38 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



Jan. 



seeing eye in place of one that has been put out 

 by violence. No after-feeding of a horse will give 

 him a new eye; and no good keeping will develope 

 an animal frame perfect in all its parts after it has 

 been stunted in youth. 



Most farmers attempt to keep too much stock, 

 both in winter and summer, for their food to he 

 manufijtured into flesh, dairy products, or wool 

 A few superior animals well housed in winter, and 

 well fed at all times, yield the largest profit. Of 

 course, stables should be properly ventilated that 

 all animals may have a full supply of pure air. 

 Most stables, and all sheds, give too much of it, 

 especially in cold wintry weather. Look out for 

 a plenty of straw, or other litter, to absorb all 

 urine, unless you have a tank or other reservoir 

 for it to run into. Manure is now as valuable as 

 money at ten per cent, compound interest ; for all 

 the crops that manure aids so much in their annu- 

 al growth sell at high prices. It costs nearly as 

 much to plow, plant, hoe, and harvest an acre of 

 corn to obtain 25 bushels as 50 bushels ; and ma- 

 nure will double the crop. — Genesee Farmer. 



For the New England Farmer. 



UPLAND CRANBERRY. 



Messrs. Editors : — I some time since informed 

 you that I had on my farm in Carver, cranberries 

 growing on high, sandy land, and 1 send you a 

 sample that you may see the quality. Crossing my 

 field where corn and rye grew but a short time 

 since, I saw cranberries growing on the hills quite 

 thick ; they must have been propagated by seed. 

 More than a quarter of an acre was covered with 

 vines, and they were quite full of fruit in many 

 places, of the best kinds ; it is about five years 

 since the crop of rye was taken ofi". While the 

 fruit was injured by the frost on very low mead- 

 ows this year, I found it perfectly sound on my 

 apland; not a single berry was hurt. I have in- 

 formed you before, that my best fruit grew on up- 

 land, and I am confirmed in my belief this year. 

 I picked the fruit last week ; there are bushels now 

 on my fields perfectly sound where the water nev- 

 er stands, and in all seasons it is perfectly dry. 



SALTING PLUM TREES. 



For many years I have salted my plum-trees and 

 had large crops of fruit, but last winter I omitted 

 to salt the trees, excepting three, and the conse- 

 quence was, that I had no plums excepting on the 

 trees that I salted, which confirms me that the 

 only sure way to get a crop of plums, is to put 

 salt around the trees in the winter ; about four 

 quarts is sufficient for a tree ; put it around in a 

 circle about a foot from the tree, any time in Jan- 

 uary ^or February will do, without regard to snow 

 being on the ground. 



POTASH WASH. 



I have used it ever since my first communica- 

 tion in 1840, and find that if I put four ounces in 

 two gallons of water, for young trees, or eight 

 ounces in two gallons for old trees, that no injury 

 is done, but a great deal of good : it removes or 

 kills all the insects that are in the bark, and it 

 loosens all the useless bark, destroys the moss 

 and kills all the lice and scales. It should be 

 done in March or April, and then scrape off the 

 loose barl^in about a week. 



TRIMMING TREES. 



Fall is the best time to trim trees. It removes 

 the surplus wood that otherwise would take the 

 sap, and heals over much quicker than at any oth- 

 er time. If long limbs are cut off, put on paint to 

 keep out the wet and prevent cracking. I think 

 the best time for trimming all kinds of trees is 

 when the fruit is gathered. I liave tried all seasons 

 and have come to the above conclusion. 



S. A. SnURTLEFF. 



Spring Grove, Nqnantum, Nov. 25//t, 1853. 



Remarks. — The cranberries sent are high-col- 

 ored and very fine. They very closely resemble 

 those we have raised ourselves on sandy upland. 



The young orchardist will not fail we hope, to 

 notice how sparingly Dr. Shurtleff uses potash 

 water as a wash for trees— /our ounces, only, in 

 two gallons of water, for young trees, and double 

 that quantity for old trees. In careful hands we 

 believe such a wash would not be injurious ; while 

 the pound and gallon practice is a most danger- 

 ous one. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WINTER EVENINGS. 



Winter is rapidly hastening his rather unwel- 

 come appearance ; unwelcome, because of the 

 gloomy aspect he gives to the fields and forests, 

 the garden and nursery, which for months have 

 received such a large share of our attention, and 

 occupied so large a place in our thoughts, as we 

 have meditated upon the sublime beauty of the 

 vegetable world. The sun, as if unwilling to linger 

 long on the dreary sight of earth reft of its beau- 

 ty, hastily disappears behind the western hills. 

 To all, whose business lies beneath the open sky, 

 the hours of labor are made less, and the time for 

 rest and pleasure and improvement increased. The 

 mechanic in his workshop may pursue his calling, 

 since art can supply what nature refuses, and the 

 lawyer, doctor and minister, have long been fabled 

 to grow wise by the use of midnight oil. But the 

 farmer scorning to labor when nature seeks re- 

 pose, quits the business of the day, with the going 

 down of the sun, reserves the long interval be- 

 tween labor and rest, to be devoted to whatever 

 pursuit inclination or fancy may dictate. His even- 

 ings are almost his only leisure time, and how to 

 spend them, is an important question. How shall 

 the farmer occupy the only time, in which he is 

 busied with the cares and duties of his avocation, 

 so that he may receive the greatest benefit, is the 

 query which we propose to consider. 



If the inquiry was, how have farmers spent their 

 evenings, it might be easily answered. The store- 

 keeper would perhaps tell of their nocturnal as- 

 sembling at his mart of trade, to smoke "short 

 sixes," talk politics, discuss town matters, hear 

 the news, and engage in other equally interesting 

 employments, ll^ie taverner might divulge what 

 is no secret, that where the carcass is, there the 

 eagles gather together. He might draw a picture, 

 "founded on facts," as the novelists say, that 

 would give farmers rather too prominent a position 

 for their own credit. He might tell of a room, 

 dark and dingy, filled with the fumes of rum and 

 tobacco, loathsome in the extreme to the unpollu 



