1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



207 



are losing money, the consignee of foreign goods 

 is losing more. 



"The'iraportations arc falling off, and if the tax 

 of two and a half per cent, is taken olf, the manu- 

 facturer will survive in spite of the pauper labor 

 of Europe. In Austria 15 cents is the price per 

 day of a man's labor ! We have as tine a wool- 

 growing country as there is in the world. West 

 Virginia has produced the finest wool in the world, 

 according to the statements contained in the work 

 of Aqui 11a Brown, of Philadelphia. We can and 

 should grow our own fine wool ; and it will be 

 done unless such theories as Mr. Harris' prevail. 

 It is the manufacturers' interest to use our o^vn 

 M"ools and encourage our own growers. The staple 

 is stronger and better adapted to our business than 

 South American wool. 



"What ails Mr. Harris is that he has held his 

 goods, many of them old styles, for one and two 

 years ; and he now finds it hard work to compete 

 with most of the mills which sell their goods in 

 the season for which they were made. He has an- 

 other trouble. He is the largest individual manu- 

 factui'er in Nev/ England, and has an enormous 

 new mill running equal to fifty sets of cards. Has 

 he not a little overdone it ? Don't he need more 

 customers and less South American wool ? A ten 

 set mill is considered a large one, and is large 

 enough for any prudent man. What troubles the 

 large concerns are the small mills. If they can be 

 crushed, the large ones will have a good time. 

 Take the taritf off from wool, the farmers will kill 

 their sheep, and the small mills break. The lai'ge 

 mill owners vdll in that case become the lords, 

 and the people will become the serfs." 



COMPLIMBJSTTAIIY. 

 Although we are much encouraged by the 

 many good words that are spoken of the Far- 

 mer, by our correspondents and contemporaries 

 we do not often think best to make our own 

 columns the medium of their complimentary 

 notices. We must, however, be excused for 

 manifesting our appreciation of the source of 

 the following, by waiving our general rule on 

 this point. 



The New England Farmer. — There are three 

 things which New England men in middle life, 

 who have migrated from the countiy to the city, 

 remember, as particularly associated with the 

 old fiu'm homestead, — Scott's Commentary, Robert 

 B. Thomas's Almanac, and the Neiu England Far- 

 mer. This sterling agricultural paper is one of the 

 Institutions of New England, and its visits to the 

 firesides of thousands would be missed as much, 

 almost, as those of brothers, sisters, or cousins. 

 The genial, pleasant, instructive essays of the far- 

 mer-editor, whose cottage upon the l)anks of Con- 

 cord Ptiver is the home of so much refinement, so- 

 cial happiness, and generous hospitality, lend a 

 charm to its columns which is found in but few 

 publications. The Farmer often speaks words of 

 kindness and encouragement, but never those of 

 bitterness or envy. The agricultural interests of 

 New England and the country, in their present 

 advanced condition, are greatly indebted to the 

 Farmer, and long may it continue to exert its 

 healthful and elevating influence. — Journal of 

 Chemistry. 



•THE OLD FARM." 



BY FRANK M. BAKER. 



—The Iowa Agricultural College will open for 

 students next fall. 



I've been, dear Georgr;, to "our old place," 



Where you and I were born, 

 But meeting no familiar face, 



It made me feel forlorn. 



Where father tilled, now strangers till, — 



Our father's house is not; 

 A stranger's home stands on the hill 



Where stood our humble cot. 



The old red barn is torn away — 



A new one stands there now — 

 What fun we've had in that old bay I 



What frolics in the mow ! 



The old well-sweep has disappeared, 



Instead there is a pump ; 

 The farm how changed I The land we cleared, 



Is now without a stump. 



And those "back acres" where we mowed, 



{Bach-achers true they were,) 

 A boy upon a mower rode 



And cut, while was I there. 



The rattling reaper rapid run 



The waving grain among, 

 Where erst beneath the broiling sun 



Our cradles oft we swung. 



Those reapers, George, have truly hung 



Our craclL'S "in the shade;" 

 The only cradle now-days swung 



Is where the baby's laid. 



Our mother's grave, dear George, I sought, 



There wept — I know not why ; 

 I felt the changes years have wrought 



On all — on you and I. 



For tJie New England Farmer, 

 ■yOUNG ORCHARDS. 



We recommend, in setting out a young 

 orchard, to plant the land previously to corn 

 or potatoes, ploughing very deep. After the 

 crop is off the land is ready to receive the 

 trees. Set them from thirty to forty feet 

 apart, (thirty-five feet is a good distance,) 

 and do not hurry to put in the trees, but set 

 them carefully, reserving all the top soil to go 

 around the small roots ; and it will pay to pour 

 a pail or two of water on the roots of each 

 tree, when the holes are about two-thirds filled. 

 As soon as the roots are covered with the top 

 soil, M'ork the trunk of the tree to and fro, to 

 settle the earth around the fibres of the roots, 

 then tread down firmly with your feet, apply 

 the water, fill up, and the work is done. If 

 the soil i'^ quite damp, no water will be neces- 

 sary ; but as a man will bring, in an hour, from 

 the house-well, by hand, all the water that 

 would be required for twenty-five or thirty 

 trees, it is decidedly, in my opinion, good 

 policy to use it in most cases. No person 

 should ever allow a hired man to set out his 

 trees. He should take his man or boy and do 

 it himself, with their assistance. Nor should , 

 the holes be dug long before the trees are set. 

 If you have many trees to set, first stake the 

 ground and then set a man or men to digging 

 the holes, while you, -with a boy, set the trees. 



