560 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



full of small potatoes. I do not think these -worthy 

 of a farther trial, as I want a potato to stand the 

 blast. 



The vines of the Gleason and the Harrison stood 

 green till ihey froze down, and both produced 

 good sized tnl)ers. Of the two, I give the prefer- 

 ence to the Gleason, as the Harrison was slightly 

 affected by the rot, while the Gleason was per- 

 fectly free from any signs of disease, and is a 

 white, handsome, mealy potato. 



From a third of an acre of very poor land, 

 planted from three and a half to four feet apart 

 each way, I dug eighty bushels, and had I planted 

 as closely as most farmers do here, and on good 

 land, I have no donbt I should have got one-hnlf 

 more. I recommend farmers to give the Gleason 

 a trial. L. E. Bicknell. 



Windsor, Mass., Oct. 16, 1867. 



A SPORTING APPLE TREE. 



Some eight or ten years ago, I grafted an apple 

 tree, almut four or live inches in diameter, contain- 

 ing fiftetn branches, with scions taken from a tree 

 standing about twenty feet from it, a part of which 

 had, for more than ten years previously, as it has 

 ever since, borne "Greenings," and the remaining 

 part "Liscombs." 



Intending to have the tree under consideration, 

 pi-afted to "Greenings," only, I carefully selected 

 the scions from that part of the tree which had 

 always borne that variety, and immediately insert- 

 ed them in 14 of the 15 branches before mentioned, 

 leaving one as a sap-di-awer. I will add here, that 

 the natural fruit of this tree is a small white apple, 

 nearly sweet, of about half the size of the Russet 

 herewith sent. 



The second year from gi-afting, one of the 

 branches bore two apples of the same kind with the 

 specimen with the oval blossom end ; the third year 

 two of the branches bore abr.ut half a bushel of the 

 same kind, and several of the others bore Greenings. 

 But it was not, I think, until the sixth year that 

 all the branches bore together, when four of them 

 bore the same kind as the tirst two apples above 

 mentioned, and all the rest Greenings. Subse- 

 quently, I have noticed no difierence in the divi- 

 sion of the Ijranches between the different varieties, 

 until this year, when nine branches bore apples of 

 the kinds indicated by the two larger specimens 

 herewith sent, one of the smaller, and four only 

 bore Greenings ! 



And yet I positively assert that all the scions 

 were taken from a tree that has not a branch that 

 has not Iwrne, during more than twenty years, 

 either "Greenings"or "Liscombs." 



In conclusion I would say, that I have never 

 noticed any of the kind represented by the speci- 

 mens — flat on the blossom end, like a Greening, 

 until this year, and therefore cannot state its quali- 

 ty — but the other has a delicious taste and flavor, 

 seeming to combine the excellencies of the Green- 

 ing, Liscomb and Baldwin. Edwin E. Blake. 



Wrentham, Mass., Sept. 21, 1867. 



Remarks. — The statements of our correspon- 

 dent are both interesting and strange, and did 

 they not come from one who seems to have given 

 the matter the most careful attention, we should 

 be inclined to think that some mistake was made 

 in selecting the scions. 



We call these strange changes, — which seem to 

 us to be a departure from the regular order of 

 things, — freaks, or sports of nature, when the 

 probability is that they arc the result of the opera- 

 tion of exact laws, but laws which are as yet hid- 

 den from our view. 



Trees sometimes blossom twice in the same sea- 

 son. It is only two or three weeks since we saw 

 an account of an apple tree in full bloom in Sep- 

 tember. Cabbages have club feet; onions, instead 

 of rounding themselves out in comely proportions 

 on the surfiice of the ground, grow up liUe a walk- 

 ing stick, and reflect no credit upon their kind. 

 Some cows drop a calf with two heads, six legs, or 

 three tails! And who can tell what the cause is 

 of either of these departures from the common 

 order of things ? 



The circumstances related are interesting, and 

 we shall be glad to receive the opinions of others 

 in relation to them. 



chemical terms. — carbon. 



I have been highly pleased with your series of 

 articles entitled "Chemical Terms,"" flunking they 

 might be productive of great good by defining and 

 explaining what has been kept locked up away 

 from the masses as profound secrets, in unintelligi- 

 ble terms and names ; but while I see much to ad- 

 mire, I would request the writer to be a little more 

 exact in his siatements. 



In the fonrth article, on carbon, he says, "Plum- 

 bago, or as it is called, black le.id, is crystalized 

 black carbon." If ho had written, "crystalized 

 carburet of iron," he would have been nearer the 

 facts. According to Klaproth and Saussure, plum- 

 bngo, when pure, is a chemical compound of car- 

 lion and iron, in the proportions of 96 carbon and 

 4 iron, though it sometimes eontnins almost enough 

 silica to constitute it a silicate of iron. Probably 

 it is' the iron that gives it its fire-resisting power, 

 as it is well known that steel is more refractory in 

 the fire than pure iron. 



Finally, the main points of difference between 

 "It." and mj^self are these: he cites plumbago as 

 a sample of pure carbon, saying nothing of the 

 iron whicn is an important constituent of the min- 

 eral in question, while I claim it is a chemical 

 compound of carbon and iron. Rusticus. 



Ripon, Vt., Oct., 18G7. 



MR. potato field VS. MR. GREEN GROCER. 



Last spring, because of the exorbitant price that 

 Mr. Green G.-occr made me pay for potatoes, I de- 

 termined that I would patronize him no longer, 

 and hearing Mr. Potato Field wns a man well re- 

 ported of for honesty and fair dealing among his 

 neighbors, I determined that he in future should 

 have my custom. Accordinglv one day I called 

 upon him, and after a very interesting visit spent in 

 looking around his premises, we came to the fol- 

 lowing understanding: Mr. Field wiis to furnish 

 me with all the potatoes I wi>lied in the fiill, 

 and the price thereof w.is to be as reasonable as ho 

 could afford, while I in turn was to work for him 

 for fair pay, and render him any assistance he 

 miilht require in his businesis. 



The first of our ti-ansactions was as follows: I 

 rented to Mr. Field a piece of land, making him 

 pay a fair price for the s:-imc. I al.-o made him 

 pay a good price for the manure put upon it, and 

 for repairing the fence around it. I then sold him 

 some i)otatoes for seed, charging hini the same 

 price that Mr. Green Grocer asked for them. Then, 

 as Iha<l leisure time, I workcti forhini, jiloughing, 

 planting, hoeing, &c., for which I charged him 

 $1.50 jicr day. And, by the way, he is a very 

 nice man to work for ; fully agreeing with me in 

 politics, and on all other iiniiortant subjects; so I 

 came to the conclusion that he was a very sensible 

 man. 



Well, the summer months have passed and gaas, 



