1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



309 



fit for any other purpose than boiling. Rain 

 yvatev was given at the same time, and in the 

 same quantities, as the salt water. He does not 

 know how strong a solution of salt the cabbages 

 would bear without injury, but is fully satisfied 

 that a solution no stronger than that he used is 

 decidedly beneficial. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A "WOMAN" IN AN" AGRICULTURAL 

 MEETING. 



Messrs.^ditors : — Wishing to procure some 

 interesting items for your paper, I ventured to 

 attend a meeting of the Horticultural Society in 

 Washington County, a short time since. I was 

 the only lady present, I am sorry to say, but un- 

 der the protection of one of its oldest members, I 

 soon felt quite at home, and learned that ladies 

 were always made welcome to these meetings. 1 

 was much amused with the discussion upon the 

 best mode of keeping apples ; one gentleman of 

 much experience in fruit-growing, and who had 

 been for many years of his life a jolly flat boat- 

 man, contended that apples kept best in a moist 

 atmosphere. It was a fact, he said, that the ap- 

 ples packed on the lowest tier in a boat, close to 

 the water, were in good condition, on arriving at 

 New Orleans, while those on the upper tier were 

 imperfect. On the other hand, Mr. Dana, of 

 Belpre, one of the largest fruit-growers of the 

 county, contended that apples on the upper tiers 

 of cellars keep best, and that an equable cool 

 temperature is desirable. He thought that apples 

 might be kept for a long time in a building simi- 

 lar to an ice-house, the temperature low as possi- 

 ble without freezing, and equable. 



On one point they all seemed agreed, and the 

 Yankee boys and girls who read the Farmer will 

 be delighted to learn it, viz., that apples ought 

 not to be "picked over," but allowed to remain 

 in the barrels, closely headed, until wanted for 

 use. One gentleman remarked that when he was 

 a boy, he was kept picking over apples many 

 hours of the winter, and they had "specked ap- 

 ples" to eat most of the time, but upon his pres- 

 ent plan they had good apples to eat, and less 

 rotten fruit to throw away. It was also decided 

 that apples for transportation should be packed 

 over full and pressed down well with the head. It 

 seems that apples on the hill lands and dry up- 

 lands keep much longer than those raised in the 

 valleys. 



I was surprised to find that the apples which 

 we esteem the best in New England for winter 

 keeping are not much valued here. The Bald- 

 win is considered an inferior apple ; the Roxbury 

 Russet grows well, and is large and fair ; but the 

 two kinds most highly esteemed are the Roman- 

 ite and Rome Beauty. The latter keeps better 

 than the Russet. 



This region, (Washington Co.,) is a fine fruit- 

 growing region. As early as 1796, Israel Putnam, 

 who lived six miles from Marietta, obtained from 

 the east a one-horse wagon load of scions, and as 

 some of the settlers had seedling trees growing, 

 some valuable fruit was then introduced. 



Last week I visited the Fair Grounds of the 

 Licking County Agricultural Society. This soci- 

 ety has purchased the ground at Newark contain- 

 ing what is called "The Fort," or the ancient 



fortifications. These are the handsomest fair 

 grounds in the State ; more than fifteen thousand 

 persons were in this enclosure during the second 

 day of the last fair which was held there. 



Yesterday I visited the Fair Grounds of Mus- 

 kingum County, twhere the last State Fair was 

 held. They are a mile and a half southwest from 

 Zanesville, and embrace an area of forty-five 

 acres, surrounded by forest clad hills. An ele- 

 vated mound not far from the entrance commands 

 a fine view. 



I find in a report of this fair that John Lough- 

 rey rais.ed on one acre 113 bushels of corn, and 

 that Gurdin Perrin raised on one acre 64 bush- 

 els and 16 lbs. of oats. I find also that the first 

 premium for the best seedling grape was award- 

 ed to Charles Carpenter, of Kelley's Island for 

 the "Lydia." The reporter says, "we desire to 

 give special praise to the beautiful samples of 

 the Delaware, by Noble, of Columbus, and Camp- 

 bell, of Delaware. 



As my papers have failed to reach me for the 

 last few weeks, I was not aware, Mr. Editor, un- 

 til informed by your brother editor. Col. Harris, 

 of Columbus, that your correspondent, who with 

 all due meekness was gleaning a few sheaves of 

 information in this broad Western field, should 

 be mistaken for a "speculator in grape vines." 

 Poor little me ! In the simplicity of my heart, I 

 thought I had found at last a grape which we 

 could raise in New England without the trouble 

 of covering every fall, and which had so many 

 good properties as to recommend itself highly to 

 those in the cold North who wished to raise a 

 few grapes of their own. 



I had one "wee plant" which promised well, 

 and I would gladly share that with any skeptic 

 who is afraid to invest fifty cents for one direct 

 from Delaware. 



A "speculator ?" Dear me ! You know, Mr. 

 Editor, I am a plain little woman, that wouldn't 

 don a bloomer nor deliver a public lecture for 

 one of Longworth's vineyards, nor hardly care 

 for an oil well on the Kanawha, much less turn 

 "speculator." 



But I do still belieye the Delaware grape no 

 humbug. A. E. P. 



Zanesville, 0., 1861. 



Choice op Dairy Cows. — One of the Dela- 

 ware Co. premium dairyman remarks, in the last 

 volume of N. Y. State Transactions, as the result 

 of much experience and observation on this sub- 

 ject, as follows : 



"If a man wishes to buy a dairy of cows for 

 beauty, with a handsome red color, nice horns, 

 and of a trim, sprightly appearance, let him go to 

 the Devons. If he wants to get those of large 

 size, good consumers, such as will make the most 

 beef when he has done milking them, let him go 

 to the Durhams and Herefords ; but if he wishes 

 to buy a profitable cow for the dairy, he will 

 quite as likely find it among the Ayrshires, or 

 among the common stock of the country, as any- 

 where." 



It is the work of a philosopher to be every day 

 subduing his passions and laying aside his pre- 

 judices. 



