248 



XEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



May 



and delight in the joys they afford ! for "a thing of 

 beauty is a joy forever." 



Then we bad scarcely ajournal in the country 

 devoted to the science. Now such magazines as 

 the Gardener's Monthly, Horticulturist and the 

 Journal of Horticulture reach all classes, and do 

 much to elevate rural taste and create in the minds 

 of the masses a love for the beautiful. 



Then again, where there was one professional 

 fljrist twenty-five years ago, there are ten to-day. 

 For proof of this fact let reference be had to the 

 advertisingcolumnsof the Agricultural Press then 

 and now. Now "Floral Guides" and "Seed Cata- 

 logues" everywhere abound; while then such 

 beautifully illustrated Annuals as those published 

 by James Vick, of Rochester, and Messrs. Wash- 

 burn, Breck, or Hovey, of Boston, would be looked 

 upon by the masses with no little curiosity. 



And my advice to the boys and girls, especially 

 the farmers' sons and daughters, who read this ar- 

 ticle, is, procure some one of these illustrated cat- 

 alogues, which you will find advertised in this and 

 other agricultural journals. They are worth twice 

 their cost as works of art — to say nothing of the 

 lessons of instruction and profit you may receive 

 by their perusal. I. W. Sanborn. 



Lyndonville, Vt., March, 1870. 



BLUE- BIRDS IN AN OLD BOOT. 



Last spring a pair of blue;birds found an old 

 boot in one of my apple trees near the house, in 

 ■which they built a nest and hatched two broods of 

 young birds. "Would it not be a good plan to lay 

 the boots where the birds can have access to 

 them? 



SNAKES EATING BIRD'S EGGS. 



While walking out one morning, last summer, 

 I saw the birds flying round a dry willow tree in 

 much alarm and confusion, making a very great 

 noise. On turning aside, I saw a large black 

 snake with his tail coiled round a limb and his 

 head in a woodpecker's hole. I killed the snake, 

 and the egg-shells that came out of his mouth told 

 what he had been about. 



A dog's EXPERIENCE AWAY FROM HOME. 



A farmer's dog went with his master to the de- 

 pot, and on seeing the cars coming in thought 

 there was a good chance for a little fun, by racing 

 with and barking at them. But as their speed was a 

 little beyond the vehicles to which he had been 

 accustomed, he slipped under a wheel, losing one 

 toe and a part of his tail. I will not trouble you 

 with a moral, nor do I know whether he has been 

 round to tell the other dogs, as did the fox in the 

 fable, how much lighter and better they would he 

 if dressed in his fashion, but I hardly think he 

 will care to repeat his experiment on the railroad. 

 Edward Carlton. 



West ford, Mass., Feb. 18, 1870. 



NOVA SCOTIA BEANS. 



I have a remarkably prolific and excellent small 

 white bean, which originated in this section from 

 four beans brought here in the vest pocket of a 

 gentleman from Nova Scotia, four years ago, where 

 they are regarded as a very superior variety. 

 From these four beans two-thirds of a cupful 

 were raised the first year, and three pecks the 

 next year. From one pint of these beans my fa- 

 ther raised two bushels and a half. I send a part 

 of two stalks, just to show you how they pod off. 

 Some of the stalks have twice as many beans as 

 are on both that I send you. Lewis Beal. 



North Fairfield, Me., March 23, 1870. 



Remarks. — Very handsome specimens of beans 

 are those received, and undoubtedly a most pro- 



lific variety. Mr. Beal, as will be seen by an ad- 

 vertisement in last week's Farmer, offers to fur- 

 nish seed to those who wish to try the Nova Scotia 

 bean. We shall plant those we received. 



MUCK, salt and LIME. 



For the benefit of my neighbors and farmers, I 

 will give my experience in making manures from 

 muck, salt and lime. I now own the Col. James 

 Jaques farm in Wilmington, Mass. I have owned 

 a part of it for the last ten years. I could not get 

 all at once, as portions of it was held liy the heirs, 

 and I h",ve been obliged to purchase a piece at a 

 time. I now own about seventy-five acres. The 

 fii'st lot of eleven acres, was called by Mr. A. G. 

 Sheldon the best lot of land in Wilmington. I 

 have owned this lot five years. The first year I 

 cut about ten hundred pounds poor redtop hay. 

 I now cut on five acres of this land about eight 

 tons. On this lot there is muck to the depth of 

 from four to eight feet deep, and of the very best 

 quality. I take out the muck the last of August, 

 and put enough in my barn cellar to absorb the 

 urine from the cows overhead ; also, fill my piggery 

 about half full. 



The salt and brine from my grocery store, 

 amounting to about twenty barrels a year is saved 

 as carefully as I would gold dust, and is turned 

 down the scuttle and over the muck in the barn 

 cellar from time to time, as it is made. Outside 

 of the stable, 1 make large heaps of muck, say 

 five cords in a place, and add to each four barrels 

 of salt and brine, and four casks air slacked lime, 

 and overhaul twice. In the spring cart this on to 

 land that was ploughed in the fall, say thirty cart 

 loads, or seven cords to the acre and plough it in. 

 Plant one year; lay down to grass the next spring 

 and cut grass for five years without much deterio- 

 ration in quantity or quality. Now I would say to 

 my brother farmers, get out your muck in the 

 fall, before fall rains begin, and go to the village or 

 city and engage all the salt and brine they make 

 from pork and fish, which mo^t grocers throw 

 into the streets, even if you have to pay something 

 for it. You will find it the cheapest and strongest 

 of all m mures that can be got up fifteen miles 

 from Boston. J. A. Ames. 



Wilmington, Mass., March 19, 1870. 



grain for ewes IN MILK. 



Having noticed an inquiry in the Farmer, a 

 few weeks since, in relation to the best kinds of 

 grain to feed sheep, with especial reference to the 

 productionof milk, I give herewith the results of 

 my own experience : — 



If for any reason it is desirable to have lambs 

 dropped the last of February or the first of March, 

 I know of no kind of grain which, witli hay alone, 

 will maintain an adequate flow of milk until sheep 

 can be turned to pasture. The man who would 

 raise winter lambs successfully must have iu 

 store a liberal supply of roots, — beet; and turnips 

 are best, — and should feed them two or three 

 weeks at least before the sheep begin to drop their 

 lambs. In connection with roots, feed liberally 

 with early cut hay, and equal proportions of cora 

 meal and oats as long as the sheep are at the barn, 

 and the flow of milk can be sustained. Without this 

 liberal feed he will have in May a poor sheep, and 

 poorer lamb. The prevailing practi.'e in this sec- 

 tion is to have lambs dropped trotn the first to the 

 tenth or fifteenth of April, and from this time till 

 the feed has starred in the pastures, sheep can 

 be sustained with much less cost and labor. For 

 this length of time roots can be dispensed with. 

 But as a grain feed, barley meal and oats in equal 

 proportions, though some might wish to add a 



