232 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



is in pasture, where the bunches of wild grass 

 have died out and June grass and white clover is 

 taking its place, so that the past season it has 

 been the best piece of the farm. Formerly it was 

 only in a dry time that we could go on with oxen 

 to pile stumps. The latter part of the season 

 was quite wet here, yet we had no difficulty in 

 harvesthig the potatoes and turnips, in drawing 

 forty bushels on a cart with a small pair of oxen, 

 and now, and in the future, I consider that the 

 soil will be sufficiently dry for roots, English 

 grain or grass. 



The tile cost when delivered on the premises 

 $15 per 1000, for 2-inch; larger sizes in propor- 

 tion, being one-third part rail-road transporta- 

 tion and cartage. The cost of drainage will not 

 vary much from $35 per acre, for which I think 

 the first two crops will pay, and the land now is 

 worth, at least, §1.>0 to the acre. 



The tile discharge water all winter and all sum- 

 mer when not extremely dry, and discharge with 

 a velocity in jjroportion to the height of water 

 above the tile, and where the discharge is under 

 the water in the outlet, bubbles up like a large 

 boiling spring. Here, then, is one of the most 

 difficult pieces to drain, thoroughly done, and it is 

 the first in these parts. Many others who have be- 

 gun and done a little, are satisfied with what they 

 have done ; many more are about beginning. 

 Tile are to be made here next season, when one- 

 third of the expense will be saved. Our richest 

 land will be brought into cultivation, and the 

 place of the bullfrog, water snakes, bulrushes, 

 cat-tails and wild grass, hillocks, miasmas and 

 pestilence, will excel the western prairies in pro- 

 ductiveness, and our young men will not be so 

 apt to catch the Western fever. 



H. W. Lester. 



Rutland, VL, Feb. 14, 1861. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 liA-KQE Oil SMALL CORET. 



Mr. Editor: — I noticed in reading the Far- 

 mer, an article headed, "Which to plant, large or 

 small corn ?" The writer goes on to show that 

 the 12 rowed is the most profitable, and yields 30 

 bushels to the acre ; he takes nothing into con- 

 sideration but the corn shelled. 



I am a farmer, and a miller also. I have had a 

 chance to see 8 and 12 rowed corn brought to 

 mill in the car, and I can say that not more than 

 one grist in ten comes to mill of the 12 rowed but 

 what gets mouldy before the cob is seasoned. — 

 Another consideration is the fodder. The 12 

 rowed stalks grow so large, the cattle will not eat 

 more than two-thirds of them, while on the other 

 hand they will eat every one of the 8 rowed stalks ; 

 and there is no trouble to cure the corn or stalks, 

 which is quite an item. The 8 rowed will bear 

 planting nearer together, with more stalks in a 

 hill, and requires from 2 to 3 weeks less time to 

 bring it to maturity than the 12 rowed, on the 

 same kind of soil. I venture to say that I can 

 raise as many bushels on an acre of perfectly 

 sound corn, that is, shelled corn, as Mr. "Massa- 

 poag" can of the 12 rowed variety, and the fodder 

 worth one-third more. It is not half the trouble 

 to cover it, and it is better corn when shelled, for 

 market. P. V. P. 



Shelbume, Vt., Jan., 1861. 



CULTURE OP THE CRANBERRY— No. 1. 



There are several things which distinguish this 

 age in a remarkable degree, — such as the power 

 of locomotion in transporting heavy bodies, or 

 in celerity of motion, or the blessings conferred 

 upon the world by the aid of chemical investiga- 

 tion, and what more immediately interests us 

 as farmers, the desire to inquire and ascertain 

 how far we may take the plants as they are pre- 

 sented to us from the hand of the Creator, and 

 transform or mould them into articles of food, 

 clothing, or shelter for man, or for the animals 

 which he rears. 



The potato presents an illustration. Once a 

 wild, small, almost worthless tuber, but now large, 

 fair, palatable, nutritious, and almost indispensa- 

 ble. The brittle, aromatic, and juicy celery, now 

 ranked among the luxuries of the table, was once 

 a small, tough, bitter plant, rejected alike by man 

 and beast. The carrot, which enriches and gives 

 color to cream and butter, still grows wild and 

 worthless in some of our fields, and along the 

 highways. It is now valued upon the table, and 

 greatly so as a winter feed for stock, and espe- 

 cially for horses. The apple and pear afford an- 

 other illustration, familiar to all, and so of many 

 other plants common to our cultivation. 



It is this application of mind to material things 

 — this inquiry into the recesses of nature and the 

 development of her secret resources, that distin- 

 guishes an age or a people, and gives it a marked 

 significance on the pages of history. 



Among the plants that have for some time been 

 receiving attention, is the Cranberry. It is not a 

 new plant, any more than the potato or the cele- 

 ry, for it is probable that it was the accompani- 

 ment of many a savory haunch of venison among 

 the Indians. It is susceptible of great improve- 

 ment, both in size and flavor, as we have seen one 

 variety affording numerous specimens a full inch 

 in length, by actual measurement, the flavor and 

 color of which far surpassed those growing with- 

 out culture. 



The cranberry cannot, like the apple, be em- 

 ployed in many different forms. In an uncooked 

 state it is tasted, but never eaten as food. As a 

 sauce for meats, it is unrivalled, not only in fla- 

 vor, but in its beautiful color, which ornaments 

 the table as much as the fruit pleases the taste. 

 In jellies, jams, marmalade, puddings and pies, 

 no fruit known has a more delicate flavor ; yet, 

 though delicate, its flavor is lively, almost spark- 

 ling, and highly agreeable. This delicacy allows 

 the sick to use it when most fruits could not be 

 taken. Wc do not think its acid is that of the 

 apple, malic, nor of the grape, tartaric, but is 

 something more delicate than either, which, when 

 better understood, will become a valuable restor- 

 ative in many cases of loss of physical power. 



