398 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



About an hour ago, a regiment, splendidly ap- 

 pointed and equipped, marched by, with 29 large 

 baggage-wagons, doubtless bound across the 

 Long Bridge, to the "sacred soil," where, ere 

 long, they will make the fur fly, or, more proba- 

 bly, the critters that wear it. b. b. f. 



THE SEASON AND THE CROPS. 



Our people are now, July 20th, in the midst of 

 their haying, the dry weather having induced 

 them to commence a little earlier than they oth- 

 erwise would have done. The grass crop is yery 

 large, and a large portion of it has been secured 

 in admirable condition during the clear, hot days 

 of the last of June and nineteen days in July. 

 The low ground meadows are also heavily clothed 

 with grass, with a prospect of an opportunity of 

 getting it, unless heavy and continued rains set 

 in at once. Pastures have been excellent all 

 through the early part of the season, — but a lit- 

 tle parched with drought since July came in. 



Up to July first, corn was backward, but all the 

 time sustaining a good color and vigorous stalks, 

 though quite low. The steady hot weather for 

 the last twenty-two or three days has made a 

 wonderful change in it — it seems almost magical. 

 We have had hot nights as well as days, and 

 the corn has more than doubled its height dur- 

 ing the time mentioned above, and at the same 

 time has preserved its dark green color and its 

 proportionate breadth of stem. A moderate sup- 

 ply of rain, with continued hot weather through 

 the remainder of July and the month of August, 

 will make a heavy crop of this prime article. 



We learn with some anxiety, however, that in 

 certain places this crop has been attacked by the 

 army worm. A gentleman from Plymouth coun- 

 ty informs us that he had an acre and a half of 

 wheat cut down by them in a single night, and 

 that they then attacked his corn. A stalk of the 

 corn brought by him is before us, and contains 

 two or three of the worms who have made their 

 way up the stem. This worm is exceedingly de- 

 structive, because it does not take a plant and 

 feed upon its bulk, but merely eats across it, and 

 when it falls to the ground passes to another, and 

 60 on through the field. This is the manner in 

 which the wheat field was destroyed so rapidlj'. 



The worms we found in this corn are not like 

 the army worm which annually infest our apple 

 trees, either in form or color. The regular army 

 worm marches in close columns, side by side, touch- 

 ing each other, and devour every green thing they 

 meet. It is this platoon movement, and the de- 

 structive power they possess, that has given them 

 the appropriate name of army worm. We trust 

 that this scourge will not become general in our 

 now fair and promising fields. 



The winter and spring grains appear well ; the 



late drought has affected them in some degree, 

 but there will be, we think, an average crop. 



Potatoes have been affected by the dry weath- 

 er, but the late rains will revive them, and as they 

 have rooted deep in search of moisture, their 

 growth will be all the more vigorous now. 



Currants, raspberries, and some other small 

 fruits, are not so abundant as they are in some 

 seasons, but there will be a moderate supply. Of 

 apples, pears and plums, there will be but a scan- 

 ty crop. 



Of the great staple crops, such as those upon 

 which we must mainly rely for the sustenance of 

 man and beast at home, and which we find it con- 

 venient to export when we have a surplus, there 

 is now every promise of an abundant harvest. 



Let us watch and tend them with judicious care, 

 and then, whatever may be the issue, bow in grate- 

 ful submission to Him who knows what is best, 

 and who orders all things through an Infinite 

 Wisdom that we can but imperfectly penetrate. 



For the Neui England Farmer. 

 APPLE TREES. 



I trim my apple trees in the spring after blos- 

 soming — ^just when they begin to grow rapidly. 

 I am convinced that the scars will heal over soon- 

 er, if trimmed at that time, than if trimmed at 

 any other time in the year. I begin to trim when 

 the trees are very young, and trim them every 

 year. In this way I am never under the necessity 

 of cutting off large branches. Trees are always 

 injured and often killed by cutting off the large 

 branches that arise from the centre of the tree. 

 One limb should never be permitted to rub anoth- 

 er. If limbs do so, and both branches are equally 

 healthy, I cut off that branch which originates 

 farthest from the body of the tree. If taken in 

 season and properly attended to, it is easy, by 

 clipping only the small branches, to regulate the 

 form of the tree and keep the branches clean and 

 free. 



Two years since, a young orchard came under 

 my care, which had been very badly treated. The 

 borers were killing the trees, and the owner did 

 not know it. To make the trees bear, he had re- 

 sorted to trimming, and sawed off valuable main 

 branches. The borer had so reduced the vigor 

 of the tree that the circulation was not driven to 

 the ends of the branches, and a thick brush of 

 thorny sprouts had started up over the body and 

 the principal limbs. Many of the trees seemed 

 ruined. I had them washed with M-eak lye to kill 

 the lichens and the aphides. The borers were 

 dug out, though it seemed to be cutting the tree 

 into pieces. But now most of the borer scars 

 are healed up, tht sprouts are cleaned off, and the 

 ends of the limbs are starting vigorously. It is 

 beginning to be remarked that the trees "look 

 handsome." Only three or four are hopeless. 

 I keep out the borer by putting earth or ashes 

 around the base of the tree — covering up the 

 tender portion jsf the bark during the spring and 

 summer months, from April to August. Ashes 

 will not kill the borer after the egg has been laid. 



