1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



89 



bushel or two of seed upon grass ground, in some 

 warm spot, and cover them with horse manure 

 sufficiently deep to keep them warm. They will 

 sprout readily in this condition if they are kept 

 moist and warm, and can be got at to plant more 

 easily than from a barrel. Others, still, who only 

 require a few start them in hot beds. 



Planting should take place just as soon as ihe 

 soil is dry enough to admit of working it. Plant, 

 if there is a dry surface sufficient to cover with, 

 even if the frost is a foot deep below. Before 

 planting, prepare liberal holes and fill them with 

 a shovelful of horse stable manure. Cover this 

 ■with a sprinkling of fresh, damp mold, and place 

 the "set" or seed on this and cover three inches 

 deep. Mr. J. Knight says that if the "sets" are 

 placed with their leading buds upward, a few and 

 very strong early stems will be produced ; but if 

 the position be reversed, many weak and later 

 shoots will arise, and not only the earliness, but 

 the quality of the produce be depreciated. 



By putting the above suggestions in practice, 

 every person may expect a fine dish of nearly ri- 

 pened potatoes for his Fourth of July dinner, with 

 his roasted lamb and green peas, and an abun- 

 dant supply after the 20th of the same month. 

 How can the farmer add to the comfort and health 

 of his family in a better way ? 



ESSEX COUNTY TRANSACTIONS. 



We have before us the Transactions of this old 

 and energetic society for the year 1863, sent us 

 by its attentive Secretary, Charles P. Preston, 

 Esq., of Danvers. It is made up mainly, with the 

 address, by Hon. Daniel Saunders, Jr., of Law- 

 rence, and the reports of the various committees. 



"It is a mistaken idea that, for successful labor, 

 merely physical training is required. Our farm- 

 ers require a much higher mental culture than has 

 heretofore been thought necessary. They know- 

 altogether too little of agriculture, as a science, 



and agricultural economy Agriculture 



b,as been too much left to the unaided efforts of 

 nature to compete successfully with other branch- 

 es of industry, upon which scientific labors have 



been abundantly bestowed What is 



wanted by our farmers is an education that shall 

 not only accumulate facts, but which shall enlarge 

 the mind, develop the powers of the brain, widen 

 and deepen the channels of information, and bring 

 into operation the latent elements of mental per- 

 ception and concentration." Il contains many ex- 

 cellent sentiments and suggestions which we should 

 be glad to copy, had we space. 



The report on Coarse Wooled Sheep we intend 

 to notice hereafter. That on Bread and Honey is 

 poetical and interesting ; on Root Ciops and Farms 

 excellent. The Hon. Richard S. Fay has pre- 

 sented the Treadwell Farm, belonging to the so- 



ciety, a flock of forty two and three years old 

 ewes, (long wooled mutton sheep) under certain 

 conditions, with the view of making sheep raising 

 a primary object of culture on the farm. Mr. Fay 

 is one of the warmest and most judicious friends 

 of agriculture in the State, and is constantly de- 

 voting a portion of his ample means to promote 

 its objects. The volume also contains an inter- 

 esting essay upon Open Grape Culture, by John 

 M. Ives, Esq. 



PRUNING APPLE TREES. 

 Mr. L. G. Brown, in the Boston Cultivator, 

 says, "That spring, when the buds are swelling and 

 the sap in full flow, is a very bad time. Yet there 

 are many who prune more or less every spring." 

 He is right. More apple trees are destroyed by 

 such injudicious pruning than by all the canker 

 worms and caterpillars combined. Prune in June, 

 when the sap is comparatively at rest ; or in Oc- 

 tober, soon after the fall of the leaf, and so on for 

 a month or two. This will depend much upon 

 the state of the weather. A few bright, warm 

 days in succession, even in the first part of Feb- 

 ruary, would be quite likely to cause considerable 

 activity in the sap, and make it unsafe to prune. 

 The rule should be to prune when there is the least 

 flow of sap. This occurs between the first and 

 second growth of the tree, and after the fall of 

 the leaf in October. We are speaking of limbs 

 that have attained a diameter of half an inch. 

 Smaller "suckers" may be cut at any time, though 

 not without some danger of bleeding. 



Culture of Indian Corn.— By the commit- 

 mittee on crops, of the Hingham Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Society, for the last season, seventeen 

 fields of corn were reported, the average of which 

 was 86 bushels per acre ; the average cost of la- 

 bor was $20.49 ; of manure, $30.19 ; total, $70.- 

 68 per acre ; average cost per bushel, including 

 all the manure, 82 cents 2 mils ; average cost 

 per bushel deducting one-quarter manure, 67 cents 

 6 mills." It would be fair, we think, to deduct 

 one-half the cost of the manure, for the effects 

 of a well manured field of corn are decidedly ap- 

 parent in the grass crop for several years after 

 the corn crop is taken off. Our Hingham friends 

 are doing a noble work. We doubt whether their 

 example can be matched in any other town in the 

 Commonwealth. 



Whitewash. — White fences and outbuildings 

 indicate the thrify farmer and a tidy household. 

 Put half a bushel of unslacked lime in a clean, 

 tight barrel, pour over it boiling water until it is 

 covered five inches, stir briskly until the lime is 

 thoroughly slacked, then add more water until it 

 is as thin as desired, next add two pounds of sul- 

 phate of zinc and one of common salt ; then apply 

 with a common whitewash brush, giving a good 

 coat in April and October, or at least once a year. 



