278 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



droop and die, and at harvesting I had only 

 about a quarter of a crop, while those with sul- 

 phur yielded a large and fine crop, with not a sign 

 of the maggot during the season. 



Cornelius Callaghan, 



(Janlener to John Wooldridge, Esq. 



Lynn, April 12, 18G1. 



Remarks. — Sulphur being a mineral, why 

 should it not operate equally beneficial, if spread 

 broadcast over the field, and perhaps slightly 

 raked in before sowing the seed ? Or, spread 

 over the ground after the seed is sown, and left 

 on the surface ? We learn that our correspond- 

 ent will experiment by sowing sulphur broadcast, 

 as well as by sowing it with the seed, and hope 

 he will give us the result. 



COB AND CO.'S SUPEKPHOSPHA.TES. 



Dr. Hatch, of Koene, N. H., has addressed an 

 interesting communication to the selling agents 

 of Messrs. Coe & Co., on the relative merits of 

 their superphosphates and the Peruvian guano. 

 Dr. Hatch is a gentleman v.'hose scientific educa- 

 tion is of the highest and most precise kind, 

 while he is also a careful and experienced practi- 

 cal agriculturist — qualities not often found in the 

 same person in so great a degree. We ask at- 

 tention to his letter : 



Messrs. Elliot & Ripley : — Oents, — At your 

 request I annex a statement as regards the rela- 

 tive value of Coe's Superphosphate of Lime and 

 Peruvian Guano. 



Being obliged to purchase manure for a large 

 portion of my crops last yeai-, I made inquiries 

 for the best and cheapest. I was satisfied, theo- 

 retically, that Superphosphate of Lime was what 

 I needed, but was persuaded to try at the same 

 time Peruvian Guano. I plowed two acres of 

 light sandy loam, and used on one-half three bags 

 of Coe's Superphosphate of Lime, on the other, 

 one and a half bags of the best Peruvian Guano, 

 costing ten cents more than the lime. The land 

 was sowed to Hungarian grass, millet and clover. 

 The result was the same in each instance, viz.: 

 that portion of the land upon which the guano 

 was used produced only about two-thirds as much 

 as the other. In my garden, I found that the 

 peas, (contrary to my prediction,) came up earli- 

 er, grew faster and larger, and yielded more than 

 twice the quantity upon the superphosphate than 

 those upon the guano. I also tried the same ex- 

 periment Avith early potatoes, with precisely the 

 same result. I also used the lime for corn, oats, 

 carrots, mangolds and turnips, and in every in- 

 stance to my cntii'e satisfaction. I have no hesi- 

 tation in saying that I consider it the best and 

 cheapest artificial manure that can be bought. 



Keene, April G, ISGL Tiios. E. Hatcu. 



We learn from our numerous correspondents 

 that the Phosphate is not only quicker in its ef- 

 fects than Peruvian Guano, but much more dura- 

 ble, lasting from five to six years ; and after all 

 the information we have received, we give it as 

 our opinion that Coe's Superphosphate of Lime 

 is far the best fertilizer the farmer can use. — 

 Boston Journal. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 IS IT PROFITABLE TO KEEP HENS? 



Mr. Editor : — The above question has been 

 freely discussed in your paper in times past, and 

 much has been said on both sides, yet I could not 

 decide it for myself without practical demonstra- 

 tion ; accordingly, as I had a stock of 11 hens, I 

 commenced, on the 1st of January, 1860, to keep 

 an exact account of debt and credit for the year 

 ending Jan. 1, 18G1. 



The result is as follows : 



Cost of 11 hens, at 33c $3.63 



Cost of keep, 14 bush, oats at 45c per bush 6,30 



Total amount $9,93 



Early in the spring 3 of the 11 died, and the 

 amount of eggs produced was 1133 5 to get the 

 true value of which I credited them at the ruling 

 price at the village store, as fast as a dozen accu- 

 mulated, (the price varied from 20 cents down to 

 12 cents per dozen.) 



The value of the egpa was $14,60 



Stock of 8 hens, at 3oC 2,64 



Makinft a total of $17,14 



From which deduct 9,93 



And I have a good balance of ,..$ 7,21 



I do not keep a crower, as I save the cost of 

 keep, and besides, what is a greater advantage, 

 the hens may set several days longer on their 

 eggs without spoiling them for use. I do not 

 raise chickens, I find eggs the most profitable. 

 My stock is the Bolton Grays crossed with the 

 common barn-yard fowl ; they seldom off'er to set, 

 and can be easily broken up. I do not let them 

 run at large from May to October. I have a yard 

 for them adjoining my barn in which is a hennery 

 made by partitioning off" a portion of the bay ; it 

 has large windows near the ground, and a south- 

 ern aspect. 



Perhaps the inquiry may be raised if the trouble 

 of feeding and tending should not be charged to 

 them ; if so, I reply no, for the pleasure and sat- 

 isfaction I enjoy from tending them is more than 

 an equivalent for all the trouble. Warfield. 



North Londonderry, Vt., Jan., 1861. 



NoELE Horse. — Grant Thorburn says: "I 

 once saw a horse, in the neighborhood of New 

 York, drawing a load of coal, twelve hundred 

 weight, in a cart. The lane was very narrow — 

 the driver, some distance behind, was conversing 

 with a neighbor. The horse, on a slow walk, 

 came up to a little child sitting on his hind quar- 

 ters, in the middle of the road, gathering up dust 

 with his little hands, and making mountains out 

 of mole hills. The horse stopped — he smelled 

 of the child — there was no room to turn off. 

 With his thick lips he gathered the frock between 

 his teeth, lifted the child, laid him gently on the 

 outside of the wheel track, and 'went on his way 

 rejoicing.' And well might he rejoice — he had 

 done a noble deed." 



A Large Warming ArPAHAxus. — The New 

 York authorities, it is said, have allowed a com- 

 pany to lay pipes through all the streets, to con- 

 vey "hydrogcnated fuel," or other heating agents 

 to every house, just as gas and water are now con- 

 veyed. So we move onward. 



