412 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Sept. 



THE EUBOPEAIT SILVER FIR. 



"Giant trees, 

 Children of elder time"— Shelley. 



The Silver Fir was esteemed 

 by the Romans for its use in 

 carpentry and for the construc- 

 tion of vessels. Virgil speaks of 



"The fir about to brave the dangers of 

 the seas," 



and in describing the scenes of a 



particular locality, 



"Hills clad with fir to guard the hal- 

 lowed bound, 

 Rise m the majesty of darkness round." 



They also used its wood for jave- 

 lins, and the Emperor Caligula 

 had an obelisk transported from 

 from Egypt to Rome, which re- 

 quired the outstretched arms 

 of four men to encircle it. It 

 grows upon exposed, dry, stony 

 places on mountains of the mid- 

 dle and south of Europe, and 

 reaches to the height of from 

 130 to 160 feet. It is supposed 

 to be the abies pulclierrima of 

 Virgil and of Roman authors. 

 Unlike the pines, its leaves grow 

 singly round the branches, all 

 turned toward one side and glau- 

 cous or white beneath. 



MANURES. 



This subject was discussed at the first of a 

 series of Legislative meetings inaugurated by 

 the Committee on Agriculture of the New 

 Hampshire House of Representatives. 



Rev. Dr. Barstow, of Keene, alluded to the 

 fact that plaster was of no use in that section. 



Hon. Mr. Read, of Swanzey, suggested that 

 as the elements of plaster were present in the 

 soil in sufficient quantities, its further applica- 

 tion was unproductive of apparent good. 



I\Ir. True, of Antrim, said no effect is seen 

 if the season is wet, but if dry the plaster 

 placed in the hill attracts the moisture and 

 with this the salts of the soil, keeping the 

 plant in a more vigorous growth than it would 

 otherwise have. He also thought that top- 

 dressing of moist grass lands was a very pro- 

 fitable method of using manures. He used a 

 mixture of stable manure witli sawdust which 

 had l)ecn used as a litter in the stall. 



Mr. Smith, of Lyme, was a friend to saw- 

 dust. A fi!w years ago, in planting a piece of 

 pine plain hind, he took sawdust that was from 

 three to five years old and put half a shovel- 



ful upon potatoes after they had been dropped 

 in the hill. He thought he received as much 

 benefit from it as from the like quantity of 

 green manure, and more than from ashes and 

 plaster. In the fall he had a quantity of green 

 sawdust placed in his garden expecting to re- 

 move it in the spring ; but it had become so 

 much spread about that all was spaded in. 

 The soil was very sandy. The crops were un- 

 usually large that season. 



Mr. Read, of Swanzey, uses sawdust. Its 

 value as a fertilizer depends upon the kind of 

 wood from which it is made. Those kinds 

 which make the largest amount of ashes are 

 the best. It must undergo decomposition be- 

 fore it can be of any use as a fertilizer. 



During the discussion the following points 

 were made. 



1. Potash or lime salts were of use upon 

 nearly all soils that had been long under cul- 

 tivation, the particular salt to be used depend- 

 ing partly upon the natural constitution of the 

 soil and partly upon the demands of the crop 

 growing or to be grown. 



2. Gypsum, sulphate of lime, is useful, not 

 alone on account of the lime of its base, but 



