666 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



country, and so far as real comfort is con- 

 cerned have literallj' "jumped out of the fry- 

 ing-pan into the fire." 



Is it not well for our young men to consider 

 these facts, and see if they cannot call up suf- 

 ficient self-reliance, self-respect and courage to 

 enable therato adapt themselves to the circum- 

 stances of their lot, even if it involves living as 

 our new settlers live at the West, and see if it 

 ■will not eventuate in ultimate prosperity and 

 happiness? We can with more confidence rely 

 upon our crops maturing than farmers can at 

 the West or South, and are sure of much bet- 

 ter prices. In the localities referred to, they 

 are in almost constant fear of tornadoes, fires, 

 too much or too little rain, grasshoppers and 

 other destructive insects, if I am to form an 

 opinion from the impression I receive from 

 friends there. 



I hope we shall see, when another census is 

 taken, that the old thrift of the farmers of 

 New England is again returning to bless com- 

 ing generations. K. o. 



Sept. 25, 1871. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 VALLEY OF THE MERRIMAC. 



Autumnal Scenery— Harvest— Apples— Pears— Grapes 

 — Cabbage Worm— Cranberries— Advance in price of 

 Grain. 



Summer with its heat, dust and showers is 

 past and gone, and lovely, golden-hued Au- 

 tumn, with its beautiful foliage and purple 

 fruit, its soft bracing air and vellow sunlight, 

 its frosty mornings and warm noons, is with 

 us once more. To me it is the most beautiful 

 season of the year. I cannot see the "mel- 

 ancholy days ;" all is bright and glorious. As 

 I stand at my window and gaze upon the pan- 

 orama of beauty spread out before me, a wild 

 gladness comes over me that no words can ex- 

 press. Up the hill-sides are ranged tier upon 

 tier of scarlet and gold, of crimson and brown, 

 of green and yellow, so softly blended, that no 

 brush of artist can transfer the tints to can- 

 vass. I rode by the shore of Lake Kenoza 

 yesterday afternoon, frequently stopping the 

 carriage to admire the most lovely shading of 

 rich colors I ever saw. Will science ever be 

 able to give us instantaneous pictures with all 

 these colors in the rich shading that I saw them 

 last night "i 



People are busy harvesting. Potatoes are 

 a little inclined to rot and do not turn out re- 

 markably well. Apples are only in our mem- 

 ories as a thing of last year's growth. Pears 

 have proved very poor with us, ripening very 

 early and in most cases rotting at the core be- 

 fore mellowing, and prove poor eating. Our 

 Buffums are the freest from rot, but are mealy, 

 rather than juicy as usual ; Swan's Orange are 

 crabbed and poor ; Lawrence is ripening now 

 and nice ; of Flemish Beauty we have not a 

 pear, and why not remains a mystery ; Vicar 

 not ripe, but large and handsome. Grapes 



are very fine — uncommonly so ; while there is 

 great complaint among our neighbors about 

 the ripening of all varieties. Our Concord's 

 were beginning to ripen before Blood's Pur- 

 ple were gone, and ripened up beautifully 

 even and handsome, while others say their 

 Concord's are very late and ripen unevenly, 

 and are also sour. We had a few of what we 

 suppose to be Diana. They are very nice; 

 small compact clusters of amber or rather 

 green-white berries, small, rich, vinous, sweet, 

 soft and luscious ; thin skin, melting pulp 

 and fine flavor — what more can we ask for a 

 grape ? We also had a few Rebecca — at least 

 we call them by that name ; berries medium 

 size, pale red or amber, clear, vinous, melt- 

 ing, sprightly and a little acid ; — bunches 

 loose, large, shouldered, — a very handsome 

 grape, so clear that you can see the seeds after 

 the bloom is rubbed off; rather acid for eating 

 but splendid to preserve. 



The cabbage worm was very short-lived this 

 season, doing but little damage. The crop 

 was about two thirds as much as last year. 

 Cranberries are in market at $4.50 and $5.00 

 per bushel and very nice. The cry was that 

 the frost had cut off the crops and they would 

 be scarce, but we have all heard the old story 

 of the boy that cried "wolf, wolf," and we ex- 

 perience it often. Grain has risen twenty to 

 twenty-five cents per bag since Chicago was 

 reduced to ashes, but we now learn the eleva- 

 tors were not all burned. L. B. Sawyer. 



West Amesbury, Mass., Oct. 13, 1811. 



For the New England Fai'mer. 

 DOES FARMING PAY ? 

 Profit on Milch Cows— Cost of Keeping— How to Esti- 

 mate Profits— Subsoil Drainage — Radical Views. 



I noticed in the Farmer of Sept. 9th, a short 

 review of a series of Lectures on Agricultural 

 Topics by Mr. Hyde. Now if the few extracts 

 you have made are a fair sample of the whole, 

 I think the tendency is to mislead rather than 

 to impart useful instruction. 



Under the head "Does Farming Pay?" he 

 refers to the increased fertility of the farms 

 in the Housatonic Valley during the last few 

 years. To prove his position he says that the 

 annual income per cow has advanced from 

 $50 or $60 per cow to $80 and $100. If this 

 has been effected without a corresponding in- 

 crease of expenditure, it would really be inter- 

 esting to know how it has been done. If the 

 farmers in that section have found out how to 

 make two blades of grass grow where but one 

 grew before, it is certainly a great gain. He 

 says a large farmer in Egremont has obtained 

 the last year an income of $100 per cow from 

 21 cows, and that he expects by an addition of 

 nine cows to his flock, to get an income of 

 $1000, or an average of $133 per cow the 

 coining year. As this is to be done by cutting 

 and steaming the food, it seems that as this in- 

 crease will be due more to extra labor and at- 



