362 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



Agricultural Pairs. I spot was smoothed, and ever since it has 



The Directors of tlie RIerrimac County Ag- yielded a good crop of grass. 

 ricultui'al Society iield a meeting at Concorcl, i No one passing over this drain when cov- 

 June "-^(i, and voted to hohl their Fair on their ered with grass or with any otlier crop can tell 

 Park in Concord. Sept., 21, 22, 28. A lib- where the drain is by the aj)pearance of the 

 eral premium list has been prepared, and it is crop, but below the outlet for some rods there 

 hoped a spirit of enmlation will be awakened is a great improvement. 



by the fanners in the county to obtain them. Another case. A portion of a field of seven 

 We want the farmers to visit the fairs, be- acres, laying on a rise of ground descended a 

 come members, take their families, and con- little to the east and more to the north, was so 

 sider it their holiday. But this is not all, we wet that the grass would winter kill. Through 

 want every farmer that goes, to take along this we put three drains, about thirty rods 

 that nice trace of seed corn, or some of that long each, with side branches as was thought 

 nice wheat, or oats, or those big potatoes, i necessary. The outlets to these drains are 

 and beets and turnips, or drive down those under a stone wall upon the upper side of 

 nice oxen or that cow which you brag so much , another field that has been mowed for eighteen 

 about ; exhibit the butter and cheese your ! years, and only top-dressed three times, and 

 wife or sister has made ; let the wives and for a number of rods below these outlets the 



daughters carry those nice rugs and quilts 

 they have been making ; in fact, carry any- 

 thing you consider nice, and then we shall 

 have a fair that will be a credit to us as far- 

 mers, in each of our respective counties, and 

 we shall not go away grumbling and dissatis- 

 fied, and feeling that the whole thing is a 

 humbug, and that we have got better stuif at 

 Lome. And then if you fail to get a premium, 

 ascertain how your competitor managed his 

 crop or article to get a better one than yours, 

 and make a resolve to beat him next year if 

 possible. In this way our fairs will become 

 interesting, profitable and instructive. 



S. C. Pattee. 

 Warner, N. H., July, 1871. 



For the Xeto England Farmer. 

 DRAHsTAGE OF DBY SOIL. 



The remarks of "A Fireside Farmer" on 

 " Drainage of Light Soils," in the Farmei; of 

 June 24th, has brought to mind a few facts 

 that may interest some of your readers. 



Altliough not a fireside farmer, an ex-gov- 

 ernor, nor a general, yet my practice as an 

 out-door fanner will prove just as much as 

 though all the above titles were attached to 

 my name. Therefore let me say, to begin 

 with, that I am a believer in both thorough 

 draining where there is anything to drain, and 

 irrigation where it is needed and can be ap- 

 plied. 



Sixteen years ago, when I came upon the 

 farm, there was in one part of it, a fine field 

 of about three acres, with a place near the 

 centre of about one-eighth of an acre, where 

 the water stood nearly through the year, 

 among bogs of bulrushes and other wild gras- 

 ses, and inhabited by frogs and their usual at- 

 tendants. 



Tliis place had formerly been drained, in 

 part, by digging through the east bank about 

 four rods. This drain was found to be closed. 

 It was taken up and lowered, so that the drain 

 is now about six rods long and from one to 

 four feet below the surface. The bogs were 

 taken out and the surface of this unsightly 



grass is thick and rank enough ; this field being 

 what may be called good corn land. The field 

 above, that was drained, has been planted and 

 sowed to a great variety of crops, which have 

 all pioved perfectly satisfactory. 



Now for "A Fireside Farmer's" theory and 

 the ex-governor's practice. If his drains were 

 shallow where they pass through the light soil, 

 would not the water passing through them have 

 the same eilect upon vegetation at the surface 

 above those drains as it would have had if the 

 water had been discharged upon the surface ? 



To prove the universal drainage theory to 

 my mind, Ex- Gov. Smyth should put in a 

 drain by the side of his others through the dry 

 portion of his field without extending it into 

 the wet portion ; then take another strip of 

 dry land and work it up, say two feet deep, 

 and treat the surface of each of these as he 

 did those drams above referred to. In this 

 way it will be shown whether the extra growth 

 of grass is the effect of the drain alone, or the 

 moisture from the water passing through the 

 drains under the sui-face, or the working over 

 the soil, or all together. c. E. K. 



Dudley, Mass., July, 1871. 



Transplanting Plants. — I recently saw 

 an item recommending transplanting plants at 

 night, to prevent wilting. AVdting, and other 

 injuries from the hot sun, are entirely over- 

 come by my method, which is as follows : — 

 Dig a small hole in the ground, turn in some 

 water and then some rich soil, stirring until a 

 moderately stiff batter or mortar is formed — 

 stiff enough for it to adhere when the plants 

 are placed in it. Now take, say a dozen 

 plants at a time, and innnerse the roots in the 

 mixture, when, if properly done, the roots 

 will be covered Avith mortar. Set the plants 

 where they are to grow ; use no water — no 

 matter how hot the siui is — for wilting will 

 hardly be perceptible, and none will die. 

 Where a great many j)lants are to be set, the 

 mixture may be ])laced in a vessel, to have it 

 portable, as the plants should be put in the 

 "iroutid as fast as taken from the mortar . 



