1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



19 



The farmers of Marlboro' have sold several 

 thousand barrels this fall to one party in Boston ; 

 the price obtained was $2 per barrel at the Marl- 

 boro' depot. Marlboro' is a thriving town, full of 

 enterprise and activity. W. D. B. 



Concord, Mass., Oct., 1863. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



DEPTH TO WHICH ROOTS riNETRATE. 



The roots of grass, which I enclose, were taken from 

 three, four and five fecr below the surface, where they 

 formed a complete mesh work, hanging in large mass- 

 es. The soil, for eighteen inches from the surface, was 

 a strong loam ; below that, mostly mineral matter, 

 made up of a loose hard pan. The location was some- 

 what elevated. The entire section, of a hundred feet 

 or more in extent, presented the same phenomenon 

 of the roots. James J. H. Gregory. 



Marblekead, Nov. 1863. 



A PUZZLE ABOUT ONION8. 



As a constant reader of the New England Farmer, I 

 have seen a deal of valuable information, as from time 

 to time I have perused its pages. I therefore write 

 with confidence of having my question answered in 

 your columns. I have growing, side by side, two 

 onions, one a thick neck, and the other as complete as 

 I could desire. I wish to know the cause of the thick 

 neck ? If cither you or some correspondent will an- 

 swer the above through the Farmer, I shall be grati- 

 fied. M. H. H. 



Fall River, Oct., 1863. 



ANSWER TO THE PUZZLE ABOUT ONIONS. 



It is a law of Nature that every "like begets its 

 like," and Is true, as a general rule. Let "M. H. H," 

 of Fall River, raise his own onion seed and select the 

 very best onions that he has, and the nearest like those 

 he would wish to raise for seed onions. Set these out 

 in the Spring, save the seed and sow it next year. 

 Continue this practice from year to year, and the pre- 

 sumption is that the scullions will disappear. The 

 writer has practiced this mode for several years, and 

 has very few scullions, or "thick necks," the present 

 season. j. f. 



Vxbridge, Nov. 10th, 1863. 



SHAKE BAG FOWLS. 



There are no such fowls in this country, nor ev- 

 er have been. The nearest thing to it is a "shake 

 down," to fancy buyers, according to common pick- 

 pocket parlance. One of the Sufferers. 



Boston, Nov. 17, 1863. 



Cheap Field Fence. — A good and sufficient 

 field fence can be made with fifteen inches in width 

 of boards, or fifty rods of fence to the thousand 

 feet of boards. Set the posts, and nail the first 

 board nine inches from the ground ; then make the 

 spacesfive, six, seven and ten inches, five boards 

 three inches each in fifteen inches; now turn a 

 furrow six* inches deep toward the fence on each 

 side. This brings the earth within three inches of 

 the bottom board, and adds six inches to the height 

 of the fence, measuring from the bottom of the 

 furrow, and the ditch or bank makes it very un- 

 handy for animals to get at the fence. This makes 

 a fence four feet ten inches high. 



I have several hundred rods of such fence. The 

 first was built five years ago. It has proved per- 

 fectly safe and sufficient against cattle that were 

 unruly. It is not racked by the wind like a fence 

 of wider boards. Fourteen-feet beards, with one 

 post in the middle, take a less number of posts, 

 and make as good fence as twelves. I have used 

 white oak board at about twelve dollars per thou- 

 sand, and swamp oak split posts at four cents 

 each. — S. Shakpe, in Genesee Farmer.. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HORTICULTURE IN" THE CITY. 

 As long ago as I can remember, I read the N. E. 

 Farmer. It was not then as now a large sheet, 

 but was published in a quarlo form. The last 

 page was particularly attractive, with its spicy an- 

 ecdotes and its interesting articles. My father 

 preserved files of most of his papers, and gave his 

 children, who filed them for him, the price of the 

 paper for doing it. We stowed them away in an 

 old bureau in the garret. Many were the hours I 

 spent, sitting on the floor, with the N. ^.'Farmer. 

 I was considered losf for hours when I carried 

 each new number to place with the others, because 

 I so much liked to read and re-read the anecdotes. 

 I have never lost my attachment to the paper ; 

 and here in the crowded city it comes to me a 

 welcome visitor, bringing with it country thoughts 

 and childhood's memories that cheer and bless me. 



I love the country, and in the busy city I like 

 to feel its sweet influence. I make as much of 

 my little yard as possible, and in imagination 

 transform it to a garden. I have grapes and cur- 

 rants, flowers and shrubs, and this year we have 

 had a few tomato plants which have forgotten they 

 grew in a city yard, and have stretched themselves 

 till they have taken up all the room they would 

 have claimed on a farm. They have repaid us, 

 however, by furnishing us with fresh and delicious 

 fruit. I am surprised that more attention is not 

 paid to raising grapes in the city. The vines oc- 

 cupy but little room. They are highly ornamen- 

 tal, and they furnish a family with an abundance 

 of healthful fruit. , Why do not landlords plant 

 vines about all their houses ? I am sure I should 

 much sooner rent a house with a good grape vine, 

 than one that had none. Currants, also, grow 

 well in a small yard, and may be so trained against 

 a fence as to require but little .room, and there is 

 no fruit more healthful than the currant in the hot 

 summer days. A k\v roots of spearmint will fur- 

 nish mint sauce when wanted, and a few plants of 

 parsley will garnish many a dish and season many 

 a soup. 



These comforts may be had without excluding 

 flowers in a yard of ordinary size, and they will 

 diminish the expenses of a family more than one 

 would imagine. Six tomato plants would supply 

 our family — and it is not a small one — with toma- 

 toes for the season, if I may judge from tins year's 

 experience ; b%t they take up more room than cur- 

 rants, and grapes, and Lawton blackberries, yet 

 they yield their treasures tiil frost comes, and art 

 not to be despised. 



Plant grapes, I should say to every one in the 

 country where grapes will ripen, and I should say 

 the same thing to every housekeeper in the city. 

 Let us have as many comforts as possible and 

 with as little expense. Anna Hope. 



New York, Oct, 1863. 



Toads in MARKET.— Live toads, says the Ag- 

 riculturist, form a regular article of commerce in 

 the London Market. They are generally import- 

 ed from France, and sell for from 50 cents to 

 $1 50 per dozen, according to size and activity. 

 They are purchased by market gardeners in the 

 vicinity of the city, to protect their choice vegeta- 

 bles from slugs and insects, which they do very ef- 

 fectually. 



