1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARilER. 



209 



&c. Superfluous plants can be removed as 

 soon as strong enough to resist bugs. A 

 good preventive of bugs is to bend two sticks 

 over the hills, letting them cross each other, 

 fastening them by inserting their ends in the 

 ground and putting a part of a newspaper over 

 them, confining by placing dirt on the edges ; 

 this will not only give protection irom bugs, 

 but will also tend to forward the plants. 



Egg Plants. — Transplant into ground well 

 enriched with warm, fermenting manure from 

 the hot-bed, as soon as the weather is warm 

 and settled. 



Hot Beds. — Remove all plants, paint, re- 

 pair and put away sashes and frames for an- 

 other season. 



Insects. — Many are already on the alert, 

 seeking what they may devour. Whale oil 

 soap, guano water, and hen manure solutions 

 are not only offensive to the insects, but give 

 vigor to the plants to resist attacks ; dusting 

 with plaster or fine dust will often be suflicient. 

 Covering as recommended for cucumbers, is 

 almost certain protection. 



Lettuce — Transplant from hot-beds, and 

 sow seed among hills of vines, along borders 

 of beds, «S;c. 



Melons. — Nutmeg, Musk, Cantelope, &c. 

 Sow seeds in large hills, as for cucumbers, 

 riant at distances corresponding to growth, 

 from four to six feet. 



Nastuktioxs. — Sow where they will be 

 shaded from the mid-day sun. A rather moist 

 fcoil is best. 



Omoxs may still be sown, if they have very 

 rich, mellow surface soil. They usually do 

 best when grown on the same soil several 

 J ears in succession. 



Peas. — To have a succession of this fine 

 vegetable, sow once in two or three weeks. 

 There are a goodly number of varieties from 

 which to select early, medium and late. 



Peppers — Plant out from the hot-bed or 

 boxes in the house, in rows two feet, and 

 eighteen inches apart in the row ; manure with 

 ben manure. 



Potatoes. — Plant early, the earlier the 

 better; only early planted potatoes should be 

 grown in the garden. Begin to hoe as soon 

 as they break ground, top dress with ashes, 

 salt and lime mixed, guano or superphosphate 

 of lime. 



Radishes. — Sow in rich, warm soil in any 

 vacant places, and among other vegetables, 

 thin planted. Encourage rapid growth with 

 liquid manure. 



tetiUA.sii. — Plant and treat like cucumbers 

 and melons. Early Bush and Summer Crook- 

 neck for summer; Hubbard are best for fall 

 and winter. 



SwEKT Potatoes. — Plant out after the mid- 

 dle of the month in well enriched, sandy, 

 warm soil, in high hills or ridges. Set the 

 plants a lit»le deeper than they stood in the 

 bed. 



Tomatoes. — Transplant into well enriched 



hills, four feet apart each way. A rather 

 sandy Soil is preferable to a heavy loam or 

 clay. 



Small Fruits, like blackberries, currants, 

 raspberries, strawberries, grape vines and 

 gooseberries may be moved or planted new, 

 if done before the buds swell for leafing out. 

 Neglected grape vines may be pruned after 

 leafing out ; other bushes and shrubs may be 

 pruned, tied up to stakes or trellises, hoed, 

 manured and mulched. W. H. White. 



South Windsor, Conn., 1870. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 OUB CONDITION AND PR08PECT. 



Shall we Extend or Contract o-ar Operatioaa?— A Fall- 

 irg Market— Supply and Wages of F.irm Labor- 

 Productions for Home and Foreign Market" — Effects 

 of Decline in Gold— Present and Prospective Prices 

 of various Articles, 



The time for deciding upon what crops to 

 raise and the amount of labor to be performed 

 this vear has arrived. Farmers, lik^ the fol- 

 lowers cf every trade, are inclined to consult 

 the past and look to the future in order to de- 

 termine their work for the year. After care- 

 fully watching current events, farmers must 

 determine whether to enlarge or to curtail 

 their operations. Should the rapid decline in 

 gold, or the present state of the market sug- 

 gest the exnediency of any essential change 

 from their usual course ? The fall of gold to 

 merely a nominal premium, and the resump- 

 tion of specie pajmeuts, have been anticipated 

 wiih considerable anxiety ; for it is believed 

 a general breakdown in prices and a serious 

 interruption of business would follow. 



However this may be, in working with fall- 

 ing markets farmers have some advantages 

 over manufacturers. They are not obliged 

 to constantly expend large sums in cash for 

 raw material wherewith to make their goods, 

 and thus suffer losses two ways — on stock and 

 and the manufactured article. By far the 

 heaviest item in the cost of farm produce is 

 labor ; only a part of which is cash out. Far- 

 mers, themselves, with their teams, perform the 

 largest portion ; and it is for the interest of 

 the farmer to keep the home force employed 

 whatever may be the condition of the markets. 



The wages of help may not be less by the 

 time spring contracts aie made, but undoubt- 

 edly laborers will be more numerous, and 

 better selections can be made and more tlH- 

 cient services will be rendered ; for tbe sup- 

 j)ly is exceeding the demand in the cities. 

 Notwithstanding the repeated strikes, secret 

 leagues, co-operative movements, and all that 

 is said and done about labor n form, wages 

 have a decidedly downward tendency. lu 

 the majority of manuiacturing establishments 

 the help was cut down ten to twenty per cent, 

 the first of the winter, and If their goods con- 

 tinue to depreciate as rapidly as they have for 

 some time past, a further reduction may bo 



