158 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



NEW ROCHELLE BLACKBERRY — CHERRY 

 CURRANTS. 



Can you tell me the price of the new Rochelle 

 blackberry plants, and where they are to be had ? 

 also the best mode of cultivating them ? What 

 season is the best for transplanting ? How many 

 plants are required to set out one-fourth of an 

 acre ? 



Do you know anything concerning the cherry 

 currant ? and where the plants are to be had ? 



A Subscriber. 



West Henniher, N. II., Aug. 10, 1858. 



Remarks. — We do not know the price of the 

 New Rochelle blackberry. You may have as 

 many plants as you please by sending to our gar- 

 den and taking them away, even to the last plant. 

 We have nourished and cherished them for three 

 years, and have not yet produced a dozen berries 

 fit to eat. They sometimes grow very large, and 

 are sour in proportion See another article in this 

 paper about cherry currants. 



suckers among corn. 



I have worked on several farms, and on some 

 of them we cut the sucker away at the second 

 time hoeing ; on others we did not cut them 

 away at any time. Where we left them, the ears 

 were small ; and where they were cut off, the 

 ears were large and thrifty. Why should they 

 do any good ? The sap that flows into the suck- 

 er does the ear of corn no good, but takes good- 

 ness away from it. F. C. SiLVLLER. 



Essex, Mass., 1858. 



Remarks. — We suppose the sucker bears the 

 same relation to the stalk of corn to which it is 

 attached, that side limbs or twigs do to a young 

 tree, elaborating the sap and sending it on to 

 perfect the fruit. 



WHITE CROWS AND SWALLOWS. 



I saw it stated that a boy in Georgia, a short 

 time since, killed a white crow which was flying 

 with a flock of black ones. 



I saw, a few days ago, a white swallow flying 

 with a flock of black ones, skipping over the wa- 

 ter and mounting into the air. It resembled the 

 black swallow in every form, as nigh as I could 

 see. The question is, where did it come from ? 



Brandon, Vt. L. F. 



QUERY ABOUT A HORSE I HAVE. 



I have a horse somewhat above twenty years of 

 age, who is perfectly sound and well while feed- 

 ing on grass, but feeding on hay, and especially 

 on clover, is so relaxed as to be almost unvit for 

 use. Can any of your numerous readers or cor- 

 respondents specify a cure for the above disorder ? 



South Scituate, Aug., 1858. m. f. 



POISON PLANTS IN MEADOWS. 



Will some of the correspondents of the Far- 

 mer inform me what will cure the poisorj of dog- 

 wood and ivy, as many suffer from the effects of 

 .'.t in this section of the country, and oblige a sub- 

 scriber. N. M. 



Atkinson, N. H., Aug., 1858. 



EDUCATION OF GIRLS. 



The subject of physical education is beginning 

 to attract attention. The following remarks are 

 from the Boston Courier, written by the editor 

 after having attended a school festival in Fan- 

 euil Hall : "But there was one thing we noticed 

 which did throw a little shadow over our thoughts. 

 We stood on the platform, very near the boys 

 and girls, as they passed by to receive a bouquet 

 at the hands of the Mayor. We could not help 

 observing that not one girl in ten had the air and 

 look of good health. There were very many love- 

 ly countenances — lovely with an expression of 

 intellect and goodness — but they were like fair 

 flowers resting upon a fragile stalk. Narrow 

 chests, round shoulders, meagre forms, pallid 

 cheeks, were far too common. There was a gen- 

 eral want in their movements of the buoyant 

 vivacity of youth and childhood. The heat of 

 the day and nervous exhaustion of the occasion 

 were to be taken into the account, and due allow- 

 ance should be made for them. But this was not 

 the first time that we were forced to the conclu- 

 sion that here in Boston, in the education of girls, 

 the body is lamentably neglected. And it is a 

 very great and serious neglect, the consequences 

 of which will not end with the sufferers them- 

 selves. Of what use is it to learn all sorts of 

 things during the first sixteen years of life, and 

 to stuff the brain with all kinds of knowledge, 

 if the pi-ice be a feeble or diseased body ? A 

 finely endowed mind shut up in a sickly body is 

 like a bright light in a broken lantern, liable to 

 be blown out by a puS" of wind or extinguished 

 by a dash of rain. 



"If the destiny of women were to be put under 

 a glass and looked at, like a flower, it would be 

 of little consequence ; but woman must take her 

 part in performing the duties and sustaining the 

 burdens of life. These young medal scholars, in 

 due time, will marry men whose lot it is to earn 

 their bread by'some kind of toil, in which their 

 wives must needs aid them. To this service they 

 will bring an intelligent capacity and a conscien- 

 tious purpose ; but how far will these go Avithouf 

 health and the cheerful spirits vrhich health gives? 

 A sickly wife is no helpmate, but a hindermate. 

 If we neglect the body the body will have its re- 

 venge. And are we not doing this ? Are we not 

 throwing our whole educational force upon the 

 brain? Is not a healthy city born and bred wo- 

 man getting to be as rare as a black swan ? And 

 is it not time to reform this altogether ? Is it 

 not time to think something of the casket as well 

 as the jewel — something of the lantern as well as 

 the light?" 



II^° Hale's experiments show that a sunflower, 

 bulk for bulk, imbibes and perspires seventeen 

 times more fresh liquor than a man, every twenty- 

 four hours. Lawes' experiments "on the amount 

 of water given off by plants during their growth," 

 show that the clover on an acre that would afford 

 two tons of hay, absorbs from the soil and gives 

 ofi" from its leaves 430 tons of water in 101 days, 

 or eight thousand six hundred pounds per day. 

 Those who allow clover, grass, weeds, or any 

 other plants, to grow among their fruit trees or 

 any cultivated crop, should not complain of 

 drought. — Genesee Farmer. 



