1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



427 



three acres in corn, and if we understood him 

 rightly, thirteen acres in potatoes, two and 

 one half in pickles ; he cuts some fifty to sixty 

 tons of hay, winters twenty-five to thirty head 

 of stock, and was then making fifteen eight 

 quart cans of milk daily. He keeps fifty fowls, 

 which yield, by careful account, a net profit of 

 one dollar each per year, besides the conven- 

 ience which they afford in eggs and flesh. 



Our next "trot" was to the farm of Mr. 

 Elijah Wood, the man who hauled half a 

 cord of wood, or less, from the nostrils of his 

 ox last winter ! He also has a large farm and 

 has twenty-five acres under cultivation this 

 summer, which is designed for a pasture next 

 year. He has thirteen acres in com which was 

 sown with grass seed at the time when the 

 corn was hoed the third time. Three acres of 

 this is in pop corn, and was manured with 

 leached ashes and superphosphate of lime at 

 the time of planting, and a top dressing of 

 the same at the time the grass seed was sown. 

 This was done as an experiment. Seven acres 

 in potatoes were mainly manured with ashes, 

 superphosphate and salt. Three acres in cu- 

 cumbers for pickles, and half an acre in peas. 



Mr. Wood informed us that a portion of 

 this land had not received a load of manure 

 upon it since his remembrance, and that he was 

 experimenting in various ways to learn whether 

 a light, sandy loam land may be profitably im- 

 proved by the use of special manures, when 

 cattle manure cannot be obtained. 



This is a most important point to be settled, 

 and one which will prove profitable to farmers, 

 whether it be in favor of the use of special 

 fertilizers or not. 



Mr. Wood has heretofore made valuable ex- 

 periments on his farm, some of which he has 

 communicated to your columns. All the other 

 gentlemen whom I have named, are occasional 

 contributors to the Farjier. They are prac- 

 tical, skilful, systematic men in their vocation, 

 and what they state to your readers is worth 

 an attentive consideration. 



The perambulations were continued in the 

 afternoon, which I could not make it conven- 

 ient to attend. The last call of the Club was 

 at the farm of the writer, for an account of 

 which the reader must look to the Secretary of 

 the Club, who has a sharp eye and an easy 

 going pen. 



The attentive reader wiU see from the above 



statements, how rapidly an old-fashioned farm- 

 ing town, eighteen miles from Boston is being 

 converted into a market garden. It is only a 

 few years since West Cambridge, (now Ar- 

 hngton.) Belmont, and a few other towns in 

 the neighborhood of the city, furnished nearly 

 all the early vegetables that were consumed 

 there. Now these supplies come from nearly 

 all the towns within a radius of twenty miles 

 of Boston and the other cities near it, — those 

 towns having a railroad probably supplying by 

 far the largest portion. 



In addition to the asparagus, strawberries, 

 lettuce, and other salads, we have twenty-five 

 acres in grapes, which are becoming very pro- 

 ductive, and whose crops mostly go to the Bos- 

 ton markets. This phase of farming, called 

 market gardening, is being gradually extended 

 feach year, and if manure can be transported 

 from the cities at a paying cost, there will soon 

 be a large business done in this branch of cul- 

 tivating the soil. 



As the cities of Cambridge and Charlestown 

 increase in population and business, the lands 

 heretofore occupied for raising "garden truck," 

 will become too costly for such a purpose, and 

 cheaper land further back must be taken. So 

 it wiU be, we presume, on all sides of the 

 cities, and the farmers who have heretofore 

 raised Only the grosser crops will turn their 

 attention to fruits, vegetables and flowers. 



Similar visits in other farming towns would 

 produce, I think, valuable results ; farmers 

 would make more money for them. Try it 

 and see. Truly yours. Simon Brown. 



Messrs. R. P. Eaton & Co. 



Washing Milk Cans by Steam. — Homer 

 A. Kidd of Walden, Orange County, N. Y., 

 writes to the Utica Herald that in order to get 

 good, pure, sweet milk at his factory, he washes 

 with steam all the farmers' cans, both night and 

 morning. Forty quart cans are used, the 

 same as are used on the railroads to send milk 

 to the city. He thinks this extra work pays 

 four- fold, for he finds he cannot trust the 

 farmers to keep their cans sweet and clean. 

 He has learned the importance of having good 

 milk in making a prime article of cheese. 

 With this washing of the cans, and the farm- 

 ers having tin pails to milk the cows in, he 

 gets the milk in much better condition. 



