318 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



ARPILS, 1S«4, 



ANII HOBTICI'LTUKAL RKGISTER. 



Edited by Joseph Breck. 



Boston, Wednesday, Apkil 3, 1844. 



SPRING WORK— FKNCES. 



The farmer who did nut make every possible prepara- 

 lion for his spring work (luring ihe ronipiirntively leis- 

 nrc months <if winter, will find himself in a sad predua- 

 mem now ihat April has arrived, and the ohjecis to he 

 attended to seem to multiply around him. 



The Ciilculaiino; /armer has alrpiidy finished culling 

 Ills wood for the fire, and probnhly has Iba pleasure of 

 seeing it snugly stowed .iway in his wood-house, and 

 the chipg neatly raked up and ready fiir tho use o( the 

 good hoiise-wile, to " boil her pot." 



The f.ncirig stuff' has all been prepared, and piled up; 

 and as sion as the Irost is out of the ground, he will be 

 ready to repair the old or set his new fence. This is 

 one of the; first things to be attended to, for nothing 

 looks more slovenly than a broken, crooked fence. It 

 is also vry important to prevent the neighbors' stray 

 cattle from entering the pastures and fields, poaching 

 lip Ihe ground while in a soft state, and biting and break- 

 ing down the young trees. Let the work be done 

 thoroughly, in such a manner that you will not be obliged 

 to leav.) your work in planting, hoeinir, haying, or any 

 other time, to drive out the cattle, and patch up the 

 fence. 



The fences upon the road, pi.rlicularly, should be at- 

 tended to. Must of our New England farmers have 

 stone walls, and these if well laid, require but very little 

 repairs. Replace the stones lliat may have been thrown 

 down by the heedless boys, who are not generally very 

 particular as they scramble over walls, (if they do not 

 break their leg.-,) even if lialf the wall falls. Sie that 

 your fences are of the legal height. Those between 

 your own and your neighbor '.< land should be carefully 

 surveyed, and if his section of the lencc is bad, give him 

 a hint to make it secure, by setting the e.vaniple yourself 

 on j/our line; and if there be any breaking in or out 

 during the summer, let it not be said it was through 

 any defect in your part of the fence. 



Much trouble between neighbors often originates 

 from imperfect, broken, or low fences. A poor liince 

 makes bn^achy, troublesome, cattle. For the sake of 

 peace, then, with y„ur neighbors, for your own reputa- 

 tion, and to prevent bad liabits in your cattle, set about 

 repairing and resetting your fences in good earnest, now, 

 without delay, before your spring work is more pressing. 



MR. COLMANS EUROPEAN TOUR. 

 The Bub.scribers to Mr Colman's Reports are begin- 

 ning to feel anxious to know when his long expected 

 work is lo appear ; ,ind we hiivo many inquiries to that 

 cffecl every day. In the first place, his work was re- 

 tarded by an accident which befel him in being thrown 

 from a horse, whenby he was considerably injured, 

 which confined him some time to the house. A note 

 from his publisher which we insert below, will give 

 Hotne further explanation relative to tie non-appearance 

 of his reports : 



.A/r £r//(or— The nmiiusciipt of the first of Mr Col- 

 man's repnrts, was all re:idy f.r the press on the Isl of 

 February last. It was then put into the printer's hands 

 (in London,) in order to publish on edition for the Eng- 

 lish mark, t, as many gentlemen th.r.^ )md expressed a 

 tttong desire to read and own the work. He expected, 



however, to send Ihe niimhir out by the steamer of the 

 4lli of IVlarch. The Caleilonia ariived, bringing letters 

 from Mr C. He writes me as follows : 



"1 never have been more mortified, than in not beinj 

 able to send you my first report, which has been at the 

 service of the piinter, and in his hands, long enough to 

 have been printed twice, had ho not sufi'ered it to be 

 crowded away by otiier work. Had I been able to gel 

 the manuscript, 1 sliould send it even now." 



'J'he printer promised to give it him in season lo come 

 out in the next sloamship, which leaves April 4th. 1 

 hope to have it ready for delivery to subscribers on the 

 titli of .May next. 



Air C. adds: "By the time my first No. is out, my 

 second will, 1 trust, be ready lor the press, and if my 

 health is spared, I have confident liopes of getting four 

 numbers out by the let of June." 



A. D. PHELPS. 



Boston, March 25, 1844. 



EXTRA LARGE FAT OXEN. 



We were highly interested last week at the sight of 

 some remarkable fat oxen, of fine proportion, which 

 were for sale by Col. Joel Cliapin, of Springfield, Mass. 

 at the Brighton market. According to the report of the 

 clerk of the market, tliey exceeded even the famous 

 Rochester Premium cattle, which were sold there during 

 the past winter, the meat of which attracted so much 

 attention in Quincy market. They were raised from 

 calves, by Mr Sumner Chapiii, of Springfield. Tliey 

 were a mixture of the Durham and our native breed, 

 exhibiting the peculiar IrailB of the former— giving, in 

 our estimation positive proof of the superior excellence 

 ofthis breed of cattle for the shambles. They were 

 considered by good judges to be the finest fat cattle 

 ever exhibited at Brighton market. Their form and 

 limb are very symmetrical. We understand by Col. 

 Chapin that they have been sl,ill-fed for the last 17 

 nionihs. 



Mr Chapin took tho highest premium fur these cattle 

 at the cattle-show of Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin 

 counties last fall, and it was remarked by the committee 

 that they were the finest fat oxen ever exhibited at any 

 of the fairs of that Society. 



SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN ASA FERTIL 

 ZLR. 



The article in this paper by our intelligent corrcspoi 

 dent, L. Barllett, Esq , giving the highly important n 

 recently formed views of Liebig respecting th? valun 

 sulphuretted hydrogen as a fertilizer, and facts corrol 

 rative of his theory, is of so great interest to all co 

 cerned in agriculture in our section of country, that ij 

 Ihink no apology need be made for devoting so much 

 our space to its insertion. If sulphur-compounds i 

 such powerful fertilizers as is represented, the knot 

 edge of the fact is of the utmost importance to our Ni 

 England farmers in particular, with whom the enrichi 

 of the soil is an object paramount to all others pertan 

 ing to their husbandry. 



Success to scientific investigations :— though they m 

 not— (and perhaps it is far from desirable that th 

 should)— develop tiutlis that will enable the farmer 

 earn his bread without the sweat of his brow, they I 

 fair to teach him how he may conduct his business w 

 far greater profit and success. Let no one, then, l;gh 

 esteem their efforts who are endeavoring by the light 

 science to discover and reveal the mysteries of naturi 

 proces.ses, with the laudable intent to "speed the plov 

 and promote the prosperity of its followers— up.m wlii 

 depends, in no small measure, the prosperity of. 

 classes, and the welfare of nations. 



Corn Oil. — The St. Louis Republican says thai 

 gentleman lesiding near ihal city, has recently coi 

 mence.l the manufacture of oil, of fine quality, frc 

 corn. It is said to burn with a clear,.steady li^ht, 

 every respect equal to sperm or lard oil, without t 

 smoke which usually attends vegetable oils, and w 

 not congeal in the coldest weather. 



The Commiltee on Agriculture, of the New Yo 

 Legislature, in their report, remark that " they belie' 

 full one-third of all agricultural labor is literally throM' 

 away, by its misapplication." 



DR. VALENTINE'S ARTIFICIAL GUANO. 

 We would call the attention of horticulturists and far- 

 mers to an artificial guano prepared by Dr. Valentine, 

 which m.ay be seen and obtained at tho ofHce of the 

 N. E. Farmer. The Dr. is of opinion that this prepara- 

 tion is fully equal to the natural guano. II we may 

 judge from the strengih of the ingredients composing 

 the article, we should suppose it to be a very powerful 

 manure. 



The great object of offering this artificial guano is, 

 that those who have a desire to experiment, may have 

 it in their power to try both the artificial and natural, 

 with other manures to test their comparative value. 



As we have not tried tho manufactured or the iin- 

 porled guano, we have nothing to say fiir or against 

 them; but from the experience of others, there can be 

 no doubt of tlieir eflicacy, when applied lo particular 

 soils, in a judicious manner. 



This artificial guano is put up in boxes of about 12 

 pounds, at 50 cents per box. The imported guano is 

 .sold at G cents per pound by the b.ig, but by the small 

 quantify, at 8 cents. 



The man who lives in vain, lives icorse than in vain ; 

 and he who lives to no purpose, lives lo a bad pur- 

 pose. 



OlilTUARY. 



It is our painful duty lo announce the decease, in tl 

 midst of his usefulness, of Willis Gatlord, Esq., pri 

 cipal editor of the Albany Cultivator. He died at h 

 residence, Limerock Farm, Onondaga county, N. Y., ( 

 the 27ih ult., after an illness of thirtythree hours. 



Mr Gavlorp, as a practical writer on agriculture, h. 

 left few equals, and we believe no superior, on this sit 

 the Atlantic. The volumes of the old Genesee Farm 

 (which he formerly edited,) and " The Cultivator," co 

 stitule a monument of his services that will perpetua 

 his memory in connection with that of Buel and Ga; 

 NETT, Peters and Fessenoen, and other dislinguislu 

 laborers in the great cause of American agriculture, ac 

 whose names and labors are identified with its history. 



As we had not the pleasure of being intimately a 

 quainled with Mr Gavlorp, we must leave it to othe 

 to do justice to his virtues as a man. But as an adv. 

 cate of Ihe interests, and a counsellor for the prosperil 

 of our farmers, wo can speak of his worth from know 

 edge,— and when we say that he has conducted wii 

 undiminished ability, the periodical which attained sue 

 distinguished eminence under the miinagement of ill 

 lamented Buel, we pronounce a panegyric on his wort 

 which we think justified by his merits. 



But he is now beyond ihe reach of human eulogy c 

 detraction: the hand so late employed in useful labo 

 is palsied in death : but his works survive him, and wi 

 Continue lo exert an influence long, long after his bod 

 shall have mouldered into dust. May his mantle fai 

 upon his successor. 



