43 ■> 



XEW ENGLAND FARilER. 



Sept. 



DRYING EFFECT OP PINE AND FIR 

 THEES UPON BO:Ij. 



One of the dear evidences of a healtbful 

 progress and pros^perity in rural life, is the 

 tendency among our people to ask questions. 

 No man seems contented with his present suc- 

 cess, however complete and gratifying that 

 may be. The sculptor will not rest until he 

 makes the marble under his hands breathe ; 

 nor the physician, until he can take you entirely 

 into pieces, and put you together again just as 

 good &» ever. The manufacturer of the cloth 

 we wear, is not satisfied by clothing us in the 

 finest wool, but ransacks the world for some 

 finer and softer material, so that we may soon 

 expect to see a suit made of thistle's down, or 

 the fur from a fly's foot. And the farmer, 

 too, has become inspired. He is not now sat- 

 isfied with turning over the furrow because it 

 makes the hoeing eatier, but inquires, — "What 

 else is going on in that clod ? What are the 

 frost and rain doing there ? What oflice does 

 this sand and these pebbles perform ? How 

 came the bone that Carlo buried in the gar- 

 den ten years ago, a complete net- work of 

 roots ? Why was the wheat crop in the old 

 lime-kiln lot three times as large as we ever 

 raised in any other field ? Why have pines 

 covered the lot where white oaks, were cut off 

 three years ago ?" 



These, and many similar questions, come 

 fi'om farmers now, with an evident desire to 

 know more cf the wonderful operations which 

 are constantly going on in the things which 

 they see and handle in their daily labor. 



Many, very many questions are asked, that 

 no one is wise enough to answer ; but at the 

 present rate of research, many of them will 

 be answered, and those answers will enable 

 the farmer to increase his crops, and at the 

 same time lessen his labor. At one time the 

 question was put, "Can wool and cotton be 

 spun by machinery ?" Mills for the manufac- 

 ture of all sorts of cotton and woollen cloths, 

 answer the question aflirmatively, and they 

 have hushed the cheerful hum of thousands of 

 spinning wheels around the domestic hearth. 



Constant observation, thought and research, 

 added to industrious habits and frugal lives, 

 are what elevate us as a race, and it is as much 

 a duty to exercise these powers and to pro- 

 gress as it is to be faithful in any other respect. 



Reading the following article upon the dry- 



ing effect of fir trees upon soil, suggested the 

 remarks already made : — 



"A remarkable instance of the effect of pine 

 trees on the soil in which they grow has been pub- 

 lished in the ^ Woods and Waters Reports' of the 

 north of France. A forest near Valenciennes, 

 comprising about eighteen hundred acres of scrub 

 and stunted oak and birch, was grubbed up in 

 1843 and replaced by Scotch firs. The soil, com- 

 posed of silicious sands mingled with a very small 

 quantity of clay, was in some places very wet ; it 

 contained two or three springs, from one of which 

 flowed a small stream. The firs succeeded be- 

 yond expectation, and large handsome stems now 

 grow vigorously over the whole ground. It was 

 in the early stages of their growth that the re- 

 markable effect above referred to was noticed. 

 The soil began to dry, the snipes that once fre- 

 quented the place migrated to a more congenial 

 locality ; the ground became drier and drier, until 

 at last the springs and the stream ceased to flow. 

 Deep trenches were dug to lay open the source of 

 the springs, and discover the cause of the drying 

 up ; but nothing was found except that the roots 

 of the firs had penetrated the earth to a depth of 

 five or six feet. Borings were then made, and six 

 feet below the source of the spring, a bed of wa- 

 ter was met with of considerable depth, from 

 which it was inferred, the spring had formerly 

 been fed. But in what way its level had been 

 lowered by the action of the firs could not be de- 

 termined, and is still a matter of speculation. 

 But the fact remains and may be utilized by any 

 one interested in tree culture. For years it has 

 been turned to account in Gascony, where the la- 

 goons that intersect the sandy dunes have been 

 dried up by planting the Pinus maritimus along 

 their margin. Hence we may arrive at the con- 

 clusion, that while leafy trees feed springs and 

 maintain the mo>isture of the soil, the contrary 

 function is reserved for spine or needle-bearing 

 trees, which dry the soil and improve its quality." 



For Vie New England Farmer, 

 SOME CASES OF BAD FARMING. 



In travelling through several of the adjoin- 

 ing towns within the last two months or so, 

 for the purpose of purchasing tobacco, I have 

 been somewhat surprised to see in what a 

 thriftless way some farmers conduct their op- 

 erations. Perhaps some one better posted 

 in these matters, could state them better than 

 I can, but as I live where the saving of ma- 

 nure is one great object, the wastes of this 

 article alone would afford a theme for an arti- 

 cle. 



But there are other ways in which thriftless- 

 ness is demonstrated. I saw cows last fall 

 standing out in the cold storm, curled up on 

 the windward side of a stone fence, or out- 

 buildings, — shivering, pinched, sorry looking 

 creatures, — and I have often wished that their 

 very humane masters might have had a berth 

 beside them. Then again they have been no- 

 ticed trying to fill themselves on the frozen 

 grass that they could pick on the already 

 closely fed mowing lots. One day noticing a 

 man endeavoring to keep the half starved cows 

 back in the mowfield, I had the impudence to 

 ask him what benefit he supposed the cows 

 were getting from eating such old frozen 



