1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



93 



spines, which prevent cattle from browsing upon 

 them. Pruning, if too closely given, injures them, 

 as such trees are more subject to attacks from 

 borers. 



It is an object for all who have lands too rough 

 for tillage, or who wish to increase the quantity 

 of their wood and timber lands, to enter into its 

 culture, as the tree readily takes care of itself and 

 comes earlier to maturity than any of the trees of 

 our forests, and, what is no mean consideration, a 

 grove of it may be chopped over at any season, 

 and will readily renew itself. 



Richmond, Jan., 1863. Wm. Bacon. 



THE "WINTEK SNO"W. 



Wint«r comes on in the right shape, giving the 

 earth a good blanket of heavy snow, coming in 

 the mud, which, according to the weather mon- 

 gers, means that it has come to stay. The storm 

 of the ;30th of December, was a powerful and far- 

 reaching one, and if the sign does not fail, will 

 afford a good protection to the juvenile wheat 

 plants, which stood very much in need of such 

 motherly attention. Snow is a great blessing in 

 its season, and we think the excellent compilers of 

 the prayer book should have framed a petition for 

 this purpose to be placed along side of that which 

 the church is accustomed to use for rain. — Ohio 

 Farmer. 



Remarks. — In the region of Boston there has 

 been but little snow. The weather has been very 

 changeable — rain, sunshine, hail, then warm and 

 foggy, snow, slosh and mud, alternating, and each 

 striving for the mastery. We almost wish for a 

 stiff " nor'-easter," a foot of snow, jingling of bells, 

 and the merry laugh of the sleigh-riding boys and 



Save your Fodder. — Some persons can earn 

 plenty of money, but have a poor faculty of sav- 

 ing it, and so it is with farmers, in regard to sav- 

 ing fodder. On some farms where a large amount 

 of fodder is harvested, there is a great want of 

 true economy in feeding it out. It is not only in 

 feeding too profusely at one time, and too spar- 

 ingly at another, but much is involve<l in the 

 manner of preparing the food that is laid before 

 the stock. 



Those who have not cut their coarse fodder, 

 such as corn-stalks and husks, straw and meadow 

 hay, cannot appreciate the saving that may be 

 made by such a process. We hope fifty of our 

 friends will provide themselves with one of Whit- 

 teinore. Belcher & Co.'s Universal Feed Cutters, 

 or one of their Magic Feed Cutters, experiment 

 with them, and report to the Farmer for the ben- 

 efit of their brethren. 



We have used the first of these implements for 

 several years, and would not be without it, or 

 one as good, for three times its cost. A good one 

 will pay for itself once in two years, in our opin- 

 ion. They may be found at 40 South Market 

 Street, Boston. 



THE "WTIATHEH 



Still continues mild for the season. In the re- 

 gion of Boston there has been but little snow, and 

 now, February 2, the sun is clear, south winds pre- 

 vail, and some shrubs and trees are pushing their 

 buds prematurely. Some varieties of elms have 

 thickened in their tops, consideraUy, and show 

 that the clear, warm sun has set them into an ac- 

 tive condition. The buds of fruit trees are also 

 swelling so that a sudden change of extreme cold 

 may injure them ; if, however, cold comes gradu- 

 ally, so that the sap has time to recede, as the tur- 

 tle draws in its head when it is too cold, the buds 

 will shrink, their outer, scaly covering cling close 

 to them, and they will be safe. 



The winter of 1852-3 was quite similar to this. 

 Pansies grew in our garden at Concord, through 

 most of the winter. On the 12th of February, the 

 air was as soft as on the first of May, and we saw 

 peach trees in blossom on the 11th of February, in 

 Baltimore. Prospects for a crop of ice are not 

 very flattering. The mild weather, however, is a 

 great blessing to thousands, in cities, when the 

 prices of fuel are so high. 



Agricultural Society. — The Forty-Fourth 

 Annual Report of the Hampshire, Franklin and 

 Hampden Society, is before us, through the polite 

 attention of its Treasurer, A. Perry Peck, Esq. 

 It contains the Constitution of the Society, the 

 names of those who have been its presiding offi- 

 cers, and those who have delivered the annual ad- 

 dresses. The address of the Rev. F. D. Huxx- 

 IXGTOX, upon the " Odds and Ends of Husbandry," 

 is not published, but the Secretary, in his report, 

 says it " was full of thought and calculated to in- 

 spire a love of the beautiful in nature, not only in 

 the heart of the farmer but in those who have but 

 the garden door-yard to cultivate and adorn." The 

 pamphlet contains no extended report on any 

 subject. 



Ventilation in Stables. — The great mortal- 

 ity occurring amongst the horses of the French 

 cavalry has been diminished by more than one- 

 half by increasing the amount of air su])plied to 

 the stables, no other change in the management 

 having occurred. At the end of the Italian war, 

 10,000 cavalry were left with no stabling but mere 

 tem])orary sheds ; but the mortahty was quite in- 

 significant, and not a single case of glanders oc- 

 curred. The French Government are now trying 

 some experiments with respect to the results of 

 the ex])osure of horses to even currents of air, 

 some of the results having proved of a most favor- 

 able kind. As might be expected, the effects of 

 the improved ventihition of stables have been still 

 more fully exhibited with respect to sick and 

 wounded horses. 



Educate thy children, lest, one of these days, 

 they educate thee in a school where there is no 

 vacation, nay, not even so much as a recess. 



