1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



235 



as soon as they arc dry, take them down and scrape 

 them with a blunt knife till clean and supple. This 

 completes the process,and makes a most excellent 

 saddle cover. Other skins which you desire to 

 cure with the fur on, may be treated in the same 

 way. 



We can speak in favor of the above receipt. It 

 does all it promises. Such skins make excellent 

 mats for indoors. — Detroit Farmer's Companion. 



ORNAMENTAL AND SHADE TREES. 



It is a marked peculiarity of the native popula- 

 tion of Massachusetts, those especially Tvhose an- 

 cestors have been indigenous to the soil for two or 

 three generations, that they exhibit a very close 

 conformity in habits, customs, manners, ways of 

 business, ways of thinking, and general views. 



This conformity of thought and action has orig- 

 inated an apt phrase to designate it in the expres- 

 sion, "a Boston notion." This peculiarity is, per- 

 haps, as manifest and striking in our farmers, as 

 in any other part of our population. One follows 

 another, neighbor imitates neighbor, and son con- 

 tinues the practices of the father, without inquir- 

 ing into the reasonableness or advantage of the 

 practice, or if he inquires, it is generally to sustain 

 himself in his course by the authority of his pro- 

 genitors, or that of some distinguished living man, 

 more often than by the force of unprejudiced ar- 

 gument or impressive fact. There is a great uni- 

 formity in the crops raised, and in the mode of 

 cultivation, though the discrepancies in the state- 

 ments and opinions of farmers would often lead 

 one to opposite conclusions. This disposition is 

 carried out in the planting of shade and ornament- 

 al trees, and the general mode of adorning the 

 "front yard." 



The house is generally placed at from ten to 

 forty feet from the dusty road, as if there were 

 not room on the premises for the family edifice ; 

 and if the proprietor concludes to go into any ex- 

 travagance beyond the paint pot, two or four trees 

 are selected, which are almost always of one spe- 

 cies, to secure uniformity, and planted in a me- 

 chanically straight line for the same object. For- 

 merly the favorite tree selected for this purpose 

 was the Lombardy Poplar, the most unsightly of 

 all the trees, and odious for the armies of innu- 

 merable hairy caterpillars, whose favorite resort it 

 was. Here and there stands one now, straight as 

 a mackerel, reminding us of the female costume in 

 the pictures, before moreen petticoats were in 

 vogue, and when cotton was too costly to set off 

 the "human form divine," in new humps and 

 graces. Previous to the day of the poplar, the 

 elm had generally been the chosen tree, and that 

 has again succeeded to favor since the poplar has 

 fallen into merited disrepute. The elm is certain 

 ly a beautiful and majestic tree. In these attrib 

 utes it is not surpassed. It is not in good taste 

 however, to observe the rule of uniformity by using 



only one species. Several should be used, differ- 

 ent species intermingled, and set in disorder, not 

 in linear order. If, however, one species were to 

 be the sole ornament to a rural house, there are 

 trees which have claims quite equal to the elm. 

 The pine is a tree not surpassed in beauty, has 

 the advantage of continuing through the year in 

 foliage, and has the most agreeable and wholesome 

 quality of drying the atmosphere wliere it stands, 

 and of giving out a delicious fragrance. Other 

 evergreens, the fir, spruce and larch, are beautiful 

 trees. The walnuts, the chestnut, the scaly-bark, 

 hickory, in addition to the recommendations of be- 

 ing handsome trees, yield pleasant fruit. The 

 wild cherry, also, does the same. 



Some of the oaks, the beech, the fragrant birch, 

 called the black-birch, the ash, a stately and beau- 

 tiful tree, and for a pleasing variety the holly and 

 red cedar, the locust, red maple, linden, and oth- 

 ers, are all worthy to do their part in adorning the 

 farmer's ground, and are capable of giving a high- 

 er degree of ornament than the most finished and 

 elegant architecture, — and that without much 

 cost. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 

 MORE ABOUT POTATOES. 



By a notice on page 48 of the current volume of 

 the N. E. Farmer, it appears that T. D. Merison, 

 of Hill, N. H., claims to have discovered a certain 

 remedy for the potato rot ; at least one may readi- 

 ly suppose that friend M. considers it an infallible 

 remedy, from the fact that he has presented hia 

 claim for the "$10,000." Now I do not wish to 

 infringe upon his rights, or upon those of any oth- 

 er individual, but I will inform him that his theory 

 has been in vogue several years, and with a view 

 to test its correctness, I tried some experiments 

 last year, — the result of which I offer for the ben- 

 efit of others. 



t planted a piece of ground with potatoes, on 

 the north side of a shed, and on about half of the 

 piece I planted two or three kernels of corn in a 

 hill. In my corn-field I planted a bushel or more 

 of potatoes, a few hills in a place, so that the po- 

 tatoes were pretty well shaded. A part of the 

 same piece was wholly planted with potatoes. On 

 a third piece I planted potatoes at the north side 

 of a wood lot. None of my potatoes rotted badly. 

 Those near the shed, and in the hills in which 

 corn was planted, showed quite as strong symp- 

 toms of infection as those in the hills where no 

 corn was planted. So with those in the corn- 

 field ; some hills had but few sound tubers in them, 

 while in others there were but few decayed ones. 

 But very little, if any difference was observable be- 

 tween the potatoes growing amongst the corn, and 

 those growing ourside of it. I he third piece gave 

 similar results. Only a few infected tubers were 

 found, but those growing nearest the woods were 

 not entirely exempt. Nearly all my potatoes grew 

 on light, sandy loam. Now I think I have given 

 the shade theory one fair trial, and as it did not 

 entirely prevent the disease for which it is recom- 

 mended, I shall enter my protest against the pay- 

 ment of the premium until after another trial. I 



