46 



NEW ENGI>AND FARMER. 



Jan. 



gathered eighty bushels ; my crop avouIcI have 

 amounted to fully Uvo hundred bushels, had not 

 one acre of plants been winter-killed ; they are 

 more liable to be killed by a very severe winter, 

 like the last two, than the native vine. 



In any part of Massachusetts where the native 

 blackberry flourishes, upon land that will grow 

 seventy-live bushels of corn to the acre, one 

 hundred bushels of I^awtons will be no more than 

 an average crop. With some experience in the 

 cultivation and sale of the berries, were I to set 

 two acres, one would be Lawton and the other 

 Dorchester. Among the vines which I set three 

 years ago, were one hundred Xewman's Thorn- 

 less, and, so far as I have proved them, they are 

 utterly worthless. 



The Dorchester, unless the Lawton is fully 

 ripened, is much the best berry, but for a table 

 berry and for cooking purposes, when fully ma- 

 tured, the Lawton has no su])erior. s. H. I. 



Lincoln, Mass., Nov., ISod. 



Remarks. — We are glad to learn that the Law- 

 ton succeeds so near us, and should be glad to 

 know whether any of S. H. L's ripened so that 

 those who only eat sweet fruit would have rel- 

 ished them ? We have not, nor have our neigh- 

 bors, been able to accomplish this. 



LAND PLANTED WITH POTATOES THAT ILVD BEEN 

 PASTURED WITH HOGS. 



Have any of your readers planted land v/ith po- 

 tatoes which had been pastured with hogs the pre- 

 vious season ? What was the result ? I have 

 about two acres upon which a large number of 

 hogs have run this summer, and I should like to 

 know what crop I can raise next year to the best 

 advantage (corn excepted, it being too much shad- 

 ed by trees for that crop.) Any reply to the above 

 will be very thankfully received by a 



Worcester, Nov., 1859. Young Farmer. 



TOOLS FOR draining — TURNIPS AND POTATOES 



FOR CATTLE, MIXED WITH WHEAT AND 



CUT STRAW. 



I have been draining this fall, and have con- 

 cluded there should be some easier wa}' to make a 

 ditch, than with a shovel and spade, and my ob- 

 'ect now is, to inquire if there is an implement in 

 use that will, with horse or steam power, make 

 and clean a ditch, two and a half feet deep, by 

 once passing over the ground ? 



A few winters ago, I fed four oxen and four 

 cows on wheat and oat strav,-, from December to 

 April ; at the same time I gave the oxen one bush- 

 el of English turnips, divided among the four, and 

 one bushel of potatoes to the four cows. They all 

 went through the winter as well as I ever had any 

 on good ha)'. The oxen Avent through on the tur- 

 nips as well as the cows did on the potatoes, and 

 I consider the turnips and potatoes as good as can 

 be provided for winter feed — say one bushel to 

 eight young cattle each day. 



Horace Holliston. 



North Montpelier, Vt., 1859. 



Remarks. — Prof. Mapes, Editor of the Work- 

 ing Farmer, N. Y., invented and constructed a 

 ditching machine several years since, and Mr. J. 



J. Thomas, one of the editors of the Country Oen- 

 tleman, also devised and constructed one, but we 

 have not seen either of them in operation. We 

 learn that there is a new machine about to be in- 

 troduced for this purpose which will be cheap 

 and effective, and that a machine for making pipe 

 for draining purposes, will soon be forthcoming. 

 The pipe-making machine, we understand, will be 

 so compact and portable as to be easily removed 

 from farm to farm where clay is found, while at 

 the same time the price will be so moderate as L^ 

 make it an object for a person having ten to twen- 

 ty acres to drain to purchase one. 



CANADA PEAS — PIN WORMS. 



Messrs. Editors : — Will you allow me to irv- 

 quire through the Farmer the value of Canada 

 peas, as compared v/ith corn, for feetl for cattiJe, 

 horses and swine ? Would they do well ground 

 and fed with cut hay or straw ? I wish to say, for 

 the benefit of all interested, that Lidia wheat is 

 the best remedy for pin worms in horses that I 

 have ever tried. Adin Bugbee. 



Snow's Store, Vt., Nov. 25, 1859. 



For the Xew Enf/land Farmer. 



TRAWSACTIOlSrS OF THE MIDDLESEX AG- 



BICULTUSAL SOCIETY 



For the Year 1850. 



By the kindness of an unknown hand, am I fa- 

 vored with this neatly ])rinted pamphlet of 40 pa- 

 ges. It is indeed "mvlbnn in j>a'.vo." What is 

 wanting in extended detail of culture, such as is 

 found in many other society publications, is made 

 up by condensed general views of culture, and 

 keenness of wit. I rejoice to find a voice from the 

 pulpit in aid of the farmer. I have long been of 

 the opinion, that if our clergymen would appro- 

 j)riatc one-half the time now wasted on antique 

 theology, in familiarizing themselves with the cul- 

 ture of the garden and the field, and teaching their 

 supporters hov/ this can be most advantageously 

 done, they would do a good service in their day 

 and generation. 



I was particularly pleased with the remarks on 

 education in our schools, contained in this pam- 

 ])hlet. I hope the intelligent President of this So- 

 ciety will endeavor to have this preaching devel- 

 oped in practice. I know of no one who can do 

 more or better than he, if he should undertake it. 



December, 1859. Essex. 



Sea Weed for Wadding. — The Paris papers 

 speak of a new industry that has arisen in France 

 from the exigencies of the times, and one which is 

 destined to supply one of the necessities of that 

 rage for destruction which is becoming so appa- 

 rent. Government has ordered the systematic 

 gathering of the sea weed which is washed on the 

 rocks of the coasts of Normandy and Brittany to 

 serve as wadding for artillery — it being found to 

 answer the purpose admirably — keeping the iron 

 cool, and not liable to ignition — like the cotton 

 wad hitherto in use. 



