1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



213 



EXTBACTS AND REPLIES. 



EGG PLANT. 



Among the things mentioned by Mr. Quinn on 

 wliifh "Money in the Garden" is realized by those 

 wlio have a marl^et for vegetables, is the Egg Plant. 

 It is not raised to a great extent, as the demand is 

 limited. He says it is a tender annual, must be 



started early in the hot-bed, and is more difficult 

 to start in the spring than any kind of vegetable 

 he grows. There are several varieties, but he pre- 

 fers the New York Improved. He says that near 

 New York the plants may l)e set in the open air 

 about the 20th of May. Here they should l)e trans- 

 planted a week or more later. INIr. Quinn sa3's : — 



They require a deep, rich soil, well worked. We 

 set the plants three feet apart each way, and sprin- 

 kle some superphosphate or some tinely-ground 

 bone immediately amuiid the roots at the time of 

 planting. Each plant is taken from the bed with a 

 s(iuare of earth around the roots. The afternoon 

 before transplanting, the plants are copiously wa- 

 tered, so that the soil will adhere to the roots. 

 Then, with a long-bladed knife to cut through on 

 either side, each plant is removed without disturlt- 

 ing the roots. The plants are placed on a wheel- 

 barrow, and taken where thej^ are to be set out. 



It is important to use all this care, for, unless all 

 the conditions are just right. Egg Plants are very 

 tardy in starting, and with the market-gardener 

 this is a matter of dollars and cents. When they 

 last come into market they usually bring two dol- 

 lars per dozen ; later, the price goes down to sev- 

 enty-tive cents or one dollar a dozen. 



The ground should be hoed frequently, kept 

 loose and free from weeds. Plants that grow to 

 full size will average from seven to nine eggs to a 

 plant, of the "New York Improved." Two or three 

 dozen plants will give an abundance of eggs for a 

 family of six or eight persons. 



ture's way of enriching the soil. Nature has no 

 other way but to leave it on top. Does any one 

 suppose it would not be better covered up ? 



It seems that C. puts on three dressings of ma- 

 nure during the three years that he has his land 

 up, but he does not tell'us how much he applies to 

 the acre at each time. He must put on a light 

 dressing, or his land is poor, or his manure is poor, 

 or he loses a share of its value by not ploughing it 

 under. I wish Mr. C. could see the crops I get 

 from one dressing of manure of from twenty -live 

 to thirty loads to the acre, put on to gi-eensward 

 and turned under, once in tive or seven years, then 

 see if he would say plougliing under manure is a 

 failure. I would ask him if he has ever tried turn- 

 ing under manure thoroughly, for I mistrust that 

 he is so afraid of losing it that he has never tested 

 that mode. I don't know but they have land in 

 Wilmington on which two loads of manure on top 

 is as good as three turned under, but we have not 

 in Woodstock. 



Wc will take, for example, a piece of worn out 

 land, not so badly, however, but that it will gi-ow 

 a small crop to start with, and sow clover seed or 

 some other seed, and as it gets grown, plough it 

 under and sow again and tum that under. Now 

 how long will it take to make a rich piece of land 

 of it ? Then take another piece of similar land and 

 let nature have its course and the vegetal)le matter 

 decay on the surface. Does any one think it M'ould 

 be as good ? Would it ever get as rich ? Some 

 may say the ploughing enriches it. Very likely it 

 may a trifle, but not much. I wish people were 

 not so afraid of signing their whole names to what 

 they write. C. F. Lincoln. 



Woodstock, Vt., March 13, 1871. 



PLOUGHING VNDER MANURE. 



Your correspondent C. of Wilmington, Vt., tries 

 to persuade people to put their manure on top, and 

 I try to have them plough it under. But I do not 

 hold to getting it very deep. C. thinks nature has 

 provided a way for enriching the soil. So it has, but 

 it is so very slow a way that we farmers dislike to 

 wait for it. He admits that it takes ages to do it. 

 I think there can be improvements made on an- 



ORCHARD GRASS AND ALSIKE CLOVER. 



I wish some of your readers that can speak from 

 actual knowledge, will tell me through your paper 

 whether orchard grass and aslike clover are the 

 best for soiling through the summer ? Where can 

 the clover be ol)tiiineil ? Where winter rye is used 

 for the above purpose what time in the fall is the 

 best for sowing it ? A. R. B. 



Elmore, Vt., March 24, 1S71. 



Remarks. — Both of the grasses referred to are 

 new to most of the farmers of New England. In 

 other parts of this page our correspondent will find 

 something in relation to both alsike clover and or- 

 chard grass, and we fully endorse the request that 

 those who can will speak from actual knowledge 

 for the benefit of others as well as of A. R. B. 



MILK cows as LONG AS THEY GIVE MILK. 



Mr. President: — How will a young farmer 

 know what to do about milking his cows when old 

 farmers disagree ? From my experience of forty 

 years as a farmer, I must differ from Mr. D. Kim- 

 ball, in Farmer of March 18. I have in several 

 instances injured cows by trying to dry them two 

 or three months before calving. Bunches have 

 come in their bags, and the milk became curdy and 

 thick, apparently the same as in cases of garget. 

 To save cows from being spoiled, I milk them 

 twice a day clean and dry as long as the milk 

 comes into their bags, even to the time of their 

 calving. 



As to Mr. Kimball's neighbor's cow being spoiled 

 by milking too long, I think it was because she was 

 not milked enough. From my observation I think 

 many good cows and heifers are injured and some- 

 times spoiled by not milking them before they 

 calve. 



I have one cow now in my bam, fifteen years old 

 this spring, that I have owned eleven years. She 



