1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



301 



consumption of her own manufacturers, and that 

 it can be raised to that point only by the stimuhis 

 of an excessive governmental patronage, of which 

 Mr. Elliott has much to say. 



In this connection, however, the following par- 

 agraph would seem to indicate some fears on the 

 part of the writer, that the results of these exper- 

 iments in growing cotton in Africa may not always 

 be confined to the limits he has affixed. 



"It will probably surprise some of the cultiva- 

 tors of sea-island cottons to learn that these cot- 

 tons, as well as other coarser varieties, have been 

 cultivated experimentally in Algeria for the last 

 twelve or fourteen years, on French account, and 

 that, being satisfied apparently with their success, 

 they are straining every nerve to increase their 

 supply, so as to render themselves completely in- 

 dependent of us. But it will surprise the Ameri- 

 can planter much more to learn that not only 

 France, but England likewise, is satisfied with this 

 success, and that companies are in contemplation, 

 if not actually organized, of ichirh the ccqjitnl is 

 furnished by Manchester, to cultivate sea-island 

 cottons in Algeria, on English account ! ! I have 

 the fact from unofficial, but highly reliable author- 

 ity ; and our countrymen must prepare themselves 

 to meet this new and unexpected competition, 

 growing out of this equally new, and strange, and 

 unexpected alliance and fraternization of England 

 and France." 



In another connection, Mr. Elliott remarks, that 

 "the production, which three years ago did not 

 exceed a hundred bales, has already swelled to two 

 thousand five hundred," — a rale of increase which 

 would seem to justify one of his closing remarks, 

 that " 1 have given timely warning of an im- 

 pending danger." 



The Potato Rot. — Thomas Carpenter, of Bat- 

 tle Creek, Mich., communicates the following, as 

 his mode of fighting oft' the potato rot : 



Now I will tell you how I manage ; ])remising 

 that I have never yet had potatoes rot in the 

 ground, and that I am 63 years old. 



I plant my potatoes in the latter part of April 

 or fore part of May, and in the old of the moon. 

 When they get up six inches high, I |)laster and 

 dress them out nicely. Now fur the secret. 

 When the sets show for blossoming, then is the 

 time to take two parts piaster and one part fine 

 salt ; mix well together, and put one large spoon- 

 ful of this compound on each hill ; drop it as 

 nearly in the centre of the hill as possible. Just 

 as soon as the potatoes are ri])e, take them out of 

 the ground ; have them perfectly dry when put in 

 the cellar, and keep them in a dry, cool place. 

 Some farmers let their potatoes remain in the 

 ground, soaking through all the cold fiiU rains 

 until the snow flies. The potatoes become dis- 

 eased in this way more aiiJ more every year ; 

 hence the potato rot. With such management 

 they should rot. 



Wheat after Sorghum. — I have a field of 

 wheat sown on ground on which corn and sorghum 

 were raised last year. That part on which sorghum 

 grew is badly affected with Red Rust j is very 



thin and short heads, and will hardly pay for cut- 

 ting, while that on the corn ground looks well ; 

 land and cultivation the same. Can any oae give 

 the reason ? I find corn does well after sorghum. 

 H. A. Mouse, in Prairie Farmer. 



NATURE'S MUSIC. 



Come forth from llie plittoriiip haunU of men^ 



From the city's crowded street — 

 When the flowers of Spring, in gladc and glen, 



Are springing all brii;ht and sweet ; 

 Where the wind-flower nods In the gentle breeze, 

 And the wild vine clings to the swaying trees. 



There list to the strains that untutored flow 



From Natnre's sunny lips ; 

 They will lij;hten the heart weighed down with Woe, 



And the music of art eclipse. 

 The wild bird's carol, the waterfall, 

 Will have music to charm the hearts of all. 



And come when the summer asserts her reign, 



And the soothing zephyrs play 

 O'er the ripening lields of gjlden grain, 



On the liill-tops far away ; 

 And hear from the forest the ceaseless din 

 Of the insect myriads that 6warm within. 



And the lightning's flash, and the thunder's roll, 



And the sound of the coming storm, 

 Will wake a chord in the inmost soul. 



That Nature alone can charm ; 

 The organ may peal, and the choir may sing. 

 But nothing but Nature can touch that string. 



When the chill wind of .lutumn is sighing &round, 



And summer's green mantle has (led, 

 How sad, and how sweet, as borne down to the ground, 



Is the music of leaves, sear and dead j 

 How sad and how solemn, the strains that we hear. 

 That mourn through the tree-tops the wane of the year. 



When the blasts of December sweep coldly along. 



Through the forests all leafless and bare, 

 There is music, though wild, in its shrill-whisUed song, 



That is wafted along on the air ; 

 And the sweeping wind on the snow-capped hills, 

 The heart's deep casliet with music fills. 



For the voices of Nature in every form. 



Are sweeter than those of Art, 

 And the music of bird, or breeze, or storm. 



Forever is dear to my heart ; 

 And the voices of Nature, though wild they be— 

 I love them, they all have a charm for me. 

 Barnesville, Ohio, July, 1S63. JlssK Edoebtox. 



-Country Gentleman and CuUiratur. 



How TO Prevent Pitting in Small Pox. 

 — A Scotch physician, \)c. Smart, has announced 

 an invention, which, he asserts, has never failed in 

 his practice to prevent the disfigurement conse- 

 quent in small pox known as "pitting." The ap- 

 plication consists of a solution of India rubber in 

 chloroform, which is painted over the face (and 

 neck in women) when the eruption had become 

 fully developed. When the chloroform has evap- 

 orated, which it readily does, there is left a thin 

 elastic film of India rul)her over the face. Tiiis 

 the patient feels to be rather comfortable than 

 otherwise, inasmuch as the disagreeable itchiness, 

 so generally complained of, is almost entirely re- 

 moved, and what is more important, "pitting," 

 once so common, and now far more rare, is thor- 

 oughly prevented wherever the solution has been 

 applied. 



Ashes for Swine. — A correspondent of the 



American Stork Jmirnal, writing from the West, 

 says : — "I have twenty swine rtinning in a field 

 without grass, with access to plenty of water, and 

 fed well on corn. I gave them, for several weeks, 

 two pails of ashes a week: and they ate them with 

 a relish. Ashes are said to be a preventive of 

 hoij cholera." 



