208 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



The land was a moist loam, with a small quan- 

 titj of clay ; it had been planted the year previ- 

 ous with corn in each season, and manured witli 

 green barn-yard manure. Wheat, the BUxck Sea 

 kind. Lewis Hall. 



Dover, Vt., April, 1855. 



CURKANTS. 



I wish to inquire through your paper whicli 

 are the bsst varieties of currants and gooseberries 

 for me to set, not so much for profit as for kitch- 

 en use. Our land is right for most any kind of 

 fruit that will grow in New England. Wish also 

 you would refer me to some nursery where I can 

 obtain a supply, and if you can, something of the 

 expense. f. 



Willimantic, Ct., LS55. 



Remarks. — Among the red currants, the large 

 red Dutcli are very fine ; the cherry currant 

 grows large and beautiful, but it is intolerably 

 acid. The New White Dutch is a superior varie- 

 ty — not so acid as the red Dutch, and quite 

 large. They may be found at most nurseries. 



POUDRETTE. 



Mr. Editor : — Can you tell me anything about 

 poudrette 1 I have very little manure, and some 

 land to put it on. Will the poudrette answer, 

 with guano and ashes, plaster and superphos- 

 phate, in place of other manures? l. p. 



Remarks. — Poudrette is composed of the night 

 soil, sewerage and offal of the cities, and a genu- 

 ine article is a first-rate fertilizer. Its use would 

 not preclude that of either of the other articles 

 you have mentioned. 



layer of the manure was laid upon the floor and 

 water sprinkled over it ; then another layer and 

 more water thrown on,and so on until the pile was 

 completed, in a conical form, and a pailful of 

 water applied. Next day on examining the pile, 

 the manure still appeared dry. The process was 

 repeated again and again, until the manure ap- 

 peared to be suRiciently moistened. Tlie quanti- 

 ty of water was much greater than I had sup- 

 posed Avould be sufUcient. The laanure was used 

 as in the preceding year. The corn came vp well, 

 and I perceived no ill cfFects from the "burning 

 quality'' of the manure. a. w. 



Stephenson, N. Y. 



For the New Ensfland Farmer. 



EXPERIMENT WITH HEN MANURE. 



i^Iu. Editor: — An ubjuetion made against the 

 use of guano is that it "burns the corn" and 

 prevents its comhuj up. Perhaps the following 

 facts in relation to a kindred manure, may throw 

 some light upon the action of guano, and suggest 

 the cause and tlie preventive of the injurious ef- 

 fects complained of. 



Some years since, I manured several rows of 

 corn with tlie droppings of the hen-roost. The 

 manure was placed in the hill, in pretty liberal 

 quantities, and covered two inclies deep with 

 earth, on wliich corn was planted in the usual 

 milnncr. A considerable portion of the corn 

 fixiled to come up. The surface of the hill ap- 

 peared dry and of a much lighter color than the 

 surrounding soil, and tlie seed had undergone no 

 sensible change, appearing as dry and hard as 

 when shelled from the ear. Continuing the ex- 

 amination, the manure was found to be much 

 augmented in bulk and completely saturated with 

 moisture. 



This tlien I supposed to be the cause of the 

 mischief. Tlie manure had absorbed so much of 

 the moisture from tlie superincumbent eartli, 

 that the moisture remaining Avas insuflicient to 

 eflfect the germination of the seed. 



Next year, profiting by experience, I saturated 

 tlie manure with water before it was used. A 



For the New England Farmer. 



PRUNING. 



Mr. Editor : — Tt is not without some feeling 

 of delicacy that I enter upon the subject above 

 mentioned, when we have before us the opinions 

 from such high authority as the lamented Down- 

 ing and Cole, with a host of others we might 

 name. But as the best writers disagree in some 

 minor, if not some important points, and as my 

 experience for the last twenty years has been con- 

 siderable in the cultivation of almost every varie- 

 ty of northern fruits, I ^nture on the premises, 

 with no desire to refute any man's theory, but to 

 lay before the reader a few plain, practical hints 

 and facts draAvn from my own experience and ob- 

 servation. Perhaps there is no department in 

 horticulture in which there is manifested so great 

 a diversity of opinion as in the time for pruning. 

 That there is a right and a wrong time to do this, 

 all will admit ; and although one may succeed 

 tolerably well in pruning at an improper time, 

 he is unable to calculate his loss by the deviation. 

 Before a man commences to prune, he should 

 consider well for what purpose, or what end is 

 to be answered by the process. If a young ap- 

 ple orchard is to be pruned, tlie objects should be 

 to take off such limbs as cross others, form a ])Y0- 

 per head, and add to the vigor of the remaining 

 branches. 



Now at what time is this to be done ? Is it a 

 short time before or after the sap begins to flow 

 in the spring, with the certainty that it will ooze 

 out at every wound, until past midsumm "• and 

 cause vermin, filth and rot? Is it at midsu "r, 

 when every leaf is a laboratory filled with ii.' 

 proper material, and every moment supplying 

 the requisites for wood and fruit? The only rea- 

 son given for the waste of so much vital nourish- 

 ment is because the wound will commence heal- 

 ing quickly ; but I would ask, is this of much 

 importancH^, if the wounds can be so dressed as to 

 exclude the possibility of rotting or leaking? 

 Does it not look more in accordance with na- 

 ture's laws to wait until the leaf and sap, having 

 done their work in the l)ranches, have descended 

 to nourish the roots, leaving the top in a perfect- 

 ly dormant state, to proceed with the work of 

 pruning the branches, leaving the wound to the 

 drying and hardening influences of the sun and 

 wind, until near spring, when a coating of gum- 

 slielac dissolved in alcohol, applied with a brush, 

 will prevent all bad consequences, and the heal- 

 ing process will oonimence in time and proceed 

 without interruption, until the wound is num- 

 bered among the things that were. 



FmsI Bri'djewaler . E. C. Holmes. 



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