298 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



procure so fine-looking varieties ; but on tasting them, 

 he would accept some, and discard others, and thus, 

 in a few minutes, learn what would require as many 

 vears to learn without this advantage. 



COWS HOLDING UP THEIR MILK. 



A correspondent of the American Agriculturist 

 states, that he had a cow that would not give down 

 her milk ; and, as he had heard that putting a weight 

 on the back of a cow would make her give down her 

 aiilk, he laid a bushel of grain on her back, but 

 '■without effect. He then put his elbows on the 

 oeatre of her back, and bore on till her back became 

 hollowed, and then she gave down her milk freely. 



.In the American Veterinarian, we remark that the 

 holding up of milk is done by an effort of the cow, 

 of which she will tire after a while ; and if a person 

 will, deal gently with a cow, and sit down and per- 

 form the usual operation of milking, persevering 

 -steadily, ithe milk will flow freely in a short time. 

 The discovery of this simple and gentle method was 

 made by a boy only nine years of age, who could 

 iby mild means milk the most refractory cows, which 

 sstrong men had tried in vain to subdue. When does 

 a, jierson arrive to the years of discretion ? 



hand, placing them one by one in a basket, to pre- 

 vent bruising. Spread them for a week or two in a 

 cool place, and then enclose each apple closely in an 

 envelop of paper. Have a clean barrel, well lined 

 with cotton batting or old newspapers, and pack in 

 the enveloped fruit as closely as it can be placed ; 

 head the barrel carefully, and set it away in a cool 

 place. In this way fruit will generally keep sound 

 and good. H. 



rRESERVING FRUIT. 



.In ithe artiibl.3 which we copy from the German- 

 ttown TPelegraph, various modes of preser\'ing fruit 

 are rccomHiended. We have made very exact ex- 

 peiimcnts in saving apples in sand, plaster, charcoal 

 dust, and ashes ; but none of these substances had 

 any useful -effect of consequence, and their use was 

 .a'tcndod withimuch trouble and inconvenience. 



Mr. Editoh: Fruit of almost every description 

 may be preserved simply by packing it in kiln-dried 

 "bran. Sand is frequently used for the same purpose ; 

 but it is a ponderous article, and on several accounts 

 far less eligible than bran. Dr. Underbill, of the 

 New York Farmers' Club, stated, some years since, 

 that a friend of his obtained a quantity of ground 

 cork, in which grapes had been imported. He dried 

 it thoroughly in a kiln, and packed some grapes in 

 it, which kept sound and good till the following 

 July. He also remarked that he had succeeded in 

 preserving grapes in kiln-dried Avheat bran ; and 

 that, in preserving all fruits, they should be kept as 

 cool as possible, without incurring danger from frost. 

 The temperature, therefore, ought never to be below 

 32°, nor above 35°. 



Mr. Hall, at one of the meetings of this " Club," 

 remarked that the Spaniards export more grapes 

 than all the rest of the world, and that they pre- 

 serve them by packing in kiln-dried oak sawdust, 

 and hermetically scaling the vessels in which they 

 are deposited. Noah Webster, of Lexicon and Spell- 

 ing-book memory, was accustomed to preserve his 

 apples in sand. Plaster of Paris is also had recourse 

 10 by many for the same purpose, but it is no less 

 objectionable than the latter article, being heavy and 

 difficult to handle. I have known apples and pears 

 j)rcscrved in an excellent state till August, in the 

 following manner : As soon as the weather becomes 

 cool, pick the fruit carefully from the boughs by 



A CURIOUS FACT. 



The relation of the study of plants with agricul- 

 ture will be well understood by the following ex- 

 tract from Professor Johnston's lectures : — 



" It is a fact familiarly known to all of you, in ad- 

 dition to those circumstances by which we can per- 

 ceive the special functions of any one organ to be 

 modified, there are many by which the entire econ- 

 omy of the plant is materially and simultaneously 

 affected. On this fact the practice of agriculture is 

 founded, and the various processes adopted by the 

 practical farmer are only so many modes by which 

 he hopes to influence and promote the growth of the 

 whole plant, and the discharge of the functions of 

 all its parts. Though the manures in the soil act 

 immediately through the roots, they stimulate the 

 growth of the entire plant ; and though the appli- 

 cation of a top-dressing to a crop of young corn or 

 grass may be supposed first to affect the leaf, yet the 

 beneficial result of the experiment depends upon the 

 influence which the application may exercise on any 

 part of the vegetable tissue. In connection with this 

 part of the subject," he adds, " I shall only further 

 advert to a very remarkable fact mentioned by 

 Sprengle, which seems, if correct, to be sijsceptible 

 of important practical applications. He states that 

 it has frequently been observed in Holstein, that if, 

 on an extent of level ground sown with corn, some 

 fields be marled, and others left unmarled, the corn 

 on the latter portions will grow less luxuriantly, and 

 will yield a poorer crop than if the whole had been 

 unmarled. Hence," he adds, "if the occupier of the 

 unmarled field would not have a succession of poor 

 crops, he must marl his land also. Can it really be 

 that the Deity thus rewards the diligent and the im- 

 prover ? Do the plants which grow in a soil in 

 higher condition, take from the air more than their 

 due share of the carbonic acid, or other vegetable 

 food it may contain, and leave to the tenants of the 

 poorer soil a less proportion than they might other- 

 wise draw from it ? How many interesting reflec- 

 tions does such a fact as this suggest ! What new 

 views docs it disclose of the fostering care of the 

 great Contriver — of his kind encouragement of every 

 species of virtuous labor ! Can it fail to read us a 

 new and special lesson on the benefits to be derived 

 from the application of skill and knowledge to the 

 cultivation of the soil ? " 



AN ACT REGULATING THE MEASUREMENT 

 OF CRANBERRIES AND OTHER BERRIES. 



Be it enacted by the {Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives, in General Court assembled, and by the author- 

 ity of the same, as follotrs : — 



Sect. 1. Cranberries and all other berries, hereafter 

 sold, shall be measured by the strike or level meas- 

 ure, that is, in the same manner as flaxseed and 

 other similar articles are measured. 



Sect. 2. This act shall take effect from and after the 

 first dav of August next. [Approved by the Governor, 

 April 30, 1850.] 



