190 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



tion of ammonia, nitrogen and carbonic acid, 

 which would be lost if the manure were suffered to 

 lay over. Plow it in shallow, if the soil is clayey 

 a little deeper if loamy, and still deeper if sandy. 

 On motion of Mr. Clark, of Waltham, the sub- 

 ject of manures was continued to the next meeting, 

 when a part of the evening will be devoted to it, 

 and the remainder to "The subdivision and fencing 

 of the lands of a farm." 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE PEWEE— SOOT FOR PLANTS. 



Mr. Editor : — Having seen in your valuable pa 

 per an inquiry made touching the Ijirds of New 

 England, I send you the following facts concern- 

 ing the well known little bird, Pewee, or fly-catch- 

 er. About five years ago, I had a jxiir of these 

 birds. (You will pardon me for calling them 

 mine, for they were iny songsters and companions, 

 for fourteen years, and left me only when repairs 

 of buildings drove them from tiieir old home.) In 

 the last of March, or first of April, perched on the 

 buildings or fences, will be seen the Pewee, filling 

 the air with his joyful notes. But his stay at this 

 time is only about a fortnight, for he soon gets 

 weary calling "Phebee," for she answers not. If 

 it is fine weather, a journey of twelve or fourteen 

 days will find t'lera at their old home, busy repair- 

 ing or building their nest. 



For eight successive years they built their nest 

 on a sleeper of my barn, within a few feet of each 

 other, and in this time they built four nests, con- 

 structing a new one every other year. They re- 

 pair the inside of the nest after the first brood have 

 flown. The next spring, if the upper edge of the 

 nest gets loose, they repair it, and replenish the 

 inside with a new coating, and do the same after 

 the first brood has flown the second year, so that 

 in eight years they had four new nests, and re- 

 paired them twelve times, each nest having been 

 used for four broods. 



It takes them seven or eight days to repair a 

 nest. Afterwards they placed their nest in a build- 

 ing over my tanner's beam, and several times 

 changed it to different buildings as I changed my 

 plac3 of work. They would alight on the beam 

 and watch their prey whilst I was near them. 



In fourteen years, they reared about one hun- 

 dred and twenty young, for none were destroyed 

 by idle boys, and even old puss seemed to have 

 learned to respect them, as she was never known 

 to catch any. They are very industrious in catch- 

 ing flies, taking fi'om two to four a minute, when 

 they make a business of feeding their young. 



SOOT TO DESTROY VERMIN. 



I have been informed by a gentleman from Eng- 

 land that they pay 145 per load for chimney soot, 

 to spread on their land for the purpose of killing 

 vermin. I wish to know if it is used for such a 

 pupose in this country? AVould it not be good to 

 roll corn in before planting? 



Respectfully yours, John M. Merrill. 



Bristol, N. IL, March 4, 1853. 



Remarks. — Soot is a capital fertilizer, and is fre- 

 quently used to kill insects. It is certainly advis- 

 able to save it all and apply it in some way to the 

 crops. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AUTUMNAL MARROW SQUASH. 



^Ir. Brown, — Dear Sir :— Much discus.-ion has 

 lately arisen, about who first introduced among us 

 this fine variety of squash, which has been re- 

 ceived with so much favor, as to nearly shove 

 aside all others. In a letter that I received from 

 Dr. Harris, of Caml)ridge, dated Nov. C, 1851, he 

 speaks of this variety, as having been "first de- 

 scriljed by Mr. Ives, of Salem," who "procured 

 the seeds of it from North Hampton." I think I 

 have heard the same statement from Mr. Ives, him- 

 self, whom I know to be a discriminating cultiva- 

 tor of garden vegetables. I have lately l)uen in- 

 formed l)y Mr. A. Lord, of Salem, that he grew 

 the first specimens of this squash that were ever 

 raised in Mass. That he received the seeds from 

 Mr. George C Buxton, of Danvei-s, to whom six 

 seeds came in a letter from South America, tivo on- 

 ly of which produced fruit— these under the care 

 of ^Ir. Lord. Without presuming to say who is 

 right and who is not, I present such facts as have 

 come to my knowledge ; leaving it to those who 

 know more to correct my statements, if errone- 

 ous. Your obedient servant, 



Danvers, i^ti. 12, 1853. J. W. Proctor. 



STOCKHARDT'S FIELD LECTURES- 



A capital buck, which we commend cordially to 

 every farmer. We like it for several reasons : Isl, 

 Because the doctrines it teaches are true ; 2d, 

 Because it is written in a clear, simple style, and 

 can be readily comprehended by those who are not 

 adepts in chemistry ; and 3d, Because it places 

 science in its true position. While it claims for 

 it the importance that justly belongs to it, it re- 

 cognizes the value and the authority of experi- 

 ence. It admits that "the chemist cannot here 

 exert a sovereign sway over fixed invariable quan- 

 tities, and uniformly continuous conditions," but 

 is as dependent upon soil, climate, wind and 

 weather, as the husbandman himself." 



His chaptei's upon artificial manures, guano and 

 bones, are of great value, and cannot be too high- 

 ly commended to the attention of all cultivators. 

 Had he been acquainted with the value of barn 

 cellars in the manufacture and preservation of com- 

 post manures, we should have learned the fact in 

 his chapter on stall manures and straw. In this 

 respect we think New England farmers have made 

 a step in advance of their Teutonic cousins. We 

 are sorry to observe so great carelessness in the 

 use of numbers, as we have noticed in perusing 

 the book. For instance, on the 154th page, we 

 are told that Saxony contains 7000 inhabitants to 

 a square mile. Being somewhat startled at this, 

 we looked into the matter and find that according 

 to the Saxe Weimar Almanac, Saxony, in 1840, 

 contained 270 to the square mile. Belgium, the 

 most populous country in Europe, contained 305. 

 On the 194th page we are told that one-half an 

 ounce of the best Peruvian Guano, on being burned, 

 leaves only one drachm (30 to 33 per cent.) of 



