1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



319 



rope for experiment in the south. It grows in 

 the form of a shrub, of middle size, bearing a red 

 oval fruit, about as large as olives, inclosing a 

 stone of the same shape. They are sweet, but 

 only eaten among us in the from of a paste. In Al- 

 giers the fruit ripens in the month of June, and 

 is much souglit ai'ter by the inhabitants, who con- 

 sume large quantities, Iwth fresh and dried, as 

 well as in the form of a delicious paste. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CHARCOAL DUST. 



Mr. Browx : — At one of the agricultural meet- 

 ings at the State House, last winter, I was much 

 interested by the remarks of the speakers; some 

 new ideas, to me, were advanced, in regard to 

 guano. But I was particularly pleased by the 

 earnestness with which a more careful saving of 

 "home manures" was urged, with which to form 

 a fertilizing basis and furnish an absorbent for 

 the gases. One of the most important agents for 

 these purposes, in my experience, was but slightly 

 alluded to, viz : charcoal dust. If you will per- 

 mit, I will relate one of my experiments, and its 

 results, with charcoal, and you, of course, will 

 dispose of the statement as you deem proper. 



In the winter of 1852 I carted off the top of a 

 high knoll or ridge that extended through a piece 

 of land I had recently purchased. My object was 

 to bring the land into better shape and to put 

 this heretofore barren spot into a state for culti- 

 vation. The cutting was from 2 to G feet deep, 

 leaving a level plain of about half an acre, which 

 was still elevated above the adjacent lands. The 

 bed of this plat was coarse sand and full of "cob- 

 bles." Having on hand a lot of meadow muck, 

 that had been decomposed with shell lime and 

 salt brine, I took of this 40 cart loads, 10 loads 

 sandy loam, 2^ cords of charcoal dust, and threw 

 into a heap. Into this I put 15 barrels of liquid 

 from gas works, working over the mass and mix- 

 ing thoroughly. After standing four weeks, I dis- 

 tributed the heap evenly as possible over my 

 piece. Then plowed and cross-plowed, to the 

 depth of ten inches, and harrowed until the whole 

 was well mixed with the sand bed, and sowed to 

 oats, with timothy and clover, first week in June. 

 The oats came up finely, grow stout, but were in- 

 jured by rust. The grass was a poor catch and I 

 again sowed and raked in seed in the flill. The 

 following season, where the seed took from the 

 first sowing, I cut a heavy crop of grass. 



Last spring the grass had got well catched, 

 started early, and was marked Ijy its dark green 

 and fresh appearance all througli the dry season. 

 I took off two crops of grass, both averaging 4 

 tons to the acre. During all the dry weatlier 

 this spot did not seem to sutler in the least by 

 drought, notwitlistanding its high altitude, and 

 while on low grounds in the vicinity vegetation 

 was completely dried up. This good result I at- 

 tributed mainly to the coal dust, for wherever I 

 turned up tiie eartli, on this piece, and found the 

 greatest mass uf coal, there I found the uiost 

 moisture, and the grass roots seemed to possess a 

 particular fondness to twine among it. 



My faith in the utility of coal dust, for dry 

 lands, has been strengthened also, by using it in 

 setting trees. I have an elevated and sandy place, 

 where 1 am desirous to grow a "belt" of ever- 



greens, and for two successive years, after my ut- 

 most skill in setting, the trees would die out 

 wholly or in part, seemingly from the effects of 

 the hot, dry seasons. Last spring I again set out 

 50 Norway spruce, fir balsam, white pine, &c., 

 dug large holes, and in part mixed in with the 

 loam two bushels charcoal, bringing a portion of 

 the coal near the roots of the trees. 1 used equal 

 care in setting, but in the fall almost every tree, 

 where no coal was put, was dead or nearly so, 

 dried up. While every tree to which I applied 

 the dust was alive and vigorous. I have also used 

 charcoal in setting fruit ti-ees, hedges, &c., in dry 

 places, and am satisfied with the result. 1 am 

 sorry that a more free use of charcoal dust re- 

 cently, in this vicinity, has advanced the price of 

 the article. Our colliers now charge $5 per cord, 

 but think it will pay even at that price, a. r. 

 Lowell, March 1. 



A HINT. 



Friend Adams : — Permit me through the col- 

 umns of your paper, to urge upon my brother 

 farmers, the importance of turning their attention 

 to the raising of roots more extensively for the 

 purpose of wintering stock. The scarcity and 

 consequent high price of hay, and grain, if there 

 were no other reason, should induce every man 

 in the state who has an acre of land or even less, 

 to set apart a portion of it for that particular 

 purpose. 



I wish more especially at the present time, to 

 call the attention of that class to the subject who 

 do but little farming and who keep but a single 

 cow or horse. It matters not whether he styles 

 himself a farmer, mechanic, or merchant, or 

 whether he belongs to any other class, ho lias a 

 common interest with those who till the soil, and 

 should co-operate with them. 



I would propose to all such to plant one-eight 

 of an acre of carrots, as soon as the ground is in 

 a suitable condition to receive the seed, that is as 

 soon as it is warm and dry. The labor of culti- 

 vation will be trifling and the amount of caiTots 

 if a fiiir yield, will be a hundred bushels or more. 

 This would give a cow a half bushel per day — two 

 hundred days or more than half a year. I have 

 no doubt l)ut the animal would be grateful, and 

 the owner find his reward, I do not ask who will 

 try it, but I do ask who will fail to do so. — Gran- 

 ite Farmer. 



A Fact in regard to Drilling WniLVT. — We 

 wish to record a fact which seems rather remark- 

 able in regard to drilling in wheat. We sowed 

 about nine acres last fall, with one of Koss' Drills, 

 and some three acres among corn, with a three 

 shovel cultivator. Of the former, we have not 

 noticed a single plant heaved out with the frost 

 during the winter, though a part of it was sown 

 on tiie poorest clay kuul on tlie farm, with but 

 one plowing. It was sown immediately before 

 that among the corn, and presented in the early 

 winter a decidedly poor prospect. But that sown 

 among corn is badly killed with winter, many 

 plants lying on top the ground, dead. In some 

 places, it seems almost entirely ruined. It is the 

 same kind of wlieat as that wliich was drilled. 

 Our readers may draw their own conclusions. — 

 Indiana Fanner. 



