1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



127 



to a pyramid ; its apex cannot be raised without 

 tne enlargement of the base ; the facts and expe- 

 rience of the artisan form the foundation ; in pro- 

 portion as that is enlarged and improved, the 

 structure may be heightened. 



Dr. Gannett saw in this project a means of 

 strengthening the bonds of union, and of raising 

 man up to the contemplation of higher duties. 



"In contemplation of created things, 

 By steps we may ascend to God." 



Jan. 12. William Edson. 



EXTRACTS AND BEPLIEJS. 

 TIME FOR CUTTING TIMBER. 



There has been considerable discussion of late, 

 in the Farmer, about the time to cut timber. I 

 have a fact to the point, which I will state. On 

 the 12th of July, 1798, my father's barn was 

 struck with lightning and consumed. The neigh- 

 bors assisted, went to the woods and cut all the 

 timber except the braces, hewed it and had an- 

 other frarne erected, 50 by 30 feet, in just two 

 weeks. That timber is as bright now as new 

 timber, with but very little powder-post. The 

 large timber is pine, and the small hemlock. 



I want to sow some wheat, the coming season ; 

 will you tell me, through the Farmer, which you 

 think to be the best kind for this locality, and 

 where it can be obtained ? My interest in farm- 

 ing increases with my age, and inability to do the 

 labor. Thomas Haskell. 



New Oloucester, Jan., 1861. 



Remarks. — The opinion is gaining ground, 

 that summer is the best time to cut trees for tim- 

 ber, as well as for pruning. 



Java or Coffee wheat is raised in considerable 

 quantities in this State. It is a spring wheat, 

 and ought to be got in early, say by the 15th of 

 April, and covered two or three inches deep, if 

 the soil is dry ; if a little wet and sticky, one inch 

 is enough. It is plenty, and can be obtained at 

 the agricultural stores. 



manures and THEIR APPLICATION. 



I was glad to hear this topic announced for 

 discussion at the Agricultural Meeting of last 

 •week. It seemed like meeting an old acquaint- 

 ance, whom I had not seen for a long time. I 

 remembered to have suggested the topic, years 

 ago, when a member of the voluntary Board of 

 Agriculture. 



Manures are to the farmer what emphasis is to 

 the orator. You all remember the teachings of 

 our school-books as to oratory — the first essen- 

 tial is said to be emphasis, and the second is em- 

 phasis — and the third is a due regard to empha- 

 sis. So says the distinguished farmer of Quincy. 

 Manure is the best crop that can be grown on the 

 farm — because, without this, no other crop can be 

 grown — certainly not, after several years' crop- 

 ping and exhausting the soil. 



It is with manure, as with everything else on the 

 farm, it should be kept within due limits. It is 

 not good farming to expend five dollars for maR- 

 ures, when your crop grown will not be worth 

 more than three. There are too many instances 

 of this kind of farming. There is a due propor- 



tion to be observed in all these things. No larg- 

 er quantity of manure should be applied to land, 

 than can be profitably applied. Whatever is 

 done more than this is waste. You will not find 

 the man who digs his own mud from the swamp, 

 and carts home his own night soil from the city, 

 thus lavishly squandering it. But he will care- 

 fully compost the two, and so distribute the com- 

 post upon the land, as that the harvest of au- 

 tumn will rightly balance the account. P. 

 Jan. 28, 1861. 



P. S. Such would have been my ideas, if I 

 could have been present at the discussion. I was 

 misrepresented in your columns of Saturday last, 

 by being made to say that our farmers grew 20 or 

 30 bushels of corn to the acre, when I said 

 they realized a profit from the culture of corn of 

 twenty or thirty dollars to the acre. 



TO destroy insects on fruit trees. 



Much has been said about destroying insects 

 on fruit trees. I have tried many ways, but have 

 found none so good as the following : 



For a common-sized plum tree, fill six or eight 

 vials about two-thirds full of water, well sweet- 

 ened with loaf sugar, and hang them on different 

 parts of the tree, about the time it is blossoming, 

 and the insects will take that before the fruit. I 

 have filled vials twice in one season, and found 

 among them hundreds of insects such as I never 

 saw or heard of before. 



Another for Hose Bugs. — I have never seen a 

 better way to rid trees of these pests than to 

 smoke them. Take an iron vessel, put in coals, 

 and set it under the tree on the head of a barrel, 

 and then put in old scraps of leather ; as this 

 smoke is every way offensive to them, they will 

 soon leave the tree ; by giving it a good smoking 

 they will not return. These fellows, as soon as 

 they have shed their yellow wings, attack horses, 

 being the small horsefly which is so troublesome 

 through the summer, H. White. 



South Eadley, Mass., Jan. 28, 1861. 



the town of LYME OUTDONE. 



Much has been said and written of late, relative 

 to the remarkable productiveness of Lyme, N. H., 

 in potatoes, as having raised in one school dis- 

 trict on five farms, the enormous amount of 9,890 

 bushels the past season ! Well done, old Lyme ! 

 She has done nobly, and so far, of course, has 

 borne off the palm. The following statement, I 

 think, will leave Lyme a little in the shade. The 

 town of Lisbon, same State and county, produced 

 the past season, according to careful estimate, in 

 round numbers 200,000 bushels of potatoes ; one 

 school district in said town produced in round 

 numbers, 24,000 bushels ; five farms in said dis- 

 trict j)roduced, in round numbers, also, 16,000 

 bushels ! Now, Mr. Editor, I think by this time 

 you will see that old Lisbon comes out a little 

 ahead. Neio Hampshire Journal of Agriculture 

 will please notice. P. YouNG. 



Lisbon, N. II., Jan., 1861. 



"M. W. H." must keep trying, as practice 

 makes perfect. But select practical subjects, that 

 vou are acquainted with — then relate them as 

 you would in a conversation with a friend. 



