20 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



"spring and siuamer months prey so voraciously on 

 the youthful and more tender plants. 



A hen v/ith a dozen chickens — the hen being con- 

 fined in a coop, and the coop placed in the vicinity 

 ot"the kitchen garden, will do more to secure the 

 preservation of the vegetables than a man; they 

 not only keep the insects from destroying the tis- 

 iiucs of the plants, but they annihilate the insects 

 themselves, and convert them into a source of profit 

 instead of a loss by devouring them as food. 

 When one is suitably located, the keeping of all 

 kinds of fowls — hens, turkeys, ducks, geese, &c., 

 will be found profitable. It will bring many dol- 

 lars in the course of tlie season, and ensure a con- 

 stant and liberal supply of eggs and poultry for do- 

 mestic use. These products always command a 

 ready sale and a higli price in most of the markets 

 of this country, and bring cash, where little can be 

 obtained for the products of the field. In the New 

 England States, and especially in Maine the egg 

 and poultry business has attained a degree of con- 

 sideration and importance to which, probably, it 

 has not reached in any other State of the Union. 

 Standing in the door-way of a shop in one of the 

 interior villages of the latter State, a large load 

 passed, and on inquiring the character of the lading, 

 I was informed that it consisted of 2G,000 dozen of 

 hen's eggs. They were going to the Portland mar- 

 ket, and thence probably, to the cities of the west. 



A New Emglander. 



Near Claremoat, N. H., Nov. 10, 1850. 



Germantown Telegraph. 



and husks again in the soil, by the aid of the plough, 

 and thinks lie can convert them into suitable man- 

 ure for his crop, at a cheaper rate than by the ordi- 

 nary process of feeding them out to his cattle. We 

 know of one or two farmers who pursue this mode, 

 and think it a very good plan. Perhaps it may do 

 better than the ordinary method, which is to toss 

 them over to the cattle the first part of the winter, 

 who eat a part, and tread the greater part under 

 foot. Yet there is a good deal of nourishment in 

 this kind of fodder, if one had time to pass it through 

 a straw cutter, and then subject it to the softening 

 process of steam or warm water. Corn has done 

 extremely well during the past season, all over the 

 State, and yet we hardly know when it grew. The 

 spring was very wet, and it was consequently put 

 in very late. The summer was, in the main, a wet 

 and cool summer, — and yet the corn pushed along, 

 and, as the autumn was mild with but little frost, 

 corn ripened off well. — Maine Farmer. 



A PROFITABLE CROP OF CORN. 



We often hoar it said that Tudi in corn is not a pro- 

 fitable crop in this part of the United States. Un- 

 doubtedly there are many fields of corn not only in 

 New Eagland, but in every part of the Union, 

 which if dabt and credit were kept with them, it 

 would be found that they run their owners in debt, 

 but in most cases it is the fault of the owners rath- 

 er than that of the corn. 



In conversation, not long siace, with Samuel 

 Moody, Esq., of Lisbon, well known in his section 

 of the State as a careful business man and success- 

 ful farmer, he related the results of his labors this 

 past summer in raising corn. 



He had come into possession of a piece of land 

 containing twenty acres — some part of which, say 

 one-half, cost him thirty dollars per acre. It was 

 a warm loamy soil; he ploughed it up and manured 

 it well, and planted it to corn, last spring, or rath- 

 er summ3r, for the season was so wet that he did 

 not finish planting till June. He hoed it well twice. 

 In the fall he gathered it, husking or picking the 

 ears in the field, leaving the stalks and husks to be 

 ploughed in again. From this field he gathered 

 7uncteen hundred bii^lids of good, sound ears of corn. 

 Thei'e can be no doubt that each bushel of ears 

 would make half a bushel of shelled corn. At any 

 rate, it will be safe to say that there are eight hun- 

 dred bushels of good, sound, shelled corn. Mr. 

 Moody says that reckoning the price of the corn at 

 its present marketvalue in his neighborhood, it will 

 pay him for what he gave for the land, pay him the 

 interest on this cost — pay the taxes, pay for the 

 manure and all the labor attending the crop, except 

 the hauling of the manure. This, all will allow is 

 a profitable crop of corn. 



He is trying the experiment of burying the stalks 



PIPES FOR WATER. 



Eds. Cultivator: — I noticed in th" July num- 

 ber of the Cultivator the inquiries of a correspon- 

 dent, desiring information on the subject of laying 

 water-lime pipe to conduct water for common wa- 

 tering purposes, and asking what were the advan- 

 tages and disadvantages of tliis kind of pipe as com- 

 pared with lead pipe, I could say nothing from per- 

 sonal experience, never having used any; but should 

 suppose from observation that water-lime pipe was 

 superior to lead for all ordinary purposes, where it 

 is practicable to make it, — having the advantage 

 of cheapness in construction and durability, if noth- 

 ing else. 



I have had some experience in making water- 

 lime pipes, and can recommend them to any one 

 who wishes to lay them, as being both cheap and 

 durable. I will give my plan for making this kind 

 of pipe, which I think is as good as any, or at least 

 I know of no better. The tools necessary for this 

 purpose are a common brick trowel, and a mould, the 

 size you want the bore of the pipe. This should 

 be turned in a lathe perfectly smooth and round, 

 and of equal diameter at each end. Its length should 

 be about two feet and a half, with a handle turned 

 on one end, smaller than the rest, to draw by. The 

 materials necessary in making the pipe, are good 

 water-lime and coarse sand — the coarser the better, 

 if sifted from the coarser pebbles. Have your 

 drain dug to eighteen inches wide at tlie bottom so 

 that there may be room to work with ease. In the 

 middle of this drain dig a trench about four inches 

 deep and from three to five inches wide, according 

 to the size of the bore of the pipe, with a rounded 

 bottom, if you choose, to save mortar. The advan- 

 tage this trench has over the ordinary way of laying 

 the pipe on the level with the bottom of the main 

 drain will be seen at once. By using the trench 

 you save considerable mortar, and the necessity for 

 waiting for the mortar to dry before drawing the 

 mould. If it were laid on the level, it would be 

 necessary to wait for it to stiflen before you drew 

 the mould, or it would flatten out. Mix your mor- 

 tar, one part lime and three parts sand; make it as 

 stiff as you can and have it spread well. 



When you are ready to lay your pipe, commence 

 by spreading a layer of mortar an inch or an inch 

 and a half thick, in the bottom of the trench. This 

 should be spread only the length of the mould at a 



