306 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



■well up, but suffering for want of moisture. The 

 late cold weather killed most of our fruit, the 

 trees being in bloom some two or three weeks 

 earlier than usual. 



The emigration is large, this spring ; but al- 

 most'all of it going beyond Iowa, to Pike's Peak, 

 Kansas, &c. The increase of our population from 

 this source will be less, I judge, than for several 

 years past. 



The great depression of all kinds of real estate 

 continues without abatement. Veiy nearly one- 

 half, on au average, property has depreciated 

 within the last three years. But, one good har- 

 vest would turn the tide upward again ; so we 

 are still ho])ing and looking for better days. 



Tipton, la., May 15, 1860. M. K. c. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER, AND ITS 

 INFLUENCE. 



Messrs. Editors -. — Are we aware of the value 

 of this important paper, and do we ])rize its worth 

 every week ? Is there not four cents' worth of 

 information in each of its numbers, and even 

 more at times ? Here we find things needful in 

 every department of manual labor. Says one, 

 "What do editors know in Boston about farming?" 

 But is it not the voice of the country people who 

 have had experience that we hear ? It is true 

 that the editors have a chance to see many good 

 things by observation, and give valuable hints 

 which may prove beneficial. What an influeix;e 

 Judge French has had on the subject of drainage. 

 Have not farmers saved by this in one year enough 

 to pay for this valuable paper, by getting his 

 crops in earlier, and more to the acre, than for- 

 merly ? 



Fertilizers. — The Farmer gives us a history of 

 fertilizers, and their adaptation to our lands. It 

 also gives the market prices of most kinds of pro- 

 duce every week, and a good story for the children, 

 as well as a sermon to those that stay at home on 

 the Sabbath- I can look back twenty-five years, 

 and well remember Judge Buel's Cultivator, which 

 was the birth of agricultural papers, and it awak- 

 ened people to the improvement of the soil and 

 the mind. Now ride through the country, and 

 see how plainly you can tell where there has been 

 an agricultural paper taken ; about the farm things 

 look neat and tidy. But, alas, look at the oppo- 

 site, and you will see the carts and tools left as 

 last used, wood scattered all about, fences down, 

 and trees, and shrubbery, and buildings, going to 

 decay. Now put the Farmer into his hands, and 

 get his mind turned, and his trees will bear boun- 

 tifully, his vines will prosper, and cattle and sheep 

 look up smiling, and repay him in butter, and 

 cheese, and wool. He will have vegetables that 

 he did not once raise, will get his buildings paint- 

 ed, and cause a jubilee among his sons and daugh- 

 ters, and have reason to thank the editors for the 

 peace and harmony they have restored in the old 



Homestead. 



Marlboro' Depot, N. II., 1860. 



Remarks. — We publish the above for a special 

 purpose, notwithstanding it has a little appearance 

 of self-laudation. That special purpose is to cor- 

 rect an ifiipression which seems to prevail with 



some of our readers. Our correspondent says : 

 "It is true that the editors have a chance to see 

 many good things by observation, and give valua- 

 ble hints," &c. Well, we guess they do — but it 

 will not be amiss for us to say that our business 

 is that of a farmer : that is, we, Simon Brown, 

 Editor of the Agricultural Department of the 

 Neiv England Farmer, are a farmer, and not only 

 work upon the farm with our eyes and ears, but 

 with our hands, as well as with our tongue and 

 pen ! We furthermore find it a pleasant, and 

 health-giving, and money-giving business, and 

 we never felt more like a nobleman in our life, 

 than yesterday, INIay 22d, 1860, when we stood in 

 our orchard of about five acres, and beheld what 

 had grown up there from the labor of our own 

 hands ! What ! presume to conduct an agricul- 

 tural paper, without daily experience on the farm ! 

 As well attempt to "make a whistle from a pig's 

 tail." We not only direct the work on the farm, 

 but we say "co?He," boys, not "go," as far as time 

 and strength will permit, — and we make experi- 

 ments in grasses, grains, potatoes, garden stuff, 

 fertilizers, and implements, and machines, every 

 year. Beside all this, wo go forth with our eyes, 

 ears, and note-book, if necessary, wide open, and 

 calculate to be up in the morning as early as any 

 man ought to be who means to hold out all day ! 

 There, we have made a clean breast of the matter, 

 or, in common parlance, have done it up Brown, 

 and do not intend to refer to the subject again. 



THE SEASON AND THE CROPS. 



After the long and trying drought which had 

 prevailed for months, we had a timely rain last 

 week, and although less than an inch fell, it has 

 had a Avonderfully reviving influence upon all the 

 crops. The grass seemed to feel its revivifying 

 influences instantly, assumed a new color, and has 

 since grown with great rapidity. The trees also 

 expanded their leaves and blossoms as though by 

 magic, and now give great promise of an abun- 

 dant harvest. 



There have been two or three frosts in this re- 

 gion, but not so severe as to cause general de- 

 struction of young and tender plants. 



Spring work has not been interrupted by the 

 wetness of the land, nor by showers or storms, so 

 that the crops were early in th^ ground, and now 

 only M'ait the blessing of Heaven, and the watch- 

 ful care of the husbandman to carry them on to 

 maturity. With the single exception of the im- 

 pending disease among cattle, everything appears 

 cheerful and prosperous for the farmer. 



Cranberry Plants. — We learn that Mr. Jo- 

 seph L. Daniels, of Milford, Mass., takes much 

 interest in the culture of the cranberry, and has 

 fine plants for sale. 



