1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



491 



readily as other kinds of fruit. Cobbett recom- 

 mends budding the peach into the plum, and to 

 this he attributes the long life of peach trees in 

 England. He states that it is not uncommon 

 there to see trees fifty years old in full vigor. 1 

 have set scions of the English cherry in the 

 Mazzard, the Morello, wild black, the choke 

 cherry, and small red or pigeon cherry of the 

 woods ; in the wild black they did not live, 

 neither in the choke variety ; in the Morello th-ey 

 grew and bore fruit a few years, and then died ; 

 in the small red or pigeon, they have done very 

 well, and many which have been grafted now 

 produce fruit, and to appearance may live many 

 years. But in general it is preferable to have 

 the stock and scion of the same species, with re- 

 gard to all kinds of fruit, when it is practicable. 

 Leominster, Sept., 1858. O. V. Hill. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 OW HAKVESTING WHEAT. 



Mr. Editor : — While in the employment of 

 one of your subscribers, and he harvesting a ver-y 

 nice piece of wheat which he had raised, the 

 question rose v.ithus which was the best, cheapest 

 and quickest way of doing it. We disagreed in 

 our opinions, and as "H." thought his way was 

 not only the quickest and cleanest, provided 

 a farmer had plenty of barn room, we agreed 

 to make our statements full and plain, and rea- 

 sons given, and then leave it for your practical 

 and experienced farmers to decide. 



Mr. Holmes claimed that the quickest and best 

 way was to mow his wheat, rake it into winrows 

 and tumbles, and draw it as he does hay. He 

 claims that the expense is so much less than to 

 hire a man to reap, cradle and bind it, and that 

 it would not pay, or at least, there would be a 

 saving in so doing, beside doing it so much 

 quicker. I contended it was a slovenish and 

 wasteful way of harvesting grain, and more es- 

 pecially a crop of wheat. I contend there is more 

 or less wheat that will not be cut ; there will be 

 many scattering heads on the ground which will 

 not be got. Again, in drawing and pitching, there 

 is a loss by the scattering from the wagon from 

 the field to the barn. It takes four times as 

 much room to mow it away, saying nothing 

 about the scatterings that will be lost before 

 threshing, and the loss by exposure to the fowls. 

 I think after a man has been to the expense of 

 preparing a piece of ground, and raised a nice 

 crop of wheat, his best way is, either to reap, or 

 cradle, and then bind it in medium size bundles, 

 and stack it a few days till well cured, and then 

 draw it to the barn and put it on a scafibld by it- 

 self. The farmer that indulges in moiving loheat, 

 is lacking in good taste, and is not what I should 

 call a nice and prudent farmer. I hope some of 

 your farmer subscribers will give us their opin- 

 ions upon this subject, that Mr. H. and myself 

 may have our errors pointed out, that we may in 

 the future improve and profit by the practice of 

 old and experienced farmers. 



Another thing we differ in, is, in hoeing corn. 

 I claim the only true way of hoeing corn is, to 

 cut up and clean out all the weeds and grass from 

 in and around the hill of corn, and then sift in 

 among it a little fresh earth, and bring the weeds 



and grass upon the surface where the sun can 

 wilt and kill them. My neighbor claims that the 

 best way is to cover the grass and weeds with 

 earth from one to two inches in depth. But will 

 the earth kill the grass and weeds, or will they 

 not, the first warm shower, make their appearance 

 again, and be more rank and deeply rooted than 

 before, and sap from the earth that virtue which 

 the corn would otherwise have, by cutting up and 

 killing them on the surface of the ground ? 

 Georgia, 17., 1858. n. n. II. 



Remarks. — We have never harvested a crop 

 of wheat by mowing it, and have never known it 

 done in half a dozen instances. Reaping it by 

 hand is a slow and laborious process, and conse- 

 quently expensive. Where the straw is not of 

 much value, we would mow a crop of wheat, and 

 sufi'er the incidental loss, rather than reap it by 

 hand. But the true way is to cradle it, as an ex- 

 pert workman will cradle from two to three acres 

 in a day, laying it out finely for the binders, and 

 scarcely leave more scatterings than is usually 

 left by the reaper. 



With regard to hoeing, there can be no ques- 

 tion, we think, but that it is better to hoe in 

 clear, hot weather, and leave the grass and weeds 

 that are pulled or cut up, on the surface, where 

 the sun soon wilts them so that they will not 

 take root. Most weeds are so tenacious of life 

 that if only a small portion of their roots is cov- 

 ered with the soil, they will recover and grow 

 again. The roots of some grasses, when cut up 

 and covered again, will throw out a new root at 

 every joint. But the matter maybe so easily de- 

 cided by experiment, that much doubt upon it 

 does not seem necessary. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 BUILDING ON THE HILLS. 



The inquiry is prevalent among our young men, 

 "why our fathers build upon the hills instead of 

 building upon the flats, or low lands." The 

 wisdom and good sense of our early settlers will 

 readily be seen by every thinking mind who re- 

 flects upon the subject with care and attention. 



The average temperature of the weather is much 

 lower in the low lands, taken through the year, 

 and not warmer, as many suppose. It is not only 

 colder, but the atmosphere is peculiarly impreg- 

 nated with bilious influences, and particularly 

 adapted to the generation of diseases. So far as 

 my investigations extend, the record shows more 

 than four-fifths of all the cases of dysentery to 

 have occurred in the low lands. Indeed, I do not 

 know of a single case to have occurred upon the 

 hills this many years. Young farmers, as you 

 delight in beautiful scenery, sound health and a 

 vigorous body, keep back upon the hills. 



L. L. Pierce. 



^ff° Brave actions are the substance of life, and 

 good sayings the ornament of it. 



