226 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



ON THE PAKM. 



Gentlemen : — On Saturday, June 6, 1 had oc- 

 casion to lay a pipe drain, under where I wished 

 to build a farm road to cross from one hill-side to 

 another, over a "run." I took this opportunity, 

 because the ground was quite dry. This led me 

 to look at my Journal for two or three years past 

 where I find the following records : 



"June 8, 1860. — A little rain in the morning, and 

 much in the evening. Heavy clouds from the 

 south-west, and thunder." 



"June 5, 1861. — Fine growing weather, but rath- 

 er cool for corn. The 6th was cool and cloudy. 

 Rain began to fall about 11 A. M., and poured all 

 the remainder of the day. A cold north-east 

 storm. The 7th was cloudy and cool, wind north- 

 east and a fine rain still drizzling. Fire necessary 

 in the furnace to keep the house comfortable." 



"June 8, 1862. — A rainy day. We must have 

 now had seven or eight inches of rain fall within 

 a week." 



"June 7, 1803.- — Early this morning we had 

 heavy showers. Monday, 8th, wind north-east, and 

 stormy all day. Tuesday, dth. — Still cloudy. Upon 

 digging, I find the ground moist down to where it 

 was moist before the rain." 



In 1858, the days corresponding with those 

 which I have quoted, were dry and hot. On the 

 10th, a strong west wind prevailed all day, and on 

 the 13th, the rain fell in such quantity that my 

 cistern, holding a hundred barrels, was filled be- 

 fore 9 P. M. 



In 1859, June 6, a "little cold and wet for young 

 vegetables." This was succeeded by very hot 

 weather until the 18th, when a great quantity of 

 rain fell. From these records it appears that the 

 weather from the 5th to the 15th of June, is very 

 much the same from year to year, notwithstanding 

 the frequent expression that the "weather is awful 

 cold — nothing will grow in this east wind and 

 drizzling rain." 



"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," and 

 so he does to the wants of the young and tender 

 plants. He knows best when the vast ocean shall 

 send in to us its superabundant moisture on the 

 wings of the "east wind," to strengthen and re- 

 fresh the plants around which so many of our 

 hopes are clustered. 



Dissolving Bones. — In running over the pages 

 of my Journal, I found the following under date, 

 of June 7, 1862 : "Packed a barrel of bones in 

 ashes, to see if I can dissolve them for a fertili- 

 zer." I had seen it stated, as from James S. 

 Grennell, Esq., then Secretary of the Franklin 

 County Agricultural Society, that if bones were 

 packed in wood ashes, and the layers of bones 

 and ashes were wet, as the packing was carried on, 

 that the bones would become so soft as to be easi- 



ly pulverized by the fingers. Accordingly, on the 

 7th of June, 1862, now a little more than a year 

 ago, I carefully packed a barrel with bones and 

 good wood ashes. During the last days of May I 

 went to it, and found the ashes almost as white as 

 snow, and could find no bones by plunging my 

 fingers into it. About one-third of the barrel was 

 in this condition, and of the remainder the bones 

 seemed to be unaff'ected by the process. 



In packing, I did not make the ashes quite v:e.t, 

 but merely moistened them. Was this sufficient ? 

 Or did the mass require some atmospheric influ- 

 ences to perfect the desired result ? I shall try 

 again. 



Seed Sowers and Weeders. — The labor of 

 sowing small seeds by hand, from those of the tur- 

 nip to the beet, is slow, tedious and expensive, 

 and it is one reason, I think, why so many farm- 

 ers decline to raise roots for their stock. Many 

 seed-sowers have been devised, but all of them, 

 until recently, depending upon the revolutions of 

 a brush in the hopper to push the seed through in 

 proper quantity. This requires gearing, addition- 

 al cost, and makes the machine more liable to get 

 out of order. In sowers constructed in this man- 

 ner, it is frequently vexatious to change the slides 

 to adapt them to the seed to be sowed. The wood 

 work has swollen, or dirt or chaff" from among the 

 seed has got in, and obstructs the groove. 



I have just now completed ray sowing of small 

 seeds, and have done the work with one of Mr. S. 

 E. Harrington's Seed Sowers, of Greenfield, 

 this State. The method of discharging the seed 

 in this sower is entirely new. It has no brush. 

 Screws are inserted into the spokes of the wheel, 

 and as the wheel revolves, these screws strike a 

 small iron rod six or eight inches in length, which 

 makes a similar rod in the hopper play back and 

 forth directly over the hole through which the 

 seeds pass out. The rod is moveable perpendic- 

 ularly, and can easily be adjusted to fit the size of 

 the seed to be sown. Instead of zinc or tin slides 

 with holes to fit the seed, on the bottom of the 

 hopper is a brass disk about two inches in diame- 

 ter. This is fastened by a pin in the centre, while 

 holes of various sizes are made near the outer 

 edge, and numbered up to seven. In changing 

 for diff'erent sized seeds, all that is necessary is to 

 turn this brass circular piece to the right hole, and 

 alter the iron rod in the hopper. It may be done 

 in two minutes without trouble. I have used sev- 

 eral seed-sowers, but nothing that compares with 

 this in ease and efficiency. Some of the crops 

 sowed with it have come up, and they prove the 

 certainty with which it does its work. I have 

 sowed corn and beans of diff'erent sizes, all of 

 which have come finely. I cannot see why it 

 should not drop corn with sufficient accuracy in 

 field planting, by reducing the number of screws 



