1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



377 



cost fi-om t :e plough to the granary is not over 

 ^22, leaving us thirty bushels of wheat, say ^60, 

 and a surplus of $S on the straw over cost of rais- 

 ing. Now if "Jones" can work out an acre of corn 

 at ^l per bushel — the present price — at a profit of 

 ^68 we should like to see something of his mathe- 

 matics. A crop of spring wheat, inanured, would 

 of course cost more. Yet corn cannot be made so 

 cheap. It is a crop of incessant labor ; yet every 

 farmer should manage to grow all his corn for his 

 domestic wants. 



If the Vermont farmers wish to feast their eyes, 

 let them come and see the winter wheat fields on 

 this island. H. Poor. 



Long Island, N. Y., June 13, 1811. 



A CHAPTER ox "WEEDS. 



Weeds, weeds, weeds ! How they grow and 

 how they prosper ! How like an armed multitude 

 they spring up around us, crowding in where "their 

 room would be much preferable to their company," 

 and laughing at our attempts to destroy them. 

 Some have thought it advisable to treat them as 

 tender plants — tu start them in a hot-bed, and 

 transplant tlieni with the utmost care; as in that 

 case heat and cold, beasts and birds, worms and 

 bugs wo-uld labor unitedly for their destruction. 

 How this plan would work I cannot say. But if 

 we must have weeds, we might as well have pretty 

 ones. It might require some time and care to con- 

 vert asters, pansies, zinnias and portulacas into 

 vegetable gypsies. But when once so converted, 

 they would be much more satisfactory than wild 

 parsnips, nettles, Komau wormwood or Canada 

 thistles. I would not reckon in this class the de- 

 spised plant known as "pigweed," which would be 

 sutticientlj- I)cautit'iil if it came from over the seas, 

 with a long name attached to it, and costing "fifty 

 cents per packet of five seeds." It is an easy mat- 

 ter for poppies to become weeds ; they seem to 

 take to the business quite naturally. But with a 

 little encouragement, and by not allowing the above 

 mentioned and similar weeds an inch of standing 

 room, it is quite likely that many delicate and 

 beautiful flowers might fill the places now so un- 

 worthilj' occupied. Think of a rich mat of portu- 

 lacas covering rocks and rubbish heaps ; of stately 

 hollyhocks springing from the crevices of stone 

 walls ; of larkspur and coreopsis disputing the 

 ground with beets and cabbages; of morning glo- 

 ries, with luxuriant fuiiage and lovely blossoms, 

 ready to conceal e\ ery deformity or adorn every 

 beauty of the landscape. Is not this "a consumma- 

 tion devoutly to be wislied." Mattie. 



Marlboro', Mass., June, 1871. 



THAT EXTRA PAGE. — SEASON IN CANADA. 



Put me down for one who wants the additional 

 page of agricultural matter in the Farmer. It 

 seems as though farming would be pretty dismal 

 work without the light of the press ; and the Far- 

 mer certainly appears to me to be the best lumi- 

 nary of this kind which beams upon the path of 

 the husbandman in New England and Canada. In 

 ftict, it seems as though I could not farm without 

 it. The weather aljout here was quite cold and 

 backward at first, this season, with much rain ; but 

 of late it has been fine, and tarmers for the most 

 part are well along with their spring's work. Quite 

 a breadth of wheat has been sown hereabouts and 

 it promises well unless the weevils injure it. Pota- 

 toes, also, are pretty extensively planted, on ae- 

 coimt, probably, of the high price this season (fifty 

 cents per bushel) which is pretty strong consider- 

 ing that a duty of twenty-five cents per bushel has 

 tobe paid before reaching any considerable mar- 

 ket. Potatoes, hay and live stock, especially 

 horses, have been exported to the United States' 



markets the past winter and this spring, more ex- 

 tensively perhaps than ever before from this im- 

 mediate vicinity. Hay has been low, and I have 

 known of a fair article being sold for ^o per ton. 

 The new crop, notwithstanding the light fall of 

 snow last winter, is quite promising, the early and 

 copious rains having given it a good start. 

 Barnston, P. Q., June, 1871. w. H. "W. 



THE SEASON AND CROPS IN CANADA. 



The spring opened early, — some grain was sown 

 in the third month (March.) The greater part of 

 sowing was done in the fourth month. Land was 

 in excellent order early. It is said grain was never 

 put in in better condition. The fifth month was 

 rather dry. From the 6th to the 25th no rain fell. 

 The nights were generally cool, and frost was seen 

 several times; the last, I think, was in the morning 

 of the 24th. The roads became very dusty, and 

 the top of the ground was dry. The vision of 

 many people become disturbed by the prospect of 

 another dry season. Ruined crops and empty 

 purses haunted the waking hours of those — and 

 their number is legion — whose faith in an over-rul- 

 ing Providence is too weak to enable them to trust 

 in His promises. A fine shower on the evening of 

 the 2oth upset all such apprehensions. The 26th 

 was wann and somewhat cloudy. Vegetation ^vas 

 rapid. Since that we have had frequent showers — 

 generally light, but enough to keep things growing. 

 The greater part of grain in this vicinity looks 

 fine. On stiff clay soil some seed did not come up 

 well, and such fields will be light. Some fields of 

 barley are beginning to head. Corn is up and 

 looks well. The hay crop will be light. Clover 

 was nearly all killed. Apples promise well. Pears 

 not so plenty as in some years. Plums and cher- 

 ries will be scarce. The season continues early. 

 Flower gardens are now in their glory. Hoses and 

 pinks are abundant. Strawljerries are ripening, 

 which is very early for this place. We had fine 

 ones, of the Hovey Seedling variety, for tea the 9th 

 inst. The cui'rant worms are troublesome, but 

 they did not begin their depredations until later 

 than usual. A dose of hellebore dusted from a 

 pepper-ljox, destroys them at once. I had some 

 fine gooseberry bushes that were loaded with fruit, 

 but the mildew has taken them all. Is there any 

 preventire ? Cut worms, called the grub here, are 

 very destructive. I had a fine bed of oniuns from 

 black seed, but the worms have eaten nearly all off. 

 I have dug out and killed a great many, but there 

 are some left. In some gardens they confine them- 

 selves principally to beets; in others to cabbage 

 plants or carrots. The last three or four days have 

 been cool. In the morning of the 10th, the mercury 

 fell to 46°. Granite. 



Bloomfield, Ont., 6 Mo. 12th, 1871. 



AGRICULTURAL ITEMS FROM MAINE. 



It is getting to be much too dry for grass, wheat, 

 oats, and the planted crops. It has been a very 

 singular spring season. Early it was very warm, 

 fine weather ; next, when farmers wanted to begin 

 spring's work, it was wet and cold, and lastly, it 

 has been the hottest that we have known in May, 

 one or two days at a time, and then it A^-ould be 

 about as cold as any one ever knew it for the time 

 of year. But amid these changes our fanners have 

 put in a good amount of all the crops usually culti- 

 vated with us. 



The most interest, perhaps, and more than usual, 

 too, is in the direction of potatoes and corn. Much 

 experimenting with commercial fertilizers has 

 taken place on cultivated crops ; and a much larger 

 amount of them has been used this spring than in 

 any one year before. 



The mcreased market facilities by the railroads 



