1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



609 



FARM-WONDERS. 



The following poem was read at the Fair of the 

 Hiirapshire County, Mass , Agricultural Society, at Am- 

 herst, by Prof. II. W. Parker, of the Agricultural Col- 

 lege. 



My theme is wonder; and where does wonder dwell? 



On taction's page, or in some enchanter's spell? 



In caverns of spar, in hills of silver and gold ? 



In tropical wilds, or the wastes of arctic cold ? 



Lo ! here and everywhere it abiden. 



Lurks by the highway and all around us hides — 



Nay, stands in full view, regarded n»t by the blind, 



Wlio lack the thousand eyes of a studious mind. 



These towering tre'S, and the blessed fruits or grains — 

 Bi>ru them, and only a mound of at- hes remains; 

 The tons of water took wing and vanished in gas. — 

 Truly a sea is your meadow of waving grass. 

 And the forest monarch that lies in slow decay, 

 Blackening to mould — it is veril3' burning away 

 With a heat that never in roaring tlame appears, 

 Only because it is spread through a hundred years. 



This tield of tubers— the food of the Emerald Isle— 

 "What wonder is here that can a moment beguile ? 

 Plant of a marvellous family I— cousin, indeed. 

 To an herb of bud reputation, the nicotine weed. 

 And to three of the deadly drugs the doctors know, 

 And the fiery peppei-s our grandmothers used to grow, 

 'Tis the egg-plant's brother, its sisters the bittersweet 

 And a maidenly flower or two that we love to greet. 



But sec that broad-winge'l insect, with buttons of gold — 

 Two rows on his black tail-coat, like a soldier bold I 

 Do you know he is stingy of buttons to his wife. 

 And was fond of your parsnips in his early life ? 

 And there is that innocent-looking one in white, 

 WM\ tips of black that are barely seen in his flight — 

 Do you know that he came from Europe a while ago, 

 And his children will eat your cabbage sprouta by the 

 row ? 



And there are the birds ; the restless noisy wren. 



That scolds all day like a little lunatic hen — 



Know you, my fussy friend, that it soon wears out. 



For it lives but four short years, or thereabout. 



And then your horses and swine — why, who would 



suppose 

 They are classed with elephants, — smaller, shorter in 



the nose. 

 But flexing that feature in quite a handy way. 

 To search the ground, or to pick and mumble the hay. 



The outcrop of sandstone, here on your valley farm — 

 A very bad crop to raise— lo ! here was an arm 

 Of the ocean ; and then the rock was muddy shore, 

 By feathered reptiles tracked— prize poultry of yore. 

 So large that, if sold at the present market rate. 

 Any one would have bought a set of silver plate. 



Evening descends, and the bright day's work is done. 

 How strange to know the metals that boil in the sun; 

 And to learn that only the red waves struggle through 

 At sunset, because they are largest; and tliat the dew 

 If over falls, as we say ; and why we hear the sound 

 Of far-off water at night, when the air is damp ; 

 And why, in yon orb that glimmers, our nightly lamp, 

 The air and oceans were long since lost m the ground. 



But, say not that science dissects and pickles the face 

 Of beautiful Nature, forgetting her sweetness and grace. 

 There are inttnite lii.es in j'onder mountain blue. 

 And infinite mystery hides in its tender hue; 

 And to him who understands, there's infinite charm 

 In the tints and flowing sweep of the homeliest farm. 



Shame that a wonderful world, which God designed 

 To be the first primer for man's immortal mind. 

 Should never be learned — not even its alphabet, 

 That shines in all forms and colors of beauty set, 

 g;id — sad, that to many the joyous knowledge is lost 

 Which glorifies labor and richly repays the cost. 

 Come, friend ! study books and Nature ; open your eyes, 

 And Uve the life of eternal happy surprise I • 



ciety for the past few years show that great im- , 

 provement has been made by grafting and culti- 

 vating this hardy fruit, in the northern part of that 

 State. We have recentlj- received from Herendcen 

 & Jones, Nurserymen, Geneva, N. Y., a package 

 of the Marengo Siberian Apples, (or Marengo 

 Winter Crab,) No. 4, which show that their culti- 

 vation is not confined to northern Vermont and 

 Canada. They are of so rich and pleasant a flavor, 

 as an eating apple, that the word "crab," seems 

 quite a misnomer for this fruit. Their general 

 color is a lightish red, with plashes or streaks of a 

 darker red, with some white, size from 1^ to nearly 

 2 inches in diameter, and altogether it is a liand- 

 some fruit. The four varieties of the Marengo 

 Siberian Apples, cultivated by Messrs. Herendcen 

 & Jones are much similar in all respects, except 

 time of ripening and keeping, which varies from 

 fall to late spring. That they are excellent as 

 preserves, we had evidence last year in testing 

 specimens put up by our correspondent Z. E. 

 Jameson, of Irasburg, Vt. 



Crab Apples. — The exhibitions which have been 

 made at the Fairs of the Vermont Agricultural So- 

 2 



PRICE OF MILK. 



The Board of Managers of the Milk Producers 

 Association met in Boston, Sept. 6, to fix the 

 winter price of milk furnislisd by the can to the 

 contractors. This meeting was adjourned to Fri- 

 day, Sept. 15, at the Quincy House. A committee 

 consisting of J. A. Harwood of Littleton, Wra. 

 Ramsdell of Milford, and Hammond Reed of Lex- 

 ington was appointed to make arrangements for 

 holding the next aimual meeting of the Society. 

 Notwithstanding the facts that cattle, swine, grain, 

 dairy products and some other articles of produce 

 are lower than last year, it was voted by the man- 

 agers of the Milk Producers Association that in 

 consequence of the small crop and high price of 

 hay, and the high cost of articles which have been 

 raised by farmers to make up the deficiency of the 

 hay crop, estimated at one-fourth less than the 

 usual yield, that the same price as last year, — 50 

 cents per can, — be demanded for milk from Oct. 1, 

 1871, to April 1, 1872. 



The Contractors or Milk Dealers were also in 

 session at the same place, and each association ap- 

 pointed a committee of conference. After consul- 

 tation the committee reported there was no pros- 

 pect of agreement ; the contractors being willing 

 to pay only 45 cents per can. 



The question was then discussed in open meet- 

 ing. 



Mr. Rowell, in behalf of the contractors said 

 almost everything else in the line of food is re- 

 duced in price from 10 to 50 per cent, and the con- 

 sumers of milk cannot see why it should not be 

 reduced from 9 to 8 cents a quart. 



Mr. Brown, contractor, believed he could get all 

 the milk he wanted at 45 cents a can, and Boston 

 would be supplied at 8 cents a quart. There were 

 so many producers near market anxious to get 

 their milk in, that distant producers would be shu 



