1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



123 



tract fiidd into the system of the plant during the 

 night, and consequently the weight of the indi- 

 ■\ddual {the plant] will be increased. In like man- 

 ner, if plants in the shade are abundantly supplied 

 with moisture at the roots, they will also gain 

 more than they can lose ; and as this will be a 

 constant action, the result must necessarily be to 

 render all their parts soft and watery." The oat 

 plants, while the grass is young — and this is the 

 only time which we are discussing — keep the grass 

 both shaded and moist, and the result follows 

 which Prof. Lindley has just described. 



The above shows the mea^is of keeping the 

 ground moist, as we suggested to our Dunbarton 

 correspondent, and the following from the same 

 Ingh authority already quoted, shows its impor- 

 tance, viz. : "As a general rule, therefore, we are 

 authorized to conclude that the ground should be 

 abundantly supplied with naoisture when plants 

 first begin to grow, and that the quantity should 

 be diminished as the organization of a plant be- 

 comes completed." On this point, however, there 

 is probably no diversity of opinion. We find fur- 

 ther confirmation of our views, in Davy, Doctor 

 Ingenhouz, Senebier, and others. 



Let us, in conclusion, revert for a moment, to 

 the point at issue, as, if Ave adhere strictly to that, 

 an agreement will be moi-e likely to take place. 

 It is not, what couree of culture will produce the 

 largest crops of grass, but, simply, what circum- 

 stances will best promote the germination of grass 

 seed and its early growth ? 



Vie have thus given some of the "reasons" for 

 the "faith that is in us." They are general prin- 

 ciples, — and not the results of one or two isolated 

 cases, upon wliich it is never safe to build up a 

 theorj\ 



We cordially thank our correspondent for liis 

 criticism, so frankly and kindly expressed, and 

 sincerely desire to be free from all "hobbies," and 

 to be wedded to no theories or opinions, mere- 

 ly because we once entertained them. If they 

 cannot stand the test of fair criticism, we mean 

 to relinquish them, and be found on the "progres- 

 sive road," shoulder to shoulder with our long- 

 tried and intelligent correspondent, "Comings." 



PRESENTS FROM JAP ATT. 



The new Japanese presents just sent to the 

 President of the United States from the Tycoon 

 of Japan, are the finest that has ever been seen 

 in this country. A lacquered box containing a 

 letter thanking the President for the reception of 

 liis ambassadors — in most courtly phrase in char- 

 acters as stately as those usually found upon the 

 sides of a tea box, wrapped in the yellowest of 

 yellow silk, with plenty of gilt. A sword of ex- 

 quisite steel, with the handle bedded with large 

 pearls and mounted in the finest gold. Blocks of 

 crystal from the sacred Fusiyama Moiuitain, of 



diamond clearness. Vases of antique bronze, ex- 

 quisitely sculptured in relief with tortoises and 

 stones of untold value. A punch bowl fit for a 

 Cyclops to "wet his whistle" in, so large that the 

 President's two sons curled up in it and the cover 

 was put on ; candlesticks some four feet high, gold 

 mounted, with vases of every variety of pattern 

 and shape ; an entire suite of armor quite worthy 

 of the middle ages. The people are anxiously 

 waiting to have these things sent to some place — 

 the Smithsonian or the Patent Office — where they 

 can get a glimpse at these gems of crystal, steel, 

 bronze or porcelain. A whole dinner set, with 

 hundreds of pieces of Japanese crape, silk and 

 brocade, forms a part of this royal present. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHAT SHALL I BAISE P 



Mr. Editor : — I desire, through your columns, 

 to inquire hov*', in these times, farming can be made 

 profitable ? My farm is composed, mainly, of mow- 

 ing and tillage land, lying in the meadows which 

 sldrt the banks of the Connecticut river, in Hamp- 

 shire county, of this State. This land is worth 

 from one to two hundred dollars per acre. Crops 

 raised in this town and vicinity consist of Indian 

 corn, broom corn, hay and tobacco. The price 

 of Indian corn the past season has ranged from 

 fifty to sixty-five cents per bushel, and broom corn 

 four to five cents per pound ; the low prices of 

 these commodities, I suppose to be mainly owing 

 to the great quantities of the same that are pro- 

 duced upon tlie fertile fields of the West, in con- 

 nection with the comparatively small outlay for 

 their production there. Taking the estimated 

 value of our land, and the price of labor, it re- 

 quires no argument to prove that these are not 

 pi'ofitable. The hay crop, so far as it is produced 

 for the purpose of iattening cattle for market, is, 

 if anything, worse for the farmer than the raising 

 of Indian corn and broom corn. The tobacco 

 ci"op is the only one that remains to be considered. 

 My neighbors find the raising of this article very 

 profitable ; but I, believing its use not only useless, 

 but positively injurious, choose not to raise it. 



Now, Mr. Editor, will you, or some of your cor- 

 respondents, inform mo M'hat is the best course to 

 be pursued to render my farm profitable ? You 

 will, of course, understand that the high price 

 which tobacco brings in market, increases the price 

 of labor among us, as well as the price of land, 

 and consequently, those who do not raise tobacco 

 must pay the same wages for hired labor, as those 

 who do. The price of laud is also graduated upon 

 the price of tobacco. ILvjipshire. 



Jan. 7, 1862. 



Remarks. — The letter of our correspondent is 

 a "poser," we confess. We admire his stern prin- 

 ciples, and heroic determination not to yield to 

 "the tempter." It seems to us that land situated 

 as "Hampshire" describes his farm, and valuable 

 as he estimates it, must be capable of bearing large 

 crops of hay, — and perhaps root crops, — say car- 

 rots, ox parsnips. Hay, pressed, or the root crops, 

 could be sent to a distant market, if they are not 

 salable near by. Or, perhaps, by temporarily set- 



