294 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



ly perform the work upon the farm except upon 

 large holdings. Your New England farmer does 

 well to talk about neatness and ornaments around 

 dwelling-houses, planting orchai-ds and flower- 

 gardens ; and you, yourself, set him at work to 

 drain his land. Poor farmer ! he can have but 

 little time for Sundays. We have not lost four 

 ■weeks in three winters — the three last I mean — 

 else the horses and men have been at work. The 

 draining has all been done in winter ; we have 

 an unlimited staff, and we nei^er get all our Avoi'k 

 done that is set out. Hoxo then do ijou manage 

 to perform, tlie requisite loork within the jyroper 

 time") Your people must be killing themselves, 

 I should think, and your animals have some sore 

 shoulders, I should guess, sometimes. 



We have had a most singular autumn and win- 

 ter — no wind for three months after harvest, and 

 the leaves staid upon all the trees until the end 

 of November. I should think our woods were 

 nearly as beautiful as your own forest scenery 

 that you so well descril)e. The apples would 

 have staid upon the trees until Christmas, and 

 many of the pears did so. M. gathered a dessert- 

 plate full of raspberries at the Moor on the 8th 

 of December. We have had no rain until to-day, 

 and but one inch of snow, and that drifted ; we 

 have only lost five days with the horses all win- 

 ter. I have set 33 acres beans, which are up ; 

 153 acres barley, most of it is up ; 20 acres oats. 

 I have 10 acres of Swede turnips to eat off with 

 the fat sheep, and then sow with barley, and 

 then the seed-time will be finished for this spring, 

 excepting clovers, rye-grass, &c., which, as we 

 now put them in with the broad drill, we leave 

 until more at liberty than was usual formerly. 



All the land that is for turnips this season has 

 been plowed — cross-plowed — twice three-horse 

 dragged — twice harrowed, and is now, when dry 

 enough, ready for the roll. Some has been raked 

 and is ready for the third plowing. Wheats about 

 here will cover a hare, are very dark in color, 

 and having been growing ail winter, is rather 

 too thick, but not dangerously so. There has 

 not been such a winter since after the long sum- 

 mer of 1826. The mangolds are doing good ser- 

 vice now ; we are giving them to the ewes and 

 lambs. They are the best article for milk that 

 ever was used for that purpose ; if you attempt 

 them on your own place, do not forget the salt. 



I should very much have liked to hear your 

 lectures upon us all, last winter. I rather think 

 we should not have found them all compliments. 



We have received several copies of the Far- 

 mer, a report from the Patent Office, and news- 

 papers. We have read all with pleasure, but with 

 most interest look out your own contributions. 

 That article of yours in the Patent Office report 

 on draining, is well, done, particularly well done. 

 W. seems to hesitate about sending anything to 

 the Farmer. He says the contributors to that 

 paper farm the same as our Midland Counties. 

 Where there is a difference, it is in favor of 

 America. They appear to understand their busi- 

 ness thoroughly. 



We shall be glad to see all the Farmers that 

 contain your letters ; please advise how to remit 

 the subscription. 



Trusting that we shall continue to hear from 

 you, believe me very sincerely, yours faithfully, 



IUlpii Lowe. 



JFor the New Englarui Farmer. 

 FAKMING IN LEBANON, CONNECTICUT. 



Mr. Editor : — Lebanon is considered one of 

 the best towns in New London county for rais- 

 ing general crops ; such as grain of all kinds, 

 and potatoes, which are generally very produc- 

 tive. Considerable attention has, of late, been 

 paid to the raising of onions, of which almost 

 every farmer has a small patch, and they are a 

 very profitable crop. Almost all the new kinds 

 of seed have been tried, to some extent. Of the 

 new kinds of corn we have tried the King Phil- 

 ip, Wyandot and Rhode Island Premium. Of 

 these three kinds I shall class the Rhode Island 

 Premium as No. 1, as it yields more corn to the 

 acre than either of the others, although the 

 King Philip is a very good kind, and I doubt 

 not, a very profitable kind to raise. 



We have tried all the new kinds of manures ; 

 such as guano, and phosphate of lime, &c. Guano 

 does very well on some kinds of soil, but, as a 

 general thing, we do not think it pays very well. 



We have some fine stock here. Many of the 

 farmers have adopted a rule of raising from three 

 to seven good likely calves every spring, and as 

 soon as they get to giving milk, if they have any 

 cows which are not good milkers, they are fatted, 

 and *^heir place made good by the heifers, and so 

 on, from year to year until they get a good herd 

 of cows. 



Sheep are also raised to some extent, but most 

 of the land is better calculated for raising other 

 stock. H. P. 



Lebanon, Conn., 1858. 



VALUE OF BUCK^WHEAT. 



A late issue of ITnnt's Merchant's Magazine, in 

 an article upon buckwheat, thus speaks of it con- 

 cerning its properties as an edible : — "Consider- 

 ing the good qualities of buckwheat, it is proba- 

 bly less appreciated than any other bread grain. 

 Writers on agricultural products seem to eschew 

 it as food for man, and regard it only as a mis- 

 chievous adulteration of wheat flour, or as a pro- 

 duct of poor soil for cattle. It is of a totally dif- 

 ferent family of plants from the cereals, and will 

 flourish on sandy hill-sides which are barren for 

 other grain. It is probably the most easily cul- 

 tivated, and the cheapest bread grain in the 

 world. It is extensively cultivated in Belgium 

 and some parts of France, where it forms the ba- 

 sis of food for the inhabitants. Though its prop- 

 erties are very different from wheat, it is, never- 

 theless, quite as rich in all important compounds, 

 and in extremely cold weather, it is more sub- 

 stantial than wheat. It is, however, less digesti- 

 ble, and apt to disagree with weak stomachs, or 

 persons unaccustomed to it. By analysis, buck- 

 wheat is second to wheat, in gluten, but deficient 

 in starch. By the addition of one-fourth quanti- 

 ty of oat, or Indian meal to buckwheat flrur, the 

 bread is very much improved." 



Warm Water for Cattle. — Mr. Peter Mal- 

 bon, Jr., of this town, has devised a very curious 

 and ingenious plan to warm water for his cattle, 

 as Avell as to prevent the water from collecting 

 in the tub. It consists of a small cast iron chest, 

 or box, about twelve inches square, made water- 



