1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



531 



sixteen cents, eggs, twenty-five cents a dozen, 

 and flour, ten or twelve dollars a barrel ! How 

 can a man live ■! ' ' 



"It wont be hardly fair for me to ask you 

 for that twenty-fivo dollars, now, will it?" 



"Twenty-five dollars ! What do you mean? I 

 don't understand you !" 



"Don't you recollect wo have a bet between us 

 about the price of some fruit trees I bought five 

 years ago next spring?" 



"Ah, I do remember something about it. You 

 were to give me twenty-five dollars if you didn't 

 get your twenty-five dollars back from me for the 

 products of those trees and things ! It will come 

 very handy just now." 



"Don't be too fast, neighbor! I am afraid it 

 wont 'come very handy just now.' That was what 

 I was dunning you for, that twenty -five dollars !" 



"What ! you don't pretend to say we have had 

 twenty-five dollars worth of stuff from your gar- 

 den." 



"iNIorc than that from that very twenty-five 

 dollars' worth of trees and other things ! Here 

 is an account of everything you have bought and 

 paid for ; of course, it don't include what I have 

 sent you, gratis." 



"And you have certainly not been stingy. 

 Why, this bill amounts to thirty-seven dollars ! it 

 is not possible!" 



"It is just so ; you have had over twenty bush- 

 els of apples, and throe bushels of pears, and those 

 alone come to twenty-five dollars." 



"I own up the "^corn ;' draw the note for sev- 

 enty-five." 



"No, I guess we will let that twentj^-five go. 

 I only mention it to show you that there may be 

 good sense in new things, sometimes. Now I will 

 bet the twenty-five dollars over again, that my 

 6toi"C-bill has not been, the past season, half as 

 large as yours, though I have had one the more in 

 my family." 



"If I had not been so badly taken in before, I 

 would stand you ; but I guess it wont be safe." 



"We have raised our own potatoes, corn, peas, 

 beans, and all other garden vegetables. Our eggs 

 are always fresh and in abundance from the nest ; 

 and for more than two years we have not been 

 without ripe fresh fruit." 



"How can that be?"' 



"Well, by the first of June we have strawber- 

 ries ripe, and soon after, cherries ; then raspber- 

 ries, currants, goosebcrries,and so forth ; and long 

 l>efore these arc gone, the early apples, pears and 

 peaches; then, grapes, later pears and apples; 

 and these continue all winter, and apples till July, 

 when the early fruits again connect the luscious 

 circle !" 



"Well, I declare, that is something I never 

 thought of; but it takes so much time and both- 

 er to get these things started — tlien it is an ever- 

 lasting job to take care of them." 



"It needs no more time and money than you 

 throw away on things that amount to nothing 

 at all, and with abundance of fruit, you save the 

 expense of a heavy meat bill,wliich is not healthy 

 in hot weather. No doctor has l)een called to 

 step foot iuto my door for over four years past ! 

 Fresh, ripe fruits are sure remedies for all ail- 

 ments, and they are not liard to take." 



Mr. Chapman put the "fifty" into his "weascl- 

 skin," and loft witha "flea in his ear." 



A. B. B. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



EXI'ERIMENT IX HARKING A TREE. 



Mr. Brown : — I give you the result of an ex- 

 periment of cutting away the bark around the 

 limb of a large old api^le tree, as recommended, I 

 think, in your paper, five years ago, 18-19. I then 

 cut the bank twice around the limb \ inch apart, 

 taking away the bark. The result was, the first 

 year after, tliat limb bore fruit, wliilst the rest of 

 the tree did not ; it bore three successive years, 

 failed last year, and died this. 



John M. Merrill. 



Bristol, N. i/.,1854. 



ICE HOUSES OLD PASTURES. 



Mr. Editor :-^I wish to inquire through the 

 medium of your valuable paper, in regard to the 

 best method of constructing ice houses. I wish 

 to keep ice the year round, or without fail until 

 the first of October, and have not yet been able. 



How should an ice house be constructed, and 

 what of? 



What should be its situation in regard to other 

 buildings ? 



You will confer a favor upon an old subscri- 

 ber by giving full information on this point, as I 

 consider ice of great use in the management of a 

 dairy. 



What is the best method of reclaiming old pas- 

 tures ? whether by top dressing or otherwise 1 



Cheshire Co., Oct. 6, 1854. t. 



Remarks. — In vol. 3d of the Netu England 

 Farmer for 1851, at pages 25 and 388, may be 

 found particular directions for the construction of 

 ice houses. AVill Mr. L. IIurlbut, of Winches- 

 ter, Conn., be kind enough to send us an account 

 of one which he has constructed and tested? 



In vol. 4 of the Farmer, pages 305 and 446, 

 the subject of reclaiming old pastures is thor- 

 oughly discussed, and all that we could well say 

 about them may be found there. 



ftler's butter-working churn. 



Mr. Farmer : — I was at the New Hampshire 

 State Fair, at Keene, and was well i:ilcased with 

 many things, but saw nothing that attracted more 

 attention than about 15 lbs. of butter in the Me- 

 chanics' Hall, standing in one of Fylcr's butter- 

 working churns, made by Hall & Holmes of Brat- 

 tleboro', Vt. The butter was all worked, salted 

 and rolled in two rolls in the churn, without being 

 touched with the hands. It was well done and of 

 excellent quality, as hundreds can testify, and I 

 am informed it was all completed in 17 minutes. 

 I am glad to learn that the Committee awarded 

 all to the proprietors, that tlie rules of the Socie- 

 ty would permit. I mention this fixet because I 

 have used one of these churns in my dairy during 

 the past season, and know them to be all they aro 

 recommended, which is not common in these 

 days. A New Engl^vnd Far.mer. 



VValpolc, N. H., 1854. 



green gage plum trees — climbing roses — GRAV- 

 ELLY LAND. 



Mr. Brown : — Will you inform mo at what 

 price I can procure grafted, well-formed and 

 thrifty Green Gage plum trees, of throe years' 

 growth? (a.) 



