408 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



EXTRACTS ABTD KEPLIES. 



DROUGHT IX VEUMONT. 



We are litci'ally consumed by drought and grass- 

 hoppers ; every crop on our little farm Las failed, and 

 the cattle are crying for food and drink. 



Middlebunj, tt., 'jithj, 18G0. E. E. Hagar. 



Remarks. — While we are drenched with daily show- 

 ers, and our crops are plethoric M'ith fatness, our 

 friends m portions of Vermont are suffering sadly for 

 the want of rains. The earth is parched and the crops 

 are wilting and drying up, while thousands of grass- 

 hoppers devour the little that is left. A gentleman 

 from Addison county informs us that year before last 

 he cut and secured one hundred tons of hay ; last year 

 he secured about thirty tons, but this year his whole 

 hay crop will not reach one-third of that of last year. 



We learn, also, that the drought is so severe m some 

 parts of the State of Maine that but little gi-ass, compar- 

 atively, will be cut. 



The ci'op in all parts of Massachusetts, we believe, is 

 abundant, and under the improved method of making 

 hay under caps, will be secured in good oi-dcr, not- 

 withstanding the great amount of rain. 



SWAMP LAXD 



I have purchased a piece of swampland, and mMsIi to 

 know which is the best way to get it into grass ? It has 

 muck varying from one to four feet deep, with a white 

 sand or gravel pan. There are bunches scattered over 

 the surfice where the wood grew, and they are of all 

 sizes and shapes. The swamp is easily drained by a 

 small brook or ditch. N. B. Derby. 



South Wctjmoiith, July, ISGO. 



Remarks. — The first operation in reclaiming a 

 meadow should be to drain it so as to get the water out 

 of the way and leave the surface in a condition to be 

 trodden upon both by cattle and men. 

 Care must be taken, however, not to drain 

 too much — for if the water is taken en- 

 tirely away from a loose, highly porous 

 meadow, it will become so drj' that seeds 

 will not sprout in it, and if fire is applied 

 in a drj' time the whole meadow will 

 bum about as freely as a pile of dry 

 wood. Reduce the water so that it Mill 

 stand from twelve to twenty inches below 

 the surface, according to the nature of the 

 land. 



When the water is off, you cannot only 

 work more comfortably, but more rapid- 

 ly than while the water stands about j-ou, 

 or if the meadow is M'ct and becoming 

 muddy wherever you are at work ; the 

 roots and rubbish which are collected 

 will also drj' better and Ijurn more thor- 

 oughly. 



Plowing is the most effectual mode of reclaiming, and 

 in the end the most economical, unless the meadow is 

 difficult of access, or is too soft to support the team. If 

 only too soft, the plowing may be done by the use of 

 pullics, keeping the cattle all the time on the hard 

 land, if the border of the meadow is pretty level and 

 not covered with trees. If j-ou cannot plow, use the 

 bog hoe. Cut off the bunches and burn them, and 

 break the surface as well as you can. 



When the surface has been broken, haul or wheel 

 from some neighboring bank near by fifteen or twenty 

 ox-cart loads of sand or fine gravel per acre and spread 

 evenly ; then add whatever fine manure you can spare, 

 sow the grass seed and rake it in. 



If the meadow is plowed and is sufflcieotly dry to 

 receive a crop, nothing will ameliorate it more than to 

 plant potatoes and tend them well. After that opera- 

 tion the ground may be laid to grass with ease, and 

 will jjroduce great crops. 



cattle disease. 



In the July number of the Farmer, in speaking of the 

 cat lie disease, you say on the farm of Andrew Wel- 

 lington you saw a cow which exhibited strong symp- 

 toms of the pleuro-pneumonia. That cow has since 

 been killed, and upon examination proved to be en. 

 tirely free from that dise:ise. There was an adhesion of 

 the apex of the heart to the pericardium or heart case, 

 which caused the rapid breathing which you noticed. 

 There was another cow killed at the same time, which 

 also proved to be free from the disease, and the com- 

 missioners decided that there was no disease in the 

 barn. 



Please make this correction, and greatly oblige 



Andrew Wellixqtox. 



TLast Lexington, July 25, 1860. 



WESTERISr APPLES. 



The outlines which Ave present to-day are prob- 

 ably those of Western apples. Whether they have 

 been cultivated east of the State of OhJo, we do 

 not know. We copy them from ElliotVs Fndt 

 Book, as worthy of introduction to our present 

 list of fruits. 



BETIILEIIEMITE. 



This is a variety somewhat resembling the 

 Newton Spitzeiiberg, and we have testimony of 

 one or two who say they know it under that name. 

 We are not, however, satisfied of their indentity, 



and as the really good qualities of this fruit are 

 such as to make it desirable in all collections, we 

 have no hesitation in recommending it. Thus 

 far all specimens we have seen were from trees 

 grown in rich, loamy soils, and all we can learn 

 of its history is that it came from Bethlehem, in 

 Ohio. Size, medium; form, roundish, flattened, 

 tapering slightly to the apex ; color, pale yellow 

 ground, striped and stained with two shades of 

 bright red, dotted Avith irregular shaped brown 

 dots, some russet about the stem ; calyx, medium 

 sometimes large ; basin, deep, broad, irregular, 

 somewhat farrowed ; stem, short ; cavity, narrow, 

 irregular ; flesh, yellowish white, tender, with a 



