1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



269 



ments. Thus many young ladies scorn the idea of 

 marrying a worthy farmer's son. They prefer 

 some city youth who has soft white hands and 

 dainty little feet. The ambition which prompts 

 young ladies to seek for a respectable position iu 

 society is certainly coramenable ; but is there a 

 more honorable station than that of a farmer's 

 wife ? Nupoleou the Great, once asked a cele- 

 brated French lady how he could promote the 

 bcht interests of France. She answered, educate 

 the mothers of the French people. That answer 

 might well apply to American mothers ; for were 

 mothers properly trained, their sons and daugh- 

 ters would be better qualified for positions of honor 

 and trust. Too often frivolities of fashion crowd 

 from the minds of both mother and daughter all 

 thoughts of rcasonal)le things. Health is sacri- 

 ficed, and the mother often mourns when the 

 daughter's beauty wanes, and when fashion fails 

 to please. In my opinion the prosperity, of our 

 country depends on her w;omen ; and young fe- 

 males ought to consider the gi'cat responsibilities 

 that rest upon them. They should acquire thor- 

 ough habits of domestic economy, and be quali- 

 fied for something better than following unhealthy 

 and fooli.-'h fashions. Our able bodied young men 

 should turn their attention to the vast agricul- 

 tural resources of our country. It is a noble occu- 

 pation to till the soil and get one's bread by the 

 sweat of the brow, and there is much happiness 

 in a well ordered farmer's home. Every indus- 

 trious, thriving young farmer is worthy of a good 

 and Iieautiful wife; and more of our young wo- 

 men should rather be anxious to qualify them- 

 selves for the duties of that position than for a 

 place among the votaries of fashion, to which so 

 many aspire. Mrs. Trask. 



Reading, Mass., March, 1868. 



GRAFTING APPLE TREES. 



Having had more than fifty years' experience in 

 grafting, and having read all that has come to 

 hand on this subject, I give the following as prac- 

 tical directions: — 



Cutting Scions. — For late grafting, they should 

 be cut early. In 1863, 1 cut scions in the month of 

 November. Some of these were set in June follow- 

 ing, and all lived. When caterpillars are scarce, 

 scions do best set in April ; but when these pests 

 are thick, (as in 1863) late grafting may be pro- 

 tected from their fatal depredations l:)y placing the 

 lower bud one-fourth of an inch below the top of 

 the cleft, and covering the bud entirely with wax. 

 The wax does not hinder the starting of the bud, 

 and wnen scions are thus set, during the latter 

 part of May, the worms disappear before the buds 

 appear. I have often known them to kill the upper 

 bud or leaf while the lower one was shielded. And 

 besides, when scions are set in this way they are 

 less liable to be broken by wind or by the weight 

 of birds that may alight upon them. 



Splitting the Stocks. — A thin knife is preferable 

 to a thick one, as the stock is generally cross- 

 grained or twisting. A thin knife, driven down 

 about one inch, cuts a smooth place for the scion. 

 My knife is made from apiece of a wood-saw plate, 

 set in the back of a joiner's fine saw, near the cen- 

 ti-e, and ground to an edge. Phinehas Field. 



East Charlemont, Mass., Jan., 1868. 



HOW TO USE CORN COB MEAL. 



I have noticed quite a number of articles upon 

 cob meal in the Farmer. As a general thing, it 

 appears to be regarded rather worthless, or not 

 ■worth enough to pay for grinding. I am a cob 

 meal feeder, and have been for seven years, but 

 should not use it unless I thought it profitable. 

 Some of my neighbors laugh at me for thinking it 



pays, but I tell them that the condition of my 

 cows and the milk they produce are the arguments 

 that satisfy my mind. With a family of seven, we 

 have made this winter some twenty pounds of but- 

 ter more than we have used, from two cows, that 

 are coming in this spring. They have had no meal 

 except the cob meal, and they look well, though 

 they have been obliged to eat some coarse fodder, 

 as I am short of good hay. 



My manner of feeding it is this : — For two cows 

 about five quarts are put into a pail, to which suf- 

 ficient boiling vt'atcr is added to thoroughly scald 

 it. It is allowed to remain in the pail until morn- 

 ing, when it is turned into the swill-tub, where the 

 sour milk and disli-water is kept, and stirred to- 

 gether ; it is then ready to feed. 



Now if any one is disposed to try cob meal on 

 my recommendation, I hope they will read what 

 you said in speaking of the exposure of orchards : — 

 "Half of the controversies and half of the misun- 

 derstandings between men arise from not under- 

 standing what each other mean by the words they 

 use," because I believe that the same remark is 

 applicable to our agricultural experiments. The 

 directions given arc not understood, or not fully 

 carried out. In my opinion cob meal has got its 

 bad name from the impi-oper manner in which it 

 has been used. If given dry, or stirred up in cold 

 water, 1 should expect to find it "didn't pay." 



Felchville, Vf., March, 1868. t. s. f. 



THE BEST "WAY TO RAISE AN ORCHARD. 



Plant a few seeds in each spot where you wish a 

 tree to stand ; cultivate the young trees carefully, 

 and select from each bunch or hill the one that ap- 

 pears the most hardy (not the largest), and pull up 

 the others when they are one year old. When 

 the trees are three years old, if they have been 

 kept trimmed and properly nursed, they will be 

 ready for grafting. Let this be done by setting 

 one scion in- each tree, at such distance from the 

 ground as suits your fancy, anywhere from one to 

 five feet. The hardiest and the best bearing apple 

 trees I have ever known are such as have never 

 liad their roots disturl)ed. Phinehas Field. 



East Charle7nont, Mass., Jan. 14, 1868. 



FISH FOR manure. 



I have bought some broken fish for manure. I 

 wish to know how to make it into manure, and 

 what crops it is most adapted to. Will you give 

 needed information if agreeable. Information. 



Northfield Farms, Mass., April, 1868. 



Remarks. — Fresh fish are composted in alter- 

 nate layers of leaves, peat muck, loam, charcoal 

 dust or even sawdust ; they are also laid around 

 the hill and covered up when, corn is planted; dug 

 in around trees ; ploughed under ; placed in an ex- 

 cavation of earth, and covered with peat muck or 

 loam, and when they become soft wet with dilute 

 sulphuric acid, and the whole mass of fish and 

 earth thoroughly mingled; or mixed in small 

 quantities with barn-yard manure. 



HORN OFF. 



One of my young cows knocked one of her horns 

 off", by hitting it against a post, one of the coldest 

 days "of the winter. So neatly was it done that 

 not a particle of the skin adhered to the horn, and 

 it tiled but little. Not liking the theory of keeping 

 her fastened to the stanchion in one po>ition, till 

 it was well, I gave the pith a good covering of tar, 

 then neatly wound it with cotton cloth, using a 

 strip two inches wide, then put tar on that, and 



