194 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



Aprii, 



thirds as many sheep now, throughout this section, 

 as there were three years since. 



Secondly, the wool in market is used up closer 

 than usual at this season of the year, with but lit- 

 tle remaining in the hands of producers. 



While, thirdly, the large stock of woolen goods 

 with which the country has been flooded, has been 

 gradually worked off, "leaving a better demand for 

 newly manufactured goods, so the manufactures 

 will have some encouragement to buy wool in the 

 prospect of selling it when worked up. 



The wool groicing and manufacturing interests 

 should be one, for each depends on the other. 



A Wool Grower. 



Sanbornton Bridge, N. H., Feb., 1869. 



THE SEASON IN SOUTHERN MICHIGAN. 



January was very warm, and the roads were 

 quite dusty. Some nights froze a little, but thawed 

 out during the day. A sleet came February 1 and 

 2, so heavy that it was not sale to go into the 

 woods at all; limbs were broken off six Inches in 

 diameter. This lasted three days. It has since 

 been so warm that we have doors open as in sum- 

 mer. Hay has dropped from $12 to $8 per ton ; 

 wheat from $2.10 to $1.50 ; pork has risen to $14 ; 

 money very tight, worth 3 per cent, per month, 

 and not to Ije had at all times, even on gilt-paper, as 

 it is not here. Hope it will soon be easier. 



Hudson, Mich., Feb. 15, 1869. D. M. Briggs. 



EXPERIMENT "WITH SrPERPHOSPHATE. 



In reply to an inquiry oy "W. S. A.," in the 

 Farmer of Feb. 6, I will say that I planted half 

 an acre to corn, having tirst prepared the ground 

 alike. Bradley's superphosphate of lime was used, 

 except on four rows, through the piece, which 

 were a fair average of the ground, on which I did 

 not put the phosphate. As the corn came up, and 

 all through the season, I saw a marked superiority 

 in all the piece over the four rows. When I har- 

 vested the corn I found the rows on which phos- 

 phate was applied to produce three bushels of ears 

 where the others produced only two bushels, and 

 the quality in every respect was superior. I also 

 used the phosphate on fodder com and potatoes 

 and the result was as satisfactory as on the corn. 



I wish now to make the inquiry, whether the 

 "Norway oats" are so far superior to others as are 

 claimed ? What is their value as grain, their yield 

 per acre, and are they more or less liable to lodge 

 on the ground than other kinds ? 



Edwin Hovse. 



Waitsfield, Vt.., Feb. 11, 1869. 



YIELD OF NORWAY OAT8. 



I planted one hundred kernels of Norway oats 



in two rows' one foot apart, and four inches in the 



row. The greatest product Irom one kernel was 



tilty-three stalks, thirty heads, and 6441 kernels. 



Timothy Wheeler. 



WaterbuTTj Centre, Vt., Feb. 8, 1869. 



Experience with Fertilizers. — The spe- 

 cial correspondent of" the New York Tribune, 

 writing from Ilenry Ward Beecher's farm of 

 thirty-six acres, says : 



Mr. Beechcr has tried all the phosphates 

 and special fertiliz'.>rs, but he likes farmyard 

 manure best. Even bone is not of much us« 

 with him. From 600 to 1000 loads of ma- 

 uure are put on the place yearly ; all that is 

 made is carefully saved, and there are com- 

 post heaps of muck and weeds. A good deal 



of manure is hauled from Peekskill, and fcon- 

 siderable quantities of unleached ashes are 

 bought of the farmers at thirteen cents per 

 bushel. When he was asked if the farmers 

 were so ignorant as to sell their ashes at this 

 price, or even at all, he said, "Yes, but dori't 

 print it .'" One who commences with a poor 

 farm must take such fertilizers as he can get. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AQKICUIiTUBAIi AND POLITICAL 

 NEWSPAPERS. 



We need a more extensive circulation of 

 Agricultural literature. For instance : I find, 

 upon close examination, that the farmers of 

 Madison take and read three political papers 

 to one devoted to agriculture. Yet the town of 

 Madison is one of the finest farming towns in 

 the State of Maine. The people live almost 

 exclusively by farming. 



Do political speakers, political newspapers 

 or political clubs improve the farm or the far- 

 mer's mind ? My observation leads me to the 

 conclusion that farmers who take more interest 

 in politics than in agriculture are the ones 

 who do not get along the Lest ; and that par- 

 tizan papers have a tendency to make partizara 

 neighbors. Instances are not uncommon 

 where farmers will not .carry their neighbors 

 to town meeting on account of their different 

 political views. Would it not, then, be better 

 to have more agricultural and less political 

 literature circulated among farmers ? 



This seems to me to be a Subject worthy of 

 serious consideration, and this winter a good 

 time to give it a little airing. A farmer can 

 undoubtedly live without an agricultural paper. 

 So also can he live and not grow a sheep, or a 

 hog, or a horse if he keeps oxen, or without 

 oxen if he keeps a horse. Yet good farmers 

 do not believe they can afford to be without 

 sheep, or hogs, or horses, or oxen. Nor do I 

 believe they can afford to he witliout an agri- 

 culiiiral riewspaper any better than without 

 either of the above-mentioned tise/id animals. 



The day has passed when chance had any 

 hope of contending with science ; yet there is 

 more chance farming to-day than scientific 

 farming. I am happy to say, however, that 

 the young men who engage in agriculture for 

 a livelihood, are taking a deep interest in 

 book-farming ; but I am sorry to say that 

 their number is small. 



It is a notorious fact that the political con- 

 ventions of the State, the political district and 

 county organizations are largely made up of 

 farmers ; and generally by that class of far- 

 mers who do not think they can afford to 

 attend State, county and town agricultural 

 conventions or fairs, as they are more com- 

 monly called, because they have to pay a small 

 admission fee. But when the committees of 

 the different political organizations call upon 

 these same farmers for funds to prosecute 

 political campaigns, they "come down" witli 



