1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



461 



worst enemies of the interests and welfare of so- 

 ciety, as they countenance and practice upon the 

 very disposition which we have shown to be the 

 root of all crime — the disposition to supply their 

 wants fi'om the products of the labors of others. 

 The idler is not very distantly related to the crim- 

 inal. 



But the practical importance of the theme in 

 hand, and of the reform needed in public senti- 

 ment as to labor, is leading us to extend our re- 

 marks perhaps to an undue length. We close by 

 thanking the editor for those words of his which 

 have suggested these thoughts, and by saying that 

 honor and praise is due to all those who make 

 similar efforts to correct the errors which do gen- 

 erally prevail as to the desirableness of exemption 

 from labor. 



Page 347. — Culture of Tobacco. — A very sen- 

 sible talk upon the subject. Those who follow 

 the directions here given will be sure to obtain a 

 very excellent crop ! 



Page 349, — Sweeney in Horses. — A long rest in 

 the pasture is a good remedy — often the very best 

 — not only in this disease, but in several other of 

 the diseases and lamenesses of horses. 



Page 355. — Honey Blade — Hungarian Grass. 

 — Two things are settled about this much puffed 

 crop : 1, That the yield obtained by the editor, 

 — about one ton per acre — is much nearer to 

 the amount usually obtained than the large yields 

 reported by those who have seed to sell at ex- 

 travagant prices ; and 2, That all the fine or fraud- 

 ulent names which have been, or can bo, invented 

 for this plant, will never avail to make it anything 

 else than a species, or variety rather, of millet. 

 One thing more, I regard as settled and sure, viz., 

 that the getter up of the pamphlet referred to is 

 an arrant . 



Page 360. — Hoio Farming was made Pleasant 

 and Profitable. — Undoubtedly agricultural books 

 and papers in a house, a piece of ground for the 

 boys to cultivate, with a share in its proceeds, 

 will prove very effectual as an agricultural educa- 

 tion, perhaps more so than studying botany and 

 agricultural chemistry in schools or colleges ; still 

 the latter must help to make better farmers in 50 

 or 75 out of every 100 of such pupils, and though 

 the former may be better than the latter, yet both 

 are better than either alone, and better than even 

 the best of the two. Let parents and the State 

 authorities govern themselves accordingly. 



Page 363. — Plum Culture. — There is much in- 

 genuity and good sense manifested in the direc- 

 tions here given, and those who follow them, 

 will be pretty sure to succeed. 



Page 365. — Superphosphate for Turnips. — Be- 

 fore purchasing any superphosphate, farmers 

 would consult their interest if they would procure 

 and read a report on some of these articles by 

 Prof. S. W. Johnson, Chemist to the State Agri- 

 cultural Society of Connecticut. 



Page 370. — Uses and Value of Much. — Who- 

 ever may adopt the hints given in this ai-ticle will 

 have good cause after a year or two to thank the 

 writer, and to esteem the N. E. Farmer as a valu- 

 able visitor and fireside instructor. 



More Anon. 



Seeds and Cuttings from Stria. — Ninety- 

 four boxes and two barrels, containing a fine as- 

 sortment of seeds and cuttings, have been re- 



ceived at the Patent Office from Syria. The as- 

 sortment is composed of varieties of wheat, bar- 

 ley, grape-cuttings, olives, scions of fruits and 

 vegetable products. The cuttings, scions, &c., 

 will be sent to the new propagating houses for 

 experiment and increase, and no distribution will 

 be made of the remainder until fall. Among the 

 interesting plants may be mentioned the Lessa- 

 ban. It makes an excellent article for hedges, 

 and as a tree it is very ornamental. There are 

 also seeds of melon, squashes, &c., camel's food, 

 dates, walnuts, equal to the English, and proba- 

 bly well adapted to the Middle and Southern 

 States. The raais tree is esteemed as medicinal, 

 or rather prophylactic. The seeds sent were pro- 

 cured from the tree growing within the enclosure 

 of the ancient temple of Solomon. It was not 

 to be expected that all these articles would arrive 

 in good condition. The length of the voyage at 

 this season, with other circumstances, have caused 

 the loss or death of a large proportion of them. 

 But enough are left to yield a rich return for the 

 moderate sum (one thousand dollars) invested in 

 their purchase. — Baltimore Sun. 



PLABTT-POOD AT THE SUBFACE OF 

 THE SOIL. 



We are continually asked by correspondents 

 whether manures should be plowed deeply under, 

 or placed at the immediate surface. It is difficult 

 to answer questions of so abstract a kind ; if soils 

 are underdrained and subsoil plowed, so that in 

 all their parts they contain at all times the exact 

 amount of humidity which would cover their par- 

 ticles, then a very large class of fertilizing mate- 

 rials may be placed at or near the surface. Those 

 which are not volatile in their nature may indeed 

 be used as top-dressings with full efi"ect, for the 

 dews and rains will gradually carry them into the 

 soil, and in their passage downward they will un- 

 dergo a greater amount of subdivision than if 

 buried far beneath the surface ; while in their de- 

 scent will come in contact with, and so feed a 

 greater number of roots. If of a soluble charac- 

 ter, they will be carried on the surface of particles 

 by moistures, from particle to particle, thus im- 

 buing all surfaces, and disseminating themselves 

 so as to do the greatest amount of immediate 

 good to roots of growing plants. Not only will 

 their efforts be thus rendered greater, but in their 

 chemical effects upon the organic matter in the 

 upper soil, new compounds will be formed re- 

 quired as plant-food, before their descent where 

 the inorganic portion requires their assistance. 

 Indeed, those proximates formed at the surface, 

 and soluble in their character, being carried into 

 the subsoil, deepen the available amount of fer- 

 tile earth. None need fear that any material of 

 value will sink below the depth to which the soil 

 has been disturbed by the subsoil plow, for na- 

 ture's laws prevent any such descent. The fact 

 that pure water is to be found in wells, fully ex- 

 plains the fact that soluble matters cannot leach 

 downward to any greater depth than that to which 

 the soil has been disturbed, and that a greater 

 depth of disturbance in the soil is called for, is 

 proved by every post-hole from which the post of 

 an old fence has been removed, for there the tuft 

 of grass is always the tallest. 



Lime, if used, should always be put on the sur- 



