562 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



little value is attached to the excrements of ani- 

 mals. With us, thick books are written, but no 

 experiments instituted,'" ttc. • 



Travellers tell us of one particular attainment 

 of Chinese Agriculture, which, though it is not 

 always of practical value, indicates a wonderful 

 knov/ledge of the laws of vegetable growth — that 

 is, the power of enlarging or dwarfing, at will, 

 many of the productions of nature. Thus, an 

 oak tree, for instance, will frequently be seen 

 growing in a flower-pot, bearing its thrifty little 

 leaves, and bringing its tiny acorns to maturity, 

 with all the regularity of its forest kindred, the 

 entire tree not being more than two feet high. 

 Such specimens of human ingenuity may be 

 worthless, but they imply a knowledge and skill 

 that are worth a great deal. 



A IvTICB "WAY TO MAKE APPLE TREES. 



Get a tree from a nursery, (no matter what 

 kind,) such as they send out, or if so large as to 

 be unsalable, just as good. Let it be straight 

 and thrifty. Cut it square off at just the height 

 you want the top, and splice or whip graft on it, 

 one scion, with three buds above the waxed pa- 

 per with which it is wound. To make it more 

 sure not to get displaced, tie a strip of bark 

 around over the waxed paper, as tight as you 

 can ; set your tree, and it will make a beauty. 

 Get the nurseryman to do it for you if possible, 

 as he will do it better than you can. I have 

 trees made last spring, that put out strong shoots 

 two feet in length, precisely alike. This spring 

 I cut back to six inches, and when the new shoots 

 start allow six to grow, saving those well placed 

 to make a handsome top. Next spring, shorten 

 them one-half ; after that, use your judgment. I 

 have trees groviu three summers, that look like 

 miniature nature trees — very fine. I prefer such 

 a tree, to one from a nursery ready to set. If 

 your friend at the jumping off place send you a 

 scion in a letter, you may have a tree better than 

 one of the same sort got at a nursery. — Rural 

 New-Yorker. 



Ho-w Corn is Preserved in Russia. — At 

 a late meeting of the Academy of Sciences, held 

 in Paris, a letter from M. de Semchofi' — a Rus- 

 sion landholder — was read, describing the man- 

 ner in which corn-pits are made in that country. 

 The pit is dug in a dry soil, and instead of ma- 

 sonry, the sides are hardened by a long contin- 

 ued exposure to a wood fire. Before the corn is 

 introduced, the air in the pit is ratified by burn- 

 ing some straw in it, after which the grain is 

 thrown in, packed close, and the pit tightly en- 

 closed. Corn has been preserved in such pits 

 for forty years. Some of our western farmers, 

 who raise large crops of wheat and corn, should 

 try this method of preserving grain during years 

 when there is a great yield, in order to lay up a 

 store for seasons of an inferior yield. 



White Beans. — We saw a fine sample of 

 wnite beans the other day from the farm of Col. 

 H. H. Sylvester, of Charlestown, N. H. Pro- 

 duct, forty bushels to the acre ! Samples of corn 

 and oats from the same farm, were also very fine. 



Fi>7- the New England Farmer, 

 A POMOIiOGICAL POEM. 



BY B. n. TEWKSDUBT. 



Byron, 'tis said, drugged his eweet mu?e with gin ! 

 And Bourbon whiskies Carlyle'3 laurels win ! 

 What harm if I drinli inspiration in 

 O'er the rare beauties of an apple- bin ? 



Here hues lil£e glowing rubies mingle well, 

 And charm the gazer with tlieir wizard sptli ; 

 If thoughts, poetic, steal unbidden in, 

 Can their expression be a renal sin ? 



'Tis said an apple, pressed by Eve's red lip, 

 Caused her and us the path of right to slip ! 

 And yet, methinks, the still small voice within 

 Saith "apple-seeds are not the seeds of sin.'' 



And, if 'twere so, they surely have made up 

 For half the woes drank in that bitter cup ! 

 We, in their blessing, half our loss retrieve — 

 The curse a blessing's feund.fair Mother Eve ! 



It brought us Pippins fit for angel's clutches — 

 The modest liuxseits and the fair Noneniches : 

 And crim?on cheeks, like those of modest misses — 

 Fair apple-faces, tempting wood-nymph's kisses. 



Some worship smoke, and through nargliilehs suck it ! 

 Some feed a drunken soul within, and duck it 

 With brandies, sherries, wines and Holland gins ! 

 Mine thirsts for juices held in apple-skins ! 



Not that vile beverage held in cider casks. 

 Or bottled off (for medicine ;) in flasks ; 

 But the rich juices held in crimson rinds — 

 Distilled by dews and flavored by the winds ; 



Drank from dame Nature's goblets, fresh and fair — 

 Sweetened by breath of perfumed summer air — 

 Stirred by the rushing of Ihc northern breeze, 

 And colored by the life-blood of the trees. 



Perverted taste to swinish morsel stoops, 

 Makes food of frogs, and doats on turtle soups ! 

 Give me for food the nutriment that lies 

 Between the crust of generous apple-pies ! 



As Sancho Panza called the saints to keep 

 The feet of him "who first invented sleep," 

 So I would bless ihe matron, kind and wise, 

 Who, bless her soul, invented apple-pies. 



When they appear — ye dainties st»nd from iiiider ! 

 A dish for king.^ who rule or god-, who thunder; 

 Seek for a better with a golden pur.se — 

 You may go farther but you'll sure fare worse. 



To v/isdom seekers Si'lomon has tcld. 

 That 'tis like app'cs wrought of molten gold ! 

 He lost all faith in man, all love for wives ; 

 His faith in apples last of all survives. 



So friend, (of course this lies 'twixt you and me,) 

 Go, first of all, and plant au apple tree ! 

 That when thy frame decays and heart grows cold. 

 Old age may gather apples tinged with gold. 



Lest Discord's apples block life's troubled way; 

 And Sodom's apples youth's neglect repay ; 

 And seeds (not apple) sprout with every sin 

 Aiid fruits (of wickedness) grow rank within. 



Do thus, and when thy Christiaa friends may slip in, 

 Ask them to take the juices of a pippin — 

 And ease life's burden and earth's darksome cares. 

 In feasts of reason o'er huge bowls of pears : 



For men are known, and judged too, b;/ their fruits ! 

 Not so the groveling swino or lowing brutes ; 

 So bring us, friends ! when we may chance to call, 

 The early picked, plucked y«ii before the fall. 

 Old Orchard, Oct. 15, 1858. 



Remaeks. — Capital, friend T. — "drop in often." 



