1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



427 



manure of the stable or barn. A good dressing of ashes 

 will be excellent for tbera, and especially so for the 

 grapes. The peach does not require high manuring. 



A FINE CROP OF GRASS — FOWL-MEADOW. 



About the middle of August last I plowed one acre 

 and a quarter of rather low land, and spread on, after 

 rolling and harrowing, not a large quantity of well 

 composted manure, tlien haiTOwcd and seeded liberal- 

 ly with lierds-gra.ss and red-top, and tlien Ijushed it in 

 smootbl3^ It came up and looked finely last fall, and 

 this day, July 10, I have cut not less than three tons of 

 first quality hay on it, where last year it was hardly 

 worth cutting. Now I intend to plow another acre ad- 

 joining, but lower and wetter, and think of seeding 

 with fowl meadow, and wish to iuqixire what other 

 grasses Avill do Ijcst to mix with it ? F. K. Cragix. 



Wobimi, Mass., July 24, 1860. 



Remarks. — If you mix other grasses, we know of 

 nothing better than herds grass and red top. But why 

 mix other grasses with the fowl meadow ? The latter 

 will cover the ground, bring you a valuable crop and 

 continue itself for many years, if you allow a portion 

 of it to ripen and shed its seed upon the ground. 



SEASON AND CROPS IN NEW YORK. 



The season has been favorable for farmers ; though 

 it has been rather dry, the crops look promising. The 

 wheat is being harvested and we hear veiy little of the 

 midge — all the hoed crops look well. Peaches ai-e a 

 failure in some portions of western New York, but in 

 some localities a good crop. Apples a full crop. Pears 

 abundant. All the small fruits have fruited and arc 

 fruiting abundantly, and fanners are surrounding 

 themselves with these cheap comforts, which tickle 

 the palate and "make glad the heart of man." 



Lyons Nursery, N. Y., 1860. Sylvester. 



THE barometer. 



Have you a barometer in your house, or do you know 

 of any one that has (farmers, of course,) and how much 

 dependence can be placed on them in haying time ? 

 How good a barometer is Mr. T. R. Timby's ? 



AViLLiAM H. Savage. 



Harvard, Mass., July, 18G0. 



Remarks. — "\Vc have not consulted the barometer 

 in regard to forming operations, and have no acquain- 

 tance with any person who has. We have seen arti-* 

 clcs in the newspapers, purporting to be from farmei-s, 

 that speak of the barometer as of great value to the 

 farmer, and especially so iu haying time. 



The wheat crop of Western New York last year 

 was of better quality and yielded more to the acre 

 than it had done before in twenty years. Thus 

 encouraged by the exit of the midge, a much lar- 

 ger breadth of wheat was sown last fall, and a 

 glorious crop, unspoiled by the insect, is now be- 

 ing well secured. 



The effect of such increased cereal crops is not 

 only to encourage and enrich the farmer, but to 

 give life to trade generally, and to the shipping 

 interest in particular, which has been so long de- 

 pressed, both on the ocean and the lakes. In the 

 region of Lake Michigan in the fall of 1858, ves- 

 sels bought salt and coal from Buffalo for ballast, 

 gratis, and then had to load back with wheat at 

 three cents a bushel ; now the freight on corn and 

 wheat from Chicago and Milwaukie to Buffalo, is 

 about seven cents a bushel, with the prospect of 

 advancing rates when the new Avheat crop comes 

 in, and the lake risks are increased. — N. Y. Times. 



TH3 GREAT COMING GKAIN CBOPS. 



The London Times forebodes trouble in Eng- 

 land, owing to bad weather, and consequent short 

 crops. The prospect of the grain crops in France 

 is also said to be unpromising. On the other 

 hand, the cereal crops in the United States and 

 Canada never promised better. A larger crop of 

 wheat than we ever had before, by perhaps one- 

 fourth, is now secured, or in the process of har- 

 vesting. The crops of hay and oats are also large, 

 and the promise of the king of our cereals — Indi- 

 an corn — was never better. Nothing short of a 

 large export demand can keep the price of this 

 abundant cereal from falling below remuneration 

 to the grower. Of the last year's crop, it is said 

 that the large farm cribs of Illinois are still near- 

 ly full of last year's corn, yet the receipts at Chi- 

 cago have averaged over 100,000 bushels a day 

 from the Illinois canals and railroads through the 



A NEW TRIAL OF AN OLD MACHINE. 



On Friday, Aug. 3d, we had an opportunity of 

 looking at the operations of one of Nourse, Ma- 

 son & Co.'s Ketchuni Mowing Machines, on the 

 farm of J. B. Shurtleff, Esq., of North Chel- 

 sea, which lies about four miles from Boston. The 

 field was favorable for the work, and the grass 

 standing upon it varying from one and a half to 

 two tons per acre. Before any other person had 

 arrived upon the spot we paced the piece to be 

 cut with as much accuracy as possible, and found 

 it to contain one hundred and eighty rods, or 

 one acre and one-eighth, and this was cut admi- 

 rably, in twenty-seven minutes, or at the rate of 

 an acre in twenty-four minutes'. The weather 

 was excessively hot and close. The same team, 

 machine and driver operated upon an adjoining 

 piece of land the day before, which was cool, with 

 a fresh, elastic breeze, and we were assured by 

 Mr. Shurtleff, and several of the bystanders, that 

 an acre was cut, and the work handsomely done, 

 in fifteen minutes ! The knife-bar was six feet 

 long, so that the swath averaged about five feet 

 and six inches. The horses, a noble pair belong- 

 ing to the farm, started off on a brisk walk, and 

 so continued until the whole piece was cut, paus- 

 ing only a moment, twice, to clear a rock or some 

 other obstruction. 



This item of mowing is one of some consequence 

 to Mr. Shurtleff, as he will cut some tico hundred 

 and fifty tons of hay this year, will thresh out 

 between ybwr and five hundred bushels of rye, and 

 sell one hundred thousand heads of cabbages, to 

 say nothing of a world of other stuff that the 

 people in the city which he overlooks hunger for 

 every day. 



Our stay was too brief for visiting his stables, 

 and various other parts of the farm, and looking 

 into the details of his extensive operations. That 

 pleasure is left for a future opportunity, which we 



