1861. 



NEAV ENGLAND FAE^MER. 



245 



never healed over ; but it is now sound, and al- 

 most as hard as horn, and the tree perfectly 

 sound around it. A few years before and after 

 iarf!;e limbs v/ere cut from the same tree in the 

 spring; ; and where they were cut off the tree has 

 rotted, so that a quart measure may be put into 

 the cavities." 



We have other high authorities to the same 

 point before us, but the length of this article al- 

 ready forbids our citing them. It is certainly 

 important that, after we have been twenty years 

 in rearing a good tree, we shall not ruin it by one 

 or two improper prunings. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE MANGOLD ^VUKTZEI.. 



Mr Editor : — In the last number of your val- 

 uable paper I was pleased to see the attention of 

 your readers called to the cultivation of the man- 

 gold. While I agree with your correspondent 

 from Bolton, as to the value of the root, I think I 

 can point out a much easier and cheaper method 

 of cultivation. And here permit me to say, that 

 I am largely indebted to the instructions and kind 

 personal supervision of the senior editor of the 

 Farmer, while one of the Trustees of the State 

 Reform School, for whatever success I have had 

 in raising the mangold. This root will grow on 

 almost any good soil, but I prefer a deep sandy 

 loam, and the more free from weeds the belter. 

 Plow well, nine or ten inches deep, and break 

 lumps thoroughly with the harrow and bush. Then 

 begin on one side, and with a horse plow, make 

 five deep furrows, as strai(jht as a line, and just 

 three feet apart Fill those furrows with stable 

 manure or good compost, at the rate of 25 to 40 

 ox cart loads to the acre, according to the strength 

 of the manure, scatter salt upon the manure equal 

 to two bushels per acre, turn two light furrows 

 upon each row of manure, rake the ridges thus 

 made lengthwise, then make five more furrows, 

 and proceed in the same way till the whole field 

 is finished. Sow with a machine, and be generous 

 with the seed. This method gives just room to 

 pass between the rows with the horse hoe, and as 

 the plants stand higher than the spaces, this may 

 be done when they are very small. Turn the 

 mould from the plants first, then towards them, 

 keep it stirring, and very little hand work will be 

 necessary. Thin the plants to as near eight inches 

 as possible, and let not a weed grow in the field. 

 When the tops begin to turn yellow gather the 

 lower leaves for the cows, and you will be well paid 

 for the trouble. I have cultivated them in this 

 way for two seasons, on the State Farm, and with 

 such success that I shall pursue the same course 

 for myself, unless some of your readers can show 

 me a better way. I would add, the mangold is 

 excellent in the spring of the year for working ox- 

 en, and swine eat them greedily, whether raw or 

 cooked. E. Brigham. 



Westboro', March 28, 1861. 



Remarks. — There it is, fellow-laborer, all in a 

 nut-shell, as it were. Follow the above directions, 

 and you will never fail of getting a good crop, 

 and get it cheap. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SUPESPHOSPHATB OF LIME— COMPOST. 



Mr. Editor: — What do you think of Coe's 

 superphosphate of lime ? Is it, in your opinion, 

 a permanent fertilizer, or does it partake more of 

 the nature of a stimulant ? What should you 

 think of a compost composed of, say, one cord of 

 stable manure, two cords good meadow muck and 

 two bags (250 lbs.) superphosphate ? Could it 

 not reasonably be expected that such a compost 

 would prove to be good food for almost any crop ? 

 Should you prefer the same money value ($5,02) 

 of night-soil, at $3 a load, to the superphosphate ? 

 From what little I have seen of the eflects of sul- 

 phate of lime I am strongly inclined to the be- 

 lief that a judicious use of it, together with good 

 meadov/ muck, on our lands, would restore them 

 to their original fertility. My first bag was pur- 

 chased in August, 1855, and all but about a peck 

 of it used on turnips, with most satisfactory re- 

 sults. In April, of the following year, the re- 

 maining peck was sown, by way of experiment, on 

 a shallow meadow, or more properly run, that 

 never had been plowed, and which produced a 

 rather light crop of hay of poor quality. It was 

 sown, I should judge, at the rate of about one 

 ton to the acre. The effects of the application 

 were almost immediately seen, and were to me 

 truly surprising. In a short time the exact di- 

 mensions of the spot dressed could be plainly dis- 

 tinguished even at a distance, and the crop, I 

 think, was more than doubled in quantity, besides 

 the quality being increased in equal ratio. But 

 the best of the story remains to be told. Five 

 crops have since been taken off the piece, with- 

 out applying any more manure of any kind, and 

 the last was, in my opinion, quite equal to the 

 first, both as regards quantity and quality — it was, 

 in fact, a heavy crop of clover, red-top and herds 

 grass. I might give other facts respecting its 

 good effects on various other crops, as per my 

 own experience, but as I took up my pen simply 

 to get your opinion on that compost, I will stop 

 here. J. L. Smith. 



Winchester, Mass., April, 1861. 



Remarks. — We think a genuine superphos- 

 phate of lime is a decided fertilizer, one that will 

 be felt for several years. The compost you men- 

 tion must be valuable, and would be better, we 

 think, than the same money's worth of night-soil 

 at the price you name. 



Peanuts. — The Peanut is cultivated in Geor- 

 gia, Alabama, North Carolina, &c. It is planted 

 in ridges about three feet apart, and the vine 

 stands about a foot in perpendicular height. The 

 stems shoot out in all directions from it for about 

 fifteen inches around. These runners have joints 

 about an inch and a half apavt ; and at each joint 

 a strong root strikes down kito the ground about 

 two inches deep ; at the end of this root the pea- 

 pod is formed and comes to maturity. Some far- 

 mers cover these lateral vines with earth, while 

 others leave them bare all the time. It is not 

 agreed which is the better mode. When ripe, 

 one bunch of vines will have from one to two 

 quarts of peas. One acre will produce from thir- 

 ty-five to fifty bushels of peas. 



