84 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPT. ai, 1816. 



ifOTES. 



' When breezfls arc suft and skies are fair, 

 I Kte;il an hour irorn study and care, 

 And hie me away to the woodland scene. 

 Where wanders the stream with waters of green.' 



Bkvant. 

 Forest Trees. — Darwin or Gibbon or some- 

 body else, has said in relation to our country 



'Man is the only growth that dwindles here.' — 

 But it would seem by the subsequent accounts of 

 the dimensions of certain trees in England com- 

 pared with those in our country, that he is mis- 

 taken in this respect, at least, if in no other. 



White, in Ijis history of Selborne, mentions a 

 broad leaved elm, or wych hazel, as having for- 

 merly stoed in his vicinity, which after having 

 lost a leading bough, in the great storm in 1703, 

 equal to a moderate tree, yet when felled rontain- 

 ed eight loads of timber, and being too bulky for 

 carriage, was sawn off at seven feet above the 

 butt, where it measured eight feet in diameter. — 

 A wych elm mentioned in Evelyn's Sylva, in Sir 

 Walter Baggot's park, in the county of Stiafford, 

 after two men had been five days felling, lay 40 

 yards in length, and was at the stool* 17 feet in 

 diameter ; it broke in the fall ; 14 loads of wood ; 

 48 in the top ; yielding eight pair of naves, 8660 

 ft. of boards and planks, and cost .£10 17s. the 

 sawing, the whole estimated 97 tons. Pitt's 

 Elm, in the vale of Gloucester, was, in 1783, 

 about 80 feet high, and the smallest girth of the 

 principal trunk was 16 feet. The celebrated 

 Crawthorpe Oak within three feet of the gi-ound 

 measures 16 yards in circumference, and close by 

 the ground 26 yds. The Shire Oak cov ers nearly 

 707 square yards; the branches stretch iuto three 

 counties. Damory's Oak, in Dorsetshire, at the 

 ground, was in circumference 68 feet, and when 

 decaying, became hollow, capable of contaiiiing 

 20 men. Many others are mentioned in the abo ve 

 Work, of imr.iense dimensions. Plot, in his histo- 

 iry of Staffordshire, makes mention of a table, ot" 

 ohe solid plank, above 75 feet long, and a yard 

 hto-a^ through the whole length, to be seen in 

 Dudley Castle. 



We have to regret that our country, New-Eng- 

 land at least, furnishes no such momimentsof the 

 growth of ages, no such fathers of the fo/est, — 

 Few trees of any considerable size or height 

 are to be found, and they are fast disappearing. — 

 One, a hemlock, was recently seen, from which 

 five saw logs had been cut, from 10 to 12 feet 

 each, the lare-est froiri four to five feet diameter, 

 smallest about three, remarkable for the uniform- 

 ity of the size only ; and trees of fourteen or fif- 

 teen feet circumference may be found, but it is 

 believed they are not common. 



The Button Ball, otherwise called the Syca- 

 more, the plane tree of naturalists, is a tree of 

 singular beauty and of very rapid growth ; prob- 

 ably no tree equals it in this respect. This tree 

 is seldom foimd except on the borders of streams; 

 becomes hollow when of large size, and is used 

 for leaching ashes and depositories of grain, &c. 

 In the Western and Southern States it attains an 

 immense size. Some large and valuable ones 

 are to be seen in Northampton, and some lofty 

 and handsome specimens in the west part of this 

 town, and why they are neglected to be cultivated 

 more generally is matter of surprise. 



The Bass, or Lime tree, is a beautiful flower-' 

 ing tree, of quick growth, noticeable for the size 

 and deep green of its leaves, bearing small Ix r- 

 riae growing in clusters on a small stock hanging 

 from underside the leaf near the centre, and iji 

 taste resembling the chesnut — and is in itself a 

 curiosity — it is a tree little known or noticed 

 (much less than its merits deserve) except for the 

 stock it furnishes for the workman's use. The 

 individual specimen noticed by the writer has not 

 this year the usual appendage of the berries, and 

 the leaves are much smaller than usual. 



The stump or remains of a stump of a tree, 

 was to be seen in the centre of a street in the north 

 part of the village of Springfield, a few years 

 ago, of immense dimensions. What was above 

 ground and formed properly a part ol it, although 

 the roots were above ground for a considerable 

 distance, could not have been much less, if any, 

 than fifteen feet or more in diameter, (the v. riter 

 quotes from a recollection of twenty years, and 

 may be mistaken, but regrets that he had not 

 measmed it, and inquired into its history.) This 

 tree at any rate, must have been the growth of 

 centuries. 



Douglass speaks of a white pine, cut near Dun- 

 stable, N. H. in 1789, seven feet eight inches di- 

 ameter, and Dr Belknap gives the dimensions of 

 the largest pines sent out to England by the first 

 settlers. 



The martins disappeared from their houses at 

 the usual time about the 20tli August — in one 

 box however in this village they are still to be 

 .seen; aj'pearances indicate that their yoimg are 

 not yet able to perform the journey to a more 

 hospitable clime Franklin Mercury. 



'A shoot from the bottom stem of plaats, a slock. 



Webster. 



Comparative Profits of Cows and Sheep. — 

 From my own observations, and other lights on 

 the subject which I have been able to obtain, I 

 judge that on an average, it will require one ton 

 and a half of hay, or its equivalent in other keep- 

 ,'ng to winter a cow. This will be rarely estimat- 

 ed at less than $12. To keep her through the 

 su.'nmer will require about two and a half acres 

 of f,'odd pasture. This will be estimated differ- 

 ently, according to different valuations of land, 

 but 1 \^ill say it is equal to $7. The interest on 

 the capital vested in the cow. may he 1.50. Ac- 

 cording t» this estimate, which I am satisfied does 

 not vary far from the truth, the annual expenses 

 incident to keeping a row, are equal to 20.50. — 

 It is generally understood Jhat it costs about as 

 much to keep a cow one year a5 she is worth. — 

 Such appears to be the fact, and yet .she is a very 

 profitable animal, It is believed none is more so. 

 Th^ value of her produce is next to be estimated. 

 A good cow, (and when I say good, I mean no 

 other than an ordinary cow of the native breed,) 

 may under proper management be expected to 

 produce annually at least 20O pounds of butter — 

 This will be yielding at the rate of about foui 

 and a lialf pounds a week for ten months, during 

 which time it is supposed the cow will give milk. 

 The butter then at ninepence, the lowest price, 

 will be worth $25. The skimmed milk, which 

 may be given to the calf, or to hogs, may be 

 worth $3. The dung which the cow will be the 

 means of making, may be worth $1. According 

 to this estimate, the annual produce of the cow 

 will be equal to $29, and the balance standing to 

 her credit, after paying the expenses of keeping 

 her, will be $8,50. Nothing is here estiraated for 



the expenses incident to taking care of the cow, 

 and making the butter. Be tliesc what they may, 

 it is clear that a handsome profit will remain after 

 all charges are paid. Butter making is probably 

 the most profitable nse to which dairy cows can 

 be applied, especially when the scale of business 

 is small, and only a few cows are kept. But 

 when cheese making is the object, the average 

 produce of cows, in that article, is said to lange 

 between three and four hundred pounds an- 

 nually. 



Ill regard to sheep, 1 a.ssume it as my data, 

 that it costs about the same to keep twelve sheep 

 through the year as one cow. It requires also 

 about the sanre investment of capital to gain pr)s. 

 session of that number of sheep, as to become th>i 

 owner of a cow. It may appear to cost less to 

 winter twelve sheep than one cow, because sheep 

 are not usually fed from the barn so long as cattle 

 by ^evei-al weeks. Yet they derive their living 

 from the farm, and are justly chargeable for what 

 they consume. If then it costs the same to keep 

 twelve sheep as one cow, which I am satisfied 

 will not vary far from the truth, the expense of 

 keeping that number of sheep through a year will, 

 according to preceding estimates, amount to 

 $20,50. Let us see now what will be the value 

 of their i)roduce. 



The fleeces of twelve sheep may weigh 36 lbs. 

 This quantity of wool, at 50 cents a pound, may 

 be worth $18. The lambs which the flock will 

 l)roduce, may be worth $8. The annual income 

 then from twelve sheep, will he ,$24, while the 

 expenses incident to keeping them will be $20,50. 

 The result is a clear profit of $3,50. From the.se 

 estimates, it appears that keeping sheep is a profit- 

 able branch of husbandry, but I think it appears 

 that keeping good dairy cows is still more profita- 

 ble. In either case the husbandman receives 

 considerable more than a full compensation for 

 all his labor, and the use of the land which is 

 devoted to these pvir|)Oscs. Under such circum- 

 stances, how can he fail of becoming a thrifty 

 farmer. — Genesee Farmer. 



American Wood superior to 3Iahogant. — 

 We saw standing in the arcade hall recently, n 

 well made and highly polished heam'ejm, made by 

 Shaw and Tucker, St. Paul street, Rochester. — 

 This sample of the skill of our artisans is not 

 only highly creditable to them, but also to the 

 city in which they live. But, aside from the 

 skill manifested in the workmanship of the bu- 

 reau, it possesses interest, from the fact that the 

 veneering, exhibiting a polish of the highest grade, 

 is the product of the American forest, and pre- 

 pared to the sculptor's hand at the veneering mill 

 of Mr Whi|)ple, in this city. Tlie veneering is 

 of black walnut, and was introduced by Mr Whip- 

 ple, as a subslitiite for mahogany, about two years 

 sin(!e ; and though its use is of such recent date, 

 it is superceding mahogany wherever it comes in 

 competition with it. It has already become a 

 general favorite in Canada, among those who seek 

 to adorn their mansions with the choicest furni- 

 tnre. The black walnut is rapidly coming into 

 favor in England, though its introduction there is 

 of quite recent date. This wood, from which 

 such rare specimens of art are produced, is 

 abundant in the American forests; and though it 

 has hitherto suffered comparative neglect, itsccmi! 

 destined lo celebrity surpassing that of the famed 

 mahogany. — Rochester Daily Adv. 



