1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



179 



PERCHERON" HORSES. 

 Mr. W. Wilkinson, an English farmer who 

 visited France in 1855, believing there was no 

 better farm horses in the world than the Eng- 

 glish, appears to have been much pleased 

 with a class of horses he saw in Paris. In an 

 article in the Journal of the Boyal Agricul- 

 tural Society, he thus speaks of the Percheron 

 horses : — 



"These horses, walking so nimbly with great 

 loads of stone, were not so fat as our own 

 favorites, but they seemed to me to be doing 

 twice the work. Although leaner, they bore 

 the strictest scrutiny ; the more I saw of them 

 the more I admired them. Meeting Mr. Jonas 

 Webb I called his attention to them. He said 

 he had never seen such before ; he had ob- 

 served a horse taking into ^he show yard an 

 immense load of provender, that astonished 

 him beyond measure ; he had resolved to try 

 to buy him, but he lost sight of him that day 

 and never saw him afterwards." 



Mr. D. obtained a stallion which he called 

 "Napoleon," of which he says : — 



"He has been at work on my farm ever 

 since, almost always witd mares. I have never 

 bad so good, quiet, active, and powerful a 

 horse bei'ore. lie is unlike our English cart- 

 horses, for with great size (16^ hands high) 

 and immense substance, he shows a dash of 

 blood. He has an Arabian head, not small, 

 but of fine character, well proportioned to his 

 size. The neck is very muscular and well 

 turned, the shoulders large, very deep, without 

 lumps on the sides, and oblique, — such a 

 shape as would not be objected to for a riding 

 hor^e ; the bosom open, the fore legs magnifi- 

 cent and very short, with great bone, hard 

 sinews, and little hair upon them. His feet 

 are perfect in shape, and perfectly sound in 

 work ; his back short, rather dipped, round- 

 shaped ribs, large loins, rather plain, droop- 

 ping hind-quarters, very large thighs, low 

 down, and tightly joined together with prodi- 

 giously powerful clean hocks, and very short 

 hind legs, well under him. We never have 

 had a difliculty with the engine or thrasher or 

 with anything in the mud, that "Nap" could 

 not exti'icate us from. His stock are as good 

 and kind as possible. It is a saying with the 

 men, that Nap's colts need no breaking. My 

 mares are small and active ; the stock are con- 

 siderably larger than the dams, but so cleanly, 

 that as foals they look more like- carriage 

 horses." 



Late Swarming of Bees. — Very strong 

 stocks, which have thrown off no early col- 

 onies or but one, sometimes divide again very 

 late in the season, and, unless it be a very fa- 

 vorable one for the aicumulation of stores, the 

 colony will winter-kill for the lack of food. 



To prevent these late flights sufficient room 

 for all to work should be furnished and the 

 necessary air supplied to keep them from 

 sweltering and becoming uneasy because of 

 restricted space and want of adequate ventila- 

 tion. They should be aided, too, if necessary, 

 in the expulsion of their parasite enemies, 

 thus relieving them from a species of irritation 

 highly prejudicial to their well-being by ren- 

 dering them dissatisfied with their old home. — 

 Rural New Yorker. 



CULTIVATION OP PEACHES. 

 At a meeting of the Illinois State Horticul- 

 tural Society, Dec. 15, Mr. B. PuUen read 

 an essay upon the cu'ture of peach trees, from 

 which, as reported by the Western Rural, we 

 make the following extract, which we think as 

 applicable to Massachusetts as to Illinois : — 



There can be but one opinion in reference 

 to the importance of thorough cultivation up 

 to a ppriod of four years. After this, much 

 diversity of opinion exists ; some recom- 

 mending a continuation of the practice, others 

 partial cultivation and still others none at all. 

 I have given each of these methods fair trial, 

 and am satisfied with none but good, clean 

 cultivation throughout the season of natural 

 growth. Frequent stirring of the soil to the 

 depth of three or four inches (and I would 

 not advise a greater depth), keeps up the vigor 

 of the trees, delays the formation of fruit 

 buds until the proper season arrives, and acts, 

 to some extent, as an insurance on the crop 

 for the succeeding year. 



In the section from which I write, (Southern 

 Illinois) scarcely a season passes without our 

 being visited with severe and continuous 

 droughts in the months of August and Sep- 

 tember. Uncultivated orchards are at once 

 checked in their growth, premature formation 

 of fruit buds follow, with the falling of the 

 leaves; the droughts are followed by copious 

 rains, and pleasant weather. The result is the 

 swelling of the fruit buds — and by failing to 

 cultivate, we simply in this case, offer a pre- 

 mium for the destruction of our fruit crops by 

 the winter cold. 



I have an objection to the second practice, 

 which I have termed partial cultivation, refer- 

 ence being had to the system, almost univer- 

 sally adopted, of cultivating in the early part 

 of the season. While this is very far in ad- 

 vance of no cultivation, yet I feel that it is 

 subject to the same objections, only not to the 

 same extent. Careful cidiivatlon secures to 

 us trees of good constitution, full of life and 

 vigor, while the fruit buds will inherit the 

 same vigor, and both are better prepared to 

 withstand the attacks of their ene^nies, whether 

 they come from disease, summer drought, 

 winter's blast or from the more puerile, yet 

 none the less destructive enemy, insects. 



