158 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



April 



both heat and moisture. In such a position, the 

 tree will soon start into active and vigorous 

 growth, and will be likely to continue this habit 

 for several years, as the roots will not be soon 

 checked by coming in contact with a hard and 

 cold soil. 



Great care must be observed not to set the 

 tree too low in the soil. A good rule is to leave 

 the crown of the root just on a level with the sur- 

 face. If there are plenty of roots, and one or two 

 of them come up quite near the surface, while all 

 the others are well below, cut off the upper ones, 

 as they will be likely to throw up suckers contin- 

 ually. 



Trees should be selected that have been formed 

 in the nursery, as those that have not been are 

 materially checked in growth by frequent altera- 

 tions in their amount of top. When trees in the 

 nursery are formed, those may be selected that 

 are much alike in size and figure, and the planter 

 may have before him an orchard not only of good 

 fruit producing trees, but those doing him credit 

 in their similarity to each other, and in their 

 symmetry of form. 



Fifty trees, such as we have described, and set 

 as suggested above, will be more productive than 

 one hundred of an indifferent description, and set 

 in a careless manner. 



FoT the New England Farmer. 

 LEGHORN FOWLS OWCE MORE. 



Mr. Editor : — I transmit the following in an- 

 swer to frequent inquiries about Leghorn fowls. 

 The first Leghorns brought into the United States 

 were introduced from Leghorn, about the year 

 1854, by the captain of a ^Yhale ship, of Mystic, 

 Conn. The leading merits of this race of fowls 

 are the number of eggs, of which they produce 

 more than any other variety, the pullets commenc- 

 ing to lay as early as four months old ; their eggs 

 are of good size ; they are hardy fowls, and rarely 

 wish to set ; their legs and skin are yellow, fine- 

 fleshed and excellent for the table, with little waste 

 in offal. Both sexes are lower in the leg than the 

 Black Spanish, and their size is much the same ; 

 their whole form is good, and quite plump in the 

 make. Both cock and hen have larger single 

 combs and wattles than those of the Black Span- 

 ish. 



The plumage of the original Leghorns was 

 brown and reddish j-cllow. I obtained this breed 

 of fowls from a gentleman that has kept and bred 

 them in their utmost purity from the original 

 stock, yet white individuals may have been pro- 

 duced from the dark colored, as we see in other 

 breeds of fowls. This change in color of feathers 

 may be produced by clnngc of food and climate. 

 Those of darker plumage are gem rally esteemed, 

 and are believed to be the best breed. The white 

 sort is rejected as being more tender, and not so 

 prolific as the darker colored. In a lot of sixty I 

 had last summer, of this breed of fowls, I observed 

 three with light colored feathers. Their scarcity, 

 as well as the high price at which they have been 



held, has prevented them from coming into gen- 

 eral use. I have sent fowls and eggs into most 

 all the New England States and New York. I 

 learn from several gentlemen that they have 

 proved themselves to be constant Avinter layers : 

 their eggs more than double pay their keeping, 

 and the fowls are liked the best of any they have 

 ever kept. Their only fault, (if any,) is their 

 small size. The Leghorns have been crossed with 

 the Black Spanish and other breeds of fowls which 

 are inferior to the genuine Leghorns. 



Uxbridge, Feb. 4, 18G1. James McNay. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FARMING FOR THE MASSES. 



Mr. Brown : — I have been interested in the 

 State Agricultural Meetings, and I am persuaded 

 that they will tend to raise the standard of farm- 

 ing throughout the Commonwealth. There is, 

 however, a class of farmers who are not reached 

 by such meetings. I allude to a class who have 

 limited means, and have not sufficient wealth to 

 make such use of land as would cause its cultiva- 

 tion to be ])rofitable. They have not manure, and 

 are incapable of producing it, and have not the 

 ability to purchase it. They thus plod on, year 

 after year, to no profit. They have but a few acres 

 of ground, and that is of a poor soil, and does not 

 remunerate the laborer for his daily toil. How 

 can he enrich his ground at less expense, than 

 the man who has ample means to improve his 

 ground ? 



Where we undertake to advance the education 

 in a community, we endeavor to reach the lower 

 classes of society, to raise the masses, and not 

 merely to improve our colleges and higher semi- 

 inaries of learning, but begin with the first rudi- 

 ments, the lowest ranks of a community. A very 

 large proportion of the farmers in New England, 

 or such as obtain a living from the cultivation of 

 the soil, are poor, and find it very hard to com- 

 mence the year free from debt. Some have a trade 

 at which ihey work a part of the time; others 

 work for their more prosperous neighbors, to the 

 neglect of their own little homestead. How can 

 the standard for such be raised. How can they 

 procure or manufacture manure to enrich their 

 few acres, so that instead of realizing a small in- 

 come from an acre, they may obtain hundreds. 



If anything can be done to reach this poorer 

 class of the tillers of the soil, something may be 

 effected to advance farming interests general- 

 ly. As in science, so in agriculture, new discov- 

 eries Mill continue to be made, and capital will be 

 required to carry such improvements forward, 

 while a large part of a community will remain 

 shrouded in darkness. Waste lands will still lie 

 unimproved, and much labor will be lost through 

 ignorance. 



Eight or ten acres of land may easily, w-ith suit- 

 able management, be made to support a medium 

 sized family, of five to seven persons. What can 

 be done to enlighten and help forward this large 

 class in the various towns throughout New Eng- 

 land ? The means of ])rocuring manure are not at 

 hand. The necessary labor can be had, but 

 knowledge is wanting by which this labor can be 

 profitably employed. Means are wanting by which 

 unimproved lands and lost labor may be made pro- 



