1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



29 



its speedy and thorough eradication, is to plow 

 them in narrow fuiTows — say six inches in width, 

 with a sharp plow. In this way every root Avill be 

 cut off or detached, and if the soil be immediately 

 and thoroughly harrowed and laid down to grass, 

 the thistles will soon disappear. When thistles 

 spring up in vacant lots, by the road-side, and in 

 fence corners about the premises, mowing at the 

 period of inflorescence, or when most of the plants 

 are in full bloom, for several seasons in succes- 

 sion, will be quite likely to destroy them. 



When the thistle obtains footing in pastm-e 

 lands, and when plowing to effect their eradication 

 is impracticable, the scythe must be put in use as 

 suggested above, and as a goncrai thing, may be 

 employed with good success if faithfully persevered 

 in. If, after mowing the tops — which, if possible, 

 should be done when the thistle is in full bloom — 

 salt be sprinkled upon the stumps, and the enclo- 

 siu-e left free for sheep, the labor of eradication 

 will be more speedy and complete. This is a much 

 more economical method than extracting by hand, 

 which is tedious, and not always a successful pro- 

 cess. On clayey loam, the thistle floiu'ishes with 

 greater vigor, and appears to l)e much more tena- 

 cious of life, than on soils of an arenaceous, or 

 sandy texture. Although it takes root as readily 

 on the latter as on the former, and attains, ordi- 

 narily, a full development, yet it yields more read- 

 ily to cleansing operations, and appears to be in 

 a great measure destitute of that vigorous hardi- 

 hood of constitution, which characterizes it when 

 gi'ov/ing on soils that are more clayey. 



The beautiful illustration of the thistle Avhich we 

 present above, is copied by permission from 

 ^'■Daritngtoii^s Weeds and Useful Plants," one of 

 the pleasantest books in our knowledge. Pub 

 lished by Saxton, Barker & Co., N. Y. 



For the Xeiv England Former. 

 AI«" EXAMPLE IN UNDEEDRAIITIIirG. 



Mr. Brown : — In a brief note of Nov. 16, pub- 

 lished in your paper of to-day, I spoke of my ob- 

 servations on processes of underdraining, that I 

 had seen the present season, on farms in this vi- 

 cinity. The minutes I then had in mind have 

 since passed into other hands. But as it may in- 

 terest some of your many readers to know vrhat is 

 doing in this impoi-tant branch of husbandry, I 

 will endeavor to sketch briefly what I then con- 

 tem])lated. 



The most extensive experiment I have seen was 

 on the Pickman farm, (so called,) in South Salem. 

 It exte'ided over more than five acres of flat, swam- 

 jiy land, situated between the Mansion House and 

 the Forest River road. Various i:ttenipts have been 

 made, in years past, to bring this land into condi- 

 tion for culture, by throwing it into beds of 30 or 

 40 feet in width, and excavating a main ditch 

 through the centre — all of which very imperfectly 

 relieved it. The present proprietor determined to 



try what could be done by tile draiv^s ; accordingly 

 he ]n-ocured an accurate survey and level of the 

 field, and employed experts to lay his drains, 

 chiefly of threc-iiicli tile, at distances varying from 

 twenty to forty feet. This has been thoroughly 

 done over the whole field. It was so early done, 

 that the field was planted with the various kinds 

 of vegetables cultivated in this vicinity. The in- 

 crease of cro]), over anything before pro(iuced on 

 the same land, has fully paid the expense of the 

 draining process in all its parts, leaving the land 

 worth, at least, tliree hiinih-ed dollars \)cv acre — be- 

 ing more than double what it Avould have before 

 been estimated at. A specific account of the entire 

 opcrati ^n will soon appear in the Essex Transac- 

 tions, now in press, and for which the first premi- 

 um on underdraining was awarded by the trustees. 



Other experiments were examined, of drains 

 made of stones gathered from the land, but as 

 these are not worthy to be named, where tile can 

 be obtained, I forbear to speak of them in detail. 



Our whole community are under great obliga- 

 tions to your brother French, for the very valuable 

 instruction he has condensed on "Farm Drainage." 

 If I do not mistake, he has pointed out the mode 

 of increasing the value of Massachusetts farms 

 more than any other single operation that has been 

 named. I would give more for his underdraining 

 process, than for all the "specific fertilizers" that 

 were ever thought of. J. w. P. 



Soidh Danvers, i\"or. 26, 1859. 



For the Xezo England Farmer. 



EMPLOYMENT FOR WINTER EVENINGS 

 AND STORMY DAYS. 



FARMERS' OPPORTUNITY FOR JIKNT.VI, I.MPROVEJIENT. 



With the majority of laboring farmers there is 

 but little time left for intellectual improvement, 

 after the weekly papers are read, during a large 

 portion of the year, ]>erhaps from April to October 

 or November ; but the long evenings of the re- 

 maining part of the year, and the stormy and 

 severely cold days of Winter, when out-door la- 

 bor is im])ossiblc or exceedingly unpleasant, af- 

 ford opportunities for mental culture to every far- 

 mer, that should not be neglected. The value o. 

 these opportunities, if well improved, can hardly 

 be over-estimated ; yet, I fear their utility is poor- 

 ly ap])reciated by many of our farmers. They are 

 too often whiled away listlessly, resulting in no 

 good, if not in positive evil, from habits acquired 

 by idleness. I wish, simply, to remind those of my 

 brother farmers who may need it, of the impor- 

 tance of these golden moments of leisure, and of 

 what may be gained by a proper use of them. To 

 yovmg farmers, and to farmers' sons, would I es- 

 pecially direct the few words I have to say. 



Seneca has remarked : "As the soil, however 

 rich it may be, cannot be productive without cul- 

 ture, so the mind, without cultivation, can never 

 produce good fruit." And if the soil will not pro- 

 duce good returns without some sort of cultivation, 

 upon what known princijjle can we expect thai 

 the mind will come into that state of improvement 

 that will enable us to act intelligently in all the 

 matters of our every-day business, without some 

 kind of cultivation, without effort on our part to 

 fliat end ? While we labor in cultivating the soil 

 the greater part of the year, that we may reap 



