1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



559 



they are on a sea voyage of thirty days, part of the 

 time in a tropical climate. To pack them in wet 

 moss would he their destruction in half that length 

 of time on ship board. 



I have found that the best way to preserve them 

 on a voyage of any length is to take up good sound, 

 young and well established runners, the last of 

 April ; divest them of all decayed leaves, tie them 

 in bunches of 25 or -50, having their crowns disposed 

 evenly, and then dip the roots in a clay puddle, 

 working it into all the roots ; let these bunches get 

 dry or nearly so ; then pack them tight in a box 

 with the crowns upward, and let the top be covered 

 with slats to let in the air, and I think they will go 

 safe. Yours &c., Jos. Breck. 



EARLY LOSS OF THE HAIR. 



Will you or some of your readers give me a 

 receipt, through the Farmer, to prevent hair from 

 falling out and to promote its growth. I am a 

 young man and my hair has been falling off for a 

 year, and now it is very thin. I have tried all the 

 hair oils and received no benefit; and now, as a 

 last resort, I apply to the Farmer for help, as I 

 always do when needed. Albert. 



Remarks. — If the cause be hereditary, no medi- 

 cament will cure. In some families the hair falls off 

 in early life, for which no possible cause can be 

 assigned. In other families the teeth decay long 

 before manhood arrives. If not hereditary, and 

 the skin requires a little quickening, perhaps the 

 best applications are a wash of glycerine and 

 water, or a weak solution of borax in water. 



"Washing the head occasionally in moderately 

 cold water, and rubbing gently until the hair is 

 dry, would tend to give increased activity to the 

 Bkin and thereby cause it to hold on to the hair. But 

 it should not be washed as often as to wash away 

 all the natural oily and softening secretions of the 

 skin. 



A large proportion of the hair oils, or hair re- 

 storers, as they are called, are probably injurious 

 to the head and hair, instead of promoting its 

 growth, or retaining it upon the head. And it is 

 possible that your trial of "all the hair oils" has 

 aggravated if not caused the trouble you now seek 

 to remedy. 



AUTUMN GARDENING. 



This, I have no doubt, looks like a very frosty 

 subject to many of your readers. To prepare 

 ground for next year's occupancy and leave it for 

 the cold storms to beat down to almost brick con- 

 sistency ; to bury little seeds in the earth and leave 

 them for long, weary, cold months exposed to 

 frosts and storms ! How can they ever spring to 

 life and health ; to bloom and fruit bearing ? 

 What is regarded as an accident, sometimes leads 

 to very pleasant and useful results. A tomato 

 ripened in obscurity under the leaves of the pa- 

 rent vine, and when fully ripe it still eluded the 

 search of the gardener. Decay always follows 

 maturity. So it was with the tomato. The rich 

 pulp decayed and fell to comparative nothingness, 

 but the little seed fell upon the yet unchilled earth ; 

 the autumnal rains gave it a slight burial : winter's 

 frosts and snows cemented the earth around it ; 

 but when the soft rains, and gentle winds, and 



warm sunshine of spring came, the little seed, so 

 long dormant and cold awoke from its sliunberp, 

 and sent up a tiny plant to greet the returning seiv 

 son of flowers and fruit. There, where it sprang up 

 it was allowed to grow. When the cold winds sa- 

 luted it with rough, chilling breath, their only in- 

 fluence was to give it strengtli nnd power of endur- 

 ance. It grew on, blossomed and bore fruit. 



Near l)y it was placed a phint taken from the 

 hot bed, where nurturing care had long and faith- 

 fully been given it. This plant, too, must be sub- 

 ject to all the influences of ont-of-door atmosphere. 

 When the winds shook it, it shrunk from their em- 

 brace, and leaned down to earth for its protection. 

 It required artificial aid to give it an upright 

 growth. It also liecame enfeelded by its removal 

 from the rich soil and hot-house protection, and 

 through this, and kindred disadvantnges, it soon 

 fell behind its stronger and more enduring neigh- 

 bor. 



The above is no allegory. We have seen the 

 self-sown tomato spring up from the bed of its 

 winter repose, and have set plants from the hot 

 bed in well prepared soil near liy it. At the time 

 of transplanting, the hot-bed plants had the advan- 

 tage of several inches in growtli, but with the same 

 after care, the self-sown plants reached an earlier 

 maturity nnd gave more abundant harvest. And 

 now, we depend on our autumnal planting for our 

 supply of the tomato. 



"The ground for this fall sowing should be pre- 

 pared with all the care in manuring and pulveriz- 

 ing that would naturally be given in spring, and 

 the seed sown where the next year's plants are 

 expected to grow ; for, manage the thing as well as 

 may be, the growtli of this plant is retarded by 

 transplanting. If some precaution is used to pre- 

 vent the cartli from Ijccoming too compact in win- 

 ter and spring, it will be all in favor of the plant. 

 We do not claim that seed so sown will come up 

 so early as those sown in the hot-l)ed, but they will 

 come up as soon as the earth and atmosphere are 

 ready to give them growth, and the plants raised 

 in this way acquire a healthier growth, come ear- 

 lier into bearing, and produce more abundantly 

 than those raised or started by artificial means. 

 Such is our experience. Lettuce and cabbage may 

 have an early start by the same method. w. b. 



Richmond, Mass., Dec. 11, 1866. 



Remarks. — This communication was received, 

 as appears by its date, rather too late for its prac- 

 tical suggestions to be adopted by our readers last 

 season. Autumn gardening can now be attended 

 to, and this article is more seasonable than it 

 would have been in the latter part of last Decem- 

 ber. For various reasons we occasionally postpone 

 the publication of the favors of our friends, but 

 we hope that such delay will never be considered 

 as disrespectful to the writers. 



experiment with new potatoes. 



I tried four of the seedling potatoes advertised 

 last spring, and think the result may be interesting 

 to your readers. I planted on poor, wet, green- 

 sward. Half a shovelful of gi-een manure and a 

 spoonful of phosphate of lime were put in a hill. 

 A handful of ashes was applied at the second hoe- 

 ing. The variety, amount of seed used, and the 

 yield were as follows : 



Name. Seed. Yield 



Harrison, 1 peck 10 bushels. 



Early Goodrich, 34 bushels 13 " 



Calico, V4 bushels 57 " 



Gleason, 2^ " 80 " 



The blast killed the vines of the Calico and 

 Early Goodrich, and consequently the hills were 



