406 



NEW ENGLAOT) FARMER. 



1867. 



These opinions are held by most fanners 

 and will have a decided influence in keeping 

 up the price of hay. To these may be added 

 another, that so long as the prices of labor, 

 building materials, clothing, grain, groceries, 

 &c., are high, hay, also, will be high. 



Some signs of rot have been found in the 

 potato crop. The breadth of ground occupied 

 with this indispensable vegetable is large, and 

 the growth luxuriant. 



The apple crop is light, very light, but still 

 there are many trees having fruit upon them 

 that will be quite fair and of good size. Sev- 

 eral varieties of sweet apples, the Rhode Isl- 

 and Greening, and Porter, have moderate 

 crops upon their trees. Scarcely a Baldwin 

 tree is in fruit, so that all that pretty poetry 

 about their red cheeks glistening in the sun, 

 may well give place to a little that will make 

 us careful how we collect what does grow : 



"Fruit gathered too timely will tacte of the wood. 

 Will shrink and be bitter, and geldom prove good: 

 So fruit that is shaken, and beat off a tree, 

 With IruisiiJg iu falling, soon faulty will be." 



On the whole, farm affairs are promising. 

 Some apples, glistening in the sun this morn- 

 ing. We shall have peaches, pears, and plenty 

 of preserved small fruits. 



■WORK FOR SEPTEMBER. 



Wheat. If not put in last month, early in 

 this is better than to postpone it entirely. It 

 needs a rather stiff clay loam, and on such a 

 soil that is in fair condition, the crop will rarely 

 fail. 



The Rye crop we have spoken of in another 

 article. 



Turnips. Thin out and weed the turnips ; 

 keep the soil loose about them. 



Strawberry plants may be set early in this 

 month ; and if carefully tended and slightly 

 covered with straw in November, will make a 

 good start. 



Fattening Animals. It is better to begin 

 to feed swine liberally now, than to postpone 

 it to a later day. Whatever the animals are, 

 feed plentifully, and make them comfortable 

 in their yards and sleeping rooms, and they 

 will gain faster than they will in cold weather. 

 They prefer a variety of food, and will do 

 better upon it, than they will if confined to a 

 single article, even though some portion of the 

 variety be of a poor quality. 



Peat. Spare no reasonable cost to lay up 



a large quantity of this valuable fertilizer. 

 Remember that "Muck is the mother of the 

 meal chest." We urge the use of peat by the 

 farmer with more emphasis than almost any 

 other point. We hioio its value by the expe- 

 rience had with it for many years. It is 

 useful on all lands — light or heavy. We have 

 restored exhausted, heavy clay loams with it, 

 as well as to bring life and vitality to barren 

 sands and gravelly knolls ! Our own experi- 

 ence is corroborated by that of many success- 

 ful farmers, and by the intelligent attention 

 given the subject by those who have ascer- 

 tained its value by actual use in the soil and 

 by critical analysis. 



Among the latter is Prof. Samuel W. 

 Johnson, the chemist of the Connecticut 

 State Agricultural Society. He says the char- 

 acters that adapt peat for agricultural uses, 

 are 



Those which render it useful in improving 

 the texture and other physical characters of the 

 soil, and indirectly contribute to the nourish- 

 ment of crops, and 



Those which make it a direct fertilizer. As 

 an amendment, the value of peat depends 

 upon, 



1. Its remarkable power of absorbing and 

 retaining water, both as a liquid and as vapor. 



2. Its power of absorbing ammonia. 



3. Its action in modifying the decay of or- 

 ganic (animal and vegetable) bodies. 



4. Its effects in promoting the disintegration 

 and solution of mineral matters, (the stony 

 matters of the soil ;) and 



5. Its influence on the temperature of the 

 soil. 



These are vital points of interest to every 

 cultivator of the soil. Peat actually assists 

 in dissolving sand, gravel, and the rocks them- 

 selves, and liberating their potash and other 

 valuable minerals for the nutrition of plants. 



There is no other possible way in which 

 New England farming can be made so profita- 

 ble as by the use of large quantities of peat. 

 We can only speak of the subject in this brief 

 way at present, but will take early opportunity 

 to lay more of the Professor's clear and con- 

 cise facts on the subject before the reader. 

 We wish his whole work could be in the hands 

 of every intelligent and progressive farmer. 

 Do not delay the work until it is too late. 



Seeding Land to Grass. Early in Sep- 



