350 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



ages of the moths after they have commenced 

 eating. Then they pay no regard to the presence 

 of camphor, cedar or tobacco ; in fact, I rather 

 think they enjoy the hitter, if anything else than 

 humanity can. Nor will the dreaded and incon- 

 venient taking up and heating always insure suc- 

 cess, for I tried it faithfully, and, while nailing it 

 down, found several of the worms 'alive and kick- 

 ing,' that had remained under the pile unharmed. 

 I conquered them wholly in this way : I took a 

 coarse crash towel and WTung it out of clean 

 water, and spread it smoothly on the carpet, then 

 ironed it dry with a good hot iron, repeating the 

 operation on all suspected places, and those least 

 used. It does not injure the pile 6r color of the 

 carpet in the least, as it is not necessary to press, 

 heat and steam being the agents ; and they do 

 the work effectually on worms and eggs. Then 

 the camphor will doubtless prevent future depre- 

 dations of the miller." — Dollar Newspaper. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 

 SURFACE APPLICATION OP MAWUHE. 



AVhere the purpose is to secure good crops of 

 grass, I am inclined to believe this can be most 

 succesfuUy done, by applying the dressing at a 

 proper time, directly upon the surface. My faith 

 in this belief was strongly confirmed yesterday 

 by a view of the grounds of an intelligent gentle- 

 man who had dressed them in this manner only 

 for a series of years ; and I never saw better as- 

 surance of fine crops. I queried, whether it would 

 not have been better to have turned over the 

 sod, and mingled Aie manure with the sod, to 

 save it fi'om evaporation. In reply, he said, 

 v/hat do you want better* than the present pros- 

 pect of a crop ? There will grow as much as can 

 conveniently be cured upon the land, and the ex- 

 pense of fertilizing has not been one-third as 

 much, as to have plowed the ground*; more than 

 this, the appearance of the field is smoother and 

 more complete, than it could be made after re- 

 peated plowings. I was thrown into a quandary 

 by the argument. If any of our cultivators, of 

 long experience, who have been accustomed to 

 turn anew their fields, once in ten years or often- 

 er, can tell why they do it, I should be glad to 

 hear from them. As at present advised, I believe 

 the best crops of grass grown in this vicinity, are 

 brought about by judicious top-dressings. I 

 know this to be true, where kelp and other like 

 articles can be obtained from the sea-shore, to 

 spread upon the land. I know of fields of twen- 

 ty acres or more, that can be relied on for two 

 tons to the acre, at the first cutting, and one at 

 the second, the sod of which has not been started 

 for the last twenty years ; these are the fields for 

 the use of the horse-power moioer. What kind, 

 Mr. Editor, do you recommend to be purchased? 

 Now is the time to prepare for the work. 



June 5, 1858. Essex. 



every year as soon as the crop was cut, would run 

 out in one hundred years. It might be necessary, 

 occasionally, to leave the crop until some of the 

 seed had fallen, or to scatter seed upon it with 

 the top-dressing if the crop were always taken 

 off before the seed had ripened. 



It is a heavy bill of cost to re-seed our mowing 

 lands as often as we do, and we hope this note 

 of our correspondent will call out the views of 

 others on the subject. 



TOADS, 



Never destroy the toad. We are assured that 

 "nothing is made in vain," and a very slight 

 knowledge of natural history will show us that 

 even the toad — the most universally deprecated 

 of all reptiles, perhaps with the exception of the 

 viper — may be of some use. In the first place 

 we discover that toads feed on all kinds of grubs 

 and worms ; consequently they serve to protect 

 the vegetable kingdom from the ravages of its 

 most insidious and destructive foes. The pestif- 

 erous canker-worm is a favorite food with him, 

 and he devours indiscriminately, and in large 

 numbers, for his dilating powers, and capacity of 

 deglutition almost rival those of the anaconda. 

 Craving only the protection of a turf or chip, he 

 labors incessantly for man's benefit, and demands 

 for his invaluable services no guerdon as a re- 

 ward. The antipathy cherished by some towards 

 the toad, is the consequence of perverted views, 

 and should be con-ected. In itself it is a source 

 of misery to those by whom it is indulged, and 

 the cause of cruelty to the innocent and unoff'end- 

 ing. Hence it is a disgrace to our nature, which, 

 illuminated by the divine scintillations of science, 

 should see beyond the blinding mists of preju- 

 dice, and recognize the wisdom and goodness of 

 Providence even in its most abject creations. — 

 Cowper, the poet of nature, discourses admirably 

 upon this subject. — Germantown Telegrapli. 



Remarks. — The practice is rapidly gaining 

 ground of keeping moist lands in grass, and of 

 top-dressing them once in three years at least, 

 and oftener where manure can be had. It is 

 hardly probable that an acre of naturally good 

 land, at the same time moist, slightly top-dressed 



ABOUT THE BIEDS. 



The JVaiional Intelligencer gives the following 

 beautiful instance of the kindness towards each 

 other by birds : 



"A gentleman observed in a thicket of bushes 

 near his dwelling a collection of brown thrushes, 

 who for several days had attracted his attention 

 by their loud cries and strange movements. At 

 last curiosity was so much excited, that he de- 

 termined to see if he could ascertain the cause of 

 the excitement among them. On examining the 

 bushes he found a female thrush, whose wing 

 was caught in a limb in such a way that she 

 could not esca])e. Near by was her nest, con- 

 taining several half-grown birds. On retiring a 

 little distance, a company of thrushes approached 

 with worms and other insects in their mouths, 

 which they would give first to the mother, and 

 then to her young, she in the meantime cheering 

 them in their labor of love with a song of grati- 

 tude. After watching the interesting sight until 

 curiosity was satisfied, the gentleman relieved 

 the poor bird, when she flew to her nest with a 

 grateful song to her deliverer, and her charitable 

 neighbors dispersed to their usual abodes, sing- 

 ing as they went a song of praise." 



