94 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



granite and greenstone, porphyry and pudding- 

 stone ? Why should he not learn the names and 

 characters of mica, quartz and felspar ? Children 

 are always delighted with these things, and when 

 they have learned to know and distinguish them, 

 their ideas ahout common things are thencefor- 

 ward always more exact, and their language more 

 accurate all the days of their life. To know them 

 enhances the beauty of the world and improves 

 the value of existence. 



I had, many years ago, opportunities of convers- 

 ing with thousands of intelligent people within, 

 and on the borders of, the forests in every part of 

 Massachusetts. I found but one person who knew 

 accurately the differences between the various 

 trees growing in his neighborhood ; and even he 

 did not know their names. I found not one who 

 could distinguish, with any approach to accuracy, 

 the shades of color of the bark and leaves. This- 

 would not have been, if the simple colors and 

 their combinations had been taught in the schools. 



All these things may be and should be taught 

 in the schools. They would be far pleasanter, 

 more intelligible and more useful than most of the 

 things which are now attempted there. They are 

 important elements for the thoughts which are of 

 necessity to occupy men through their lives. They 

 would give new significance to the language which 

 they will be obliged to use. G. B. E. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PASTURE LANDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



What shall we do for the pasture lands of New 

 England — they are running out ? The considera- 

 tion of this question calls up philosophy, theory, 

 soil analysis, and all the paraphernalia of vegeta- 

 ble economy within the reach of human vision. 

 They only make argument in the case, and-: for- 

 bear conclusions. Johnston and Liebig have 

 studied carefully, thought profoundly, and in al- 

 most every instance where they have attempted 

 conclusions as to the results in the restoration of 

 exhausted soils based upon the hypothesis of soil 

 analysis, they never run aground. By wisely 

 studying the laws, and carefully weighing all the 

 circumstances attending our operations upon the 

 soil, we may obtain valuable results. How the 

 husbandman can so apply his labor and capital 

 in raising grass and grain, and transform them 

 into beef, pork, butter, cheese, bone and muscle, 

 is a question that neither science or labor alone 

 can solve. 



Wood ashes stands as a valuable fertilizer, con- 

 taining no less than twelve simple elements that 

 enter into all cultivated plants. The hard excre- 

 ments of a hog, when highly fed for the purpose of 

 fattening, contain earthy phosphates and nicely 

 organized mineral matter in a greater degree than 

 those of any animal that have yet come under the 

 test of chemicals. If these nicely prepared min- 

 erals be associated with decaying vegetable mat- 

 ter in sufficient quantity to hold them in store as 

 food for plants it cannot but prove a powerful fer- 

 tilizer. More depends upon the organization of 

 elements than in the quantity used. Witness the 

 rich Sciota bottoms at Columbus, Ohio, where 

 corn has been successively raised on the same 

 field for thirty years, with no diminishing of crop, 

 kept up to the highest state of fertility by the 

 large d< posits of finely decomposed vegetable mat- 

 ter by the annual floods. The same may be said 



of the Mohawk, and other river bottoms. Irri- 

 gation is the agent at work. Science has taught 

 all this, and more. -■ 



But what's the state of the question ? "The 

 consideration of the renovation of the pasture 

 lands of New England." Well, if the soil is light 

 and sandy, and you determine to plow, spread on 

 clay bountifully, after plowing, with a liberal sup- 

 ply of wood ashes, harrow lightly and seed to red 

 top and clover. Roll up a piece for experiment 

 into ridges, or swells, with a large plow, sow on 

 ashes or plaster, with salt, and seed as above. Try 

 a piece by spreading on the following preparation : 



Take five bushels of caustic lime and mix 

 with ten of vegetable mould. Add two bushels 

 of common salt, two of plaster of paris, and five 

 of clay ; moisten till the mass is like damp earth. 

 The plaster furnishes the sulphur, the salt both 

 soda and chlorine. The chlorine parts with the 

 sodium, and unites with the caustic lime, form- 

 ing a valuable salt, known as chloride of calci- 

 um. The sodium being converted into soda, then 

 combines with the carbonic acid of the atmos- 

 phere and organized matter in the vegetable 

 mould, and forms a well organized salt that will 

 dissolve common sand. This composition still 

 requires phosphorus and iron. Ground bones will 

 furnish phosphorus — copperas the iron. 



If thrown up into ridges, the area will be en- 

 larged, and the hollows will furnish feed in time 

 of drought, when a flat surface will be scorched 

 to dryness. Long or fibrous animal manures can 

 not be spread without great loss. Pulverize fine 

 all manures, whether animal, mineral, or vegeta- 

 ble, is the touchstone of vegetable physiology. 

 Mark the powerful effect of the finely pulverized 

 dirt from a much travelled road, with hardly a per- 

 ceptible amount of manure upon an adjoining 

 field ! Top dressing, for grass lands, is the rule 

 — deep plowing the exception. Where pastures 

 lie in swells, or knolls, I would set maple groves 

 on all the swells — grass will always grow under 

 rock maples — cattle will stay under them much 

 of the time — leave their droppings there, and fer- 

 tilize portions below. L. L. PlERCE. 



East Jeffrey, N. K, Jan. 1864. 



A YANKEE FABMEE. 



The New York correspondent of the London 

 Spectator thus expresses his opinion of the fann- 

 ers of this country : 



"Let me tell you a little about one of these 

 Yankees whom I know well, and in whose house 

 I have lived weeks at a time. He is a small farm- 

 er, tilling less than one hundred acres, which have 

 been owned and tilled by his family for genera- 

 tions, and living upon that and a little money out 

 at interest. He not only goes to the fields with 

 his men, but works with them there. I have 

 many a time seen him riding home on a load of 

 hay, a good part of which had fallen before his 

 own well-swung scythe. Now, what do you think 

 that man's recreations are ? Chiefly astronomy. 

 A fine observing telescope is his hobby. He is 

 up with it in the middle of the night, and before 

 the dawn, upon all good opportunity. His libra- 

 ry, not large, but well chosen, is so thoroughly 

 and intelligently read by him, that some of the 

 soundest and most pungent opinions I have ever 

 heard upon literature have come from his lips in 

 English, than which no better, according to the 



