NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



127 



if the ground is not rich, in proportion, some will 

 enter moro largely than others. 



In order, it" possible, to illustrate, I will note a 

 case which may ho observed by every farmer. Farm- 

 ers sometimes thresh their wheat in the field, 

 selecting a poor spot, that will hardly yield five 

 bushels to the acre. The straw is allowed to lie here 

 and rot, or is ploughed under, to enrich the worn-out 

 soil. In course of time, another sowing of wheat 

 takes place ; and when spring comes, the farmer con- 

 gratulates himself upon having in the field at least 

 one spot of good wheat. Harvest comes, and the 

 hands cut up to the ])lace, but they find the straw all 

 tumbled down, and the heads not filled. " O," says 

 one, " this ground is cnti'.e'y too rich." 



Organic chemistry will tell you that the ground' 

 wa3 only half rich enough. The straw contained 

 only those agents necessary to reproduce straw, and 

 from the aptitude ot the rotting straw to hold and 

 appropriate the component parts of water, the stallc 

 shoots up without strength to support its overgrown 

 weight. If the ground had contained the ingredients 

 of the grain, and the salts of lime, &c., to strengthen 

 the stalk, there could have been no failure. Plant 

 this spot in corn, and the long ears in autumn will 

 tell that the ground possessed all that was neces- 

 sary for its perfect growth. I have seen these spots 

 fail in one grain and succeed in another ; but it 

 was a wonder, until organic chemistry explained the 

 mystery. Many a time I have wondered why a 

 stalk of corn would not grow in a pile of manure, 

 having seen them come up there eaiiy in the spring. 

 It ceases to be a wonder when we learn that the pile 

 is only rich in reference to ammonia, &e., and poor 

 in regard to several agents. The ground can never 

 be too rich, if it holds all the agents of growth in 

 just proportion : for the plant will apply what is de- 

 manded' for its support, and leave the balance for 

 another time. 



I think the views here taken are in strict accord- 

 ance with science. Then we should learn the impor- 

 tance of knowing what the soil has, what is wanting, 

 what manures have, and then we can apj^ly them so 

 as to render the required assistance. Some may wish 

 to know why straw rotted in the barn-yard, where 

 stock run over it, makes better manure than that rot- 

 ted in the field. Simply because the deposits of the 

 cattle supply what is lacking in the field. When 

 quite small I remember seeing a large quantity of 

 lime applied to a field, as I was told, " to make it rich." 

 The trouble was not repaid, and the system of liming 

 was abandoned. The persons who did it cannot yet 

 tell why it was that no good resulted. Science steps 

 in, and tells the man of careful observation, that the 

 ground had lime enough, and that it wanted some- 

 tliing else. Eut more of this at another time, for 

 long articles are likely to be neglected. 



Feankford, Ky., Feb. 1849. J. L. 



HOW TO PLANT CHESTNUTS. 



The plan for raising the chestnut is thiis : The nuts 

 must not be suffered to become stark dry. Plant 

 them in the spring of the year. The first winter, pro- 

 tect them from the frost, or they are apt to be killed 

 by freezing. The next spring transplant in the fol- 

 lowing manner : Select a dry soil, dig a hole eighteen 

 inches deep, three feet -wide ; iill it up with small, loose 

 stones and clay to within six inches of the surface ; 

 set your trees on that ; take care of it, and it wiU 

 grow well, and in four j-ears bear nuts. 



The chestnut should be more attended to than it is. 

 It is valuable food, and very nourishing. In Italy 

 the chestnuts grow to the size of small apples, and ai-e 

 used for food by the peasantry. 



WOOL IN THE WEST. 



The cheapness of lands in the west, and the 

 small amount of labor required ia keeping sheep 

 through the winter, will cause a large production of 

 wool ; and the advantages of getting it to market at 

 a small expense, when its value, and not its bulk, ia 

 considered, compared with heavy articles, such as 

 grain, flour, &c., and a cheap and convenient mode 

 of raraking a sale to eastern manufacturers, at fair 

 prices and at a small commission, through the medi- 

 um of Mr. Peters's "Wool Depot, at Buffalo, give 

 additional encouragement to this branch of agricul- 

 ture in that vast and fertile region. We copy the 

 following item from the Racine (Wis.) Whig. 



Wool. — The people of the Avest are beginning to 

 furnish their quota of this valuable commodity. It 

 is not long since little or no wool was grown in this 

 section of the country. We have now as extensive 

 flocks of sheep in Wisconsin, perhaps, as any other 

 state can boast. Messrs. Norton & Co., of this city, 

 have a fine flock of some twenty-five thousand sheep, 

 which are mostly in this state ; some in the northern 

 part of Illinois. This enterprising company will fur- 

 nish for the market upwards of fifty thousand pounds 

 of wool. This is worth from sixteen to twenty cents 

 per pound, according to the quality. The Pittsburgh 

 Journal of the 26th ult., says there is a good demand 

 for wool, and prices have advanced to twenty and 

 twenty-eight cents per pound for common to full 

 blood. 



FACTS ABOUT SWINE. 



We have received from Mr. Rood, of Adrian, some 

 facts in regard to the breeding of swine, which are 

 of importance to every farmer. Mr. R. remarked 

 that he had long observed, that pigs from old sows 

 made much heavier hogs than those from young 

 sows. And he related an instance which places the 

 matter in a very striking light. He had two 

 sows of the same breed, one of which was one year 

 old and the other three, the former being out of the 

 latter. Both sows had a litter of pigs on the same 

 night, and as a part of both litters were destroyed, 

 the tv.'o litters were put together and nursed by the 

 older sow. The pigs of the young sow were appa- 

 rently the most promising at first ; but they all grew 

 up together, were treated alilce and fatted alike, and 

 when they came to be killed, the pigs of the older 

 sow weighed about eighty pounds more than those 

 of the young one. — Michigan Farmer. 



PERPETUAL ROSES. 



Many cultivators of this fine new class of roses 

 "waste its sweetness " by allowing it to carry all its 

 blossoms in the month of June. Now, to have the 

 perpetual rose fully enjoyed, it should not be allowed 

 to bloom at all in the rose season. Roses are so 

 common then that it is not at all prized ; while 

 blooming from midsummer to November, it is highly 

 prized by all persons. 



The way I pursue to grow it in perfection, is to 

 pinch out, as soon as visible, every blossoming bud 

 that appears at the first crop, say from the middle of 

 May to the middle of June. This reserves all the 

 strength of the plant for the after bloom ; and accord- 

 ingly I have such clusters of roses iw July, August, 

 September, and October, as those who have not tried 

 this stopping system can have no idea of. La Reine, 

 Madame Laffay, Compte de Paris, and the Duchess 

 of Sutherland are particulaily superb vai-ieties under 



