98 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER 



Feb. 



erly carried on, will pay six per cent, on the capi- 

 tal invested, and not unfrequently a much larger 

 interest. A business which does this, a sane man 

 ought to be satisfied with. Suppose farmer Shel- 

 don take this matter up, and tell the young men 

 of New England how to manage a farm to have 

 it pay lawful interest on the cost, leaving out the 

 "fancies." N. Q. T. 



King Oak Hill, 1862. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ASHES OB LIME AS A PERTILIZEB. 



Inquiries have been made into the causes of the 

 fertility and bari'enness of land, the food and nu- 

 triment of vegetables, the nature of soils, and the 

 best modes of ameliorating them with various ma- 

 nures. 



Ashes for top-dressing operate very favorably 

 upon exhausted soils ; many of which produce 

 nothing but white top or June grass. 



I have a knoll on my farm that produced a 

 small crop of white grass ; I thought I would try 

 to renovate it by top-dressing with ashes. I spread 

 on it at the rate of one hundred bushels of leached 

 ashes to the acre. The second year after spread- 

 ing, the white grass was completely subdued, and 

 its place supplied with a thick, heavy crop of clo- 

 ver and timothy. 



White grass is of spontaneous growth, and 

 flourishes best where the land is most deficient in 

 carbon and lime. A proper proportion of ashes, 

 spread broadcast or plowed in, will restore it to its 

 original state of productiveness. Ashes is the 

 best fertilizer on such land, becanse it replenishes 

 the soil with every ingredient of which it is the 

 most deficient. 



Lime in a heap composed of meadow muck and 

 animal manure, after being thoroughly pulverized, 

 when applied to the soil, will very nearly supply 

 the deficiency of salts, and produce satisfactory re- 

 sults. The use of lime in agriculture may be at- 

 tributed to its property of hastening the dissolu- 

 tion of all animal and vegetable matter, and of im- 

 parting to the soil a power of retaining a quantity 

 of moisture necessary for the nourishment and 

 vigorous growth of plants. J. W. 



East Sullivan, N. H., Dec. 28, 1861. 



To Prevent Tools from Rusting. — Thou- 

 sands of dollars are lost each year by the rusting 

 of plows, hoes, shovels, etc. Some of this might 

 be prevented by the application of lard and resin, 

 it is said, to all steel or iron implements. Take 

 three times as much lard as resin, and melt them 

 together. This can be applied with a brush or 

 cloth to all surfaces in danger of rusting, and 

 they can easily be kept bright. If tools are to be 

 laid by for the winter, give them a coating of this, 

 and you will be well repaid. It can be kept for a 

 long time, and should always be on hand, and 

 ready for use. 



Wedges Rebounding. — Take a piece of dry 

 bark and set in the opening, then set in the wedge 

 anew, so as to split this piece of bark, and it will 

 prevent any further trouble. So says the Coun- 

 try Oentleman. 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



[Reported for the Farmer, by D. W. Lothrop.] 



The second meeting of the series was held at 

 Representatives' Hall, on Monday evening last. 

 The subject for discussion was Agricultural Edu- 

 cation, and His Excellency Gov. Andrew^ being 

 present, as was expected, was called to preside. 



He observed that his studies were not compati- 

 ble with the culture of the earth, and, compared 

 with many others present, he was ignorant of 

 farming. ■ But he possessed a love for the soil, and 

 such a regard for mother earth was generally in- 

 nate in the hearts of all men. Men are easily 

 brought back to the old homestead, and youth who 

 come to the city or bustling town delight to retire 

 and contemplate the scenes of their cliildhood, 

 and enjoy the rich and varied beauties of nature. 

 Generally speaking, all men are real or prospec- 

 tive farmers. In alluding to the strong desire of 

 some young persons for general and scientific in- 

 formation, he spoke of a young man who sent to 

 him from the country for a grammar and diction- 

 ary of the Sanscrit language ! Passing to the soil, 

 the Governor spoke of farming as it was years ago, 

 in Cumberland county, Maine — the scene of his 

 early childhood — and repeated a humorous distich 

 of an old farmer in regard to the poorness of his 

 land. There were only tkree orchai'ds in the place, 

 and the fruit of those very poor. But the imped- 

 iment to farming in Maine was, that the farmers 

 were but half-farmers, part of their time being de- 

 voted to the lumber business. Hence the differ- 

 ence to be seen between their farms and those of 

 Worcester county in this State ; and he conclud- 

 ed that a farmer's time should not be divided. He 

 also alluded to a clergyman in the State of Maine, 

 who, with but a small and rather sterile piece of 

 land, containing an apple orchard, had, by dint of 

 attention to it, made it a source of income, and 

 was enabled thereby to send a son to College. But 

 the general features of agriculture in that State 

 had greatly changed for the better, as he had had 

 occasion to observe after an absence of twenty-five 

 years. Now the farmers have good fences, paint- 

 ed barns, more orchards, and more highly cultivat- 

 ed soil. And this is the result of books, news- 

 papers and debating clubs, where the mind is 

 sought to be improved as well as the crops. Noth- 

 ing touches life at so many points as agricultural 

 education, for we are all directly or indirectly 

 connected with the soil. That was the truest po- 

 litical economy which gave a large number of 

 farmers, without which a nation cannot be strong 

 in war nor independent in peace. A nation of 

 shop-keeper5;.*:oukl not stand against the rest of 

 the world. The Governor concluded by observing 

 that he hoped he might have excited a spirit of 

 discussion upon this important subject, as every 

 man owes a debt to the earth that sustains him. 



