1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



485 



■we advise all who intend to do anything with the 

 sugar cane to purchase Mr. Hyde's book, and then 

 they will have all that is known of the matter be- 

 fore them. It may be had of any bookseller; price 

 25 cents. 



"Harvesting. — When the stalk shall have at- 

 tained its full size, and the seed have passed from 

 the dcugh stage to a harder texture, the cane may 

 be considered sufficiently mature ; or, if the crop 

 be large, and a deficiency of hands be apprehend- 

 ed, the cane may be cut earlier, and the cuttings 

 continued from time to time, as needed for the 

 press. The fodder should be pulled as for corn ; 

 another set of hands cutting off" one-half to two 

 feet of the top with the seed, while others cut the 

 cane at the ground and throw it into piles, from 

 whence it is handed to the press." 



"Boiling down. — One of the first things done, 

 in commencing operations, should be to start the 

 fire under the kettles, that they may be well warmed 

 by the time the juice is ready for them. The fires 

 should be so arranged that they may be under good 

 control, to be forced or withdrawn as occasion may 

 require. When the juice is placed in the boiler, 

 the fire should be gradually increased to a simmer- 

 ing heat, 'not to active boiling,' and maintained at 

 this temperature until a thick green scum rises to 

 the surface and forms into puffs, seeming ready to 

 crack. This scum, when fully formed, should be re- 

 moved clean from the surface. The heat may now 

 be raised to boiling, and kept in an active state of 

 ebullition, until the bulk is reduced one half. The 

 fire may now be removed from one kettle, and its 

 contents be transferred to the other, when the heat 

 must be gradually moderated as the syrup becomes 

 more concentrated, to avoid the danger of scorch- 

 ing, which injures the color and flavor. Should 

 more dirty-green scum rise to the surface after the 

 first skimming, it should likewise be removed." 



For the New England Farmer. 



WHAT A. THING COSTS. 



Mr. Editor: — It is always of great impor- 

 tance to know ^that a thing costs. — In reading the 

 first letter of your English correspondent, I was 

 struck, as he seems to have been, by the high cost 

 of land to English farmers, — but on consideration, 

 it seems to me our Massachusetts farmers pay quite 

 as high for all their "really cultivatable" land. Is 

 it not so ? The English farmer, of course, has his 

 house rent included with the farm rent. I suppose 

 every acre, or nearly so, of land hired by an Eng- 

 lish farmer is really good, and in shape to be easily 

 cultivated ; now let our Yankee farmers set down 

 the cost of their farms — take six per cent, interest 

 on this sum — to that add the taxes on the land and 

 buildings, let them look over their farms and see 

 how much is really under cultivation — throw out 

 all the gravelly knolls, and wet spots, and every foot 

 that is not touched by the plow and the hoe — all 

 the brushy fields, and poor pastures, and rocky 

 places, and then do you not think their land under 

 cultivation will cost them five dollars per annum 

 ftr acre ? Will you please put your shrewd Yan- 

 kee contributors to work, each in his own district, 

 and see if this is not so ? And if so, do write a good 

 article, advising farmers to sell off their unproductive 

 lands at a low figure to persons that will drain them 



and clear them up, and make them worth all they 

 are capable of; and by so doing you will be adding 

 opportunities for poor young farmers to obtain 

 small pieces of land in New England, which by la- 

 bor may produce as many dollars per year as a 

 large Wisconsin farm, and thereby keep our active 

 young men at home. ALPHA, 



Newton, Aug. 14, 1857. 



LETTER FROM MR. BROWN. 



Montpelier, Vt., Sept. 9, 1857. 



My Dear Sir : — All eyes were anxiously turned 

 eastward this morning, to catch the first beams of 

 the sun, and see if the day were to be propitious, 

 or not. Fair maidens were early up and decorated 

 for their lovers and for the Fair. But clouds soon 

 intervened, and a damper fell upon their spirits, as 

 well as on the dusty roads ; — briefly, however, did 

 the rain fall ; 'twas only passing clouds, dropping 

 tears of benevolence on the parched and mealy 

 ways, and cooling them and the air, to increase the 

 enjoyments of the visitors at the Fair. The bright 

 sun soon appeared, the breeze was fresh and cool, 

 and on the green hills, away from the buzz of the 

 crowd, the day was perfect and inspiring. 



All being ready for a commencement of my la- 

 bors, I entered upon them with pleasure, first by 

 an 



examination of the sheep. 



During this- examination I had the pleasure of 

 the intelligent remarks of Mr. George Campbell, 

 of West Westminster, Vt., an importer and suc- 

 cessful breeder of some of the best sheep in the 

 country. Mr. Campbell went abroad and selected 

 his stock with nice discrimination, and has kept it 

 pure with unremitting care. We found in the pens 

 first visited, Cotswold and half-Cotswold, presented 

 by D. Baldwin, and John Melon, of Montpelier, 

 and J. Norton, of Chelsea : Mr. Baldwin has a Cots- 

 wold buck, which is a magnificent animal, — he has 

 weighed 350 pounds, sheared 18 lbs. of fine wool, 

 and when his full grown coat was on, couki not pass 

 between two stakes set three feet apart, without rub- 

 bing each side. He is decidedly the finest animal 

 of that breed we have ever seen. Mr. B. does not 

 keep many sheep, his efforts being to improve, rath- 

 er than multiply his flock. He cuts 100 tons of tho 

 best quality hay on forty acres of mowing, recently 

 reclaimed from barrenness. My visit to his farm 

 was one of much interest and profit. Ther? were 

 mixed sheep, by J. B. Spencer, of Windsor ; a fine 

 pure Spanish buck, by Joseph Harwood, and a large 

 collection of Spanish Merinos by S. E. and S. 

 Wheat, of Putney; fine Oxfordshires by B. Town, 

 of Montpelier, and French Merinos by J. Hamil- 

 ton, of Bridport. The Messrs. Winterbottom, of 

 Lacole, C. E., had a good collection of Southdowng 

 and Cotswolds. The finest collection we saw was 

 that of Daniel Kimball, of Rutland ; ^moug thera 

 were five of the best French Merino ewes I ever 



