434 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



far better job of it than we could with wheat stub- 

 ble, or other ground that had lain twelve months 

 without being plowed. But the most important 

 advantage of all is that when the barley is put 

 in about the first of September, all the scattering 

 grains of oats that are in the ground start and 

 grow up with the barley, thereby helping to cover 

 the surface of the whole field before the hard 

 weather sets in ; and when that does occur, the 

 depth, &c., you may sow all your seeds at im- 

 proper depth, while if you, under the same cir- 

 cumstances, sow broadcast, some of your seed 

 •will be pretty sure to be right. 



THE] SEASON AND CROPS. 



Since we last spoke of the season and the condi- 

 tion of the crops, some four weeks since, we have 

 had rain at different times, — first, in slight and 

 gentle showers, and then in a drenching, easterly 

 storm, which saturated the earth, filled the springs, 

 and is now making the streams run merrily again. 

 Whether this rain is to save the potato crop is 

 uncertain. In all this region the vines of many 

 of those early planted had been seriously checked 

 by the sharp drought, and were more or less 

 wilted, while some had altogether ceased to grow. 

 The later planted crops still retain green and 

 growing vines, and the plentiful rain may yet help 

 them to mature a good yield. We hope this may 

 be so, as, if "bread is the staff of life," the po- 

 tato has become almost as indispensable to our 

 people. In favorable seasons, it is cheaply raised, 

 is wholesome, may be cooked in various forms, 

 and even the sick can partake of it when most 

 other kinds of food would be rejected. 



These latter rains will not only aid the second 

 Tiay crop, which is now being cut in warm and 

 rich spots, and in later localities will be quite 

 abundant, but they will essentially promote and 

 sustain the fall feed, and keep up the supply of 

 milk until late in the season. 



The drought rather seriously affected the Spring 

 and Winter grains, so that this crop will be de- 

 preciated to one-third less than that of last year, 

 in this State. We hope our correspondents in 

 New Hampshire and Vermont will inform us of 

 the state of these crops in those States. 



The Indian corn crop now appears very prom- 

 ising — the wind in the late storm blew it over 

 somewhat, but it is righting up again under the 

 warm suns that have followed. With two or three 

 weeks more of hot weather, and the absence of 

 early frosts, there will be a magnificent harvest 

 of this prime crop, — the glory of our New England 

 harvests. 



The fruit crop will not be an entire failure. 

 Many orchards have a few scattering apples — 

 very few, we confess. During recent rambles, 

 however, we have seen many trees with good 

 crops on them ; in one small orchard, nearly every 



tree was full, and the fruit appeared well. There 

 are a few quite ordinary peaches in Boston mar- 

 ket, — but scarcely one to each individual of the 

 population. Notwithstanding the sweeping de- 

 struction of this delicious fruitjVe hope all who 

 have suitable places will plant a few healthy trees, 

 as we shall undoubtedly have peach seasons again, 

 as favorable as those which are passed. 



On vines that were laid upon the ground and 

 protected, there are now some fine grapes, from 

 which we may gather fruit if frosts do not over- 

 take them. 



Cranberries are quite abundant in the mead- 

 ows. On one or two pieces we find the cranberry 

 worm destroying the berries, and on lands that 

 cannot be flowed there seems to be no way of 

 interrupting its progress. We are not certain 

 whether the egg from which the worm proceeds 

 was deposited in the blossom or upon the berry 

 itself. Those infested begin to turn red quite 

 early, and upon opening them are found nearly 

 hollow, the flesh or pulp of the berry having been 

 eaten, and the skin left fair and whole with the 

 exception of one small puncture, made for the 

 deposit of the egg, or for an air hole. 



We have two or three square rods growing on 

 high land, the vines of which are filled with splen- 

 did berries, and they are considerably earlier than 

 those we have recently looked at in the meadows. 

 The worms are among them, however, and may 

 yet destroy the crop. The promise now is, that 

 there will be a bushel to the rod — not a large 

 crop, but a fair one for a three years' plantation. 

 The worms leave the berries about the 15th of 

 August, but what form they assume then, or 

 where they go, we are not certain ; we suppose^ 

 however, that they do not enter another berry, 

 but enter the ground, and emerge sooner or later 

 in a winged form. 



The root crops that came up well, are now grow- 

 ing finely, and will be so sustained by the late 

 rains as to give an average product. 



Finally, as a whole, the harvest already se- 

 cured, including the hay crop, has been more than 

 an average one in all this region. At the West, 

 we learn that the wheat crop was heavy, and has 

 been favorably secured. We must wait in hope 

 for the great Indian corn crop, and the indispen- 

 sable potato. While our beloved country is dis- 

 tracted by a destructive war, diverting labor from 

 its accustomed channels, and at the same time 

 demanding an extraordinary amount of food, the 

 season has been propitious, so that the farmer has 

 been able to reproduce the prime necessities of 

 life in profusive abundance. Let us, then — while 

 we cherish no hatreds, and seek no revenges 

 against our erring brethren — fight for liberty and 

 union as long as our hearts have motion, or our 

 arms power, and prove to the world that a 



