404 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



of late years is the breed — equal them in symmetry ; 

 every action is light, easy, and elegant, yet firm and 

 vigorous. 



The greyhound is highly sensitive, and verj' good 

 tempered ; like the Irish wolf-dog, it is peaceable 

 and affectionate, and fierce only in the chase of its 

 quarry, or when excited to combat. On one occa- 

 sion only ha%'e we ever seen a greyhound fight with 

 another dog ; and in that instance, the animal, a 

 roguish brindlo dog, was set upon by a large dog of 

 a mongrel mastiff breed, and forced to self-defence. 

 Short, indeed, was the combat ; in a few seconds, 

 the aggressor sunk severely torn, and was taken away. 

 Slim as those dogs are, their muscular powers are 

 very great ; like the race-horse, they arc compact, of 

 iron muscle and ivory bone, with no superfluous fat 

 nor loose cellular tissue, and are consequently decep- 

 tive to the eye, which is, in general, accustomed to 

 see strength conjoined with massiveness. Yet we 

 have but to consider the chest, loins, and limbs of a 

 greyhound, and regard the " tori " of the arms and 

 thighs, to feel assured of the possession of great 

 power. The smooth greyhound, or glaze hound of 

 the older writers, follows exclusively by the eye ; 

 whereas all the old rough breeds could recover the 

 track of the game by the powers of smell ; but in the 

 modern dog, every quality is sacrificed to fleetness, 

 and certainly, for sudden and violent bursts of exer- 

 tion, the present breed has never been equalled. 



Many trials for ascertaining the speed of the grey- 

 hound have been undertaken, and Daniel's opinion 

 seems to be, on the whole, correct, viz., that, on flat 

 ground, a first-rate race-horse would be superior to 

 the greyhound; but that, in a hilly country, the 

 greyhound would have the advantage. Much, how- 

 ever, in the latter case, would depend upon the dog 

 being habituated to hilly districts ; for a greyhound 

 accustomed only to flat plains, though swifter on 

 them than a Yorkshire greyhound, would yield to 

 the latter in a hilly country. The hare and the grey- 

 hound seem to be well matched; the swiftness of 

 both animals is astonishing, and a well-contested run 

 is an animating sight. Daniel records the circum- 

 stance of a brace of greyhounds, in Lincolnshire, 

 running a hare from her seat to where she was killed, 

 a distance measuring, in a straight line, upwards of 

 four miles, in twelve minutes ; but as there were a 

 great many turns during the course, the actual dis- 

 tance was considerably more. The hare ran herself 

 to death before the greyhounds touched her. — 

 Kiiif/ht's History of the Dog. 



NEIGHBOR WILKINS'S HINT. 



A man, having purchased a worn out-farm, and in- 

 vested all his money in his real estate, tried hard by 

 his labor to make it produce a crop. After a labo- 

 rious summer's work, he signally failed. His crops of 

 corn, oats, and buckwheat were scarcely worth har- 

 vesting. Winter came on, and with it discourage- 

 ment and despondency. lie met his neiglibor, and, 

 in the language of Scripture, intjuired, " What shall 

 I do ? " His neighbor, in reply, in true Yankee 

 style, answered by asking another. " Neighbor Wil- 

 kins, have you ever kept a hired man on your f'ann r " 

 " Always." " How can you gain the greatest amount 

 of labor in a season from his efforts r " " In tlie first 

 place, give him a plentiful supply of food, for a full 

 stomach for a laborer is a jewel; next, begin the day 

 early, and keep steady at it." " You have answered 

 truly ; manage your farm as you do your hired man. 

 Feed it with nourishment for vegetation ; feed it full 

 and keep it fed. Clear out the barn-yard; dig up 

 the muck from the swamp ; sow on all the ashes you 

 can get ; cart sand from the diainage of the streets. 



WTien you begin upon a field, feed it, feed it full, and 

 keep it fed. Then go to the next lot, and feed in the 

 same style. Such recollect the kindness of the own- 

 er, and they pay him for it more than fifty fold. — 

 Then plough and dig, and the reward is sure." 

 Neighbor Wilkins opened his eyes in astonishment 

 at his own ignorance, and said, " I see ! I see ! A 

 feeble, starved man cannot bear much. A poor, 

 starved field cannot bear much." Common sense 

 might have taught him, but it had not. Thousands, 

 like him, " scratch gravel " for nought all their 

 days. 



Neighbor Wilkins saw where he missed it. The 

 next year he planted four acres of corn, after he had 

 coated the field with all the fertilizing material he 

 could gather in one short winter-. He told me that 

 " he had scraped all creation." November told a 

 true story. Two hundred and sixty bushels of corn 

 made him laugh ; his wife made puddings without 

 grumbling ; and his children ate with pleasure, 

 'i'hus friend W^ilkins went from field to field, and fed 

 it as he went. In its turn it fed him, his family, and 

 cattle. His barren farm became productive ; his 

 naked field became clothed with herbage. He be- 

 came rich ; his farm was rich. Peace dwelt in his 

 household, plenty filled his granaries, and fortune 

 smiled upon him. If you are an unfortunate farmer, 

 cursed with poor land and stinted crops, look at Mr. 

 WiUiins, and, in the language of the Bible, " Go thoU 

 and do likewise." — Dollar Newspaper. 



NORTHERN SPY APPLE. 



W'e had hoped to be able to test the qualities of 

 this apple ourselves during the present season, but 

 our trees failed to produce fruit. It is yet undecided 

 whether it is destined to take a place alongside of 

 the Canada Red, Pryor's Red, Tewksbury Blush, 

 and Roxbury Russet, as a late spring apple, in this 

 vicinity. 



The following remarks from the editor of the Gen- 

 esee Farmer determine the point, that on rich lime- 

 stone soils it is perhaps unequalled. His authority 

 is unquestionable. On such soils which abound in 

 the western and middle portions of Ohio, it should 

 be introduced into extensive cultivation. — Family 

 Visitor. 



A few days ago we were invited to ride out to Mr. 

 Hand's, of Mendon, in this county, to see his North- 

 ern Spy apple-trees before the crops were gathered ; 

 and we can safely say that we have never been more 

 gratified with any thing in the way of bearing fruit- 

 trees. A great deal has been said about the peculiar 

 tendencj' of this variety to produce a large propor- 

 tion of small, inferior, or unmarketable fruit ; and we 

 only wish that those who entertain such an oiiinion 

 of it could have been with us, and seen Mr. Hand's 

 trees. A more abundant, uniform, and perfect crop 

 we have never seen, of any variety. Twenty-four 

 trees, we believe, in one row, some sixteen years old, 

 with straight trunks sixteen feet high and perhaps a 

 foot in diameter, with lofty symmetrical heads loaded 

 in every part, the boughs bending almost to the 

 ground with large and beautiful crimson fruit, is 

 surely a pleasing sight. Of small, unmarketable 

 fruit we could see none. Mr. Hand has probably 

 one hundred and fifty barrels, and has sold most of 

 them at $2 50 per barrel, while other varieties sell 

 for .f 1 25 to $1 50. 



It has been said that the Northern Spy requires 

 free pruning and high culture ; and there is no doubi 

 that it will be much better with such treatment than 

 if neglected. So will all other varieties, and es- 

 pecially those that mature so late in the season. We 



