1863. 



NEW EXGLAXD FARMER. 



347 



For the X&iv England Fanner. 

 LITTLE THINGS, 



Or a Walk in my Garden. 



While looking vrith a friend at a handsome bed 

 of cucumbers in my garden, I remarked tliat I did 

 not succeed in salting down cucumbers for pickles. 

 "O,'" said he, "there is one little thing you omit. 

 Wet your cucimibers bef"re you i)ack them in salt 

 and then pickle enough will form to preserve 

 them." I suppose ever; body else knew this little 

 •thing about salting down cucumbers, but I did 

 not. This reminds me of another question he put 

 to me. "Do you not find that the paint wears off 

 from your kitchen floors very quick?" I replied 

 jn the afTirmative, "Well," said he, "there is a lit- 

 tle thing worth r^•membering about 



Painted Ploors. 

 Just mix varnish with your paint and it will last 

 as long again." I have since found it so. A final 

 coat of varnish will make it look finished. A 

 word more about 



Cabbages. 



My practice has been for many years to break 

 off the loose leaves of the cabbage as soon as they 

 begin to head and give them to the cows. Young 

 pigs are very fond of them. They will head full 

 better for it, especially if they are close together. 

 But I must say a w-ord here about 

 Keeping Apples. 



Many persons complain that their apples rot 

 badly. No wonder. They v.ill barrel them up, 

 keep them in an old shed till they are as cold as 

 November can make them without freezing them, 

 and then place them in the cellar where th.ey con- 

 dense all the moisture, and call it apple sweating. 

 Then they will set the Ijarrels on the damp grouud 

 or floor to gather moisture all winter. Perhaps 

 they are barrelled up tight which will help them 

 to rot all the sooner. 



Now for a different' plan. Barrel them up in 

 the orchard, hut not perfectly tight; take advan- 

 tage of a warm day eaily in October, and put 

 them into the cellar warm, and they will nst sweat. 

 Place your barrels on shelves as high, in the cel- 

 lar, as you can get them. If your cellar is prop- 

 erly ventilated they will keep well. I preserved a 

 barrel of winter sweets last year into June, with 

 scarcely an affected apple. Sqiiashes should be 

 placed in the same position. A shelf in the higli- 

 est part of the cellar will be found much the best 

 for this purpose. Other metliods for keeping ap- 

 ples are valuable, but this course is recommended 

 for its simplicity and efficiencj. An exception 

 may be made to this mode where a furnace for 

 warming the house is kept in the cellar. 



Need of Sunshine on Tomatoes. 



I have tomatoes which blossomed the middle of 

 June, and yet they are perfectly green the first 

 week in Septembei*. So much wet has fallen and 

 so little sun has shone upon them that they can- 

 not ripen. While heading them in, one of my 

 boys came along and said that he could not un- 

 derstand his lesson. This set me to thinking bow 

 to manage 



Dull Beys. 



A boy may be dull and yet have a superior 

 mind. There is all the difference possible between 

 a dull boy and a dunce. The latter can never 

 know much ; on the contrary, a dull boy only re- 



quires that the instruction given should be slowly 

 communicated, and in greater division and sub- 

 division. Many a clever boy is ruined by being 

 hurried over subjects more ra])idly than he can 

 comprehend. So I sat down with the boy, and 

 taking a tomato in my hand, used it for illustra- 

 tion, and soon had the satisfaction of knowing that 

 my lecture was just as valuable to him as one 

 from a scientific professor to a learned audience. 

 Yours, as little as ever, N. T. T. 



TRIUMPH OP THE UNITED STATES. 



Vermont Against the World. 



At the "World's Fair, recently held at Hamburg, 

 Germany, Mr. George Campbell, of Westminster, 

 Vt., received the two highest ])remiums for Meri- 

 no sheej), having the mod vabiuhle fleece, and one 

 second premium for the same. 



As is well known, Germany is the great wool 

 producing country of the world, while several oth- 

 er Euro])ean nations have paid great attention to 

 raising sheep. 



Ill order to have time to make suitable arrange- 

 ments for stock at the exhibition, entries were re- 

 quired to be made some months previous to the 

 time of holding the Fair, and the same having 

 been ])ublished in the German newspa]>ers — before 

 Mr. Campbell arrived in Germany with his little 

 flock — ridiculed the idea of bringing sheep from 

 America, to compete with them and other Euro- 

 pean countries, in a class of animals for which 

 they have been long so celebrated. 



The number of sheep entered for the Fair was 

 1770, but more were presented, swelling the num- 

 ber to about 2000. Among them was a lot of for- 

 ty from liOuis Napoleon, Emperor of the French. 

 At the close of the Fair, JNIr. Cami)hell sold his 

 twelve sheep, six bucks and six ewes, for five thou- 

 sand dollars (^5,000), to Count Scherr Thoss, of 

 Silesia. lie has a single buck, at home, called 

 "Old Grimes," which he values at five thousand 

 dollars (.5,000), and does not desire to sell him for 

 even that large sum. 



Mr. Campi)ell has for several years been dili- 

 geijjlly laboring and spending money freely to im- 

 prove and perfect • the breed of sheep. He has 

 traveled through foreign countries, and imported 

 foreign breeds from time to time ; but finally be- 

 came convinced that J'crmoid pofofesscd tlie best 

 Merino sheep in the icorld, and he therefore deter- 

 mined to exhibit specimens at the International 

 Fair at Hamburg. He may now be considered 

 the chamjiion of the world in this very imjjortant 

 branch of agricultural jiursuit. 



It should, perhaps, be remarked here that the 

 sheep for wliich the premiums, as above, were re- 

 ceivHjd, are descendants from the early im])orta- 

 tious of Spanish Merinos, by Jarvis Ik. Humphrey, 

 some fifty or sixty years ago. 



Mr. Campbell took a large proportion of the 

 first premiums at the State Fairs of Vermont and 

 Ohio, and all of the first premiums at tlic State 

 Fairs of New York and Michigan, held last fall. 

 And also the premiums at the United States Fairs 

 previously Iield at Philadelphia and Boston. 



Consideiing that our government made no ])ro- 

 vision fer transporting articles and stock to the 

 Fair, the United States was very creditably repre- 

 sented, having one large shed well filled with ag- 

 ric'iUural tools and implements of husbandry, 

 which attracted more attention than any other 



