218 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



They think they know it all now, and are there- 

 fore sceptical of the value and correctness of the 

 ideas and practices of others, and are too modest 

 to explain tlieir own. Now let us do away with 

 all this, shake hands all round, and get acquainted. 

 JHow delightful it is to sit here by my tire these 

 long winter evenings and have a chat with my 

 brother fiirmcr, living one hundred miles or more 

 away, concerning the characteristic*, profits, &c., 

 of the ditforent breeds of cattle, sheep and other 

 stock ; tlie best method of ap))lying manure and 

 cultivating dilfcrent crops, and all the little items 

 that go to make up a tarmer's experience. Now 

 I think, Mr. Editor, if we would take hold of this 

 thing and pull all together you would be ready to 

 cry -'quits" very soon, (if you are not so already). 

 But tljefore I close, let me say that I feel thankful 

 th;it we have such an excellent medium of inter- 

 course as the Fakmer. j, w. q. 

 Cummiitgton, Mass., March 1, 1869. 



Remarks. — Sooner than cry "quits" to our cor- 

 respondents we will increase the space in our col- 

 umns, even to the doubling of the present dimen- 

 sions of our sheet. So fire away, brother farmers. 



MIXtNO ASHES, HEN MANURE AND PLASTER. 



I wish to inquire through the Farmer if the 

 mixing of ashes, hen manure and plaster together, 

 for corn in the hill, will hinder cither of the in- 

 gredients from having full efiect on the corn ? If 

 so. how should they be applied ? 



William Allen. 



North. Holland, Vt., Feb., 1869. 



Remarks. — Hen manure is a very rich fertil- 

 izer. It contains considerable ammonia. If you 

 mix ashes with it, the alkali contained in the ashes 

 will set the ammonia free, aiid you will lose it. If 

 you mix plaster with the hen manure it will ab- 

 sorb whatever escapes from it and hold it fast. If 

 it is desired to save the labor of going over the 

 field more than once, these ingredients may be 

 mixed in the morning and applied to the hill and 

 covered up on the same day, and no loss take 

 place. If ammonia escapes, the soil and plaster 

 will take it up. 



MAPLE SUGAR SEDIMENT. — NORWAY OATS. 



The questions in your last, relative to maple 

 sugar, cau but best answered by the chemists in our 

 Agricultural Colleges. Let sugar makers in the 

 vicinity of them send the sap-grit or other residua 

 of sugar to them for analysis. 



Thy sap from my trees seems to deposit two tan- 

 gible sub-tances besides sugar. First, what is 

 called sand; but it is not s«7jcjoms sand at all; for 

 when mixed with sap or water it dissolves and 

 disappears in a moment, being taken into solution 

 .again, apparently. A friend, after chewing this 

 substance, and then a piece of the maple, asked if 

 the grit were not woody fibre, both tasting alike. 

 The increase of it, toward the close of the sugar 

 season as ihe weather becomes warmer, seems to 

 show that the laboratory is more busy for summer 

 products when helped by co-operative outside in- 

 fluences. 



Secondly, when we make dry sugar, the pan or 

 kettle in which the work is done becomes coated 

 wiih what we call lime. Where much sugaring- 

 off is do le, this has to be removed, for it will 

 scorch, and scorch ihe sugar above it. This sub- 

 stance too dissolves readily in cold or warm water. 

 Now this may be very much the same as the grit, 

 or a mixture of it and lime and sugar. There 

 must be lime, I think, for where the maple stands 



among granite, instead of limestone rocks, there is 

 much less of this scaly deposit. The chemist, 

 alone, can make this all plain. 



After forty years' close watching, I cannot 

 always tell when it is a sap-day without visiting 

 the trees. We never get sap, however, with an 

 east wind, and but little with a south. Zephyrs 

 appear to solicit a flow of the sweet juices with 

 success. 



The Norway oats, first grown hereabouts, are 

 liked by some, disliked by others, and by others 

 are considered ju-t as good as any. 



Chelsea, Vt., Feb. 22, 1869. C. N. Andrews. 

 I. 



CULTIVATION OF CELERY. 



I notice in your paper of February 20, an inquiry 

 as to the cultivation of celery. I will give my 

 method which works well, and is about the same 

 as that practiced in all this neighborhood : — 



The seed is sown under glass about April 15. 

 It will be from ten days to two weeks in making 

 its appearance. By June 1, the plants will be 

 about two inches high, and then are set one foot 

 apart in rows six or seven feet apart, the space be- 

 tween the rows being occupied by onions, cabbage, 

 cucumbers or any other low growing crop that 

 will be off by the middle of September. 



Sometime from the first to the last of September, 

 according to the time the celery is wished to ma- 

 ture, the ground must be cleared of all other crops, 

 and banking commenced. This is doup by plough- 

 ing between the rows to loosen the soil, and then 

 two men with shovels, one on each side of the 

 row, with a boy to hold up the leaves, throw some 

 four to six inches of earth against the plants. 

 This operation is repeated at intervals of about 

 two^weeks until the desired height is reached. 



Celery treated in this way is usually in order 

 for market from the middle of October to Christ- 

 mas. For later use, the plants would be pricked 

 out in some moist, rich spot and left till July, 

 then set as a second crop after potatoes, straw- 

 berries, &c., and will need but little banking, the 

 white growth being mostly made after the plants 

 are set in their winter bed. * 



Belmont, Mass., Feb. 22, 1869. 



CANADA AND THE STATES. 



I did not intend to accuse the Farmer of un- 

 fairness towards us, for I never saw a Canadian 

 who read the Farmer who did not like it. Neither 

 did I wish to be offensive myself, but if my points 

 seem too strong, I can only say that it is my fault, 

 perhaps, to condense too much. 



Another point 1 might have noticed, which was 

 a sore one in its time, to wit: the substitute busi- 

 ness. It was the fashion a few years ago for men 

 on your side, who made it their business, to kid- 

 nap persons on this side of the line and sell them. 



We cannot influence your control of your own 

 affairs, but we do protest against unjust and false 

 accusations being made against us, as reasons for 

 acts of one kind or another. We protest against 

 such statements as Alice Carey made in the New 

 York Indcprndent, that there was as much ditter- 

 ence observable on crossing the line "forty-five" 

 as there was between the free and slave States. 

 False, every word of it. We are not afraid of the 

 truth, but we do not like to be defamed by States' 

 people, for they are our near relatives as well as 

 neighbors. 



"The Canadian crusade against American sil- 

 ver," is spoken of as if this crusade were on ac- 

 count of its being Stales' silver. That has nothing 

 to do with it. The diff.rcnce between gold and 

 silver is the same here that it is on your side. If 

 it were otherwise, it would pay to buy silver here 

 and exchange for gold there. Our bank notes are 



