1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



467 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE THINGS I RAISE. 



Mr. Editor : — It is my purpose, with your per- 

 mission, to write under the above head an account 

 of many of the vegetables, &c., that I raise — 

 thou2;h as you know, I am not much of a farmer. 

 Among them are some that are new, and of which 

 I believe the public may desire information ; oth- 

 ers may be better known. I shall give my opin- 

 ion in plain terms, without regard to the opinions or 

 interests of others; and if I should ditfer from you. 

 Mr. Editor, or any of your readers, I hope and 

 know you will allow me my opinion, based as it 

 will be on actual experience. I am aware that 

 some things will flourish on one soil and fail on 

 another; that we may get poor seed, and thus fail; 

 and in short, there are many things that may inter- 

 vene to prevent forming in every respect a correct 

 opinion. I shall avoid condemning anything that 

 I have not fully tested. I have a curious desire to 

 try all new things, and mean to hold fast to all 

 that are good. Believing that your readers have 

 much of the same feeling, I have ventured to com- 

 mence these articles. I shall first speak of some 

 new peas which I planted this year for the first 

 time. 



Dan O'Rourke. — A new English variety, and 

 one of the best and earliest peas, proving this year 

 three days at least earlier than Prince Albert, Hov- 

 ey's Early, and other early sorts. Good bearer, 

 pods good length and well filled, quality good. 

 When sown late does not yield well. Worthy the 

 attention of pea-growers for market or home use. 



Epp's Lord Raglan — Is another new English 

 sort. Grows about a foot and a half to two feet 

 high, some three weeks later than the former, pro- 

 lific bearer, long, thin pods, large, fine flavored 

 peas, nearly or quite equal to Champion of Eng- 

 land in quality. Good for private gardens if not 

 for market. Does not require bushing. Should 

 have a further trial. 



Hair's Defiance. — From the same source as 

 the others, grows two to two and a half feet high ; 

 should be bushed in gardens, and not as prolific as 

 the above; pod large and thin, peas of good quali- 

 ty. Should not recommend it except for further 

 trial. 



Dwarf Green Mammoth. — The name seems 

 paradoxical, but is a proper one ; it is a dwarf plant 

 with mammoth peas. English, one foot to fifteen 

 inches high, bears abundantly, pods and peas of 

 good size, shells a large proportion of peas, and it 

 seems to me to be a very desirable sort, especially 

 as it does not need to be bushed. The seed of all 

 these new peas were obtained of Nourse & Co. 



Hovey's Early Cauliflower. — May be sown 

 in May and will give good heads in August ; the 

 best early sort I have ever seen. Have had verv 

 fine heads during the present month. Seed of 

 Hovey & Co. 



Early Scarlet Horn Carrot.- -This is the 

 earliest and best sort of carrot that I know ; good 

 for cooking, fine grain and good flavor ; seed sown 

 the 20th of May; yield good carrots the 20th of 

 July. This carrot does not run down very deep, 

 except a very small tap root which penetrates the 

 soil to the depth of a foot or more. It is of a rich 

 color. 



Mason's Drumhead Cabbage. — An early sort 

 that is much better than the Early York, which I 

 have grown side by side. 



Early Victoria Bean. — Is one of the best 

 early sorts; is comparatively new. Should not be 

 grown except for string beans, as it is colored and 

 not fit for shell beans. James F. C. Hyde. 



JVeivton Centre, Jivg. llth, 1857. 

 [to be continued.] 



Remarks. — The plan of our correspondent is a 

 capital one, because a majority of farmers have 

 neither the time or skill to plant varieties, make 

 such constant observations as are necessary, and 

 prepare a record of them. His labors, we are wil- 

 ling to confess, may benefit others much more than 

 himself, but in some other way we also must dis- 

 charge some duty which will go to promote the 

 public welfare. 



Mr. H. says the Early Victoria Bean is not fit 

 for shelling, because it is colored. We are aware 

 that there is a prejudice against colored beans for 

 boiling or baking ; but is such a prejudice well- 

 founded ? Why not discard beets because they 

 are red, or parsnips because they are white? There 

 is no bean, in our estimation, equal to the Horti- 

 cultural Bean, so called, either for boiling or bak- 

 ing, and a white bean rarely comes upon our table. 

 The early "Six Weeks," and the "Pink Eye," are 

 also excellent for either of these uses, and ought 

 not to be rejected because they are not white. 



HEAD-WORK IN FARMING. 



It is surprising how much muscular labor is wast- 

 ed every year, which might be saved, or better di- 

 rected. This is true in all kinds of business, and 

 not the least in farming. For instance : how many 

 farmers toil on, year after year, with scanty or im- 

 perfect implements of husbandry. The modern 

 improvements, which save much labor, and do the 

 work cheaper and better, they will have nothing to 

 do with. Improved varieties of seed, they hold to 

 be, almost without exception, humbugs. Draining 

 and plowing are ranked in the same catalogue: 

 they are labor lost; but manuring cold, wet lands, 

 and plowing them late in summer a few inches 

 deep, and gathering scanty crops — this is not labor 

 lost ! Rotation of crops, and manuring lands with 

 reference to the grains and roots to be grown on 

 them, they consider something like book-farming 

 — a very dangerous thing ! 



We never could see why farmers should not 

 think for themselves, and be able to give a satisfac- 

 tory reason for every process they undertake. We 

 never could see why they should not endeavor to 

 improve in all farming operations, to learn the very 

 best way of doing everything, and then to do it so. 

 It is told of a certain backwoods farmer, who had 

 not yet found time to clear the stumps from" his 

 fields, that his boys complained bitterly of their 

 troubles in plowing and harrowing — the old-fash- 

 ioned "drag" especially troubled them by its frequent 

 overturnings while plunging among the stumps, 

 and needing to be set right side up at every few 

 rods. "Boys !" said the enraged farmer, one day, 



