1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



189 



EXTRACTS AND BEPLIES. 

 PROFIT AND LOSS IN POULTRY RAISING. 



As you had the kindness to publish my account 

 for the year 1860, as to profit and loss of poultry 

 raising, 1 now send you the items per month for 

 the year 1861, and should you think it worthy of 

 a place in the Farmer, for the benefit of those in 

 terested, please make it public. 



Brahma Pootra fowls and Muscovy ducks are 

 the breed. 



Stock, First op each JIokth. 



FotcU. 



January 29 



February....... 27 



March 27 



April 27 



May 24 



June 24 



July 24 



Aupust 14 



September 9 



October 9 



November 8 



December 6 



Dozen 



2o':i 



22.8 

 36.8 

 28.8 

 21.4 

 21.6 

 18.11 

 1.3.10 

 15.5 

 15.0 

 9.9 

 25.2 



249.0 

 153 sold. 



96 



20 Bet. 



Ducks, 

 12 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 9 

 5 

 3 

 3 

 3 



Dozen Young Young 

 Eg'js. Chicks. Ducks. 



6.3 



9.3 

 12.6 



6.0 



9.8 



C.8 



6.0 



1.0 



9 

 23 

 19 

 46 

 68 

 82 



2.1 



0.9 



60.2 

 5 sold. 



55.2 

 5.10 set. 



7 



7 

 16 

 34 

 39 

 37 

 33 

 19 



76 49.4 



49.4 



125.4 eggs used in the family. 



De.— 36 bushels corn $24,10 



36 " oats 16,25 



200 lbs. siftings 2,00 



Meal and shorts 2,60 



Scraps 1,50— $46,45 



4 hens died 1 ,90 



21 chicks died 1,95 



19 ducks " 96— 4,81 



Total cost $51,26 



Ce.— 158 dozen cgps sold $85,37 



77 hens and chickens 24,.'!2 



25 ducks 17,51— $77,20 



Food and loss 51,20 



$25,94 



125 J^ doz. epgs used in family, at 20c 25,06 



8 fowls used in family 3,15 



17 ducks " " 10,33— 38,54 



$64,48 



10 bbls. manure 10,00 



Premium at the Fair 1,00 



Profit $75,48 



Stock on hand, Jan. 1, 1862 — 32 fowls, 11 

 ducks; and now, Jan. 27, I have 18 chickens 

 hatched on the 11th and 18th inst., which will 

 commence laying in July, and then I disjDose of 

 the old fowls. 



Salem, Jan. 27, 1862. Jas. Buffington. 



THE WE.iTIIER IN VERMONT. 



We have just experienced the greatest snow 

 and blow that has occurred in this vicinity, 

 (Lyndon, Vt.,) for many years, so the "old folks" 

 say. During one week, about two and a half feet 

 of snow fell — terminating February 25, in a per- 

 ect bluster ! Highways and railroads were com- 

 pletely blockaded — so much so that the passenger 

 and freight trains upon the Passumpsic road were 

 obliged to "lay out" nearly twenty-four hours 

 within about four miles of Barton ; and drifts 

 were piled mountain high in every direction. We 

 mark it the great snow and blow of 1862. How 

 far did it extend ? I think the snow upon the 



ground the present time will average four fee 

 deep — some say five. The winter of 1861-62 may 

 very properly be recorded as a season of snows, 

 blows and variable weather. I. w. s. 



freak of A DWARF PEAR TREE. 



One year ago last summer, a Duchess d'Angou- 

 leme gave out a bunch of blossoms at the usual 

 season, and three pears set ; I destroyed all but 

 one, the tree being very small, supposing I had 

 committed no outrage, nor wounded the feelings. 

 But quite the last of June, after the limbs had 

 grown three or four inches, on the end of a spur 

 or limb, 2A inches in length, all of which had 

 grown that season, appeared a blossom ; the fruit 

 set and matured in the fall, about four weeks after 

 the first, though not as large, but fair. The first 

 measured 12 inches one way and 11 the other. 

 Thus you have the freak of my pear tree. 



S. W. Edson. 



Feeding Hills, March, 1862. 



BUFFUM and BLOODGOOD PEARS. 



Can you inform me through the Farmer where 

 the varieties of pears known as the Bufi"um and 

 Bloodgood can be procured. P. Bradford. 



Remarks. — Of Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, Bos- 

 ton. 



For tlie New England Farmer. 

 START TOUR TOMATOES. 



Mr. Editor : — The tomato is now so univer- 

 sally relished that it is almost superfluous to urge 

 its claims, but the past year gave such an inferior 

 crop of all tree fruits and wild berries, that the 

 importance of some substitute becomes more ap- 

 parent, and taking into consideration the ease and 

 certainty of its production, its abundant yield, and 

 the fact that a relish for it can be acquued by al- 

 most every one, I know of nothing which can bet- 

 ter su])ply a deficiency in the ordinary fruit crop 

 than the tomato. 



The only difficulty is in ripening them sufficient- 

 ly early, but this may be obviated by any one with 

 common facilities. The first aim should be to get 

 early varieties, and the yellow plum is among the 

 earliest, and to my taste, is the best flavored to- 

 mato I have ever tested, but the labor of peeling, 

 when prepared in that manner, is an objection. 

 The large, smooth red is nearly as early, and is a 

 very good variety. The perfected, about which 

 so much has been said, did not ripen last year in 

 my grounds until two months after the yellow, 

 and is no better in quality than other varieties. 



The next important item is to get them started 

 properly before the season for planting out, and 

 in this there is often a great failure. I frequently 

 see them planted very thickly, in very compact 

 soil, and kept saturated with water, which treat- 

 ment, of course, causes them to grow up very tall 

 and "spindling," and when they are transplanted, 

 what few roots they have are so matted together 

 and so firmly fastened in the soil, that most of 

 them are torn off", and the plants, made succulent 

 and tender by shade and excess of moisture, if 

 they ever start at all, are so checked as to be very 

 little ahead of plants started in the open ground. 



The best method I have ever tried, is to plant 



