1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



659 



here in Norfolk county as a paying business, 

 only so far as it works up materials that would 

 otherwise be wasted. One of my village 

 friends told me this week that he had for many 

 years grown his own pork in preference to buy- 

 ing it, on account of the better quality, but that 

 he had never fatted but one hog that did not 

 cost him more than it would bring in market, 

 and that only gave a profit of a few cents. I 

 hope your Franklin correspondent will accept 

 this explanation, and excuse my delay in an- 

 swering his (piestion, as I wished to give him 

 and your readers a correct report of the pmfifs 

 of making pork this year. A. W. Cheever. 

 ShddonvUle, Mass., Oct. 21,1871. 



For the New England farmer. 

 "WEEDS. 



Tlie organism which plants have in common 

 with animals is not the only point of re- 

 semblance between the two ; for in their nat- 

 ural tastes, qualities and habits, there seems 

 to be a similarity, so that certain plants, like 

 certain persons, suggest to us the idea of mod- 

 esty, contentment, persistence, boldness and 

 the like ; and it is some such special tendency 

 that gives to plants more or less prominence 

 as pernicious weeds in cultivated grounds. 



There are many, that with the most favor- 

 able circumstances, would never become really 

 injurious, while others seem to improve the 

 slightest opportunity to obtain a "citzenship." 



Among the specimens of this description, 

 perhaps the one best known in New England, 

 is the white weed, (^Levranthemum vtdgare,) 

 though in some localities there are others 

 equally persevering ; for instance, the yellow 

 broom, {Oenista tinctoria,) at Danvers, that 

 from a single root brought by a true-hearted 

 Scotchman, as a memento of his native hills, 

 now covers whole fields to the exclusion of 

 grasses and useful plants. 



The St. John's-wort in some soils inclines to 

 supplant other vegetion. The toad flax, 

 (^Linaria vulgaris,) too, intrudes itself about 

 our gardens and the borders of fields. 



The wild carrot, (Davcns Carota,) also is 

 making rapid incursions where a few years ago 

 it was unknown. Another "immigrant" is the 

 purple cone flower, {Riidbeckia hirta,) which 

 was undoubtedly introduced in grass seed 

 brought from the West, where this plant is an 

 old inhabitant. 



There are many others, less showy but equal- 

 ly pernicious, such as the Roman wormwood 

 the fleabane, the pigweed, the princess' feath- 

 er, smart weed, and purslain ; this last covers 

 the ground with astonishing rapidity and is 

 very exhaustive to our gardens. 



Now I would not have this class of vegeta- 

 ble exterminated entirely, they have their 

 place in the world, and like the passions and 

 appetites of humanity if they are servants and 

 not masters, they are a blessing instead of a 

 curse. I would allow these hardy "self-reli 



ants" to beautify our country road-sides and 

 waste places, but if every farmer would 

 promptly oppose their first appearance in his 

 cultivated grounds, tker/ would find their true 

 position, and he would be saved great trouble 

 in the future. h. 



(jfeorgetown, Mass., Sept. 23, 1871. 



Remarks. — The spread of a single root of 

 the "yellow broom," mentioned by our cor- 

 respondent, is suflicient, we think, to caution 

 farmers against allowing pernicious weeds a 

 foothold in our country roads and waste pla- 

 ces. The sides of the highway through the 

 farm will furnish seed enough to plant a whole 

 neighborhood. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 FALL PLOUGHING. 



BY EMORY A. ELLSWORTH. 



While the autumn days are growing shorter 

 and shorter and another month is drawing 

 swiftly to its close, the farmer must likewise 

 finish his work, as each day is bringing him 

 one step nearer that time when winter will cut 

 short all his out-door operations. 



The potatoes have been dug ; those who 

 have been blessed above their neighbors, in 

 having apples, have gathered them ; the man- 

 golds and rutabagas will soon be harvested,, 

 and the corn is ready for the husking ; but in 

 all the haste which swiftly shortening days and 

 the near approach of winter brings upon the 

 farmer, the fall ploughing must not be neg- 

 lected. 



Geologists tell us that the entire surface of ' 

 the earth was originally covered with a solid 

 crust of rock, and from this, by decomposi- 

 tion, our soil has been formed. The pnnci- 

 f)le, therefore, that the finer the particles 

 which compose the soil are broken up the 

 more fertile the soil becomes, follows directly, 

 and is based upon this geological fact. 



Nature is always ready to aid man when he 

 will act in accordance with her laws, and espe- 

 cially is her help required in thoroughly pul- 

 verizing the soil. The same processes by 

 which it was originally formed can always be 

 used to improve it. 



The principal pulverizing agents are, — 1.. 

 The action of frost; 2. The action of water, 

 and 3. The chemical changes of the constitu- - 

 ents of the rock. 



In order to hasten this decomposition, as 

 well as to render the soil more porous and 

 mellow, men have resorted to diiferent meth- 

 ods of mechanically pulverizing it ; among 

 the more important and universal of which is 

 that of ploughing. If, therefore, this mechan- 

 ical method is so applied that these agents are 

 aided and hastened in the accomplishment of 

 their work, much more beneficial results may- 

 be expected. 



