334 



NEW ENGLAN FARMER. 



July 



are then moistened with water, and laid in a 

 heap, in hiyers, with a quanlity of Peruvian 

 guano between each layer. 



The sugar-house scwm is pounded fine. Three 

 barrowfuls, of "five half-bushels" each, then are 

 mixed with six barrowfuls of Mexican guano. 

 To this are added 1^ bushels common salt, 1 



ing season, and have produced me good crops 

 ever since." 



Since writing the above, we have seen salt re- 

 commended in a Pennsylvania paper as one of the 

 best stimulants that can be applied to the quince 

 tree. The writer, however, recommends its ap- 



bushel of plaster, 3 bushels Peruvian guano, and j plication in compost rather than directly to the 



one-half bushel of quick lime. When the Peru- ,^^_^„ ;,. Uo vot^ c.fn+„ o^ri -tUT, nK^„f ^t, a^„^n^ 

 , ,. i 111 ,, 1 ..trees m its raw state, and with about an equal 



vian guano and lime are added, "they make it ,., r • i- i i ti i 



tremendous strong." In other words, the lime quantity of caustic lime or unleached house ashes. 



sets free the ammonia of the Peruvian guano, 

 and gives the manufactured Chilian guano a 

 strong smell of hartshorn, which, to the unre- 

 flecting, is a sure indication of a valuable guano. 

 The floor., where the hags were filhd, icas cov- 

 ered with Peruvian gtiano, in order to make the 

 article look as much like genuine guano as po.s- 

 sible. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PLOWS AND PLOWING. 



I have looked with some interest for the re- 

 plies to a "Tiller of hard and stony land," having 

 myself some two years since made a similar in- 

 I have had some experience since tliat 



What is Chilian g-uano, and why is this name J^^'^/^nd can perhaps lend the "Tiller" a helping 



hand. Of the plows made fifty years since I am 

 no judge, but a cast iron plow made thirty years 



given to it instead of the better known guano ? 



The only genuine Peruvian guano in this country i 



comes through the hands of Barreda Brother.? ,_ j jy^j^ ^ . ^^^ ^^ 1^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^_ 



and has their mark upon it, sp that it wou d not I ^° ^j^.^ /^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ i^j^^ -^ ^.^^ f^^ 



be easy to sell a spurious Peruvian guano. Chilian -J, ^^ .^ ^^jg. ^^ ^^jj J^^^ ^^ j cultivate, 



guano is subject to no such regulations, and the 

 books describe it, when "fine" — and the manu- 

 factured article is made fine by grinding — as a 

 "re/-j/ valuable variety, equal to that of the very 

 best Peruvian." The name, therefore, has been 

 chosen with consummate cunninji;. 



SALT FOR aUINCE TREES. 



The fact is well known, perhaps, to most of 

 our readers, that plum trees, generally, are much 

 benefited by copious applications of salt ; and 

 that one species, called the "beach plum," groM's 

 on the margin of salt water, where its roots are 

 washed by the tides. Frequent experiments have 

 also demonstrated of late that very decided ad- 

 vantages attend the application of salt to most 

 plum trees. It seems, likewise, from the follow- 

 ing extract from a communication in the Horti- 

 culturist, that the quince tree is equally benefited 

 by it. The writer says : — 



"When I first came to this section of the State, 

 twelve years since, I found on the premises I pur- 

 chased half-a-dozen fair looking quince trees, but 

 which I understood had never borne any fruit. 

 On inquiry I understood the quince tree did not 

 bear Avell in my neighl)orhood, and that my neigh- 

 bors thought it useless to plant this fruit tree. In 

 making a drain from my kitchen, it so chanced 

 that it emptied its contents near the foot of one 

 of the quince trees. This tree, the season after, 

 came into bearing, and as a good deal of pickle 

 had been emptied into this drain, I supposed the 

 salt might liave produced its fruitful state. Act- 

 ing on this supposition, I commenced applying 

 salt to the otlier trees, early in the spring, at the 

 rate of three quarts per annum to each tree, on 

 the surface of the ground under each tree, the 

 trunks of which were then about as large as a 

 man's wri-st. They came into Ijearing the follow 



to the fashionable plows of later years. 



This stiff heavy loam is generally accompanied 

 with abundanc3 of stones, doubtless for good and 

 wise reasons, and I never pick off those small 

 enough to be crushed under the surface by the 

 roller. Now the pattern of a plough to keep 

 steady among these stones, and well pulverize 

 this soil, my limited experience leads me to think 

 is a short mould board, wide behind, and high 

 beam. It seems to be the general opinion of the 

 "i''a7-mer" writers, that a good plow is a good 

 plow anywhere and everywhere, on the sandy 

 plain or rocky hillside, the stiff and tenacious, 

 or the light, friable, easily worked soil. The 

 farmer at Brookline advises to settle the matter by 

 experiment ; this is costly business for the country 

 farmer, and he has a right to expect the matter is 

 already settled. In these times of great improve- 

 ments he has a right to expect that when he de- 

 scribes the soil the dealer will show him the plow 

 best fitted to work it. 



After a fruitless inquiry, through the columns 

 of the "jParwer," I visited the plow stores in 

 Boston, and was soon attracted to a family of 

 plows, in the Quincy Ilall store, marked "deep 

 tiller." Mr. Nourse informed me that these 

 were the latest improvement, but I saw instantly 

 they were in fixct a return, in a great degree, to 

 the improvement of thirty years ago. 1 bought 

 one marked "Deep Tiller — stubble — No. 33," and 

 plowed my old ground Avith it with a satisfaction 

 I had not felt in plowing for years. I rigged it 

 with cutter and roller for breaking up grass, and 

 have used no other plow but a horse plow since. 

 To conclude I would say to brother "Tiller" that 

 if the soil he wishes to plow is like mine, i. e. a 

 stiff, heavy loam, with stones to match, this is 

 the plow that will do the job for it. 



Andover, June, 1855. n. n. 



How TnET USED TO Plow. — In some parts of 

 Scotland, in former times, the plows used to be 

 drawn by four horses abreast and required the 

 assistance of three men. The business of one man 

 was to drive. For tliat purpose, he placed him- 



