534 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



gnaw through the leaded pipes of houses, for the 

 sound of running water seems to fascinate them, 

 and many a rat, curious to get at the cause of this 

 strange noise, has suddenly found himself deluged 

 in a shower-bath. 



The teeth of a rat are so formed, and grow so 

 fast, that if he does not gnaw almost incessantly, 

 and by this process wear them away at the point, 

 they become enormous circular tusks. Rats have 

 been killed, which having lost a lower tooth, have 

 had the corresponding upper one grow into a com- 

 plete circle, the point of which, in winding around, 

 had passed through the lip of the animal. The 

 Quarterly insists that the rat is a beautiful animal, 

 especially when seen sitting on his haunches and 

 licking his paws ; but we confess our prejudices 

 prevent our discerning this beauty ; and we are or- 

 thodox enough still to think that rats should only 

 be named with traps and guns, to which, if in our 

 power, we would consign the whole race. 



For the New England Farmer. 



MEASUREMENT OE HAY. 



Mr. Editor: — I saw in the remarks from the 

 JVew Jersey Farmer that it takes from 600 to 800 

 cubic feet of mow hay to make a ton. This rule 

 I think will hardly do for New England farmers to 

 sell by. I presume that the grasses grow much 

 more rank and coarse, South and West, than they 

 do in Vermont, and with less thick bottom, and 

 consequently less weight to the bulk, when com- 

 pared with our northern hay. It is a rule among 

 farmers of this section to measure from four to five 

 hundred cubic feet to the ton. 



I have, in measuring and weighing out several 

 mows of hay, found the rule to be nearly correct; 

 varying, of course, according to the height oi 

 depth of the mow, and the quality of the hay, as to 

 its being coarse or fine, as fine hay weighs much 

 heavier in proportion to the bulk. I have weighed 

 out a mow of fine hay, near the bottom, when 360 

 cubic feet would weigh a ton. But scaffold hay 

 usually requires 500 feet for a ton. 



"Make hav," &c. Your correspondent, Mr. 

 Robinson, answers me rather perlly, for sneering 

 at his communication taken from the Homestead, — 

 then says it was written ten years ago, before mow- 

 ing machines were invented. Sneering I consider 

 one of the lowest traits that a man can exhibit, 

 whether it be at ignorance, or folly, or anything 

 else. 1 consider it unpardonable, and never inten- 

 tionally indulge in it. But when a man writes thing.s 

 unreasonable, he is to be pitied for his folly, or cor 

 rected, which last, I intended to do in my former 

 article. If he had informed his readers that his ar- 

 ticle was written ten years ago, and was intended 

 for men of other times, it would have passed with 

 out a notice. But supposing that it was written 

 for the improvement of the present times, it 

 "smacked" too much of "old fogyism," (and I am 

 not alone in thinking so,) to let it pass. So I gave 

 my experience as an honest man would, and "got 

 a hit," with how much grace I leave you and your 

 readers to decide. 



As for mowing machines, I am happy to say wt 

 do use them, and their merry rattle cheers and 

 lightens the labors of many of our Vermont farm- 

 ers, and will many more, another season. But 

 there are many fields in Vermont, and I presume 



in Connecticut, too, that can never be mowed by 

 machinery. 



Now, Mr. Editor, should you in some of your 

 "visits to the farm," take the trouble to come to 

 Rutland, you would find specimens of successful 

 farming that would be worthy of your notice, away 

 up here in Vermont, and we should be happy to 

 show you our hospitality. 



With your permission I will call the attention of 

 your readers once more to the advertisement on 

 another page, of Cream Hill Farm, for most of the 

 customers I have had find it too large, either for 

 their means or ivants. 1 will say that it is so situ- 

 ated that it can be divided without injuring its form, 

 making two beautiful farms of about 100 acres each, 

 properly divided into meadow, pasture and wood- 

 land. • 



If some other signature suits Mr. Robinson any 

 better than that outlandish "Woa, haw, hush," he 

 may call me M. J. Perkins. 



Cream Hill. 



Remarks. — It would afford us pleasure to visit 

 "Cream Hill Farm," and many others in its vicini- 

 ty, and we have no doubt we should learn enough 

 among the thrifty Vermonters of that region to re- 

 ward us abundantly for the time required. 



BOOK NOTICE. 



DowNiNQ's Fruit and Fruit Trees of America. Revised 

 Edition. New York : Wiley & Halsted, Publishers. 



In speaking of Fruits, we have often urged the 

 reader to cultivate only the best. But in order to 

 do this, he must have a more extended knowledge 

 of fruit, either from reading, from observation, or 

 from actual experiment himself, than is gained by 

 a mere familiarity with the fruits of his own neigh- 

 borhood. These are all essential to enable one to 

 become a pretty correct judge. But the most di- 

 rect, quickest and easiest way to gain the desired 

 information, is by reading. There are books filled 

 with the collected experience and wisdom of gene- 

 rations, where the inquirer may learn what are es- 

 teemed the best fruits, and what is their best mode 

 of cultivation, without passing through the long, 

 expensive and dull detail of practical experiment 

 himself. Such is the volume now before us. It 

 probably contains the most accurate descriptions 

 and engravings of a large and generally cultivated 

 variety of American fruits, that is to be found 

 among us; the modes of cultivation, of grafting, 

 budding and pruning, are given with such an accu- 

 racy of detail, as to render the work of great value 

 to the beginner. With such a work before him, 

 and a frequent reference to its pages, he could 

 scarcely fail of selecting the best varieties, and of 

 obtaining excellent fruit at a cost not more than 

 would be required to produce the most indifferent. 



The arrangement of the diff'erent topics in this 

 revised edition is not materially changed. In the 

 body of the word there is a sensible running title, 

 aff"ording a catch-word of ichat is spoken of below. 

 But in the index, where such a title becomes of 



