1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



101 



the ears from the two rows without any manure 

 in the hill weighed seventy-nine pounds, while 

 two rows on each side of the above weighed 154 

 pounds, or 77 pounds for each two rows. Now, 

 the question is, what did I receive for my extra la- 

 bor and the compost? 



S. fn the spring of 1863, having prepared my 

 corn land as in 1862, I planted four rows on one 

 side of the piece without any manure in the hill ; 

 the next four rows I put about a pint of Lodi pou- 

 drette in each hill, dropped the corn directly on 

 the poudrette and covered to the usual depth. 

 The next four rows the same as the first. The 

 next four rows I put in each hill about half a pint 

 of ashes, cikvered with earth, dropped the corn 

 and covered as usual. The next four rows same 

 as first and second. The next four rows had about 

 a pint of hen manure and loam mixed together 

 (equal parts) in each hill. The next four rows 

 same as first and second. The next four rows had 

 half a pint of plaster in each hill. All came up 

 well, with the exception of the ashes and pou- 

 drette rows, which came very slow, and some hills 

 were planted the second time, and were about 

 eight days behind the other rows all the season. 

 Now for the result : At harvest the ears on 



The first four rows weighed 197 3£ lbs. 



The nest " " " poudrette 193 " 



" " " " 207 " 



" " " " ashes 185 " 



" " " " 198«£ " 



" " " " hen manure 193 " 



" " " " 203 " 



" " " " plaster 19o}£ " 



It seems by the above that I not only lost my 

 labor, and manure that was put in the hill, but 

 quite a number of pounds of corn. 



I tried the same as above with my potatoes, and 

 could perceive no difference. 



If you can give any reasons why the result 

 should be as it is, I should be glad to hear them. 



North Providence, R. L, Jan. 1, 1864. G. E. 



■Remarks. — We thank our correspondent for 

 communicating these experiments. The results 

 are certainly not what we should have expected. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DISEASE IN APPLES. 



I noticed last fall that some kinds of apples 

 appeared to have a disease upon them. The first 

 that attracted my notice was the Porter apple. 

 I had brought some into the house, and in a few 

 days found many, probably half of them, turned 

 black. I thought them rotten, and wondered at 

 the sudden change. On examination I found the 

 discoloration to be confined to the skin ; the flesh 

 appeared sound. When I gathered my winter 

 fruit I found the Rhode Island Greening affected 

 much in the same way — not so black all over, but 

 spotted. The Porters soon lost their flavor, wheth- 

 er by the disease or because they had gone out 

 of season, I cannot say. My impression is, the 

 Rhode Island Greenings are not so good-flavored 

 as formerly, but I may be mistaken. Besides 

 these two 1 had a tree of natural fruit of greenish 

 color and good size, affected with spots like the 

 other greenings. These were pretty acid, but 

 very good for pies and cooking purposes, and 

 usually saved for that purpose, and kept pretty 

 well into winter. \ did not notice the disease on 

 any other kinds. Never having noticed anything 



of the kind before, I am induced to mention the 

 fact, and to inquire if such appearance has oc- 

 curred on apples in other places, or is common, 

 or whether it be the commencement of a new 

 trouble with our apples ? Rufus McIntire. 

 Parsomfield, Me., Feb. 8. 1864. 



Remarks. — We noticed nothing of the kind in 

 our last fall crop. If others did, we hope they 

 will communicate. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THEORY AND EXPERIMENT. 



Mr. Editor : — Is every generation doomed for 

 all time to come to test anew by costly experi- 

 ments the theories their fathers have tested ? 

 The whims, the fanaticism of crazy, scientific, re- 

 ligious, political and agricultural reformers have 

 their outbreak in some part of the world periodi- 

 cally. Nothing seems too absurd to be believed, 

 and for a time will have its votaries. Every now 

 and then the Patent Office at Washington is called 

 on to explode the assumption of perpetual motion. 

 Theologians are challenged to disprove the agen- 

 cy of spirits in tipping tables, or modern spiritu- 

 alism — or some other ism — and statesmen must 

 battle agrarianism. Our children must, or are 

 made to, swallow more drugs and nostrums than 

 ever before, in spite of the medical colleges and 

 medical science ; and for proof of this, take up 

 the first newspaper you can get hold of and com- 

 pare the thousand and one universal panaceas 

 advertised therein, to the number advertised twen- 

 ty years ago. Are we growing wise, or are these 

 quacks multiplying only in the proportional ratio 

 to increase of population ? 



These reflections are called up by seeing three 

 dwarfish, insignificant, dirty, scrubby, merino 

 lambs pass my door in a pung bound for the 

 Aroostook. I questioned the unfortunate man, 

 and learned that he had been so foolish as to pay 

 one hundred and fifty dollars for them, and was 

 going to cross them with his flock of English 

 Leicester and South Downs, away up on the 

 Aroostook River. A pity, thought I, that royal 

 blood should ever be so basely prostrated — and 

 hence degenerated. Anybody that ever had any 

 experience in that experiment could tell this un- 

 fortunate man's fortune. The man's head was 

 apparently clear in other matters, but here he was 

 insane, or, to use a milder word, unsound. 



The best English breeds of sheep are now found 

 in that section, including the Provinces — best for 

 mutton, and that is what pays the farmer the best 

 — for the wool brings within a few cents per pound 

 the price of merino wool ; beside, the English 

 breeds are more hardy, and the lambs are sure to 

 live with the same care, and hence more profita- 

 ble. This merino fever arose in consequence of 

 the success of a Vermont speculator obtaining big 

 prices for his pampered merinos in Germany. 

 Common sense would look at whole flocks of 

 sheep, as they actually are, or as farmers usually 

 tend and care for them, and also at the latitude 

 they are to be kept in, and to the comparative 

 profits of wool with mutton — and wool alone. 

 This unfortunate man will hereafter be shunned 

 by the butchers and all lovers of good mutton ; 

 and he will, instead of realizing from three to 

 four dollars per head for his surplus lambs at 

 three and four months old, for the shambles, be 



