32 



KEW EXGLAXD FAE:\IEE. 



Jan. 



voices are so harsh and grating, the courting and I 

 honey-moon tones being pitched in a different 

 key. Although frogs have no tailors' or milliners' 

 bills, they follow the fashions in having a new 

 suit every week or fortnight during the summer, 

 and in casting ofl' the old skin as frequently. They 

 are admired as food not only by Frenchmen and 

 gourmands, but by snakes, eels, ])ike, trout, aqua- 

 tic birds, hawks, owls, moles and weasels. Those 

 most esteemed by epicures, frequent deep, clear 

 pools, and are not easily caught by hand. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PROFITS OF FARMING. 



Sir : — The question, "Is Farming Profitable," 

 I suppose has been satisfactorily determined, but 

 nevertheless, I will add my testimony to that al- 

 ready given by abler pens. Last spring I obtained 

 the use of a piece of land containing about 9000 

 square feet, which had never been plowed, and 

 was covered with a strong growth of running 

 blackberry vines and weeds. After it was plowed 

 it was harrowed and manured in the drill with 

 coarse horse dung ; about the 1st of May it v/as 

 planted with sweet corn and potatoes, reserving a 

 small patch for tomatoes, &c., and notwithstand- 

 ing I had to plant my corn over a second time, I 

 have gathered this fall the following crops : 



12 bushels potatoes, sold at 62c per bush $7,44 



Sweet corn, at an average of 13c per doz 8,00 



Strinjj beans 1,00 



50 cabbages, at 3c per head 1 ,50 



Tomatoes 3,00 



Total $20.94 



Besides other smaller products which help to 

 prove that farming is profitable. 



Expenses. 



Jlanure worth $5, one-fourth used this year $1,C5 



Seed, &c 2,00 



Total $3,25 



Value of crops $20,94 



Expenses 3,25 



Profit $17,69 



This is not large, but it is very well for this 

 town. I am fully satisfied with it, and shall en- 

 deavor to go on a larger scale next year. 



George E. Mitchell. 



Somerville, Nov., 1860. 



To Walk or Drive in a Straight Line. — 

 The Dairy Farmer gives the following directions 

 for "going straight," which, though familiar to 

 most farmers, may not be to all : 



At the starting place, fix the eye in the direc- 

 tion of the stake, or other termination, and notice 

 some object in the distance beyond, that is in 

 range or line with the eye and stake. Go towards 

 the stake, keeping the eye upon it, and the object 

 beyond ; and as long as the three are kept in 

 range, the line travelled over will be straight, but 

 as soon as the three are out of range, they indi- 

 cate that the person moving has deviated from 

 the straight line, and he may get back into line 

 at once by bringing himself in range with the 

 stake and distant object. 



PACKING APPLES IN LEAVES. 



A few years ago, Mr. J. W. Boynton, of East 

 Hartford, while gathering up leaves under an ap- 

 ple tree, ia the spring, observed beneath them a 

 few fresh, unfrozen apples. It suggested at once 

 that dry leaves would answer well as packing ma- 

 terial for fruit, and the next fall and every season 

 sinse he has used them for this purpose. We saw 

 a few days ago some specimens thus preserved, 

 seemingly as fresh and as piquant in flavor as 

 when first gathered ; yet he assured us they v/ere 

 varieties that would have decayed months ago if 

 unprotected. His plan is to pick the apples care- 

 fully at the proper time, not to pack them until 

 the forest leaves are perfectly dry and the weather 

 quite cool . Then the apples and leaves are placed 

 ia alternate layers, and the last layer of leaves 

 crowded in as close as possible by placing any con- 

 venient weight on the cover of the barrel. The 

 leaves are of such elasticity that the whole may be 

 compressed so tightly as to prevent all shucking, 

 &c., and yet not bruise the apples in the slightest 

 degree. In this latitude Mr. Boynton has never 

 found it necessary to keep these barrels of fruit 

 in any place warmer than an open shed. It would 

 be advisable of course, everywhere, to keep them 

 in as cool a place as possible. In the spring they 

 are to be removed to a cool, airy cellar, or to an 

 apartment especially for fruit, in connection with 

 the ice-hoxises.— Homestead. 



Three Vermont Farmers. — One man in 

 Hichford has 900 acres of improved land, and be- 

 sides summering and wintering 19 horses, 85 cows, 

 120 other cattle, and 53 sheep, bought in the 

 spring of 1859, 120 head of cattle, pastured them 

 through the season, sold them in the fall, and 

 received $500 net for pasturing. He also had one 

 and a half acres planted with French or Osier wil- 

 low, — cut from the same six tons of green, equal 

 to two tons peeled and dried. Cost of peeling 

 and drying 2 cents per pound — worth in market 

 from 5 to 2^ cents per pound. Another man in 

 Sheldon has 300 acres of improved land, and be- 

 sides wintering 10 horses, 21 cows, 2 oxen, 32 

 other cattle and 225 sheep, sold last season $650 

 value of horses, $600 value of cattle, $400 value 

 of wool, $75 value of sheep, and $50 value of hay 

 and other |)roduce. A man in Enosburgh has 

 330 acres of improved land, and besides wintering 

 $1,090 value of live stock, sold $2,500 value mar- 

 ket cattle, raised upon his farm. — Springfield Eep. 



Skimming Milk.— A country woman says : 

 The wise man, in enumerating the times and sea- 

 sons, made no mention of a time to skim milk ; 

 yet, nevertheless, there is a time, — a right time, 

 too, — and that is just as the milk begins to sour 

 in the bottom of the pans. Then the cream is all 

 at the surface, and should at once be removed — 

 with as little of the milk as possible. If allowed 

 to remain until the acid reaches the cream it im- 

 pairs it in quality. The housewife or dairymaid, 

 who thinks to obtain a greater quantity by allow- 

 ing the milk to stand beyond that time, labors 

 under a most egregious mistake. Any one who 

 doubts this, has only to try it to prove the truth 

 of this assertion. Milk should be looked to at 

 least three times a day. — Rural American. 



