1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



397 



that it settled at once down into its place, close to 

 the slimy hard wood, to which it would soon adhere 

 and grow. 



George showed me how he cut the buds. He first 

 selected scions of this year's growth, not rank 

 sprouts with soft, half-formed wood; nor on the 

 other hand, little peeling twigs, hut good thrifty 

 hard scions, from which buds of some body and 

 firmness could be readily cut. As he takes these 

 from the tree he «ut8 ofl'the leaves, as they would 

 rapidly rob the scion of its fulness in hot, dry 

 weather. He sliowed me how he cut the buds. 

 His knife had a thin, sharp blade. He held the stick 

 of buds with the top towards him, and inserting 

 his knile carefully about half an inch or a little 

 more below the footstalk, he brought it outas much 

 above. The bud dropped off into the dish of wa- 

 ter, and the knife soon sent another and another 

 after it. 



I had heard of budders cutting their germs as 

 they went along. I told George so. He replied 

 that "he should'nt think they would i'-o a/on «• very 

 fast then." 

 I took out my timepiece to see how long the young 

 man was in setting a, bud. He seized the tree — 

 bent it down towards him — made the two cuts — 

 opened the bark — slipped in the bud, and off with 

 the top, in just twelve seconds! He set four in good 

 shape, in fifty seconds ! Goodman said he never 

 saw the beat of that. I told my neighbor that the 

 job wouldn't last a great while at that rate. The 

 budder said he didn't care how soon it was done, 

 for it was a little wor3e for the back than the 

 spring-tooth horse rake. 



To be sure the budder's position is unfavorable 

 to a comfortable spine, and ought he to follow 

 such work many hours without change ? 



By this time quite a number of buds Avere set, 

 and I saw the tying done. George had brought a 

 new furniture mat,which, cut in squares, furnished 

 the strings. These were well wet and tucked 

 through his left suspender. George had to down 

 upon his knees and bend over pretty low to get a 

 good chance at the work. He placed the middle of 

 the string a tritle below the upright cut in the 

 bark, and carried the ends around and around, 

 keeping them firmly drawn until the whole wound 

 was faithfully covered, leaving only, a grain of 

 space above the footstalk for the bud, which would 

 have "more air" when the footstalk drops away. 



"Very good," said I, "and what is the next pro- 

 cess with such a subject?" 



"The next thing," said George, "is to cut off the 

 string next Spring after the bud has started. If it 

 looks lively, and seems disposed to grow, 1 cut off 

 the whole tree down tj within a few inches of 

 where the bud was inserted." 



I had some further talk about the future man- 

 agement of the trees, which will require another 

 chapter. Yours, w. d. b. 



Concord, Mass., Aug. IQih, 1853. 



For the JSeiv England Farmer. 

 TO DESTROY VERMIN IN FOWLS. 



Witli a feather, dipped in spirits of turpentine, 

 touch those parts of the fowl most infested, as top 

 of the head and under the wings, and they will 

 soon disappear. If there are nits, the application 

 will need to be repeated. It can easily be done by 

 going among them after they have roosted, and a 

 small quantity only is necessary. 



A QUEER OLD BOOK. 



"We have had placed in our hands, by a lady in 

 Vermont, a collection of old books, one of them 

 dated London, 1G31 ; and others printed in Cam- 

 bridge, this State, matching them in size, type, 

 and the old queer mode of expression. The titles 

 are as funny as some of the sentiments. One is 

 "New England's True Interest Not To Lie." This 

 was a sermon preached in Boston, by Mr. W. 

 Stoughton, -pTeacher o£ the gosT^el in Dorchester, 

 IGTO'". 



Another is "God's Terrible Voice in the City of 

 London ; Wherein you have the Narration of the 

 Two late Dreadful Judgements of Plague and 

 Fire Inflicted by the LORD upon that CITY ; the 

 former in the Year 1665, the latter in the Year 



1666. Cambridge, Printed by Samuel Green, 



1667. Another is "Tydings from Rome; or Eng- 

 land's Alarm." 



The two last books are exact reprints, we think, 

 from "Markhara's Farewell to Husbandry," and 

 are upon Orcharding and the Country Housewife's 

 Garden. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MIGRATION OF SWALLOV7S. 



Mr. Brown : — Having noticed an inquiry in 

 your paper, a few weeks shice, calling for informa- 

 tion in regard to the time that swallows leave the 

 north, your correspondent from Derby, Ct., says 

 some things he knows, and some he thinks ; now 

 lie probably has seen barn swallows as late as the 

 28th of August, but as to his seeing chimney 

 swallows as late as the last of September or the 

 middle of October, T think he must be mistaken, 

 (unless it was some heedless straggler,) as they 

 invariably leave here as soon as the first of Aug., 

 if not before. They do not appear to be as hardy, 

 and are not as plenty, as other swallows, for some 

 cold seasons they do not visit us at all. Some 

 twenty years or more ago, I lived with an old gen- 

 tleman in a town adjoining this, and he told me a 

 man offered to give him five dollars if he would 

 show him a swallow (meaning a barn swallow,) 

 after the 25th of July. Since then I have observed 

 them with some interest. About the 20th of Jiily 

 they begin to congregate together on the barna 

 and fences, and from then to the first of August 

 their numbers decrease to less than one-fourth, 

 and after that time but few are seen. 



The 2d day of August, lSo2, in company with 

 a few others, I paid a visit to the Grand Monad- 

 nock, distant from this place about fifteen miles, 

 and while standing on the pinnacle, I noticed the 

 swallows, a few of which were performing their 

 usual gyrations through the air around me, appa- 

 rently as much at home as in any farm yard. This 

 year I have seen them every day, thus far, though 

 but few are left. 



The Labrador swallows have all gone from here; 

 they had about fifty nests in sheds near us. It is 

 a great place for birds of most all kinds here, in 

 the summer season. !• D. Ward. 



North Ashhurnham, Aug. 9, 1853. 



Remarks. — The above corresponds with our own 



