1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



173 



What renders this fruit so valuable, is its ex- 

 quisite and delicious flavor after being prepared 

 for the table, and the extraordinary manner in 

 which it keeps from rotting. Fruit has been 

 known to keep 20 months, with extra care. This 

 is what makes it so valuable to ship. It is shipped 

 to Europe and California. Every person who 

 owns land had better raise enough for his own 

 use, if not for the market. Any land that will 

 bear the potato will bear the cranberry, but moist 

 and wet land is best adapted to its culture. I ap- 

 peal to all who own meadows and swamps to in- 

 troduce this fruit. Land that is comparatively 

 worth nothing can be made to be worth from $100 

 to $500 an acre. I know of acres that a few 

 years ago were worth nothing, which to-day are 

 worth $500 per acre. Joseph L. Daniels. 

 Milford, Mass., Feb. 6, 1861. 



OYSTEE SHELL LIME — HOT BEDS — TOMATO SEED. 



1. Will you give the most economical method 

 of burning or converting oyster shells into the 

 so-called oyster shell lime ? 



2. Give the method, kind of soil, manure, &c., 

 of raising early market lettuce. 



3. Give the best way of making a cheap and 

 suitable hot-bed for starting tomato plants, &c. 

 Also, can second-hand windows be bought so as 

 be cheaper in the end than new, and about what 

 is the price of each ? 



4. About what time ought tomato seed to be 

 planted so as to come forward in good season ? 



Young Farmer. 

 Somerville, Mass., Feb., 1861. 



Remarks. — 1. Pile up the shells in the corner 

 where two walls come together, with alternate 

 layers of wood or brush, cover with earth, or 

 turf, and set on fire, watching and tending as is 

 done in burning coal. 



2. Sow lettuce in moderate hot-beds early in 

 March, and if tended well, the plants will be 

 ready for transplanting by the middle of April. 

 Put them into a good sandy loam soil, made 

 warm underneath by a generous supply of horse 

 manure, stir the ground about them often, and 

 you will be likely to get good heads before the 

 approach of warm weather. 



3. We made suggestions about hot-beds in 

 last week's paper. Second-hand sashes may 

 sometimes be purchased low. Inquire the price 

 of new, and then you will be able to judge 

 whether to purchase second-hand or not. 



4. Put tomato seeds in pots or boxes in the 

 house, or in the hot-beds early in March, and 

 again on the 10th and middle of the month. 



SALTED POSTS. 



Can you, or any of your numerous readers, in- 

 form me as to the utility of putting salt into 

 green hemlock fence posts ? 



Will it add to their durability on dry, sandy 

 land ? 



Wesfford, Vt, Feb., 1861. s. G. B. 



Eem.\eks.— Will some one enlighten S. G.B..P 



PULVERIZATION OF MANURES. 



There is one subject which to my mind has 

 not been so thoroughly discussed in the Farmer 

 as its importance demands — the pulverization of 

 manures- 

 It is the common practice to spread broadcast 

 in the spring, and plow under all manures which 

 have accumulated during the winter. Such man- 

 ures, from being thrown out in the snow, or into 

 the cellar, have received an undue amount of 

 moisture, and as a forkful is thrown into the 

 cart, so it lays ; requiring a very careful hand to 

 spread it, or it lays in large bunches on the 

 ground. This, it seems to me, is \ery far from 

 the proper way of applying manures. 



Now the question seems to be, to what extent 

 can labor and materials be profitably applied to 

 eS'ect the pulverization of manures ? AH ob- 

 serving men are aware that the roots of plants, at 

 the point where they take their food, are very 

 small, and can no more appropriate a large lump 

 of manure, than a man can live on half-cooked 

 food. I write in the hope of provoking from 

 your pen or those of your able correspondents, 

 some articles on a subject which demands "line 

 upon line and precept upon precept." 



Wells, Me., 1861. Moses Littlefield. 



USE OF SLAB IN SEEDING LANDS. 



I am very much pleased with the idea of the 

 slab for smoothing land noticed in last week's 

 paper. It is all right, except that one of the 

 draft chains should be a little longer than the 

 other, so that the slab will move at an angle of 

 about 15° with the line of draft, and then it will 

 draw much easier and do the work better. 



Where can I get cranberry vines to set, and 

 the proper instructions for their cultivation ? 



South Dorset, Vt., 1861. E. P. Luther. 



Remarks. — Thank you for the suggestion 

 about the chain. The use of the slab strikes us 

 as a valuable improvement over the brush har- 

 row ; perhaps both may be used advantageously. 



Almost any town in the easterly part of New 

 Hampshire has an abundance of cranberry vines. 

 You can get "Eastwood on the Cranberry" at 

 this office. 



PROLIFIC HENS. 



The following statement, may perhaps be in- 

 teresting to the readers of your paper. I have a 

 flock of 37 hens of the Chittagong and Dorking 

 breed, that have laid during the last three 

 months 128i dozen eggs, viz.: 



From Nov. 15th, 1860, to Dec. 15th 495 eggs. 



From Dec. 15th, 1860, to Jan. loth, 1861 485 eggs. 



From Jan. 15th, 1860, to Feb. 15th, 1861 562 eggs. 



Total 1542 



WILLL4.M Robinson. 

 Boston, Feb. 15, 1861. 



Sheep Killed by an Owl. — On the 13th 

 inst., Mr. A. North went lo feed his sheep, and 

 found two or three quite bloody, and one missing. 

 There being a light snow upon the ground, he 

 concluded he could discover the depredator hy 



