552 



NEW ENGLAOT) FAR1\IER. 



Dec. 



crumby or sodden ; and sweetness to the pal- 

 ate and to the taste. Wheaten bread is best 

 eaten on the day after it is baked, for new 

 bread is difficult of mastication and still more 

 difficult of digestion, because of its gummy 

 nature. When it becomes stale it does not 

 really get much dryer, but it undergoes a mol- 

 ecular change, which may be restored by heat- 

 ing the bread in a closed vessel to a tempera- 

 ture of 212°. 



"Wheaten bread is preferred to all other va- 

 rieties of bread, because of its sweetness, and 

 because it may be eaten alone. The nutritive 

 constituents of it are in the same proportion 

 as in wheat — namely, as 1 to 6.5, and a lit- 

 tle more than 2 lbs. of bread will supply the 

 requirements of the system ; although, as I 

 ehall hereafter explain, it cannot be used 

 alone without loss of health and strength." 



Thus I have gone on quoting, not knowing 

 •where to otop, till nearly all that he says upon 

 wheat ir gi 'en ; and, if it is as interesting to 

 others as to ine, I am satisfied. The subject of 

 our food is oue of far too great importance to 

 be passed o^cr as lightly as many are inclined 

 to do. Were they thrown daily into the haunts 

 of disease, causod by imprudence in food, for 

 one month, perhaps, a new field of labor would 

 be seen, with but kvr laborers to stretch forth 

 a helping hand. O. W. True. 



Farmington, Me.. 1868. 



For i\e New England Farmer. 

 SUPBRPHOSPH ATE- -NORWAY OATS— 

 MAAllHB. 



The secretary of the Imsburg, Vt. , Farm- 

 ers' Club, Z. E. Jameson, Esq., furnishes the 

 following brief report of ihe discussion at a 

 meeting, Sept. 29, on the subjects of Super- 

 phosphate, Norway oats, and Manures and 

 their use. 



Z. E. Jameson had used one .barrel of Ver- 

 mont superphosphate. On corn it caused a 

 better growth than ashes used in adjoining 

 rows, but not so good a growth as that where 

 a handful of compost from the hen house was 

 ,u8ed. The soil was sandy, the crop good, 

 and no manure applied, except in the hills. 

 On turnips the result was satisfactory. 



Wm L. Jameson had used Croasdale's su- 

 perphosphate on four rows of corn, horse ma- 

 nure on four rows and a compost of muck, lime, 

 ashes and decomposed bones on four rows. 

 The corn was all alike, and he concluded that 

 it would not pay to bay it as a fertilizer. 



Wm. L. Locke, Jr., used half a barrel of 

 the Vermont superphosphate on hops with no 

 visible benefit. On corn, the rows manured 

 with superphosphate were not enough better 

 than the unmanuredto be discemable, until the 

 stakes were pointed out that marked the rows. 



The subject of the growth and production of 

 Norway oats from seed obtained from the ori- 



ginator, being introduced, Wm. L. Locke, Jr., 

 remarked that he sowed half a bushel where 

 the ground became wet by rains, and they 

 mostly died out. The result was six stooks, 

 probably five bushels. 



J. B. Fassett sowed one bushel; they were 

 badly killed out in the spring by wet weather, 

 but proved twice as productive as common 

 oats, although common oats were not killed so 

 badly by wet weather. 



Wm. L. Jameson sowed one pint which 

 yielded half a bushel. 



Geo. B. Brewster sowed one bushel and had 

 threshed the crop, which was fifty bushels. 



A. Jameson sowed one bushel, which, while 

 growing, seemed three times as good as the 

 common oats by the side of them. Crop not 

 threshed. 



Z. E. Jameson sowed twelve quarts. The 

 growth was not much better than common oats. 

 Crop unthreshed. 



J. B. Fassett had this year sixteen rows of 

 potatoes sixty-seven rods long. At one end, 

 on sandy ground, there were good potatoes ; 

 along further the ground was damp i nd the 

 potatoes were excellent. These were manured 

 by ploughing in strong manure. A part of 

 the same field was manured on top after 

 ploughing. Here the vines were large and 

 the potatoes small. Will never manure on 

 top for potatoes again. 



Capt. E. Grant bought last spring some 

 horse manure that was burnt very badly by its 

 own heat ; so much so, that what was called 

 twenty cords, made in a barn cellar, shrank to 

 five. He applied it to ground for oats, and in 

 comparison with other cow stable manure it 

 proved as good a fertilizer, and he made up 

 his mind that burnt or firefangled horse ma- 

 nure is as profitable to buy as any, and he did 

 not care how much it was burnt. When he 

 lived in Maine, a farmer there bouglit horse 

 manure and piled it in large heaps where it 

 would heat, and when applied to the land for 

 corn, gave most excellent results. 



The secretary suggested (hat it might be 

 more profitable to buy manure after twenty 

 cords had been reduced to five, than it would 

 be for the farmer or stable keeper to allow 

 his manure heaps to shrink at that rate. 



AHT AND SCIENCE OF FAJRMINQ. 

 The following extract from the introductory 

 chapter of Mr. Johnson's new book, "How 

 Crops Grow," will illustrate the author's style 

 of writing and manner of treating his subjects. 

 After having read the volume carefully, the 

 editor of the Country Gentleman says: "In 

 style. Prof. Johnson, is exceedingly condensed 

 and concise, although clear and logical. We 

 have not found an indistinct expression, while 

 repetitions are avoided, and there is no attempt 

 at anything like fine writing— the work is one 



