1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



527 



July, is sufiBciently early. We have harvested a 

 good crop of buckwheat in just two months from 

 the day it was sowed. This is getting along pret- 

 by fast, but it is best to cut it soon after the kernel 

 begins to change color, and then by trussing it up I signed, 

 into small heaps, let it lay and ripen. In this cultural 

 manner, a greater amount of grain is obtained, for 

 the grains which ripen first would shatter out 

 while harvesting, if suiFered to remain until the 

 whole were ripe, before being cut. When cut some- 

 what green, and properly cured, we have found 

 that horses would eat the whole, as readily as 

 they would clover. 



We have also found that it made a good fall 

 pasture for hens. By sowing a field of it, and 

 after letting it get sufficiently ripe, cutting it and 

 letting it lie sometime to mature fully, and then 

 turning the hens in, they will do the harvesting 

 or threshing for themselves. They will pick upon 

 it until snow comes, and get very fat without 

 much trouble from you. 



When threshed and cleaned, buckwheat also 

 makes good feed for poultry in the winter. 

 The flour of buckwheat sells as readily as any 

 other flour, and large quantities of it are 

 brought into Maine, in small casks, from New 

 York, and sold to us, when we might raise enough 

 of it in Maine to supply the Union. 



For the New England Farmer. 



APPLES, &c., IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



Dear Sirs : — Enclosed I send you $2.50, for 

 which please send me a copy of your interesting 

 and valuable paper — the A'. E. Farmer. I like 

 it for its variety, its moral tone, and its indepen- 

 dence. 



Can scions be sent here in order ] But few ap- 

 ples are raised here and those are srnall, and of in- 

 ferior quality ; yet they make us think of New 

 England orchards ; and we wish that California 

 might have such. Large apples are selling at 

 stands at $1 each. 



What is considered the best breed of cows for 

 raising milk ? Milk sells here at from 3 bits (37i 

 cts.) to,$l per gallon. 



What is the price of yearling bulls 1 and what 

 is the best breed for milk ranches 1 



A. B. FiFIELD. 



San Francisco, California, Sept. IG, 1854. 



Remarks. — We think scions properly packed, 

 might reach San Francisco in condition to grow. 



The general opinion with our people is not fixed 

 upon any one particular breed of cows, as more 

 excellent than any other, for the production of 

 milk. Some of our common breed have proved as 

 good as any ; we have known a mixture of the 

 Durham with the common mixed breeds to pro 

 duce large quantities of excellent milk, and so oi 

 other mixtures. You must begin at once and 

 breed cows to suit yourself, by selecting those pos' 

 eessing the finest points. Select the bull, also, 

 with equal care. Sufier no crossing as far as 

 your experiments go. Keep the heifer in calf for 

 the first time by a Durham bull, ever after to the 

 same animal, and eo of those that go to a Devon, 

 Ayrshire or Aldcrney. In this way you will 

 soon be able to make just what you want. 



THE HORTICULTURIST. 



We have 1)een pained upon perusing an article 

 in the October number of the Horticulturist, 

 'A Member of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 Society.'^ The writer's cheek should 

 tingle with shame upon reading his production. 

 It seems to us to have been conceived not only in 

 a vindictive, but in a malignant spirit ; a spirit 

 and expression more becoming drabs of the " Five 

 Points," than a sober and dignified member of 

 the " Massachusetts Horticultural Society." It 

 has been pleasant to us to notice so little of this 

 pot-house valor in our agricultural journals, 

 and we had hoped that the whole vocabulary of 

 low and vituperative terms would be left to 

 trading politicians, and those who dabble with 

 them for a little political profit or power. The 

 wholesome teachings of our beautiful art can 

 have had but small influence over a heart capable 

 of uttering so many base and vulgar conceptions, 

 upon so trifling a provocation, if, indeed, there 

 were any at all. In admitting such an article 

 into his columns, Mr. Barry has greatly erred in 

 judgment, and tarnished the fair fame of his 

 useful and influential journal. We know not 

 who the writer of the disgraceful article is, but 

 if he were our own brother, our rebuke should 

 not be spared. 



HOW TO SAVE TOP ONIONS. 



The top-onions should be gatliered as soon as 

 they are ripe. They are ripe when the top falls 

 down and becomes wilted. When you cut off the 

 top from the onion, if the juice starts in little 

 drops, the onion was not ripe, and would have 

 grown more. If they are suffered to stand long 

 after they are ripe, they will begin to grow again, 

 burst open and divide. New roots will start out, 

 and on pulling, the onion will cling. These roots 

 are sapping the onion, which, together with a 

 new top, will spoil the plant. If you should cook 

 such an onion, you would say it is strong, dry 

 and tough. Whereas, if gathered at the right 

 time, they are very juicy, sweet and tender. I 

 would gather them in a dry day, uud carry them 

 into a chamber where they should lie until cold 

 weather, when they should bo removed to the 

 cellar, and laid in a cool but dry place. If they 

 lie on the ground they will acquire moisture and 

 spoil. 



The top-onion seed should also be spread in a 

 dry place until freezing weather is coming. Then' 

 they should be put up in bags, and lumg in a 

 cool, dry part of the cellar. Wo liave already 

 commenced gathering, and have laid up about 

 forty l)ushcl8, some of the ground yielding at the 

 rate of seven hundred bushrls to Iho acre. A 

 neighbor of mine, this year raised at the rate of 

 eight hundred bushels to the acre, and many a 

 one of them measured more than a foot in cir- 

 cumference. Ilis rows on the bed were one foot 

 apart. He might just as well have added one 

 row to every two, without any injury to their 

 growth. 



It should be borne in miud by those wlio would 



