194 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ApniL 



known them to mix, though it Is the opinion of 

 some persons that they do mix. 



Early plants. — Make a hot bed in JIarch, or 

 scoop out turnips, fill them with rich soil and sow 

 seeds in them. Of course they must be put in a 

 warm place and kept properly moistened. Fill any 

 box, one that raisins or starch or salt came in, with 

 rich soil, thoroughly mixed with fine manure, and 

 sow tomato or other seeds on it. Set it in the 

 kitchen, keep it properly moistened, — not too wet, 

 — and where it will have the sun a portion of the 

 day. Almost any quantify of plants that a far- 

 mer may need, may be secured in this way. Thin 

 so that they may have plenty of room, and when 

 two inches high transplant and set still wider 

 apart; at four or five inches high transplant again. 

 This will cause the plants to grow stocky and 

 strong, instead of tall and slender. If trans- 

 planted with care, even a third time, they will be 

 all the better for it. 



The best soil is a sandy loam, made rich by ma- 

 nure that is old and well rotted. Sow at different 

 periods so as to have plants coming in succession ; 

 then if some fail, those coming may take their 

 places. These are mere suggestions ; practice will 

 enable you to succeed in obtaining what you want. 



HORSE RACING AT AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. 



I was heartily glad when I read that the Board 

 of Directors of the Illinois State Agricultural So- 

 ciety had voted to abolish horse racing at their 

 next fair. I feel quite confident that they will be 

 so well satisfied with the result, that they will 

 never return to the former practice again. I wish 

 that all other State and County Agricultural Soci- 

 eties would adopt a similar course. Then would 

 our Agricultural Fairs more properly be what they 

 purport to be ; then there would be a greater gath- 

 ering of farmers, mechanics and manufacturers and 

 others, with their contributions, and an increased 

 interest in the examination of the best specimens 



g resented for competition, &c. How often we 

 ear the remark made that "This horse racing is 

 destined to run our agricultural fairs all out." To 

 say nothing of the cruel and immoral practice, 

 which in a less civilized age or country than the 

 one in which we live, might not have appeared so 

 objectionable, who docs not know that the prac- 

 tice not only shortens the life of the horse, but 

 renders him less serviceable for the use for which 

 he was intended ? Then why not abolish "horse 

 racing" at all our Agricultural Fairs ? 



Elliot Wyman. 

 East Westmoreland, N. H., Feb. 8, 1868. 



RAISING AN ORCHARD FROM THE SEEDS. 



I have been thinking, for some time I would 

 write something for your valuable paper, but being 

 of a timiil nature, 1 feared you would not take no- 

 tice cnoiiuh of anything I might write to prepare 

 it for publication. I will, however, attempt to 

 give some account of my experience in raising an 

 orchard. 



Some twelve or fifteen years ago, I saw that 

 something must be done or soon my neighbor- 

 hood would be without orchards, for the old ones 

 were fa-t going to decay, and there appeared to 

 be no new ones taking their place. Being a 3'oung 

 man, I thought I \sould try and see what I could 

 do in raising an orchard. 1 got some pomace at 

 the cider mill in the neighborhood, and after pre- 



paring my ground, sowed it. The next spring I 

 had seedlings enough. When they were one year 

 old I traiis))Ianted some two or three hundred, 

 and in the tail after they were three years old I 

 budded them witli such Viirictics as the old or- 

 chard on the farm afforded. Two yoars after 

 budding I set out twenty-live, and sold the bal- 

 ance to go out of the neigliborliood, for my neigh- 

 burs believed that my trial in orchard raising would 

 be a failure. But by perseverance and industry I 

 have got a nice young thrifty orcliard, from which 

 I ])ickcd more than three l)uslicl of good maiketa- 

 ble apples one year ago last fall Many that saw 

 them said they had never seen such a sight before 

 in their lives — trees so small and so full of apples. 

 My success has had just the eflTect I expected — 

 others have determined to have an orchard too. 

 But I fear that some will be disappoiiitrd. Those 

 who put out trees and do not take care of them, 

 certainly will. I can tell them in advance that 

 there is no use in trying to raise an orchard unless 

 they make up their minds to tend the frees well 

 and to keep the cattle out of their young orchard. 

 Biddeford, Me., Feb. 6, 1868. j. w. 



Remarks. — Our young friend is right about the 

 care necessary to raise an orchard, and his experi- 

 ment, we presume, will show that still greater care 

 is necessary to keep up its productiveness. But it 

 will pay. We hope he will find it so, and that he 

 will let us hear from him again. 



SAP SPOUTS AND CORN COBS. 



With all due deference to age and experience, I 

 would say that I do not like the directions of our 

 venerable friend, P. Field, in Fakjier of Feb. 

 1, for making sap spouts. Spouts made whole will 

 clog up with ice in cold nights to such an extent 

 that it is necessary to take the spout out of the 

 tree and clean it. If this is not done the sap in 

 the tree will force the spout out, whereby there 

 will be a loss if not seen to. Isly method of mak- 

 ing spouts is simply this: I take medium-sized 

 shoots of sumach of about two years growth ; cut 

 them off nine inches long and then saw them half 

 off, an inch from each end, Ijut on opposite sides 

 of the stick ; then, with a sharp pointed knife split 

 from one cut to the other ; burn them out with a 

 heated wire, chamfer them off to fit the bit, and 

 they are finished faster than I can tell how. Two 

 hands will make from 50 to 7o in an hour with 

 ease. I agree with him in discarding metalic 

 spouts, thinking they injure the color of the sugar, 

 besides communicating an iron taste which it is 

 impossible to remove. 



I will say to "E. B." of Derry, N. H., that when 

 I see a man advocating the use of corn cobs it re- 

 minds me of the old miller who stated that saw- 

 dust was a splendid article to fatten hogs on ; but 

 in practice, he mixed a peck of meal to half a pint 

 of sawdust, saying "the more meal the better." 



Ripton, Vt., Feb., 1868. RusTicus. 



AMOUNT OF SEED FOR POTATOES. 



In reply to your Derry correspondent "E. B." 

 in regard to the Lady Finger potatoes — 26 bushels 

 raised from one peck, by Judge Baxter of Bellows 

 Falls, Vt., — the eyes, if my memorj' serves me, 

 were planted four inches apart. This was "liberal" 

 seeding in the drill. It seems that the product in 

 corn and potatoes in "E. B.'s" experiment was 

 larger in drills than hills. The Long Island farm- 

 ers plant potatoes in drills, cutting off the small 

 eyes, then cut into quarters, preferring three stocks 

 to five in a cluster. "E. B." says that four butts 

 in a liill will give the greatest product by weight, 

 but admits that such a large quantity of seed will 



