CORRESPONDENCE. 



243 



as little as possible until the hmd should bccoine sod- 

 ded to j;ras-s which will prevent the fire from healing 

 the earth so much as it otherwise would. 



Many cannot adopt this plan until some considera- 

 ble improvement has been made; but then they will 

 find it much to their benefit to adopt it. 



Jefferson Co., N. Y. W. N. C. 



BUGS IN PEAS. 



Mr. EnrroR: — A correspondent in the Farmer 

 wished to know what would destroy bugs in pca.s. 1 

 can inform him that scalding the peas will do it. 

 " Yes," say many voices, " and it will kill the peas too." 

 Now, brother farmers, don't disbelieve every new idea 

 nntil you have proved it. I first heard the plan rec- 

 ommended more than twenty years ago, and the same 

 objection was raised then that you make now. I re- 

 collect my father had some fine early peas that were 

 very buggy; he said he had as lief lose the peas as 

 to propagate the bugs ; so he put them into scalding 

 hot water, stirred them about well, then poured them 

 out into a basket to drain, and sowed them. I think 

 every pea came up, and in a much shorter time than 

 those which were not introduced to a hot balk; and 

 the next spring we had no buggy peas. If any are 

 fearful, let them try it on a small scale. Aquila. 



three horses all the summer from two acres, have had 

 II beautiful " door-yard," as my neighbors insiist upon 

 calling it. It made a beautiful play-ground for my 

 children, when I made a swing, by fastening a rope 

 to the trunks of two maples; and here we have en- 

 joyed many an evening's gambol. A few rough seats 

 did not detract from the beauty of the place. Thia, 

 Mr. Editor, is the result of my e.xperiment in lawn 

 making, and I am satisfied with it. I. H. 



P. S. I should have observed that there were a 

 few old trees and some shrubs on the place before. 

 These I trimmed up and added a few new varieties. 

 Some of my neighbors talk of making a " door-yard ' 

 like mine next season. 



FASMERS' LATBUS. 



Mr. Editor: — Having been in England for the 

 purpose of buying improved stock, I was much 

 pleased with the appearance of English lawns. But 

 I soon discovered they were expensive to keep in 

 order, and our climate is not suited to their full beau- 

 ty — our summers are too dry and hot. I so much 

 loved their beauty, that on my return I thought I 

 would try if I could not have a tolerably good-look- 

 ing lawn around my house without a great outlay of 

 labor or e.xpense. I plowed up and mellowed about 

 two acres around my house, gave it a light dressing 

 of old manure, and sowed red-top, Kentucky blue- 

 grass, and white clover, quite thick. This I did the 

 first of April, 1854. All came up quite well, and 

 pretty well sprinkled with weeds. As soon as the 

 weeds were high enough to mow, I took their heads 

 off with the scythe. This checked them and gave 

 the grass a chance. After this I mowed twice du- 

 ring the season. This_ spring and summer I have 

 had a beautiful grass. I commenced mowing in front 

 of the house, as being most observed, when a few 

 inches high, and kept cutting a little every day — just 

 enongh to feed out green. In this way I have fed 



CANABA THISTLES. 



Mr. Editor: — As a correspondent of yours wishes 

 to know how to kill (extirpate) Canada thistles, I 

 will answer the question ; and I believe there are 

 thousands of farmers in Western New York who 

 ought to make the same inquiry. The first way, 

 then, is to pull them up, and do it frequently the 

 same season, say once every two or three weeks du- 

 ring the months of June, July, and August, and the 

 first part of September. The next best way is to 

 cut them down close to the ground with a hoe or 

 other convenient instrument. After th ^ second or 

 third pulling or cutting, they diminish in numbers 

 and size very rapidly. There is no mystery about 

 the business, only keep them down. A patch recent- 

 ly started may be destroyed by two or three puUings 

 or cuttings. 



No pernicious weeds should be tolerated on any 

 roads or other places contiguous to the farm. 



Two years ago last spring I planted potatoes on 

 a " thistle patch " six or eight rods equara The 

 thistles were " thick as hair on a dog." The pota- 

 toes were hoed three times, and the thistles attended 

 to from time to time with a hoe through the entire 

 summer. Last season the same ground was planted 

 with corn, when some eight or ten thistles were all 

 that were seen in the course of the season. Thig 

 year not a thistle has been seen on the ground. 



Daisies, or white daisies, johnswort, buttercups, 

 yellow-dock, and some other weeds, as well as Cana- 

 da thistles, are multiplying in our part of the State 

 very rapidly, and almost without let or hindrance. 

 A stitch in time would save more than nine. Wish- 

 ing you much success in your efforts to diffuse useful 

 information, I am yours, truly. C. H. 



Lancaster, Erie Co., N. T. 



