474 



NBW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



of English horticulture; for a person accustomed 

 to the tropical heat of our summer months, can- 

 not help being surprised that anything whatever 

 should thrive in the watery sunbeams of what the 

 English call their Summer. 



With respect to substantial viands, a much more 

 favorable report may be made. The beef, perhaps, 

 though ftimous to a proverb, is not very decidedly 

 better than the best of our own ; but the mutton 

 is certainly something to rejoice in, and to be 

 proud of. The poultry is inferior ; the fowls and 

 turkeys being insipid to the American taste, per- 

 haps from the lack of Indian corn to feed them 

 with. Owing to this insipidity, the English con- 

 sider ducks a much better diah than chickens. — 

 Rabbits very frequently appear on the table. 

 Hares, at the proper season, are abundant in the 

 market, as well as all other kinds of English and 

 Scotch game. Their venison, however, is deficient 

 in the true game flavor ; and, in fact, the English 

 deer can scarcely be regarded as a wild animal, as 

 it has for centuries been almost domesticated in 

 parks, and looks for its feed of oats in winter, as 

 regularly as a horse. Much of the venison that 

 comes to the market is probably stiiU-fed. 



In fish, taking the year through, the English 

 market has more and better varieties than our 

 own. Cod and haddock are abundant, but seldom 

 appear on the tables of the wealthier classes. — 

 There is a good supply of salmon, for a longer 

 season and at a cheaper rate than with us. The 

 turbot and the sole are fish unknown in America, 

 and Avell-deaerve the estimation in which English- 

 men hold them. In short, nature seems to have 

 done her utmost to discourage the Graham system 

 of diet in England, both by the deficiency and 

 poor quality of vegetable esculents, and by the 

 abundance and excellence of flesh and fish. In 

 consequence of this state of things, among many 

 other causes, John Bull is likely long to remain 

 the ponderous, slow, thick-witted, but steady and 

 reliable personage, in whom the American recog- 

 nizes some points of resemblance to himself, but 

 quite as many of marked difference. 

 Yours truly. 



For the New England Farmer. 



STATE ALMSHOUSE AT TEWKS- 

 BURY. 



Mr. Editor : — It is gratifying to learn from an 

 authority so reliable, as that of Dr. Brown of 

 Wilmington, the flourishing condition of this es- 

 tablishment. Tiiat the superintendence may be 

 good, and the accommodations convenient, I have 

 no reason to doubt; — but that the soil about is 

 productive, or can be made so by deep plowirig or 

 otherwise, is to me astonishing. From a time, 

 the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, 

 the Plains of Tewksbury have been spoken of, as 

 barren in the extreme. By what magical appli- 

 cation they have all at oncj become "retentive 



and productive)" is worthy of being entered on 

 record, in the next volume of Agricultural Trans- 

 actions, for the County of Middlesex. 



From what I had heard, I had supposed there 

 was a great deficiency in an adequate supply of 

 pure water at this Institution. But from the Dr.'s 

 account, it would seem, an ample supply is ex- 

 pected from the wells that are to be dug — not 

 from those they already have. 



One would think it desirable to look out for 

 water before washing day comes, with such a dirty 

 set about, as those inmates are descril)ed to be. — 

 But there is*no accounting for diversi ties of tastes. 

 As to the expediency of concentrating so much 

 filth and misery together, instead of continuing it 

 difi"u8ed in small parcels, in the several towns of 

 the county, there is room for much to be said. 



September 20, 1854. 



APPPLICATION OF MANURE. 



A judicious and well timed application of ma- 

 nure is a subject of great importance to the farm- 

 er. If he had a complete knowledge of the defi- 

 ciency of the soil, and of the organized constitu- 

 ents of his manure, an economical application 

 might be made with comparative ease. But it is 

 not so, and he is compelled to study and experi- 

 ment, until he becomes practically familiar with 

 this part of his business, and better able to judge 

 what quality is lacking, and what he has in store 

 as a necessary supply. 



A powerful fermenting process may bo neces- 

 sary to render a tenacious soil productive, one 

 that shall drive the particles asunder, and "warm 

 up the soil," as the saying is. The atmosphere 

 plays a lively part in the production of all vege- 

 tables as well as animals. Hence the importance 

 of cultivating the soil by plowing, hoeing, &c. Ni- 

 trogen in the form of ammonia or some other com- 

 pound, escapes from fermenting substances. If 

 the process is going on therefore in the soil, the 

 nitrogen will unite or combine with some other 

 substance supposed to be present, and thus form 

 a nutriment for the plant. The escaj^iug and ex- 

 panding gases have much to do in such a case. — 

 They disorganize the hard and adhesive lumps, 

 and render them so pourous, that the air has very 

 free access. 



Now if this manure had been applied to the 

 surface, we can readily see that most of its jiower 

 would have been lost, and its virtue too. So also, 

 if fermented manure had been placed in such a 

 soil, its eflect would have been much less than the 

 unfermented, because the former is composed 

 mostly of the ashes of plants and mineral sub- 

 stances, of which the soil may have already a 

 competent supply, and no new power be given by 

 the addition of these comparatively inactive ele- 

 ments. 



A different compost is necessary when the seed 

 and not the stalk is the object of cultivation. The 

 phosphates or phosphoric acid must be present for 

 the formation and perfection of seeds, such as 

 wheat, corn, &c., while for grass designed to be 

 cut for hay, it may not be essential. 



In the vegetable world, "like produces like," 

 and the decay of plants produces food for the re- 

 production of the same plants, and if they decay 

 upon the soil without loss, the present crop will 

 furnish materials for a larger subsequent crop. — 



