500 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept, 



hedges along the sides of roads passed the 

 House of Commons in England sometime ago, 

 but was thrown out by the House of Lords. 



This matter of the destruction of weeds, 

 both in fields and on highways, would be a 

 good subject for discussion in all Farmers'' 

 Clubs next winter. Through their attention 

 and iiilUience, some means may be devised to 

 awaken an interest in farmers to combine, and 

 by united action, to abate the wide-spread and 

 expensive evil. 



"What Shall be Done with "Weeds? 

 Certainly, not pulled and left upon the 

 ground, if their seeds are only formed. It is 

 not safe at this stage of their growth to throw 

 them into the hog-yard, or to put them in a heap 

 with manure. Nor will it be safe to leave 

 them upon the ground where they grew. 

 Some of them are so tenacious of life that, 

 even if the plant be pulled up, it is said that 

 the sap will How upward, the flower will bloom, 

 and the seeds ripen to be scattered over the 

 fields the next year. There is no killing them 

 by gentle means. They will live three feet 

 under ground for years, and if the land is 

 again stirred to that depth, up will spring a 

 thick crop of weeds, again to flourish in their 

 full strength. We have seen a stout pigweed 

 pulled entirely out of the ground, with the ex- 

 ception of the end of a very small root, not 

 only to go on and live, but to blossom and 

 perfect a large crop of seed ! Do not trust 

 them in any position, where a complete de- 

 composition will not speedily take place, either 

 by fire or the agency of some strong alkaline 

 or other substance. 



If dried on the ground after the seed is 

 formed, there will be danger. If thrown into 

 heaps, they will not be likely to rot before 

 some of them have perfected seed. If thrown 

 to swine, a portion of them would be left to 

 go on with their work of maturing seed, and 

 so it would be if they were mingled with ma- 

 nure. They cannot well be burnt in their 

 green state, so that the safe and economical 

 course is to throw them into a compact heap, 

 and mingle them with quick lime, or wood 

 ashes, or keep them moist so that they become 

 thoroughly heated and decomposed. Even 

 then, the mass should lie exposed to the sun 

 and air until quite certain that the vitality of 

 . the seeds is destroyed. 



A SMALL PBUIT GABDEN. 

 A correspondent of the Rochester, N. Y., Bural 

 Home, probably the proprietor of the Mt. Hope 

 Nurseries, says : One of liis foremen, owning a 

 garden 80 by 100 feet, has handed him the follow- 

 ing statement of fruit sales during the season of 

 1870. His trees are twelve years old. 



5 bu. Shropshire Damson plums from two trees, 



§3 per bushel, $15 00 



2 bu. mixed Plums, if2 per busliel, 4 00 



li^ bu. Flemish Beauty Pear, $3 per bu., . ; . . 4 50 



3 l)bls Louis Bonne from 4 trees, $7 per bbl., . . 21 00 

 1 '2 bu. Cuerre Uitt'ard Pear, 2 oO 



1 bu. BurtUlt Pear, 3 00 



2 bu. Beurre d'Anjou Pear, $4 per bu., 8 00 



3 bu. Ducheese d'Angouleme, $4 per bu 12 00 



$70 00 

 Six gallons of wine were made from grapes 

 grown in the same garden. Vegetables enough for 

 family use were raised among the trees. This is 

 certainly a very satisfactory statement and should 

 encourage others to make a like good use of their 

 small lots. In the same neighborhood there are 

 many others who are doing equally well with their 

 fruit. 



DEAR FEED. 



On the 5th of July, J. L. Pickering sold at auction 

 the grass on some thirty acres of land, for a price 

 $150 greater than that brought last year for the crop 

 on the same lot. On some parts it is reckoned that 

 the hay will cost the purchaser about 1^35 a ton, 

 allowing nothing fur cost of cutting or chauces of 

 loss in citring. A ton of hay on Main street, to-day, 

 (Concord, N. H.) is reckoned as worth Jj'iO, or very 

 close to it, and grass standing in the iield as $^'30 a 

 ton. On the same day as this sale a ton of corn 

 could be had for a tritle less than $'30. Knowing 

 the value of each article as productive of flesh, fat, 

 or power in their cattle and its price, any man can 

 make his own figures and decide what is the most 

 economical feed for his stock. — i\^. //. Patriot. 



A perusal of the above may be the means 

 of collecting and preserving many tons of 

 fodder. The fodder-harvest will not end until 

 the Indian corn crop, and the aftermath of the 

 grass fields, are secured. If the utmost care 

 is observed in all this time to gather up every 

 thing available in the way of fodder for stock, 

 and to secure it in good condition, hundreds of 

 tons may be saved that are usually neglected 

 when the hay crop is abundant. With such 

 care, the farmer may possibly be enabled to 

 winter his usual amount of stock, and have a 

 few tons of marketable hay to spare at high 

 prices. 



A meagre grass crop has been anticipated 

 all over New England, and has led to the oc- 

 cupation of a large amount of land with corn 

 for fodder, millet, oats, hungarian grass and 

 clover. The season, so far, has not been al- 

 together favorable for these crops, but so much 

 has been done, that they will compensate in a 



