258 



NEW ENGLAND FARINIER. 



June 



fore the Board of Agriculture in Salem, with 

 great acceptation, and we have it now before 

 us in pamphlet form. 



We have room at present for only a single 

 extract, which is of so much value in this age 

 of seeking after fertilizers, that we embrace 

 the earliest available moment of laying it be- 

 fore the reader. It has been tested by a far- 

 mer near us, and found excellent. It is as 

 follows : — 



"Take one hundi-ed pounds of bones, beaten into as 

 small fragments as possible, pack them in a tight 

 cask or liox with one hundred pounds of good wood 

 ashes. Mix with the ashes, before packing, twenty- 

 five pounds of slaked lime, and twelve pounds of 

 sal soda, pov/dered fine. It will require about 

 twenty gallons of water to saturate the mass, but 

 more may be added from time to time to maintain 

 moisture. In two or three weeks the bones will 

 be broken down completely, and the whole turned 

 out on the floor, mixed with two bushels of dry 

 peat or good soil, and after drying will be tit for 

 use." 



NORFOLK COUNTY, MASS. 

 At tlie annual meeting of the Agricultural 

 Society of this county, at Dedham, March 27, 

 the following officers were elected : 



President— The Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, Dor- 

 chester. 



Vice Presidents — Amos A. Lawrence, Brookline ; 

 Otis Gary, Foxboro'; John Gardner, Dedham; 

 Stephen W. Richardson, Franklin ; Elijah Tucker, 

 Milton; Henry Grew, Dorchester. 



Corresponding and Recording Secretary — Henry 

 O. Hildreth, Dedham. 



Treasurer — Chauncey C. Cliurcliill, Dedham. 



Executive Committee — Marshall P. Wilder, Dor- 

 chester; Cheever Newhall, Dorchester; H. Hollis 

 Hunnewell, Needham ; Aaron D. Weld, West Rox- 

 bury ; Joseph H. Billings, West Roxbury ; Francis 

 P. Denny, Broolcline; William R. Mann, Sharon; 

 Truman Clarke, Walpole; Chas Brcck, Milton. 



Finance Cominittee and Auditors — Ira Cleveland, 

 Dedham; Charles Hamant, Mcdfield; E. S. Rand, 

 Jr., Dedliam. 



Mr. Wilder was elected member of the 

 Board of Agriculture! He was also recog- 

 nized as the delegate of the Society to the 

 Paris Exposition, by a series of complimentary 

 resolutions. 



Product of one Cow. — Mr. S. King, North 

 Monmouth, ]\Ie., has a cow from which he 

 made the last season 212 pounds butter, 223 

 pounds of cheese, raised one calf, and sold 

 $10 worth of milk. As this was his only cow, 

 of course what milk the family used was also 

 taken from her. 



Prolikic Corn. — Dr. Wm. Morse, of Can- 

 ton, Mass., raised last season from one kernel 

 of corn, fourteen ears containing 1C72 sound 



kernels. The variety was the white "pop- 

 corn." The land was prepared for carrots by 

 spreading two cords of horse manure to the 

 acre and plowing it in. The corn was planted 

 at irregular Intervals among the carrots, the 

 seed about six or eight feet apart. This kernel 

 sent up five stalks. 



Wool Samples. — We learn by the New 

 York Tribune that the distinctive samples of 

 wool required by the late law, were received 

 by the Secretary of the Treasury, April 11. 

 The writer says, "It is understood that an in- 

 vitation has been extended to the President of 

 the National Wool Growers' Association, and 

 also to the President of the National Wool 

 Manufacturers' Association, to visit Washing- 

 ton and examine the samples." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 A PLEA FOR PROGRESS, THIS TIME. 



I am really glad that one of your correspon- 

 dents has stepped boldly out and taken side 

 against raising poultry on a large scale. The 

 article [see Farmer, March 16] will occasion 

 reflection and discussion, and that is what 

 leads to Improvement. 



It will be apparent to every reader that the 

 theory of "N. 8. T." is, that hens. In order to 

 be profitable to the farmer, must, substantially, 

 take care of themselves. They must "pick up" 

 their living In a free and Inexpensive way. 

 And he would urge that, against such an ad- 

 vantage, the cidtivator oi iowh — If you will al- 

 low the expression — stands no sort of chance. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I frankly confess that I 

 belong to another school altogether. I will 

 not consent to go back to the days of our fa- 

 thers, when a mowing machine was looked upon 

 as a new-fangled notion, and contest this mat- 

 ter on thepicking up theory. We might as well 

 expect our horses or our cattle to gain their sub- 

 sistence from the corners of our yard, or from 

 the road-side, as our hens. My own experi- 

 ence teaches me that fowls, under judicious 

 confinement, fed from the granary, and well 

 cared for, are far more profitable than those 

 which rove about the fields and look out for 

 themselves. I should yield the ground at 

 once, without a word of discussion, If I thought 

 otherwise. I know that some of your readers, 

 who haven't llvi'd In vain, will smile just a little 

 at this "answer" to my plea. 



As for the distempers and epidemics which 

 constitute the groimd work of the other promi- 

 nent reasons why raising fowls on an extensive 

 scale proves unprofitable, that appears to me 

 to be mostly fancy. Shut a dozen (owls up in 

 an empty flour barrel, and I should expect an 

 awful mortality among them before a great 



