1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



555 



CORN POETRY. 



We find in the Iroquois Free Press some poetry upon "In- 

 dian Corn" written in a style a little lioinespun, but after all 

 with a kind of ring about it which may commend it to the boys. 

 The verses go off in a real strong Mormon sort of way. 



The West can boast of glorious streams, 



And prairie's grandest lawn — 

 Of lake and forest old and green, 



But most of Indian corn, 

 Large fields of Indian corn 



From peaceful sleep the plowman wakes. 



And rises with the morn ; 

 Deep furrows all day long he makes 



Through rows of Indian corn — 

 Long rows of Indian corn. 



'Tis sweet when summer suns go down, 



When winds have ceased to blow, 

 To list its rustling, crackling sound. 



And think we hear it grow ; 

 It seems so glad to grow. 



I love to pull it from the stalk 



When it is in the milk, 

 And husk it out its sheath, and talk 



Of its soft shining silk — 

 Its glossy floss, its silk. 



And when at noon aside we dash 



Our work for bell or horn. 

 Give me a dish of succotash 



Or ears of Indian corn — 

 Hot ears of tender corn. 



I'll take it with a true delight. 



And costlier dishes scorn, 

 For nothing tempts the appetite 



Like ears of roasted corn — 

 Sweet ears of roasted corn. 



Then when its sheaves stand thick about, 



And fruits the fields adorn. 

 How gushes out the merry shout 



From buskers of the corn — 

 The yellow, golden corn. 



Where freedom floats on every breeze. 



And fields of Indian corn 

 Are spread out on the land like seas ! 



1 joy that I was born — 

 Blessed land of Indian corn. 



For ilie New EngJand Farmer. 



GRAFTING YOUNG TREES. 



:Messrs. Editors :— My attemi)t to graft the pear 

 upon the Amelanchier, or Shud bush, has not been 

 Rucce.ssi'ul this year, mainly in consequence, as I 

 think, of hasty and imperfect operation. None of 

 the grafts have taken ; but as I am perfectly aware 

 that they did take on the same stock, and grew vig- 

 orously, forty years ago, as mentioned in my last 

 communication, I do not consider the point decided 

 against the use of the shad bush for a stock in lieu 

 of the quince ; and I look for a more favorable issue 

 of the next trial. 



Allow me to bring to your notice another horti- 

 cultural question, l*ossibly some of your corres- 

 pondents may have determined it already, from their 

 own experience. It is presumed that seedlings are 

 often raised from garden or orchard apples for the 

 purpose of forming stocks. The question is, will 

 such stocks be ser\iceablc for grafting witli scions 

 from those trees from whicJi the stocks derived their 

 origin .3 _ Is it prol)al)le that trees so obtained would 

 derive either advantage or detriment with regard to 

 the quality of the fruit, or tlie duration of the tree ? 

 Or would the case be simply immaterial ? 



On yet another point your opinion would be veiy 

 acceptable — with respect to the feasibility of estab- 

 lishing an orchard in less than the ordinary time, by 

 grafting young trees where they stand, without sub- 

 sequent removal, instead of transplanting grafted 

 trees. For instance, in this quarter, although sit- 

 uated in the farthest north and east, and exposed 

 to the icy blasts of the northern Atlantic,* apple 

 trees appear to spring up spontaneously. Whole 

 fields are dotted over with them. I have such a 

 field. The soil is gravel, on limestone rock. It 

 never was much cultivated ; and for many years, not 

 at all. The white weed, or ox eye daisy, has been 

 in undisputed possession of it, during forty years ; 

 but it contains numerous young apple trees, no doubt 

 s])rung from seed that has been casually dropped. 

 There are old trees not distant, supposed to have 

 been planted in the time of the French occupation 

 of the country. They may be eighty or one hun- 

 dred years old, and still thrive luxuriantly, in defi- 

 ance of all sorts of ill treatment. Might not this 

 field be expeditiously converted into a valuable or- 

 chard, by gi-afting the young trees where they stand ? 

 The question afterwards would be — ought they to 

 receive any cultivation, and of what kind ? They 

 appear not to require it in the natural state. 



A reply to these questions would, undoubtedly, 

 prove interesting to others, as well as to 



Sept. I2th, 1855. Far East. 



* AS late in the season as 17th of May, I have witnesseci the 

 sea filled with floating masses of ice as far as the eye could 

 reach. 



A GOOD INVESTMENT. 



We had the pleasure last Aveek of going over the 

 farm belonging to J. W. Patterson, Esq., the pres- 

 ent Mayor of our city, and noting the results of 

 some experiments he has been ti'ving during the 

 past season. This farm is ai)out a mile east of the 

 bridge, and is principally a clayey loam. About 45 

 acres of it last year was covered more or less with 

 bushes, being that part from which wood had been 

 cut for market. Last summer, during the height 

 of the drought, he employed some persons to cut the 

 bushes, but soon after beginning the work, some 

 boys thought they would set fire to a hornet's nest 

 which thej' met with among the bushes. The fire 

 spread from the hornet's nest and soon burnt over 

 the wliole piece, and was with difficulty restiuined. 

 from doing damage elsewhere. 



It noM' becanie necessary to put the land into a. 

 condition to bear crops. Accordingly, late in the 

 fall, just before the frost had shut tiie ground up» 

 Mr. Patterson had a portion of the ground harrowed,, 

 and on it he sowed winter rye, together with herds 

 grass, clover, and red-top. This was suftered to re- 

 main Anthout being harrowed at all, and the winter 

 soon setting in, none of the seed germinated until 

 the spring. After the spring opened, a part of the 

 rje came up, and to ajjpearaiice all of the herds grass 

 and red top, but not much of the clover. The rye 

 that came up grew very well, but the herds grass 

 and red top came on vig(u-ously, and produced a 

 liountiful crop of grass which was cut and secured 

 at the usual season. 



Mr. P. estimates the amount of hay obt lined 

 from the grass seed thus sown in the fall, and which 

 (lid not come up until s])ring, to l)e not less than 

 tw(>nty-five tons. We did not note what ])robable 

 number of acres of the forty-five were thus laid 

 down. The balance of the piece was laid down this 



