1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



329 



bran and water, in the proportion of two pounds of 

 bran to one gallon of water. Keep them in this 

 mixture from two to four days — according as the 

 weather is warm or cold. Then lay them u])on a 

 table with the wool side up, and thoroughly scour 

 the grain side with pumice stone, until its smooth- 

 ness is destroyed or removed ; wring them out and 

 beat them thoroughly with a wooden mallet till 

 nearly dry, then spread on a table and sprinkle the 

 grain side with cod or any kind of fish oil, fold 

 them up and beat until they are thoroughly imbued 

 with the oil ; open them and expose them a short 

 time to the air; repeat this operation until the oil 

 is all beaten into the pores, and there is no ajjpear- 

 ance of greasiness. About a gill of oil to each skin 

 is sufficient. Then stretch and dry them in a warm 

 room or in the sun. Then immerse them for an 

 hour in a very weak, warm potash lye — frequently 

 taking them out and exposing then to the air; 

 wring them out, dry them, and finish by rubbing 

 them with the dull round edge of a knife, and 

 smooth by rubbing with the glass of a currier. — 

 The objects are to remove the filth and slime of the 

 skin by soaking and washing — then to remove the 

 hair by Hme or ashes — to remove the lime from the 

 skin, and then to make the skin thoroughly pliable, 

 soft and without greasiness. The fish oil is indis- 

 pensable ; the other processes may be accomplished 

 according to the means at hand. F. 



For the New England Farmer. 



EXPERIMENTS AND THEORIZING- 

 BARN SWALLOWS. 



Mr. Editor : — I think we farmers arc rather 

 apt to jump at conclusions a little too soon ; we 

 are in the habit of forming theories before we know 

 all the conditions and circumstances relating to the 

 matter we are investigating. Perhaps we are not 

 peculiar in this respect, possibly other classes of 

 men are liable to the same error. The mechanic, 

 the physician, the lawyer, and the theologian, may 

 sometimes an-ive at their conclusions before duly 

 understanding their premises, and so fall into er- 

 ror. What a pity that the consequences of their 

 errors and blunders could not fall upon their own 

 heads as generally as those of ours do upon us. 

 They blunder by fixing their attention chiefly upon 

 one, or a few of the circumstances connected with 

 a given case, and give to them the credit of the re- 

 sult, whatever it may be ; while, in reality, some 

 other circumstances, scarcely, if at all, noticed, may 

 have been far more efficient. So with us in our 

 experiments. We attempt the cultivation of some 

 plant that is new to us, or some old plant under 

 new conditions. Perhaps we succeed, and are en- 

 couraged to try again. This time we fail. Why, 

 we know not. Some slight difi'erence of soil ; some 

 unnoticed change in the temperature of the season ; 

 more or less moisture ; a little unintentional varia- 

 tion in the care bestowed. Some one of these 

 causes, so slight as to escape our observation, may 

 have been sufficient to produce all the difference 

 in the result. A little more shrewdness, a little 

 more care in noting all the circumstances of the 

 case, might have saved us from serious inconve- 

 nience and loss. 



This haste to theorize, to come to conclusions too 

 soon, does not belong exclusively to the common 



farmer. We can sometimes see it in our teachers. 

 Even so shrewd and careful and intelligent a man 

 as A. J. Downing, some years ago fathered the the- 

 ory, that if the temperature in any place fell so low 

 as 14° below zero during the winter, the blos-som 

 buds of the peach would be destroyed there. But 

 in this neighborhood, the past winter, the ther- 

 mometers in difi'erent locations declared the tem- 

 perature to range from 2 1 ° to 3 1 ° below zero, on the 

 coldest morning in January. My own thermome- 

 ter stood at 21'-', and on five different mornings it 

 was more than 14'^ below. Notwithstanding this 

 intense degree of cold, perfectly regardless of all 

 theories and rules laid down for their conduct, the 

 trees in my little peach orchard, situated on the 

 very bleakest spot on my farm, on a slight eleva- 

 tion of ground, are blossoming full, and nearly 

 every one of the blossoms that I have examined 

 showed the germ of the fruit in good condition. I 

 know not yet what effect the cold storm now rag- 

 ing may have upon the young fruit, but the germ 

 certainly was not killed by the winter's cold. Per- 

 haps Mr. Downing's theory may have to be modi- 

 fied so as to include the effect of such a degree of 

 warm weather as will give the buds a start before 

 the intense cold strikes them ; or some condition 

 in the previous summer or autumn that hinders the 

 suitable maturation of the bud. At any rate, the 

 present state of the peach trees in this neighbor- 

 hood proves that there is some flaw in the theory, 

 that it is not mere cold, considered alone, that des- 

 troys the life of the germ. It is a question wor- 

 thy the study of men wise in scientific knowledge, 

 and of sound, practical common sense, — What is it 

 that so often kills the buds of this delicious fruit ? 



Let us learn to observe more closely, more thor- 

 oughly ; looking keenly at every side of the matter 

 in hand, noting things apparently trivial, and re- 

 cording our observations, so that we may compare 

 the experiences of one year with another, and so, 

 finally come to know what eff'ects certain causes 

 will produce. I fear we attach too much impor- 

 tance to single experiments. So many unobserved 

 causes exercise influence on results, that we cannot 

 come at general rules without comparing many 

 cases. 



I understand one of the Farmers' Clubs in Mid- 

 dlesex County has appointed a committee to look 

 into and report upon the "Irifluence of the Seasons 

 upon Vegetation." It is a good move ; and I, for 

 one, wish that others would follow, and get up as 

 thorough an investigation of this subject, in its va- 

 rious bearings, as the nature and circumstances of 

 the case will admit. To be of much value, the in- 

 vestigation should be vigorously and cautiously car- 

 ried on for a series of years, in various locations, 

 and by many minds. If a courae of careful inves- 

 tigations on different subjects, could be' systemati- 

 cally conducted and intelligently recorded, it is not 

 improbable that many of the prevalent opinions, 

 theories and practices would be corrected. Would 

 not the farmers' clubs be more useful if they will 

 make such a definite series of ex])eriments, in con- 

 ducting which, all previous opinions and theories 

 should be laid aside, than by talking over their in- 

 cidental (or accidental) experiences, which are per- 

 haps imperfectly rememoered, and sometimes re- 

 membered only because they seem to corroborate 

 an old opinion ? I think so. At least, if no other 

 good was accomplished, it would help to introduce 

 greater order, more system and more intelligeg^e 



