1860. 



NEAV ENGLAOT) FAR^EEK 



423 



birds as the most cheerful associates of man ; to 

 soothe and exhilarate him in his labors by their 

 varied melody ; to prevent the increase of those 

 supernumerary hosts of insects which would soon 

 consume the products of his industry." Indeed, 

 then, are they worthy of our attentive study, of 

 cur protection, and not a small share of our af- 

 fection. 



In concluding this somewhat desultory article, 

 I would say that I have long hoped to see some of 

 the able ornithologists, correspondents of the 

 Farmer, take their pens to inform your readers 

 concerning the history of our rarer birds, and the 

 interesting habits of our more common species ; 

 and hoping to invade no one's province, I pro- 

 pose, with your permission, Mr. Editor, to offer 

 occasional articles on the birds of New England, 

 noticing briefly many interesting species wholly 

 unknown perhaps to farmers in general, vindicat- 

 ing or censuring the habits, as they seem to de- 

 serve, of the better known species ; and in gen- 

 eral, hope to interest some of the cultivators of 

 the soil in the history of their feathered friends, 

 that so abundantly surround them. J. A. A. 



Springjield, Aug. 1, 1860. 



AH" INGENIOUS PIECE OP WOBK. 



Mr. Nicholson, a journeyman carpenter of Phil- 

 adelphia, has just completed a fac simile, in min- 

 iature, of the National Washington Monument. 

 The miniature contains 6480 pieces of wood of 

 American trees. It is built on a scale of one- 

 eighth of an inch to a foot, and when completed, it 

 stands five feet eight and three-quarter inches 

 high. The base is composed of 3681 pieces, ar- 

 ranged as a tesselated pavement. The wood, in 

 this portion of the structure, includes white oak, 

 walnut, oak from the frigate Alliance, red cedar 

 and ash. The pantheon is composed of 308 pieces 

 consisting of live oak, walnut, cherry, red cedar, 

 boxwood (from the Paterson farm of New Jersey,) 

 maple, mulberry, buttonwood, elm (treaty elm,) 

 gum, walnut, hackmetack, locust, spruce, plain 

 maple, birdseye maple, paper mulberry, red cedar, 

 poplar, white pine, yellow pine, white oak, live 

 oak, and wood from the charter oak, the frigate 

 Alliance, the ship Constitution, and Fort Du 

 Quesne. The star at the top of the obelisk is 

 made of a piece of the old Independence bell. The 

 whole is most neatly joined, over three years hav- 

 ing been occupied with the work. As the model 

 now stands, it carries out the same design in wood 

 as is proposed to be carried out in marble by the 

 erection of the national Washington monument. 

 If the Scientific Americanos definition of ingenuity 

 is right, viz : that it is a "very complicated com- 

 bination of devices to produce a result that is not 

 very useful," Mr. Nicholson's piece of work is very 

 ingenious. — Philadelpliia Ledger. 



The Wild Carrot. — A Stonington correspon- 

 dent of the Homestead cautions farmers against 

 the spread of this plant. He says : 



"Ox all the pests of the soil in this section, and 

 most difficult of extermination, is the wild carrot. 

 It is spreading rapidly through the south-eastern 

 part of this State, infesting the meadows, pastures, 

 and roirl-si'los. e.ich ntalk vi-ith its head of half a 



gill of seed, to be wafted in all directions. It is 

 but three or four years since I first noticed the 

 wild carrot in this section. I find now in what- 

 ever direction I may ride, more or less of the wild 

 carrots, sometimes whole fields covered with it. 

 Farmers say that it seems almost impossible to 

 exterminate it, or prevent its spreading." 



USES AND VALUE OF MUCK--IV. 



OF MUCK COMPOSTED WITH BOXES. 



In spading, and perhaps in plowing, the observ- 

 ing farmer has noticed more than once how rank 

 and luxuriantly, and with what a dark green color 

 plants grow, that have fortunately sprung up in 

 the imm.ediate vicinity of a large bone, deposited 

 there, perhaps years before, by some provident 

 dog, or sent from the farm-house as a nuisance 

 that the inmates were glad to have abated by 

 burying the thing out of sight. It is now partially 

 decayed, having a sort of honey-comb appearance, 

 and through it, and interlacing every part of it, 

 are the delicate rootlets of plants, having travelled 

 some feet, perhaps, in that particular direction to 

 feed upon the phosphate of lime and the phos- 

 phoric acid with which the bone abounds. Now 

 here are circumstances over which the farmer may 

 pause, longer than Burns did over the mouse he 

 turned up in his furrow, — and here are sugges- 

 tions made, and lessons to be learned, which, if 

 patiently attended to, will lead to many happy re- 

 sults ; such as rich fields of corn and fruits and 

 grain, fertile meadows and pastures dotted with 

 fat and thrifty cattle, and consequently, liberal 

 profits, and casTi in hand, the ultimate object of 

 his operations. Here is "the evidence of things 

 not seen," the fact laid bare, that bones ivill make 

 plants grow, provided they come in contact. Is 

 it not, then, the part of wisdom, not only that all 

 which come from the kitchen of the farm-house, 

 be carefully preserved, but that every pains be 

 taken to accumulate it in large quantities, and ap- 

 propriate it to the advancement of our crops ? 

 Suppose this to have been done, and the muck 

 ready for the compost, then the bones must in 

 some manner be brought into a powder or paste ; 

 the latter is the best form in which to use them, 

 and they may readily be brought into it, by weigh- 

 ing the bones, and then, to every one hundred 

 pounds of bones, adding fifty pounds of sulphuric 

 acid, the common oil of vitriol of the shops, and 

 costing about three cents a pound by the carboy. 

 If the bones have been ground, half that quantity 

 of acid will be sufficient. Take a half hogshead 

 tub, place it in some convenient spot, and sur- 

 round it nearly to the top with moist litter or the 

 drier portions of the horse manure heap, and then 

 if the tub leaks during the operation of reducing, 

 the leakings will be saved. First dilute the acid 

 with three times its bur: -^ water; place the 



