30 



NEW ENGLAND FAEJ^IER. 



Jan. 



No boy, who has been well brought up, — 

 and such make the best apprentices — will de- 

 sire to go into any shop of an opposite charac- 

 ter, however much he may desire to leaiui a 

 trade. The boys who are not so well brought 

 up are the ones, most generally, that would go 

 into the stores, offices, &c., where they will 

 have more leisure and less labor, more temp- 

 tation and less restraint. 



To sum up the whole case, without going 

 further into particulars, the great trouble is the 

 multiplicity of machinery and the laxity of 

 morals. 



It is a broad subject, and one that ought to 

 concern farmers, as they raise many of the 

 apprentices. But knowing that editors dislike 

 long yarns, and that others are better opinion- 

 ers than I am, I will stop, ivith the wish that 

 some expert would spin a thread in regard to 

 another subject, so directly bearing upon this, 

 that is, the scarcity of children, — three chil- 

 dren in a family, now, being as rarely found as 

 six or eiglit, thirty years ago ! Radical. 



Remarks. — Our correspondent closes, with 

 an allusion to a very important subject, and 

 one which is arresting the attention, and excit- 

 ing the fears of the well-wishers of our coun- 

 try and of our race. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PEAT. 



The present is the best time to throw out 

 peat for manure. If it is thrown out in the 

 summer, much of it will become dry and hard — 

 more fit for fuel than for manure. Every one 

 familiar with the use of peat, knows that when 

 it has once Ijccome dry and hard, it is very 

 difficult to reduce it to that degree of fine- 

 ness that will enable it to mingle with the 

 soil. Who has not seen pieces of peat tumbled 

 about for two or three years, by the plow and 

 harrow ? And when it crumbles, it is into 

 granules almost as hard as pebbles. The val- 

 ue of peat as a material for the compost heap, 

 is now generally admitted, but its proper prep- 

 aration is not so generally known or attended 

 to. One load of fine dry peat is certainly worth 

 two loads of green peat ; and it is an important 

 (luestion, how can it most economically be re- 

 duced to that state of fineness and dryness that 

 fits it to mingle most readily with barn manure, 

 and absorb the greatest amount of urine. In 

 this state it is much more easily handled and 

 transy)orted, and if it is to be .spread on the soil 

 and plouglied in, or to be spread as a top- 

 dressing, it can be spread more evenly and 

 more conveniently. Peat should be thrown out 

 at least one year before it is to be used. If it 

 is thrown out at a season when it will be ex- 

 posed to freezing and thawing, it will soon be- 

 come fine and mellow. It sliould be put in 

 heaps of moilerate dei)tli, so that the frost may 

 penetrate to the bottom of it. It should be 



thrown over, and the lumps broken, and heaped 

 up into a compact form in the spring, when the 

 frost has left it, and m a year it will be fit for 

 use. The action of the air disintegrates and 

 sweetens it. In this state it may be used as a 

 top-dressing for grass land to great advantage, 

 especially on dry, sandy lands. In tliis state 

 it becomes the best deodorizer the farmer can 

 use about the hogstye, the privy, the hen-house 

 or the stable. _ It absorbs and retains a laro-e 

 amount of liquid, and readily mixes with and 

 helps to disintegrate the barn manures. Every 

 one who has used an old ditch bank that has 

 lain exposed to the action of the frosts for sev- 

 eral years, knows how much better it is than 

 peat that has just been throwai out. Last year 

 i used j^eat from the surface of a meadow that 

 had been planted in potatoes two or three years. 

 It was veiy mellow and gave me entire satis- 

 faction. 



Li preparing peat for fuel, the surface 

 should always be taken off to the depth to 

 which the li'ost usually penetrates, as this 

 portion always dries in a loose crumbly state, 

 showing the disintegrating power of the frost. 

 Peat from some localities contains so much acid 

 that it is unfit for manurial uses until the acid 

 is neutralized by the action of the rain and air 

 or by alkalies. Peat of this description may be 

 readily prepared for use by the help of quick 

 lime. The best way is to make a Ijed of peat 

 six or eight inches thick, and spread over it a 

 quantity of unslaked lime ; then cover this with 

 a layer of peat ; then another portion of lime ; 

 then another layer of peat, — using a cask of 

 lime to about a cord of peat. The lime is 

 slaked by the moistin-e of the peat, and the va- 

 por given off pervades the whole mass, as yeast 

 pervades the whole lump, mellowing and sweet- 

 ening it. Peat prepared in this way makes a 

 good top-dressing for grain or clover. It is 

 good economy for every farmer to have a year's 

 stock of peat on hand to which he can resort 

 when it is wanted, and never to use it until it 

 has been exposed to the atmosphere at least one 

 year. From the convenience of handling and 

 transportation, this will be found more eco- 

 nomical than the use of green peat. If a por- 

 tion of it is kept under a shed or roof, that it 

 may always be dry, it will be the most effectual 

 deodorizer and absorbent within the farmer's 

 reach, and will richly repay the trouble re- 

 quired. If a good supply of dry peat is always 

 on liand, much more will l)e used than at pres- 

 ent, and consequently more good compost will 

 he made. Fine dry peat is one of tlie best fer- 

 tilizei's for strawberries, grai)es, and the small 

 fruits genei'ally, aud is always ready for use, 

 and may lie conveniently applied at any season. 

 It is not volatile, and is not lost or wasted when 

 left on the surface of the ground, like ammoni- 

 acal manures. Mr. Bull, the originator of the 

 Concord grai)e, is extending his grape culture, 

 and has engaged a thousand loads of peat to be 

 brought on to his grounds, that he may have a 

 supply of fine peat on hand. 



