1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



463 



are always to be found, where they are accus- 

 tomed to perch, as well as in their breeding 

 places, and has given rise to the notion in the old 

 writers, that they build their nests of fish bones ! 

 The kingfisher is very generally found through- 

 out the United States, and frequents all the large 

 rivers in the far countries, up to the 67th de- 

 gree of latitude. 



Danvers-Port, Aug. Atli, 1858. 



SIGNS OF THE BIPENESS OF GRAPES. 



To produce a good wine, it is most important 

 to know the external signs the grapes will have 

 when perfectly ripe — each wine-grower should be 

 well acquainted with them. But still a great 

 many, even knowing thsse signs, will gather 

 their grapes before full maturity, for the sake of 

 gaining more wine — their principle is quantity, 

 not quality. The signs are — 



1. The stem of the grape should be of a brown 

 color. 



2. The cuticle of the berry must be clear and 

 transparent. 



3. The berries should separate easily from the 

 stem. 



4. The seed must be of a brown color. 



5. The juice must be sweet and sticky. 

 Do not cut the grapes early in the morning, 



with the dew on them, nor during rainy weather, 

 nor shortly after a rain. 



Pick out the berries stung by wasps, or other 

 insects, as these commonly have a putrid and 

 sour taste. The unripe or green berries should 

 also be carefully removed. 



The precise time of perfect ripeness can only 

 be discovered by chemical analysis, when the rel- 

 ative quantity of sugar and acids can easily be 

 determined. The change of gum, dextrine and 

 acids into sugar can easily be ascertained ; and a 

 suspension of transformation, or a consequent 

 retrogade action, would show the real time of 

 perfect maturity. L. Rehfuss. 



When shall we have these critical and chemi- 

 cal analyses, which so often prove of great value. 

 Ed. West. Horticulturist. 



The American Staple. — The Egg Crop. — It 

 is estimated that there are 103,600,000 laying 

 fowls in the country, of which 50,000,000 lay one 

 egg a day throughout the year. This would give 

 the annual crop of 18,250,000,000 eggs, and these 

 at eight cents a dozen,would be worth $121,666,- 

 666 ! — Buffalo Express, Aug. 4. 



The cotton crop of the United States, estimated 

 at the seaboard, according to the census of 1850, 

 amount to $78,264,927. Estimated at the same 

 point — that is, according to New York prices to- 

 day — the egg crop of the United States would 

 amount to $259,011,666, or twice as much as the 

 cotton, tobacco, rice, hay, hemp and sugar crops 

 of the slave States put together. Adopting the 

 estimate of the Buff"alo print, the average of eggs 

 consumed by each inhabitant of the United States 

 each day is about two. — New York Post. 



I^^A farmer returning home in his wagon, af- 

 ter delivering a load of corn, is a more certain 

 sign of a national prosperity, than a nobleman 

 riding in his chariot to the opera. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



MEADOW CRANBERRIES — MEADOW MUD — IVY — 



PASTURE LANDS. 



I wish to inquire through the columns of your 

 paper what course it is best to take with a mossy 

 meadow ? («.) The grass is very light ; the 

 meadow has been ditched, but it is tilled up, and 

 there is a good chance to drain it. 



Would cranberries do well upon it ? (6.) 



Would meadow mud be beneficial to plow into 

 light soiled land ? (c.) 



Would poor pasture land that has been plowed 

 be the better to plow again and seed it ? 



What will kill ivy ? George. 



(a.) Drain and plow the meadow — manure 

 with compost and seed with good upland grasses. 



(6.) If you find cranberries growing naturally 

 about the meadow, there is little doubt but they 

 would do well transplanted there. 



(c.) The meadow mud, old and well pulverized, 

 would be excellent on your light land ; and your 

 "poor pasture land that has been plowed," would 

 greatly rejoice if you were to plow it again, vian- 

 ure it liberally and re-seed it. 



roots for stock. 

 In your advocacy for the culture of root crops 

 for the feed of stock, you might with great pro- 

 priety have referred to the late Mr. Webster, as 

 well as Mr. Biddle — both first class minds in 

 their day. I remember to have heard Mr. Web- 

 ster discourse for half an hour or more, on the 

 culture of the turnip in England, shortly after 

 his visit to that country. I also remember see- 

 ing at the time of his burial a luxuriant growth 

 of this vegetable, on his own fields, at his farm 

 in Marshfield — for he was no visionary theorist 

 — but was always ready to illustrate his faith by 

 his works. Said he, "hundreds of acres of tur- 

 nips are grown in England, expressly for the 

 feed of sheep. Not only grown ybr, but harvest- 

 ed by the sheep themselves." Perhaps this mode 

 of harvesting will not answer so well in our cli- 

 mate, where frosts and snow so much abound, 

 when the feed is the most needed. Pardon 

 these crude suggestions. I make them because 

 you claimed to be excused from giving us some- 

 thing better, as you undoubtedly would, if you 

 had attempted to answer my inquiry. p. 



Remarks. — We are glad to be reminded of 

 Mr. Webster's teachings on this important sub- 

 ject, by our observing correspondent. We have 

 often quoted Mr. Webster's opinions in regard 

 to the root crop, and it was, more than anything 

 else, his plain and forcible illustration of their 

 value, that removed prejudices that we had long 

 entertained against them as food for our neat 

 stock. 



cure for dog-wood and ivt poison. 

 In last week's Farmer I observed that it was 

 asked by a subscriber what would cure dog-M'ood 

 or ivy poison ? I will tell you what is a sure cure 

 when taken in season. Take the plant called 

 mouse-ear, steep it to a strong tea, then add 



