NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



407 



not syllogistic ally demonstrable, the instincts of the 

 animal and vegetable world would bear testimony 

 to it in the example the> set to man. No man 

 should sleep less than six lours out of the twenty- 

 four — none in the enjoyment of health more than 

 eight. Every hour devoted to sleep before midnight 

 is so much gain of natural advantages, which have 

 less intlucnce after that time, as we then begin to 

 •■' scent the morning air," and lose the benefit of that 

 ■tatc of the atmosphere which the total absence of 

 the sun creates. AH nature sleeps at night, and so 

 •hould man. 



IHecljanics' JDepartmcnt, ^rts, Ut. 



Facts for Mechanics. — St. Paul was a me- 

 chanic — a tent-maker. Our Savior was a mechanic — 

 a carpenter. The great Architect of the universe, in 

 the mechanism of the heavens and the earth, with 

 its productions, animate and inanimate, displays a 

 power and skill which human hands and human 

 wisdom may attempt to imitate, but which they can 

 never equal, or approach. 



Next to farmers, mechanics are the most numer- 

 ous and the most important class of community. 

 Whatever promotes their interest, of course pro- 

 motes the interest of the pviblic. They, like farmers, 

 have great facilities and great inducements to be- 

 come men of science and sound knowledge. Every 

 mechanic, in every operation, brings into use some 

 principle of science ; which principle it is, of course, 

 his interest and his convenience to understand. 



Every apprentice boy, no matter how assiduous or 

 how rigorous his employment, if he spends a few 

 minutes daily in iiseful reading and other modes of 

 improvement, is certain to be a man of future influ- 

 ence and respectability. That apprentice who seeks 

 most assiduously the interests of his employer, pro- 

 motes most effectually his own interest ; as charac- 

 ter is the best capital a young man can have for the 

 commencement of business. 



Mechanics, like farmers, make safe and enlightened 

 statesmen. They are well educated for legislators, 

 and for other offices, because educated in schools of 

 e.xperience. Who can be better qualified to make 

 laws for aiding the operations of business than those 

 engaged in these operations ? 



A machine has been brought into use in Eng- 

 land, which will make 35,000 letter envelopes in 

 a day. 



MANAGEMENT OF HOGS. 



For the last four or five years, I have fattened 

 spring pigs, believing them to be the most profitable. 

 The way I manage is this : I take pigs about the 

 middh; of ^March, and when they are about one 

 month old, I put them in a small lot contiguous to 

 the house, so that I can feed them regularly on milk 

 and Indian meal. I put the sows in good pasture, 

 and turn them in with the pigs three times per day, 

 until some time in July, when I turn the sows and 

 pigs into my orchard, where they get the most of 

 their living until October ; then I feed them on new 

 corn until the first of December, when I put them 

 up in a tight pen, and feed them on corn -meal and 

 mush until some time in January. When I kill them, 

 they average from two hundred and fifty to two hun- 

 dred and seventy-five pounds, and I am almost con- 

 vinced that they are more profitable than wintered 

 hogs weighing four hundred pounds ; but I stand 



open to conviction. Perhaps some of your able cor- 

 respondents may convince me otherwise. W. R. 



Merceh Coi'XTY, N. J., 1849. 

 — Fhiladdjyhia Dollar Newspaper. 



MANURE FOR FRUIT TREES. 



The best compost for " all fruit trees," (without 

 endeavoring to suit the specific wants of each partic- 

 ular fruit,) is a compost of peat, or swamp muck, 

 reduced, or rendered available to plants, by unleached 

 wood ashes. The peat should, if possible, be dug 

 and carted out in winter, though it will answer if 

 dug in the spring. As early in the spring as is con- 

 venient, mix thoroughly the wood ashes with the 

 peat, in the proportion of five bushels of good hard 

 wood ashes to one wagon load of peat. Let the heap 

 lie a week, turn it over to incorporate more freely, 

 and in two or throe weeks it will be fit for use. This 

 compost, or manure, contains (largely) lime, potash, 

 phosphate, and vegetable matter, the elements most 

 necessary to the growth and health of fruit trees 

 generally, and all in a state ready for food for the 

 trees. A FARMER. 



— Fhiladelphia Dollar Newspaper. 



TOP-DRESSING FOR GRASS LANDS. 



Bones dissolved in muriatic acid will be a good 

 top-dressing for grass lands. Boiled will be more 

 easily dissolved than raw bones. They must be put 

 in a vessel, wetted till they will take up no more 

 water, and then have the acid poured over them. — 

 Farmer's Herald. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



Colonel Libbeus Chase, of Cornish, N. H., who has 

 paid great attention to seedling grapes, and has 

 raised several valuable varieties, has sent us the fol- 

 lowing kinds — Nizola : this is a sweet grape, of me- 

 dial size, ripening about the middle of September. 

 The quality is very good, and its early ripening gives 

 it an itnportance. Earli/ Isabella is a very pleasant 

 fruit, resembling its parent, the Isabella, in quality. 

 We think the quality is hardly equal to the original, 

 but it might not be well ripened. The bunch is 

 large and compact, and in berry it is much larger 

 than the Isabella. This fruit ripens the latter part 

 of September, and it keeps remarkably well. We 

 have them now in fine condition. The Beaverdam is 

 of a high vinous flavor, resembling the Catawba, ex- 

 cepting it is more acid. It appears to be a good 

 wine grape, with the use of sugar, to modify its acidity; 

 and Colonel Chase informs us that he has made good 

 wine of this grape. It ripens the latter part of Sep- 

 tember, about a month earlier than the Catawba; 

 therefore it may answer as a wine grape in regions 

 too far north for the Catawba. The Beaverdam has 

 a very large and compact bunch, and a large berry. 

 We know but little of the habits of these grapes, 

 though we have recently had them under experi- 

 ments. The Nizola is rather tender. We have also 

 of Colonel Chase several other varieties, of which 

 we are not prepared to give an opinion. In previous 

 years, we received from the same source Coon and 

 Strawberry grapes. The Coon is of a small size, but 

 it is sweet and pleasant, and it ripens the last of 

 August, v,-hich is a'valuable property. The Straw- 



