490 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



man ; and that, like the gorgeous birds of the 

 tropics, and the wonderful plants that blossom 

 but once in a century, they constitute in part 

 the poetry of nature. 



All birds of their species, such as geese, 

 ducks, &c., in a state of nature, migrate to a 

 northern latitude to propagate. It will be 

 recollected that Dr. Kane found the islands 

 and cliffs of Labrador and those of "Weary 

 Man's Rest," literally swarming with them. 

 Nature teaches them to provide against rep- 

 tiles, birds and beasts of prey, and hot weath- 

 er. Those that have watched them on their 

 camping-grounds tells us that they begin to lay 

 their eggs soon after their arrival at the North. 

 They make their nest upon the ground, with 

 no covering but the canopy above. When 

 they begin to sit, the male bird takes his turn 

 at incubation, while the female is off gathering 

 food — thus exhibiting a wonderful instinct, by 

 which the eggs are prevented from getting 

 chilled, where snow and rain are often failing. 



"Nature in all things," was Thoreau's mot- 

 to ; and acting upon a suggestion from him, I 

 obtained a most valuable hint in the hatching 

 of domestic fowls. 



But, Mr. Editor, I began to write about wa- 

 ter birds, and at some future time will give 

 some suggestions concerning the rearing and 

 marketing of domestic poultry. H. 



Boston, Aug. 5, 1867. 



Remarks. — In the Farmer, Sept. 1, 1866, 

 we gave some account of the swans on the pond 

 in the Public Garden, of Boston, with an illus- 

 tration of a pair of these graceful birds. To 

 those of our readers who were interested in 

 that article, the foregoing will be acceptable. 



TOP-DRESSING MEADOWS. 



At a late discussion of the best way and 

 time to top-dress meadows, by the Herkimer 

 County, N. Y., Farmers' Club, the general 

 opinion seemed to be that the best results 

 were obtained by using well rotted dung, ap- 

 plied immediately after haying, using a brush 

 to brush it down fine, so that it may be dis- 

 tributed evenly and reach all the plants. If a 

 sprinkling of plaster be sown immediately up- 

 on this top-dressing, it fixes the ammonia and 

 prevents loss. The manure also served to 

 protect the roots of grass from the rays of the 

 sun, which often acted injuriously upon mead- 

 ows after the grass was cut. Judge Owen 

 made the following statement : — 



Some; }cars ago he owned twelve acres of 

 Mohawk Ihits ; it had been severely cropped, 

 and was poor — {)erhaps the poorest piece of 

 land on tlie JMuluiwk. lie purchased four luui- 

 hred loads of btable manure, and applied it in 



a fresh or raw state, and with but little im- 

 provement to the soil or crops. Then he 

 looked about for another course of treatment, 

 and purchased a thousand yards of well rotted 

 dung. It was all in one pile, and had been 

 accumulating for five years. It was at a barn 

 that stood six feet above the surface of the 

 ground, and the manure had been thrown out 

 until the accumulation had reached the sills of 

 the building. Straw had from time to time 

 been thrown upon the excrement of s4ock, and 

 this had prevent evaporation, making a solid 

 mass of rich manure. This material was cart- 

 ed upon the land, and we saw the effect — it 

 turned the field into a garden. This experi- 

 ence convinced him of the value of rotted over 

 unrotted manures. 



CHARCOAL FOR "WHEAT. 

 It is to be hoped that those who are in the 

 habit of cultivating wheat — either spring or win- 

 ter — will not neglect to give this article a fair, 

 patient, and impartial trial, and note carefully 

 the result. 



Charcoal, it is well known, possesses, in a 

 remarkable degree, the power of attracting 

 and fixing ammonia, very considerable quanti- 

 ties of which are always present in rain water, 

 as well as in the snow which falls during winter. 

 It also condenses other nutritive gases which, 

 in their action, are highly beneficial to wheat 

 and other crops. Twenty bushels of finely 

 pulverized charcoal would, in all probability, 

 be an ample allowance for an acre of wheat — 

 that is, so far as the absorption and fixing of 

 these aereform substances are involved ; al- 

 though it would not, of course, of itself, un- 

 assisted by putrescent manure, immediately 

 transform poor soil into rich, and cause it to 

 produce an affluent, or even medium crop of 

 grain. 



We would by no means advocate the institu- 

 tion of expensive experiments, yet we are san- 

 guine that the time has already arrived when 

 the value of this substance for manurial pur- 

 poses ought to be thoroughly and accurately 

 ascertained. 



As it possesses the power of absorbing 

 ninety times its weight of ammonia — alter- 

 nately attracting and giving out (his most effi- 

 cient agent of vegetable life — and as this 

 economy is continued uninterruptedly through- 

 out the vegetable year, there can be no (jues- 

 tion, we think, that its application, in certain 

 given (juantities, would, in most instances, be 

 highly economical, and of decided benefit to 



