126 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



by American farmers, — raised, too, every year, by 

 every farmer since the first settlement of the coun- 

 try, and yet there are questions about it, yea, even 

 about the single subject of the seed, which are not 

 as yet settled, after an experience by millions of 

 farmers for upwards of two hundred years. This 

 diversity of opinion is certainly surprising. It is 

 time that the farming fraternity should consider 

 this want of exact knowledge as to seed corn, and 

 arouse themselves to such carefully conducted ex- 

 periments as would settle those questions. For 

 their own credit, if not for anything else, the mem- 

 bers of that Farmers' Institute, as well as the 

 members of all other agricultural clubs and socie- 

 ties, should arouse themselves, and institute ex- 

 periments which might settle matters which should 

 have been settled long ago. Surely we have men 

 in our farming communities, yea, even among the 

 readers of this journal, Avho are abundantly capa- 

 ble, and who have the means and time, if they 

 only had the will or the wish, to carry out experi- 

 ments in this matter to satisfactoiy results. 



It is some satisfaction to find that, among the 

 members of the Institute, there seemed to be a 

 general agreement about one point, namely, that 

 it is a good practice to select in the field the first- 

 ripened, well-matured stalks, having two ears, in 

 order that succeeding crops may ripen earlier, and 

 be the more likely to have two or more well-filled 

 ears on a stalk. This is a point about which there 

 will be a general agreement among all flvrmers, as 

 well as among the members of the club, and yet, 

 notwithstanding this general agreement in tvords, 

 it is a fact that \hc practice of thousands of corn- 

 planters, in the selection of seed corn, is just such, 

 as if there were no general agreement about the 

 matter. Too generally, the practice seems to be, 

 in selecting seed corn, to take the best-looking 

 ears in the crib, or on their way to the crib, with- 

 out knowing whether there were one or 'more ears 

 on the stalk which produced it. Too generally, 

 the seed corn is not selected until spring, and 

 then, of course, there is a risk that there may have 

 been dampness enough about either the cob or 

 the kernels themselves to allow the frosts of the 

 previous winter to destroy the vitality of the chit 

 or germ. Hence, in part, the frequency of failure 

 in the first planting, and the necessity of planting 

 over again, and the consequent lateness in the 

 ripening of the crop, and exposure of it to the risk 

 of injury by frost. 



But my object in noticing the article of "O. K." 

 was, to second his eflbrts to induce farmers to 

 make experiments, in order that certain questions 

 about seed corn may be settled, the settling of 

 which would add both to the credit and cash of 

 farmers. Moke Anon. 



FLOWAGE CASE. 



The trial of the action, Eastman against the 

 Amnskeag Manufacturing Company, at Manches- 

 ter, N. II., has just resulted, after a three weeks' 

 investigation, in a verdict for the plaintiff for 

 $200. The trial was designed to test the right of 

 the Company to maintain its dam at its present 

 height, the land-owners above it, on the Merri- 

 mac river, alleging that the dam had been illegal- 

 ly raised. The verdict is only for the damage 



done to the plaintiffs land by three years' flow- 

 age. A bill in equity is already pending to com- 

 pel the Company to reduce their dam to its proper 

 level, so that this verdict, though of small amount, 

 is of immense importance. 



The trial attracted much attention, and was 

 very closely contested. The closing ai-guments 

 were made by Hon. George W. Morrison, for 

 the corporation, and by Judge French, of Bos- 

 ton, for the plaintiff. 



There is no law in New Hampshire by which 

 land-owners can be drowned by mill-owners, with- 

 out their own consent. It is time, as Gov. An- 

 drew suggests in liis message, that som.e change 

 was made in Massachusetts, by which farmers may 

 have some voice in the disposition of their own 

 land on the banks of streams and rivers. An act 

 by which anybody may flow another's land with- 

 out notice and without consent, is unworthy of 

 this good, old Commonwealth, or of any other 

 enlightened State. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 GKASS. 



ET BK. JOSEPH REYX0U)3. 



It groweth everywhere. Its tender blade 

 Shooteth in the sunshine, arid in the shade ; 

 It groweth on the hill-side, and the plain, 

 By the sheltering hedge, in the shady lane. 

 It springs by the roadside, under our feet, 

 In the garden, where beds and borders meet. 

 Under the shinibs, where blooms the scented rose. 

 And the wild jasmine and sweet almond grows ; 

 It creeps up the bank, it runs down the slope, 

 It springs with the crocus under the cope 

 In the early spring, and stays in the fall 

 With the pansy that peeps under the wall ; 

 In the fresh meadow, where the waters gleam 

 In the clear sunlight, and the sparkling stream 

 Winds its course, now hidden, and now seen. 

 It spreads its modest, cheerful coat of green. 

 It groweth everj-where. On the mountain, 

 In the valley, by the springing fountain, 

 In the forest, in the field, on the beach. 

 Just where the daily flowing tide doth reach ; 

 It creepeth close by the shoi-e of the lake. 

 As its soft rootlets sought their thirst to slake ; 

 The waves that ceaseless lap its foam-crowned Sp, 

 Kiss the green leaflets that stoop down to sip. 

 The wild deer from the wood crops the smooth turf, 

 As early he comes to sport in the surf. 

 The herds of the prairies, ^v•ith the wild ass. 

 All find their homes in wide oceans of gi-ass ; 

 The droves of mustangs on SIcxican plains, 

 The tartar's wild horse in Afghan domains, 

 The goats of the Alps, that climb on the rocks, 

 The horned zebus, and the fleet springboks. 

 All ranging free as tlie birds in the skies. 

 Crop the sweet herbage that nature supplies. 

 The soft, modest grass is everywhere seen, 

 Spreading its carpet of beautiful green. 

 To cover the scars man makes in the earth. 

 And smooth o'er the soil tliat giveth it birth. 

 When hoofs of war horses trample the soil, 

 In the rage and strife of battle's turmoil, 

 When war's iron storm tears up the fair plain. 

 And ridgcth it o'er with graves of the slain, 

 The soft grass, in pity, spreads o'er the scene. 

 Covering it up with its mantle of green. 



