1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



435 



yield ]3cr acre. The large "tree-corn" of the South ] will come up to our expectations can only be deter- 

 and Soutli-\vest,where a man is obliged to stand on mined, when a full detail of the experiments made 

 tiptoe to reach the ears, seldom, I am told, yields i shall be presented. 



more than fii'ty bushels to the acre. In the great 

 corn-growing Scioto Valley, fifty bushels to the 

 acre is considered a large a\erage cro]). And yet I 

 once knew one hundred and thirtif-one bushels to the 

 acre, of common eight-rowed yellow corn to draw 

 the first corn ])remium at the fair of the agricultu- 

 ral society in Rutland County, Vermont. This, to 

 be sure, is something extra ; but fifty bushels to the 

 acre is liy no means a crop to brag of, even in what 

 is usually called the sterile soil of old Middlesex. 

 I have raised nearly as large a measure of ears on 

 a square rod, of the common wliite pop-corn, as of 

 any other ; because, though the ears are much 

 smaller, the hills will bear plantinjj much nearer to- 



This is certain, where one and a half and two 

 tons of hay to the acre was calculated on in the 

 spring, but little more than one ton has as yet been 

 realized. Whether this deficiency shall be supplied 

 by the second crop and the sujjerabimdance of com 

 fodder, will depend much on the vigilance and in- 

 dustry of farmers. EsSEX. 



August 10, 1855. 



Ok, a 



For ike New England Farmer. 



LITTLE THINGS : 

 Walk lv My Gakdicn No. 3. 



^, , ^, ' 1 ■ II r- ^1 • I do not write about mv garden because it is so 



gether, and the average numbei", per stalk of this j^ ^^ expensive, or so much better than those of 

 variety, IS much greater tkm will hold good of the, ^-^^j j^,,^/^ ,,^^ l^^^^^^^^ ^^.^^.^. .^^^^ possesses 

 larger varieties. And by the way, I would recom-| j^^- j^^^vidual interest. Every garden is full of in- 



struction, even that of the sluggard. While taking 

 mv walk this morning, I was struck with the 



i-ger varieties, 

 mend a much more extensive cultivation of this va- 

 riety. The oleaginous matter which it contains, 

 and which causes it to "pop" so freely, renders it 

 very valual)le for the fattening of fowls, while 

 "popped corn" is the simplest, lightest, cheapest, 

 and most nutritious form of unleavened bread 

 known to the world. No family, in these days, 

 ought to be without a "corn-popper." 



I could write for hours upon the advantages to 

 our fanners of entering more largely into the culti 



POWER OF LEAVES TO ABSORB HEAT. 



I transplanted some cabbages, gave them a single 

 watering, and covered them with leaves of rhubarb, 

 or burdock, which I find much better than repeated 

 watering. The thermometer had been up to 95'^, 

 yet the plants did not wilt. What oceans of heat 

 are swallowed up by vegetation in summer! The 



vation of maize, and then scarcely satisfy my owii leaves do not merely evaporate the water h\ the aid 

 feeHngs on the subject. I do not expect others, I of heat, but they have an apparatus by which water 

 however, to partake of my enthusiasm, and so T is emitted from their surfaces, which, when disen- 

 forbear; and will close by an afiirmation, of which. gaged, absorbs a large quantity of sensible heat. A 

 I challenge the disproval. It is this : JSTo fanner single large maple in open ground will almost al- 



ever yet cidttvated too much Indian corn. 

 Somei-ville. E. c 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



HAY CROP. 



Notwithstanding the long-continued growth, and 

 the luxuriant appearance of the fields, there is much 



wav's induce a current of air beneath its shade. 



Somebody has said, and it has gone the rounds 

 of the papers, that nitrogenous manures are not 

 good for cabbages or ruta bagas. Now I do not be- 

 lieve it. Ihey love such manures, but the trouble 

 is, such manures should be thoroughly incorporated 

 with the soil, and if possible, prepared early in the 

 season. I have for many years preferred this kind 



reason to believe that the amount of hay actually i of manure to all others, and have almost always 

 secured m condition to be used, will come short of ],eat my neighbor, the doctor, who is a good ga'r- 



a fair average of the crop for the last ten years 

 This is true, so far as my ol)servation has extended 

 in the eastern ])art of the State. The check put on 

 grass, l)y the extreme drought of the last year, in 

 many fields, will not be overcome until the land is 

 re-seeded. When the plants are once killed, no fer- 

 tilizing application will cause them to sprout again. 

 If we do not mistake, an injury of twenty-five per 



dener. 



I have a spot sown with seeds from the Patent 

 Office called the 



CIL\MPION PEA OF ENGL.\ND. 

 They look finely, are ready for ])ickhig after the 

 Prince Albert, and liefore the ^Marrowfat. They 

 have been cultivated for several years by some Eng- 



cent. to most of our fields luipjiened in this way. — lish families in this vicinity, by whom they are high- 

 Then, it will be remembered that the early spring I b' pi'izcd. I think they are not generally knowii 

 was peculiarly unprojtitious to the starting ahead of (in this State, but will prove a valuable addition to 

 this croji. Very few fields were grown sufficiently j "i"" culinary articles. Item. — Sow the Prince Al- 

 to be cut on the 4 tli of July. Generally they were ' 

 ten days, at least, behind at that time. And subse- 

 quently, when cut, it took four days or more to 

 malie it, as is usually done in two, in fliir weather. 

 Talving into view all these circumstances, and the 

 emjjty condition of the mows in our barns at the 

 present time, it is fair to say, that the crop is con- 

 sideralily less than average. ' 



AVe have l)een led to these reflections on the crop 

 of hay, from the interest we had felt in facilitating 

 the labor of cuttmg it. We had ]jersuaded ourselves 

 that one-half of this labor, at least, might be saved, 

 by the proper introduction of machines, to be oper- 

 ated by horse or ox power. Whether the result 



bert, Champion and Marrowfat, for a succession of 

 productive crops. 



Some very silly things have been written respect- 

 ing the use of 



SALT AS A MAM:1!1:. 

 The chief use of salt is alleged to be its power of 

 destroying grubs and worms. Now I would like to 

 know how many l)ushels, evenly spread over an 

 acre, Avould be necessary, so as to destroy a single 

 worm P Then, again, it destroys weeds. But so 

 will sulphuric acid, potash, or any other salt, or 

 acid, when used in large quantities, and in a con- 

 centrated form. How many bushels of salt to the 

 acre would it take so as to kill any weed whatever? 



