1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



65 



a warmer dining or sitting room, and when the 

 mercury sinks far below the all important cy- 



Eher, protect them with newspapers, ever at 

 and in a wise farmer's house ; for Tie knows 

 that they contain the rudiments of all learn- 

 ing, as well as the weekly markets. We know 

 a farmer, stricken in years, past the period 

 when Holy Writ declares that the grasshopper 

 shall be a burden, who nightly, when the cold 

 settles heavily down upon his one and a half 

 Btory cottage, carries twenty pots of beautiful 

 house plants into the cellar. "You see, my 

 old woman thinks a powerful deal of these 

 plants ; our boys and girls are all gone ; and 

 flowers take their places ; so I carry them in 

 for her." Could a fashionable, modern hus- 

 band show his dainty wife more delicate atten- 

 tion? 



Window boxes are much in vogue now, and 

 are easily constructed by an ingenious boy, 

 and can be prettily ornamented with osiers, or 

 moss, or cones, or coffee berries and rice 

 seeds. They are desirable on account of the 

 ease in watering them ; for if a newspaper is 

 used to protect the glass from drops of water, 

 the whole surface of the plant can be sprin- 

 kled, and more moisture given than by merely 

 wetting the surface of the pots. But they are 

 objectionable on account of not being able to 

 turn the plants, thus causing them to grow one 

 sided. They are beautiful for the culture of 

 bulbs and vines. Ivies, Madeira vines, Trades- 

 cantia and smilax will thrive perfectly in them, 

 and the interstices can be filled in with cro- 

 cuses, hyacinths, Due Van Thol tulips and cy- 

 clamens. 



If these are planted with a goodly admix- 

 ture of sand, and then thickly covered with 

 moss, to shroud the bulb from the light, and 

 allow its roots to penetrate deeply into the 

 earth before the. tender green sheatli shoots 

 forth with their wealth of leaves and flowers, 

 the blossoms will be vigorous and brilliant. 



We can give minute directions for the con- 

 struction of window boxes should our readers 

 desire them. They will give an air of grace 

 aud elegance to any surroundings. 



Flowers seen in the windows of the com- 

 monest cottage beautify and adorn it. The 

 (inae required for their culture is not wasted ; 

 pure and holy lessons are learned from their 

 mute lips ; lessons which nature is ever ready 

 to teach to those who will learn of her, and 

 who will bend to listen to her revealings. 

 We trust that many windows will be adorned 

 with gardens this season, and if their owners 

 desire any more information concerning their 

 culture we shall be ever ready to afiordit, and 

 w« hope that while 



"Fiercely the winter's wind, 

 Biting and Bbrill, 

 Swteps o'er tbo valley, flclds, 

 Moorlaud and hllla," 



they will adorn their fire sides with all that is 

 bright.and cheerful. , 8. o. j. 



For the New England Farmer, 



TOP DHES8INO.— PliOUQHINQ MA- 

 NUKE UNDEB. 



When we take into consideration the fact 

 that this is the enlightened nineteenth century 

 which has developed many marked improve- 

 ments, and revealed many wonderful discov- 

 eries in science and the mechanic arts, there 

 is cause for humiliation that so little progress 

 has been made in agriculture, the foundation 

 and main-spring of everything that concerns 

 man as a living being. And yet in the midst 

 of this humiliation there is cause for rejoicing 

 that new light is dawning ; that the clouds of 

 error and hereditary thought are receding, 

 slowly it may be, before the march of science 

 and practical demonstration. 



But a few years ago, the opinion was well 

 nigh universal that manure must be speedily 

 covered to a depth of six or eight inches, or it 

 would take wings and fly away. Great cau- 

 tion was used by the careful farmer, lest it lie 

 a few minutes too long, and the team was 

 kept in close proximity to the manure fork. 

 A change of opinion has occurred to some ex- 

 tent, and many now believe that top dressing 

 is the best method of improving the soil, as 

 well as securing a present crop ; yet the old 

 method is still adhered to by many with much 

 obstinacy. 



Here lies, it seems to me, one of the most 

 important problems in agriculture — one which 

 the farmer should strive with the greatest 

 earnestness to solve. It should have been 

 solved beyond dispute long ago, for in its 

 solution is involved thousands of dollars an- 

 nually to the farmer of New England. 



When manure leaves the soil, doe? it go up 

 or down ? If it goes up, then the deeper it is 

 covered the better, if it is not entirely beyond 

 the reach of the crop. If it goes down, then 

 it should be spread upon the surface, and 

 allowed to mingle with and enrich the soil, 

 and remain as long as possible where needed, 

 while passing away in its downward course. 



The advocates of the upward tendency will 

 not contend that manure is drawn up bodily, 

 by the cart loan, but that it must first be dis- 

 solved and then taken up in a liquid form. 

 Now let us take a familiar example or two, 

 that have a close analogy to this subject. 

 Suppose we dissolve one hundred pounds of 

 sugar in water and place it in the sun. Evap- 

 oration begins and continues until the water ig 

 gone ; but the sugar remains. Sub.^titute salt 

 or potash and the result will be the same ; the 

 water will pass off in vapor, and the dissolved 

 substance remain. In neither case, if the ex- 

 periment be conducted with prudence, will 

 there be more than a slight loss. A small 

 proportion of such substances as reveal them- 

 selves to us through the olfactory nerves, 

 mingle with the atmosphere in the form of 

 vapor or gas and is lost ; but the proportion 

 of manurial substances that come within the 

 proviuce of the general farmtr and u lost in 



