1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



183 



whether our fathers were not wiser in planting 

 trees upon their borders, where they interfered 

 but little with other crops, than we have been in 

 appropriating so much of our best land to them ? 

 But if experience shall prove that orchard land 

 can be laid down to grass, and by the same amount 

 of manure, used as a topdressiiig, which we now 

 use in cultivating them with hoed crops to little 

 profit, both the trees and grass can be kept in 

 good condition, then we shall l)e encouraged to 

 persevere in selling and cultivating apple trees. 

 An orchardist of large experience practiced and 

 recommended the following rotation of crops as 

 suitable for an orchard. 1st year, Plow, manure 

 and plant potatoes. 2d year, Manure and sow 

 oats and clover. Cut the oats as a forage crop. 

 3d year. Cut the clover and plow in the fall. 4th 

 year, Plow and plant potatoes. Thus the ground 

 is manured two years out of three, and a tolera- 

 ble crop of potatoes taken off the first year, and 

 a good crop of forage the two following years. 



I have discussed these questions very briefly. 

 The remarks I have made are intended to be sug- 

 gestive rather than exhaustive. J. K. 



Co)icord, April 16. 



For t/te Neir England Farmer. 

 ABOUT CORN BARNS. 



Mr. Editor : — I noticed in your paper recent- 

 ly, an inquiry from Mr. J. W. Xye, in regard to 

 corn barns, and I will endeavor to give hira some 

 idea of the way we build them here in Vermont, a 

 few miles north of Keene. 



We have some in our vicinity built in fhe fol- 

 lowing manner: Size of building about 20X26 

 feet, height of posts 15 feet, with a second floor, 

 which gives eight feet, lower story, and seven feet, 

 upper story. We have corn cribs on two sides 

 and one end, leaving one end for doors on each 

 storj' and stairs. On the second floor, leave a space 

 about four feet square in the floor for the thresh- 

 ing rack, which is made of two inch maple slats 

 sawed beveling, and put in three-eighths of an 

 inch apart at the top, so as to leave a crack just 

 large enough to let a kernel of corn pass through 

 and retain the cobs on the upper floor, while the 

 corn passes through to the lower floor. Or some 

 have a tier of grain bins occupy the north side of 

 the lower story, instead of having the crit)3 extend 

 on all sides, as far as the south side. We consid- 

 er the south side preferable by all means for dry- 

 ing corn. 



Such a barn I consider better to be set on posts, 

 and away from other buildings as far as rats are 

 concerned. I like the way of raising so as to 

 have a cellar underneath for storing carts, &c., at 

 will. If Mr. Nye, or any other of your subscri- 

 bers wish to know more on this subject, I shall be 

 very happy at any time to give them all the infor- 

 mation I can through your valuable paper, or by 

 private correspondence as suits them best, 



BockingJuim, Vt., 18Q3. u r' a 



than a storehouse of the golden corn. Our cor- 

 respondent is very obliging, and has done good 

 service to the farmer already in this communica- 

 tion. 



H. E. Adams. 



Remarks. — This subject is an important one, 

 and we are glad to find it receiving attention, as 

 a good deal of the corn raised continues to be 

 housed in a wasteful, and, frequently, in a most 

 filthy manner — the room in which it is kept smell- 

 ing more like some receMacle of cast off rubbish. 



Fi'r the Mrw Knijliinti Fanner, 

 NOTES FROM MY DIARY. 



Wi Mo., 'lHh, 18G2. Finding the yellow bugs 

 destroying my squash vines, I sprinkled them well 

 with a solution of green cow dung and water, 

 made quite thin. One application stojjped their 

 ravages. 



%th Mo., loth. Passing by a piece of beans to- 

 day,! find them dying. Upon examination, I find 

 the joints of the leaves and stalks covered with a 

 white mould, which rots the vines. A sm;dl spot 

 on the same piece of ground, was similarly affect- 

 ed last year, but I supposed the wet weather was 

 the cause. The weather is now very <lrv, so I 

 have supposed another cause. There is a heavy 

 growth of vines, and the weather very hot, and I 

 am of the opinion that the beans are decaying 

 from want of air, for the diseased vines are in the 

 centre ; those near the outside are healthv. Am 

 I right ? 



dfh Mo., 16//i. Pulled white beans. The pods 

 were white, but not shrunk ; I pulled them rather 

 than to risk a frost upon them. In a few days I 

 shall draw them into the barn, sjjread them on 

 poles over the floor, and let them remain till win- 

 ter. 



{Mem. I have threshed them this winter and 

 find them very fine.) 



lOffi Mo., 1st. Commenced picking my apples. 

 The last two years I have picked them about this 

 time, and I never had fruit keep better. I put 

 them in a cool place until cold weather. I am 

 convinced that an ajjple picked before it is entire- 

 ly ripe, will kec[) best in winter. Try it. 



ii/i Mo., ith, 1S;()3. I buried my cabbages last 

 fall, as usual, by ])lacing them heads down in a 

 trench one foot deep, and wide enough to allow 

 two heads to stand side by side. I laid two small 

 poles in the bottom of the trench, placed the heads 

 upon them, gave them a good covering of pea 

 straw and a light coat of earth. I ojjened them 

 to-day, and found the cabbages in good condition; 

 I some had grown so as to burst the heads. Wheth- 

 j er wintered in the ground, or in the cellar, the 

 roots should remain on. L. Vak.sey. 



Dloomjield, C. W. 



Ici!:landic "Skiku." — Their daily food is taken 

 cold, and consists chit-fly of raw, dr:cd stockfish 

 i and '-skier." The latter dish is sim[ily milk al- 

 I lowed to become acid and coagulate, and then 

 I hung up in a bag till the whey runs off. In this 

 I form it is botli nutritive and wholesome, being 

 I more easily digested tiian sweet milk ; while, to 

 those who take to it, it is light, palatibic and de- 

 lightfully cooling. Milk is prepareil in this way 

 by the S'hetlanders, who, in the first stage, call it 

 "run milk," and when made into skier, "hung 

 milk." The same preparation is made use of by 

 the Arabs, and it is also the chief diet of the Kaf- 

 firs and IJechuanas at the Cape. Our idea, that 

 milk is useless or hurtful when sour, is merely an 

 ignorant prejudice. Those who depend for their 

 subsistence chiefly on milk diet, and have the larg- 

 est experience, prefer to use it sour, and medical 

 authority endorses their choice. 



