1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



39 



and as the plants in the boxes continued to come 

 up and grow, I set more into the bed with the 

 wires, and watched the result, which was most 

 flattering ; the vines in the electric bed were, at 

 least, two-thirds larger than the others, and filled 

 with tomatoes from the bottom to the top. 



There were some cucumbers in the bed, and al- 

 though perceptible, the result was not so marked ; 

 I consider the experiment a success. The elec- 

 tricity helps to disseminate the substance in the 

 soil, and it may also help from the atmosphere. 



The idea of the experiment is not original with 

 me, and I hope that others may try it. 



I will add a sketch of the wires, sticks, &c., as 

 it will help to illustrate the theory. D. B. p. 



Scituate, Dec. 1, 1862. 



Rejurks. — We thank our correspondent for 

 his interesting experiment, but cannot give his il- 

 lustration short of an engraving. We hope oth- 

 ers will communicate to us freely of such matters 

 as they think will be useful. 



"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is 

 old he will not depart from it." 



While our friends Goldsbury and Bacon are 

 disputing about what can or cannot be taught in 

 our common schools, may we not derive instruc- 

 tion from the contemplation of the sentiment we 

 have selected. It is neither more or less than this : 

 Let boys be taught when young, what they will 

 have occasion to practice in after life. It is no ar- 

 gument to say that schools are not properly fur- 

 nished with agricultural implements to pursue the 

 science of agriculture to advantage, because they 

 should be furnished with everything necessarj- for 

 the benefit of the pupils. It will cost no more to 

 provide ])lows and shovels, than dictionaries and 

 grammars ; the one are the tools of the farmer's 

 trade, the other of the scholar's. In New Eng- 

 land full one-half of the boys that grow up are di- 

 rectly interested in the culture of the soil ; there- 

 fore they should be taught how to cultivate it. 



Nov. 29, 1862. _ P. 



HOW TO lkL\KE A LEMON TREE BEAR. 



Having a lemon tree six or seven years old, I 

 wish to know what I shall do to make it bear 

 fruit ? Please answer through the Farmer. 



Bristol Co., Nov. 14, 1862. Geo., Jr. 



Remarks. — We do not know. Will some one 

 who does, inform our fi-iend ? 



For the ^eic England Farmer. 

 OLD APPLE ORCHARDS. 



Mr. Editor : — There is much said and written 

 about the management of apple trees at this time, 

 and much that is erroneous to my mind. One of 

 your correspondents recommends using a Michi- 

 gan plow with a strong team to tear the soil to 

 pieces ; that is the last thing I should do, espe- 

 cially for an orchard that has commenced bearing. 



Now, let me tell my experience. I have had 

 two farms with two old orchards where the trees 

 were on the declirte. One of them I plowed and 

 trimmed off the old and decayed branches, and 

 left the young sprouts to grow, and in the course 

 of six years I had some quite thrifty trees. On 



the last farm, I have adopted another course, — 

 that is, I have put in hogs through the spring, sum- 

 mer and fall, and I find a saving in expense in 

 keeping, and the advantage to my trees, far great- 

 er than any thing 1 could do with the plow. They 

 not only dig round the roots of the trees, but eat 

 the apples that droj), and destroy the worms. I 

 have had eight — four old hogs and four jjigs — in 

 my orchard this season, and am satisfied that the 

 refuse apples are worth more for them than they 

 are paying for cider apples. 



Jonathan Bartlett. 

 Northhoro\ Nov. 29, 1862. 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



POWER OP THE WILL. 



Children often rise in the morning in anything 

 but an amiable frame of mind. Petulent.'impa- 

 tient, quarrelsome, they cannot be spoken to or 

 touched without producing an explosion of ill-na- 

 ture. Sleep seems to have been a bath of vinegeir 

 to them, and one would think the fluid had "in- 

 vaded their mouth and nose and eyes and ears, 

 and had been absorbed by every pore of their sen- 

 sitive skins. In a condition Uke this, I have seen 

 them bent over the parental knee and their per- 

 sons subjected to blows from the parental palm ; 

 and they have emerged from the infliction with 

 the vinegar all expelled, and their faces shining 

 like the morning — the transition complete and sat- 

 isfactory to all the parties. Three-quarters of the 

 moods that men and women find themselves in are 

 just as much under the control of the will as this. 

 The man who rises in the morning, with his feel- 

 ings all bristling like the quills of a hedgehog, 

 simply needs to be knocked down. Like a solu- 

 tion of certain salts, he requires a rap to make 

 him crystallize. A great many mean things are 

 done in the family for which moods are put for- 

 ward as the excuse, when the moods themselves 

 are the most inexcusable things of all. A man or 

 a woman in tolerable health has no moral right to 

 indulge in an unpleasant mood, or to depend upon 

 moods for the performance of the duties of life. 

 If a bad mood come to such persons as these, it is 

 to be shaken off by a direct effort of the will, un- 

 der all circumstances. — Timothy I'itcomb's Les- 

 sons i?i Life. 



RoMPHs'G. — Don't be afraid of a little romping 

 on the part of your girls, and never punish them 

 for indulging in it, but thank Heaven, who has 

 endowed them so largely with animal spirits. 

 These must have vent in some way, and better 

 the glow which a little romping imparts to the 

 cheeks than a distorted spine or a pallid brow. 

 Health is one of the greatest of blessings, and 

 only a good share of physical exercise can secure 

 this to children. Let them romp, then, even if 

 they do make some noise and tear their dresses 

 occasionally, and lead you to cry out, "O dear ! 

 what shall I do ?" Yes, let them romp. Sober 

 times will come by and by. Life brings its cares 

 soon enough to all ; and let the children be happy 

 while they are young. God made them to be hao- 

 py, and why should parents thwart his plans ? We 

 do not believe in a dull childhood, but in cheer- 

 fulness in age. — Home Journal. 



