1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



141 



visions, if they should happen to have so much at 

 one time. 



Some persons inquii-e what has caused the in- 

 terest now taken in farming ? I say in answer 

 that it is the increased reading of agricultural 

 publications, and town agricultural societies and 

 clubs. Where we see a farm under good cultiva- 

 tion, and all kinds of fruit trees that look healthy, 

 we can safely say that farmer reads, and most 

 likely the Farmer is one of his papers, together 

 with some good books. I attribute my success in 

 farming considerably to this. G. s. 



LtamJM&ter, Mass., Jan., 1860. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



CLTJB-FOOTED CABBAGES. 



I notice in the last number of the Farmer, an 

 article from the Michigan Farmer on the subject 

 of club-footed cabbages. It appears to me the \yvi- 

 ter is somewhat fanciful in supposing that the 

 cabbage, in a strait for moisture, attempts to imi- 

 tate the bulbous rooted vegetables to avoid the ef- 

 fects of the drought, and so assumes a club foot. 

 In ray youth, I was familiar vvith clulvfooted cab- 

 bages, as they were a constant pest in my father's 

 garden ; that garden was far from being a dry 

 one. I scarcely ever knew it to fail on that ac- 

 count. That fact weighs strongly against this 

 Michigan theory. Our garden was an old one, 

 and used as such a long time. We could not de- 

 pend on getting healthy cabbage plants in the 

 garden, and had to usf^ a patch of new ground in 

 some other place, or depend on our neighbors. 

 Frequently, good liealthy plants set in that garden 

 would become club or pumple-footed, as we used 

 to call them. We thou attributed this tendency 

 to club foot to its being old in cultivation, and 

 filled with some worm or maggot that got into the 

 root of the plant and irritated it so as to produce 

 the club ; like the sting of an insect in an oak 

 leaf, which produces oak ap])les, so called. These 

 apples are well known to be nurseries of a nu- 

 merous progeny. So the sting of a Canada plum 

 will produce a long, leathery, purse-like covering 

 of a new race of the insect. 



I have of late years seldom noticed the club 

 foot in cabbages, but I have seen some once or 

 twice in my garden in a very moist place. I do 

 not remember of examining the club feet to find 

 the grub that caused them, but the impression 

 was so deep and general that no such examina- 

 tion was thought necessary. I have supposed 

 that the grub or fly that deposited the egg so com- 

 mon sixty years ago, might, like many others, 

 have become temporarily extinct, or nearly so, in 

 certain localities, and would, like the caterpillar 

 or canker worm, again at some time renew their 

 mischief. 



This Michigan writer, if he observes carefully, 

 will find this supposed expedient of the cabbages 

 to gather moisture by means of a club foot to be 

 a total failure, as the first indication of this dis- 

 ease is the wilting of the plant in a hot sun, while 

 the healthy plants, with their natural fibrous roots, 

 look green, and are indeed in the height of their 

 thrift. So much for theory, not sustained by 

 facts. RuFUS McIntiee. 



Farsonsfidd, Me^ Jan. 2, 1860. 



MASS. STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture 

 had a session at the State House in Boston, com- 

 mencing on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 1860, nearly every 

 member beuig present. An earnest spirit seemed 

 to animate the whole Board, and various topics 

 were introduced, discussed and decided upon. Mr. 

 Atwateu, of Springfield, reported upon the sub- 

 ject of Root Crops. Mr. R. S. Fay, of Lynn, 

 read a report upon Agricultural Education, which 

 led to a most interesting discussion on the sub- 

 ject, and clearly showing that this matter is con- 

 sidered of vital importance, to secure a better un- . 

 derstanding of the principles and laws which gov- 

 ern the art, and upon which its general prosperi- 

 t)' and profit depend. Dr. LoRlXG, of Salem, of- 

 fered the following resolutions, which were adopt- 

 ed with great unanimity : 



Itenolre /■■, That the Committee upon Agricultural Edncatioa 

 be and hereby are authorized to obtain an elementary manual of 

 agriculture for the use of our common schools, to be submitted 

 to tliis Board for approval. 



Required, That the said Committee be requested to cause to 

 be introduced the aforesaid manual, when approved by this 

 Board, into the common scliools of llassachusetts, in tlie manrer 

 provided for the introduction of school books by the laws of the 

 Commonwealth, and that said committee be authorized to apply 

 to the Le.sislatura for the passage of an act for the accomplisli- 

 ment of this object. The committee entrusted with this duty 

 are Messrs. R. 8. Fay, of Lynn, M. P. Wilder, of Dorchester, 

 SiMOK Browx, of Concord, G. B. Lorixg, of Salem, and Jabez 

 Fisher, of Fitchburg. 



Mr. CuARLES-G. Davis, of Plymouth, made a 

 carefully drawn report upon the subject of Mar- 

 ket Days. 



At a meeting of the Board, Jan. 5, the follow- 

 ing preamble and resolution were passed : 



Ifherens, it is made the duty of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture, among other things, to make such suggestions to the Leg- 

 islature, with regard to the interestsof agriculture, as may seem 

 advisable, 



Ite.io'red, That in the opinion of this Board it is not expedient 

 to incorijorate any more societies receiving the bounty of the 

 State. 



^^VIl-fTERING STOCK. 



Tlie following report of a discussion of this 

 topic, at a meeting of farmers in Milford, N. H., 

 is furnished by the editor of the Journal oj" Agri- 

 culture : 



Zebcdiah Abbott, of Wilton, mixes good and 

 poor hay together, instead of feeding separately, 

 and believes it pays well. Thinks stock should 

 come out better, or as well, at least, in spring as 

 they were in the fall. Will use his straw to mix 

 with his hay as he puts it into the barn next sum- 

 mer — stock will eat it all clean. Keeps cows — 

 feeds them in the morning with hay and turnips — 

 turns out at eleven — ties up at three P. M., and feeds 

 hay ; at dark feeds with shorts, cob-meal and cot- 

 ton seed, mixed and cooked in scalding water. It 

 is a good cow that gives seven quarts of milk a 

 day during winter. The speaker wished to know 

 if more Indian meal should be used. The Presi- 

 dent said that enough Indian meal should be fed 

 to kcej) the cow in good flesh and in good heart. 



Mr. Ilazeltine, of Amherst, said he raised young 

 stock, and wished to learn the best way of keep- 

 ing it. Don't believe in starving stock ; is iu fa- 



