1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



191 



supplied ; but I wish Mrs. Barlow or somebody 

 else would tell me by what right we spend pre- 

 cious time — God's precious gift to man — in 

 changing articles from better to worse and in 

 preserving them with great pains and care, while 

 there are so many around us in the world who 

 need something more essential to earth and hea- 

 ven both than butter. I should like to know by 

 what right we are at the pains to make butter 

 and spread on our bread and — monstmm liorren- 

 ditm — mix it in almost all our dishes, while thou- 

 sands and millions have not bread (of earth or 

 heaven) even without any butter to eat, or rai- 

 ment (moral or spiritual) to put on. Your cor- 

 respondents must know that I am not insensible 

 to compliments on the one hand, nor to reproach 

 and ridicule on the other. I have other reasons 

 for my remarks, both here and elsewhere, than 

 the love of approbation. 



But I have run on at greater length than I in- 

 tended. Mrs. B. and others must be a little cau- 

 tious about calling me out, if they have a strong 

 antipathy to long articles. w. A. A. 



Auhurndale, March, 1858. 



Por the New England Farmer 

 VALUE OF MUCK. 



The compost heap is of great importance, and 

 could every farmer realize its worth, one extra 

 link would be added to the chain of agricultural 

 improvement. Facts will convince many a stub- 

 born will. And facts enough can be obtained to 

 wake up any farmer to a sense of the importance 

 of using muck. 



In the year of 1850, my father had a piece of 

 land, worj; out by continual cropping. Having 

 ])lenty of muck, fifty loads were hauled and emp- 

 tied with ten bushels of ashes to the load. A 

 hole was then dug in the centre, and three barrels 

 of stone lime was put in. Water enough M-as 

 poured on to slake it. The lime was covered 

 with weeds, straw and muck. In the fall it was 

 drawn out and thoroughly plowed in. The next 

 spring the land was sown to wheat and stocked 

 down. From the two acres that the compost was 

 spread on, we harvested forty bushels of nice 

 wheat. Since then the land has produced good 

 crops of hay, and worn better than land manured 

 with long manure the same season. 



The winter is an excellent time to haul muck 

 if preparation has been made before l)y shovel- 

 ing up. Mr. Holbrook's practical answers to IMr. 

 Dimon's questions are of great value, and farm- 

 ing in New England can be and is made profita- 

 ble by the scientific farmer. Maple. 



Caledonia Co., Vt., 1858. 



A New Tree Protector. — Many contrivan- 

 ces have been resorted to in order to 2:)rotect our 

 fruit and even ornamental trees from the rava- 

 ges of insects — particularly the canker worm, 

 who has annually denuded a great many of the 

 finest trees in this State. The article of which 

 we now speak is a new device, and Ave think will 

 outwit any bug that "cannot take wings and fly." 

 For if he ascends the stem of the tree, he soon 

 finds an effectual stopper ; and if he descends by 



the trap, he is surely a "gone bug." He may as- 

 cend the trunk of the tree, up to the trap, and de- 

 scend again as many times as he pleases, if that is 

 any comfort to him, but he can only reach the 

 branches of the tree by his wings. It cannot fail, 

 we think, to prove effectual. It is simple in its 

 construction, and extremely cheap. 



It is the invention of Mr. Josiah Foster, of 

 Sandwich, Mass., who is ready to dispose of 

 rights for towns or counties, at moderate prices, 

 on application to him in person or by letter. As 

 a portion of the Protector is made of tin, workers 

 of that article will be' proper persons to manufac- 

 ture them. A sample may be seen at this office. 



For Hie New England Farmer. 

 LABOR OF BOYS. 



Is it worth anything or is it not ? At the State 

 Reform School the moderate allowance of tea 

 cents a day for each day's labor has lieen made, 

 and those who have made it complain that this 

 is a reason why they cannot make both ends meet, 

 on the farm. We see it reiterated in all the pa- 

 pers, that at the late meeting of the Board of 

 Agriculture, it was concluded that the labor of 

 the boys was no benefit. In fact, I have heard 

 this distinctly averred by prominent members of 

 the Board. If this be so, there must be a stitch 

 down somewhere, either in the government of the 

 boys or in those who superintend the labor. 



In my neighborhood, from the first of April to 

 the first of Nov., the labor of active, healthy boys 

 from the age of ten to sixteen years is in great 

 demand, and such boys will command half as 

 much wages as common men. Why, then, can- 

 not boys on a farm in the county of Worcester 

 be made to earn their living as well as in the 

 county of Essex ? Will it be said that the boys 

 at the Reform School are not generally so old as 

 those above named ? But surely out of six hun- 

 dred, one hundred, at least, can be found of this 

 age. My interest in the success of this Institu- 

 tion, must be mv apology for these suggestions. 



February 6, 1858. *^* 



Remarks. — We are no less surprised, than is 

 our correspondent, at the statements we have 

 seen in the public papers, purporting to give the 

 proceedings of a meeting of the members of the 

 Board of Agriculture, that the labor of the boys 

 on the farm attached to the Reform School is a 

 hill of cost to the Board, at ten cents per day for 

 each boy ! If this declaration is sanctioned by 

 the Board, we believe it labors under error, — for 

 we do not believe that every hired man on the 

 farm during weeding time last summer, could 

 have tended the root crops alone that were raised. 

 We certainly should be glad to pay 15 cents per 

 day for such boys in weeding time, and pay for 

 superintending them. We hope the Board will 

 correct the error, if it be one, or show us the 

 facts to sustain the assertion. 



