236 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



but the berry had become rather smaller than it 

 was when Ilir.st boiif,'ht the seed. I did not like 

 to part witli the wheat, as it made excellent Hour, 

 and I did not know where to get any of the same 

 sort. I therefore tried another mode of preparing 

 my seed. Procuring a sieve coarse enough to let 

 the small seeds and other refuse matter through, 1 

 get it thoroughly clean. Then wet it with water, 

 and add to four bushels of wheat one bushel of 

 salt, and nux them well together. Let it stand lor 

 two days before sowing. When ready to sow, I 

 mix in ashes until the wheat will seiiaratc freely. 

 This course I have pursued for the last two years, 

 and have not seen any sign of smut, weevil or worm 

 Tliis leads mc to thiidi that salt is l)enelicial to the 

 wheat as well as to the land. Last year I had some 

 as haiulsouie wheat as any one could wish for. I 

 think if we would sow from one and a half to two 

 bushels of salt to the acre, as we might easily do 

 when sowing the seed, it would greatly benefit the 

 soil. AVlieat should be at once cut on the appear- 

 ance of blight ; as fields thus harvested will often 

 prodiue a iair crop, which, if left to stand, would 

 amount of little. E. IIebb. 



JeffcrsoHville, Vt., March 22, 18G7. 



PRICE OF MILK. 



As the time is now near at hand when farmers 

 who produce milk for the Boston market, will en- 

 gage their milk for the counng six months, it l)c- 

 coujcs a matter of interest to ascertain what price 

 we are likely to receive for it. AVc all very well 

 know that during the past few years the value of 

 labor, hay, grain, ])asturage, stock, tools, rate of 

 taxation,"and every thing connected with the pro- 

 duction of milk, have greatly increased. This ren- 

 ders it necessary that we should obtain a fair liv- 

 ing price lor what we have to sell. 



Heretofore, the i)roducer has had very little 

 voice in fixing tlie ])rice at which lie has sold his 

 milk. The milkmen combine together,and say what 

 they will pay, thus kindly saving us any trouble 

 whatever in the matter, although we feel that thus 

 far they have obtained our milk at far less than the 

 actual cost of i)roducing it. 8o long as we contin- 

 ue to go on in this way, so long will milk-raising 

 continue to be a losing business. Why should we 

 not have annually a Milk-raisers' Convention, with 

 delegates from each town, upon the various nnlk 

 routes leading into Boston, and establish a fair 

 scale of prices, varying according to the distaiu'e 

 from the city t Certainly it does seem as if some 

 measures should be taken to bring about a diller- 

 ent state of atlairs, w. 



Lancaster, Mass., March 22, 1867. 



Remarks. — We pul)lisli the al)ovc contrary to 

 our rule which reqtures correspondents to give us 

 their names, not to be published against their will, 

 but as a guarantee of the good faith of the writer. 

 The remarks of "W." upon another subject, we 

 must decline to publish until the above rule is 

 complied with. 



FANEUIL HALL MARKET. 



Is it proper to call the long stone Market "Fan- 

 cuil Hall Market," or "Quincy Market," and by 

 which nanu! it is called in the city Records ? As 

 there is a dillerence of opinion upon the subject in 

 our village, 1 thought I would like to know tho 

 facts in the case. i'. n. a. 



North Bridyewater, Mass., March 23, 1867. 



Remaiikh. — In 1740, Peter Fancuil, a wealthy 

 citizen of Boston, offered to erect a suitable build- 

 ing for a market, and give it to the city. The 

 building, when erected, contained a town hall in 



addition to the original proposition of a market. In 

 1824, more room being required for market purpos- 

 es, leave was granted to extend Fancuil Hall 

 Market. In this movement Josiah Quincy, then 

 Mayor of the city, took an active part. Hence the 

 "long market," as it is sometimes called. This 

 building, also, in addition to the stalls on the 

 ground floor, contained a spacious upper floor. The 

 occupants of this story of the new building, from 

 respect to the public spirited mayor, hung out 

 their "shingles" with the inscription "Quincy 

 Hall," in large letters. Hence, the confusion of 

 names. The official and proper designation of the 

 market, however, is Faneuil Hall and not Quincy. 

 When the new building was first erected, there 

 were not occupants enough for the whole, and the 

 stalls under Faneuil Hall were vacated, and leased 

 for other puiposes. A few years ago, when the 

 lo7ig market came to be too short for the increasing 

 business, the original Faneuil was refitted, and is 

 now occupied as a nuirket according to the inten- 

 tion of its founder. Mr. Charles B. Rice, Superin- 

 tendent of the nuirket, informs us that the stalls in 

 the original building are distinguished in his offi- 

 cial reports as the "New" Faneuil Hall Market. 



WATER CRESS. 



Enclosed I send you a root that I call water 

 cress. Can j^ou inform me through the Faumek if 

 I am right, and is it sold in Boston Market ? 



A .SLUSCltlllER. 



New Bedford, Mass., March .5, 18G7. 



Remarks.— The i)lant sent is much smaller and 

 more delicate than the water cress. In his excel- 

 lent work, "Vegetables of America," Mr. Burr 

 gives the following descriiuiou of the water cress — 

 Sisi/mbrium nasturtium. Nasturtium officinale. 



"When in blossom, the plant is about two feet 

 in height, or length; the leaves are winged, with 

 five or six pairs of rounded leallets, and, in deep 

 water, are often immcrscti, or float upon the sur- 

 face; the flowers are small, white, luur-petaled, 

 and ternunate the stalks in loose spikes ; the seeds 

 are very small, reil(li>li-l)n)wn, and retain their 

 powers of germination live years. Nearly a hun- 

 dred and twenty thousand arc contained in an 

 ounce." 



If our friend will give us his full address we will 

 send him a sample of the water cress sold in the 

 market, and quoted in our report. 



■WHEAT IN NEW ENGLAND. 



Several encouraging articles iiimn wheat-raising 

 have api)cared in the Farmer the jiast few weeks. 

 That from Isaac W. HutchiTison, Es(i., of Tem- 

 pleton, Mass., is worthy of special notice. Truth- 

 fully lie says, "wheat ought to l)e raised by every 

 farmer;" "that most of us can iiroducc our own 

 flour," &c. He says, "1 seldom tail to raise lesa 

 than 20 bushels to the acre and have raised i'y." 



This lias been my urgent, i)ersistcut doctrine to 

 the farmers, for the ijast twenty } ears— 1 yet hoiio 

 and expect to see the wheat fever pass through 

 New England, as the fire sweejis the Western prai- 

 ries. 



It is an idle, sluggish timidity, (excuse the re- 

 mark,) that keci)S the farmer from doing this first 

 special duty to himself and his family. Why not 

 depend upon the West for all his corn and small 



