1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



327 



MUCK AND ASHES. 



I see in last week's Farmer Mr. John Day, of 

 Boxford, is made to say that he would rather have 

 a cord of muck, well composted with from four to 

 six bushels of good wood ashes than the same 

 quantity of stable manure. 



Now, is this really so, or is it an assertion made 

 at random, without careful and repeated trial, 

 which should characterize our experiments before 

 given and recommended to the public ? If Mr. 

 l)ay has a good foundation for his statement, (and 

 I certainly have no good reason to gainsay it,) 

 one, at least, of the readers of the Farmer would 

 like to be assured of it. How com])osted, and 

 how long must it lay before fit for using ? 



Wji. J.'Pettee. 



Salisbury, Ct., June 6, 1862. 



Remarks. — Mr. Day will please answer for 

 himself. The muck and ashes would certainly 

 have great value, but whether to such an extent 

 as he states can only be determined by careful ex- 

 periment. 



PRICES OF WOOL. 



You have intimated in your paper, and I have 

 seen the same in the Vermont Chronicle, that 

 wool is higher than it has been for forty-four 

 years. I have raised wool about forty years, but 

 within a much less time I have sold mine for sixty 

 cents per pound, and some of my neighbors at 

 sixty-seven. Please inform us where we can sell 

 for the same prices now. JuLIUS Hazen. 



Hartford, Vt., May 27, 1862. 



Remarks. — Our intimations of the prices of 

 wool are gathered from the market reports and 

 from information forwarded by wool-growers. We 

 wish we could inform friend Hazen Avhere to get 

 sixty-seven cents per pound for his avooI now. 



coe's superphosphate. 



Will you inform me what quantity of Coe's su- 

 perphosphate of lime will be sufficient as a top- 

 dressing, per acre, for gi-ass land that is now in 

 pretty good ordpr ? What is the price per hun- 

 dred ? Do you think it a cheap manure ? 



.Tames S. Hammond, 



Liverpool, N. S., May, 1862. 



Remarks. — Coe's superphosphate is an excel- 

 lent fertilizer, we have no doubt, and we think 

 may be profitably used in many cases. From two 

 to five hundred pounds per acre are used on grass 

 land, spread evenly on the surface, at any time. 

 It costs $45 per ton, or a little more than two 

 cents a pound. 



raising turkeys. 



Will you, or some of your writers, inform me 

 through your valuable paper the best way to raise 

 young turkeys, and what is best to feed them on 

 when young ? G. II. w. 



Ripton, Vt., 1862. 



Every day has its appropriate duties, attend to 

 them in succession. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LESSONS PROM MY "WINDOW. 



My pillowed chair is drawn up by the open 

 window, for ]\Iay is here, and south winds and 

 bird-songs woo one away from the darkened still- 

 ness of the sick-room. The fruit trees are white 

 with flowers, and waves of fragrance are drifting 

 in at the casement. Tulips in grandeur, and pan- 

 sies in humility, are opening in the garden bor- 

 ders, while the seeds which winter buried, are 

 bursting the moist earth in resurrection. Tv.o 

 golden orioles are picking the boughs of the fir 

 tree, flashing in and out of the dark foliage like 

 sunbeams ; and a chorus of music comes from the 

 top of the old elms. 



It Avould not seem so very strange to me if res- 

 idents of the city should have few thoughts of the 

 one great Creator; where nearly every object 

 which the eye rests upon bears the impress of art ; 

 where the smoothly-shaven parks, and the trees 

 which fain would throw their broad arms in free- 

 dom, are trimmed into "graceful symmetry," all 

 bear, in legible characters, the edict of man, "thus 

 far shall thou go." 



A real, genuine Christian should be, and will be, 

 a Christian everywhere, no matter what his sur- 

 roundings are. Yet it seems to me that country 

 Christians are very blameworthy, if they have not 

 a deeper experience of the love of God, and con- 

 sequently a more overflowing love of humanity, 

 than is possible for one who is confined to brick 

 walls and pavements, with only a fragment of blue 

 sky overhead. Why is this world so beautiful? 

 The grass probably would be as acceptable prov- 

 ender to cattle if it were of some dull hue instead 

 of this soft, refreshing green. Trees might bear 

 fruit without their profusion of delicate bloom. 

 The sun might rise and go down, without baptiz- 

 ing the pearly clouds with all-hued glory, and yet 

 guide the planets on, and scatter light and heat. 

 Why is this wondrous beauty, if not to tell us 

 that a loving Father planned it all, a Father who 

 knows how the hearts of His children would grow 

 sick and faint on their earthly journey, if every 

 step did not give evidence of His watchful pres- 

 ence ? 



We have that Presence. Then look up, tired 

 hearts, and rejoice. For He who "hath made 

 everytliing beautiful in his time" is "On?' Father," 

 Our God. 



Remarks. — And the most beautiful of all, is the 

 loving, gushing heart, that gives expression to gen- 

 uine Christian sentiments like the above. 



THE BEST TIME TO PSUKTE. 

 An old clergyman is quoted as defining this 

 time to be "when your knife is sharp." He was 

 certainly half right, for a smooth, clean cut is very 

 essential to the healiug of llnj v. ijluiJ. But there 

 is very great difference in the healing of wounds 

 on account of the season in which they are made. 

 Pruning done in ilarch and April, especially if 

 large limbs are removed, often injures an orchard 

 for life. The sap oozes from all the pores and 

 runs down the bark, discoloring it and oftentimes 

 destroying it — called scalding. Without other 

 ])rotection, decay begins, and in a few years you 

 have a hollow limb. 



