460 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



One improves the other with a rapidity which re- 

 sembles that of the trains which glide through 

 the lands." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE FARMER'S SONG. 



OY HERBERT INOALLS. 



On Monadnoc's lofiy summit 



Burns the sun of early morn, — 

 Up the East he comes in henuty, 



And the day again is born; 

 Forth with cheerful hearts and happy, 



To our labor let us hie, 

 Ere the birds have hushed their matins, 



Or the sparkling dew is dry. 



Cheerful are oui hearts and voices, 



Ever}' limb is light and lithe, 

 And the billowy grass before us 



Bendeth to our keen-edged scythej 

 And when noon-tide pours upon us, 



Hastening to the fields away. 

 We inhale the rarest perfume 



'Mid the sweetly-scented hay. 



When the quiet evening closes. 



Gathering to our homes again, 

 We enjoy the sweet reflection, 



That our life is not in vain. 



Little know the pampered idlers 



That despise our stubborn soil, 

 All the joys of mind and body 



That spring up to bless our toil; 

 Not within the shadowy future 



Look we for a brighter day, 

 For each bright returning uiorning 



Brings new duties with its ray. 



Thus our days in peace are passing, — 



Thus shall pass till life is o'er; 

 We are healthful, we are happy. 



What can mortal covet more.'' 

 Rindge, N. H., Aug. 20. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE SEASON AND THE CROPS. 



The farming season of 1853 opened beautifully. 

 The snows were early dissolved, the frost which 

 penetrated the earth the last winter to but a mod- 

 erate depth, soon yielded to the warm sunshine, 

 and mud, the common appendage of a New Eng- 

 land spring, held but a short and timid reign. Of 

 course, spring crops were got in, in good season 

 and condition, and the moist month of May opera- 

 ted favorably to the full production of agricultural 

 products. June followed, a rainless, almost cloud- 

 less month, and the warm sunshine, unaided by 

 moisture, severely pinched the grass crop, so that 

 with the killing out of the drought of 1852, and 

 the dryness of this month, the average crop will 

 not greatly exceed that of last year. On some 

 farms it may be one-fourth greater in yield, while 

 on some, it falls short. It is pretty certain that 

 grass lands in general must either be re-stocked, 

 manured, or something else done for them, before 

 they can be restored to the fertility of 1851. 



Oats, barley, peas and meslins have given good 

 crops. Corn came up well, butin many fields was 

 much injured by the worm, which, contrary to es- 

 tablished theory, showed no respect to the time or 

 manner of plowing. Indeed, we saw many fields 

 which were plowed last fall, some of them as early 

 as Aug. 20, where his desperado acts were so ef- 



fectual as to leave sad mementoes of his labor in 

 visible form through the summer, and in one field 

 where the land was plowed last September, the 

 crop was nearly ruined by this worm. (Quere, has 

 the dryness of last year any thing to do with tha 

 increase of worms, &c., this season.) Potatoes 

 exhibited a fine appearance through the summer 

 months, the vines grew tall and stout and produced 

 a profusion of blossoms, like the potato vines of 

 olden time. We saw in our travels some three or 

 four fields, where the tops gave indications of the 

 first stages of rot, as early as Aug. 20, and in 

 the evening in our own neighborhood, we have 

 discovered the frost bitten odor arising from fields 

 of this crop, which is a sure indication that the rot 

 is in the vine, and unless this is cutoffit will soon 

 communicate to the tuber. "We shall give further 

 particulars with regard to this crop, after they are 

 harvested. 



Buckwheat gives a luxuriant growth and prom- 

 ises well. This, in a few years past, has become a 

 prominent crop, and is probably the very best 

 cleanser of foul, weedy soils, that can be intro- 

 duced, and is with all a very good pulverizer. 



The crop of small early fruits was good, apples, 

 pears and plums will give but a slight crop. The 

 excrescence on plum trees which has come upon 

 them as a fire plague for the last two seasons, 

 threatens their extermination. Yours truly. 



Ehnwood, Sept., 1853. w. B. 



For the Tieiv England Farmer. 

 FRUITS, &0., OF IOWA. 



Mr. Editor : — As many are yearly wandering 

 from the old Yankee land, the home of fruit, to 

 this Western region, it maybe interesting to such 

 to learn something of our present and future pros- 

 pects of fruit. To those reared amidst the luxu- 

 ries of the varieties of the fruits of the old States, 

 a deprivation of them maybe reckoned among the 

 greatest deprivations incident to a new country. 



Our native fruits are somewhat limited in num- 

 ber. Blackberries, black raspberries, gooseber- 

 ries, strawberries, mulberries, grapes — generally 

 inferior to the fox grape of New England — wild 

 cherries, crab-apples, plums of various sizes, but- 

 ternuts, black walnuts, hickory, pecan and hazel- 

 nuts, are the most important that now occur to 

 me. Both the soil and climate seem well adapted 

 to the culture of most fruits of the temperate re- 

 gions. The small fruits, such as strawberries, 

 raspberries, currants, &c., produce abundantly in 

 our gardens. Apple trees grow luxuriantly, and 

 Iowa can now produce as fine specimens of the 

 apple as any State in the Union. 



The successful culture of the fine cherries and 

 pears may, as yet, be considered doubtful. Stand- 

 ard pear trees sometimes die in full foliage, as 

 though the communication between the roots and 

 trunk was suddenly destroyed. Very many of the 

 trees, apparently thrifty, have dead spots on their 

 trunks, from a third to half or more of their cir- 

 cumference. The fine cherries are often injured 

 in a similar manner. The quince and plum trees 

 thrive well, but the curcuiio generally destroys 

 the plums. 



Peaches are uncertain, though we have some 

 years abundant crops. Budded peach trees seem 

 to be shy bearers here, if not elsewhere. Much 

 attention is now directed to dwarf pears, and there 



