1853. 



MEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



409 



his web wrapped the seed together and commenced 

 eating away until the whole of the seed was de- 

 stroyed. We picked them up, and upon breaking 

 open the stalks, the piih was pretty well filled with 

 the same kind of worm which destroyed the seed, 

 and had also destroyed the pith of the plant. 



I. s. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CRANBERRY CULTURE. 



Mr. Editor: — In company with a friend, I vis- 

 ited Mr. N.'s patch of cranberries, that have been 

 under culture for four or five years past, and have 

 been several times noticed in your journal. I found 

 him busily occupied in clearing out all impediments 

 to their growth, such as intruding grass, and 

 vreeds, and superQuous runners. Between the rows 

 there appeared to be a dressing of light colored 

 sand, on which the runners extended. Many of 

 the rows were thickly matted, and fully covered 

 with berries. Others had but few berries on them. 

 Mr. N. explained tliis, as caused by severe frost, 

 shortly after the growth of the vine started in the 

 spring. He thought the crop would be diminished 

 one-half from this cause. He also showed us ber- 

 ries that had a reddish color, and explained that 

 this appearance was caused by a worm in the ber- 

 ry, which was apparent on opening it. He 

 thought this worm was implanted in the fruit by 

 an insect, not unlike the i/elloio ivasp, hnt of small- 

 er size. He had seen many of these, dodging about 

 among the plants, and pointed out some while we 

 were there. I speak of these facts in relation to 

 his culture, because he has pursued the culture 

 of this berry with better success than I have else 



For (he Neto Eni^land Farmer. 

 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AGRICULTU- 

 RAL SOCIETIES OF MASS. 



Mr. Editor : — Within a few weeks past, there 

 has issued from the press of White & P.otter, State 

 printers, a Volume of Transactions of the Agri- 

 cultural Societies of the State of Massachusetts. 

 The typographical execution of the volume is 

 creditable to the press from which it has issued. 

 The volume contains nearly eight hundred pages, 

 and is a monument to the industry and persever- 

 ance of the Hon. Amas.\ Walker, who acted as 

 Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, until 

 a permanent Secretary was appointed in April 

 last. It exhibits, too, the excellent judgment of 

 the Hon. Secretary in the selections he has made 

 from the various reports and addresses that were 

 put into his hands. To the transactions of the va- 

 rious Agricultural Societies, which constitute the 

 main body of the volume, are added the doings of 

 the State Board of Agriculture, and the laws of 

 the State in relation to Agricultural Societies. — 

 Although these additions increase the size of the 

 volume, yet they add much to its value, and we are 

 glad to have the information they contain in such 

 shape that we can conveniently refer to it. 



I propose, Mr. Editor, to run over the volume 

 and give your readers the benefit of such notes as 

 I may make in my progress. I will endeavor to 

 keep within reasonable limits, but should I become 

 prosy and tedious, please exercise your editorial 

 authority, and rap me over the knuckles, and I 

 will take the hint. I hav« no idea how long it 

 will take me, or how much I may say ; but you 

 and your readers have this circumstance in their 



where known upon the upland. He has about 'f\xvor, that doo- days are not favorable to long <liS' 

 half an acre under culture, a part of which has ' ° - - ^ 



yielded berries for Jive years. He states that the 

 produce tlie last season fully paid for the attention 

 given to them — estimating the cranberries at four 

 dollars per bushel. I can say, from my own knowl- 

 edge, that the fruit was worth double that which 

 is usually grown on meadow land. I consider the 

 upland culture of the cranberry, as worthy of 

 more attention than it has received. There is no 

 vegetable grown that will find a readier market. 

 Danvers, July 14, 1853. p. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MILK AND BUTTER. 

 Mr. Brown : — After seeing some butter stories 

 in the papers, I thought I would give you an ac- 

 count of some of my butter and milk. I have a 

 four year old cow, of the Wel)ster stock, a cross 

 of the Alderney blood, that for three weeks has 

 averaged sixteen milk quarts per day, and as I am 

 raising a heifer calf from her, I could set the milk 

 only from night until morning, and from morning 

 until night, then take the cream from it and give 

 the milk to the calf. We made 2i lbs. butter 

 daily, for some days, and after seeing the Spring- 

 field butter story, I set a quantity of milk for a 

 proper time for the cream to rise, and to ascertain 

 how muoh^Uk it would take for a pound of but- 

 ter. From six quarts of milk I had 19 ounces 

 of butter of the nicest quality. The feed for the 

 cow was simply what grass she could get in a good 

 pasture, and one quart of meal per day. 



Yours truly, J. Hatch. 



SoiUh Marshfield, 1853. 



quisitions. But to my task ; for I propose to make 

 a beginning in this number, and in the first place, 

 I notice that there is a full and accurate index, 

 which much increases the value of the book, and 

 adds very much to the convenience of using it. 



In the next place, there is a list of Agricultural 

 Societies of the State, and the times when their 

 several exhibitions are to held in 1853. This is a 

 convenient table of reference, and perhaps it would 

 be well to republish it in your paper. It may save 

 some thousands of your readers the necessity of • 

 asking, "when is our cattle show to be?"' The first 

 report is that of the Mass. Society for the Promo- 

 tion of Agriculture. _ This is mostly occupied with 

 statements respecting the Alderney stock import- 

 ed by the society. The number of animals of this 

 stock now in possesion of the society is eleven. — 

 They are represented as in a thriving condition, 

 and as having endured, without inconvenience, 

 the cold of the last winter. The report states 

 "that nothing has occurred to throw any doubt 

 on the character of this race, as a most excellent 

 stock for the dairy." 



We are somewhat surprised to learn that the 

 President and Secretary, together with Jlr. Mot- 

 ley, who has the care of the Alderney stock, have 

 arrived at the conviction that the Ayrshire stock 

 formerly imported by the society, has failed to give 

 satisfaction, and that its importation has been of 

 little or no advantage to our stock. 



Now we had arrived at a diflerent conclusion. 

 So far as our observation extends, Ayrshire cows, 

 whether full-blooded or crossed with the Durham 

 or with the native stock, are held in high estima- 



