1861. 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



423 



for which I paid $1400. I am now out of debt, 

 and have some money to let — besides having 

 $400 stock in the Central Railroad, as a perma- 

 nent fund. J wish some of my good railroad 

 folks would pity me enough to give me one free 

 ride. 



What I have saved, I have made from the farm. 

 Try, young man, and do better than I have done. 

 You can do it, only set yourself about it in good 

 earnest ; not 8ay I canH — never say that until 

 you try. 



Enough, at this time. Herod Chase. 



SAVE TOUB SEEDS. 



There are many kinds of garden seeds, wanted 

 in small quantities, that may be more cheaply 

 purchased at seed stores than raised at home. 

 There are others which every farmer or gardener 

 may raise and save for himself. Provided the 

 work is well done, the more that each one saves 

 for himself the better ; for he may not only se- 

 cure any excellent or favorite variety, and be 

 sure of having the genuine sort, but he may also 

 be sure that his seeds are fresh, and not a por- 

 tion of old mixed with new, as often happens 

 when he obtains them from irresponsible sources. 



Always select the best seed where the supply 

 is abundant. If earliness is desirable in the va- 

 riety, take those which ripen first. This will be 

 necessary in order to maintain the character for 

 earliness. The tendency is to run back, and this 

 will be the result unless pains are taken to pre- 

 vent it. Such selection will also afford a chance 

 of not only maintaining, but improving the qual- 

 ity. The same care must be taken to secure any 

 other point, as size, excellence of flavor, produc- 

 tiveness, &c. Always take the best. 



There are some, seeds which farmers pay con- 

 siderable sums for, which they might as well raise 

 for themselves. We do not allude to corn, wheat, 

 &c., which should not only be home raised, but 

 which should be as carefully selected for improve- 

 ment as garden seeds, but to smaller seeds, such 

 as carrots, for example. These may be had of ex- 

 cellent quality by setting out the finest roots, and 

 saving the finest central bunches of seeds. Par- 

 snip seeds are easily raised, and the field crop is 

 valuable. 



The seed of all crops, when ripe, and before 

 they begin to scatter, should be cut, tied in neat 

 bundles, distinctly marked, the name and date, 

 and placed in a dry apartment. When quite dry 

 they should be threshed or shelled, and neatly 

 put up in cotton or paper bags, and placed be- 

 yond the reach of depredators. — Country Gentle- 



Spring Wheat. — Our correspondent, Thomas 

 J. Field, Esq., of Northfield, has sent us a head 

 of spring wheat which is infested by a very small 

 insect of the fly kind, which, he says, are on the 

 wheat of every field he has seen. The winter 

 •wheat has escaped as yet. We have had no ac- 

 count of this from other sources, and hope that it 

 ■will not become general, or prove destructive in 

 any locality. He does not state that the wheat is 

 destroyed by these flies. 



QUNPOWDEJB. 



A member of the British Parliament said, not 

 long since, that the quantity of sulphuric acid used 

 by a people was a pretty good index of their de- 

 gree of civilization. It is somewhat so with gun- 

 powder. The common supposition is, that, dur- 

 ing a war, large quantities of gunpowder are used 

 more than are wanted in times of peace. But this, 

 we understand, is not the case, — and it shows 

 how a state of war disturbs all the arts of peace, 

 entering into their minutest ramifications, and af- 

 fecting them in one way or another. Not a basket 

 or broom, a plow or hoe handle, a steam engine 

 or a pin or needle are now made without their 

 price being in some way affected by the war in 

 our land. 



In the arts of peace, powder is employed in a 

 hundred forms, and the aggregate consumption is 

 very large, calling for an amount vastly greater 

 than is demanded bj- all the armies in the world. 

 These arts are now affected, many of them en- 

 tirely suspended, and the consequence is, that 

 less powder is used than when we are in a state 

 of peace ! 



We have recently spoken with two or three 

 powder-makers on this subject, whose opinions 

 are all alike in relation to it. One of them stated 

 that a single mine in Pennsylvania would con- 

 sume more powder than all the regiments of New 

 England. 



What a comment upon the destructive tenden- 

 cies of War ! It not only tends to demoralize 

 the people, but destroys life, devastates countries, 

 crushes other arts, paralyzes the sciences and lit- 

 erature, and shakes the very foundations of our 

 social and national existence. 



JF'or the New England Farmer, 



NOTES AND INQUIKIES. 



The spring, and indeed most of the summer, so 

 far, was wet and cool, consequently vegetation 

 was backward, yet crops in general look remark- 

 ably well. But little winter wheat is sown ; 

 spring wheat will be abundant. A large breadth 

 was sown, and it looks very well. Other grain 

 is also heavy ; the yield will probably be as great 

 as last year, the wheat crop will be greater. Corn 

 will be rather light, unless we have a very favora- 

 ble autumn. Fruit is scarce, except some of the 

 smaller varieties. Currants and raspberries are 

 plenty. I have as fine currants as I ever saw, 

 growing on bushes set in the spring of 1859. 

 Some strings have thirty full-grown ripe currants 

 on them, and from twenty to twenty-five is the 

 usual number. I suppose them to be the Red 

 Dutch variety. I have also two varieties of 

 White Currants, the White Grape, very fine, and 

 a smaller vaiiety of a yellowish color. Are they 

 the White Dutch ? One year ago last spring, 

 I bought four currant bushes of a man calling 

 himself a nurseryman, for which I paid him one 

 dollar. He recommended them very highly, — 



