1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



97 



having less of that pe- 

 culiar turnip flaA^or than 

 the -white, flat turnip, so 

 common several vears 



ago. 



The turnip crop is 

 of easy cultivation, and 

 usually escapes the ra- 

 vages of insects, the 

 little hlack flea-beetle, 

 which attacks the 

 young plant and eats 

 off" the seed leaves, be- 

 ing its worst enemy. 

 The culture of no one 

 plant has had so de- figures. 



cidedly a beneficial in- 

 fluence on the agriculture of England, as that of 

 the turnip — and we cannot but believe, that when 

 more attention is given to it in this country, so 

 that we shall better understand its cost of produc- 

 tion and its effect upon the stock to which it is 

 fed, we shall find its extensive cultivation profi- 

 table. 



POISONOUS PROPERTIES OP BRINE. 



It may not be known to all that brine, in which 

 meat or fish have been salted, is poisonous to do- 

 mestic animals. If left in their way they will par- 

 take as freely of it as they will of pure salt, when 

 it very often proves fatal. The L^ Union Medi- 

 cate, a French publication, gives an account of the 

 researches of M. Rcynal in regard to the poison- 

 ous properties of brine. From a series of exper- 

 iments detailed, he draws the following conclu- 

 sions : 



First, That three or four months after its pre- 

 paration it acquires poisonous properties. 



Second, That the mean poisonous dose for a 

 horse is about four pints ; for the hog, one pint ; 

 and for a dog, four to five gallons. 



Third, That in less doses it produces vomiting 

 in the dog and hog. 



Fourth, That the employment of this substance 

 mixed with the food, continued for a certain time, 

 even in sm:Jl quantities, may be flital. 



We know from experience, says the Valley 

 Farmer, that brine, if swallowed by hogs and oth- 

 er animals, will prove fotal, yet we doubt if the 

 subject is suscaptible of the definite results as 

 stated by M. Reynal, for the degree of the poi- 

 sonous properties of the brine depends on various 

 circumstances. We have known a much less quan- 

 tity to prove fatal than that stated above. 



To Cure Sheep Skins with the Wool on. 

 — Take one tablespoonful of alum and two of salt- 

 petre ; pulverize well and mix together thoroughly. 

 Sprinkle this powder upon the flesh side of the 

 skin and fold together with the \< ool out ; hang 

 up in a cool place. In two or three 'tfays, as soon 

 as diT, take down and scrape the flesh with a blunt 

 edged knife till clean. This completes the process. 

 Such sldns make excellent saddle covers. — Mich- 

 igan Farmer. 



For the New Englanii Fanner. 

 DOES FARMING PAY? 



There are some things so self-evident that they 

 do not admit of proof. Twice five makes ten, is 

 a self-evident fact, and you may argue and talk 

 about it as much as you please, and confusion will 

 only be the result, and will not make the fact any 

 more plain than its simple statement. Now it 

 strikes me pretty much in the same way, in re- 

 gard to the profits of farming. The latter may 

 not be so plainly self-evident as that twice two are 

 four, but the fact that farmers, as a class, make a 

 profit, are good livers, solid men, and enjoy as 

 many of the rational comforts of life as any other 

 class, and many more than some, is so very self- 

 evident to any one who will investigate the mat- 

 ter and thoroughly inform himself on the subject, 

 as hardly to need comment. 



In an article published in last week's Farmer, I 

 called the attention of its readers to this matter, 

 and the subject is renewed at this time because 

 the other day, in a conversation with one of our 

 farmers, he called in question its statements. 

 The fact is, we are so accustomed to some, very 

 many, of our every-day blessings, that we do not 

 appreciate them, or the enjoyments and comforts 

 wliich they aff"ord us, until we are deprived of 

 them. It is something so in regard to farming 

 and its profits. Even at the present day, in this 

 enlighted nineteenth century, of Rebellion and 

 War — when the roar of the Lion comes across 

 the waters to frighten fools — many farmers look 

 upon their calling as low and vulgar, and them- 

 selves as inferior to men in other callings, and are 

 constantly grumbling about the hard times, poor 

 crops and a non-paying business. 



Now the fact is, all this class of men are doing 

 as well by farming as they would at anything else 

 — doubtless, far better ; as it is, perhaps they rub 

 and go ; they are not the kind of men to succeed 

 in anything and make it a successful and profita- 

 ble business. My friend, the farmer, brought up 

 the fact that during the past season he made a 

 visit to liis native town, Middleboro', and he vis- 

 ited a number of farmers, Avho, in his boyhood, 

 had fine, flourishing farms, but now a number of 

 them are deserted, run down ; and once cultivated 

 fields are in wood or pasture ; and the majority 

 are not so good, and would not bring to-day, in 

 money, what they would thirty or forty years ago. 

 And he asked the question, What is the cause of 

 this, if farming is profitable ; why did not the sons 

 of the fathers stick by the old folks and farm, in- 

 stead of going to other callings and getting rich ? 

 His answer was, Because farming was not profit- 

 able, or they would have continued to carry them 

 on. 



It would take too much space and time to an- 

 swer my friend, and such as reason like him, and 

 though liis question looks fair and legitimate, yet 

 any one who will inform himself can see that it 

 really is not so, and is not a valid argument to 

 bring against the profitableness of the business of 

 farming. This question was very fully discussed 

 about a year ago in the columns of the Farmer. 

 I should be glad to have some of its intelligent 

 farmer readers take up the question again and dis- 

 cuss it in a thorough and systematic manner, that 

 our young men may clearly see what all progres- 

 sive, go-ahead farmers declare, that farming, prop- 



