366 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



■was only necessary to wind a piece of worthlef s rag 

 about the end of a pole, and saturate it with tur- 

 pentine, and ajjply a lighted match to it. One 

 such prej)aration would answer for all the nests up- 

 on a tree, unless they were more numerous than 

 any person, having any regard to his reputation as 

 a farmer or a gentleman, would be willing to have 

 around. 



If girls generally would do likewise, they would 

 save their credit, and their apples also. * 



South Danvers, June 10, 1857. 



CRANBEEKIES ON UPLAND. 



I noticed in jV. E. Farmer of the 9th instant, 

 an article signed "Essex," on the "Culture of the 

 Cranberry." I want to raise cranberries on upland 

 sandy soil. I want to know how to start the bush, 

 where they can be obtained, and any information 

 in relation to the culture. Your correspondent 

 "Essex" recommends the perusal of the report of 

 the Rev. C. C. Sewall,on this subject, contained in 

 "Transactions of the Norfolk Society." Can you 

 send me a copy of that Report ? P. N. Hyde. 



Hydeville, Rutland Co., Vt., 1857. 



Remarks. — We have not a copy of the Report 

 alluded to. Perhaps our obliging correspondent, 

 "Essex," will furnish an account of the best mode 

 of cultivation. 



WHAT PAINT IS BEST? 



Tn answer to N. P., of South Londonderry, Vt,, 

 What paint is best ? — I painted my house in Athol, 

 Mass., two years since, with one part white lead, 

 one part gypsum or plaster of paris, and one part 

 lime, ground together in oil, the same as lead paint. 

 The above makes a good white, and stands the 

 eflects of the weather well, and is a cheap and du- 

 rable paint. C. W. 



Indian Orchard, 1857. 



COMPARATIVE SPEED OF HORSES AND OXEN. 



Two farmers in France, recently made a bet 

 about the speed of oxen and horses with the same 

 load for the same distance, 23 kilometers, (about 12 

 miles.) A four-horse team was attached to a wag- 

 en with 10,000 pounds of best root pulp (for su- 

 gar.) The oxen were two yoke with a like load. 

 The horses beat them only seven minutes, and 

 would themselves have been beaten, had they not 

 been the best in the country. Time, 3 hours, 6 

 minutes; 3 hours, 13 minutes. Now come to a 

 just conclusion of the value of oxen over horses 

 for economy of the farmer. L. M. Hill. 



June loth, 1857. 



P. S. Do inform us of something in the way of 

 syringing, or some other way of making havoc 

 among spun worms, canker worms, rose-bugs, etc., 

 at the present time. 



SALT FOU PLUM TREES. 

 It is now almost impossible to cultivate any 

 kind of plums in this climate, unless salt enters lib- 

 erally as an ir^gredient into the compost applied to 

 them. When this article is used in conjunction 

 with house-ashes, there appears rarely to be much 

 difficulty in producing good and healthy trees, 

 which ultimately prove highly productive of fair 

 and well-developed fruit. W^hen trees are set in 

 situations in which the application of compost is 

 not feasible, or where it would subject the opera- 

 tor to considerable fatigue or expense, salt, in its 

 crude state, maybe applied ; or it maybe dissolved 

 and poured around the roots. If plum trees were 

 carefully washed down once or twice a year in a 

 weakish lye, and supplied with two or three quarts 

 each of salt — care being taken to retain the soil 

 around their roots light and free from weeds, we 

 should hear far fewer complaints of want of suc- 

 cess in this department of pomological enterprise. 

 No fruit commands a more ready sale or a higher 

 price in the market. Good plums are at present 

 so scarce as to render them a luxury, and those 

 who have valuable trees in good bearing, are real- 

 izing a heavy profit from them. Let those who 

 have trees profit by the above suggestions; they 

 indicate the only legitimate course to be pursued. 



A Hint for the Season.— The simplest and 

 best way of preseiving woolens through the sum- 

 mer from the destruction of the moths, is to wrap 

 them well up, after brushing them and beating 

 them, in cotton or linen cloths. The moth can pass 

 neither. Two covers well wrapped around, an(l se- 

 emed from the air, will be effectual. An old sheet 

 will answer, and save all expense of camphor, &c. 



For the New England Famici'. 



BES MOTH-STATE OF MAINE 

 POTATO. 



Mr. Editor : — Although you have a correspon- 

 dent who is now writing on the subject of bees — 

 and whose long experience in their management 

 entilks his opinions to great respect — allow me to 

 say a few words on a subject connected with Mr. 

 Quinby's, and which he may not take up for some 

 time to come. I am well satisfied from my own 

 management of the honey bee — whether they are 

 domesticated in a rough box or a "splendid" patent 

 hive — that there is no such thing as a moth-proof 

 bee-hive ; a moth can enter an} where that a bee 

 can, and generally does so enter, whatever may 

 be said to the contrary, notwithstanding. Now, 

 there would be little trouble in keeping bees, if 

 they were not disturbed by the moth ; all other 

 troubles or difficulties combined, compared to the 

 moth, are about in proportion as a drop of water to 

 the ocean. Now the question is, how to get rid of 

 them if they have already got in, and if they have 

 not, how shall they be kept out, I am often 

 asked "why it was that some of our older bee- 

 keepers were seldom or never troubled by the 

 moth ; they used nothing but the old box-hive — 

 and made pretty rough at that ?" My answer is-— 

 that under the brimstone treatment of bees one will 

 not often be troubled by moths, if he is careful to 

 select for this kind of management, — and this was 

 the rule and is now, where this course is followed — 

 his poor and weak stock. 



Now the first way of getting rid of moths and of 

 keeping rid of them is, to keep the stock as strong 

 and healthy as possible ; no one thing is more im- 



