328 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



that others better qualified will make the agricul- 

 turists acquainted with the best method of cultivat- 

 ing this valuable grain. 



I am truly thy friend, 



MOSES TABER. 

 Vassalrouo", 8th Mo. 1849. 

 — Mai/ir Farmer. 



Ri;m.\kks by Editou N. E. Farmer. — It is stated 

 in the Mail, (Me.,) that Messrs. Pearsons, Waters'ille, 

 raised twenty-nine bushels of Kloss Blue Stem win- 

 ter wheat from one acre and ten rods of land, which 

 they offer for seed. This is the same as we aeknowl- 

 odgod the receipt of from Mr. M'Intirc, in our last 

 number. Brother Holmes, of the Maine Farmer, 

 says that the weevil, or grain worm, has not appeared 

 in that state this season. We have in New England 

 all the elements and advantages necessary to the 

 production of an abundance of wheat for our own 

 use, and we trust that more attention, will be given 

 to the subject. 



WOOL. 



As we anticipated and expressed in a former num- 

 ber of the Farmer, wool is "looking up," as the 

 mercantile men say ; that is, the price has risen from 

 twenty cents — the first bid which buyers made soon 

 after the clip — to thirty cents. It will probably rise 

 a little higher for the best grades, but it isn't best to 

 hold on too long. A nimble ninepence, you know, 

 is better than a slow shilling. 



The western wool-growers seem to be increasing 

 their flocks. As they gain experience in the mode 

 of managing sheep, their flocks increase ; but they 

 find that wool cannot be raised quite so spontane- 

 ously on the prairies, as was first supposed. The 

 belief that it could, however, induced the farmers 

 there to commence the business ; and those who have 

 learned the trade, find that although it requires more 

 care than they first reckoned upon, they can never- 

 theless make fair profits. 



Ev the way, we see it announced in some of the 

 journals of the da}-, that there have been some rare 

 importations of merinocs into Illinois. The merinoes 

 of the present day seem to have partaken of the same 

 spirit of improvement that other farm stock have, 

 and their size is accordingly much increased. It 

 was formerly believed that a merino must necessarily 

 be a small, delicate animal ; but some of the late im- 

 portations tell of animals of this class weighing two 

 hundred and fifty and three hundred pounds. That 

 is something substantial, at least ; and if they will 

 produce fleeces heavier in proportion to their increase 

 in size, and as fine as we have heretofore been in the 

 habit of growing, a great gain is obtained. 



The Peoria Register mentions an importation of 

 heavy French merinocs by Freeman Humphreys. 

 These arc probably similar to those imported by some 

 of the Connecticut and Vermont farmers, of which 

 we have heretofore made mention in our paper. The 

 farmers of Maine, and indeed the farmers every 

 where else, will find it an object to keep only the 

 best sheep at any time, but more especially so when 

 wool is low in price, and the call for it rather slug- 

 gish. — Maine Farmer. 



HARVESTING BEANS. 



Some farmers, on harvesting their beans, find it 

 difficult to spread them in the barn, so that they will 

 dry thoroughly ; and when placed in thick layers, 

 they are liable to mould, especially as some remain 



green while others are ripe. The following plan, 

 from the Elaine Fanner, is very convenient, and 

 obviates the difficulty that usually attends storing 

 beans in the barn immediately after gathering. After 

 beans are threshed and winnowed, the)' should b» 

 spread and exposed to the air till well dried, as they 

 are liable to mould when laid in large heaps or put 

 up in large casks or boxes. 



Various methods have been adopted for securing 

 the bean crop ; in this there is greater diversity in 

 the practice of farmers, so far as wc have observed, 

 than in the harvesting of any other of our farm crops. 

 With us, beans are usually planted with corn, and 

 they must be pulled and secured before the corn is 

 harvested. 



In harvesting beans, we have adopted the follow- 

 ing method, which we consider as sail', and liable to 

 as few objections as any other. It was recommended 

 several years ago in some of the agricultural journals. 

 After one becomes used to it, it will be found to 

 require but little more time or labor than some other 

 methods by which they are not likely to be secured 

 with so little waste, nor in so good order. 



First procure the requisite number of stakes, about 

 six or seven feet in length. These are to be used in 

 pairs, and placed at convenient distances in the field. 

 Then make two holes in the ground with a crowbar, 

 about a foot apart, and sufficiently deep to hold th« 

 stakes firmly. In these holes insert a pair of the 

 stakes, and on them, about six inches from the 

 ground, wreathe a withe, to keep the beans from 

 the ground. In pulling the beans, the roots are to 

 be kept together, and in arranging them between 

 the stakes, first place a small handful on the withe, 

 then another handful on the other side, lapping them 

 a little, and turning the roots towards the centre of 

 the stack, while the branches and leaves are on ths 

 outside. Proceed in this manner, keeping the stack 

 nearly cylindrical in form, until it is built up high 

 enough ; then press the stakes together so as to keep 

 the beans in place, and confine ,them by a withe at 

 the top. Stacks of beans put up in this manner will 

 shed rain, and the beans in them will keep in good 

 order until they are fit to house. 



When the beans are to be got in, take a handspike, 

 and put it under the stack between the stakes, and 

 lift the whole up together, and convey them away 

 without separating them. 



PEACH AND PLUM-TREES. 



The early decline of the peach and plum-tree in 

 our latitude, and the inefficiency of almost every 

 means adopted for invigorating them again, seems to 

 be a subject worthy of some consideration, and w© 

 would very gladly see it noticed by some of your 

 scientific correspondents. No effectual remedy (if 

 indeed there is such) for the disease appears to ba 

 known in this vicinity. Various devices have been 

 resorted to, accompanied with but indifferent success. 

 Some believe an application of hot ley from wood 

 ashes to be efficacious. The ground is first removed 

 from the trunk and roots of the tree, and the liquid 

 is then poured in around it. This experiment has 

 been tried here in several instances this spring, and 

 the result, so far, seems favorable enough ; whether 

 this remedy may be considered at all available, I am 

 yet unprepared to say. It were certainly very de- 

 sirable that the lamentable difficulty in the cultiva- 

 tion of this kind of fruit, should be removed by some 

 treatment more effectual than any we are now aware 

 of. Perhaps some of your agricultural contributor* 

 have given attention to the subject. J. II. 



Bucks County, Pa., 1849. 

 — Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper. 



