1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



415 



edge of those great principles upon which it is 

 based. I say, then, let the agricultural press — the 

 herald of true progress in this sphere, still go on 

 fulfilling its mission. Let the farming community, 

 by diligent study, acquire more liberal views of 

 their calling, and of the means for its promotion, 

 and thus more successfully pave the way for genu- 

 ine, progressive farming. J. H. G. 

 Eubbardston, April, 1862. 



EXTRACTS AND BEPLIES. 

 BLACK WAUTS ON TllEES. 



Will you or some of your writers inform me 

 through your paper how to prevent what I call 

 canker worms from getting in plum and cherry 

 trees ? They cause a hard, black bunch to grow 

 on the branches, and spoil the tree. 



Norway, Me., July, 1862. Subscriber. 



Remarks. — Cut them out carefully and thor- 

 oughly as often as they appear. The following is 

 from the Country Gentleman : — 



In conversing with a friend a few days since, he 

 informed me that he had been successful in re- 

 moving the black excrescences that have proved 

 so injurious to plum trees, as follows : vSaturate 

 the knot with spirits of turpentine, and in time it 

 will dry up and heal over. He thinks the disease 

 is caused by an insect, which the spirits of tur- 

 pentine destroys, and thereby remedies the evil. 

 He had recommended it to his neighbors, and in 

 all cases it has proved alike beneficial. In look- 

 ing over some of the back volumes of the Cultiva- 

 tor, I find the general remedy recommended is 

 excision, and knowing that this sometimes proves 

 injurious to the tree, I thought I would send you 

 this remedy — so simple and yet so beneficial — for 

 publication, not doubting but that I should get 

 some ideas in return from your correspondents. 



I see the cherry is affected, in some sections of 

 the country, with the black knot, and I presume 

 the above remedy will prove alike beneficial to 

 them. 



COLD AND WET. 



Such is the present month of July. Already 

 have there fallen five inches of rain, and in very 

 lew of the days has the mercury, on a fair expos- 

 ure, risen above 70°. These flxcts are extraordi- 

 nary, and must essentially modify the products of 

 the fields and gardens. 



^ly thermometer distinctly indicates summer 

 heat as 76°. AVhen the mercury for weeks in suc- 

 cession, fails to reach this point, we may begin 

 to query whether all is going rightly on. — 

 My corn looks green and luxuriant, and rises a 

 foot or more above my head, as I walk among it ; 

 but still, it needs heat to fill out and mature the 

 ears. Grain of all kinds appears to be doing well. 

 This matures with less heat than corn. Potatoes 

 were never better than the present season. I hear 

 nothing of the rot. "Seed lime and harvest" have 

 come for the last seventy years, and I have no 

 reason to fear that they will fail us. I have much 

 more fear of the ugly secession spirit abroad. 

 God grant that this may be suppressed, and this 

 speedily. p. 



Essex Co., Mass., July 26, 1862. 



crop of grass. 



I learned to-day, that this will come short by at 

 least one-quarter part of several years past, on 

 the splendid farm of Gen. Sutton. As every one 

 knows that he spares no expense or effort to 

 make his lands as productive as possible, the de- 

 ficiency must be charged to the malign influences 

 of the season. This is contrary to the general 

 impression of the season. Perhaps it may be 

 chargeable to the war, as he is a Major General 

 of long standing, and his attention must have 

 been diverted from the farm, by the enlistment 

 and organization of troops, — the all-absorbing 

 topic of the day. The truth is, farmers must at- 

 tend to their business, if they would have their 

 barns full in due time ; if they do not look to 

 their farms, their farms will not sustain them, 

 whatever may be their official station. * 



Essex Co.', July 26, 1862. 



"A PAIR OF TWINS." 



We very frequently hear and use the expres- 

 sion, "A pair of twins," evidently meaning two 

 born at the same time. But, strictly speaking, is 

 this a correct expression ? Is it true that two 

 produced at the same birth constitute a pair of 

 twins? Two, doubtlessly, constitute twins, but 

 not a j-iair of twins. As it takes two to make 

 twins, it must certainly take twice as many, or 

 four, to make a pair of twins. If I am correct in 

 this — and I believe that I am — it is very seldom 

 that we see a 2)air of twins, although twins are 

 often met with. A Constant Reader. 



Paiolet, Vt., July, 1862. 



LEACHED ASHES. 



Prof. Buckland, the able editor of the Canadian 

 Agriculturist, says : 



"Wood ashes always contain a considerable 

 amount of carbonate of potash, lime, etc., and are 

 consequently very beneficial to such plants as re- 

 quire large quantities of these alkalies, such as 

 Indian corn, turnips, beets and potatoes. Leached 

 ashes have los*, much of the principal alkaline 

 salts, and have been deprived of the greatest part 

 of their most important soluble ingredients ; still 

 they must not be regarded as an unimportant fer- 

 tilizer, and other matter which they contain is al- 

 ways more or less beneficial to the soil. Unless 

 the land is well worked and contains sufficient or- 

 ganic matter, we should not consider ashes, 

 whether leached or unleached, as alone adequate 

 to the production of a good crop of wheat, tur- 

 nips or corn." 



There is something about old leached ashes that 

 we do not understand, though we have given the 

 subject considerable attention. We have seen in- 

 stances where old leached ashes have had an ex- 

 cellent effect on wheat, while unleached ashes 

 seemed to do no good. We have thought that 

 perhaps the potash and soda which had been 

 washed out, were replaced by ammonia and nitric 

 acid from the atmosphere. The subject is one 

 worthy of investigation. At all events, it is cer- 

 tain that leached ashes frequently have a very 

 beneficial effect ; and if the above hypothesis is 

 true, the older they are the better. 



