5G6 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



For the Xeto England Farmer, 

 VARIETIES OP CORN. 



Hon. S. Brown, Ed. of New England 

 Farmer : — While we were at the late agricul- 

 tural i-iir, Ilillsboro' Bridge, you spoke of 

 husking some large corn a few dajs since, 

 saying naany of the ears of which were twelve 

 inches long. I remarked that I had grown 

 corn this year, many of the ears being tifceen 

 inches in length. From the "twinkle of your 

 eyes" when I made the statement, I inferred 

 that you thought I was "speaking unadvis- 

 edly." 



To convince you that 1 did not overstate, I 

 forward with this an ear of said length. A few 

 days ago I plucked an ear measuring plump 

 17 inchps, while lying in an outer room. Some 

 one took the liberty of snapping off about 

 four inche^ and the broken portion was not 

 to be found, thus missing the chance of send- 

 ing it to you. 



Originally, this variety was the Brown or 

 KingPhilip corn. Over twenty years ago, seed 

 was carried to New Jersey for re-planting, 

 where the corn was found missing at the first 

 Loeicg It has been planted there annually 

 as a faeld crop ever since, a*nd has attained the 

 large growth and late maturing habits of the 

 New Jers^ey corn. Libt winter a farmer in 

 that Slate sent me, per mail, a splendid ear 

 measuring 14 inches. About the 20ch of last 

 May I planted a part of the seed. It grew 

 fiom nine to ten feet high, and was harvested 

 a few days since. Very few ears were ripe 

 enough for good seed. I forward a portion 

 of the ear received from New Jersey, from 

 which you will be satisfied it is a lineal de- 

 scendant of the once famous Brown corn of 

 Long Island, Lake Winnipiseogee. 



I also forward an ear of corn grown from 

 B. F Johnson's "Hundred Days Dent Corn." 

 Mr. J. forwarded me a few ears last winter. 

 He has for some, years been carefully select- 

 ing the best and earliest ripening ears for 

 seed, ripening, in Champagne County, in Illi- 

 nois, in 100 days from planting the seed. Some 

 of the stalks 1 grew the past season were eleven 

 feet high, and six and a half feet to the top of 

 some of the ears. The ears of some of mine 

 were longer and larger than the ones he sent 

 me. In ordinary seasons, say like that of 

 18G8, it would have scarcely got into the milk 

 when we had a severe frost, 17th of Septem- 

 ber. 



From the above experiments it will be seen 

 that there is nothing to be gained by our 

 farmers obtaining seed corn very far south of 

 their place of residence. 



I also send an ear of the variety grown on 

 my farm. It speaks for itself, though it is 

 not so large a variety as is grown by many of 

 our farmers whose farms are on our hills. 

 The frost holds off much longer on the hill 

 farms than on those in our valleys, as xt does 

 on mine. 



P. S. — I also forward some twenty or more 

 pounds of the "Grafton Mineral Fertilizer," 

 with a circular, signed by numerous firmers 

 and others, testifying to its great value as a 

 fertilizing or manurial agent. Yours truly, 

 Levi Bartlett. 



Warner, N. H., Oct. 7, 1870. 



Remarks. — ^We are obliged to friend Bart- 

 lett for his kind attentions in sending us 

 samples of corn and the "Grafton Min,eral 

 Fertilizer." The corn is very fine, and shows 

 what New Hampshire can do, even in a drought. 

 From statements made to us upon the most 

 reliable authority, we should think the fer- 

 tilizer alluded to would prove of vast benefit 

 to the New England States at least. We un- 

 derstand that the quantity is unlimited, is ac- 

 cessible, easily quarried and not far from rail- 

 road communication. We are iLformed by 

 those who tested it on many crops last sum- 

 mer, that it had a wonderful influence in pro- 

 moting their growth and in perfecting seed. 

 If permitted to plant again, we hope to test it 

 in various wavs. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 "GILT-EDQED BUTTER." 



This term has been lately applied to butter 

 of a fine nutty flavor and a firm consistency ; 

 but very little of it is ever seen in the markets 

 of our cities, for the manufacturers of such 

 butter usually procure regular customers, who 

 take it at a price much above the market. It 

 has been said by good judges that not one tub 

 in ten of strictly good butter is ever found 

 among the wholesale dealers. Why is this 

 so? This question is very pertinent to all 

 butter makers, and they should endeavor to 

 answer it. 



The manufacture of cheese has greatly im- 

 proved of late years. The factory system has 

 produced great skill in that branch of the 

 dairy; but butter is made principally by 

 owners of dairies, and there is litile "system" 

 pertaining to it. Butter making is more diffi- 

 cult than cheese making, because it- is subject 

 to so many varying influences — temperature, 

 churning, salting aud working are all to be 

 considered, and are very important details. 



There is nothing in nature which so readily 

 absorbs taints as milk, cream and butter. 

 Cleanliness and neatness are the alpha and 

 omega of '\Qilt edged'''' butter. Clean, sweet 

 dairy-rooms are a/i absolute necessity. Slats 

 should be used instead of shelves, because the 

 milk will cool much sooner if the air circulates 

 about the bottom of the pans. 



Mrs. A. has a reputation for making the best 

 flavored butter in the village, and always com- 

 mands from five to ten cents per pound more 



