1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



389 



covered with a flannel blanket ; the rest of the 

 time he amused himself in a basin of warm wa- 

 ter. His keeper, who did not leave him for a mo- 

 ment, could not make the least movement but 

 his nursling would open his eyes enough to as- 

 sure himself that his adopted lather was not go- 

 ing to leave him. At night he slept with his 

 head on his keeper's breast, and slept well until 

 daybreak. When he wanted to drink he roared 

 like a calf, which indeed he somewhat resembled 

 in form. He measured about four feet in length, 

 and weighed 130 pounds at birth. His skin, soft 

 moist and mellow to the touch, had nothing of 

 that rose-tint which characterized the two other 

 hippopotami born in the menagerie in 1858 and 

 1859. It was blackish in some places, and in 

 others of a grayish-white. There was also a very 

 queer orange tint about his lips. On the 2d of 

 June it was noticed that several teeth were com- 

 ing through. While they were wondering at this 

 precocity, the poor animal was taken with con- 

 vulsions, and died in a few minutes. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FARM HINTS AND FARM FACTS. 



Never set out an orchard with a view that in 

 future time it will take care of itself. Remember 

 first to subsoil, and like your hills of corn and po- 

 tatoes, manure the land heavily from season to 

 season ; plant with potatoes or carrots to keep 

 the earth mellovi' ; avoid a grain crop, as in ripen- 

 ing, it reflects too intense a heat for young trees. 

 This was my experience in a winter wheat field 

 two successive years. 



Never plant trees on poor soil, and expect 

 thrift with large fruit. 



Never crowd your trees, which is a very com- 

 mon error. Calcylate their spread when fully 

 grown, so that a good crop of hay may be taken 

 off'. Give them the full range of sun and atmos- 

 phere. 



Never cultivate caterpillars instead of apples — 

 the crops are uncongenial. One is money in the 

 pocket, the other dirty, destructive and unprofita- 

 ble. Give the farm boy a penny a nest, start 

 him with the rising sun, and my word for it, his 

 eagle eye and love for pennies will clear away 

 this orchard-pest, and return to you five dollars 

 for every penny out of pocket. They are easily 

 seen when the nest is found. 



Never cease to fight the canker worm ; while 

 the lion and tiger are easily slain, this inferior 

 creeping thing has successfully battled and out- 

 generalled the whole staff" of horticultural wisdom. 

 Would not the fumes of fire and brimstone mixed 

 with tar be a good application when the worms 

 are feeding ? 



Never move among young trees without a heavy 

 jackknife in your pocket, and an eye upward to 

 redundant limbs ; cutting here, sawing there, and 

 giving shape early for the future, always remem- 

 bering that the displaced limbs and twigs are by 

 root and sap made up at once to the remaining 

 hranches. The Porter or Northern Spy incline to 

 spiral or distalTtops; the Greening and Russet 

 to spreading branches ; the Baldwin and Hub- 

 bardston Nonsuch to close brushy tops. Here the 

 pruner must exercise judgment ; how much easier 

 to gather fruit when the tree is well opened, how 



much larger and fairer the fruit ! It is- the sun 

 that draM's out the full blush and gives the fuil 

 flavor. Prove tliis by eating the apple or peach 

 from the sunny or the shady side. 



Never cultivate shade trees in your fields by the 

 road-side, — rather make them fruit trees, that 

 blossoms and fruit may charm tlie traveller and 

 reward the farmer with a good round income. 

 Anything out of place is not ornamental. Give 

 the shade tree a place in the roadway and around 

 your buildings, especially; it shows taste and re- 

 finement. The New England towering elm is the 

 unrivalled eml)lem of majesty. 



Never neglect the little quince tree that can 

 grow in niches and corners ; cultivate it as a tree, 

 and not as usual, as a bunch of bushes. A fine 

 stone wall interlined Avith a quince tree hedge at 

 eight feet distances is highly ornamental and 

 profitable. How easy to grow quinces. 



Never forget the birds whose music awakes you 

 at early dawn, and who sing you to sleep in the 

 late, lingering twilight. Give the robin an extra 

 cherry tree and a strawberry bed. Build a house 

 for the wren, the martin and the swallow ; help 

 them to feed their twittering young. How much 

 are they daily helping you ! Cultivate their (and 

 all birds,) acquaintance socially, not as enemies, 

 because their tastes are so refined as to love your 

 strawberries and cherries. 



The crow offends by pulling up your corn, yet 

 he is the unpaid scavenger in removing offal and 

 numerous vermin that annoy you. The hawk af- 

 fectionately dips into your chicken brood, show- 

 ing a decided relish for uncooked poultry, but he 

 had been hunting and sailing all over your prem- 

 ise for snakes and mice to satisfy his hunger, and 

 found none. 



The owl robs your hen roost in the blackest 

 night. Educated thieves go to prison for this 

 same offence. Which of the two are the better 

 members of society ? H. PoOR. 



Brooklyn, L. I. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PROFITS OF FARMING. 



Mr. Editor : — From careful reading as well 

 as observation, I have come to the conclusion that 

 there is some fallacy in the manner by which farm 

 accounts are kept, or the way in which the differ- 

 ent operations of the farm are passed to debtor 

 or creditor. How, otherwise, arc we to account 

 for the very different conclusions to which some 

 writers come, on this subject ? That the farmer, 

 with a fair sized farm, free from debt, with or- 

 dinary buildings, stock and tools, is among the 

 most independent men which this world can show, 

 ought to be plain to all. That he has every means 

 at_ command for getting a good living, and sus- 

 taining his family respectably, and often putting 

 by something for old age, or a rainy day, is a 

 generally conceded fact, and it is patent to any 

 observer of this very large class throughout the 

 country, especially in New England, "where if 

 anywhere in the United States, farming is hard 

 work. That there are thousands of this class, 

 whose area of land is less than one hundred acres, 

 who so manage thus to live, and who are in more 

 senses than one the right arm of the State, is 

 another fact. That they have to work hard, and 



