1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



533 



appearance of his bins, and placing the scandal 

 of his neglect upon early frosts and pelting storms ! 

 Some may exclaim, that this mode will do for 

 amateurs who have their single acre, but not for 

 the farmer who has four or five hundred baskets 

 to be husked and sorted. But that reasoning, 

 we believe, is fallacious. If it will save five per 

 cent, on the products of one acre, it will save, 

 proportionately, on any number of acres. In- 

 deed, after practicing this method for many years, 

 we are fully satisfied that one thousand baskets 

 of ears may be preserved in good condition, quick- 

 er, easier and cheaper, than by the practice now 

 usually adopted. 



THE NEW YORK APPLE-WOMEW. 

 A writer in the Exjjress, in an article on the 

 "Street Cries and Callings of New York," says : 



The apple, and other fruit venders, are the most 

 numerous of all the street dealers. By far the 

 larger portion of them are women, who pursue 

 their vocation with a quiet and decorum really 

 worthy of a better, or at least a higher calling. 

 Some of these women are m-jrvels to all but them- 

 selves. With their stock spread upon a plain 

 board, or an inverted barrel, and the luxury of a 

 faded umbrella, such an one probably as Mr. 

 Stiggins indulged in for a canopy, these patient 

 watchers for the stray pennies of the children sit 

 from morning till evening, year in and year out, 

 never growing older, or weary, apparently, but 

 pursuing their business with a perseverance most 

 remarkable. Some of them seem to have families 

 of little ones springing up around them, though 

 when, or where, they take the opportunity to 

 nurse the little bantlings, is a mystery. We have 

 noticed some of this class in the lower wards of 

 the city for many years — the same faces, the same 

 children — seemingly of the same age, as when, 

 years ago they first met the eyes of the wayfarer. 

 Apple-women certainly must grow old as well as 

 other people ; but their children evidently pos- 

 sess some recuperative power, thus ever to have 

 the look of youth. And yet the same dirty face 

 looks up from the rear of the mamma that you 

 saw a twelvemonth since, with no change, unless 

 it be an extra coating of mother earth. These 

 urchins, by the way, must get their peck of dust 

 early in life, if the ancient proverb is true as to 

 the rest of us. 



Many of these women drive a profitable busi- 

 ness. Nineteen-twentieths of them are of pure 

 Milesian origin, and have the blarney in its na- 

 tive richness. They would put Stewart's sales- 

 men to the blush in the eloquence of their de- 

 scriptions. They have their locations, and if a 

 street is torn up, a block burnt down, or torn 

 down, their lease holds good. Their tenure is 

 perpetual. Some of them are itinerants in the 

 business. The residents on certain streets or 

 blocks, or a number of manufacturing establish- 

 ments, they claim as their especial patrons. On 

 their arrival, with a well filled basket, at a given 

 hour, they are sure to be found, passing from 

 customer to customer, from store to office, and 

 Bhop to factory, quietly disposing of an apple or a 



peach, and then noiselessly departing. One fan- 

 cies as he looks upon their silent movements, 

 that they are a meek race, and so they are, as a 

 general rule ; but let a strange basket of nick- 

 nacks appear, and lo ! the scene changes. The 

 spirit of Xantippe must have suddenly taken up 

 its residence in the bosom of No. 1, for she 

 threatens vengeance on her aspiring rival. Ri- 

 valry begets jealousy in smaller theatres than the 

 Exchange, or the avenues of upper ten-dom. 



EXTBACTS AND BBPLIES. 



SICK HENS. 



I have seT? i-al hens confined in a coop, and one 

 chicken rur/iing at large, all suffering from a dis- 

 ease which appears like a lung complaint. They 

 droop, lose their flesh, and at timts seem strang- 

 ling with mucus, which causes them to make a 

 noise like a cough. 



1. What is the remedy for it ? 



2. Is it contagious ? 



3. What is the name of it ? 

 MarUehead, Oct. 9, 1861. B. P. 



Remarks. — From the described symptoms we 

 should think the fowls had taken cold, much as 

 men or animals take cold. The respiratory or- 

 gans are aff'ected, mucus accumulates, and the 

 poor birds at length find breathing exceedingly 

 distressing. This difficulty is sometimes called 

 asthma and catarrh in the books. We have had 

 an occasional case among our fowls, but it did not 

 spread. It is diflacult to cure sick fowls. In this 

 case, if the eyes and nostrils are obstructed, wash 

 them in warm milk and water, keep the fowls 

 where they will be quiet and warm, and ofi"er them 

 a variety of food, such as corn, mashed potatoes 

 with meal and a little lard added mixed up with 

 hot water, small lots of fresh meat or fish, oats, 

 and plenty of succulent, green food, such as let- 

 tuce, cabbage and beet leaves. 



TURNIP SEED AND A BIRD. 



William Oxton, of Thomaston, Me., says he 

 sent to "E. L. Coy" for some German turnip 

 seed, in accordance with his invitation, and got 

 no return for his stamps. 



I had better luck than Mr. Oxton, for I sent 

 him two stamps and an envelope directed to my- 

 self, which came promptly back filled with seeds. 

 I have not tried the quality of his turnips yet, 

 but they look very nicely. 



Rowing on the Merrimac yesterday with some 

 friends, we saw a bird floating on the water, and 

 backed down towards it, thinking it a land bird 

 wounded — got within a few feet of it, when it 

 rose gracefully, flew circling one-fourth of a mile, 

 and alighted again in the water ! It was about 

 half the size of a dove, which it resembled a good 

 deal, of a dark ash or slate color, slender, curved 

 bill, and a very domestic, contented expression 

 of countenance. Will some one of your ornitho- 

 logical readers tell me what it was ? 



Morris Spofford. 



Qroveland, Oct. 10, 1861. 



