642 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



its own weight, a three-cornered drag rests confi- 

 dingly against it, while a little way ofl" is the plow, 

 which, by the wear and tear it has been subjected 

 to, might be referred to any age since Mathusaleh. 



Neighbor S believes cne plow will answer for 



all purposes, and all soils, and thinks new inven- 

 tions in this line humbugs. In the spring he yokes 

 a pair of poor starved oxen, that have lain out to 

 freeze in the open yard last winter, hitchf'S them to 

 his plow, and proceeds to spring plowing. He 

 usually gets into his field by jetting down the 

 fence ; an easy ta«k, by the way, for the corners are 

 all down, or thrown this way and that, till he can- 

 not easily make it wor?e. He usually begins in wet 

 weather, as his team is too light to plow when it is 

 dry. He plows shallow, for his team is not strong 

 enough to plow deep. He don't subsoil, it would 

 take another team. When harvest comes, he won- 

 ders why his fields yields but half a crop! 



Such are the men — I will not say farmers — who 

 disgrace the pursuit of agriculture. But their 

 number is lessening. Stupid indeed must be the 

 inan who in this age does not improve. Every ap- 

 pliance science and art can bring, is placed in the 

 hand of the farmer. He has but to signify his 

 wants, and the inventor is ready to devote years in 

 his service. He but asks and he receives. The 

 leaven is working, and the farmer for intelligence 

 stands equal to the best. If he does not, then he 

 is to blame. If he will not read and think, if he 

 will not strive to improve, then he merits contempt, 

 and should be degraded, not only by other profeS' 

 sions, but by all true farmers, as a reproach on the 

 honor of their calling. — Ohio Cultivator. 



For the New England Farmer. 



WINTER WHEAT. 



Friend Bbown : — Please accept what gives me 

 pleasure to lend — a helping hand — when I see 

 you travelling and furnishing editorial correspon 

 dence, in addition to all the office labor, for a class 

 of your readers juf-t now too busy to visit, but who 

 welcome and read your periodicals, furnishing so 

 many appropriate suggestions. These often remind 

 me of kindred labors, experiments and items of 

 knowledge thereby acquired, which to many were 

 questionable. 



More than thirty years since, when in Albany, 

 N. Y., I bought two bushels of very fair winter 

 wheat, which it was said "would not blast," hav- 

 ing determined to try a crop, though at that time I 

 had not known any to be raised in old Lancaster. 

 For this I plowed two acres of clover in bloom on 

 a piece of flat, loamy land, near the house, to the 

 astonishment of all the neighbors, who said, "what 

 a pity to lose such a beautiful crop of clover, worth 

 more than the wheat will be.'' The last of August, 

 after sowing the wheat, (one bushel to the acre,) I 

 harrowed it very thoroughly, and gave it another 

 full seeding of clover. This daring experiment 

 was watched narrowly till harvest time, when every 

 neighbor offered to come and help reap it ; it was 

 very tall and even, with heavy heads, biight as 

 gold. All agreed it must be saved for seed — the 

 whole of it. "Yes, yes, you must let me have some 

 of it." One tied it over his head, to show its height. 

 Of this first crop, I will only add, the fame and the 

 seed were widely spread. I have continued to rec- 

 ommend and practice sowing winter wheat within- 



variable success. In later years, immediately after 

 mowing, with a Michigan plow I turn over and 

 give a top dressing of fine mariure, and about the 

 first of September sow a plump bushel per acre of 

 the very best seed from the West, changed once in 

 two or three years, soaked in brine, and after 

 draining, strew in slaked lime — harrow thoroughly 

 and roll. Early as possible in the spring, I sow 

 clover, and go over it with a light, sharp harrow and 

 roller, to replace any disturbed roots ; then give it 

 a bushel of plaster and two of ashes mixed, to the 

 acre. Benjamin Willakd. 



Lancaster, 1857. 



THE CHEMIST IN THE LAUNDRY. 



Washing has for its object not only the removal 

 from our clothing of accidental dirt, but also to car- 

 ry away certain ammoniacal salts, the products of 

 perspiration, which are absorbed from the body by 

 all the clothes that we wear, especially those near- 

 est the skin. A change of under-garments is essen- 

 tial to health on this very account, and the art of 

 washing is more useful in removing the hardened 

 perspiration from the cloth (to which it clings most 

 pertinaciously, like the matter of contagion) than in 

 removing the superfluous dirt which merely offends 

 the eye. Until recently, the laundress's first op- 

 eration was to prepare "a ley" of potash, which 

 she did by putting wood ashes into a tub having a 

 perforated bottom. The tub was then filled with 

 water, which, trickling through, dissolved in its 

 course the potash contained in all wood ashes. This 

 process is still extant in some parts of the country, 

 especially where wood is used for fuel. 



The starting process of washing now is to pre- 

 pare a ley of soda. Hard water requires more soda 

 than soft; and, when rain water can be procured, 

 alkali may be dispensed with entirely. The utility 

 of soda or of potash in washing arises from the 

 power these alkalies possess of uniting with grease 

 of all kinds, forming a soap; and to disunite the 

 ammonia of perspiration from the clothes, thus pu- 

 rifying the fabric and rendering it capable of the 

 like absorption when again worn. This important 

 action has hitherto been unnoticed. Now, although 

 we admit their great utility, we particularly caution 

 all parties not to use too much of these powerful al- 

 kalies, because cotton fabrics are partially dissolved 

 by a strong hot soda, potash, or lime ley. It is to 

 this cause that the "bad color" may be attributed, 

 which the housewife now and then justly complains 

 of in the linen. When the outer coatings of the 

 filament of the fabric are thus acted upon, they 

 are quickly influenced by the air, and become of a 

 yellow tint. 



There is another cause of "bad color," and that is 

 an insufficient supply of water, or washing too many 

 things in the same liquor. This gives rather a gray 

 tint.. The yellow color is, however, the thing to 

 guard against, as this partakes of a permanent evil ; 

 and we mention it in particular, because there are 

 strong washing fluids sold containing lime and soda. 

 In nine laundries out of ten, too much soda is al- 

 ready used; we need not, therefore, desire to in- 

 crease the evik 



Many laundresses, when they hear complaints of 

 the articles they send home, will make their alka- 

 line ley a little stronger next washing-day, and 

 thus unwittingly hicrease the evil. A judicious use 



