546 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



Dec. 



along it has been paying better than r.iising 

 grain ; and this with less labor. Sod has 

 done it. 



NEMT PUBLICATIONS. 



Pear Culture for Profit. By P.T. Quinn, Practical 

 H; rticnltui'ibt. New York: Tribune Associaiion. 

 18b9. 72 pages. 



Mr. Quinn's long experience as foreman and 

 mannger of the Prof. Mapes' nurseries and orchard 

 has aiforded him rare opportunities for familiarity 

 with practical pear culture. The small number 

 of varieties that he finds profitable will strike the 

 attention of every reader of his book. Having 

 lost thousands of dollars in attempting to cultivate 

 some fifty varieties, he finds only some half a doz- 

 en profitable on pear stocks, and a single one on 

 quince. On pear stocks he prefers Bartlett and 

 Doyenne Boussock, for early; Clairgeau and 

 Seckel for autumn; and Anjou, Lawrence and 

 Winkfield for winter. For dwarfs the Duchesse 

 d'Angouleme. His remarks and cautions on choice 

 cf aspect and varieties, preparation of soil, plant- 

 ing, pruning, gathering, marketing, &c., will be 

 valuable to all who cultivate pears for profit. 

 When reading any book, we like to feel that the 

 author understands his subject, but we dislike to 

 have him remind us of the fact too often in ex- 

 press terms. We think, that a smaller volume 

 might have contained all he wished to say, and 

 that an alphabetical index of subjects of two pages, 

 would have been worth more to the praciicaZ reader 

 than the twenty pages of introduction, preface, 

 and inconvenient if not useless table of contents. 

 The cuts, too, are clumsy and coarse. 



Nebraska. — For the purpose of correcting the 

 impression made upon the minds of those who 

 studied geography in books and atlases which rep- 

 resented that section as the "Great American 

 Desert," the Omaha Agrieuliurist has obtained a 

 statement from ten dealers in and manufacturers 

 of agricultural implements and machines, of the 

 number sold by them in that town since the com- 

 mencement of the present year. From these state- 

 ments we find that the number of ploughs sold up 

 to October has been 3455, reapers anel mowers 804, 

 horse rakes 510, wagons 706, threshing machines 

 .52, seed sowers 198, and other things in pro- 

 portion. The sale of so large a number of imple- 

 ments and machines in a single town, in about six 

 months, is a pretty good indication that the far- 

 mers of this young State are doing something to 

 make the "Desert" "blossom as the rose." 



Patent Grape Growing. — In reply to a corre- 

 spondent who asks if there is any patent on any 

 particular way of growing grape vines (rom short 

 cuttings, the Prairie Farmer says, a patent was 

 issued to William Griffith, North East, Pa., May 14, 

 1867, for propagating grape vines from single buds 

 in the open field. This patent covers the mode of 



propagating grape vines in open field culture, by 

 covering single bud cuttings with a cold mulch, 

 applied in sufiicient depth to keep down the tem- 

 perature of the bud, anel thereby retard its sprout- 

 ing until the roots have been adequately developed. 



ag-ricultdtiaIj items. 



— The estimated stock of domestic wool in Bos- 

 ton is 11,100,000 pounds; in New York, 3,400,000 

 pounds ; and in Philadelphia, 4,300,000 pounds. 



— A correspondent of the Rural New Yorker 

 finds that peeling willows in June, or whenever 

 the bark will slip, and letting them stand till the 

 next season, is sure death to stem and root. 



— A correspondent of the Farmer, at Groton, 

 N. H., writing October 4, says that the corn crop 

 is much better than was expected during the sum- 

 mer ; potatoes are first-rate in quantity and qual- 

 ity, with but little rot; apples, especially grafced 

 fruit, almost a failure. 



— The asparagus growers at Oyster Bay, L. I,, 

 find that, by dusting the plants attacked by the 

 larvae of the asparagus beetle with lime, they can 

 effectually destroy it. It does not aff'ect the beetle 

 itself, which is quite lively and readily jumps 

 away if annoyed by anything, but the larvte being- 

 very thin-skinned, it appears to burn them or dry 

 them up as soon as it touches them. By frequently 

 going over the beds, its ravages may be completely 

 arrested. 



— A correspondent of the Rural World, who has 

 lived on the Channel Islands twenty years, and 

 raised cattle there, says that when these Channel 

 Island cows are removed, though they may be 

 good milk and butter producers, he does not be- 

 lieve that they will, anywhere else produce as 

 they do in their native place. He believes the 

 peculiar climate, which allows grass to remain 

 green all the year ; the careful and regular way in 

 which cows are feed there ; and the warm stabling 

 and constant attention which they receive — make 

 them produce more and richer milk than they 

 ever can elsewhere. 



— At a recent discussion by the Lexington, Ky., 

 Farmer's Club of the best method of harvesting 

 corn, Mr. John Webb said that in his opinion the 

 best way is to cut it up when thoroughly lipe ; be- 

 cause, first, the fodder is much better when dry, 

 and second, the corn is more healthy when fully 

 matured for man and beast. When it is cut green, 

 experience proves that corn is certain to cause 

 colic in the animals using it; green fodder is al- 

 ways unpalatable to stock, and it is especially so 

 when damp. At one time in his life he believed 

 in the value of green fodder, and has hurried out 

 at daylight with his hands to secure it before it 

 became dry, but he is satisfied now, from his own 

 observation and that of other farmers, that dry 

 fodder is eaten with more avidity than green, and 

 cattle look better from using it. 



