472 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Ocu 



give so much credence to the writings of Lahou- 

 tan, as they do to other early French writers on our 

 natural productions, for instance, those furnished 

 us by Charlevoix or even Du Pratz. And that our 

 quotation from the Baron should be received with 

 a little degree of allowance, particularly that part 

 of it that speaks of the peculiar gritty character of 

 his muscles, which so much endangered his teeth ! 



S. P. Fowler. 

 Oanvers-Port, Aug. \st, 1857. 



Remarks. — ^Thank you, friend Fowler, for the 

 pretty shells sent us, as well as for this article. Af- 

 ter reading it, we certainly shall not go pearl fish- 

 ing at present. 



For the New England Farmer. 



UTILITY OF APPEARANCE. 



Mr. Editor : — Why don't you ornament your 

 premises with that taste your abilities warrant and 

 demand ? Why will you let that reproach fall on 

 the ears of your family, to make them discontent- 

 ed, that the farm is dreadful lonely ? Why do 

 your children hasten away from home, a spot upon 

 which no eye rests with respect or admiration, but 

 because no passing traveller has stopped to gaze 

 on the beauty they ought to see environing the 

 place, dear only to those who have been reared 

 there? 



The country is the place, but never has been 

 made the place for maturing the mind. And why ? 

 The idea of continual working and acquiring soil 

 and wealth, has weighed down the youth of twenty 

 years, so that his prospect of earthly distinction is 

 forever hushed in his bosom, and the depressed 

 and wounded spirit sinks down into the unheard of 

 plodder in the good old ways our fathers trod. 



My first idea on seeing a certain farm — not yours, 

 Mr. Editor, over whose back some one is whipped 

 — was that there had been a convulsion of nature, 

 disarranging all the buildings on the farm, placing the 

 barn on the road, the woodpile and pig-pen at the 

 front door of the house, the back door of which 

 opened into a sink drain. The inmates thinking no 

 one would ever look in, seemed suddenly startled 

 on our approach ; inmates and visitors simultane- 

 ously left, chairs and so forth take chase. The 

 cbildren of this family have been several times af- 

 fectingly sick. Riches giving them influence, they 

 gave great credit to the know-nothings of those 

 days. 



There should be order discernible ; without it there 

 will be fretting ; the useful should be made pleasant, 

 the pleasant useful. The position of farmers should 

 be elevated ; how can it be done better than by 

 A reform in personal appearance, and by strertgth- 

 ening the mind to grasp and carry out principles of 

 a better life, giving to our farms the indication of an 

 order superior to that of those who long ago died, 

 leaving us a blessing with the farms they toiled 

 over.* w. J. E. 



Freetown, Mass., 1857. 



ff^ A disease is said to be making fatal work 

 among the cattle about Utica, N. Y. A corres- 

 pondent of the Observer says the disease is identi- 

 cal with the one known as the cattle plague in 

 Europe. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



TRANSPLANTING WALNUT AND CHESTNUT TREES. 



Will you or some of your numerous correspon- 

 dents oblige a subscriber by informing him, through 

 the Farmer, of the best time and manner of setting 

 out walnut and chestnut groves, the trees being 

 from ten to fifteen feet high ? How far apart should 

 they be set, and what is meant by the tap root^ 

 which a writer alluded to in one of the back num- 

 bers, stating that it should be cut in the fall pre- 

 vious to the taking up of the tree in the spring ? 



Remari^s. — It is difficult to make either the wal- 

 nut or chestnut live after transplanting, though it 

 is sometimes done. The tap root is the main cen- 

 tre root, shaped like the tap of a cider barrel, and 

 usually runs straight down into the ground. It is 

 said that if this root is cut off smoothly with a 

 sharp spade, or by other means, when the tree is 

 not more than six or eight feet high, and left to 

 grow one year'after this, that it may be transplant>- 

 ed with considerable certainty of success. We 

 should think April the best month to transplant- 

 The trees should not be set nearer than fifty feel 

 of each other. 



pumpkins and squashes. 



Reading that "pumpkin story" in the Farmer of 

 Aug. 8, induces me to make a statement which you 

 may publish, if you think worthy. 



I counted on two squash vines, of the "yellow 

 summer crookneck" variety, which are in my fath- 

 er's garden, sixty perfectly-formed squashes at one 

 time. 



We also, last year, raised an English turnip, 

 which weighed when pulled, 18^ lbs. 



W. B. BOYNTON. 



Shirley Village, Aug., 1857. 



HAY MAKERS — ALLEN's MOWING MACHINES. 



Mr. Editor : — In answer to your correspondent, 

 "J. A. F.," I beg to say that I have often seen the 

 "Hay-Maker," or more properly "Tedding Ma- 

 chine," at work in England, and that nothing can 

 be more perfect than its performance in stirring the 

 fresh cut or partly cured grass. This machine is 

 simple in its construction, and may be made by any 

 of our mechanics at a moderate cost. Engravings 

 of the machine will be found in any British Ency- 

 clopedia of Agriculture. 



As to the cost of Allen's mowing machine, I can 

 say truly, that it is sold at a very moderate profit, 

 when we take into consideration the ingenuity dis- 

 played in getting it up, and the great amount of 

 time and money spent in perfecting it. Several 

 thousand dollars have been spent on this machine 

 every year, for some years past, in experiments to 

 improve it. None but those engaged in manufac- 

 turing and improving mowing and reaping ma- 

 chines, have the slightest idea how much it costs 

 to tolerably perfect a new one — nor afterwards, of 

 the care, anxiety and risk of making them— besides 

 the cost for patent right and other expenses inci- 

 dental to introducing a new machine. 



The public may be assured that it is for the in- 

 terest of the manufacturer to afford these machines 

 as low as possible. I think, however, that a good 



