1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



19 



or Murray's Grammar, and Pike's Arithmetic, con- 

 stituted the encyclopa>dia of ccmrmon scliool hter- 

 ature. These Avere all good l^ooks in their day, 

 and very many good scholars gained good educa- 

 tions in the several lirauches upon ■which they 

 treated, by the hard study that opened their mys- 

 teries. But %-hat a contrast they aftbrded to the 

 school-books of the present time ! I have often 

 thought that I would like to have the scholars of 

 18G1 see the books used at the commencement of 

 the present centur}-, a few of which, treasured by 

 careful hands, have fallen to my ])ossession. 



Great as this improvement has been, the ball is 

 still rolling on, and I hope it will continue to roll 

 until a higher degree of excellence is attained than 

 the public has yet anticipated, though I must ad- 

 mit that an advancement in the matter of reading- 

 books has recently been made by Marcius Wil- 

 son, and published by Messrs. Harper, of New" 

 York, entitled the "School and Family Readers." 

 A great excellency of the more advanced of these 

 readers, is, that in the place of much of the matter 

 usually introduced into reading-books, of which the 

 scholar learns little, and cares less, they are inter- 

 spersed with subjects of natural history, much of 

 wliich comes with the every day's observations of 

 the pupil, and will be of benefit and interest all the 

 Avay tlu'ough life. For instance, the science of Hu- 

 man Physiology, has a place, written in an every- 

 da}', familiar style, and copiously illustrated. So 

 of Vege.table Physiology, and Botany, Ornitholo- 

 gy, Entomology, Ichthyology, or the science of 

 fishes. Geology, Philosophy, Physical Geography, 

 &c., all familiarly treated, and beautifully illus- 

 trated. 



Tills work strikes me favorably, from the fact, 

 that while the scholar is learning to read, he is at 

 the same time becoming acquainted Avith his own 

 organization, and the natural productions of the 

 world in which he dwells, many of which are formed 

 for his benefit. Some of them are annoyances, and 

 all worthy of his careful study and attention. 



I wish the work a general introduction into our 

 schools and families, from a confident expectation 

 that it will introduce a new and beautiful feature 

 in our educational system, and one of gi-eat inter- 

 est and practical utility to the student. 



In addition to the above series of reading-books, 

 our young friends are blessed in the publication of 

 another volume by Messrs. Swan, Brewer & 

 Tileston, of Boston, entitled, "Manual of Agricul- 

 ture," a work got up expressly as a text-book for 

 common schools. It was a much needed work, 

 and its use in schools and families cannot fail 

 to introduce a beginning of agricultural knowl- 

 edge and agricultural improvement in a new and 

 hopeful field, the minds of children and youth. I 

 anticipate much good from this work. In com- 

 mendation of it, it is only necessary to say it Avas 

 prepared by Geokge B. Emerson and Chahles 

 L. Flint, names that carry evidence in themselves 

 that the book is a good one. 



I should certainly rejoice to see all the above 

 works introduced into all of our New England 

 schools. They are already in some of them. But 

 if any school neglects to get them, I say to parents 

 in such districts, you cannot give your cliildren a 

 better holiday present, than the Manual of Agri- 

 culture, or a copy of Harper's School and Family 

 Readers. W. Bacon. 



Eichmond, Nov., 1861. 



OYSTER SHELL LIME. 



Not being able to dress our lands last spring as 

 we desired to do, just before the second hoeing 

 time we procured a quantity of oyster shell lime 

 of Mr. James Gould, of this city. It did not « 

 arrive in season to be applied before the crop was 

 hoed, but was added after the lioeing had been 

 completed. It was then applitd to part of a field 

 of potatoes, at the rate of a handful to the liill, — 

 that is, as much as a man could gi'asp, — ^and scat- 

 tered in among the tops. The potatoes were all 

 on the same quality of land, and nearly on the 

 same level. We passed through the field many 

 times during tne growing season, but observed no 

 diiference in the appearance of the tojis, and rath- 

 er came to the conclusion that the application of 

 the lime had exerted little or no influence upon 

 the crop. Pteturning home, one evening, we found 

 a cart-load of potatoes at the bulkhead which were 

 as even in size and as fan* and beautiful in appear- 

 ance as any we ever saw. The potatoes were of 

 the variety called the "Riley," or "Dover," or what 

 are well known by the Irish people as the "Irish 

 Cup" — so called because the eyes are so deeply 

 indented. 



"Well, Darby," said we to the man who had dug 

 them, "that is' a very fine load." 



"Yes, sii'," he replied, "you never have seea 

 better." 



"Was there any difi'erence in the crop between 

 the limed and unlimed ?" 



"Yes, as many again where the lime was put." 



"As many again in number, or in pomids, do 

 you mean ?" 



"There are twice as many pounds where the 

 lime is." 



Beside the size and fairness of the potatoes, they 

 are exceedingly fine flavored, though we believe 

 that is generally the case with the potato crop l^s 

 year. If we plant potatoes again, we shall resort 

 to the lime. We shall spread from five to twenty 

 bushels per acre over our old pastures, mowing 

 lots, and about fruit trees. From some inquiries 

 and investigations made, we have come to the con- 

 clusion that well prepared oyster shell lime is more 

 valuable for our lands, than stone lime. 



Hoven in Cattle. — This disease is usually 

 brought on by cattle being removed from confine- 

 ment and winter feeding to the luxuriance of the 

 clover field. In the article on Veterinary Science 

 in the new Encyclojjoedia Britannica, the oils 

 of linseed and turpentine are stated to be nearly 

 a specific. For a large animal take linseed oil raw, 

 one pound ; oil of turpentine, from two to three 

 ounces ; laudanum from one to two ounces — and 

 after mixing, administer the whole at a dose. 



Acknowledgments. — Thanks to "0. K.," 

 Rochester, for liis valuable articles and good wiU. 



