1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



307 



however tenderly cared for in early life, if ex- 

 posed to evil influences and evil examplts, 

 without restraint, will develop bad bal)its and 

 dispositions, so without constant attention dur- 

 ing that portion of the year in which the tem- 

 perature and moisture cause the seeds to ger- 

 minate, the weeds will grow. 



Most farmers intend to get the hoeing done 

 before commencing the haying. This was the 

 rule among our fathers, who did not generally 

 commence their haying as early as good far- 

 mers do now-a-days. When our hay consisted 

 mostly of redtop and natural grasses, it might 

 be allowed to stand longer without injury, 

 than the clover and herdsgrass, on which we 

 now so generally depend, and which cxyje- 

 rience teaches us must be cut while it retains 

 as much as possible the property of grass. 

 This renders it necessary to begin haying 

 some ten to fourteen days earlier than former- 

 ly, and the cultivator and ho •■ cease to work 

 among the corn and potatoes so much earlier. 



If a portion of the farm is devoted to market 

 gardening or early fruits, these must be attend- 

 ed to in their season or they will be lost. We 

 know a man who had a field of early potatoes, 

 which made a fine show in June, and promised 

 a large crop, but the dry weather of the heated 

 term choked the growth of the tubers, and at 

 the same time ripened up his strawberries so 

 rapidly that they required all the force he 

 could raise. By the time the strawberries 

 were picked the weeds fairly overtopped the 

 potatoes, and now what should be done? If 

 he undertook to '"gather up the tares he would' 

 gather up the wheat with them." If he "let 

 them both grow together till the harvest," he 

 would have a small crop of potatoes and a 

 large crop of weed seeds for next year. So 

 he just put in the plough and turned under 

 both weeds and potatoes, and sowed turnips. 

 Perhaps it was rather an expensive green crop 

 with which to enrich his soil ; but almost any- 

 thing is better than a crop of weeds. 



During the latter part of July and August. 

 the moist, sultry weather which we usually 

 have, greatly favor,! the growth of weeds, and 

 the corn and potatoes are then so large that 

 ■we cannot work among them without injuring 

 the plants. Our method of planting is predi- 

 cated on the idea that the ground is free from 

 weeds, and that the plants should be placed 

 as near as they will grow without inteifering 



with each other. But in rich land and in old 

 land the weeds are sure to come in a moist 

 season. Now would it not be better on such 

 soil to plant the rows at least one foot wider 

 apart than we usually do ? Tiiis would enable 

 us to work among them two weeks longer, 

 and without injuring the plants ; and should 

 we not be less reluctant to give our fields the 

 benefit of another cultivation than we now are ? 

 and should we not generally on rich, weedy 

 land, get quite as much to the acre as we do 

 now ? With the improved machinery we now 

 have, we may get our hay in half the time It 

 formerly took us ; and this, with commencing 

 earlier, will give us opportunity to put in the 

 plough and hoe again after haying, and leave 

 our fields clean at harvest time. We must 

 give up the old maxims and practice which 

 have been handed down as an heir loom, and 

 adapt our methods to the circumstances in 

 which we live. 



Those who cut their hay early last season, 

 had as fine weather as they could desire, and 

 observation will show that we generally have 

 fine weather from about the twentieth of June 

 to the middle of July, — the very time to cut 

 our cultivated grasses. Alter that, the 

 weather grows "catchy" and much hay is hurt 

 in the making. Let us learn wisdom by expe- 

 rience, and adopt such methods and so plan 

 our work that everything shall be done at the 

 proper time and to the best advantage. 



Bugs in Peas. — Dr. I. P. Trimble, of 

 Newark, N. J., says this bug or weevil in the 

 pea is well nigh universal, at least over wide 

 sections of the country. In the northern part 

 of New York and New England, he does not 

 usually affect the peas so seriously. Hence 

 seed peas ought to be raised north of Albany 

 and Boston. A very small egg, that soon be- 

 comes a minute worm is laid on the back ol 

 the pea pod. The little animal eats his way 

 into the middle of the pea, and slowly matures 

 into the weevil that we find in these peas. 

 When the pea is gieen, he is so small as to be 

 below notice. But when the ripe pea is 

 brought to market, the size of the worm, and 

 afterwards ol the bug, is such as to make most 

 dried peas unlit for the table. Fowls prefer 

 them, and they will generally do as well for 

 seed as sound peas. They do not affect the 

 earliest of our peas, nor the very late varieties ; 

 but the Marrowfats and English Mammoth 

 are always infested with them. As nineteen- 

 twentieths of our pea crop is eaten green, the 

 difUcuUy is one ot little practical importance. 



