1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



255 



having eaten to repletion, have fallen asleep amid 

 the remains of their meal ; while the generous tree 

 of whose bounty they have partaken, waves and 

 rustles over their heads, letting down occasionally 

 glints of sunshine, which, glancing over their dingy 

 red caps and many-colored rags, convert them 

 into a curious picture. 



The Farm is a Maxufactoky. — It ought to 

 be so regarded. The soil should be looked upon 

 as bearing the same relation to the agriculturist 

 that any raw material does to the manufacturer 

 of that specific raw material. It is the stock from 

 which is to be wrought out the marketable prod- 

 uct. What is put on the soil in the shape of seed, 

 fertilizers, labor, should always be regarded, to- 

 gether wilh the interest on "the money invested 

 in the land, as going to make up the cost of the 

 product — of the article manufactured from the 

 soil. And the farmer should know precisely M'hat 

 this cost is, — and it should govern the price at 

 which he sells his product. Now, this is a very 

 simple and self-evident proposition. It has been 

 often repeated ; and yet it has got to be told a 

 great many thousand times more before the mass 

 of farmers will appreciate its importance, judging 

 by the ratio of their progress in this matter in the 

 past. 



We refer to it now, and so often, because we 

 believe it is as emphatically the basis of success 

 in agriculture as in manufactures. And we in- 

 tend to repeat it until our readers, who do busi- 

 ness hap-hazard and fail, shall understand how 

 to go to work to find the leak that is sinking the 

 ship. — Riiral New-Yorlcer, 



Supposed Discovery of the Source of 

 THE Nile. — Mr. Wm. H. Goodhue, the Vice 

 Consul at Zanzibar, reports that Messrs. Spehe 

 and Grant's expedition in search of the source of 

 the Nile have been almost, if not entirely, crowned 

 with success. Tlie two mentioned English gen- 

 tlemen left Zanzibar Sept. 2.3th, LSGO, on the ex- 

 pediticm, and were last heard from in March, 1SG2, 

 wlren Capt. Spehe had discovered the Niverango 

 river, which, he writes to her Britannic Majesty, 

 he believes to be the first certain branch of the 

 Nile. It is 400 yards wide, with a gentle flow to 

 the north. It takes its rise. Ion. 12, north lati- 

 tude, in the Victoria Masanza, a lake discovered 

 by Capt. Spehe. The expedition could not move 

 forwrad in March, 1862, through the kingdom of 

 Uganda, through which said river flows, owing to 

 the unwiUingness of the natives. Capt. Grant 

 was heard from April 11th, 1862, and was then 

 behind Capt. Spehe, making explorations and sci- 

 entific observations, which is about 1° ciO' south 

 latitude. 



Cure for Poisoning by Ivy. — In case of 

 poisoning by ivy, plunge the part afiected in hot 

 water — as hot as can be borne — holding it there 

 some time. The unpleasant itching and burning 

 sensation will be removed — and two or three ap- 

 plications are a sure cure — at least this has been 

 the case with our informant. 



He can hardly be prepared to enter the world 

 of spirits who trembles at the thought of encoun- 

 tering a sohtary ghost. 



No Market for Cattle. — The farmers of 

 California have issued a call for a convention to 

 devise ways and means by which they may obtain 

 a higher price for their beeves, or to suggest some 

 plan of using their cattle so as to make them pro- 

 fitable. San Francisco is Said to be the only place 

 in the State where there is a cash mai-ket for large 

 herds. The following statement of the Alia news- 

 paper of that city, shows that the price of cattle 

 is ruinously low there : 



The averfigc cash price of neat cattle during the 

 last year has been less than the value of the hide 

 and tallow, estimating the amount of tallow to be 

 that which they had in the spring previous to the 

 time when they were slaughtered. The meat, 

 therefore, has been a total loss to the ranchero. 

 One owner of large herds has brought 2000 head 

 of cattle to San Francisco, and netted only $5000 

 from them. 



Spreading Manure from the Cart. — In 

 the application of manure as a top-dressing for 

 mowing lands, William Bacon writes to the Coun- 

 try Gentleman that he had much trouble in getting 

 it spread evenly and seasonably, so long as he 

 practiced the old plan of dumping k and spread 

 the heaps afterwards. He now spreads it directly 

 from the cart, and thus states the advantages of 

 that mode : 



We get it on the surface more evenly, and in 

 the aggregate in a less amount of time, and for the 

 third we claim that the sooner it is spread, the 

 sooner the land gets the benefit of it. The only 

 drawback that I know of is, that the team must 

 stand stiM a little longer while spreading than 

 while dumijing, but as the team is kept for the 

 benefit of the farm, there is probably no loss of 

 time in that. 



When to Trim Fruit Trees. — Our own 

 teachings and practice are corroborated by Mr. J. 

 T. Elliott, of Grand Rapids, Mich., in a commu- 

 nication to t'jie Prairie Farmer, in which, af'.er al- 

 luding to the fact that our New England fathers 

 pruned in February and March, and that the early 

 settlers of that part of the West followed their 

 example, says : 



Letting go any discussions of what their inter- 

 ests may be — and looking at home — all experience 

 1 hope will not be lost on us, and tJuit exjicrience, 

 all ])oiuts one way. Prune while the wood is (jroic- 

 inrj if ijou wish the scars to heal quick and sound. 

 tiai/ in June. 



Michigan Plaster Beds. — The existence of 

 plaster in this State was discovered in IH'.j'-i. No 

 purer gypsum is found anywhere. The Grand 

 Rapids Plaster Company represents capital to Vie 

 amount of half a million of.dollars. The ."vuppij* 

 of the plaster is inexhaustible, and the demand 

 steadily increasing. 



Tiieue is a world of beautiful meaning in the 

 following rather liberal translation from Freville. 



"As the clock strikes the Imiir, how nf en hi- pay, 

 'Timf flien I' when 'lis we that are passing away." 



