38 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



The original Hurlbut apple tree produced 40 

 bushels in one year, and 20 the next. 



The original Bars apple tree produced 60 in one 

 year. 



In Orange, N. J., a Harrison apple tree pro- 

 duced 100 bushels in one year. 



An apple tree in Farmington, Me,, produced 

 16 bushels the 16th year from the planting of the 

 seed. 



Cole saj's he has had fruit from an apple tree 

 in Plymouth, Mass., when the tree was 200 years 

 old. 



An apple tree brought from England and plant- 

 ed near Hartford, Ct., produced fruit when 209 

 years old. 



Several apple trees in the United States have 

 trunks 12 feet in circumference. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 

 A NEW GRAPE. 



In the Farmer of Nov. 8 you say, "we have no 

 good out-door grapes yet that are sufficiently har- 

 dy to stand'the changes of our winters ;" we think 

 we have a grape in progress — a grape for the mil- 

 lion — a grai)e to climb around the poor man's 

 cottage as well as on the rich man's arbor. 

 George Curtis, of the United Society, in New 

 Lebanon, has the honor of originating this grape, 

 which is now cultivated in preference to all other 

 varieties in that village. This grape, which he 

 calls the "Aromatic," appears to be as hardy as 

 the oak, is a heavy bearer, and certainly a deli- 

 cious fruit. An excellent quality in them is that 

 they commence ripening early in Septembeiv and 

 continue until frost. They are a valuable keeping 

 grape. We are not sure that they have been dis- 

 seminated beyond that village as yet, their appre- 

 ciation of it i-equiring many vines. It will proba- 

 bly be brought before the public in due time. 



Nov. 10, 1862. _ W. Bacon. 



WARM FEET IN COLD WEATHER. 



Thinking some of the readers of the Farmer 

 may be troubled to keep their feet warm in our 

 cold climate, I propose to tell them how I care for 

 mine. 



I have my winter boots made one size too large 

 for m.y feet. I then have a pair of slippers made 

 of sheepskin, tanned with the wool on, or a little 

 of it. One taken off soon after the sheep are 

 sheared will have a sufficient length of wool, (and 

 such can be obtained at almost any tannery.) It 

 is necessary to have the slipper an exact fit for the 

 foot over the stocking, or it will wrinkle when the 

 boot is drawn over it. They can be made of calf 

 skin, tanned with the hair on, but I think wool is 

 warmer, and the advantage of this plan over a 

 lined boot is, that the slipper which will generally 

 be left in the boot when it is taken off, can be 

 pulled out and dried e\'ery night, and the boot 

 will be in much better condition than if it was 

 lined. You can make a cut from the accompany- 

 ing drawing and print it with this article ; any one 

 who sees it could cut his own if he wished to. In 

 making, the edges should be sewed with what is 

 called the ball stitch, as that leaves the seam soft 

 as any other part, and it may be left open on the 

 instep far enough so that it can be put on with 

 ease, and will not need lacing up after it is on. 



MILK FOR BUTTER. 



I know, from actual experiment, that five quarts 

 of good milk, when the milk-room can be kept at 

 the proper temperature, will make a pound of 

 butter. 



HOW I BURN KEROSENE OIL IN A FLUID LAMP 

 IN MY LANTERN. 



The only secret is to have the wick very loose. 

 I use common candle wicking, and have it so 

 loose that a slight blow of the lantern would jar 

 the wick down — and to pi-event that I pinched in 

 the tubes a little near the lower end. It is better 

 not to fill the lamp more thanhalf fuUof oil — then, 

 by keeping the wick about level with the end of 

 the tube, you will get a clear, steady flame. It 

 requires the least trimming of any lamp I ever 

 used. When once properly adjusted, it Avill burn 

 three hours, every night for a week^ without pick- 

 ing up or trimming. W. I. Simonds. 



Eoxbury, Vt., Nov., 1862. 



Remarks. — The pattern for cutting the slippers 

 is very plain — but since the rebellion began, near- 

 ly all our women have learned to cut slippers with 

 great correctness and ease. 



GROWTH OF forest TREES. 



I recently heard a distinguished farmer of Es- 

 sex county say that his lands covered with young 

 forest trees were more productive than those 

 which he planted with corn or any other kind of 

 grain. The same idea I remember to have heard 

 put forth by the late Hon. Asa T. Newhall, of 

 Lynnfield, who died leaving several hundred acres 

 of woodland. Both of these gentlemen said they 

 had watched the growth of their trees, and taken 

 such measurement, from time to time, that they 

 could tell how many cords of wood their lands in- 

 creased annually, as well as the number of bush- 

 els of corn they gathered. If this be so, it opens 

 a new field of culture ; for nothing is more in de- 

 mand than good wood, and nothing is more rapid- 

 ly falling away from our markets. p. 



December, 1862. 



ELECTRICITY FOR PLANTS. 



I have made an experiment with electricity in 

 cultivation, the past season, and propose to give 

 an account of my success, for the benefit of others 

 who may choose to try it. 



I made the experiment with some tomatoes, tha 

 seed of which was planted in boxes and kept in 

 the sun, by a window, so as to obtain early plants. 



In the meantime, I prepared the bed as beds 

 for other vegetables are prepared; it was 12 by 

 6 feet, and I enclosed it with a wire which was 

 buried about three inches below the surface of the 

 ground, and from the middle of the ends of the 

 bed another wire was attached to the buried Avire, 

 and this wire was held from the ground by some 

 poles ; one was three feet and the other four 

 feet. At the corners of the bed, there were some 

 sticks driven down to keep the buried wire in its 

 place, the wire on the longest sides of the bed ly- 

 ing due North and South. 



When the plants had attained the size for 

 transplanting, I set a row in the bed, and at the 

 same time another row in another bed, prepared 

 in the same way, with the exception of the wires, 



