54 



NEW ENGLAJSTD FARMER. 



Jan. 



weeks the meat is ready for u';c ; the beef can be 

 hung to dry, and ham and tongues lel'r. under brine. 

 AVIicn a ham is cut it can be returned to the pickle ; 

 tlius it is kept from drying up and from insects. 

 In March or April pour out the iirme.rc-soioke the 

 tub, scald the bnne; add one pint of salt to every 

 two qu.irts of water which is needful to keep the 

 moat covered; or elst', pour away the old brine, 

 (it i-. good tor the asparagus bed or the plum trees) 

 and make new Kei p the tirkm in a cool, dry cel- 

 lar, or in the ice house, and \our meat will be as 

 sweet as a nut lili it is all consumed. This way of 

 smoking and pickling will recommend itself to 

 every woman of comiuon sense. If she is willing 

 to take the trouble of rubbing the hams, the meat 

 will be sweerer. After they have been well rubbed 

 they should be placed in the smoked tirkin and 

 pounded down viry tightly with a heavy stick. 

 A large ttone must be laid on top of the meat, and 

 the salr, molasses, &c., poured over it. In the 

 early spring a fre>h biii.e can be made for the 

 meat, washingotfihe old brineand re-smoking the 

 firkm. Beet and pork can be cured together wiih- 

 out injury to either. s. o. J. 



Bath, N. II., Nov., 1869. 



CATERPILLARS AND WILD CHERRY TREES. 



Mr. Brown, — Dear Sir: — I am very much sur- 

 prised to see in your paper advice to "cut down 

 and cast into ihe tire" every wild cherry tree, as 

 they are a complete nursery for caterpillars. The 

 reason you give for destroying them is the vtry 

 reason I slioukl give for planting them. Nobody 

 can suppose that they create caterpillars. They 

 only attract them from every other tree, and are 

 thus the best guard of the orchard that can be 

 found. Let a few stand in or near the orchard, 

 and there will be no necessity for cleaning every 

 apple tree of nests of caterpillars. They will be 

 all found on the cherry trees, which need not to be 

 planted in the pasture; and, if the cherry trees are 

 low, the labor in getting rid of all the caterpillars 

 will be very small. 



I read jour paper pretty constantly, and my 

 only objeciion t J it is th.it there is so much good 

 in it, that It takes up too much time. G. e. e. 



Wmthrop, Mass., 1869. 



Remarks — We have great deference for the 

 opinions of our correspondent, but a twenty years' 

 experience proves that his plan has not operated 

 well in our case. A stone wall separates a large 

 orchard from a neighbor's field, where he allowed 

 wild cherry trees to grow abundantly. They were 

 covered with caterpillars every year, and the adja- 

 cent apple trees wore about as lively with them as 

 were the cherry trees. Tired of destroying them, 

 we obtained consent to cut down the cherry trees, 

 and the result has been, that it has not required 

 half the labor to take care of the apple trees since. 

 The liest way, we think, is to destroy the sources of 

 the evil. 



OUR BOOTS AND SHOES. 



The New England Farmer comes to us 

 weekly, laden with good things. It discourses of 

 the past and the present, and with hope looks 

 ahead toward the good time coming, when every 

 farmer ia the land shall get a living easy, and have 

 plenty of time to wipe the sweat and dust from 

 his face, and to sit down beneath his own vine and 

 apple tree and enjoy the Iruit of nis labor, the 

 society of his friends, and the beautiful things in 

 creation around him. Moreover his happiness 

 would be increased if the post-office department 



would be a little more prompt in the discharge of 

 its duties. For a man to wiiit until Saturday night 

 or tile next week, for a newspaper due on Friday, 

 is like having to wait for an opportunity to cat a 

 cold dinner, which would have been much better 

 warm. 



But this trifling annoyance is not to be com- 

 pared with the tiials and suflFeriogs endured by 

 farmers, in common with o'her clas-es, on ac- 

 count of the present style of boots and sh'ics. I 

 have heard of bjys being "big enough to go hure- 

 foot;" but what is the exact size or ape which 

 entitles a boy to that peculiar honor I never yet 

 have learned, but I have wished many a tiaie that 

 I could go barefoot alioays. I have lived tm this 

 earth upwards of forty years, and have had a new 

 pair of shoes or boots every year, I ihink, but 

 never since I can rememtitr have I had a single 

 pair that were comtortable and easy. I have not 

 a club foot, nor a long heel, and there is nothing 

 peculiar about my feet. The truth is, the present 

 style is not adapted to the foot. Why not, is more 

 than I can tell. Some infernal spirit must have 

 had control of him who designed a pair of boots 

 or shoes that compels the wearer to be constantly 

 going down hill whenever he attempts to walk. 

 Why should the heel be raised one or two inches 

 high' r than the tront part of the foot ? Why 

 should the toes be squeezed at every step into an 

 acute angie, with a ute pain ? I have questioned 

 shoe manufacturers in regard to the matter, and 

 they answer, "If we should make a shoe to tit the 

 foot, no one would buy it." Then nobody pre- 

 prefers a blessing to a curse, when cur.-es are most 

 in fashion. In heathen lands little children are 

 thrown to the crocodiles because it is the fashion, 

 and in New England they are obliged to wear high 

 heeled, narrow toed shoes because it is — the fashion. 



Htbronville, Mass , 1869. L. L. Kead. 



barren apple trees. 



What shall 1 do with my apple trees ? I pur- 

 chased a farm in this town fifteen years ago. Oa 

 a field descending south were many small apple 

 trees. When mowiog, we were careful to leave 

 these trees, and there are now 300 of thcra on the 

 field. Tliev are from one to six inches through; 

 mostly thrifty, and are considerably shading the 

 land. I do not get ten liushels of apples a year 

 from them. Shall I cut them down anel put the 

 land to a better use; or had I better gratt them 

 with scions from trees that bear ? S. Fisher. 



Ripton, Vt., 1869. 



Remarks. — The trees are now fifteen to eighteen 

 years old, and if producing as they usually did 

 thirty years ago, would yield, as an average, one 

 barrel to each tree. It appears that the trees are 

 in their natwal .state — are not grafted. They 

 ought, therefore, to be hardy and productive. 

 But they are not. If they will not bear in this 

 condition, is it likely they would if grafted ? We 

 think not. The difficulty does not lie in the vari- 

 ety of the fruit, but in some wide spread influence 

 that we know nothing about, except from what we 

 see of its effects. It does not seem that the trees 

 arc deprived of any of their accustomed powers. 

 Fruit buds set abundantly last year, and the trees 

 blossomed, but bore no fruit. They have again 

 set their buds for another year, and they appear 

 fresh and strong. Their non-bearing is not on ac- 

 count of poverty of soil, for trees are all about us 

 that have made a large growth the past season, 

 but produces very little fruit. We know nothing 



