NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



15 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HUSK BEDS. 



No one who has not tried them, knows the value 

 of husk beds. Straw and mattrasses would be en- 

 tirely done away with, if husk beds were once tried. 

 They are not only more pliable than mattrasses, 

 but are more durable. The first cost is but trifling. 

 To have husks nice they may be split after the 

 manner of splitting straw for braiding. The finer 

 they are split the softer will be the bed, although 

 they will not be likely to last as long as when they 

 are put in whole. Three barrels full, well stowed 

 in, will fill a good sized tick, that is, after they have 

 been split. The bed will always be light, the husks 

 do not become matted down like feathers, and they 

 are certainly more healthy to sleep on. 



Feather beds ought to be done away with, es- 

 pecially in warm weather. For spring, summer and 

 fall, husk beds ought to be "all the go," and such 

 undoubtedly will be the case, when they are once 

 brought into use. There is no better time to pro- 

 cure husks than when corn is being harvested, and 

 the husks will be much nicer and cleaner when corn 

 is cut up at the bottom, and put in stooks. They 

 do not become so dry and weather-beaten. It is cal- 

 culated that a good husk bed will last from twenty- 

 five to thirty years. Every farmer's daughter can 

 supply herself with beds (against time of need) at 

 a trifling expense, which is quite an inducement 

 now-a-days, 



Smithfield, R. I. A. T. 



Remarks. — As the article here recommended, is 

 valuable, as attested by many who havetried it, the 

 subject should receive more attention, particularly 

 as it is abundant on every farm, and of trifling val- 

 ue for other purposes, compared to its value for beds. 

 It is clean, wholesome, cheap, and excellent; much 

 superior in many respects to foreign high-priced ar- 

 ticles. Ed. 



is on the farm, if not they are cut up in pieces with 

 the hand,) then mixed with equal portions of cut 

 hay, and scalded, or what is better, on some farms 

 they are steamed, a quantity of salt is mixed to 

 season the food and when cool it is given to the 

 horses in the requisite quantities. I have known 

 many horses which were fed every winter on this 

 kind of food, and healthier and better looking hors- 

 es could not be found. 



In some places on the eastern sea shores of Brit- 

 ain, large crops of carrots are grown in the drifted 

 sand, and are the finest carrots that are met with 

 in the markets, and though the drought may be 

 greater here in summer, I still think that much 

 more land could be profitably cropped with carrots, 

 than is generally done. The light soils in many 

 parts of New England are well suited to this crop, 

 but there may be obstacles to their culture with 

 which I am not acquainted. 



Yours respectfully, R. B. Leuchars. 



Remarks. — Carrots are not very liable to suffer 

 from drought in this country. They will prob- 

 ably endure drought as well as any other crop, and 

 much better than some crops. They may be cul- 

 tivated to advantage on dry lands, even in dry sum- 

 mers, if the land be subsoiled. This process will 

 enable the root to penetrate the soil deeply, so that 

 there will be aconstantsupply of moisture. 



For the New England Fanner. 



CARROTS FOR HORSES. 



S. W. Cole, Esq. : — Sir — I observe an article in 

 the N. E. Farmer of last week, on the nutritive 

 qualities of carrots, as winter food for horses; a 

 circumstance which does not appear to be general- 

 ty understood among farmers and others keeping 

 horses. In some districts of Scotland, especially 

 Aberdeenshire, and the light sandy countries on the 

 eastern coast, carrots are grown entirely as food 

 for horses, and are a very abundant and profitable 

 crop, producing from twenty-five to thirty tons per 

 acre, and farmers can afford to keep theii horses in 

 excellent condition on carrots and hay, who could 

 not afford to give them any thing else. 



This species of food however, is not confined 

 to farmers alone, as richer gentlemen's carriage 

 and riding horses are similarly fed. And, as 

 your article states, the horses fed in this way have 

 a finer appearance, and better health, than those fed 

 on oats or other kind of grain. And many gentle- 

 men give their horses a daily supply of carrots, 

 solely with the view of keeping the hide soft, and 

 the hair glossy and smooth. 



The way in which they are prepared for the hors- 

 es is somewhat as follows : The carrots are topped, 

 washed, and cut up with a turnip cutter, (when one 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FLOWERS, THEIR INFLUENCE, &C. 



Mr. Editor : — It is a prevailing opinion among 

 a certain class of farmers, that the cultivation of flow- 

 ers is fit only for ladies, and beneath the notice of any 

 man of business or enterprise. From this, I must 

 beg leave to dissent. I am ready to admit the su- 

 perior taste and skill of the ladies in this depart- 

 ment of horticulture, but I am not willing to grant 

 them exclusive jurisdiction; neither do I perceive 

 wherein man lowers his dignity, in cultivating what 

 it was not beneath a God to create in such infinite 

 variety. While we have the sentiment of ideality 

 implanted within us, I hold it to be as much our 

 duty to afford the means for its gratification, as it 

 is to furnish ourselves with food. Not that I un- 

 dervalue the everyday labor of the farmer, far from 

 it; but every farmer has sufficient leisure to culti- 

 vate, and ample space for, a few flowers of easy 

 culture, which may be obtained with little or no 

 expense from the forests and meadows, or from the 

 gardens of his neighbors; and by the way, those 

 whose grounds are ornamented with flowers, are al- 

 most invariably not only willing, but happy to fur- 

 nish plants and seeds to those who will take the 

 trouble to cultivate them. 



I have seldom known it fail, that those who con- 

 sider floriculture beneath their notice, annually al- 

 low a space amply suflicient for a fine variety of 

 the most beautiful flowers, to be occupied by the 

 most worthless weeds, and sometimes even plant 

 their gardens, in part, with that poisonous weed, to- 

 bacco, and employ an hour or two in a day in smo- 

 king or lounging about. Now is there any one 

 who will deny that a well regulated patch of flow- 

 ers is a greater ornament to a garden than this 

 strange confusion of weeds, briars and tobacco? And 

 permit me to ask, would it not be much more con- 

 ducive to both physical and mental health, and ac- 



