340 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JULT 



my cherries by hanging up several pieces of tin 

 with strong thread in the different trees, two pieces 

 being hung near enough together to chish with the 

 wind, which sound, with the bright reflection of 

 the tin in the sun, certainly frightened them away ; 

 and I had my due share of fruit, which, the pre- 

 ceding year, I was obliged to relinquish to them. 

 — Agricultural Gaz. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ORCHARDS-.-MUOK— ASHES. 



I have an orchard which I think needs lime. — 

 There is a pile of swamp mud near it which was 

 hauled there last fall. I purpose after haying, to 

 mix lime with the mud and apply it to the orchard 

 next spring. Can I do better? {a.) Had the lime 

 better be slacked before mixing with the mud or 

 not? 



I have several coal hearths on my farm, where 

 coal was burnt about 20 years ago. Would it be 

 profitable to put around apple trees ; if not, is it 

 of more value than swamp mud for any use 1 (b.) 



Cole, in the American Fruit Book, gives the 

 analysis of the ash of the Apple Tree, potash, so- 

 da, lime, &c. He says, supply potash in wood 

 ashes, soda in common salt, and so on. If there 

 is soda, lime, and other inorganic matters in wood 

 ashes, will they not supply them as well as potash ? 

 (c.) Of course the ashes of different kinds of wood 

 will supply them in different proportions. 



There are different opinions as to what killed 

 the fruit trees winter before last. Trees grew 

 very late in the fall, and the latter part of October 

 there was a cold snap which I think was the prin- 

 cipal cause. I took up some tender trees the be- 

 ginning of November, and covered them so that 

 they were nearly below the action of the frost ; 

 others of the some lot I let stand through the win- 

 ter ; botl] kinds were badly killed ; I think there 

 was not much difference. A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — (a.) You will certainly do well to 

 mix your muck with quick lime, and let it slake 

 in the heap. We think of no way at present, in 

 which you could do better with the materials. — 

 Overhaul the heap as often as you can afford to 

 before using, and if you spread it on the surface in 

 the autumn the frost will act upon a much larger 

 portion of it, and better prepare it for being plowed 

 in. 



(b.) Charcoal may be applied with advantage, 

 in the powdered state, as a top-dressing. Wher- 

 ever an increased supply of ammonia, escaping 

 from the air, the earth, or from any putrescent 

 matter, is desirable to be caught and retained, 

 charcoal will always do good. The fresh burnt 

 article, also — contains much saline matter that will 

 be dissolved by rain, and contribute to tlie enrich- 

 ment of the soil. 



(c.) Wood ashes are better than potash to be 

 used on most of our soils ; and even leached ash- 

 es are capital fertilizers. They impart as much 

 potash, soda, sodium, chlorine, &c., as the plants 

 need, and they would take up no more in a given 

 time if the quantity present were ten times as 

 great. That is, we believe that plants have an 



elective power, both as to quantity and quality, 

 as well as animals, and therefore, it is under a due 

 and proper admixture of all the elements of fertili- 

 ty, that the plant flourishes best. Leached ash- 

 es, therefore may be just as valuable for the crop 

 as unleached, but its permanent effects might not 

 be the same. 



We must be on our guard against the idea that 

 the application of a single element will always in- 

 crease the crop. It undoubtedly will in some ca- 

 ses, but until the science of chemistry in its rela- 

 tion to agriculture are carried to a much higher 

 degree of perfection than it now is, we must ap- 

 ply most of the principal fertilizers to our soils, 

 to feel any certainty of reaping a remunerative 

 crop. Dr. Dana aptly illustrates this point. lie 

 says that attempting to work the soil without all 

 the ingredients of plants present in sufficient abun- 

 dance is like a man attempting to build a vessel 

 thus: he may have all the plank, and ship knees, 

 and spars, and sails, and rigging, and all other re- 

 quisite materials, but no nails and spikes .' &nd he 

 can't possibly build his ship successfully. Nails 

 and spikes are small matters, compared with the 

 rest of the vessel, but he can't get along without 

 them. 



ORDER IN EVERYTHING. 



A PROPOSED EXPERIMENT. 



There has been no saying oftener repeated, and 

 none more worthy of repetition, so far as farm 

 economy is concerned, than "A place for every- 

 thing, and everything in its place." One of the 

 best modes for every farmer to apply this rule in 

 practice, is to make a complete list of all his farm 

 implements, from his wagons, carts and plows, 

 down to awls, gimblets, and screw-drivers. Let 

 every implement be immediately returned to its 

 place after using, no matter how inconvenient 

 tliis may be, instead of throwing it on the ground 

 till forgotten, with the intention of replacing it 

 when a suitable moment occurs to do so. Now, 

 if any one is unprepared to adopt this plan, we 

 would recommend the following experiment, in 

 order to reduce its merits to the test of accurate 

 figuring: — Let him keep an accurate record of all 

 the time lost in one year by hunting for lost tools 

 in times of emergency, adding in the losses occa- 

 sioned by keeping other persons or teams in wait- 

 ing while the search is in progress also adding 

 the waste occasioned by the consequent exposure 

 of such tools to the weather, or by finally losing 

 them, — and not forgetting to estimate the detri- 

 ment to his crops and farming operations general- 

 ly, by the delay thus frequently occasioned. (lie 

 may, likewise, if he chooses, keep an account cur- 

 rent of the amount of vexation caused by these 

 frequent annoyances — unless he is so far gone that 

 disorder and delay are matters of indifference to 

 him.) We have no doubt that such an experi- 

 ment as this, faithfully followed out, would great- 

 ly surprise him at the end of the year, and furnish 

 satisfactory proof of the immense superiority of 

 the plan first proposed by us. Who will be wil- 

 ling to give bolh ways a full trial ? — Albany Culti- 

 vator. 



