158 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



ROV. 17, Igtt 



AMI IIORTILLL 1 LRAl. R1G13TK11. 



BosTOM, VVedhkbdat, November 17, 1841. 



AGRICULTURE SHOULD BE MADE A »TUDV. 



There are few it any nllier pursuita iliat open »o wiile 

 a field t'lr inquiry as ugricuUure. It is true that every 

 boy ol'ri-mrnon ca|mrity, who has been raiMPd on ii farm, 

 becomes siitlicientiy fumiliar with the usual farming cpe- 

 ration^ to pursue the business in a way iftat enables hitn 

 to get a livinfj. But in nio.it instances hi« operaiions 

 are carried on with but very littlB inquiry as to ilie most 

 correrl and b st prim iples of husbandry. He goes on 

 this year as lie went last J ear, and as his lather wi iil for 

 many te.irs. Moving onward llius in his unvaried rounds 

 from year to year, l\u: industrious and prudent man may 

 gain property and he a respected and useful citizen. But 

 his pursuit wuuld be more inl'-re^ling, and he would he- 

 come a more intell;gein man, were Jie to observe more 

 closely ihe immediate and the lasting (ictiiin of each kind 

 of manure that he applies J were he to note the elfecis 

 of each kind of manure upon each diflerent crop that he 

 cultivates; were he I'l talcuhite the cost of earh crop 

 that he raises; were he lo determine by careful oliser- 

 vatioii the .soil best nuited lo each crop ; were lie to de- 

 termine the best lime and manner of apphing manure 

 to each; were he to stud i/ how to make as much ma- 

 nure as possible ; were hi; In siitisfy himself fully as to 

 the proper distances for hills of corn and rows of roots; 

 were he to lenrn whence his pl.ints derive their piinci- 

 pal nourishment, and in what state they take it up ; 

 were lie to satisfy himself ns to the parts of the farm 

 which are too acid or loo cold lo bo [irodurtive; were 

 he to learn carefully what spots couM be greatly improv- 

 ed by deep plowing; were he to seek diligently to 

 know will I it would be best to do on each comparative- 

 ly unproductive spot of ihe farm, in order to make it 

 fertile; were he to be observing, studying, thinking, 

 reasoning and judging upon these mailers, llieio can be 

 no doubt that without ever reading a line upon airricul- 

 lure, or making any other cx/icrimcn* than wliat h:s usu- 

 al routine ntfords, tliat he would become a more intelli- 

 gent and a more successful farmer, than if he bestowed 

 iiu particular attention upon these and other equally im- 

 jiortant mattcra. 



Rut wl ile he may make important advances in the 

 ail of agriculture without comparing notes with his 

 neighbors, and without reading, it is not lo he doubled 

 that moat men could derive much benefit from learn- 

 ing what the cjpe.-iencc of others has taiighl. Who 

 knows so much that there is none oilier wise enough lo 

 teach him .my thing? Who understands firmin" better 

 than all the men combined who ever wrote upon the 

 subject ? If there be any such man, he may be excused 

 from rending or inquiring. But such nn one nowhere 

 erisls, and all who till Ihe earth inny gain information 

 frtjni many a written pnge 



Agricultural Papers, And now when the evenings 

 are lorig and the labor-s of the day not very severe, jut 

 there l.o at liand some agricultural paper or some treo- 

 tiso upon agriculture, that you may look into for half an 

 hour or an hour. Many ihinas that you will read were 

 written for Romi-b<idy else, anil will give you but liille 

 iio.lrii.tion. Other nrlicl.s will fiirni-li hints and facts 

 which you may turn to ^ood account. Read — read and 

 rsflect — ^r\A you will become a wiser and betler larmor. 

 Take nn iigriculluinl piper; have one that you can call 

 your own: preservi' it on file ami it «il! be to you on 

 many orrnsions valuaMi' for reference. There are pa- 



pers eiioug, 



ekh^ 



at 5*2 per jcar, and 



onthli. 



1 at 



from 50 cents to $1. Take one or more of them, for 

 you will get from many a single cojiy, knowledge that 

 will be worth more to you than Ihe price of all the num- 

 bers for a year. 



Town Jigricultural Soriities or Associations. Many 

 of you find ihat alter being out in Ihi: wind ond cold all 

 day, that you become slei'py and stupid when you sit 

 down to read in the warm kiijlii^n. Here lies one of 

 the chief re.ubns why f.iriners d" not read more. The 

 warmth of the room and llie silling posture invito them 

 very strongly lo repi se Reading is, for this reason, to 

 many of them, dull and stupid business. They do not 

 lack inquisiliveness or interest in their business, so much 

 as they lack ability to keep themselves wide awake 

 while altemptingf to read, and thus tack ability lo gel up 

 much interest in reading. For this reason, amoni; oth- 

 ers, we repeal a recommendalion which was strongly 

 urged in our columns last winter, that associations nf 

 fwrmers living in the same immediate neighborhood, say 

 within two or three miles of each other, should be form- 

 ed for the purpose of talking over matters pertaining In 

 agriculture. IjCt ihe exercises be reading, discu-sion. 

 narration of experiences, or any thing else lhat might 

 furnish the most information in the most inleresting 

 manner. Occasionally a lecture upon the subject might 

 be procured. Should such associations become general, 

 more — much more benefit would flow from ihcm than 

 nil the ('oiinly. Slate, or National Societies will confer, 

 though llie.se may be very beneficial. 



Get lip one in your neighborhood. 



CROPS OF THE YEAR. 



The barvesling is now over, and general accounts of 

 crops have come in from all parts of the coiintrv- 



Tlie wheal crop was veiy tood in Ihe North VVestern 

 Slates, but in New York and the States south from that, 

 the crop was much injured by drought. This crop is 

 probablv a little less th-in last year. 



Indian Corn. Throuirh ihe same sections where 

 wheat suffered, corn was injured by want of rain. In 

 many p^irls of New K.njland too, the corn was cut short 

 Rut jenerally in the Northern Stales the crop is fiir. 

 In Ihe whole country the corn has not done ns well as 

 in former years. 



Potatoes. These snfTered more than anv other crop 

 th't is extensively used by man as foo-l. The yield has 

 been small. 



Bui notwithstanding nil the crops which we exten- 

 sively rely upon for sustenance are less than in most 

 years, there yet is no danger of scarcity. — The root 

 crops generally in this section have been fair. Apples 

 are scarce. liny is not abundant. Stock of all kinds is 

 low, compared with ihe last two or three years 



MOTTS VEGETABLE BOILER. 



We obtained, a few days since, from Messrs. II. & F. 

 Siimpson, 127 State street, one of Mott's Vegetable 

 Boilers, said to hold a barrel and an Inlf— price 2.'> dol- 

 lars — with which we are much ple.nsed. Tli" man on 

 the fnrm lolls us that when he puts in about three hush- 

 ela of roots with nearly water enough to cover them, he 

 can " make the pot boil" in fifteen minutes from the 

 lime he kindles the fire ; and that the quantity of wood 

 con-unied in the boiling is scarci- one fourth «• murh as 

 was riquired for a boiler of about the same aiie set in 

 hriok which he used two or ihree years sinrc on another 

 fnr'U. Tins boiler consiaia of a common cast iron lox 

 atove, cjcepling lhat the top is wenting, and the sides 

 of the stove are extended up in lit shape for a boiler, 

 then the boiler proper is set into this beiler-ihapod slove 

 directly over the fire ; a space of about one inch is left 



between the outer iron and the inner one, ail around a> 

 up the aides. We are persuaded that in this we c 

 cuuk at much less expdnse for fui I ihan the old fashio 

 ed boilers required. 



PROLIFIC POTATOES. 

 A long blue potato has been exhibited to us from d 

 ferent places, which is said lo be very productive, 

 gentleman (if we have the name corrBcily, a Mr Hard 

 of Wallham,) brought in aainplea and stated th.it fro 

 five busliels he raised 250. A Mr Uyer, of Alllebort 

 raised 41 bu-hels from one ; and anoih> r friend of 

 HI from one. Tlie latter gentleman planted, seided ar 

 tilled in the asual way of managing this crop. Or 

 calls Ihem " Velos," one "Florida,'' and the oih 

 " Dean." All agiee lhat ibey are unusually prodiicti' 

 and that ihc quality is good. 



TO MAKE CHILDREN HEALTHY. I 



Give them thick shoes, warm clothing, a simple riie-fki 

 and je: them run out freely in all ttalea of the wealhei' 

 While young, strengthen the body by exercise and esi 

 posure Teach them habits of obedience and trutli-tels 

 iiig, and let study or ihe teaching and training o 

 the intellect be but a secondary matter. First take car 

 of ihe body and the bean — the mind may be trained a! 

 forwards. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EXlilBITIO.N or FRUITS. 



Saturday f A'ov. 13. 



The exhibition of I'ruils at ihis season of the year 

 Biiiall, but, to the horticiiliurisi, of more importance thau 

 at a season when fruit is more abundant. The exhibi 

 tion of Mr Vuse's Angoiileine I'ears at our lust exbibi< 

 tion, could not have been shown to so great advaiilagr 

 at any other time. We understand Mr Vose was indue 

 ed to pan wilh a portion of his AngouUimes lo ii grocori 

 and we have been informed lliey were resold al fiftj 

 ccnls eiich — ,in evidence of the high cstimaliun the citi< 

 zens ofUnston put on choice fruits. 



Mr Manning exhibited seven varieties of Pears today, 

 of medium size, al maiurily, four of which were superi' 

 or, viz : Lewis of Bologna; iNo. I'JItf, unnaiiie I, frooii> 

 Van .Moiis; Eiif.in Prodigc, and Hacon's Incomparable. 

 No. 1230, unnamed, from Van Mons, Tellinglou and 

 I'rongipane were desirable fruits, but not judged so good'. 

 as the four first. 



Mr Manning also presented the Red Jellyfiower, t> 

 good Apple, and the Corniah Aromatic, past its prime. 



Mr Grosvenur exhibited Angouleme fears, and Mr 

 Pund some Quinces. 



For the Committee, 



BENJ. V.FRENCH. , 



The good people of New York, " according to Ihe pa> 

 pers," says ihe Concord Freeman, are to have t/ire* 

 Tliankagivin<;s this year. Tlie Boston Transri ml stale* 

 that one is to be on Thursday, the 19th day ol l>i-ceni- 

 her, which. nC';ording to our almanoe, is Sui-.i.ni Th» 

 Boston Alios says one is lo be on Thursday, Ue>.einb«r 

 30tli, and the I'osi a-serta thai one la to lake place o» 

 Thursday, Ueceiiiber 9lh. If all this is Irue, nol a lur-' 

 key will be left alive in Ihc Stale. 



It ia related of a farmi r on Long Island, lhat on the 

 birth of each child he planted a hundred locust tree*. 

 .\s his children came of age, the proceeds ol Ihe bun Ired 

 trees, afforded eiicti a handsome outfit. We tru:>l ih* 

 fona imilnled the example of ilieir sire. 



