M2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOV. 11, lf>35. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOV. 11. 1335. 



FARMER'S •WORK FOR KOVEMBER. 



Fall Plovghing —Lmid wliicli is composed in part ol 

 clay, or what is called a stiff soil, should be ploughed in 

 ihe fall, and laid as light as possible, so as to expose il lo 

 the action of the frost, which will much assist in subdu- 

 ing it. Fall ploughing will al.so destroy grubs, and other 

 nsects, by exposing them to the severity of winler. A 

 ligl.l, sandy soil, however, should not be disturbed by (all 

 ploughing, but should lie to settle and consolidate through 

 the winler. Ploughing in autumn, among its other ad- 

 vantages, saves lime and labor in the spring, when cattle 

 are weak, and the work peculiar to that season presses 

 on the cultivator. 



Limefor manure. — The fall of the year is, likewise, a 

 proper season for the application of quick lime lo plough- 

 ed fields. With regard to the best mode of applying it, 

 Its quantity, &c. we can give no better directions than 

 are contained in an article some time since published in 

 Memoirs of the New York Board of Agriculture, by Dan- 

 iel Buckley, Esq., of Salisbury, Pcnn., from which the 

 following is extracted : 



" The method of applying lime, which 1 have adopted 

 in common with my neighbors, is, in the first place, lo 

 plough up a sod field with a strong team in the spring or 

 tall — harrow it the way it i ploughed, and mark the 

 field into as many squares as you intend to put on half 

 bushi Is, say 100 on the acre, which will bring the squares 

 about 20 feet apart each way, and require 50 bushels to 

 the acre. This quantity I have found to be the most 

 profitable. When the lime is burnt, and as soon as it is 

 cool enough to barrdle, it ought to be hauled on the land 

 alri^ady marked, and a half bushel deposited in the cen- 

 tre of each square, in as compact a heap as possible. If 

 water is convenient, I prefer to slack the lime immedi- 

 ately rather than to wait for rain, as it beconres finer, and 

 can be more easily spread. As soon as it has slacked, it 

 is immediately spread, and well harrowed. Thismethod 

 I prefer fur Indian corn, barley, oats, rye and potatoes. 

 On all the above I have experienced great benefit from 

 lime the first year after its application. With potatoes I 

 add about 15 two-horse loads of barn yard manure to the 

 acre before planting. A second liming is often given, and 

 much approved of, after an interval of three or more 

 years. This amalgamates better, and can he more inti- 

 mately mixed with the soil. There are good farmers 

 who differ as to the quantity of lime which is most profit- 

 ably applied. Some say 60 bushels on the acre — some 

 70 — and some more. I have applied 100 on an acre of 

 limestone land at a dressing, but have not been able to 

 perceive any benefit from using it thus freely, nor any 

 injury, except in the loss of time. 



is, (and perhaps the Legislature were deceived in this 

 particular,) there is not, — I speak the re.'^ult of diligent 

 inquiries made for Ihe article, for the purpose of reclir'g, 

 — there is not, as I think, one thousand pounds of co- 

 coons made this year in the whole Commonwealth 

 That is probably a large statement. This would make 

 from 100 to 125 lbs. of reeled silk, and if the whole were 

 reeled and the bounty paid on it, il would draw from the 

 Treasury the enormous sum of 50 to $02 in bounty. 

 But the above is, no doubt, an over-statement, and be- 

 sides the silk is in the hands of small growers, who have 

 from 10 to 20 lbs. Being referred to a man who was 

 said to be one of the largest growers in one of the largest 

 counties, I found on application thai he had a crop of 

 4 bushels or about 40 lbs. Another man to whom I ap- 

 plied for 100 lbs. answered that so much was not raised 

 in ten miles of country round. One person 1 have found 

 to have about 100 lbs., perhaps Ihe single instance in the 

 State. Now the whole of this silk would not pay the 

 price often reels, (the net profit of il reeled,) at a cost of 

 ,f25 a reel which is the price. And every man knows 

 that the qunntity cannot be materially increased in two 

 years, for il must lake that time, at least, after planting 

 trees, to hcgin to feed ihe worms on them; and there not 

 being trees planted in sufliicient numbers to increase to 

 any great extent Ihe slock of cocoons, Ihe expectant of 

 the bounty must wait for his trees to grow. But, alas ! 

 so soon as he gels food for his worms, the act dies, and 

 he cannot expect any encouragement in the shape of 

 bounty on bis reeled silk. I think I could safely engage 

 to pay all the Stale bounty this year for $20. The next 

 it may be a little mo.e. But if it were .$10,000 it would 

 not circourage the reeling, fur the reason stated, that il 

 lasts only two years, and the necessary preparation can 

 not be made in that lime. 



In the present state of the business, therefore, the 

 bounty should be continued five years at least on reeled 

 silk, and a premium should also he paid lo the raiser, llrat 

 is, a bounty on the cocoons, so that a supply should be 

 raised with which the reeler may work. 



The Legislature, besides, to encourage the early grow- 

 ing of trees, should have incorporated all companies ask- 

 ing for a charier, at the beginning of iheir late session in 

 September. Then we might have had extensive planta- 

 tions made this fall, which would have made a difference 

 of a whole year in the use of the leaves over those plant 

 ed in the ensuing Spring, as those then planted cannot be 

 gathered in the next Spring after^ but must be lei aloire 

 for two years, while those now planted may be gathered 

 in the second year. 



It is ;to be hoped, if there is any serious intention of 

 promoting tire culture and reeling of ;ilk in this State, 

 that some different nreans will be adopted by the Legis- 

 lature speedily lor doing it, and tiial in the coming win- 

 ter a change will be made more likely lo effect the ob- 

 ject. BoMByx. 



[From tire Albany Cultivator.J 

 NEW MATERIAL FOR MAKIKG PORK. 



We have long known that apples would fatten hogs, 

 but until we received the following communication, il 

 had never entered our mind, that apple pomace could be 

 successfully employed for ihispuipose. The slatenrent 

 of our correspondent would have been more satisfactorv, 

 if the weight and value of the hogs in the spring, or pre- 

 vious to their having been put up lo fatten, bad been 

 stated. There is little douhl, however, that the apple 

 pornace contributed essentially to augment the quantity 

 of pork, and the more so in consequence of the cooking 

 proi ess, and as it did so, was manifestly clear gain. 



" AVhile addressing you, permit me to give you an ac- 

 count of my experiment on hogs this season. On the 

 15th October last, I shut up to fatten eleven hogs, about 

 fifteen months old, and six shoals which were pigged on 

 the 15lh May last, having given to the whole nothing 

 during the summer but the wash from the dairy, with a 

 small orchard of ahoirt an acre and a half of ground, 

 where they ale the premature apples that fell. I pro- 

 ceeded to fallen them by steaming six bushels of small 

 potatoes with fourteen bUshels of apple pomace, and one 

 hundred weight of buckwheat canal [bran,] the whole 

 incorporated well tngciber, while hot from the steamer, 

 with a wooden pounder, adding to the mixture the dairy 

 wash, and supplying them with a ph nty of charcoal and 

 pure water. They were divided into three lots, and 

 closely confined, I continued lo give them this mixture 

 until nine days before they were killed, during wiiich 

 latter period they were fed with corn. They were 

 slaughtered on the first of December. The expense of 

 fiitlcning and the product, in pork, pigs, &c. are as fol- 

 lows ■. — 



30 bush, small potatoes, at 2s. Jd. $9 37^ 



8 cwt. buckwheat canal, 8s. per cwt. 8 00 



21^ bush, corn given the last 9 days, 13 43 



Apple pomace, say 00 00 



I Fur Fesserrden's .Sills Jlarrual.] 

 BOUNTY ON REELED SILK. 



The Legislature of Massachusetts, at its last session, 

 passed a law allowing a bounty of 50 cents on each lb. of 

 silk reeled in the State, from cocoons produced by wo 

 raised in the State; the actio continue in force two 

 years. If the intention of the legislature was to encour- 

 age the reeling ( f silk, they have not adopted the mode 

 which, under the chcumstanccs, can he the least possible 

 encouragement. If there was already any considerable 

 quantity of cocoons raised in the Slate, or even the 

 means of making them, and they remained unreeled /o?- 

 want of skill only, such an act of the Legislature might 

 i nduce persons to attempt the reeling of it. But the fact 



How TO HAVE MINCE PIES ANY TIME. — Prepare your 

 meat by boiling aad choppmg, as though it were for im- 

 iirediale use — mix il with a suitable portion of suet, 

 spice and salt — then put it in an earthern pot, pound il 

 down with a pestle, and then cover it with the best of 

 molasses, keep it where il will not freeze, and it will be 

 fit for use any time. My wife has adopted the above 

 course for four or five years, with perfect success ; so that 

 we have had mince pics made from meat killed in De- 

 cember, as constant in July following as in January, and 

 quite as acceptable. — Maine Farmer. 



Total expense of food, 



By 36 cwt. .50 lbs. pork at $5, 



50 roasting pigs sold during summer, 

 6 shoals sold alive, 

 4 do. on hand, worth 



Deduct expense, 



$30 804 



$182 50 

 50 00 

 12 00 

 6 00 



$250 50 

 30 80 



Balance, $219 70 



Respectfully, Thos. Medford. 



Ball Farm, Hyde Park, Jan. 1, 1835." 



Two hundred thousand turkeys have been raised in 

 Rhode Island this season. Good news, this, for gour- 

 mands! 



Uj" As it is sometimes desirable lo measure coal and 

 grain in bins, as also the size necessary for cisterns of cer- 

 tain quantities, we give the following, which will be 

 found convenient, and sufficiently accurate for practical 

 purposes. One cubic foot and a quarter make a bushel. 

 — [Mechanic and Farmer 



Dr Comstock, of Lebanon, Ct. in a letter to the editor 

 of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, says, that 

 there is not in the whole Materia Medica, a more signifi- 

 cant remedy for the Cancer, than the juice of the cran- 

 berry, Oxycoccus vulgaris, made into an ointment with 

 sulphate of iron, finely pulverized. 



It is estimated by well informed persons, that no less 

 than 19,000.000,000 silk worms die annually, victims to 

 the production of the amount ofsilk consumed in England 

 for one year. 



During 1834, five millions of gallons of colonial spirits 

 were imported into Great Britain. 



