1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARJklER. 



293 



defence ; and the world will see that we are as 

 ready and as able to feed the hungry, even in the 

 States now in rebellion, as we are to strike down 

 treason and to defend the right. 



For the NetB England Farmer. 

 LITTIiE THINGS: 

 OR, A WALK IN MY GARDEN. 



It is said by some one of Peter the Great, that 

 "nothing is little to a great man." The mind is 

 exhausted by infinity when it examines a pebble, 

 as when it explores a world. Much of our success 

 in life depends upon the observance of little 

 tilings. The teacher who would be successful in 

 his calling, must be critical in everything. The 

 farmer who suffers little things to pass unnoticed 

 about his premises, is sure to be an unsuccessful 

 farmer. I was meditating upon these things, 

 while walking in my garden this morning over 

 snow-banks ten feet high, and looking at the tops 

 of my 



PLUM TREES. 

 The present winter has been very destructive to 

 the smaller trees and shrubbery in this State. It 

 was so last winter. The labors and hopes of many 

 wei'e in ruins as spring approached. The idea of i 

 low dwarf pear trees, in this vicinity, is out of the ! 

 question. They are stripped to pieces unless tied I 

 up in the most careful manner. Had I attended 

 to this little duty, I might possibly have saved 

 them. While looking at the prospect before me, 

 one of my boys joined me, and wanted to inquire | 

 about the poisonous properties of the shrub known 

 as 



DOG-WOOD. 



He said that he once had a couple of young 

 deer, and at a certain time he gave them some 

 branches of dog-wood to browse, from the effects 

 of which they died. I have since been told that 

 this shrub is poisonous to most animals. Is this 

 fact generally known ? 



THE REBELLION. 



There is one little thing to be thought of in re- 

 gard to the course the South will take after the 

 rebellion is crushed. How will they act ? I think 

 that if they cannot do quite as well as the North, 

 they must do as well as they can. It reminds me 

 of an old colored man who once lived in Pem- 

 broke, N. H., and who was known by the name 

 of Eben. It happened once on a time that his 

 wife got intoxicated, and laid down by the fence in 

 the road where many people M'ere passing by. 

 Eben felt a little mortified, and tried to make her 

 rise up, which she was not inclined to do. "Git 

 up," said he. "Git up, and 'have yourself. If you 

 cannot 'have as well as I do, 'have yourself as 

 well as vou can." N. T. T. 



Bethel, Me., April 12, 1862. 



Warts on Cattle. — A correspondent of the 

 Genesee Farmer gives the following remedy for 

 warts on cattle : Slake a piece of lime the size of 

 a hen's egg, add four table-spoonfuls of soft soap, 

 stii" the same until well mixed. Apply the same 

 to the warts. They will disappear in a few days, 

 and the skin become smooth. 



For the New Eneland Farmer. 

 ABOUT PEAKS. 



Many cultivators of fruit, in this part of the 

 country, as I learn from conversation with them, 

 have become somewhat discouraged in th^ir at- 

 tempts to raise pears. It really seems to me, that, 

 for a period of several years, the winters, with the 

 exception of the one just now past, have been un- 

 usually severe for pear trees, in common with 

 some other fruits. I commenced the cultivation 

 of fruit some twenty years ago, and since that 

 time have tried about seventy-five different vari- 

 eties of the pear, making out my lists from the re- 

 commendations of distinguished cultivators, horti- 

 cultural societies and the pomological Congress. 

 Of that number — very small it is too, when com- 

 pared with the number under cultivation by such 

 men as INIr. Wilder, Mr. Hovey, Mr. Barry, and 

 many other amateurs — the varieties upon which 

 a moderate .share of reliance can be placed, for 

 people hereabouts to cultivate, are, indeed, "like 

 angels' visits, few and far between." 



I have been cherishing the hope — delusion, as 

 some of our good people about here would proba- 

 bly call it— of finding out some few varieties that 

 can be successfully cultivated, away up here in 

 New Hampshire, among the rocks and hills ; for 

 I have never had a doubt but there are such vari- 

 eties, and if nothing comes of my own attempts, 

 I hope some more fortunate worshipper at the 

 shrine of Pomona will find the desired ones, and, 

 "when found, make a note of it." I have some 

 crude notions of my own — vagaries, if that word 

 suits better — in regard to the selection of varie- 

 ties, and methods of cultivation ; and I intend at 

 some future time, Mr. Editor, to give you, or 

 somebody's else readers, a moi-e extended result 

 of my observation and experience, when they shall 

 have become more fully matured, unless the pro- 

 cess blow all my preconceived notions and theo- 

 ries "higher than a kite." 



If I were asked the question, "What pear, if 

 limited to one variety, would you select for culti- 

 vation, as far North as you are ?" I should unhes- 

 itatingly name the Flemish Beauty. It stands the 

 winter admirably. I purchased a tree in 1845 for 

 the Beurre Bosc, which proved to be the Flemish 

 Beauty. This is the oldest tree I have of that va- 

 riety. This tree, as well as all those propagated 

 from it, has never suffered any injury from the 

 winter, except in two instances — the winter of 

 1856-'7, and the one a year ago, that of 1860-'61. 

 It now seems to be in perfect health. A neighbor 

 of mine has a splendid tree of this kind, not so old 

 as mine by a number of years, that produces boun- 

 tiful crops of superb fruit. A friend of mine liv- 

 ing in an adjoining town, who had quite a collec- 

 tion of pear trees, told me a few days ago, that, 

 the winter before the last, he lost every pear tree 

 he had, with the exception of the Flemish Beauty. 



The Urbaniste, in point of hardiness, stands de- 

 cidedly at the head of all pears 1 have as yet in 

 my collection. It is of slower growth than the 

 Flemish Beauty, and more tardy, in coming into 

 bearing. Should this variety prove sufficiently 

 productive, it will be a great acquisition to the list 

 of hai'dy pears. From my own experience, I can 

 see no reason, why these two varieties, so far as 

 the growth and health of the trees are concerned, 

 may not be cultivated, with as much success, and 



