1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



293 



For the Ifcw England Farmer. 



MONTHLY FARMER FOR MAY. 

 This publication "liaa been laid upon our table," 

 as the editors pay ; and for aught I can see, it 

 looks just as well along-side that loaf of brown 

 bread, as it would in the study of the literary 

 man. It has been read, too ; it never stays long in 

 our house -without that. Beside "ourselves," 

 here are four boys large enough to read the pieces 

 or to crow over the pictures, and when we add 

 tiie neiji;h!)ors who help U3 patronize the paper, 

 we shall have probably a'lout the right figure with 

 which to multiply the whole number printed, in or- 

 der to ascertain very nearly how many pcojde read 

 the Fanmr, and to form some opinion of the in- 

 fluence, on young and old, which must be exerted 

 1)y it as a whole, and by each article as a part. 

 These facts ought to be kept in mind liy all who 

 write for the paper. AVero the readers of the 

 Varinrr to be assembled in some vast grove, and 

 we, the occasional contributors to its columns, 

 several!}' called to the 'vstand' ' and obliged to read 

 our respective jiroductions, flice to face with the 

 congregated multitude, should Ave have no cause 

 to regret tliat we took no more pains in the ar- 

 rangement of our tlioughts, in our mode of ex- 

 pression, or in the brevity of our articles ? How- 

 ever this might be, I think the following Table of 

 Contents of t!ie May Farmer will show that most 

 of us would have no occasion to be ashamed of 

 the company in which we should find ourselves 

 placed. 



coKnESPO^■^)EXCE. 



, (Ms.) Legislative Ag. Jleilings. 



1!. F. Cutter, (N. 11.) I'runt in Raising Corn. 



A VeniKinttT, (Vt.) Renovating Soils. 



C Goodrich, (Vt.) Bjgology vs. Sciuasb.^ilopy. 



R. M. CopclaiKl, (Ms.) What a Garden Should be. 



I'rof. Harris, (Ms.) Larvae of the Crane Fly. 



K. Marsh, ( Vt.) IIow to make the Dutter Come. 



D. C, (Mass.) Farming in New England. 



J. B. Farmer, (Ms.) The Crow— Winter Wornis. 



Spartacus, (Ms.) Witch Hazel. 



S. W. Jenning.s, (Me.) Save the Rones. 



L. W. Curtis, (.Ms.) Guano and Super-phosphate. 



O. V. Hills, (.Ms.) Horn Shavings. 



Renj. Wdlard, (Ms.) Karly June Beet. 



J. W. Proctor, (Ms.) Butter Making. 



\ Subscriber, (Ms.) Onions and Carrots. 



David Lyman, (Ct.) Mowing Ground. 



W. D.M., (Ms.) Barn Stables. 



F. Holbronk, (Vt.) Composting. 



A Reader, (.Ms.) Farmer for March. 



L. Daraud, (Ct.) Potato Rot. 



J. J. H. Gregory, (Ms.) KlTects of Inoculation. 



Asa Clement, (.Ms.) To Destroy the Curculio. 



H. F. French, (N. H.) Sewing Machine. 



L. >latlRWs, (Vt.) Warts on Plum Trees. 



G. P., (.Ms.) Potash as a Fertilizer. 



A City .Mechanic, (Ms.) City Life. 



F. HoHirnok, (Vt.) FaUeniiig Swine. 



H. W Merriam, (111.) lilinois Farm Implements. 



^ , (Ms.) Cattle of New England. 



Ten or twelve others Make inquiries and suggestions. 



KDITORI.'VL. 

 Calendar for May — l'rei)aring Sc d Corn — Concord Farmer's 

 Club — ^Tcnth, JCleventh and 'J'welfth Legislative Agricultural 

 Jleetings— Middlesex Co. Premiums— The Weather and Crops— 

 Ketchura's Mowing Machine— State Farm at Westboro'— Use of 

 Guano— Roots of Plants, Transi)Iantiiig— Horse Hoc— Fruit 

 Trees— E.\tracts and Replies— Iminoved Hinge Harrows. 



EXTRACTS. 

 Extra Cow— Rancid Butter- ClassiQcation of Manures— Sow- 

 ing Clover Seed — I'lums, the Curculio — Past and Present (-'on- 

 dition of .Virriculture — Plowman's Song — Natural Beauty of Or- 

 namental Ti-.is — .Vmerican Pumological Society — Will Ashes 

 Dissolve Bones ? 



For want of time, it is impossible for me to at- 

 tempt any sort of review of tlic contents of this 

 number of the Farmer. Still, I am unwilling 



to let the occasion slip Avithout expressing my 

 hearty commendation of the action of the Con- 

 cord Farmers' Club in respect to agricultural ex- 

 periments. It strikes mo that the club have set 

 an example that other similar associations will 

 do well to follow, — an example the club Avill yet 

 be proud of. The results of the experiments 

 which individual members of the Concm-d Club 

 have pledged themselves to make, Avill )>e looked 

 for with interest liy tlie readers of the Farmer, 

 where we hope to find their reports, in due sea- 

 son. A "Concord Club" in every county of tho 

 Union! A Re-vder. 



Winchester, May, 18.5i. 



CULTURE OF THE SWEET POTATO. 



This delicious and wholesome vegctalJe may be 

 raised without difficulty in the Ncav England States. 

 It will not be quite so highly flavored, or dark 

 colored as the southern, but iswell worthy a place 

 in CA'cry kitchen garden. By placing a potato in 

 a hot-bed, or even on the grass, covered Avith fine 

 loam and horse manure, sprouts enough may be 

 obtained to plant several hills ; the shoot aiust be 

 pinched out Avith the' nail and transplanted in the 

 same manner that cabbage plants are. The 

 treatment afterM-ards may be the same as for the 

 cabbage. The vines run upon the ground like t!ie 

 cucumber vine, and are very beautiful. Plant on 

 sandy loam and the hottest place you have ; the 

 first AA-eek in June is early enough. 



Slips ready for transplanting may be obtained 

 of L. Rand & Co. — 84 Quincy Market, Boston. 



LAYING OUT SURFACES. 



To lay out an acre in a circle. — First fix a centre, 

 and Avith a rope as a radius seven rods, three 

 links and threc-eigliths long, one end attached to 

 the centre and kept uniformly stretched, the 

 SAveep of it at the other end Avill lay out the 

 acre. 



For one-quarter of an acre, a rope three rods 

 •■xnd fourteen links Avill be the right length. 



For one-eighth of an acre, a rope tvjo rods and 

 thirteen links will be enough. 



Triangles. — If you wisli a triangle to contain 

 just an acre, make each side nineteen rods, five 

 and a half links long. 



A triangle Avhose sides arc six rods and tAventy 

 links long each, will contain one-eighth of an 

 acre. 



To lay out an Ellipse or Oval. — Set three stakes 

 in a triangular position. Around these stretch a 

 rope. Take aAvay the stake at the apex of the 

 triangle, which Avill be Avhere tho side of the OA'al 

 is to come — move the stake along the rope, 

 keeping it tight, and it Avill trace out tho oval. 



A square, to contain an acre, or just one hun- 

 dred and sixty rods, sliould have each of its 

 sides just tAvelvo rods, ten feet and seven-tenths 

 lone 



g^' The original color of black garnicntacanbe 

 restored by saturating i\\o. rusty parts with an in- 

 fusion of logwood appH.'d Avith a sponge ; "dry 

 and press oli'Avith a hot iron." 



