36G 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



I have but little faith in the good I'un of shorts 

 or rice meal for keeping swine. 



In this town its inhabitants, almost to an indi- 

 vidual, are engaged in agriculture, yet not half 

 of" the corn consumed is raised here. Exactly 

 the reverse of this ought to be the case, and 

 might be, with an effort ; and the difference 

 would be perceived in the purses of our worthy 

 f'irmers, as well as in the sight of waving fields 

 of golden grain and granaries filled Avith corn. 

 Respectfully yours, S. Woods. 



Ashby, March 28, 1855. 



For the New England Farmer. 



BOOK KNOWLEDGE. 



For a thinking, earnest man, who is sincerely 

 desirous of the increase of knowledge and of im- 

 provement in all the arts of life, and especially 

 in agriculture, the most important of all arts, it 

 iii exceedingly annoying to hear men, and even 

 intelligent men, who of course ought to know 

 1) itter, deriding book-farming, and agricultural 

 science, as wholly unsafe, and unworthy the at- 

 toation of practical men. There are some such, 

 among good practical farmers, men who are suc- 

 cessful in all farm operations, and who are in- 

 debted, much more than they are aAvare, to the 

 Irihors of science, who are constantly affirming 

 t!;at the knowledge derived from books is of no 

 Ya.lue to the farmer. I have such a man for a 

 neighbor, who is eminently successful in his 

 O'.vn business, and who is always able and will- 

 ing to communicate valuable and reliable infor- 

 mation witli regard to his own farm operations. 

 He is inquisitive, and often meets the most in- 

 telligent and enlightened cultivators in the State, 

 and carefully treasures up the information he ob- 

 tains from intercourse with them. I have de- 

 rived much useful information from him, and he 

 is ready to impart to all his neighbors, the re- 

 sults of his own experience, but he denounces 

 books, as wholly unworthy of confidence, and 

 q'^ite as likely to teach error as trutli. When I 

 receive some important information from this 

 man — or some useful hint, if I do not commit it to 

 paper, but keep it locked up in the recesses of 

 iriy own breast, its benefit remains with me alone. 

 But if I commit it to the press, it Avill be carried 

 or. the wings of the wind, through the length 

 and breadth of the land, and benefit thousands. 

 J'erbaps it is the result of much thought, and la- 

 bor, and careful experiment, and why should not 

 ethers enjoy the benefit of it, as well as myself 

 Vi/'liat <knger is there in sending it forth to the 

 world? wlio can be injured by it? Why should 

 he "hide his light under a bushel," or Avhy 

 should I hesitate to "hold forth" the light which 

 I have received? But if this information is put 

 into type, and fixed upon paper, it becomes book 

 knowledge, and if I were to read it to my neigh- 

 bor, he would give me a lecture upon the folly 

 of relying upon information derived from books. 

 He is like Omar, who said of the books of the 

 Alexandrian Library: "If they contain only 

 what is in the Koran, they are not needed. If 

 t!iey contain wJiat is not in the Koran, it must 

 r>e false. Let them be burned." So if books 

 teach only what he knows, they are of no value. 

 If they teach what he does not know, they are 

 not to I)e trusted. r. I 



For the New England Farmer. 



CHANGE OF SEED. 



Mr. Editor : — In an article copied from the 

 Visitor into the Farmer of last week, the doctrine 

 ia laid down with much decision that "the seed 

 of potatoes ought to be changed every five or six 

 years. Even if the seed is brought but two or 

 three miles, the crop will be much better." 



There is a class of people, and verily I am one 

 of them, who cannot believe any theory or dog- 

 ma, however venerable it may be by reason of its 

 age, without some reason that shall seem good 

 and substantial. Now, if there is any good reason 

 for the above-quoted opinion, I should really 

 like to know what it is. I have heard it ad- 

 vanced many a time before, not only in reference 

 to potatoes, but to all the cultivated crops. But 

 what is the philosophy of it? What principle 

 of vegetable physiology makes the change neces- 

 sary or advantageous ? If I plant potatoes this 

 year in the "hop-field," next year in the "rocky 

 lot," and the next year in the "big-oak lot," 

 why, if any change is necessary, is it not just as 

 well as to go to my neighbors, one, three, six, or 

 a hundred miles off for my seed ? Will some one 

 tell us? 



Allow me to give a little of my own brief ex- 

 perience with the carrot. Some seven or eight 

 years ago, I commenced the business of raising 

 garden seeds. I obtained my orange carrot seed 

 of a neighbor, who has always been in the same 

 business. My first crop was, perhaps, as good a« 

 that of my neighbors. There were carrots of 

 every shade of color, from the deepest orange to 

 the purest white. I selected a few of the longest 

 and straightest roots, and those of the darkest 

 color, from which to raise seed for my own sow- 

 ing. This course I have ever since followed, and 

 have never "changed" ray seed. Now for the 

 result so far. Two years ago, as I was harvest- 

 ing my carrots, a neiglibor, who is also in the 

 seed business, and a believer in the necessity of 

 frequently "changing seed" for all vegetables, 

 happened to see some heaps of the roots from 

 luhich I had selected such as were thought suitable 

 to set for seed ; and he was so pleased witli them, 

 not knowing they were the rejected roots, that he 

 at once asked for some of my seed for his own 

 sowing, as his had "run out." Last fall another 

 neighbor, on seeing my crop, wished to renew his 

 seed also, and he was the one from whom I 

 originally obtained my seed. And this result has 

 been obtained with no special advantage from 

 extra manuring or deep plowing ; my plowing 

 has all been done by a single horse. 



This lias been my short experience with a 

 single vegetable. Have not many other persons 

 had a similar experience with other plants, to the 

 improvement of which they have devoted some 

 attention ? Yours truly, J. Doolittlb. 



Elm Lodge., Concord, May 1, 1855. 



Remarks. — The above is not only from & prac- 

 tical farmer, but one of the most careful observ- 

 ers among us. Knowing his soil, we think it 

 best to state that much of it is a sandy loam , and 

 as easily plowed, probably, with one horse, as 

 most of our lands are with two, or a pair of 

 oxen. 



