264 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



and submit for his consideration, our persuasion 

 that when his essay next goes through the press, 

 the table of average products per acre woukl be 

 made mora useful and less discreditable to Amer- 

 %■ ican farmers, if he would add another line, and 

 give the average or maximum of such crops as 

 have been oifered for premiums at any County, or 

 State Agricultural Society. 



Page 159. — ^1 Farmer's Barometer. — The praise 

 bestowed upon Mr. Timbv's improvement in ba- 

 rometers will doubtless make a good many of the 

 readers of the monthly Farmer turn, as we did, to 

 the advertisements to ascertain whether there 

 might there be found two items of information in 

 i*egard to this new barometer, which so much 

 praise makes it very desirable to know. The two 

 Items in regard to this new barometer which many 

 will wish to ascertain, are, in question-form, 

 these: 1, What is the special improvement or 

 invention introduced by Mr. Timby ? and 2, 

 What is the price of the barometer manufactured 

 by him, and where is it to be had ? The readers 

 of the monthly would like such answers to these 

 questions as Mr. TiMBY could most appropriately 

 supply them Anth by means of an advertisement. 

 They would like also to know whether his barom- 

 eter is a mercurial one, or an aneroid, or some- 

 thing different from either. If Mr. T. has adver- 

 tised in the weekly Farmer, and neglected doing 

 so in the monthly, because he thought the readers 

 of the latter rather "small potatoes," or not likely 

 to become purchasers of his wares, we can assure 

 him that some quite competent judges are of a 

 contrary opinion. Let him try. 



The chief reason why barometers are not more 

 in demand among farmers are these: L Their 

 uses and advantages are not clearly understood. 

 2. The price, if over five dollars, will always be a 

 hindrance to the general introduction of this use- 

 ful instrument ; 3. There 's a pretty common im- 

 pression that it requires more than usual skill or 

 intelligence to keep barometers in order, and to 

 understand aright the indications which they fur- 

 nish of changes in the weather. A smart peddler 

 might overcome the first and last of these obsta- 

 cles, and, if able to furnish a good-looking and 

 reliable article at or under five dollars, might do 

 quite a large business among farmers. 



Page 1G2. — Raising Pork. — Only once in twen- 

 ty years have our pigs been anywhere else but in 

 the pork barrel some time before Christmas, but 

 the experience of that winter furnished confirma- 

 tion of the statement here made, viz., that a bush- 

 el of corn in September or October will fatten 

 more than one and a half in Decemboi*. 



Page 165. — Soaking Seed Wheat. — Good man- 

 agers will act on the hint here given, and try it 

 either on a large or a small scale. 



Page 166. — Hints on Sheep Management. — 

 Good managers will do pretty much as Mr, Green 

 does, and especially never allow ewes to breed 

 till three years old. More Anon. 



Honey Bees. — Mr. W. H. Robinson, of Kane 

 Co., 111., writes to the Prairie Farmer, that farm- 

 ers in his section are giving more than usual at- 

 tention to bee-keeping ; that there are near 200 

 swarms within the compass of two miles, and in- 

 quires, '^an the country be overstocked ?" 



AGRICDTiTUKE IM" A BOY'S SCHOOL. 



One of our best Academies, we think, is that 

 of Mr. Alfred Roe, at Cornwall in the Highlands ; 

 and Mr. Roe has shown his eagerness to keep 

 pace with improvement, by entering warmly into 

 the new enthusiasm for educational agriculture. 

 He has a large garden attached to his Academy, 

 and, in it, he intends that his scholars shall be 

 taught the rudiments of farming. An essay "on 

 the cultivation of the Red Antwerp Raspberry," 

 written by Master Caldwell, one of his pupils, has 

 already appeared in the March number of the 

 Neio Fork Teacher forwarded to that periodi- 

 cal by H. L. Stuart, Esq., in connection with a 

 Letter to the Farmers' Club of the American In- 

 stitute, proposing the system. The following pas- 

 sage explains it : — 



"Each pupil in the higher classes, both boys and 

 girls, will be required to select some one of the 

 various farm or garden products, including all 

 kinds of domestic live stock and labor-saving im- 

 plements, as an object of special observation and 

 study, under the direction of the teacher, and the 

 eye of the parents at home. This exercise will 

 extend to the selection of varieties, adaptations to 

 soils and climates, planting, chemical composi- 

 tion, observation and processes of development, 

 and practical ap])lications of the best method of 

 treatment ; the whole forming a series of inter- 

 esting and useful subjects for oral and written 

 discussions during one or more school terms. 

 Each pupil finally summing up results, in an es- 

 say to be preserved among the recm-ds of the 

 school, a copy of which is to be sent to the pa- 

 rents, and the most meritorious to be forwarded 

 to the Farmers' Club of the American Institute, or 

 to the nearest state or county agricultural society 

 or farmers' club, to be read and preserved in their 

 annual reports. The planting and practical exer- 

 cises and applications will be conducted chiefly at 

 the homes of the pupils. But little ground will 

 be required for each illustration ; general interest 

 and emulation will be excited among scholars and 

 parents, and the most approved methods, varieties 

 and processes will be brought into immediate use 

 and practice throughout the country ; thus gen- 

 erally stimulating and adding vastly to our pro- 

 ductive agricultural industry, without increasing 

 the cost of instruction in our common schools." 



In this admirable graft upon the tree of knowl- 

 edge, we wish Mr. Roe, and his brother teachers 

 throughout the country, every possible success. 



To get Early Squashes, Melons or Cucum- 

 bers. — Cut two pieces of strong sods from fine, 

 rich pasture ground, shave the dirt sides even, lay 

 one of the sods on a piece of JDoard, grass down, 

 and stick in the seeds an inch or two apart, then 

 put on the other sod, and keep them in a warm 

 corner near the fire-place, giving them a sprinkle 

 of rain-water once in a while, if they get too dry. 

 The seeds will take root, and when the time comes 

 to put out the plants, cut out a piece of the lower 

 sod with each seed, so as not to break the tender 

 rootlets, and plant it where it is to grow. In this 

 way, you gain two or three weeks' time, and the 

 plants will get the start of bugs and flies. A lit- 

 tle extra care will be well compensated by extra 

 early and fine vegetables. — Farmers' Advocate. 



