256 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jxjyz 



For the Nrw E)is:fand Farmer. 



THE DAWN OF MAY. 



0, the sky is blue, and the sward is green, 



And the soft winds wake from the balmy west ! 

 The leaves unfold, in their gilded sheen, 



And the l>ird in the tree-top builds its nest ! 

 The truant Zephyr light plumes his wings 



Once more, and quits him his perfumed bgd ; 

 Soft calls on the sleeping flowers to wake. 



And siwrtive roams, e'er each dew-clad head ! 



The Bhie Bella nod them within the wood. 



The Snow Drop peeps from its milky bell, 

 The Motley Thora bends her hood. 



Whilst beauteous wild flowers line the d'ell \ 

 The Wild Briar Rose its fragrance breathes. 



The Violet opes her cup of blue, 

 The timid Primrose lifts its leaves, 



And Kine Cups wake, all bathed in dew ! 



From flower to flower the wild bee roams, 



Then, buried within the cowslip's cup, 

 He murmurs his low and music tones, 



'Till she folds the wanton intruder up ! 

 The spring bird, wakening, soars on high, 



Gushing aloft its melting lay, 

 Wliilst painted clouds flit o'er the sky. 



All ushering in the dawn of May ! 



Like a laughing nymph, she springs to light, 



And tripping along, in her world of flowers, 

 Brushes the dew in the morning bright. 



And weaves a joy o'er each heart of ours ! 

 With frolic hands, the Daisy meek 



From the lap of green she playful throws. 

 Whilst the loveliest flowers spring round her feet, 



And fragrance bursta from the wild-wood rose ! 



0, then glad is the heart, as through leafing trees, 



The soft winds roam them in music play ; 

 Whilst the sick come forth for the healing breeze. 



And rejoice in the birth of the beauteous May ! 

 And glad is the heart of the joyous child. 



As bounding away through the tangled dell. 

 It roams 'mid the flowers, in green broods wild. 



And hunts the caged bee in the cowslip's bell ! 

 0, bright is this world ! 'Tis a world of gems ! 



And loveliness lingers where'er we tread ! i 

 On the mountain-top or in lone wood glens, 



A spirit of Beauty o'er all is spread ! 

 Then warmed be our hearts to that kindly Power 



That scatters bright roses o'er life rough way— 

 Who unfolds the cu]) of the snow-drop's flower, 



And mantles the earth with the gems of May ! 



For the New Eng-land Farmer. 



ABOUT THE STATE OF MAINE POTA- 

 TOES. 



Mr. Editor :— The potato called tho State of 

 Maine, is a seedling raised first by D. Boarce, of 

 Hebron, Me., — known in tliis State, as the 

 "Bearce Potato." They are raised to some ex- 

 tent in Hebron, Minot and Poland ; and called, 

 by the inhabitants of the above places, the best 

 of anything called Potato. Seeing them adver- 

 tised for seed by M. Tombs & Co. in your valua- 

 ble paper, I thought I would make the above 

 statements, together with what I know of them 

 as to quality &c. 



And first, we think they are the best for the 

 table of any kind we ever raised, and 8econ<l,8ell 

 the highest in market. The first I r.iist^d, I 

 planted two bushels on green sward without 

 dressing ; harvested fifty-eight bushels very nice 

 potatoes, which was two years ago. Last season 



I raised five hundred bushels of them. One half 

 acre broke up as late as tho lOtli of June, on 

 which I put three and a half bushels seed, 

 "small potatoes," yielded over one hundred bush- 

 els, and I think there would hare been near 

 double had it not been for the drought. One 

 piece on light dry land did a))out half as well ; 

 another piece on moistish new land did better 

 than either of the above ; on this last piece one 

 end where tlie drought did not effect them, four- 

 teen hills filled a bushel, without dressing, except 

 plaster. 



I would advise those who plant them to choose 

 a moist situation ; and not to hurry about plant- 

 ing till the ground is suitably dry, then plow 

 deep, and plow in the dressing, if barn manure is 

 applied. Plant no deeper than corn, and seed 

 light. 



My method has been, for the last eight or ten 

 years, in the cultivation of potatoes, to hoe soon 

 after they are up, stirring all the ground to kill 

 the weeds, and then whei\ they are large enough 

 hoe again, making a small oval hill, say as large 

 as a half bushel, if the ground is dry ; broader 

 and flatter, if moist, narrower and higiier. 



I have for this length of time used for seed 

 small potiitoes, with the exception of a bushel or 

 two large ones for experiment sake, and am sat- 

 isfied the small ones do as well as large, if I am 

 careful to seed light, say about six bushels to the 

 acre. I cut all my potatoes for planting, tl oso as 

 large as an egg or larger in four, and tiiose 

 smaller in three and two pieces, putting two 

 pieces in the hill. I never furrow for planting ; 

 I used to, and got them too deep. My crop 

 usually averages about two hundred bushels per 

 acre, sometimes more, hardly ever less. 



W. A. ToEiES. 



Mechanic Falls, April 2^, 1855. 



. PRACTICAL EFFOET. 



The question is occasionally asked our agents 

 whether the editor and the writers for the Far- 

 mer are practical men ? They do well . Theory 

 and practice are quite different things — in agri- 

 cultural operations they ought to go together. 

 One may form a plausible theory, and find, when 

 he brings it to a practical test, that it will not answer 

 his expectations. Aware of this,tlie Proprietor has 

 secured a corps of writeis who are all, we be- 

 lieve, practical operators upon the soil — gentle- 

 men who not only direct others, but labor with 

 their own hands. The Proprietor himself, the 

 Editors, and we think nearly every contributor, 

 ladies and all, are owners, occupiers, and tillers 

 of the soil, — and persons who at the same time 

 study and endeavor to penetrate the arcana of 

 the great art. They are not wedded to old cus- 

 toms and usages because they were observed by 

 the fathers, and have the sanction of age, — but 

 heartily embrace the new and useful, and keep the 

 world moving and prospering, and transferring to 

 the elements and animals an immensity of toil here- 

 tofore imposed upon human limbs. What we 

 preach, we have mainly practiced, and feel confi- 

 dent of its truth. 



