1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



339 



ing in New England are not worth over one to 

 two thousand dolhvrs. How could a man with 

 $1000 support a fomily in trade, with bad debts, 

 losses on goods purchased, &c. &c. I think, sir, 

 from careful observation, that it will appear, that 

 more men have become rich, — I mean, what coun- 

 try people call rich, — from farming than from 

 any other pursuit. A large part of the farmers in 

 New England commence poor, with a family, and 

 work hard. How would they succeed in trade, 

 under the same circumstances ? Delta. 



Boston, May 31, 1862. 



Fur the Netv England Farmer. 



THE SLOW PROGRESS OF AGRICUL- 

 TURE. 



Many persons complain of the tardy advances 

 which agriculture has made. They seem to think 

 there is a goal of perfection which it is time it had 

 reached, yet have a vivid sense that it is far from 

 it, and despair — as well they may — that it will 

 ever reach it. Perfection is a useful ideal word, 

 yet its full significance is hard, if not impossible, to 

 realize. A man may Avork his fiirm fifty years in 

 regular succession, and ol)serve all the different 

 facts or phenomena which his crops jiresent, and 

 yet be unable frequently to avert disappointment. 

 The truth is, agriculture has its "dissolving 

 views," as well as other vocations. 



There is a cause for this. Though the laws of 

 nature always work alike, they present themselves 

 in so many combinations that human sagacity 

 cannot foresee their results. There are self-evident 

 facts in agriculture, most prominent among which 

 is, that manure and clean culture facilitate the 

 growth of plants ; but as to the kind of manure to 

 be used, the peculiar combinations of different fer- 

 tilizing elements, their efi"ects upon different soils, 

 the various meteorological influences, &c., these 

 are matters of doubt, and too frequently bring dis- 

 appointment to the farmer, as they must always do. 



Besides, men die, and much of their knowledge 

 goes with them, while what they leave in books 

 or stored in the minds of their friends, must be 

 learned by each succeeding generation, to become 

 useful facts. But comparatively few ever obtain 

 this knowledge. Could men live longer the world 

 ■woidd be wiser. Columella, Cato, Pliny, &c., 

 taught the leading facts of agriculture, and it is 

 for us to do what we can by way of improvement. 

 But the various soils, seasons, minds, &c., pertain- 

 ing to husbandry, and the doubts, hopes, preju- 

 dices and reactions, render it slov/ ia progress, 

 and place the goal of perfection beyond the pale 

 of reasonable hope. Nor, indeed, is it needed. 

 Agriculture has always subserved its purpose ; it 

 has always fed mankind, and ahvays will, in spite 

 of its irregularities and short-comings. 



West Mcdforcl, June, 1862. D. w. L. 



How THE Bean CLniBS the Pole. — Professor 

 Brewer, of Wasliington College, Pa., communi- 

 cates to The American Journal of Sciences and 

 Arts the result of some experiments made by him 

 on climbing vines — the hop, the Lima bean, and 

 the morning glory. He finds that they will climb 

 around a transparent glass pipe just as well as 

 anything else, and that they are most ardent in 

 their embraces when the pole is wai-mer than the 



surrounding air. During the day, the vine is at- 

 tracted towards the light, but at night, and espec- 

 ially on cool nights, it turns to the pole. He 

 learned, also, that the color of the pole makes no 

 difference ; the caressing instinct of the vine has 

 no prejudice against any shade. The element of 

 constancy is very largely developed, the vine, after 

 it has reached its pole, showing a much stronger 

 tendency to wind around it than it did before to 

 reach it. 



CURIOSITIES OP LEECH CULTURE. 

 Many of those who have assiduously cultivated 

 the leech have amassed handsome fortunes, the 

 trade being very remunerative. A prosperous 

 merchant, away in some far district of Poland or 

 Wallachia, will keep some two or three hundred 

 of the inhabitants of his district in full employ- 

 ment collecting for him, paying them on the best 

 of plans, according to their labor — namely, so 

 much a dozen, according to the age and quality of 

 the leeches which they bring to the depot. The 

 animals must be all gathered before the heat of 

 the day sets in, and at once carried home to the 

 capacious reservoirs provided for their reception, 

 where they are at once counted and paid for. 

 Paclicd in clay or bags, they are at certain seasons 

 dispatched by flett conveyances to Marseilles, or 

 direct to Paris, change of horses on the way being 

 insured, when necessary, by liberal payments. The 

 mode of packing the leeches for transport is much 

 the same in most of the breeding districts. Some 

 are placed in boxes — first a layer of moist, white 

 clay, then a layer of the little animals, and so on 

 till the chest is full. Some of the merchants pack 

 the leeches in bags as soon as they are taken out 

 of the marshes. Each of these bags contains about 

 sixteen pounds weight, and it is necessary that 

 they should be hung up for a period till the water 

 is drained out of them, and then the animal rolls 

 itself up into a kind of ball, and lies in a semi-tor- 

 pid state till it is, perhaps, revived on its journey 

 by a dip into some half-way pond. The boxes or 

 bags containing the leeches are carried in light 

 wagons divided into the necessary compartments. 

 Relays of horses and drivers are always kept in 

 readiness at the various stages of the journey ; 

 but, notwithstanding the greatest care may be 

 taken in their transport, immense numbers of ani- 

 mals are killed. Severe frost or great heat is 

 equally fatal to them. 



CUCUMBERS AND MELONS. 

 "Blast the Bugs!" What is the matter, my 

 friend — you seem disturbed — one ought to be se- 

 rene and happy in such a place as this. "Matter 

 — disturbed, — look at my melons, cucumbers and 

 squashes." Look, yes, where are they? "Sure 

 enough, where are they — all gone to the bugs." 

 Well, friend, plant again, and then send to Par- 

 ker, Gannett & Osgood's, in Blackstone Street, 

 Boston, and procure their famous j^lant protector, 

 put it over the plants, and you will have no more 

 reason to ^^hlast the bugs." When the season foi 

 their depredations has passed, one or two hundred 

 of these protectors can be packed in a single floui 

 barrel, and preserved for future use. 



