1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



509 



can of eight quarts i;n)!" t'lan he did last year, 

 and thoee who convey it about charge eight cents 

 a can more, and this makes it cost the consumer 

 six and a quatcr cents per quart, instead of five 

 cents as last year. At the present prices of hay 

 and grain, this is only a fair price for good milk. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



WHAT SUALL I DO WITH MT OLD FIELD ? 



Mr. Editor : — I have a piece of land that has 

 been mowed for upwards of forty years ; it is get- 

 ting badly run out ; there are brakes and wild 

 grass in abundance. Two years ago, I spread on 

 about 100 loads of barn manifte ; it did well the 

 first year, but docs not seem to last. I have been 

 advised to put on lime to kill out the brakes, and 

 bring it iuto English hay ; any information from 

 you or any of your subscribers, concerning how 

 to manage it, will be gratefully received. 



Rochester, 1854:. c. b. c. 



Remarks. — Plow deep, manure highly, hoe 

 thoroughly, for a year or two, and lay it down 

 again, if you wish it, in grass. No other 'course 

 will prove profitable. 



THE CONCORD GRAPE. 



Mr. Brown : — In your paper of the 23d of Sep- 

 tember, I noticed an account of the Concord 

 grape raised by Mr. E. W. Bull, of Concord. It 

 being highly recommended, I would like to inquire 

 if it is of such a nature as to thrive well in 

 Maine? and also, Avhat color and yield are, and 

 obliore A Reader. 



Remarks. — The Concord Grape has not been 

 tested, we suppose, in Maine, but we think may 

 be grown there successfully, as it ripens early in 

 Septemboj here. The general appearance of the 

 grape ia much like that of the Isabella. 



what agricultural books to read. 



Mr. Editor : — I am a mechanic, but design at 

 some future day to engage in farming. I have a 

 very link practical knowledge of the business, 

 but am anxious before engaging in it, as my oc- 

 cupation, to get a scientific knowledge thereof. I 

 have five dollars that I wish to expend for ))ooks 

 on agriculture ; will you please name in your pa- 

 per, the titles of a few works that can be j)ur- 

 chasod for about that sum, which you think best 

 calculated for one in my situation. e. b. b. 



Remarks. — Certainly, with much pleasure, and 

 will also say that you have started exactly at 

 the right point. For the first book, get the "Far- 

 mer's and Planter's Encyclopedia of Rural Affairs, 

 &c.," which will cost three and a half or four dol- 

 lars, at Jev/etfs, 117 Washington Street, and for 

 the second, "Johnston's Elements of Agricultural 

 Chemistry and Geology," and when you are well- 

 versed in their contents, you will probably be 

 qualified to manage a farm, so fiir as theoretical 

 knowledge will go. 



what is the best manure for a garden? 



Mr. Brown : — I wish to inquire through the 



columns of your valuable paper, what is the best 

 manure for a garden 1 I am preparing a new 

 spot and wish for a good vegetable garden ; the 

 soil bears a little upon a gravelly one. I have a 

 plenty of manure made by muck being drawn in 

 the yard one year ago. Is it preferred to stable 

 manure? Should it be plowed this falll 



A Northern SuBscBrBEE. 

 Canaan, Vt.,\%b\. 



Remarks. — Apply such manure as you describe, 

 plentifully, this fiill, and plow it in, no matter 

 how green it is if plowed in soon. Plow again in 

 the spring and pulverize finely. Fresh droppings 

 plowed under in the fixU, are excellent, as there 

 are few or no ^eeds of weeds among them. 



cranberries on high land. 



Mr. Elias Needham, of West Danvers, has 

 shown us some cran1)errie3 grown on high land, 

 which are of good size, and which, he says, he 

 produces, with good success, having raised some 

 one or two hundred bushels a year and selling 

 them for $3 and $4 a bushel. We have heard 

 his experiments favorably spoken of by his neigh- 

 bors, and can have no doubt but that he finds an 

 ample reward in the crops for all cost and labor. 

 Here, then, is the example; why cannot others 

 copy it, and produce this wholesome and palata- 

 ble food, so that it shall become common on every 

 table ? 



large apples. 



D. 11. Fairbanks, Harvard, Mass., two ap- 

 ples, weighing, together, 2i pounds, and measur- 

 ing 12 and 13 inches round them They belong 

 undoubtedly to the Pippin varieties. 

 seedling peaches. 



From RuFus Robbins, Abington, Mass. Those 

 peaches were very good. Seedling peach trees 

 are often more hardy than those budded, and when 

 we find a good one, it is best to preserve it. 

 ketchom's mowing machine. 



Mr. Editor : — As many who have bought mow- 

 ing machines this season, have given the result of 

 their experience in using them, I am inclined to 

 follow their lead. I received of Messrs. Ruggles, 

 Nourse, Mason & Co., one of Ketchum's Patent 

 Machines on the 7th of July, and immediately 

 put it in operation with a pair of horses weighing 

 less than 1000 lbs. each, and used it almost daily 

 in all kinds of grass, from the shortest May-grass, 

 to tiie tallest lierds-grass, till I had mowed about 

 thirty acres ;• (all 1 liad suitatde to mow with a 

 machine, and some of that (juitc uiievi-n, but free 

 (Vom stone ;) doing the work to my entire satis- 

 faclion. Tlie machine is in porfect ord.-r at tliis 

 tiuui, and it lias not had the first faitliing spent 

 upon it in repairs. Tlie only tim.e it made me 

 feel unpleasantly, was on the last day 1 used it ; 

 I then felt like "weeping"' because I had no more 

 Jields tocon</ucr. Hiuam W. Jones. 



Dover, Sept. 25, 1854. 



BUTTER — FOUR QUARTS MILK TO THE POUND. 



Mr. Brown : — I failed in sending you the yield 

 of butter my cow made in June. I will now send 



