492 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



For the Neio Ensland Farmer. 

 A PROFITABLE FARM. 



The question whether farming is profitable has 

 been well discussed in your valuable paper, and 

 the theory well developed. I have a few facts on 

 the subject which I think may prove interesting 

 and perhaps instructive to my brother farmers. _ 



Not many days since I had the pleasure of vis- 

 iting the farm of my old friend, AsA G. Sheldon, 

 Esq., of Wilmington, and as 1 walked over his 

 broad fields, and viewed the wonderful improve- 

 ments that labor, rightly and intelligently direct- 

 ed, had produced, I determined to make a few 

 notes of what I saw for the N. E. Farmer. 



Mr. Sheldon has 1250 apple trees, of which 350 

 have been set 7 years, and are just beginning to 

 bear ; 300 ten and eleven years, 520, some full- 

 grown , and some set only a few years, and 80 

 twenty years. These last will bear five barrels 

 apiece every other year. 



All these trees are in fine growing condition, 

 and will all be as valuable in twenty years as the 

 best of them are at the present time. 



The land on which they stand is common hard 

 land, a gravelly loam, the subsoil gravel mixed 

 with clay. 



In answer to the question how many acres of 

 improved swamp he had, the reply was, about 

 twenty. This land was formerly covered with a 

 growth of maple wood, but, by the indefatigable 

 industry of Mr. Sheldon, the twenty acres have 

 been cleared of trees and stumps and are now 

 among the richest lands of the State. Ten acres 

 are covered with the rankest growth of potatoes 

 that I ever saw ; some of the vines are six feet 

 long, and cover the ground entirely. 



I should suppose the potatoes would yield at 

 the rate of a bushel to ten hills throughout the 

 field. One acre of this land, I am told, has borne 

 potatoes eight years in succession and the pres- 

 ent crop is equal to any former one. 



Such land is worth $30 more than upland per 

 year to raise potatoes in. The other ten acres are 

 in grass, and bear at the rate of 35 cwt. to the acre. 

 Now for the figures. 



80 trees at $20 each $1,600 



650 " 10 " 6,5C0 



520 " 5 " 2,600 



20 acres swamp at $300 per acre 6,000 



Total $16,700 



Value of present crop of potatoes in the ground $1,000 



Let all doubters of the profits of farming visit 

 Mr. Sheldon's farm, for "seeing is believing." 

 Addison Flint. 

 North Beading, Mass., Sept. 4, 1860. 



sun after they are cut down, which should be as 

 soon as their flowering season is over. Until they 

 are re-potted into smaller pots, about the begin- 

 ning of the month of September, very little water 

 should be given them. Geranium cuttings may 

 be put in at the time they are cut down. For this 

 purpose, select the shortest and stockiest shoots 

 with a growing point, and divest them of most of 

 their leaves ; keep rather dry till they show symp- 

 toms of growth, and success is almost certain. — 

 Dollar Newspaper. 



Flowers for Winter. — Flowers intended for 

 winter blooming, need a season of repose, espe- 

 cially tropical plants, such as geranium, fuchsia, 

 &c., which should be allowed rest from growth 

 during the months of July and August, by almost 

 entirely withdrawing the supply of water. Of 

 course the leaves will fall off, but the plants will 

 be fitted to start into fresh and vigorous growth, 

 as soon as the water is again supplied. Previous 

 to this, the branches of the fuchsia should be 

 pruned in, and water given sparingly at first, in- 

 creasing the supply, as the young shoots grow. 

 Geraniums should be partially shaded from the 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE BIRDS OP NEW ENGLAND— No. 2. 

 EAGLES. 



Golden Eagle— Bird of Washington— Bald or White-Eeaded 



Eagle. 



Leaving the family of the indolent Vultures, 

 we pass to the second family of the rapacious 

 birds, the Falconida^ (Falcons,) constituting by 

 far the most numerous division of the diurnal 

 Birds of Prey. They, in general, possess a dar- 

 ing, and often cruel spirit, and subsist almost 

 wholly upon living prey, for the capture of which 

 nature has eminently qualified them ; yet the de- 

 gree of courage manifested by different species 

 is often widely at variance. They are solitary in 

 their dispositions, exceedingly shy of man, and 

 though a few are generally dispersed over our for- 

 ests, and make occasional hostile inroads upon 

 the poultry, the greater part prefer wild, moun- 

 tainous districts for their retreat, particularly dur- 

 ing the breeding season, and in general seldom 

 molest the property of the farmer, while a few 

 may be regarded as useful, from the number of 

 annoying vermin and reptiles they destroy. Their 

 extreme shyness has rendered the study of their 

 history not a little difficult, and being generally 

 few in numbers, there are some species concern- 

 ing which but little is definitely known ; and the 

 long period required for many of the species to 

 arrive at a mature state of plumage, as well as 

 the diverse markings of the plumage of the differ- 

 ent sexes of the same species, have given rise to 

 serious difl[iculties in discriminating between dif- 

 ferent species, and the young and adult of the 

 same ; and it is surprising that ornithologists 

 have not been led more frequently into errors. 



Some twenty or more species embraced in this 

 family are found to more or less inhabit New Eng- 

 land, including as it does the Eagles, Hawks and 

 Buzzards ; but a few, however, are observed to 

 be common, and the greater part are quite rare ; 

 and in various sections of the country, as the old- 

 er forests are cleared away, the numbers of the 

 more common species are every year diminishing. 

 In this class of birds, the female is generally 

 larger, and occasionally one-third larger, than the 

 male, more courageous in hunting, and in the de- 

 fence of her young, and of much handsomer plu- 

 mage, as, indeed, is the case throughout the or- 

 der ; and but one brood of young is raised a year. 



To the Eagles (forming the sub-family Aquili- 

 nce,) is generally submitted the first rank, from 

 their being the most powerful of all the birds of 

 prey, as well as from their large size and noble 

 aspect. Of the true. Eagles (genus Aquila,) the 

 Golden Eagles, {Aquila cliryscetus, Wil. ; Falco 

 clirTjscclus, Linn.,) is our only American repre- 



