216 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



and for their gratification, he several times ac- 

 cepted office, for short periods, but never for the 

 vain desire of official distinction, or to the neg- 

 lect of his family or farm. Frank, open and free, 

 you always knew where to find him. He was 

 eminently distinguished for soundness of judg- 

 ment and integrity of character. Gladly would 

 I record ftpccijicalli/ his many virtues, did I not 

 know that they are ineffaceably engraved on the 

 hearts of all who knew him well. He was an 

 admirable illustration of the noblest work of God 

 — "an honest man." P. 



March, 1858. 



Fur the New England Fanner, 

 SCION'S, SEEDS AND SOILS. 



Messrs. Editors : — If I mistake not, the fol- 

 lowing query had, some time ago, a place in your 

 columns ; viz : — "When scions are taken from a 

 fruit tree, and grafted upon stocks raised from 

 the seeds of that same fruit tree, will any advan- 

 tage or detriment result from the practice ? or is 

 it simply immaterial ?" 



No response, from any quarter, was given to 

 this inquiry. Possibly if now repeated, it might 

 attract the notice of some horticulturist, compe- 

 tent, from his own experience, to satisfy the doubt. 



Another point of interest, not yet settled, is 

 this. "In selecting a suitable soil for a fruit tree, 

 should the ground be chosen with reference to 

 the graft, or to the stock ?" In the case of pears 

 on quince stocks, it seems to be conceded that 

 the soil must be adapted to the quince. Yet, on 

 consulting the several fruit books now extant, it 

 will be found that each fruit is described as re- 

 quiring a certain kind of soil, without reference 

 to the stock on which it may be growing. How 

 is this matter to be understood ? As the roots 

 proceed from the stock, it would seem reasojia- 

 ble that the ground should be such as the stock 

 would best thrive in. But, as fruit trees are graft- 

 ed indiscriminately on various stocks, how was it 

 discovered that certain soils were adapted to cer- 

 tain varieties of fruit ? 



If fruit trees can henceforth be grown upon 

 their own roots, byM. Dochmahl's method, or by 

 any other mode, then it will be practicable to as- 

 certain the soil suited to each variety, or if scions 

 may be grafted on seeds obtained from the same 

 tree that produced the scion, it may l)e presumed 

 that the soil would affect both stocks and graft 

 alike, but how the point is to be determined 

 when several varieties of fruit trees are growing 

 on stocks of other unknown vai-ieties, it is surely 

 difficult to understand. Faii East. 



February 23, 1858. 



A SiMrLE Remedy.— A writer in the Balti- 

 more Sun, who has been afflicted severely in his 

 family by that appalling disease, bronchitis, has 

 fount! relief from the following remedy : — Take 

 honey in the comb, squeeze it out, and dilute 

 with a little water, and wet the lips and mouth 

 occasionally with it. It has never been known 

 to fail, in cases where children had throats so 

 swollen as to be unable to swallow. It is cer- 

 tainly a simple remedy, and may be a very effica- 

 cious one. 



DEATH OF COL. NEWELL. 



The intelligence of the death of Col. Newell 

 came to us like one of those unexpected and 

 startling calamities which occasionally arrest the 

 thoughts of man, and show him how true it is 

 that "in the midst of life we are in death." It 

 seems but a week since we saw him with a steady 

 step, a clear eye and comprehensive intellect, ac- 

 tively engaged in the concerns of life, and with 

 earnest desires to promote the happiness of all ; 

 but without a warning note having reached our 

 ear, we heard that he had been called from the 

 earthly scenes which he had so long dignified and 

 adorned. His step has ceased, his eye become 

 dim — but that intellect which guided him so w^ise- 

 ly here, and through which he conferred so many 

 benefits upon his kind, we cannot doubt is al- 

 ready effulgent with new illuminations from the 

 Creative PoAver. 



Col. Newell was well educated as a citizen of 

 the world ; he was gentle and unassuming in his 

 manners, discriminating and sound in his judg- 

 ments and firm in his opinions, though he never 

 pressed the latter upon his listener. Though of- 

 ten called to the discharge of public duties, he 

 preferred rural life, and found his chief enjoy- 

 ments in the bosom of his family and in the con- 

 genial occupations of the farm. 



He had long been an influential member of the 

 Essex county agricultural society, acting for sev- 

 eral years as us President, and was an active and 

 useful member of the State Board of Agriculture, 

 where his unostentatious and winning manners, 

 and the general correctness of his views, led all 

 to look upon him as a safe adviser. 



Let us cherish his memory and emulate his vir- 

 tues, and be ready for the call which summoned 

 him in the midst of his labors and usefulness, 

 and like a shock of corn ripe in its season. 



A Nice Point of Law. — I heard this anec- 

 dote from a gentleman long resident in Philadel- 

 phia. Two Quakers in that place applied to their 

 society, as they do not go to law, to decide in the 

 following difficulty. A. is uneasy about a ship 

 that ought to have arrived, meets B., an insurer, 

 and states his wish to have the vessel insured. 

 The matter is agreed upon. A. returns home 

 and receives a letter informing him of the loss of 

 his ship. What shall he do ? He is afraid the 

 policy is not filled up, and should B. hear of the 

 matter soon, it is all over with him; he therefore 

 writes to B. thus: '-Friend B., if thee hasn't fill- 

 ed up the policy, thee needn't, for I've heard of 

 the ship." "O, O !" thinks B. to himself, "cun- 

 ning fellow ; he wants to do me out of the pre- 

 mium." So he writes thus to A. : "Friend A., 

 thee be'st too late by half an hour ; the jjolicy is 

 ffiled." A. rubs his hands with delight ; yet B. 

 refuses to pay. Well, what is the decision ? The 

 loss is divided between them. — Itev. JoJin Eagles, 

 in Blackwood's Magazine. 



