556 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



last spring, and is covered ■with a heavy crop of 

 grain, and the catch of grass is excellent. 



The cro]) consists of four bushels sowing of spi'mg 

 Avheat, and thirty-three bushels of oats. The wheat 

 is the variety known by the name of Scotch Fyfe 

 wheat, — this is a variety not usually cultivated 

 among us. It is a bald wheat, straw of medium 

 height and the berry is white and plump. It is now 

 ready for the sickle, though not sowed until the 25th 

 and 26th of May last. We saw no signs of wee^il or 

 rust among it, and we should judge that it would 

 jield twent)-five bushels to the acre. 



But what we ■ft'ished more particularly to remark 

 is this, \'iz : that the money invested in this enter- 

 prise is well invested. We find that oiu- farmers 

 may be divided into two classes in regard to the 

 subject of expending money in agricultural improve- 

 ments on their farms. 1st. Those who ivould, but 

 cannot. 2d. Those who caii, but mill not. 



Mr, Patterson expended not less than $G00 on 

 this 45 acres. This is a great deal of money to be 

 thus used in our latitude. Many of our formers, 

 mstead of putting $600 to such a use, would look 

 at it a long time before doing any such thing, and 

 most probably would have used it in skinning some 

 poorer neighbor by shaving his note so closely that 

 the discomit would far outweigh the principal — the 

 princi-p/e, too. 



But this investment has proved a very safe and 

 profitable, and, what is better yet, a very honest 

 one. Mr. Patterson will realize at least a return of 

 $400 on the $600 invested, and that too in one 

 short year, and the land still be in a condition to re- 

 turn as much another year. Can any of your note- 

 shavers and fancy stock jobbers show a better re- 

 turn for cash invested ? — Me. Farmer: 



For tlie New England Farmer. 



FROZEN SAP BLIGHT. 



Mr. Editok: — Dear Sir, — permit me, through 

 the columns of the Fanner, to express my views in 

 answer to J. W. W., as I, too, have sutiered from 

 the same cause, yiz : frozen sap blight on the trunks 

 of apple trees. When it is recollected that the first 

 part of last winter was very mild, and that the lat- 

 ter part was the coldest we have experienced for 

 thirty years, I think we may safely conclude, that 

 during the mild weather, the sap had been attracted 

 to a certain extent u]) into the trunks of the trees, 

 when the intensity of the cold which followed, caused 

 the sap vessels to bm'st, and hence the dead bark. 

 I have one fine Hubbardston tree on which there is a 

 space about eight inches wide, killed entirely around 

 the tree ; tliis having pealed ofi', I prepared eight 

 scions, taken from a young Greening tree, and in- 

 serted one end of each under the H^e bark, above 

 and below the dead part, and covered the wounds 

 with grafting wax. They soon united and have 

 made a fine growth, and the tree ripened several ap- 

 ples. I have about one hundred and fifty apple 

 trees, of ages from two to twenty years, that have rare- 

 ly escaped a wash of soa2>suds twice in the course 

 of each year, but I have no reason to suppose them 

 any the worse therefor. E. C. II. 



East Bridgewater, 1855. 



The Coffee Tree in Maine. — Mr. Drew, of the 

 Rural Intelligencer, says that a friend of his in the 

 town of Mt. Vernon, has for the last three years 



raised the coffee plant in the open air, from seeds 

 brought from Cuba. It grows about two feet high 

 and produces its berries in pods, something Uke peas. 

 The plants, he says, hsve matured, even this cold 

 season, and the berries ripened without injury from 

 frosts. He has promised us some of the coffee of 

 this year's growth to plant in our own garden, for 

 he desires that we also should test the truth of his 

 experiment. 



For the New England Fanner. 



THE WEATHER AED CROPS. 



XOTES ON THE WEATHER AND CROPS IN THE YEARS 

 1854 AND 1855. 



^Iessrs. Editors : — Notwithstanding all our 

 boasted knowledge and progress in the various 

 branches of forming, we see it verified that "Paul 

 may plant and Apollos water, but it is God which 

 giveth the increase." Deep plowing, scientific man- 

 uring and improved cultivation, do not warrant us 

 great crops. We see that from different causes our 

 crops have follen short the two past seasons, under 

 any system of management which intellect could de- 

 \ise. I shall commence my notes at the first of 

 May for each year. I have not gone to the accura- 

 cy of stating the degrees of heat and cold by the 

 thermometer. 



1854. 



May 1, moderate; 2, very warm and pleasant; 

 3, rainy with lightning ; 4, great ram from north- 

 east ; 6, snow squalls, very cold ; 7, Sunday morn, 

 fi'oze so hard as to bear my weight on a })uddle in 

 my barn-yard ! the coldest day I ever saw in May ; 

 8, cool ; 9, warm and pleasant; 10, do; 11, thun- 

 der shower and plenty of rain; 12 and 13, warm 

 and pleasant ; 14 and 15, rainy, very growing time ; 

 16, very warm and pleasant; 17, wind east, apple 

 trees begin to blossom; 18, showery all day; 19 

 and 20, fine and foir; 21, light thunder showers; 

 22, fair; 23, cool; 24, slight frost; 25, rain; 26, 

 eclipse of the sun, and cool to the end of the month. 



June 1, sHght frost, grows dry; 2 to 7, contin- 

 ues dry ; 8, soaking rain ; 9, growing time ; 10, 

 showery; 11 and 12, cool; 13, little shower; 14, 

 warm; 15, warm, thmider-shower and plenty of 

 rain; 16, 17 and 18, good weather; 19, thunder- 

 shower and little rain; 20, ground well soaked, 

 rose-bugs appear ; 21, sudden change in the weath- 

 er, wind northeast, very cool ; 22, cloudy and cool, 

 wind north-east, and continued so till 24, Avhen it 

 cleared off; 25 and 26, cool and dry ; 27, do ; 28, 

 warmer, thunder-shower and ])lenty of rain; 29, 

 fair and warm ; 30, cloudy, cool and rainy, vegeta- 

 tion looks well, corn shows the tassel earlier than 

 for many years. 



July 1, foir and cool; 2 to 11, very warm and 

 dry; 12 and 13, cool and dry; 14 and 15, rainy 

 and cool, wind north-east, ground well soaked; 16 

 and 17, foggy, 18 and 19, good hay weather; 20, 

 21, extreme heat; 22, cloudy, wind north-east; 23, 

 great heat and soaking shower ; 24, warm thunder- 

 showers all day, wind south ; 25, the third rainy 

 day ; 26, cloudy ; 27 and 28, cooler, good hay 

 weather; 29 to 31, warm and dry. 



August, 1, 2 and 3, warm and dry ; 4, fine rain ; 

 5, great dew — through July to this date, but little 

 dew. 6 to 12, cooler and dry, no dew; 13, very 

 hot and dry, no dew ; 14, cooler, wind north-west, 

 very thy; 15, light frost, dry ; 16 and 17, fair, cool 

 and" dry ; 2 1 to 30, very dry, no dews, fires raging 



