388 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



For the Nete England Fqrmcr. 

 NOTES FKOM MAINE. 



The Spring Droughts. — There was an unu- 

 sual amount of snow fell during the past winter, 

 but no January thaw worthy of being noted ; nor 

 during the winter was there rain to any amount. 

 The snow went off nearly all by the warmth of the 

 sun, aided by March and April winds, instead of 

 March winds and April showers, as usual. 



This left enormous drifts of snow in every run, 

 gully and hollow, and frost in the ground, with 

 cold nights and days when there was wind, or it 

 was cloudy. Consequently, the ground was dried 

 slowly, at first, by the cool breezes, which in early 

 spring gave us a cold, wet, backward season, with 

 wet, cloggy soil. But it gradually grew warmer, 

 with, scarcely any rain till it became as dry as any 

 one, old or young, has seen in these parts at this 

 time of the year. 



The germinating seed suffered much. I exam- 

 ined a piece of corn, June IG, planted May 28, 

 and found some of it up three inches, some just 

 coming, some sprouted one to three inches, dried 

 up and apparently dead, and some not swelled to 

 the sprouting point, looking as bright as when 

 planted. Sprouting and then drying has been a 

 too frequent condition of wheat, corn and other 

 crops. But the drought is now broken. Light 

 rains and fine showers are spoken of in many 

 places. 



The Season. — As has already been hinted, the 

 season has been cold, windy and dry. Hardly a 

 day but the wind has blown some part of the 

 twenty-four hours so that a laborer, a traveller or 

 any one, would wish it might cease. Very few 

 hot days yet, and less hot nights. One advantage 

 we had, teams could do full work every day, be- 

 cause the heat and rain did not hinder, and they 

 were improved by every one. 



Frosts were to be seen June 9 and 15, sufficient 

 to nip the tender garden vines in many places, 

 and hereaud there a corn blade ; but doing slight 

 damage, because the beans, the squashes, the cu- 

 cumbers could be replanted in the gardens, while 

 the field crops were little injured except in unfa- 

 vorable places. 



The crops are late, owing to the late spring and 

 then the cold and dry weather following. There 

 is a good breadth sown in all crops, with an in- 

 crease in wheat. The choppings, that is, where 

 the trees were cut down in the summer of 1861, 

 could all be burned this spring and cleared up in 

 season for wheat. On these new lands it is not so 

 difficult to get a crop on account of the wheat 

 midge, Hessian fly, rust and mildew, as on plowed 

 land. The farther they are from old fields, the 

 surer the crops. The hay crop is materially in- 

 jured on dry, light land, and so it is on land laid 

 down in 1861, not being sufficiently sodded to 

 shield the young roots. O. W. True. 



Near Fhillips, Me., July, 1862. 



The Frog Trade. — The Auburn (N. Y.) Ad- 

 vertiser says that the catching of frogs at Monte- 

 zuma has become quite a considerable ti'ade. It 

 adds : "For three or four seasons past two men 

 have made the impaling of frogs their business. 

 Every other day they ship from Auburn a barrel 

 of frogs for the New York or Buffalo market. 



They make very handsome wages. The method 

 of securing these basso profundos of the marshes 

 is very similar to spearing for fish. The men pad- 

 dle off through the marsh in the night with a dark 

 lantern. They approach the haunt of the frog 

 very quietly, and when near enough throw their 

 dart with a certainty acquired by practice, always 

 hitting them back of the head, killing them in- 

 stantly. The hind quarters are then carefully 

 skinned and cut off, packed in barrels, and sent 

 to their destination. They generally secure two 

 or three hundred in a night, and are paid $6 a 

 hundred. 



CLOVER AND PLASTER. 



A reader in Michigan wishes a little informa- 

 tion respecting clover and plaster, which we will 

 endeavor to give. Clover may be sown either in 

 the autumn with wiater grains, or in the spring 

 with summer cereals, or may be sown alone or 

 with timothy or any other of the cultivated grass- 

 es. Which is the best of these methods is not 

 very easily ascertained ; and the question has 

 caused a good deal of discussion among practical 

 men, and the exhibition of a great variety of ex- 

 perience that at first might appear contradictor}-. 

 Like other questions, however, in regard to which 

 experience seems to vary, we have no doubt the 

 difference in the result is chargeable to difference 

 of circumstances, such as soil, climate, exposure, 

 amount of snow, which is valuable as winter pro- 

 tection, and perhaps other influences. 



When clover is sown alone, from ten to sixteen 

 pounds are used. Heavy land it is believed gen- 

 erally requires more seed than a light soil. It is 

 best not to be sparing of clover seed, for where 

 grown pretty thick the hay is finer and better. 

 When sown with timothy, the usual quantity is 

 from six to twelve pounds. The only way to in- 

 sure a good crop all over the field, is to prepare 

 the ground thoroughly and give plenty of seed. 

 Spots where clover will not catch, need manure 

 and a little more seed. 



The operation of plaster is not well understood 

 either by practical or scientific men. It has been 

 used by some in certain locations without the least 

 apparent benefit, and its use abandoned, while 

 others differently situated find it the most profita- 

 ble manure that can be used on clover, all legu- 

 minous plants, and the grasses. Why this is so 

 no one can tell, though there are many theories. 

 Experiment alone will decide where it is profita- 

 ble to use plaster and where it is useless. There 

 is great difference of opinion, too, as to the best 

 time of sowing plaster. Some derive no benefit 

 unless it is used in the spring after the leaves are 

 well expanded, and think that its effect is through 

 the leaves alone, while others are not particular 

 on this point, and prefer to sow at the very earli- 

 est moment possible in the spring, and in this way 

 obtain the best results. We never saw a better 

 effect from plaster than on a field of clover in Ni- 

 agara county, heavy soil, that had received a heavy 

 dressing of plaster in the winter. A correspond- 

 ent complains that using plaster on clover sown 

 with wheat causes a heavy gi-owth of straw, makes 

 the wheat ripen late, and it is very much subject 

 to rust, while without plaster the clover perishes 

 from drought. K any of our readers know of a 

 preventive of this state of things, we would like 



