502 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



TO SAVE PLUMS. 



Mr. Editor : — In a former nnmber of your pa- 

 per, a correspondent inquires how he can save his 

 plums from the curculio. I have no new remedy, 

 but have no hesitation in saying I saved mine by 

 the jarring process. I went two and three times a 

 day, usually caught from one to ten on a sheet, 

 and destroyed them ; sometimes I would get noth 

 ing. I knew not for a time which would have to 

 yield, the curculio or myself, but after about the 

 twentieth of July, they began to disappear, and I 

 have a very beautiful lot of plums. There is con 

 siderable work in following this up, for four weeks, 

 but for one I consider myself well paid in seeing 

 and tasting the mellow fruit, to say nothing of the 

 six dollars per bushel which they readily bring, 

 The curculio has injured my apples very much. 



H. T. WiSWALL. 



Marlboro', M H., Sept. 16, 1857. 



Remarks. — The above was accompanied with a 

 Tery fine specimen of the Bleecker's Gage, and the 

 Imperial Gage Plums. It is some satisfaction to 

 eat such fruit, in the season of harvest, when all 

 the pests which would have prevented its maturing 

 live only in the remembrance of the care and labor 

 which prevented their ravages. 



We shall have the branch of Bleeker's Gage en- 

 graved, presenting as many of the eleven plums on 

 it as we can show accurately, and use it at some 

 future time in our columns. 



HOW TO destroy WILLOWS. 



In answer to the inquiry of "Young Farmer," of 

 East Poultney, Vt., I would say that I know of no 

 way or time to cut willows that will kill them with 

 one cutting, but they may be wholly destroyed by 

 mowing them once a year, for a few years, taking 

 care to cut them each time a little lower than the 

 time previous. I have a number of pieces that bear 

 great grass where the willows were killed in that 

 way. R. c. H. 



Ludlow, Ft., Sept., 1857. 



the fylek churn. 



Will some one inform me how I can work the 

 salt into butter in the Fyler churn, after it has be- 

 come so hard that I cannot turn it, and oblige one 

 that has turned hard ? H. 



Ludlow, Vt., Sept., 1857. 



Remarks. — We cannot, because, even with the 

 help of ice, we seldom have butter come so hard ; 

 when it does, take the butter out and work it by 

 hand. When speaking of the Fyler churn, some 

 weeks since, we ought to have stated that it is for 

 sale at Parker, White & Gannett's, Boston, where 

 everything in an agricultural way may be purchased 

 of honorable men. 



a hard question. 



Can I get a respectable living from a few acres 

 of land ? K. o. T. 



Cambridgeport, Sept., 1857. 



Remarks. — We once knew a man who support- 

 ed himself and family quite respectably, from a half 



acre of land only. Whether you can, it is impos- 

 sible for us to say. Everything depends upon your 

 genius for the. place. If only a small number of 

 acres are cultivated, you must be near a ready mar- 

 ket, and get two or three crops in a season. We 

 cannot answer your question by writing, so as 

 to be of any service to you. There are hard blows 

 to be given in farming as well as in mechanical 

 business. 



measurement of hay. 



Please inform me how hay may be measured in 

 the mow or stack. p. s. 



Mington, Sept., 1857. 



Remarks.— "Take a mow of 12 or 15 feet in 

 depth, and which has been filled with hay, as it was 

 drawn from the field, and has been lying till spring, 

 and measure the length, breadth and height in 

 feet, — multiply them to get the cubical contents. 

 For instance— the length is 40 feet, breadth 20 

 feet, and height 16 feet— 20 times 40 make 800, 

 multiplied by 16, equal 12,800 cubic feet, which be- 

 ing divided by 700, the number of feet that make a 

 ton of 2000 lbs., will give 18 2-7 tons. The top of 

 a mow, say about one-third, we rate at 800 feet to 

 the ton, the middle 700 feet, and the bottom of the 

 mow at 600 ; so the whole bidk would average 700 

 feet, if the mow is 12 or 15 feet deep, but if only 5 

 or 6 feet deep, count 800 feet for a ton, and so ac- 

 cordingly with other bulks." — JVew Jersey Farmer. 



CHINESE sugar CANE. 



I planted the last week in May, in the open 

 ground. The plants have received no particular 

 attention, but treated as I treat corn. To-day, the 

 7th of September, it measures 11 feet, as the av- 

 erage ; several hills measure 12 feet 3 inches each. 



Milton, Sept., 1857. S. Littlefield. 



MOWING OLD CRANBERRY VINES, 



Will you, or some of the readers of the Farmer 

 inform me whether it is best to mow down old 

 cranberry vines to make them productive ? 



Mington, Sept., 1857. p. s. 



BREMEN GEESE. 



Will you please to inform me through the col- 

 umns of your paper, where I can obtain some of 

 the Embden or Bremen geese? j, h. 



JVewlon Corner, Sept., 1857. 



Progres.sive Agriculture. — The JV. Y. Ob- 

 server says the following good things of progressive 

 agriculture : 



"Under its influence, spring up tasty and conve- 

 nient dwellings, adorned with shrub and flowers, 

 and beautiful within with the smiles of happy wives, 

 tidy children in the lap of thoughtful age — broad 

 hearths, and acts as well as words of welcome. 

 Progressive agriculture builds barns and puts gut- 

 ters on them, l)uilds stables for cattle and raises 

 roots to feed them. It grafts wild apple trees by 

 the meadow with pippins or greenings, — it sets out 

 new orchards, and takes care of the old ones. 



It drains low lands, cuts down bushes, buys a 

 mower, house-tools and wagons, keeps good fences, 



