ISGO. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



The second floor contains eight chambers, be- 

 sides bathing-room, dressing-rooms and closets. 

 The attics may be h'ft unfinished. 



Constructioji — This house maybe built of wood, 

 and covered in the common manner ■with clap- 

 boards. 



The roof of the main house projects 2^ feet, 

 and that of the L, l.J feet; the cornices are sup- 

 ported in brackets 3 inches thick. The windows 



that he was raising in their immediate neighbor- 

 hood. We held a family council on the subject, 

 and were unanimous in opinion that the unusual 

 cold weather had the same effect on the plants that 

 the keeping over one winter docs, and as last sea- 

 son was an uncommonly cold one, frost in every 

 month, it is not impossible, but altogether prob- 

 able, that the efiiect of cold on the young plants 

 produced the singular result. 



and doors, inside and outside have plain archi- 

 traves, 5 inches wide. 



Cost, in New England, about $3,500." 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE EFFECT OP FROST ON PLANTS. 



Mr. Editor: — In the December number of the 

 Montlihj Farmer, 1859, I noticed an article en- 

 titled "Facts for the Scientific," and signed "P. 

 .," Vermont, in which the writer relates a singu- 

 lar circumstance of a neighbor having planted a 

 field with French turnip seeds, and the young 

 plants all going to seed the same year. I once 

 had a similar phenomenon happen to a plot of 

 young beets, and presuming that the result may 

 be traceable to the same cause in both instances, I 

 will relate my experience. I do not remember 

 the exact date, but about 20 years ago, I had my 

 ground prepared, and beets planted as soon as the 

 season would permit. The seeds came up finely, 

 and the plants had reached the size of four and six 

 leaves, when the weather became very cold, and the 

 earth froze to the depth of two and three inches. 

 Fearing that my young beets would not make any 

 farther progress, I had another plot of ground pre- 

 pared immediately and planted with seeds from 

 the same lot with the first, but the plants in the 

 first planted bed lived, and after a few days re- 

 commenced growing. I had them thinned and cul- 

 tivated, but in two or three weeks discovered that 

 they were all going to seed. Not a root was pro- 

 duced larger than a person's finger, and of a tough, 

 woody substance, while the later planting produced 

 roots of the usual good quality. The stalks of the 

 first planting reached the height of two and a half 

 feet, when my husband ordered them to be ex- 

 terminated, fearing that the blossoms on the pre- 

 cocious plants might injure the crop of beet seed, 



I have known good crops of ruta baga turnips 

 raised from the same lot of seed for eight or_ ten 

 years in succession. The seeds were kept in a 

 cloth bag in a chamber not wholly excluded from 

 light and air, and the products of any seeds will, 

 undoubtedly, be perfect in their kind, solong as 

 their vitality is sufficient for germination. If 

 there are any seeds left of the lot from which that 

 field was soM-n last season, I hope that the experi- 

 ment of planting them will be tried again, and the 

 result given to the public. 



While on the subject of beet raising I will say 

 to the lovers of young beet-tops for greens, that it 

 is a good way to clear the cellar of the old beets 

 and set them' out early in the spring for sprouts, 

 as they can have them earlier, and in greater pro- 

 fusion, and save much labor and garden room ; 

 and if cooked while tender, they are equally good 

 with the young plants. IMlis. N. DARLING. 



New Haven, Conn., Jan. 28. 1860. 



Crops of Olden Time. — In one of his letters 

 written in England, the editor of the Country 

 Gentleman states a fact illustrative both of the 

 progress of English agriculture and of the length 

 of time which some of the English records cover. 

 In the year 1387, nearly five hundred yeai-s ago, 

 on the Manor farm of Hawstead, in Sufiblk coun- 

 ty, 66 acres of wheat produced 69 quarters of 

 grain ; and 26 acres of barley, 52 quarters and 2 

 bushels — that is, wheat at the rate of less than 8^ 

 bushels per acre, and the barley at the rate of 

 about 16 bushels. The present average produc- 

 tion of wheat, on the other hand, is calculated at 

 about 28 bushels per acre. 



CvTTiNG Butter in Cold \A^eather. — To cut 



a slice of butter from a large roll in cold weather 

 — first dip the knife in hot water, and all trouble 

 of breaking the butter will be avoided. 



