480 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



Sept, 



progress of art, "I do believe the millennium day is 

 a-comiiig .' Don't the Bible say knowledge will 

 be a-running to and fro through the earth, and 

 hasn't it run out to our farm in the shape of a 

 bread and butter and sausage machine ? It does 

 seem to my mind that we oughter be setting our 

 houses in order, when the work it took our moth- 

 ers, hours to accomplish, is done without hands. 

 I'm free to say, ma'am, it makes me solemn." 



At tea, the family had an opportunity to test 

 the excellence of the new bread, which, without a 

 dissenting voice, was pronounced "first-rate." 



Walter, in his zeal, went so far as to shout, 

 "Hurrah for the bread made without hands I" but 

 instantly blushed crimson on receiving a gentle 

 reproof from his father. 



"What a blessing," remarked Mrs. Allen, "this 

 invention will prove in large boarding-houses, 

 where a third of a barrel of flour is mixed at 

 once." 



"Yes," replied her husband, "a lady told me to- 

 day, in the city, that she not only made bread in 

 hers, but gingerbread and fruit-cake, putting to- 

 gether all the ingredients, and giving the whole a 

 thorough beating with little comparative labor." 



"I shall want to carry my machine to the fair," 

 cried Etty. 



"Mr. Blanchard will probably send one, not 

 only to our county, but to others through the 

 State," I'ejoined Mr. Allen, "and I have no doubt 

 they will excite great interest wherever they are 

 seen." 



Remakks. — Excellent. "Progress" is the word, 

 in everything that is good — everything, especially, 

 that makes lighter and cheaper the labor of the 

 kitchen, that must of necessity continually occur. 

 Bread-making, Ave believe, is work that women do 

 not particularly like. They do not dread it, per- 

 haps, but it is not an attractive labor, so that if 

 bread can be well prepared, as would seem by the 

 glowing language of our correspondent, it is cer- 

 tainly an important step in the right direction. 

 We shall endeavor to find the machine, and test 

 its merits. 



For the New En<>land Fanner. 

 PLOWING IN WINTER GRAIN. 



Mr. Editor : — I have a piece of pasturing 

 which was broken up in June. I intend to cross- 

 plow and harrow it, and then plmo in the grain, 

 instead of harrowing it, as I think is the general 

 practice. The idea Avas suggested to me by a 

 brother farmer in toAvn, Avho said that Avhen he 

 sowed Avinter Avhcat the last of August or first of 

 September, and plowed it in, he avus pretty sure 

 of a good crop, even on rather light, plain land, if 

 properly manured. 



I Avish to inquire if other persons have had a 

 similar experience, as I think of sowing a portion 

 of my piece Avith Avinter Avheat. 



I Avish to say a Avord in relation to king-birds 

 and bees, suggested by an article on that subject 

 in the Farmer of August 9th. 



I have nine swarms of bees and four king-birds, 

 that is, there are four which have made my prem- 

 ises their head-quarters, though I have several 

 times destroyed their nest, as I am fully convinced 



that, so far as bees are concerned, these birds 

 should not be alloAved to increase and multiply- I 

 have Avatched them sometimes, as they darted 

 through the air, and seized the returning bees, 

 which I supposed they devoured, but according to 

 the article to AA'hich I have referred, they only ex- 

 tract the honey from them. I have also noticed 

 them Avhen feeding their young, Avhich, of course, 

 Avas on honey only, that they might have a SAveet 

 tooth, and as they grew older, gratify it even by 

 murder, pillage and robbery. 



Now, Mr. Editor, for one I say, down with the 

 king-birds and rebels. a. c. w. 



Leominster, August II, 1862. 



Remarks. — Do not exterminate them without 

 careful examination. Shoot one or two that you 

 have supposed had taken the bees and examine 

 their crops. If you find bees, or honey there, it 

 Avill be well to consider what course should be 

 pursued in regard to them. The king-bird is one 

 of our beautiful and active birds, Avhose place 

 could scarcely be supplied by any other. 



For the JSetr England Farmer. 

 WTH^TTER WHEAT. 



Messrs. Editors : — ^The subject of raising win- 

 ter wheat is undergoing a revived discussion in 

 this vicinity, if not through all Ncav England. I 

 have often heard ministers preach the importance 

 of enforcing line upon line and precept upon pre- 

 cept, upon their dull hearers, that the impression 

 might be so durable as to produce valuable practi- 

 cal results. Mr. Henry Poor, formerly of North 

 Andover, noAV of Brooklyn, N. Y., by his perse- 

 verance year after year in keeping the farmers of 

 New England aAvake on the subject of raising Avin- 

 ter Avheat, has truly been a benefactor to his coun- 

 try. The lacking of faith, as well as excessive 

 credulity on farming, as on religious subjects, is a 

 great obstacle to progress. 



1 have read Mr. Poor's communications on 

 Avheat-raising from the first, but so little fixith had 

 I in making the attempt to raise wheat on my 

 Wilmington land, that I did not even try the ex- 

 periment. Two years ago, my son, (with more 

 hopeful organs,) bought sLx quai'ts of winter AA'heat 

 and soAved it upon about a quarter of an acre of 

 unmanured, sandy land, the last of August, 18G0; 

 the Avork Avas done in a hurried manner and left in 

 an unpromising condition. On the 23d of July 

 nearly four bushels of good Avheat Avas cradled, 

 notwithstanding severe drought and bad cultiva- 

 tion. On the last of August and first of Septem- 

 ber, 1861, he soAved about an acre Avhere a crop of 

 oats had been taken off; a light dressing of com- 

 post Avas plowed under Avith the oat stubble ; it 

 came up Avell, but nearly half Avas Avinter-killed. 

 This little field Avas harvested on the 6th inst., 

 promising a good yield of fine, plump wheat, a 

 discount being made for the Avinter-killcd. 



The advantages of raising Avheat over corn and 

 rye are very apparent. The operations of plant- 

 ing and hoeing corn two or three times, the lialnl- 

 ity of its being frost-bitten, cutting the stalks, 

 harvesting, husking and shelling are considera- 

 tions Avorthy of the farmer's notice in settling up 

 his bills. 'Ihe same quantity of manure applied 



