1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



435 



closes his note to us with the remark, "I intend to 

 observe more carefully these spumiferous insects, 

 which have already made their appearance this 

 summer, and if the investigation results in any 

 thing note-worthy, I will communicate it to the 

 Fakmer." 



A NEGLECTED FARM IMPROVED. 



I see by the date on my label that the time for 

 which I paid has about expired, and thinking that 

 I can't well get along withoutycjur paper, 1 enclose 

 another payment, and would say that I think I get 

 well paid for my outlay in reading the different 

 opinions of old farmers in regard to their niethod 

 and way of fa'ming, managem< nt of trees, &c. 



Nowa word for mySclf. After farming it for 

 several years in New Hampshire, the Granite 

 State, two years ago last March, I moved to the 

 State of Vermont, where I had been looking out 

 for a good chance for several years. At last I got 

 my eye on a place that I thought I could get a 

 living on, at any rate. The farm was sold at auc- 

 tion, and a friend of mine advanced the money. 

 The place was formerly known as the Stephen 

 Trvon farm. It lits about two miles southwest of 

 White River Junction. There werealitile short of 

 200 acres, on which were some 1200 good grafted 

 apple trees, a lot of selected pear trees, plums of 

 several kinds, grapes, gooseberries, bla'-klterries, 

 &c. The trees, as well as the farm generally, had 

 been much neglected for several years. The 

 fences, buildings, and everything else showed the 

 eflf'ects of this neglect. The amount of hay in the 

 barns at the time of the auction did not add much 

 to the price bid for the place. 



Well, afttr gctiing possession, the first thing I 

 did was to make a division of mowing and pastur- 

 ing, so that I could have a place to put horses, 

 cattle and sheep. This was no small job. I then 

 ploughed, and planted corn and sowed other kinds 

 of grain, as much as I thought I could manage; 

 and the 10th of June I commenced on the apple 

 and pear trees, giving them a fair trimming, as I 

 thought. In the fall of that year I harvested fifty 

 bushel of pears and about 200 bushel of apples. 

 Last year we sold ^1000 worth of apples. A year 

 ago last spring we put on a two-story front to the 

 house, 26x30 feet, and last fall we did not have 

 I'oom at the barns, and this last spring we altered 

 over some of the barns and put on new addition 

 enough to hold souie fifteen to twenty tons more, — 

 and think we shall be short for room this tall. 

 We have now some thirty- five acres that are 

 planted and sowed. In regard to time for cutting 

 grass, my rule is, if the weather is right, to cut 

 clover as £oon as it gets well headed out, and 

 berdsgrass in first bloom. I commenc d haying 

 this year the 24 h of June. When it has t)een 

 good hay weather I have worked at haying; when 

 doubtful, I put the boys into the corn field. By 

 so duing I get my haying along without any ot it 

 being wet. 



But fearing that I am taking too much room, I 

 leave the rest of my thoughts for another time, 

 and nut use them all at once. Amos French. 



Haitford, Vt., July 12, 1869. 



Remarks. — Thank you for so many of your 

 thoughts ; but don't keep the rest of them till they 

 stagnate. Our thoughts have been compared to 

 the water in a well, which is all the better for 

 for drawing up a bucketful occasionally. There 

 are so many neglected farms in New England, 

 that we like to publish accounts of the improve- 

 ment of any one of them. Instead of taking too 

 much room with the details of your operations, 



we should have been very glad if you had taken 

 more. You speak of the empty state of the barns 

 at the time of the auction sale of the farm, and 

 also of the increased products which have com- 

 pelled you to "pull down your barns and build 

 greater." We think many wdl inquire. How did 

 you set that ball in motion ? How did you get the 

 manure to start with ? And others questions will 

 arise in the minds of the thousands who will read 

 your description of your farm, and it is well for 

 them, and perhaps for yourself, that you did "not 

 use all your thoughts at once." 



WHITE wash for BARNS AND SHEDS. 



I would like the best known receipt for white 

 wash for outside work of barns and sheds, &c. 

 North Chester, Vt., July 6, 1869. J. C. Carr. 



Remarks. — There are many ways of preparing 

 white wash. The Scientific American says, "take 

 a clean water-tight barrel or other suitable cask, 

 and put into it half a bushel of lime. Slake it by 

 pouring water over it, boiling hot, and in sufficient 

 quantity to cover it five inches deep, and stir it 

 briskly till thoroughly slaked. When the lime 

 has been slaked, dissolve it in water, and add two 

 pounds of sulphate of zinc, and one of common 

 salt. These will cause the wash to harden, and 

 prevent its cracking, which gives an unseemly ap- 

 pearance to the work. If desirable, a beautiful 

 cream color may be communicated to the above 

 wash, by adding three poundsof yellow ochre, or a 

 good pearl or lead color, by the addition of lamp, 

 or ivory black. For fawn color, add four pounds 

 of umber — Turkish or American — the latter is the 

 cheaper — one pound of Indian red, and one pound 

 of common lampblack. When applied to the out- 

 side of out houses and to fences, it is rendered 

 more durable by adding sweet milk, or some mu- 

 cilage from flax-seed ; about a pint to the gallon 

 will suface." 



The following has been highly commended for 

 an incombustible and durable wash for roofs and 

 outside walls of buildings, "take a sufficient quan- 

 tity of good stone lime, and slake it carefully in a 

 close box, or mortar bed, to prevent the escape of 

 steam, and after slaking, pass it through a sieve. 

 To every six quarts of this lime, add one quart of 

 rock or Turk's Island salt, and one gallon of water. 

 The mixture should be boiled and skimmed clean. 

 To every five gallons of this, add by slow de- 

 grees, three fourths of a pound of potash, and four 

 quay tsof fine sand. Coloring matter may be added. 

 Apply it with a common paint brush." 



PRICES OF farm produce TOO HIGH. 



We notice in your cattle report of this week, that 

 you take a long look back at the cattle market, 

 viz. thirty-four years and find the price very low 

 as compared with the present. We think it would 

 be hardly necessary to go back to 1835 to find a 

 year when prices were nearly or quite as low on 

 beef and pork as then. We refer to August and 

 tieptemDer, 1S62, wlien good grass fed cows and 

 steers could tie b )ught at three to four cents per 

 lb. dressed weight, and fat hogs at three to three 



