544 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



"0, Lord, how manifold 4ire thy works! in 

 wisdom hast thou made them all ; the earth is 



full of thy riches. 



# # # # # 



"These wait all upon Thee ; that thou mayest 

 give them their meat in due season. 



'^That Thou givest tliem they gather; Thou 

 openest Thine hand, and they are filled with 

 good." 



Rarely have we received a better lesson than 

 this of the Muskrats ; to live truly to the attri- 

 butes which God has implanted in our natures. 

 We wish we could recite the lesson as well as we 

 have learned it. 



Now, at this writing, the clouds still portend 

 a little more rain — the earth is saturated — the 

 brooks skip with joy, and the springs so long si- 

 lent, gush up with gladness. Hungry pike find a 

 wider range on the flooded meadows, among the 

 reeds and rank grass, and full mill-ponds drive 

 merry wheels that had become dusty and dull for 

 want of use. 



Winter may now come as soon as it will. We 

 shall have plenty of water for the cattle, and if 

 Old Boreas favors us, plenty of ice for the Orien- 

 tals and for skating upon by the boys. The full 

 ponds and swamps and bubbling springs will send 

 out their latent heat to soften the frosty winter 

 air, and send back in curling vapors to the atmo- 

 sphere a portion of the moisture they have so re- 

 cently shed upon us. 



CUTTINGS OF FEUIT TEEES. 



Cuttings should be made in autumn after 

 growth has ceased, or early in winter — they may 

 be preserved by fastening them in a box by slats 

 running across, and then placing the open side of 

 the box downwards with its contents in the-bot- 

 tom of a pit dug for the purpose, on a dry spot 

 of ground, and burying the whole with earth. 

 The slats keep the cuttings from coming in con- 

 tact with the earth below, and they are preserved 

 in a proper moist condition. Or, they may be 

 packed in slightly damp moss, in a large box, 

 placed in a cellar. Very early in spring they 

 should be set out. Every cutting should be cut 

 off just above a bud at the upper end, and just 

 below one at the lower end. Taken off closely to 

 the old wood, with a base attached, they are 

 more sure of growth. They should be set out 

 in a trench, in a rich mellow soil, which is to be 

 packed or trodden closely al)out them as the 

 trench is filled, and afterwards a mellow surface 

 made by drawing on a little more earth. The 

 length of the cutting should be eight inches to a 

 foot, and two-thirds to nine-tenths buried. Shad- 

 ing the cuttings of any deciduous trees, (includ- 

 ing all fruit trees) is of little or no advantage, 

 but it IS important to keep the ground uniformly 

 moist ; if this is done by watering, the surface 

 should be preserved from crusting or cracking by 

 mulch. This is the mode of raising quinoe trees, 

 currants and gooseberry bushes, grapes, &c., but 

 will not answer for the larger fruits generally, 

 in the Northern States — it is cheaper to bud or 

 graft, than to procure the few which may be ob- 

 tained among many failures in this way. — Albany 

 Cultivator. 



For the New England Farmer. 



GUANO. 



As your correspondent gives the results of hia 

 trial of guano, I will give mine. I found an acre 

 of land, lying unfenced, before the academy, 

 serving as a pasture for {ill the stray cattle of the 

 place. I put on a fence and planted it, with a 

 view of grading when the ground was suitable. 

 It is of the Connecticut Valley land, a light, worn 

 soil. Having no manure, 1 bought 150 pounds 

 of guano and applied on the hill, mixing it well 

 with the soil. I planted three-fourths with corn, 

 and the remainder with potatoes. It was hoed 

 twice, and before the second time, had plaster 

 and ashes. I left one row without guano. That 

 came up looking as if it needed a tonic. I plas- 

 tered half of it, which improved it. The worms 

 ate it badly, and the drought affected it severely. 

 I have just harvested fifty bushels of ears, the 

 corn of which appears plump and sound. This is 

 rather above the average in this region on similar 

 land. The crop here is full one-half short from 

 the drought, except on the low meadows, where 

 it is fully up to the average. My potatoes are 

 good, being remarkably large and sound. I think 

 the average is about 18 hills to the bushel. As 

 they are not all dug, I cannot give the amount. 



I bought and applied half a load of hog ma- 

 nure, at a cost of 75 cents, including hauling. 

 The corn planted on this was better than that on 

 guano, yielding about one-fourth more. The po- 

 tatoes seemed to be no better than on the guano, 

 being more in number, but smaller. This, I 

 think, a common effect of that manure. 1 had, 

 also, a bushel of beans. These grew well on the 

 guano. Cost of guano and applying it, about 

 i$5,00 — the guano costing $4,67. The plaster 

 and ashes cost $2,25, and was applied to all the 

 potatoes and corn except half a row. Manure, at 

 $3 per cord, would have cost me about five times 

 as much, applied at the rate I used the hog ma- 

 nure, which gives a volume in favor of the guano. 

 My crops are as good as those of my neighbor ad- 

 joining, with thirty loads of stable manure to the 

 acre. If my ground is not in so good condition 

 for the next year, I can afford to apply more 

 guano, and not incur so much expense as he. I 

 regard the trial as satisfactory. 



Several of our men have tried it in various 

 ways. Mr. D. P. Wheeler applied about 125 

 pounds to the acre of grass land, on the same 

 soil and situation as mine. It was estimated to 

 have doubled the grass. The grass was nearly a 

 foot taller than where it was not applied, on the 

 same ground. Its effects are plainly seen in the 

 after-growth, at this time. He sowed his on 

 about four inches of sugar snow, which melted 

 the same day. Dr. Hosford and S. Willard, Esq., 

 applied some to grass and to oats in May, with 

 scarcely perceptible effects. It was applied in 

 dry weather. Some others applied it in various 

 ways, but with results not unlike the above. 

 Those who covered it or applied it while wet, re- 

 ceived benefit ; those who used it dry, had little. 

 The trial, on the whole, gave so favorable a 

 result, that a second, oa a larger scale, will be 

 made the ensuing year. 



A more particular statement of its effects in 

 particular cases, together with some remarks on 

 its application, may be made at another time. 

 I. H. Nutting, M. D. 



Orford, N. H., Oct. 5th, 1854. 



