250 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Atjg. 



paring and planting the ground at the rate of one 

 acre per hour, with a speed of two and a quarter 

 miles ; we think four horses, or six oxen, and one 

 man, will work and manage it readily. 



"As to my opinion of it, I have no hesitation in 

 saying that I think it the greatest step forward 

 that has been made in agricultural machinery. I 

 believe they will supersede the plow on our prai- 

 ries, and similar soils, and cause a great revolu- 

 tion in Agriculture." 



In the Prairie Farmer we notice a statement by 

 another farmer who has one in use, and who writes 

 that one man and four horses spade about eight 

 acres per day, if the weather is reasonably cool. 

 He says : 



"The Spader is the implement for me. It 

 gives, what I have always desired, a depth of 

 tilth that is not obtained with the plough at one 

 operation. It also gives a quicker and better way 

 to prepare the soil for the seed, enabling the farm- 

 er to do his work at the right time and in the 

 right season." 



Mr. Wicks, for that is the name of the writer, 

 adds that his teamster "either walks or rides at 

 his pleasure or convenience, and that with good 

 improved tools and harnesses and horses farming 

 is a real pleasure to any man." 



THE SEASON"-CBOPS--DitOTJGHT. 



Since the middle of June the weather has been, 

 at times, excessively hot during the day, with suc- 

 ceeding cool nights. The thermometer, in the 

 shade, has risen to 98° and 100°. In the midst of 

 these tropical suns there has been but little rain 

 for several weeks past, so that the grass crop has 

 been hurried to a most rapid maturity. Haying 

 was commenced in earnest during the last week 

 in June, and more grass was probably cut than 

 was ever known to be cut before during a similar 

 period. On old lands the crop will be light, and 

 the impression is quite common that the entire 

 crop will fall short a full third of that of last year. 

 Such, however, are not the conclusions to which 

 we have arrived, after visiting various portions of 

 this State and New Hampshire. We believe we 

 shall have not only a full average crop, but that 

 the fodder will be worth at least twenty-Jive per 

 cent, more than it was last year. Many farmers 

 have already, July 18th, got well nigh through 

 with their English hay harvest, and are striking 

 vigorously into their meadows. Scarcely a ton 

 of hay has been wet so far, so that what has been 

 housed is of the best quality, and will make milk 

 and beef almost as rapidly as grain. 



The drought now begins to pinch the barley 

 crop pretty sharply, and the early potatoes feel it 

 sensibly. Corn never looked better, nor have we 

 ever seen finer fields of winter rye than are pre- 

 sented in every section we have visited. We 

 have seen only a few fields of wheat, all of which 

 were of an average quality. We must have rain 

 soon or the second crop of grass will be light. 



CLEANING GOVERNMENT BEANS. 



We have several tiroes spoken, in these col- 

 umns, of the devices of one Sanford Adams, of 

 Boston, to separate good things from bad ones, so 

 that each shall stand before the world upon its 

 own merits, — where all ought to stand now, but 

 where we shall be obliged to stand by-and-by. 



It is said that some government contractors have 

 few scruples as to what they bale and barrel and 

 box and send to our brave soldiers in the field 

 and our gallant sailors on the sea — but hide be- 

 neath the boards and staves, which enclose them, 

 articles not contracted for, and entirely unfit as 

 food or clothing. This shows a moral obliquity 

 in some of our business men which is now a crime 

 closely akin to disloyalty, and which it is not 

 pleasant to expose. We wish all persons of thi3 

 stripe were obliged to submit to such a verdict as 

 Gen. Butler pronounced upon an unworthy son of 

 Massachusetts, who allowed numerous casks of 

 whiskey to be smuggled into Norfolk, Va., for a 

 petty bribe of $750, viz : that he should be ar- 

 rested, tried, convicted and sent to State Prison. 



It is enough, certainly, for the government to 

 sustain itself against its public and open enemies, 

 — but it is still harder to protect itself against 

 those in the guise of friends, and whom it is daily 

 protecting at enormous cost and sacrifice. 



Disloyal ! Under such a mild and equal gov- 

 ernment, and in such a crisis ! It is a crime which 

 has scarcely yet found its way into the calender of 

 crimes ! It is treason, not only to one's govern- 

 ment, but to one's family, against humanity and 

 human liberty ! Treason against God himself, — 

 for treason, now, tends to deprive the children 

 whom he has made of liberty and of life itself! 

 And yet the government is robbed and wronged 

 every day by scoundrels who wear meek faces and 

 use honeyed words, who sit in high places and 

 pass as "tolerably honest men." If we had the 

 power of the "Grand Turk" for a single day, the 

 "Dry Tortugas" would groan with the weight of 

 lusty shovellers who should press its hot and 

 heavy sands ! We could, possibly, listen with pa- 

 tience to the apology of a Southern traitor, but 

 with none to him or her reared amid Northern in- 

 stitutions and customs. If there are any "bolts 

 of Heaven, red with uncommon wrath," ought they 

 not to be hurled upon those who have enjoyed the 

 protection and blessings of such a country and 

 such a government as ours, and then, with traitorous 

 spirit and acts, turned their heel upon them when 

 everything is imperiled by wicked and open ene- 

 mies? 



We recently saw a portion of a lot of more than 

 three thousand bushels of white beans, which had 

 been contracted for by government agents, and re- 

 jected as bad by government inspectors. After re- 

 maining some time, and being greatly needed by 



