1S63. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



373 



Fur the Neir England Fartnor, 

 MOTHEK EARTH. 



BY R. F. POLLER. 



Always with some ill or otlier 



CbiiJi-en of tJie uarlh are tried ; 

 And, for all, tliey blame their mother, 



And the poor oW parent'chide: 

 Yet the fond, iudulgent dame 

 Seems to love them all the same. 



If, by their unkindness troubled, 



Clouds her brow, her tear-drops rain, 



Their reproaches are redoubled 

 Till she cheerful looks constrain. 



Yet she wetps iu silent night, 



Dew drops kissed aivay by lijjht, 



When, to please her children striving, 



Summer months of flower and fruit. 

 And the lavish autumn giving. 



She has sought and failed tu suit. 

 With their humor, so self willed. 

 She is often winter killed. 



Once I heard her, to their chiding. 



Only once, make this reply, — 

 •'Am I changeful, ne'er abiding, 



Cold or hot, too wet or dry ? 

 Eden still I would have been. 

 Were it no^for human sin. 



"Eden I once more will blossom. 



When my chiMren put away 

 Sins they harbor in the bosom ; 



And, till then, I never may. 

 Ye, who marred me, must renew ; 

 For my blame belongs to you."' 



fine, as Virj^il, Aristotle, and several other natu- 

 ralists recommend it, ought, in my opinion, to be 

 tliick, stron}^, and near the ear as possible, if only 

 in proportion to the size of the frame. Thickness 

 of nose and thickness of chest are often twins, and 

 so are thin, meager, irregular noses and consump- 

 tion. Small, siii|)y noses oft sniff the air into 

 frames of small cajjacities, and are joined to 

 moutiis that can crop but very small morsels ;it a 

 time. These observations I have found to be ap- 

 plicable to any of the kinds of cattle shown at 

 Newcastle market, liut besides the siiapes of an- 

 imals, the age and class must always have special 

 consideration, and be adapted according to food 

 and situation ; otherwise, the reahzation of remu- 

 nerative profit will be uncertain." 



CHOICE OF ANIMALS FOR FATTElSriWG. 



Mr. lledley contributes the following valuablt^ 

 hints on fattening cattle to the Newcastle Club, 

 vhich we find published in the Agrk-nltitral Ga- 

 zette, England. He says : 



"In my close identification with fat cattle for 

 several years, 1 have always found that the best 

 animals have the most massive heads, most capa- 

 cious chests, and the strongest spines. I have, 

 therefore, evolved a few rules to go by in the pur- 

 chase of lean ones, and scarcely with one e.\ce]i- 

 lion I have found them to be applicable. The 

 head of any of our hoxine races ought to have the 

 first consideration ; this is tiie taie index to the 

 vital acumen, and even bodily construction, and 

 ■will be Ibuiid to foreshadow all good or l)ail tiiat 

 may be accomplished. Tiius an animal possessed 

 of a Ijfoad, full, capacious skull, with strf)ng, even- 

 ly-bent, deflective horn, will be found to have a 

 thick neck at the base, wide thorax, and strong 

 nervous system ; while one with long, narrow, con- 

 tracted skull, and puny, abruptly -bent horns, will 

 be cliaracterized by we-jkness, wildncss, and slow- 

 ness to fatten, A small, dull, suidven eye betok- 

 ens hardness of touch and inaptitude to fatten; 

 and a bright, large, ojien eye, i-ire versa. A star- 

 ing, dark, fiery eye often accompanies a small fore- 

 head and hereditary wildncss, and when combined 

 with small, drooping horns, and a chin with no 

 loose skin hanging from it, is a very despica!)le an- 

 imal indeed, weak in constitution, predisjiosed to 

 lung disease, and sterile in fatteinng pro|)ensilies. 

 Animals with weakly formed heads, have always 

 smill loins, and the width of these ])arts will al- 

 wiy •') ■ found in tin exact r>u»o wiili the strenj^th 

 of ■ iiead. The nosr i.i-.ea 1 f '.ami!;, long and 



STRAWBERRIES. 



The impression exists among American Atheni- 

 ans that in no other city of the Union can straw- 

 berries be found to compare with those usually 

 sold in Boston market. Certainly the diminutive 

 berries sent us from New York, are but a dim 

 foreshadowing of the large and luscious home fruit 

 soon to follow. Belmont is the banner town of 

 our State in strawlierry culture. As an evidence 

 of the sjnrit of this little town, its Farmer's Club 

 held an exhibition in .1 line, offering such prizes as 

 tlie following : "For the best basket of strawberries 

 containing-4 quarts, §.'J0. For the next best $20, 

 and a long list of other prizes in like liberal pro- 

 portion. 



Though the palm of excellence may be disputed, 

 yet it must certainly be admitted that Boston fruit 

 growers are wide awake and interested. Your 

 readers may be inttresteil in a few notes upon the 

 most approved varieties. 



The most successful cultivators do not attempt 

 but about one acre per annum. There is a limit 

 to the amount of help to be profitaldy employed ; 

 also the itind is to l)e prepared by yearly rotation, 

 and the bed changed every year, so that a bed of 

 one acre, changed year after year, will require a 

 lot of from three to five acres, according to fre- 

 quency of rotation. 



Heavy clay loam is the soil preferred. Bottom 

 lands, inclining to be wet, but nnderdrained and 

 then thrown into beds by dead furrows, about 21 

 feet apart, so that surface water shall jjass off at 

 oneo, in the winter ; these give the most luxuri- 

 ant beds. Having been m good tilth the previ- 

 ous season, about ten h> fifteen loads of horse-ma- 

 nure are applied to each acre during the winter 

 or early spring. This is plowed in, and the plants 

 set in April. As stated, the beds are 21 feet wide. 

 At each edge and close to tiie dead furrow, is a 

 row of Brighton Fine. The remainder of the bed 

 is filled with the Hovey, in rows tliree feet apart 

 and one foot apart in the row. These arc culti- 

 vated by horse until they make runners. By Sep- 

 tember, the ground is coutpletdij covered, and the 

 plants so stout they seem to have all the elements 

 of fruit hid within themselves, and able to carry 

 thcni tinough the pinciiing cold of winter. 



Salt hay, sedge and leaves are usetl as a winter 

 cover, the latter being considered best. Care 

 must be taken that the covering be not too heavy, 

 so as to smother the plants in case of heavy snows. 

 Early in s|)ring, the covering is rei""ved. The 

 large beds, say 201) feet long and 21 i, . ide, are 

 a thick mass of jilciis, the Bright. f being 



