254 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUNB 



and find time to exalt that immortal element 

 within us to contemplations above and beyond 

 the mere practical affairs of life. Strolling out 

 of a fine morning in Spring, the mind all opened 

 and awake to the impressions from Nature, and 

 perhaps recalling some noble sentiment uttered 

 by a master spirit when contemp»lating similar 

 scenes, how much may what we then see and feel 

 serve to strengthen us anew for the battle of life, 

 and to rise superior to any depressing or wither- 

 ing influences that may beset us in our pathway. 

 Can any sensitive man fail of being quickened 

 and improved by such an experience ? 



"When heaven and earth, as if contending, vie 



To raise his being and serene his sonl, 



Can he forbear to join the general smile 



Of Nature ? Can fierce passions vex his breast. 



While every gale is peac-e, and every grove 



Is melody ?" 



Reflections like the foregoing in part occupied 

 my mind while walking out one of tlie beautiful 

 mornings of the present week. But my particu- 

 lar purpos^j in taking that ■\yalk was to comply 

 with an invitation from Mr. Solyman Cune, of 

 this town, to observe his plantation of yellow lo- 

 cu&L trees, and the improvement of a very poor 

 piece of land by the plantation ; and the design 

 which prompted me to take up my pen at this 

 time was to speak of these trees, and their effect 

 upon the soil. 



This grove of locusts embraces about two acres 

 of a rough, stony ridge of land, naturally of a 

 light, thin soil, which had long ago been worn 

 out by a previous owner, with successive crops of 

 rye, so that when the land came into Mr. Cune's 

 hands it would not bear grass, and vras of no 

 value for production. Mr. Cune liad read that 

 the locust tree would improve such land. In the 

 spring season, about twenty years ago, he bought 

 half a pound of the seed of the yellow locust, at 

 a seed-store in Boston. As soon as the seed ar- 

 rived at the farm he poured boiling water upon 

 it, scalding it for a minute or two, then added 

 enough cold water to reduce the temperature to 

 about blood heat, and let the seed soak over 

 night. It was then sown in drills in the gar- 

 den, as one would sow beet seed, and it came up 

 well. The little trees or sprouts were allowed to 

 stand in the garden till the following Sprino-, 

 when they were transplanted to the knoll where 

 they now are. The transplanting was done by 

 striking furroAVS with the plow, alx)ut twenty 

 feet apart, then placing the little trees in these 

 furrows, from five to eight feet apart, and cover- 

 ing the roots with a hoe. The land was then 

 fenced from cattle, the fence remaining for about 

 ten years, when it was removed, and tlie land 

 has since been pastured. 



During the last half of the period that the 

 grove was fenced, an annual crop of hay was 



taken from the land — the crop yearly increasing 

 iu amount and improving in quality. The trees 

 have grown finely, and many of them would now 

 make the best of fencing- stuff. The land, which 

 was not worth $10 per acre twenty years ago, 

 could not now be bought for six times that sum. 

 In addition to the value of the trees now stand- 

 ing on it, the land furnishes excellent pasturage, 

 — the white clover predominating largely in the 

 sward. The trees have greatly improved the soil 

 by their annual deposit of leaves, which, lying 

 still where they fall, coat the surface and keep it 

 mellow and soft, and the sward open, so that the 

 grasses do not become bound at the root, but 

 afford a tender bite of pasturage, much relished 

 by the cattle — inclining them to remain much in 

 the grove, preferring the locality before any 

 other portion of the pastures. The borers have 

 occasionally destroyed a tree, but new sprouts 

 have in such case invariably sprung up from the 

 roots. 



This grove is well worth looking at, and fully 

 confirms the statements I have heretofore made 

 in the Farmer, relative to the improvement of 

 poor land by planting it with the locust tree. 

 This, in my judgment, is one of the cheapest 

 and best of modes for improving rough stony 

 lands of a thin soil, or old pastures which refuse 

 to give a bite of grass, and are too steep or far 

 from home to be accessible with the plow and 

 manure cart. There are numerous acres of worn- 

 out pasture lands in New England wliich may 

 unquestionably be improved by planting them 

 with the yellow locust. 



In passing over Mr. Cune's farm, I noticed 

 several good apple orchards have been started, 

 which bear evident marks of the owner's skill 

 and taste as an orchardist , and which at no dis- 

 tant day will add materially to the income of the 

 farm, and to its money value. Mr. Cune is con- 

 siderably engaged in the nursery business, and 

 has an excellent stock of young trees of approved 

 varieties of the apple and pear. Persons in this 

 region desirous of commencing young orchards, 

 would do well to look at his nurseries before pro- 

 curing trees at a greater distance. 



F. IIOLBKOOK, 



BraUlcboro\ April 18, 1855. 



How iircii Manvre do we Use ox an Acre ? — 

 An acre of land contains 43,560 square feet, 4,- 

 840 square yards, or IGO square rods. By those 

 who have used guano, it is said 3(!0 pounds is 

 sufficient to manure an acre ; 302^ lbs. would 

 give just one ounce avordupois to the square 

 yard. One cubid yard would give a trifle over 

 one cubic inch to the square foot. A cubic yard 

 of highly concentrated manure, like night 'soil, 

 would, if evenly and properly spread, manure an 

 acre very well. A cubic yard of long manure 

 will weigh about 1,400 lbs. ; a cubic foot not far 



