30 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



inducing ^^olent inflammation, which generally proves 

 fatal. What is the cause ? Is it the incessant laj-ing 

 of this race, or are they a tender breed, and cannot 

 stand the vicissitudes of the season ? Some people 

 say that they do not winter well. I think the defect 

 I have named is not altogether owing to their exces- 

 sive laying ; for this evil attends them at the com- 

 mencement of their laying. I am trying them this 

 ■wintcs in a warm, plastered room, in order that they 

 may be in an even temperature, and escape inflam- 

 mation and fevers. If they do not succeed better 

 than heretofore, I must give them up. My losses 

 have been about one out of every four. I think that 

 a cross of the Polands with the common fdSvl is better 

 for laying than the pure Polands ; but they die also. 

 We now have some of the Shanghae, and mixtures ; 

 they do v^-eU. I say we, as my boy carries on the 

 hennery. 



I have been trying several years to make an " odd 

 year " Baldwin. I obtained scions from a tree that 

 bore large crops, invariably, in odd years. I set the 

 scions in odd years, and then — odd enough — the 

 first show of blossoms was in 1848. I picked off" 

 every blossom ; and the tree blossomed tolerably 

 well last spring, but it perfected only a few apples. 

 Perhaps that was owing to the season ; and my tree 

 may yet be right. I fear not, however. We see by 

 this how exceedingly strong is the disposition of the 

 Baldwin to produce its fruit in even years. I think 

 your odd-year Baldwin a fine aff'air. If I finally fail 

 in this experiment, I shall be glad to avail myself of 

 your aid in this matter. Yours, &c., 



Acton. H. COWDllY. 



Remaeics. — Several of the foreign breeds of fowls 

 are rather tender, and the shells of their eggs are 

 very thin. We think that this peculiarity is not 

 owing to frequent laying, as we have had some races 

 that laid only every second day, that laid eggs with 

 shells so thin that we could not take them up, ex- 

 cepting with great care, without their breaking. 

 Although the Poland fowls are distinguished as great 

 layers, they require a warm place and extra care in 

 winter, else they will not lay so well as our common 

 hens, which are more hardy. 



Unfavorable weather, the past season, is probably 

 the reason that the Baldwin tree, under experiment, 

 did not produce fruit, as it blossomed well. As to 

 the year of grafting, even or odd, having an influence 

 on the year of bearing, we have no facts or experi- 

 ments ; but as most early bearing trees come into 

 bearing the third year after grafting, if the tree is 

 rather old and thrifty, ahd other circumstances favor- 

 able, we shovild graft a tree in an even year, with a 

 view to make it boar in odd years ; as it would gen- 

 erally commence bearing in odd years, and so be likely 

 ;to continue. This is, with us, hypothesis, and we 

 should be pleased to hoar the result of practice. We 

 know of some cases that confirm the supposition, but 

 there may also be cases to the contrary. Will our 

 correspondents report facts tliat will throw light on 

 .the subject r — Ed, 



BUREAU OF AGRICULTURE. 



The establishment of a " Bureau of Agriculture," 

 at Washington, is a subject that has received consid- 

 erable attention for the year past ; and, as the Presi- 

 dent is disposed to encourage agricultural improve- 

 ment, we hope that Congress will take up the niatter, 



and do something for this great subject, that has been 

 so long neglected by our government. Every other 

 important branch of industry has received the foster- 

 ing aid of Congress. Millions of dollars have been 

 expended to encourage commerce, and the tariff" has 

 often been arranged with a view to protect manu- 

 factiures. But agriculture, the foundation of all 

 other arts, and far more extensive than all others, has 

 received little or no attention ; and the time was 

 when this great branch of industry was not even 

 named in the President's Message as a subject for 

 action, and sometimes not even introduced into that 

 important document incidentally. 



But now the people demand that something shall 

 be done for agriculture ; and in obedience to this sov- 

 ereign voice, something must be done. Our rulers 

 should be wiser than the people, and anticipate their 

 wants, and lead off" in improvements ; but in this 

 particular they have been behind the age ; yet we 

 trust that they will respond favorably to the call that 

 is now prevailing in every section of our country, to 

 have legislative action in favor of agriculture. 



At the late session of the Vermont legislature, a 

 joint committee was appointed to inquire into this 

 subject, of whom Hon. F. Holbrook, of Brattleboro', 

 was chairman. This committee made the following 

 able report, which was accepted by the legislature 

 and approved by the governor : — 



The founders of our government were desirous for 

 the organization of a Home Department, devoted to 

 the fostering and encovxragement of agriculture, and 

 other industrial arts ; but it seems that for want of 

 proper persons to organize and manage such a depart- 

 ment, it was laid aside. 



At a later period, Washington recommended an 

 organization, entitled " A Home Department of Agri- 

 culture." His conceptions upon this subject — like 

 every thing else emanating from his practical, far- 

 seeing mind — are exactly to the purpose, compre- 

 hending, more or less directly, about all that need be 

 said in its favor. They are as follows : — 



" It will not be doubted that, with reference either 

 to individual or national welfare, agriculture is of 

 primary importance. In proportion as nations advance 

 in population, and other circumstances of maturity, 

 this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the 

 cultivation of the soil more and more an object of public 

 patronafje. Institutions for promoting it grow up, 

 supported by the public purse ; and to lohat object can 

 it be dedicated tcith greater propriety? Among the 

 means which have been employed to this end, none 

 have been attended with greater success than the 

 establishment of Boards, composed of proper charac- 

 ters, charged with collecting and dift'using informa- 

 tion, and enabled, by premiums and small pecuniary 

 aid, to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and 

 improvement, by stimulating to enterprise and exper- 

 iment, and by drawing to a common centre, the results 

 every where of individual skill and observation, and 

 by spreading them thence over the echoic nation. Expe- 

 rience has accordingly shown that they are very cheap 

 instruments of immense national benefits." 



The methods of agriculture pursued by out- fathers, 

 in a new country, with a virgin soil and sparse pop- 

 ulation, were, perhaps, necessarily rude and improv- 

 ident ; but with a rapid, an unprecedented increase 

 of population, improvements in tillage have not 

 advanced with corresponding steps, or, generally 

 speaking, been of long standing. By no more than 

 a half century of bad cultivation, the soil of the older 



