1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



29 



part of the bodies of all animals were made up, 

 almost entirely, of oxygen and of carbon, of the 

 same black substance we call charcoal, and that 

 the greater part of the material for the formation 

 of plants was always floating in the air as a gas 

 made of carbon and the wonderful oxygen ; that 

 the rain dissolved or absorbed it and brought it 

 down, and the radicles of plants drank it in from 

 the soil. What an interest this gave to our ex- 

 amination of the roots of the weeds we pulled up 

 and of the garden vegetables we removed in trim- 

 ming them. 



What an amount of pleasant conversation these 

 chapters produced on us boys ; perfectly natural 

 conversation, and which would have been occa- 

 sioned by a similar cause, in any other two boys 

 favorably situated, as we were. I was then twelve 

 or thirteen years old ; my brother four or five 

 years older. Whoever will recall the thoughts of 

 his own childhood, or listen to the questions of 

 intelligent, inquisitive children, will find that 

 questions far more profound than any of these are 

 continually occurring to children at a much earlier 

 age. 



Such thoughts and questions as these were, 

 however, at this time, occupying the minds of 

 thoughtful, scientific men in all parts of the civil- 

 ized world. The discovery of oxygen, made by 

 Priestly in 1774, and by Scheele and Lavoisier 

 soon after, followed by the discovery of the com- 

 position of the atmosphere and of part of what 

 it contains, of that of water and of the action of 

 oxygen upon the metals and upon almost all other 

 substances, has made a change in many of the 

 arts, and pursuits, and investigations of men, 

 greater than has ever been produced by any other 

 discovery recorded in the history of science. 



We boys considered the "Conversations" the 

 most entertaining book we had ever read as in- 

 teresting as "Keeper's Travels" had been, more 

 interesting than "Pilgrim's Progress," and more 

 intelligible, as interesting, but in a very different 

 way, as the Arabian Nights' Entertainment." It 

 seemed to explain to us the secrets of nature, and 

 gave a new and more beautiful aspect to the earth, 

 the waters, the air, the clouds, and to all that was 

 living above and beneath them. 



I see no reason why all other boys, and girls, 

 too, should not enjoy the same privileges that we 

 did in this respect. We cannot present them all 

 with a copy of the "Conversations on Chemistry," 

 and I much fear that there is no book so well suit- 

 ed to give an idea of the elements of chemistry, 

 so changed now, as that book did when it was 

 written. But books might be fourjd and intro- 

 duced into school, — into all the schools, — which 

 should explain, so that all children might under- 

 stand, what the air is, what water is, what thun- 

 der and lightning are, what heat and light are, 

 what the common rocks are, what the sod is and 

 how plants and animals grow. Ought not all 

 persons to be acquainted with those things ? 



Is not this knowledge really essential to every 

 well informed, intelligent being ? And is not the 

 age of boyhood and girlhood the most proper age 

 for such knowledge to be acquired ? 1 repeat 

 that whoever will listen to the questions which 

 are almost always asked by intelligent children, 

 will find that all such children are instinctively 

 longing for just this kind of knowledge. The 

 Creator of the world and of its wonderful and 



beautiful laws, is the Creator of the mind of man, 

 and He has, in His infinite wisdom, adapted the 

 faculties of the mind to the easy, and delightful, 

 and early attainment of this knowledge. Ought 

 not children, therefore, whenever they are so sit- 

 uated as to make it possible, to be introduced, as 

 early as nature indicates, to something of this 

 knowledge, at least to its elements ? Ought they 

 not to be led to understand how wonderful, and 

 beautiful, and excellent is the world in which God 

 has given them their life ? 



How this may be done, in the common schools 

 of New England, I shall endeavor to show in my 

 next communication. G. B. E. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE "POP CORN" CROP. 



Messrs. Editors : — I have often thought it 

 not a little singular that our farmers, and others 

 with small pieces of land to cultivate — especially 

 those with large families of children — should pay 

 so little attention to the cultivation of the small 

 white corn, usually called "pop corn." I suppose 

 the main reason for this inattention to be the 

 common supposition that the crop is a small one, 

 compared to that of other corn. I think this is a 

 mistake. My own experience, small though it be, 

 leads me to the contrary opinion. The present 

 season, on a little less than five hundred square 

 feet of land, I have raised nearly two bushels of 

 ears, or about one bushel shelled, of this corn. 



This is at the rate of about eighty-eight bush- 

 els to the acre ; and it was apparently no better 

 crop than I have raised before. True, the corn is 

 small ; but then it may be planted much nearer 

 in the hill than other varieties, and it possesses 

 the peculiarity of yielding generally two, and 

 sometimes three ears to the stalk. The stover of 

 this corn is also much finer and more acceptable 

 to cattle than some of the other varieties. 



As an article of diet, parched corn is one of 

 the simplest forms of unleavened bread. It can 

 hardly be otherwise than wholesome. Children, 

 though they may not "cry for it," as they are re- 

 ported to do for sugar-coated pills, are almost 

 universally fond of it ; and it is so very light that 

 there is little danger of over-eating it. When 

 wheat flour is ten dollars per barrel there certain- 

 ly must be general economy in feeding children, 

 and adults as well, on grain which yields eighty- 

 eight bushels to the acre. » 



There is another consideration. The reason 

 why this corn expands or "pops" so freely is un- 

 doubtedly the fact that it contains a much larger 

 share than usual of vegetable oil. This adapts it 

 peculiarly to the fattening of poultry ; and I very 

 much doubt whether those farmers who grow 

 poultry for market can find any other crop so 5 

 profitable for that purpose as this kind of corn. I 

 The kernels are so small that they must be more £ 

 easily digested than the coarse kernels of West- 

 ern and Southern corn, so frequently fed out to 

 poultry. E. C. P. 



Somerville, 1863. 



The American horse nail company at Provi- 

 dence h;*ve invented a steam spading machine 

 which will do the work of fifteen yoke of cattle, 

 requiring only a man and a boy to operate it. It 

 consumes a quarter of a cord of wood a day. 



