88 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



OBSERVE PACTS. 



It is well to observe facts as they occur in 

 our agricultural experience from year to year, 

 so that when a sufficient number of them have 

 been recorded, and duly authenticated, we may 

 deduce from them some general principle un- 

 derlying them, which may be of value as a 

 guide in practice hereafter. The operation of 

 some one or more of the laws of climate or 

 of vegetable growth may be observed in one 

 year more strikingly than in others ; the pe- 

 culiarity of the season may show the force of 

 some law in a more marked degree and impress 

 it more deeply upon the attention of cultiva- 

 tors. If any such facts have been noticed 

 during the past season let them be recorded 

 for use. 



It has long been known that certain plants 

 which we cultivate make their principal growth, 

 especially their root growth, in the cooler parts 

 of the season, as in the spring and autumn, 

 rather than in the hot summer months. The 

 same plants thrive best in a temperate cli- 

 mate, and in cool seasons rather than in hot 

 ones. 



Wheat and potatoes are examples of this 

 kind. Wheat planted, (we use the term 

 planted rather than sowed, for we believe wheat 

 needs to be planted as much as corn,) in the 

 early fall makes a good stand and a large 

 growth of roots and then starts early in the 

 spring and completes its growth while the 

 weather and the ground are comparatively cool. 

 When the weather becomes hot, and the rays 

 of a tropical sun fall upon the ground, the 

 roots and stem cease to grow, and the sap al- 

 ready formed is converted into grain. If the 

 hot weather comes on too soon, before the sap 

 is sufficiently accumulated to fill out the grains ; 

 or, if the sap becomes so thickened by the 

 evaporation of its watery portion, that it can 

 no longer flow to the heads, the grains become 

 shrivelled, and the crop is light. This has 

 been demonstrated in many parts of the West- 

 em wheat-growing regions during the present 

 season. There is a good deal of complaint 

 that the berry is light and shriveled. 



So if spring wheat is sown late, and has not 

 time to complete its growth before the heated 

 term, the crop will be light. 



Potatoes are the plant of a temperate cli- 

 mate, and will not thrive in the tropics. They 

 do best in our cooler years, and they will not 



make much root growth in midsummer. They 

 must be either early or late ; that is, they must 

 make their growth in the cool weather of 

 spring, or in the early autumn. Sometimes 

 owing to the cold and wet, they cannot be 

 planted sufficiently early in the spring to make 

 their growth before the hot weather comes on. 

 Then the crop will be small. If they are 

 planted so late that the tubers begin to form 

 about the coming on of the hot weather, the 

 tubers cease to grow for some time at least, 

 and the result will probably be a crop of nu- 

 merous small potatoes. If they are planted 

 still later, so that the tubers have not formed 

 when the heated term arrives, if there is suffi- 

 cient moisture to enable them to maintain the 

 vitality of the stem and leaf till this term is 

 over, they will go on and form tubers in Au- 

 gust and September, and there will be a good 

 crop. All these facts have been illustrated 

 during the past season, and are worth remem- 

 bering. 



ITEW PUBLICATIONS. 



How TO MAKE THE FARM Pat ; or, the Farmer's Book 

 of Practical Information on Agriculture, tJtock Raia- 

 ing, Fruit Culture, Special Crops, Domestic Economy 

 and Family Uledicine. By Charles W. Diciierman, 

 Member of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, 

 American Pomological Society, and the Fennsylvmia 

 Horticultural Society. Assisted by Charier- L. Flint, 

 Secretary Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 

 and other practical Agricultural Writers. Illustrated 

 by one hundred ard forty Engravings. Zeigltr, Mc- 

 Curdy & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., Cinciiiuari, Ohio, 

 Chicago, 111., and St. Louis, Mo. 



This, we believe7 is the title page in full of a 

 large octavo volume of 750 pages, which has just 

 been laid upon our table, and think it will give the 

 reader a good idea of the character of the work. 

 Though the subjects are not arranged in alphabet- 

 ical order it obviously aims to be an Encyclope- 

 dia of Agriculture, Domestic Economy and Family 

 Medicine. 



In addition to the difficulty of treating so great 

 a variety of subjects in a manner satisfactory to 

 those who desire practical information upon any 

 particular one, the author has assumed the still 

 more difficult task of shaping his directions to 

 meet the "requirements of the East, the West, and 

 the South." And here we must acknowledge that 

 the mere general examination which we have given 

 the work has not been sufficiently minute to war- 

 rant the expression of an opinion as to the degree 

 of success which the author has achieved. 



The volume undoubtedly contains a large amount 

 of valuable information. The type used is large, 

 clear and open, but we are sorry to add that most 

 of the cuts will be familiar to those who have seen 

 the catalogues which our agricultural warehouses 

 and stock breeders have issued during the past 

 ten years, and that it may be suspected by some 



