the Society will attend them, and procure suitable 

 homes. 



