44 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jau- 



the number one will all be of the same size, free 

 from all broken ones or spurious seed, and appear- 

 ing as though they had been through some pol- 

 ishing operation, wliich they quite likely have. We 

 have seen his machines and found his sifting pro- 

 cesses reaUy wonderful. He has brought them to 

 such perfection, and will furnish the means of do- 

 ing the same so cheaply, that there is no necessity 

 for the farmer, any longer, to sow foul seeds, and 

 thus entail upon himself and posterity a perpetual 

 plague and loss. 



'SMiat struck us as the most surprising in INIr. 

 Adams' apparatus, is the great simplicity Avith 

 which he accomplishes so much. He not only sep- 

 arates products of different sizes and shapes, but 

 by the application of screens to fan mills, he does 

 60 by their specific gravity. 



For the Nmo England Farmer. 

 PKEMIUMS 0]!f STOCK. 



Mr. Editor : — As the "Middlesex Agricultural 

 Society" is an old Society, having been established 

 a long time, must we not expect younger societies 

 of the same kind to look to us for an example ? 

 As it respects premiums for stock, have we not 

 been too much like the horse in the cider mill, 

 going the same round, year after year? Should 

 we not accomplish more good, if we should leave 

 the old track, and offer tlu-ee premiums, first, sec- 

 ond and third, for the best milch cow, without dis- 

 tinction of breed ? Then offer premiums, for the 

 best herd of cattle, not less than six in number. 

 Also, others for not less than four cows and a 

 bull. And still another ])remium for a herd of cat- 

 tle, not less than seven in number, of the owner's 

 raising. 



In order to make this acceptable to the farmers, 

 suppose we pay to all those who offer a herd, 

 worthy of exhibition, whether successful compe- 

 titors or not, and who live at a greater distance 

 than five miles from the fair, a travelling fee of 

 two cents per mile, for each one of the cattle of- 

 fered, for every mile exceeding five from the place 

 of the fair ? 



I think tliis would bring a better show of stock 

 to our fair, than we ever yet have had. I make 

 these suggestions, hoping they may meet the eye 

 of the Trustees, before their meeting, that they 

 may have time to tliink of it, and be ready to adopt, 

 amend, or reject, as they may think best. 



Asa G. Sheldon, 



TVilmington, Nov. 25, 1861. 



Wooden Things. — If Connecticut is not care- 

 ful, she will lose the palm for inventing and mak- 

 ing "Avooden things." A farmer in Canada recently 

 lost a fine sow which had twelve sucking pigs, and 

 not caring to lose the pigs, too, he set to work 

 and formed a rough model of a sow m wood, be- 

 ing hollow in the centre, the abdomen being fur- 

 nished with twelve teats, cleverly formed of raw- 

 hide. The interior of the model is kept filled with 

 milk, and the whole of the young pigs suck from 

 the teats of this singular looking wooden sow, and 

 all are thriving well. 



For Hie Neta England Farmer. 

 HINTS ON AGEICULTimE. 



Tlie rule of every farm, unless in exti-aordinary 

 situations of fertiUty, is to expend on it two-thirds 

 of whatever is grown ; such a farm cannot be worn 

 out, but, A;ith decent management, is constantly 

 growing better. 



Counti-ies Avhich have the largest population, 

 where agriculture is thoi'oughly practiced, gi-ow 

 more and more pi-oductivo. Belgium is the most 

 thickly settled country in Europe ; it has been cul- 

 tivated like a garden, for centuries, and its yearly 

 produce is constantly increasing. 



There is, doubtless, a limit to the possible pro- 

 duction of a farm, but we doubt if it was ever 

 reached ; we think sixty bushels of wheat to an 

 acre a great yield, and so it is, com]iared with our 

 average harvests of ten or fifteen, but it is quite 

 possible, by higli cidture, to raise one hundi-ed 

 bushels on an acre. 



Drilling saves two-thirds of the seed alone, and 

 often increases by one-tliird the crop ; the saving 

 of the seed alone, in one year on a good-sized 

 farm, would pay for the machine. 



In broadcast sowing some of the seed is buiied 

 too deeply ; some lies upon the surface ; here it is 

 crowded together ; there it is separated too ^Aide- 

 1}-. The drill places the seed where it is Avanted ; 

 the proper de])th for wheat is one to two inches. 



The time wiU come when wheat di'iiled in rows 

 will be cultivated as carefully as corn — ^with an 

 immense increase in its productiveness. 



Wherever land needs manuring, it pays to ma- 

 nure well. Suppose ten dollars' worth of manure 

 on an acre of land gives you a crop worth tliii'ty 

 dollars, and twenty dollars' worth gives you a crop 

 worth only forty dollars, you ai'e still the gainer, 

 and will be for years to come. 



A tree planted over the grave of Roger Wil- 

 liams enveloped his skeleton with its roots so com- 

 pletely as to preserve the form of the bones. In some 

 parts of Connecticut there are little familj'-bury- 

 ing grounds in the orchards, and the trees nearest 

 the graves flourish with a remarkable fertility. We 

 may have scruples about consuming or selling our 

 ancestors in the form of apples and cider, but it 

 is certain that every bone is worth its Aveight in 

 gold, as a manure. A few bones at the roots of a 

 fruit tree or gTape vine will supply it for a dozen 

 years with just the nutriment it requires. I'he 

 best wheat fields in Europe are its old battle-fields. 

 No man Avho has a farm or garden should ever sell 

 bones or ashes. Straw is worth more for manure 

 than it ever brings Avhen sold in market. 



Our farmers tliink they do very well to get ten 

 dollars net ju'ofit from an acre of land, but it wovdd 

 be a poor acre of garden that did not pay a hun- 

 (bed, and Ave have orchards that pay a thousand. 

 There are pear trees that have paid a hundi'cd dol- 

 lars a year for several successive years. 



Every dollar of manure on a farm is better than 

 five dollars in any bank, or stock, that Ave knoAV of. 

 It is a good stock that pays ten per cent. It must 

 be a badly managed farm Avhere a deposit of ma- 

 nure Avill not pay three hundred per cent. 



We need model farms and agricultural schools ; 

 but Avhere these imjiortant institutions are Avanted 

 it Avould not be a bad plan to spend a day or two 

 Avith those eccentric but very benevolent people 

 and admirable farmers, the Shakers. 



