1854. 



N^W ENGLAND FARMER. 



451 



iron furnaces have devoured my grove, and their 

 huge stumps that stood like gravestones, have 

 been cleared away that a grove might he planted 

 in the same spot for the next hundred years to 

 nourish into the stature and glory of that which 

 is gone. And in other places I find the memorial 

 of many noble trees slain ; here a hemlock that 

 carried up its eternal green a hundred foet into 

 the winter air ; there a huge double-trunked 

 chestnut, dear old grandfather of hundreds of 

 children that have for generations clubl)ed its 

 boughs or shook its nut-laden top, and laughed 

 and shouted as bushels of chestnuts rattled down. 

 Now the tree exists only as loop-holed posts and 

 weather-browned rails. I hope the fellow got a 

 sliver in his finger every time he touched the hem- 

 lock plank or let down the bars made of those 

 chestnut rails. 



What, then, it will be said, must no one touch 

 a tree? must there be no fuel, no timber ? Go to 

 the forest for both. There are no individual trees 

 there, only a forest. — N. Y. Independent. 



FARM OF HARVEY DODGE, ESQ. 



OF SUTTON, MASS. 



On the l-4th July, we had the pleasure of 

 passing over Mr. Dodge's farm, looking at his 

 crops, and of observing his modes of operation in 

 its several departments. The farm is about seven 

 miles from Worcester, and on one of that beauti- 

 ful succession of hills which prevail in that part 

 of the State. The soil is of granite formation, 

 springy, bravely resisting' the present severe 

 drouth, and when once reclaimed and laid to grass, 

 the most permanent and fertile land we have. 



The young orcharding on the farm is thrifty, 

 just in bearing, and extremely promising. Many 

 of the trees, but seven year's set, being full of 

 large and fair fruit. I he barley had been har- 

 vested, but its representative stubble showed a 

 strong growth, which I was informed headed and 

 filled up well. About two acres of onions promised 

 a return of four to five hundred dollars ! Cab- 

 bages were rampant, and potato tops appeared 

 well, bat we did not go below to see how they 

 were there. Several cows graced the yard, whose 

 fine appearance would be noticeable by the most 

 indificrent. On(f among them, a Devon, it would 

 be difficult to equal. A young Deven bull had 

 also fine proportions, and promises to become a 

 valuable animal. A noble stack of English hay 

 stood near the barn, containing some fifteen tons, 

 and so compactly laid as to make it difficult to 

 withdraw a handful. Ranged against the stone 

 walls, and convenient to the buildings, were about 

 400 barrels of vinegar, made from the juice of the 

 apple. This we looked at and tasted, and found 

 it as pure as the air itself upon the Sutton IIills 

 There was a pervading air of neatness and order, in 

 and out of doors, and thrift undoubtedly follows 

 the orderings of the proprietor. 



But the chief point which attracted our attcn 

 tion was his operations in underdruining. On a 



field fronting the house, and containing 25 acres, 

 he had laid GOO rods of drainage ! A portion of 

 this field was still in the condition in which he 

 originally found the whole. It is situated on a 

 high hill, gently sloping to the north-west, and 

 was covered with loose and fast stones, and all the 

 coarse and hardy plants with which such land is 

 usually made "unpi'ofitably gay" — such as vari- 

 ous wild grasses, johnswort, hard-hack, life-ever- 

 lasting, golden-rods and cat- tails. The surface 

 was uneven and springy, and cold, the water ooz- 

 ing out in every direction and collecting in little 

 pools in all thelow phxces. Some attempt at re- 

 claiming had boon made on a lower portion of it, 

 and timothy and red-top had been introduced. 

 But these had vainly struggled against the influ- 

 ences of the cold spring water ever flowing down 

 upon it from above, and finally gave up the con- 

 flict in despair — the natural grasses again assum- 

 ing their place. 



After removing the cross walls — for the field was 

 originally divided by several cross walls — and us- 

 fng the stones, together with as many from the 

 surface as were wanted for outside fencing, the re- 

 maining large stones were dug under and dropt 

 below the I'cach of the plow. Trenches were 

 then cut sufficiently wide and deep to receive the 

 smaller stones. Some of these trenches find an 

 outlet on a lower portion of the field, and irrigate 

 several acres of it, while the water from the others 

 is carried across the highway and made to irri- 

 gate a pasture, and thus more than trebling the 

 amount of feed obtained upon it before this course 

 was adopted. 



In reclaiming a portion of this field, an experi- 

 ment was made in trenching. The depth to which 

 the earth was moved, we do not recollect, but the 

 effect is now — although several years have elapsed 

 — as marked as it was the first year ; the grass 

 being larger, and having a more lively and dark- 

 er green, than on any other spot of similar ground. 



For a successful, extensive, and complete iUuSr 

 tration of the advantages resulting from thorough 

 draining, we would refer the reader to fchis field'. 



Instuuction in Agriculture. — In the kingdom 

 of Prussia there are five Agricultural CullegCB, 

 and a sixth is about to be opened ; in. these arc 

 taught, l>y botii theory and practice, the highest 

 branches of science connected with the culture and 

 improvement of the soil ; of Agricultural schools 

 of a more elementary order there are ten ; there 

 are also seven schools devoted to instruction in 

 the management of meadow lands; one for instruc- 

 tion in the management of sheep ; and there are 

 also forty-five model farms, intended to serve in 

 introducing better modes of agriculture ; in all, 

 seventy-one public estalilishments for agricultural 

 education, not to mention others of a kindred na- 

 ture, or those private schools where the art and 

 science of good farming are taught. 



Prussia is a monarchy, with fifteen millions of 



