90 



NEW ENGfLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



Mr. BrcKMiNSTEK, of the Ploiif/hman, related 

 ish observations along the line of the Boston & 

 Maine Railruiul. He noticed that English cherry 

 trees, which had been growing for ten years, were 

 dry in the leaf in the latter part of July, and fir 

 trees and evergreens suffered in the same way. 

 On digging four feet deep under an evergreen, the 

 soil was completely dry — at least felt so in tlie 

 hand. He attributed these results to the dryness 

 of the season. 



Mr. Dodge, of Sutton, said that in the south 

 part of Worcester county, those whose lands were 

 suflSciently deep and well manured did not suffer 

 much by the drought, and never do. So far as 

 his experience had extended he had found that it 

 was necessary to make the soil deep and rich. 

 On the hilly lauds of Worcester county he be- 

 lieved that the salvation of the crop depended on 

 loosening the soil to a great depth. A depth of 

 ten inches he thought would remedy the evils 

 complained of. His soil is clayey and loamy. 

 He thought it no harm to bring up the subsoil to 

 the surface, and turn the other under. He never 

 had better cro23S of turnij:)S than this year. They 

 were planted on land plowed ten inches deep — 

 turnips and grass seed together. 



Mr. Barker, of Pittsfield, said he had observed 

 the effects of droughts for twenty years, and he 

 had never seen one yet which would affect a good 

 farmer. Good farmers get good crops, while poor 

 /snes never will. Farmers in his section have had 

 good crops. 



The Chairman remarked that deep plowing 

 Hiiight answer on some lands, but not on the Cape, 

 where nothing but sterile sand would be turned 

 up by deep plowing. 



Mr^ Hall, of Bradford, said he visited a nur- 

 sery in New Bedford last summer, and found the 

 young trees, particularly the pears, in a remark- 

 ably tlirifty state, large and vigorous. He asked 

 the prwjirietors if they did net manure highly, 

 and was told that they did not ; but instead, 

 double trenched all their ground. It is an ex- 

 pensive paroeess, costing $200 per acre. A few 

 weeks since he again saw one of the proprietors 

 of the nurserj, and inquired about the drought 

 in his vicinity. He said it was very severe, but 

 he could not perceive that it had injured his nur- 

 sery much if any. Mr. Hall also related another 

 fact tending to dcmon.strate the value of stirring 

 the soil for facilitating and preserving vegetation. 



At the close of Mr. Hall's remarks (9^ o'clock) 

 the meeting adjourned. 



desirable that every State and Territory should be 

 represented. Lectures and interesting discussions 

 arc expected on subjects pertaining to the objects 

 of the Acsociation, by distinguished ecientiiic and 

 practical Agriculturists. 



The various Agricultural Societies of the 

 country arc respectfully requested to send dele- 

 gates to this meeting ; and all gentlemen who are 

 interested in the welfare of American Agriculture, 

 who would promote a more cordial spirit of inter- 

 course between the different sections of our land, 

 and who would elevate this most important pur- 

 suit to a position of greater usefulness and honor, 

 are also invited to be present on this occasion. 



Marshall P. Wilder, President. 



U. S. Agricultural SociETy.— The Third An- 

 nual Meeting of the United States Agricultural 

 Society will ))e held at Washington, U. C, on 

 Wednesday, February 28, 1855. Business of im- 

 portance will come before the meeting. A new 

 election of officers is to be made, in which it is 



For the New Enp/and Farmer. 



RELATIVE VALUE OF FOOD. 



In the New England Farmer of Jan. 13, I find 

 an article copied from The Plow, The Loom, and 

 The Anvil, on the subject of Root Cro2is. The 

 article is, in the main, what every judicious farm- 

 er will approve ; yet there are some indications of 

 that ultraism whicli is the bane of all practical 

 farming. Among other objectionable sentences I 

 cannot help noting the following : — " The more 

 diluted our food, provided we do not overtask the 

 energies of the intestinal canal in the conveyance 

 of it to its destination, the better for the health 

 of the animal." 



Now this means, if it means anything, that, 

 the less concentrated the food of animals, — that 

 is, the greater the proportion of bulk to nutri- 

 ment, — the "better for the health of the animal." 

 The writer does not seem to perceive that, in car- 

 rying out this doctrine, he must inevitably run it 

 " into the ground ;" for it comes to this, that, 

 when food is discovered which contains no nutri- 

 ment at all, it is better adapted than any other 

 for sustaining animal life ! We have all heard of 

 peojjle who lived on " faith and dumplings," and 

 all agree that it is prettj' hard feed ; but our 

 writer on " Root Crops " would give us all faith 

 and no dumplings. It may be good doctrine to 

 die by, but assuredly it is a hard one to live 

 upon. The chameleon, fabled to diet upon the 

 " circumambient air," would be a model animal 

 to carry out such a principle. 



It is argued by all writers on animal economy, 

 (except perhaps the one here referred to,) that 

 proper food for man as well as beast requires bulk 

 as well as nutriment. A horse fed entirely on con- 

 centrated food, like Indian corn, will gnaw the 

 manger in order to obtain the bulk of fibrous 

 wood which nature requires ; .inl if he cannot 

 procure it, he "will sicken and die. The Hindoos, 

 it is said, who feed mainly on rice, which is the 

 most highly concentrated form of food, (contain- 

 ing about 95 per cent, of nutriment,) will some- 

 times eat dry grass or splinters of wood. There 

 can be no doubt that bulk as well as nutriment is 

 required in order to sustain the animal functions ; 

 but all bulk and no nutriment must be quite as 

 prejudicial as all nutriment and no bulk. The 

 only real truth to be sought is the proper pro- 

 portion. 



The late Dr. Sylvester Graham, who, with all 

 his ultraisms, hail some very good ideas, and was 

 well read in everything relating to physiology, 

 was of opinion that wheat, rye or corn, ground 



