526 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



'Nor. 



ty, but it does not suit my taste. I do not like 

 those modes of labor, that are out of the ordinary 

 way of work. 



The sliow of fruits at the hall was limited, con- 

 sidering the abundance that is grown this season. 

 1 know of many a single garden in which a better 

 collection could be gathered. 



But when we come to the meetings of the far- 

 mers, here is the rub. Some gentlemen had taken 

 u]) the idea that their talents had been hid under 

 a bushel too long, and started a project to secure 

 an election to the board of trustees. This, after 

 being thoroughly debated, was laid over for a year, 

 by being referred to a committee of one from each 

 town in the county. From which committee a 

 wise report may be expected, on which another 

 discussion will follow. A poor way to grow tur- 

 nips ! 



As I have before stated, I have attended every 

 meetmg of our Society, and of the Trustees, for the 

 last Jot ty-f our years, and I regret to say that we 

 are not any wiser than our fathers were, when I 

 first met with them. I think I can hear tlie shade 

 of old father Pickering saying, "O, wicked and 

 perverse generation — they seek a sign, but no 

 sign shall be given them." P. 



October 4, 1862. 



Remarks. — Our correspondent is certainly very 

 plain in his criticisms, but we think he has aright 

 to speak, as, if no error exists, it can be shown, — 

 and if there is, this may lead to its correction. 

 Our attention has been a little withdrawn from the 

 Farmer for a few days, in superintending a gang 

 of men wlw we-r£ ditching auil laying pipes on a 

 portion of our farm. 



they plaee a kind of stone trough, covered with a 

 stone lid pierced with holes. These troughs com- 

 municate with each other by means of a small rill 

 made of bricks, and resting on the sand, and the 

 whole is then paved over. The rain water com- 

 ing from the roofs of the buildings runs into the 

 troughs, penetrates into the sand through the rills, 

 and is thus filtered into the well-hole by the con- 

 ical holes already described. The water thus 

 supplied is limpid, sweet and cool. 



VENETIAN" WATER CISTERN. 

 The city of Venice is wholly supplied with rain 

 water, Avhich is retained in cisterns. Tho city oc- 

 cupies an area of about 1300 acres. The annual 

 average fall of rain is 31 inches, the greater j)art 

 of whicli is collected in 2077 cisterns, 177 of which 

 are public. The rain is sufficienily abundant to 

 fill the cisterns five times in the course of the 

 year, so that the distribution of water is at the 

 rate of 312 gallons per head. To constract a cis- 

 tern after the Venetian fashion, a large hole is 

 dug in the ground lo the depth of nine feet. The 

 sides of the excavation are sujjported by a frame- 

 work made of good oak timber, and the cistern 

 thus has the appearance of a square truncated pyr- 

 amid Avith the wider base turned upwuvd. A coat- 

 ing of pure and compact clay, one foot thick, is 

 now applied on the wooden frame with great care ; 

 this opposes an invincible obstacle to the progress 

 of the roots of any plants growing in the vicinity, 

 and also to the pressure of the water in contact 

 with it. No crevices are left which might allow 

 the air to penetrate. This ])reliminary work be- 

 ing done, a large circular stone, partly hollowed 

 out like the bottom of a kettle, is deposited in the 

 pyramid, with the cavity upward ; and on this 

 foundation a cylinder of well-baked bricks is con- 

 structed, having no interstices whatever, except a 

 number of conical holes in the bottom row. The 

 large vacant space remaining between the pyra- 

 mid and the cylinder is filled with well-scoured 

 sea-sand. At the four corners of the pyramid 



DRAINING VP-ITH PIPES. 



Since the admirable work of our Associate, 

 Judge French, upon underdraining, was publish- 

 ed, much more attention than formerly has been 

 given to the subject, and a new step in the Art of 

 Farming has been fairly inaugurated. Persons 

 who had no faith in the new power of the soil 

 when relieved of cold standing water under the 

 surft^ce, — or water so slow in motion as to have 

 the same efiect as standing water, — ^by giving in- 

 vestigation and a little thought to the matter, 

 have become so far convinced of its utility as to 

 make experiments, and thus demonstrate the rea- 

 sonableness and expediency of the process for 

 themselves. This has been done to a considera- 

 ble extent, — not only by those who are called 

 book farmers, but by many who have neTCT been 

 hasty to adopt new notions, and the more trials 

 there are made, the more popular the process be- 

 comes. Indeed, we think Judge French's book, 

 written as it is in a raanly and vigorous style, and 

 Avith so many happy illustrations and humorous 

 turns as to make it exceedingly attractive, is hav- 

 ing a decided influence upon our people in this 

 direction. 



We have visited some old farms where the pre- 

 judices of their proprietors were as deep rooted 

 and tenacious as the roots of the skunk cabbage 

 which Infested their water-soaked lands, and found 

 portions of them wearing a new aspect in then- 

 crops, and smiling under the wholesome influences 

 of a warm, moist and porous soil. Most of the 

 experiments which we have witnessed are quite 

 limited, but are sufficiently large to afford com- 

 plete illustrations of the advantages to be gained 

 by the process, — and to satisfy the experimenter 

 that it is a money-maJcing operation ! When this 

 fact becomes common, little argument will be 

 needed to induce our people to make it a matter 

 of common improvement. 



A part of the autumnal work on our farm has 

 been that of finishing the drainage of a piece of 

 land commenced in 1857. The locality is a nar- 

 row valley, sun'ounded on three sides by higher 

 land, and only the south-east side was then opened. 

 The upland on the edge of the valley was plowed 

 the preceding spring, but so wet was it, that the 

 work could not be done until the 27th of May, 

 and even then with difficulty, so thoroughly soaked 



