330 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



injured by the operation of prunin 

 tested them bv many trials. 



lie has For t/n New England Farmer. 



STATE OF VEGETATION AT THE CLOSE 



A GARDEN WEEDER. QJ* MAY. 



neat and handy little '^wcedei-" for (jrass is abundant and luxuriant. We yester- 



- I^//'"^'**f?,f^,*Y?,J!^*:^?li!lL ""k^'^y ^'^^^' ^ ^'^^^^^ *« ^'■'^''^^^^ ^''^"^ ^^^^ applied a 



sprinkling of the liquid collected at the stable, in 



I have a 

 garden be 



board about a foot long, 3 inches wide ; these bi 

 ing placed 6 or 8 inches apart like the runners of 

 a small sled, are fastened to a small piece of board 

 at each end -which comes to about ^ inch above 

 the bottom of the side pieces ; at the top in the 

 centre is anotlier piePe which serves as a handle. 

 Upon the bottom are nailed 3 strii:)S of sheet iron, 

 ground to an edge, about:] inch wide, one at each 

 end and one in tlie middle. When the ground is 

 dry this is pushed along between the rows a little 

 below the surface, and very neatly pulls up or cuts 

 off the young weeds, and leaves them in the path- 

 way. After a very little practice any one will be 

 astonished to see how easily, thoroughly and 

 quickly the Avork is done. 



PLASTER BUTTER WON'T COME. 



Mr. Brown : — Permit me to inquire through 

 the medium of your valuable paper, what is the 

 best mode of appljdng plaster to potatoes or corn. 

 I have never used any, and thought that I should 

 try some this year. My soil is a dry, sandy loam, 

 w)iich has been plowed deep this spring, and barn-, 

 yard manure turned in under the turf. Also, 

 wiiat the reason is that the "butter won't 

 Come?"" I have three cows which have been kept 

 on dry hay with a few carrots this winter, and 

 have had a plenty of salt, and it requires some- 

 times three hours churning to bring the butter 

 with the cream kept and -prepared in the usual 

 m inner and churned at a temperature of about 

 6l2 ' Fahrenheit. Cannot some of your intelligent 

 subseribers inform us of the cause of this, and the 

 remedy. J. B. Piiilbrick. 



South Deerfichl, N. II., 1854. 



]'emakk:s. — Sow broadcast on a portion of the 

 land, and on a anotlier portion apply it to the 

 hill or drills. In 1849, when the potato rot was 

 at its hoiglit, we sowed about a pound of salt- 

 petre and four pounds of plaster to the square 

 rod, and had 235 bushels of excellent Chenango 

 potatoes on an acre and a half of land. 



THE POTATO ONION. 



JIk. Brown ; — I have recently seen an onion 

 which is called the potato onion. It is described 

 by Mr. Isham, of New Alstead, N. II., to be easily 

 raised, profitable, and much milder than common 

 Borts. ilc sets them out in hills, similar to seed 

 onions ; they grow in clusters of two or three 

 large ones to six or eight in a hill. Mr. Isiiam sets 

 out the smallest ones and he thinks tliey are the 

 the most profitable. l. h. 



Northjield, Mass., 1854. 



which bad been infused a quantity of guano, and 

 we think we never saw a more marked effect, from 

 the application of any fertilizing substance. The 

 path of the application of the liquid, was as dis- 

 tinct, more than doubling the quantity, both in 

 thickness and height, as would be that of the 

 mower, casting his swath. This application was 

 made about the first of the present month — not 

 exceeding two hundred pounds of guano to the 

 acre. If by applying $5 Avortn of labor and ma- 

 terial, a ton of hay can be created, it is not easy 

 to specify a better investment. When facts like 

 these are seen M'ith our own eyes, here is an end of 

 argument. Slur as much as you please, the appli- 

 cation oi fancy manures, the growing grass now 

 waving in the breeze will outweigh all such slurs. 

 On the same field is an illustration of the benefits 

 arising from the application of the combinations 

 of different fertilizers, but not so distinctly 

 marked, as that of guano dissolved in urine. 



The blossoms upon the apple trees still hold on, 

 and give promise of a full harvest. Cherries are 

 sparse, and poorly filled. Pears are falling from 

 the trees. Peaches there are none. Corn plant- 

 ed since the 10th of May, is doing well ; that 

 which was planted earlier has a sickly appear- 

 ance. An experienced farmer assures me, that he 

 has grown as fine corn plaAed the last of M.ay 

 and first of June, as at any other period ; and in 

 confirmation of this, he is at this moment occu- 

 pied in planting his corn, his ground having been 

 waiting for the seed ten days or more. No bene- 

 fit accrues from putting seed in the ground, before 

 it is fitly prepared to receive it ; "Once well done, 

 is better than twice poorly." p. 



Mcnj 31, 1854. 



Remarks. — Probably the common "top onion," 

 so called, raised a good deal at the South, and 

 much more mild than our common onion. 



To Dry Cherries and Plums. — Stone them, 

 and half. P.iek them in jars, strewing sugar be- 

 tween each layer 



For the New England Farmer. 



AUTUMNAL MARROW SftUASH. 



Mr. Editor : — The repuldication in your paper 

 of this morning, of the facts stated by Mr. 1. M. 

 Ives, relating to the first introduction of the "au- 

 tumnal maiTow squash," iy scer/s ^/m^ came in a 

 letter from Northampton — brings to mind certain 

 other facts, that came to my knowledge, in an- 

 swer to inquiries suggested by Dr. Harris of Cam- 

 bridge, on the same subject. 



Without going through all the details, the sub- 

 stance of these were that JMrs. Tucker, of Salem, 

 wife of Lewis Tucker, Esq., who formerly kept 

 the Sun Tavern in Essex Street, furnished seeds 

 of tills sciuash to one E. Wdlman Osborne, a gar- 

 dener in Danvcrs, (now living at Ware, N. II.,) 

 who grew them and carried them into the market 

 at Salem, several years, before the time mentioned 

 by Mr. Ives. I do not doubt, that Mr. Ives 52/^;;- 

 posed what ho stated to be true ; nor do I doubt, 

 that Mr. Osborne knows what he states to be 

 true. The same thing was known to Mr. Daniel 

 Buxton, Jr., and Mr. Abram C. Osborne — men of 

 as much accuracy of observation and recollection 

 in all matters of vegetable culture, as any others. 

 I simply mention these things in illustration of 



