304 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Try it, and put your manure on a smaller space, 

 and my word for it, in five years you will get more 

 hay than now, besides the saving of much labor. 



Jere. Fullerton. 

 Raymond, N. H., Aug., 1851. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CROPS IN V/ESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Mr. Cole: — Thinking a short paragraph in re- 

 gard to the prospects of the potato crop in Western 

 Massachusetts might not be uninteresting to your 

 readers, I have concluded to drop you a note and 

 give you the "material" for writing it. 



In Blandford, Otis and Becket, three towns 

 whose soil is noted for its peculiar adaptation to 

 the cultivation of the potato, the crop, in nearly 

 every field which I have seen or heard of, is much 

 larger than that of last year. Business calling 

 me through these towns recently, I made numerous 

 inquiries respecting the rot, and was informed that 

 not a single sign of it has as yet appeared. Many 

 farmers are strong in the belief that the rot will 

 not materially, if at all, affect the present crop. 

 Judging from the appearance of this year's pota- 

 toes which I have seen cooked, which are unlike 

 those of last year, being dry, mealy and sweet, 

 and not at all affected with those peculiar dark 

 streaks which indicate the rot, I think the crop 

 in Western Massachusetts will generally escape 

 its ravages. 



The corn crop is unpromising. It has grown 

 rapidly and rankly, and there are an abundance of 

 ears, but they do not "fill up" well. Rye, in this 

 section, has done unusually well the present year, 

 it being "headed" very full, and the kernels look- 

 ing large and healthy. 



Yours, L. R. Webb. 



Chester Factories, Aug. 2\st. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DISEASE IN QUINCE BUSHES AND 

 PEAR TREES. 



Mr. CoLe: — Some three years since, there ap- 

 peared a disease in quince bushes in this vicinity, 

 which threatened their destruction. It commences 

 at the end of the limbs and extends down until in 

 some cases the whole withers and dies. This 

 year it has made its appearance in peai trees. I 

 have a fine one that was grafted with the Bartlett 

 last spring; a short time since, one of the grafts 

 which had grown finely began to decay, the leaves 

 died, and has extended down to the trunk, and I 

 fear I shall lose my tree. It does no good to cut 

 off the part affected, as I tried it on my quinces, 

 and it made its appearance below where it was cut 

 off. Cannot you or your correspondent C. (as he is 

 a tree doctor) leW the cause and remedy ? If so you 

 will oblige one that is interested. 



Jere. Fullerton. 



Raymond, N. II., Aug., 1851. 



Remarks. — The disease of which our corres- 

 pondent speaks in both the quince and pear is 

 doubtless what is called the fire blight, for which 

 there is no remedy, excepting to avoid high culture 

 and to cultivate hardy kinds of fruit that are not li- 

 able to this disease. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 

 PLUM WEEVIL. 



Mr. Cole: — A few days since, I saw in Mr. 

 Bradstreet's garden, of this town, several plum 

 trees, of vigorous growth, full of fruit of promising 

 appearance. He remarked, that the last year he 

 lost most of his plums in consequence of the cu7-- 

 culio, or plum weevil; and that he had saved them 

 the present year, by repeatedly dressing his trees 

 with air-slacked lime. 1 noticed that the leaves 

 were completely coated with lime. He said the 

 lime was made to adhere by throwing it upon the 

 tree, when moist with water or dew — and where 

 the lime was it would not go. If this be so, it 

 will not be difficult to preserve a fair proportion of 

 plums against the ravages of this meddlesome in- 

 sect. We have known many cultivators, who 

 have lost nearly all their fruit under their opera- 

 tions. It may be that others are familiar with this 

 preventative remedy, still I thought there could be 

 no harm in mentioning it, — for if any one can save 

 half a bushel of fine green gages by the use of half 

 a peck of ail-slacked lime, he will make a good ex- 

 change by doing so. p. 



Danvers, August 19, 1851. 



THE PROFIT OF RAISING PORK. 



It is always desirable for the farmer to know 

 what profit, if any, he is making upon each branch 

 of business pursued upon his farm. If it costs 

 more to make pork than can be obtained for it in 

 market, he had better produce no more, at least, 

 than enough for his family supply. I have fre- 

 quently inquired of my neighbors the cost of mak- 

 ing pork, and the answer invariably has been, I 

 do not know. The same emphatic "I do not know," 

 is a stereotyped answer to all similar questions, 

 propounded to a large class of farmers. 



When a crop is prepared for market, we ought 

 always to know what it has cost us per bushel to 

 produce it. The same is true in relation to every 

 thing raised upon the farm; we would then know 

 what branches of farming afford the best return 

 for the labor expended, and capital invested; that 

 being determined, Ave could direct our labor ac- 

 cordingly. 



Now for the profits of raising pork. In an ag- 

 ricultural journal, an eastern correspondent gives 

 the following figures, which I transcribe for two 

 purposes. The one is to show the profit of the 

 business in his locality, and the other object is to 

 institute a comparison between the profits of the 

 eastern farmer and those of the western. 



Cost of pig, 50 lbs. live weight 4Jc Is $2,25 



6 bushels of meal 7nc 4,50 



13 do. do. 78c 10,14 



$16,89 



Hog killed in Dec, weight 411 lbs., sold for 6 

 l-4c per lb., amount -$26.71, showing a profit of 

 $9.57, or 58 per cent. 



The cost in Michigan would have been as fol- 

 lows: 



Pig, 50 ibs. live weight, 2ic $1,50 



19 bushels of meal, 40c 7,C0 



$9,10 



411 lbs. Pork 4 1-2 is $18.49, showing a profit 

 of $9.39, or 103 per cent. This exhibit gives the 

 Michigan farmer a profit of 45 per cent, more than 

 the Eastern. — Wool Groicer. 



