466 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



broken constitutions, they come back to their fam- 

 ilies and friends with limited ability to take a 

 prominent part in those avocations Avhich formerly 

 afforded them a comfortable subsistence, and in 

 many cases become a charge upon the charitable 

 or helpless dependants upon their families. These 

 men, who have shed their blood to sustain the 

 government, have a right to ask assistance from 

 that government, and the numerous oiRces cre- 

 ated by the Tax Bill will afford the means of pro- 

 viding them with light and remunerative employ- 

 ment. Much suffering may thus be prevented. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MINERALS IW MUCK. 



Mr. Editor : — Your correspondent from Brook- 

 field states that he has muck thrown from a 

 swamp, which, on exposure to the air, becomes 

 frosted over with a substance tasting like alum. 

 This fact is frequently witnessed in the muck of 

 swamps or meadows, when the soil in the higher 

 levels surrounding them contains a large propor- 

 tion of clay. Alum is the basis of clay. Alum con- 

 sists of sulphuric acid and alumina. A portion of 

 this salt is leached by the rains from the clay soil, 

 and carried to the swamps and m.eadows. Here 

 it combines with the iron ore often found in such 

 situations, and a salt of iron is formed. This is 

 the substance which he finds, after a few dry days, 

 upon the surface of the muck heap. He may find 

 the iron by a simple experiment, performed in a 

 rough way, as follows : 



Collect a gill of the substance or efflorescence, 

 and put it into half a pint of rain water. Shake 

 it well, and let it stand 12 hours. Then strain 

 carefully through a cotton cloth. Put the clear 

 liquid into a white glass bottle. Add a little car- 

 bonate of potash or saleratus. Shake M'ell to- 

 gether, and let the bottle stand at rest, and, after 

 a few hours, he will find the sides and bottom of 

 the bottle coated with iron rust. The sulphuric 

 acid which was previously combined with the iron, 

 has left it, and combined with the potash, and the 

 carbonic acid that was previously combined with 

 the potash has combined with the iron, and formed 

 a carbonate of iron, which, being but slightly sol- 

 uble in water, is deposited on the bottom and 

 sides of the bottle. 



Muck of this description m.ay be used with much 

 advantage on warm, sandy soils, as old pine plains. 

 It should be well pulverized by exposure to the 

 frost of winter — spread upon the surface and 

 plowed in. I have seen a good crop of corn raised 

 upon such land by the free use of just such muck, 

 and the value of the land for pasturage much in- 

 creased for several years afterwards. But the best 

 Avay to use such muck is to mix a cask of quick- 

 lime with a cord of it, three or four weeks before 

 using it. Just before using it, overhaul and mix 

 thoroughly, and you have a valuable manure for 

 a topdrcssing for grass or grain, or for almost any 

 other crop. J. REYNOLDS. 



Concord, Aug. 29, 1862. 



Birds and Insects. — The attention of the 

 reader is called to an exceedingly interesting arti- 

 cle in another column of this paper, on the sub- 

 ject of bb'ds and insects. We hope every farmer 

 will read it. 



For the New England Farmer. 



HAHVESTS. 



BT R . P. F CLLER. 



When sunlicrht pours a goWen flood 



Over the autumn field and wood, 



A better harvest here I gain 



Than they, who only reap the grain ; 



And my increase, more rich than theirs. 



The glorious October bears ; 



My sateless eyes, from west to east, 

 On all the varied colors feast — 

 Sweet foretaste of the gems divine 

 That in the heavenly city shine ! 

 The woodman hews the forest ; yet, 

 I gain much more than lie can get ! 



From green to gold the sunbeams change 

 The fruitage, ready for the grange. 

 The reaper has his harvest sought ; 

 He gleans the grain ; I gather thought ! 

 But mine is far the greater good, 

 And satisfies with heavenly food ! 



For me, more than for liim, it grows, 

 And, every day, nev/ beauty shows. 

 For me it waves, to please the mind. 

 And, when its sheaf the reapers bind, 

 I reap the reaper, with his grain, 

 And all the good of it obtain. 



For God, and for His children, still 

 His field must cverj' farmer till. 

 The pious thought alone shall gain 

 The real blessing of the grain: 

 Thus, earth the meek inherit ; though 

 A worldly hand may reap and sow. 



Ye gatherers of the autumn, come ! 

 To furnish forth the harvest home. 

 Fail not the fruits of thought to bind, 

 And reap rich increase for the mind I 

 Else, with a sordid toil, in vain 

 You leave the gold and get the grain ! 



Look on the pure ideal stores, 

 The autumn for the spirit pours ! 

 ! waste not this abundance, which 

 God gives to make the poorest rich ! 

 Come ! in the gold October, cull 

 A harvest of the beautiful ! 



TEMPERATURE OF THE SOIIi. 



If no other argument could be deduced in favor 

 of under-draining, the foct that it equalizes the 

 temperature during the season of growth would be 

 enough to recommend it. The temperature of water 

 issuing from under-drains, as com])ared with the 

 temperature of the soil at the same level, shows 

 that during its passage it parts with heat which 

 must rise upward. l)uring the entire month of 

 April, the soil is mtich Avarmer at night than the 

 air, although perhaps somewhat colder during the 

 day. The average of its temperature, however, is 

 much higher in a drained than an undrained field, 

 but it is the same at night as in the day ; no loss of 

 heat occurs from the surface of the soil by evapo- 

 ration, or at least a much less loss than with un- 

 drained fields, and thus we see that the tempera- 

 ture of the soil, from the extremes of winter and 

 summer, is materially modified. Water falling 

 through the atmosphere and partaking of its tem- 

 perature, sinks readily in under-drained soils, 

 while in others it runs from the surface, becomes 

 cold by eva])oration of a portion, dissolves large 

 amounts of the more soluble, and therefore more 



