512 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Nov. 



hap3 some of your numerous readers may be well 

 posted up in the business from actual operations 

 and will be kind enough to give us the desired in- 

 formation, and oblige a seeker after 

 Portsmouth, 1854. Knowledge. 



Remarks. — We have transplanted elms as large 

 as 13 inches in diameter, and from 20 to 30 

 feet in height, and white pines of about the same 

 proportions with perfect success. These trees 

 were dug about and under them in November, 

 and propped up with pieces of waste timber cut 

 off in framing a barn. The ball of earth about 

 the largest tree was 8 feet in diameter and 2 feet 

 in depth. By the middle of January this ball 

 was frozen solid, and then the stem being protec- 

 ted by joists lashed to it, a pulley was attached 

 some 15 feet from the ground and the tree canted 

 over lay horse power. A stout ox sled was then 

 placed under it, the tree and earth canted back, 

 and the whole drawn off — but it was a load for 12 

 stout oxen. A large stone drag, or two, confined 

 to each other, would probably be better than a 

 sled. Where lai-ge wheels, some 8 or 10 feet in 

 diameter could be had, we think the work might 

 be done easier and cheaper. The quantity and 

 situation of the roots must govern you in the 

 breadth of earth to be left. Begin off from the 

 stem, 3, 4, or 5 feet, and if only a few roots are 

 found, you can work up freely towards the tree, 

 and this will give you a broad trench to work in , 

 while getting out the earth immediately under 

 the tree. It should be remembered that when 

 the tree is removed all the earth about it will be 

 frozen and that none of it shall be left in the 

 way'. The side of the hole where the tree is to 

 come out should be gradually pared away so as to 

 leave a free passage. The hole which is to receive 

 the tree must be dug beforehand, and should be 

 10 or 15 inches larger all round than the ball of 

 earth it is to receive. Old loam compost must be 

 worked under the ball and filled in to this 

 space. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A MA¥ KILLED BY LIGHTNING. 



Mr. Brov. x: — I have noticed in s:!veral num- 

 bers of the F.irmor, recently, discussions upon the 

 value of liglitning rods on buildings. It may not 

 be out of pl.ioe at tliis time for me to relate a cir- 

 cumstance ■\>. hich took place in Lowell, in July, 

 1845, on t\\~: (arm then owned by Samuel Law- 

 rence, Esq. The first thing after dinner was to 

 rake up sonv- liay, tiic foreman taking the lead. 

 We had no" gone more than 12 yards when he 

 was struck by lightning and R'U, never to rise 

 again, on eairth. The lightning struck him on 

 the head, passing down the back and legs, and 

 burst out his boots, which had only been on once, 

 before that day. The lightning then burned a 

 place in the grass as large as yoav hand. But 

 what is remarkable about this is, about 35 yards 

 to the loft there stood some old cherry trees on 

 which the scythes were hung; the man that was 



killed, and the one next to him, was drawn off in 

 the direction of the scythes about 3^ feet. I send 

 you this, thinking it may help to settle the ques- 

 tion about how far rods will draw lightning. 

 There were 7 in the field at the time, and all 

 were hurt, more or less, but myself. 



Blythewood. 

 Swampscott, Sept. 30, 1854. 



GirANO--LEGISLATIVE HELP. 



In a correspondence with the Hon. Charles B. 

 Calvert, of IMaryland, we made some inquiries 

 with regard to the effects produced by the use of* 

 Mexican and other guanoes, and now copy below 

 a portion of his letter in reply. 



Riversdale, Sept. 11, 1854. 

 Dear Sir : — In regard to INIexican guano I 

 cannot say much, although I have tried it several 

 times ; still, I have not seen any great effect from 

 it, and am rather disposed to rely upon bone dust 

 and ashes, which I find better than any kind of 

 guano as a permanent manure. For a winter 

 crop of grain, I think nothing produces so great 

 an effect as Peruvian guano on the poor, worn-out 

 lands ; but upon the im^aroved lands, or those 

 naturally fine, it has scarcely any perceptible 

 effect. These partial experiments with crops and 

 manures produce, I think, rather prejudicial 

 effects, because they are not conducted with 

 enough precision and accuracy to state as facts ; 

 and when they are tried and fail, it rather preju- 

 dices any thing like book fixrming. Your agri- 

 cultural papers should have a piece in every 

 number, calling upon the farmers to make their 

 State legislators and Congress establish agricul- 

 tural schools and experimental farms, where such 

 things could be systematically tried, and their 

 result published with confidence. 



***** * 



We have been entirely burnt up in this section, 

 as the only rain we have had to lay the dust since 

 June was yesterday. Gloomy prospects ahead for 

 the farmers of this section. Not half a crop of 

 corn, no vegetables, not even turnips — not a fourth 

 of a crop of tobacco, and the pastures entirely 

 burnt up, so the stock have nothing to get but 

 what is given them. 



Very truly, Chas. B. Calvert. 



The above is only a portion of the whole letter, 

 which was not intended for publication, though 

 no objection, we presume, would be made to such 

 parts as we have given. There are other por- 

 tions, however, relating to the false doctrines 

 promulgated, and the spurious substances thrust 

 upon the farming community as fertilizers, which 

 wo wish we could give from a gentleman of so 

 much practical experience and discriminating 

 judgment as Mr. Calvert. Men engage in agri- 

 culture, as in all other business, without proper 

 qualifications : if they succeed, they laud it to 

 the skies, but if they fail, they decry it as loudly. 

 This is an evil, but nothing compared with that 

 of the false and contradictory teachings of those 

 who have had no practical experience of the art, 

 and who press upon the public their doctrines 

 and th(jir wares. 



