480 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



ceeded, and by this process you will insensibly 

 catch a grp.at manner of viewing questions. It is 

 right to study, not only to think, but from time 

 to time to review what has passed ; to dwell upon 

 it, and see what trains of thought voluntarily pre- 

 sent themselves to your mind. It is a most supe- 

 rior habit of some minds to refer all the particu- 

 lar truths which strike them to other truths more 

 general; so that their knowledge is beautifully 

 methodized, and the general truth, at any time, 

 suggests the particular exemplifications, or any 

 particular exemplification at once leads to the 

 general truth. This kind of an understanding has 

 an immense and decided superiority over those 

 confused heads in which one fact is piled upon 

 another, without the least attempt at classification 

 and arrangement. — Sidney Smith. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FERTILITY OF MOUNTAINS. 



Every man who has an eye to a good farm, will 

 notice that from the land in the valley between 

 two mountains, good crops are produced without 

 manure. Ask the cause of this fertility, and the 

 universal response will be, "the soil of the moun- 

 tain is washed upon it, which causes it to reproduce 

 largely." Look at yonder mountain ! Is there 

 any soil there to be washed down ; if there was, 

 why does it appear so sterile ? My theory is dif- 

 ferent. In the warmer part of the season, the 

 rocks are filled with water, and in the colder part 

 of the season, the water, in the act of freezing, ex- 

 pands and tears the rocks asunder, so that on the 

 commencement of a thaw, large pieces become de- 

 tached and roll down into the valley below, when 

 they break to pieces, are decomposed, and finally 

 dissolved into a mould. 



Look at the fruitful valleys of Switzerland,^ and 

 no one will doubt, but the gradual decomposition 

 of the mountains furnishes food for the plant in 

 the valley. Is there a chance for us farmers to 

 learn a lesson from nature ? I say, yes ; not many 

 years will elapse, before some one will discover 

 the art to hasten the decomposition of the rocks 

 in our mountains, and we shall be led to look at 

 the wisdom of God in causing them to be formed. 

 On the Faulhorn, which is situated in the south 

 of Europe, and rises 8000 feet above the level of 

 the sea, on removing the snow, and after pene- 

 trating the ground some feet, is found a black 

 mould of a rich quality. This valuable deposit 

 was evidently derived from a decomposition of 

 the strata of black lime-stone rock. The moun- 

 tain torrents, when swelled, carry this deposit to 

 the lowland, which accounts for its extraordinary 

 fertility. Jn taking a birds-eye view of the vari- 

 ous coimtries, it will be found that the sustenance 

 furnished to the human race, by an all-bountiful 

 Providence, has been wisely adjusted to meet 

 their wants in every clime. Take the condition 

 of the Esquimaux ; his only food is the seal and 

 walrus, which abound in fat. It is a substance 

 exceedingly rich in hydrogen, and in the body 

 eminently combustible, and weight for weight, 

 when consumed in the blood, will furnish more 

 heat than any other substance which can be taken 

 for food. s. P. M. 



Cape Elizabeth, ^ept., 1860. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WINTER AND SPRING- WHEAT 



Messrs. Editors : — I noticed an article in th© 

 Fanner from the pen of H. Poor, Brooklyn, L. 

 L, under the head of "Information about Winter 

 Wheat," in which he says he never has despaired 

 since the commencement of his own experience, 

 that New England would in due time raise all the 

 wheat necessary for her rural population, and 

 more or less for her seaboard and inland cities. 



I heartily concur with him in this, but when 

 he says that winter wheat is a much safer crop 

 than spring wheat, I say it may be in his vicinity, 

 but I think that for most of New Hampshire and- 

 Vermont the spring wheat will generally aver- 

 age more to the acre by as much as twenty-five 

 per cent. Having just harvested, threshed and 

 marketed my spring wheat, I Avill give you a few 

 statistics in relation to my crop this yeai-. I 

 sowed four bushels of Italian wheat on 2-^ acres, 

 the 12th day of April, from which I threshed, 

 Aug. 22d, 114^ bushels, making 45 bushels to the 

 acre ! The ground was manured on the turf, brok- 

 en up, and planted to corn the spring of 1859, 

 and plowed again in October, after the corn was 

 harvested. 



I sowed another piece of 4^ acres the 18th of 

 April, and sowed eight bushels seed on it ; the 

 ground was a side hill pasture, planted to corn 

 last year, and plowed again last fall. This last 

 piece has never been manured at all. Threshed 

 Aug. 21st, 102^ bushels, averaging over 22 bush- 

 els to the acre. I sold my wheat for eight shil- 

 lings per bushel. Were it not making my article 

 too long, I would give you the exact cost of rais- 

 ing said wheat, as I keep a daily journal, and can 

 show the exact cost and manner of preparing 

 ground, &c. R. H. SiMONDS. 



Hartford, Vt., Aug., 1860. 



Remarks. — Please give us the cost, and any 

 other information about the culture of wheat. 

 Do you soak, or prepare the seed in any way ? 



FACTS FOR POOR FARMERS. 



"Those farmers who have most difficulty to make 

 both ends meet, always plow most and keep most 

 stock. Now these men take the true plan to keep 

 themselves always poor, because their crops and 

 stock are always poor and bring little." So writes 

 John Johnston, in a letter to the Secretary of our 

 State Society; and he thus illustrates his state- 

 ment : "It is good profit to raise 300 bushels of 

 wheat from ten acres, but when it takes thirty 

 acres to raise that amount, it is raised at a loss. 

 So it is with cattle and sheep — you will see the 

 thinking farmer making four-year old steers worth 

 from $60 to $80 each, and his neighbor's at the 

 same age not worth over $25 to $40." His ad- 

 vice to the latter is, "if his land is exhausted, he 

 should plow no more than he can thoroughly ma- 

 nure. Seed with clover and grass, and let it rest, 

 and that field will not only pay well for tillage, 

 but it will furnish manure (if rightly managed) to 

 make another field of the same size, rich also." 

 And then keep it rich, do not run it with grain 

 until again exhausted, or "the latter end of that 

 land will be worse than the fii'st." — Country Gen- 

 tleman. 



