46 



NEW ENGLAND FAKIMER. 



Jan. 



all used by the gardener in freeing his plants 

 from insects. It would be well if the plant 

 were raiM'd only for the destruction of insects, 

 rather than, as I fear is the case, for the 

 destruction of human beings." 



An Ugly Thorn. — In a late letter from 

 Kendall County, Texas, in the Mirror and 

 Farmer, Dr. Boynton notices a bush which 

 grows on most of the land that produces the 

 rich, juicy mcsquite grass, on which sheep 

 winter in that climate. From its connection 

 with this nutritious grass, this shrub is called 

 mesquite bush. It attains the usual size of a 

 peach tree and is very like it in form. The 

 thorns drop otF from the dead branches and 

 are scattered in great numbers about the 

 ground. These frequently stick into the feet 

 of the sheep and produce severe lameness, 

 thus giving great trouble to the shepherd. 

 They seem to be poison, as the wounds pro- 

 duced by them will not heal for weeks. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FARMING nsr SHIRLEY. MASS. 



Perhaps a brief account of some of the 

 things which interested me during a late visit 

 at the farm of Mr. A. Lawton, in Shirley, 

 Mass., will interest the readers of thi-. Farmer. 

 His farm is well elevated. The soil is good 

 for grass, grain and fruit. There are some 

 noble old apple trees here, which are supposed 

 to be two hundred years old, — venerable 

 monumeits of years gone by. They have 

 been great bearers, but are not now produc- 

 tive, and the owner intends to put the ax to 

 the roots, as the land which they occupy would 

 be valuable for grass. Some of the fields on 

 this furm are hard to subdue in the first culti- 

 vation. One of them, containing just two 

 acres, was so full of small stones, that Mr. L.'s 

 neighbors told him he would never get paid 

 for the labor expended in clearing it. He set 

 it out wiih Lops and the first crop sold for 

 $1000. On thi-i field there is now a remarka- 

 bly handxome apple orchard which has been 

 set six years ; the trees being about forty feet 

 apart, and the growth this year about one 

 yard. On the death of his father, less than 

 twelve years ago, Mr. Lawton bought this 

 farui, which was the old homestead, by run- 

 ning in debt for the whole of it. The farm is 

 now entirely paid for, and Mr. Lawton has un- 

 doubtedly several "spare shots in the lock- 

 er." It was with very good reasons there- 

 fore that he expressed the opinion that 

 fanning, even in Massachusetts, was a profita 

 ble business. Nor is he, by any means, the 

 only one in his neighborhood who entertains 

 the same idea. About half a mile from his 



residence, his neighbor, Mr. H. P. Kittredge, 

 of W. Groton, purchased a farm about the 

 same time that Mr. Lawton purchased his. 

 Mr. Kittredge also had no capital to begin 

 with. But he, as well as Mr. Lawton, has paid 

 for his place from the sale of what his farm 

 has produced, and is estimated to be worth 

 from eight to ten thousand dollars — acquired 

 entirely by farming. 



Hop Growing. 



About ten years ago LIr. Lawton commenced 

 the cultivation of hops, and he sold his first 

 crop for six cents per pound. This year he 

 raised one ton of hops which he has sold for 

 G2 cents per pound, amounting to $124:0. 

 These were raised, and the whole operations 

 of the farm, which is of good size, and pro- 

 duced good crops of hay, corn, potatoes, veg- 

 etables and fruit, carried on with no other la- 

 bor than that of himself and son, aV)out 14 years, 

 with a few days of hired help. The (juantity of 

 hops was only about one-half of what would 

 be called a good yield for the amount of land. 

 Mr. Lawton says, however, that he will not 

 complain of the crop when the price is so much 

 beyond that of former years. Within the last 

 four years Mr. Lawton has sold $.30110 wnrth 

 of hops. Last year he returned as the income 

 of his farm over $1700. 



In the cultivation of hops, Mr. L. tried the 

 horizontal process of training, heretofore de- 

 scribed in the New England Farmer, on 

 one acre, this year. He likes the method very 

 much, and intends to adopt that instead of the 

 former plan of using poles. The horizontal 

 process is patented and costs about ten dollars 

 per acre. Mr. Lawton thinks that hops do not 

 exhaust the soil any more than the orriinary 

 farm crops, and do not require more manure. 

 He uses a compost of mud and manure to 

 dress with. Hops for the market are not re- 

 quired to be so ripe as formerly. Buyers pre- 

 fer the light-colored. Consequently, it is not 

 necessary to force their growth by so rich 

 dressing. He says that the hop-growers in 

 New England do not understand preparing 

 their hops for market so well as in other .States. 

 They should be very clean and light colored. 



November 26, 1867. w. 



Fence Posts. — Around each post used In 

 fencing, a small mound of earth f^hould be 

 raised, to throw oft" the water of heavy rains. 

 This keeps the water from entering the post- 

 hole from the surface. In every place where 

 this simple plan has been tried, the posts have 

 lasted much longer than those set in the ordin- 

 ary way. 



—It is estimated that at least 1000 tons of 

 meadow hay were spoilt in Essex county, Vt., 

 during the past season by the heavy rains. It was 

 unfit to cut and therefore allowed to rot where it 

 stood. 



