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NEW ENGLAND AGRICULTURE. 
The Tobacco Crop Compared With Other 
Products. 
Recently, Mr. Lawrence of Now 
Hampshire, published some sound views 
and many valuable suggestions respecting 
New England farming, and President 
Clark, of Amherst College, gave us the 
experimental knowledge and profitableness 
of growing beets lor sugar; for all of which, 
New England farmers are, no doubt, much 
obliged; but at present, there is little pros¬ 
pect of much practical beed being given to 
the information of either. 
Mountain sides, hill tops and elevated 
fields, susceptible of cultivation by the 
plow can, uud no doubt will be made, to 
some extent, more available by the Law¬ 
rence treatment; but the fertile low¬ 
lands—the "intervales" —will not make 
much acquaintance with beets, so long as 
another, if not a better, by far a larger 
paying crop can be grown. T mean tobacco. 
Farming, like every business now-a-days, 
is prosecuted for profit; and the Yankees, 
not unlike other people in this respect, will 
grow those things that pay best. There 
was a time with them when broom corn 
was most remunerative, wben hops were 
most profitable and onions did well; but 
as the seasons of high prices passed away, 
so these productions diminished. Now, 
hardly a 6talk of broom corn is to be seen, 
hop poles have disappeared and onions have 
become an indifferent crop. 
The climate and soil of New England do 
not seem peculiarly adapted to an extra 
growth of any one of the ordinary pro¬ 
ductions; grasses, cereals, leguminous and 
bulbous plauts do equally well; if there is 
an except ion, it is onions, on the rich al- 
luviau of the Connecticut valley. 
With their limited number of acres of 
good arable soil, the productions of New 
England farmers have been necessarily lim¬ 
ited; comparatively, not much has been 
raised beyond the wants of borne, But 
little of New England wealth has been 
made by farming. The sturdy yeoman, 
with the strictest economy aud untiring in¬ 
dustry, has not often been able to exceed a 
fair living; and what is termed a com¬ 
petency, lias been attained only through a 
loug lifo of care, labor and anxiety, attended 
by few luxuries. The last thing a New 
England farmer thinks of now doing, is 
to get rich by hard work, producing the or¬ 
dinary crop of hay, grain or vegetables; or, 
going a step further, investing In cows, aud 
depending on milk, butter and cheese. 
But In the tobacco-plaut he has found a 
"ready relief." Whether owing to the 
soil or climate, or both, the variety of plant, 
superior culture or kind of manure, it is 
au established fact, that for quality and 
quantity, the bottom-lands—the "inter¬ 
vales "—and some of what are called “the 
plains” of New England, excel, with the 
exception of Florida in quality, all the old 
tobacco-growing States of the Union. The 
statistics of the year 1870 are to the point. 
While other States produoed only five to 
ten hundred pounds to the acre, and received 
for it ten to twenty-five cents per pound, 
the New England crop, mostly of Connecti¬ 
cut and Massachusetts, yielded an average 
of some fourteen huudred per acre, and 
sold at an average of twenty-seven cents 
per pound; Florida only excelling in quali¬ 
ty aud price (twenty-nine cents per pound) 
but failed in quantity, averaging only some 
eight hundred pouuds per acre. 
Before our great, rebellion, the profits of 
growing tobaooo in New England were 
small—a little only here and tuoie was 
grown by way of variety. But the scarcity 
in the North, consequent upon the war, 
raised the price exorbitantly, and induced 
the experiment hereof growing it generally 
uud profitably. The effort has been crowned 
with success. Few, if any, engaged in its 
cultivation think of abandoning it; the pro¬ 
ducers bave multiplied as the seasons have 
rolled round. 
Of their good, arableaoil, the best is given 
to to banco. None grow largely—one to ten 
acres is the extent of individual investment, 
corresponding to the help at command, and 
the facilities in barns and out-buildings for 
hanging it up, drying, and curing. Most of 
the townships, especially of Connecticut 
and Massachusetts, are in the business— 
many towns cultivating from fifty to sixty 
acres. 
Besides paying well, far better than any 
other crop, it does not go begging for a mar¬ 
ket ; nor is it attended with the delay, ex¬ 
pense, care, aud loss often had in shipping 
other products. It sells on the farm. The 
market is at the producer’s own door. The 
demand for it is bo good that plenty of buy¬ 
ers are around in due season, often before 
it is read}' for sale, to take it off their hands, 
and, what is more, and best of all, give them 
the ready cash. 
There arc no statistics j et of the orop of 
1W1. Only a part has been sold, and it is 
not expected to excel the crop of the pre¬ 
ceding year, owing to the Summer drouth, 
which was alike injurious to most produc¬ 
tions of the Eastern States. The ratio of 
profitableness, however, will still hold good, 
the tobacco paying far better than any other 
orop. 
What are the maximum quantities and 
prices per aero? On bay, 2K tons, at $30 
per ton; corn, 75 bushels, at $1 per bushel; 
rye, 30 bushs., at $1 per bush.; oats, 50 bushs., 
at (55c. per bush.; beans, 50 bushs., at $3 per 
bush.; onions, beets, and carrots, 500 bushs., 
at 50c. per bush.; and so on through the 
whole catalogue of grasses, grains, and veg¬ 
etables, compared with the average quan¬ 
tity and price of tobacco, some fourteen 
hundred pounds to the acre, at 37c. per 
pound. 
It maybe thought that its seeming profit¬ 
ableness is much reduced by the expenses 
attending its production. Not so. It costs 
hut little, if any more, than Is necessary to 
grow a large crop of com. The same good 
soil, with free manuring, requisite to ob¬ 
tain a full crop of ordinary productions, 
will give, with the light addition of mineral 
stimulants used, a large yield of tobacco. 
Any one who can grow cabbages successfully 
can prevail with tobacco. The process of 
cultivation is similar t hroughout. Its treat¬ 
ment from the time of cutting up, and un¬ 
til it is ready for sale, requires more care, 
skill, and judgment. The leaves must not 
be torn or bruised, aud it needs to be so 
suspended as to allow a free circulation 
through all its parts. If dried too rapidly, 
the volatile elements, instead of condens¬ 
ing, will pass away in the evaporation. If 
cured too slowly, and is in any way confined, 
compacted, it will become mildewed, black¬ 
ened, and spoiled. The cute Yankee, how¬ 
ever. soon gets “ the hung of it," and is well 
rewarded for his care and attention in ma¬ 
turing the plant. 
When tobacco is sufficiently dried, the 
prooess of stripping the leaves from the 
stalk, and separating them into two or three 
grades, reminds one of husking and assort¬ 
ing corn. Compared with most other crops, 
it is not extra hazardous; like them, it suf¬ 
fers from protracted drouth, or excessive 
moisture, and grown in season, escapes the 
frost. 
At first some were “loth” to engage in 
the enterprise, thinking for a time, as some 
alleged, that tobacco would kill their land 
and leave their fields a “barren waste;” 
but renewing their acquaintance with ag¬ 
ricultural chemistry, their fears were Boon 
dispelled; they soon found out that there 
was no irremediable deterioration of land 
having produced tobacco. They feed their 
soil, especially with the chief elements re¬ 
quired in the formation of the plant —pot¬ 
ash, lime aud phosphates, which, with the 
ordinary general manuring, keep the land 
in good heart, and it is ready at any time 
for rotation to other productions. They 
know full well that two successive crops of 
tobacco from the same field, like any' other 
crop, will not do well in the repetition; so, 
after one crop of tobacco, they “lay down " 
the land to grass aud take another piece for 
the coming year. In this way some have 
gone over most of their “intervales,” aud 
the laud is none the worse for having tasted 
tobacco. 
In a growing stato it has but few enemies 
and requires but little protection. To be 
sure, for tv time, it has to be defended from 
the incursions of the "tobacco worm;” but 
that duty is now largely shared by' broods of 
young turkeys and chickens wonted on the 
fields, which devour t he worm greedily. It 
has no attractions for man or beast, and 
there are no fears, even without fences, of 
destructive depredat ions. Neither wild nor 
domestic animals will touch it, unlesB it is 
the goat (New England is not much on goat), 
aud man does not use it unless doctored 
with liquorice, molasses, &c. In growing 
this crop the farmer is not kept awake 
nights worrying lest his own or his neigh¬ 
bor’s quadrupeds “break through and 
steal." “Unruly Brindle,” the leader of 
the herd, In the pasture adjoing a field of 
corn, snuffs its sweet odors, looks wistfully 
at its spreading leaves and spends half her 
time hunting a weak barrier; and woe to 
the corn if she finds a toppling wall, a dislo¬ 
cated or broken rail. It is not so with to¬ 
bacco. It is no use to her and other domes¬ 
tic animals, save in decoctions applied by 
man to rid them of vermin. 
Inexperience and fear of killing the land 
have been not the only impediments to a 
more general cultivation; conscience inter¬ 
vened aud, to a certain extent, has stayed 
the innovation of the weed. But the grow¬ 
ing sentiment of tbiB avaricious age, “ Get 
rich honestly if you can, but be sure to get 
rich,” is proving too much for the weak 
conscience and feeble morality, and tobacco 
is steadily gaiuing ground. Maine grows 
none, because the seasou is too short; Ver¬ 
mont aud New Hampshire grow it sparingly 
because too much endangered by frosts; 
“ Little Rhody ” is as yet uncontarainatcd, 
but the States of Connecticut and Massa¬ 
chusetts are deeply involved; already they 
are producing some fourteen million pounds 
per year and receiving therefor above three 
aud one-quarter millions of dollars. This 
business has not yet culminated. The erec¬ 
tion of cold frames for raising the plants, 
improved implements for cultivation, the 
building of new drying-houses and the ex¬ 
tension of old ones, indicate progress and 
the faith of the husbandman. What gold 
has been to California, oil is to Pennsyl¬ 
vania, tobacco may be to New England. 
Maple sugar still bids fair to be her pre¬ 
vailing native sweet, and beets for sugar 
will have to wait while “tobacco is king.” 
A. EE. Thompson. 
-- 
FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Tlie Irish Cup Potato.— rt the Irish 
Cup potato which the F.ditor of the New 
England Farmer says “ upon the whole, is 
the best potato he has ever known,” is the 
game “Irish Cup ” we used to grow twenty 
years ago, it is the poorest in flavor, small¬ 
est in size, and meanest to dig we ever grew. 
We should like to have a description of our 
brother editor's Irish Cup. 
Alfalfa in California,—A Calfornia pa¬ 
per makes the following statement of the 
yield of this forage plant: “ We saw one 
piece of twelve acres of meadow which had 
just been mowed the second time this year. 
The first mowing in April yielded forty-two 
tuns, aud the last, fifty; thus making ninety- 
two tuns of good alfalfa hay from twelve 
acres of land! It will, probably, be mown 
twice more, and may yield an equal amount. 
If irrigated, it would undoubtedly yield 
more, thus making over fifteen tuns of hay 
to the acre in one season.” 
UPAS TREE. —Antiaris toxicaria. 
Will you, or some of your readers who 
know whereof they affirm, tell us about 
the Upas Tree? I have often seen it refer¬ 
red to, but don’t recollect ever to have seen 
any account of it otherwise, and thought 
perhaps it might be a fabled tree.—c. J. s. 
Wk cannot do better than to quote what 
Louis Fiquikh says of this tree in his 
great work, the “ Vegetable World.” “ The 
half fabulous poison tree of Java was said 
to be a large tree growing in the middle of 
a desert produced by its own pestiferous 
qualities, and causing death to every other 
plant and animal which came under Its in¬ 
fluence. To approach the tree for the pur¬ 
pose of wounding its stem and carrying off 
its juice was said to be the task of crimi¬ 
nals condemned to death. There is a meas¬ 
ure of truth in the fable. There is the 
Upas Tree in .Java, and its juice, taken in¬ 
ternally, is speedy death to any animal; 
and there is a tract of land where neither 
plant nor animal can exist; but the two 
circumstanees have no connection. The 
poisoned tract is the crater of a volcano 
which emits carbonic acid gas continually 
—a spot where not even the Upas Tree can 
grow. The Upas Tree is one of the Afto- 
carpacece, which abounds in milky juice; 
aud this juice, as yve have said, is like many 
of its congeners, a deadly poison when 
mingled with the blood.” 
Upas trees have been grown in European 
conservatories for many years, and are no 
more poisonous to the touch than a fig tree. 
We have in our own forests, trees and 
shrubs which are a hundred times more 
poisonous than the famous Upas, which we, 
as boys were taught to believe was a death- 
dealing demon of the vegetable world. The 
lies told in books given to j'oung people to 
read are enough to make us a nat ion of liars; 
but. thanks to the truth-telling scientists 
of this age, falsehood is rapidly getting its 
deserts. As men and women have been 
taught in years past, it requires one-half 
their lives, and many a pang, to uproot the 
falsehoods from their minds—that is, with 
those who seek truth. The number of 
persons who do this, we are free to confess, 
very small indeed; hence the scarcity 
of true knowledge. 
--- 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES, 
Wash for Trees.—C. C. Cooly gives the 
Country Gentleman what he calls “the 
best wash for trees to bo found in the 
world: ”—Take sal soda , which can be had 
at retail at from 3 to 0 cents per pound; 
place it in a skillet on the fire. It will soon 
go to what seems to be water, evaporate, 
and leave a white powder. Keep it on the 
fire till it becomes a light brown, when it is 
done. Use a fourth of a pound, or, if the 
trees are much covered with moss, or are 
very dirty, use half apeund to the gallon of 
water. Wash the trunk and large limbs, 
using a sponge or cloth. It can be used at 
any season of the year. I prefer In Winter. 
This wash will not injure the foliage of the 
most delicate plant. Ill a few weeks after 
using the trees will look as clean and sleek as 
though they had been varnished, and the 
trees will astonish you by their growth and 
healthy appearance. 
Seed for Name.—Inclosed you will find 
a Reed which I would be pleased to know 
the name of, etc. It was found among my 
flower seeds. I planted it but it fails to 
grow from some cause.—A. L. Jennings. 
The seed is one of the papaws (Asimina), 
but of which species we cannot determine 
as the specimen was badly crushed. Papaw 
seed must bo planted soon after being gath¬ 
ered or they will seldom grow. Plant as 
soon as rij>o is the rule to follow with all 
kinds of trees and shrubs. 
Unfruitful Cherry Trees. — I have a 
number of very thrifty looking cherry 
trees which blossom beautifully every 
Spring, but have entirely ceased to bear 
fruit. Will some one tell me whether I can 
do anything to restore fruitfulness.—J. A. 
Fox. 
Ie your trees are healthy and have borne 
fruit we caunot understand why they should 
not continue to do so. It may be that there 
has been unfavorable weather at the time 
of blossoming for several years past, and 
that this is the cause of failure. Keep the 
treeB growing by manuring and pruning 
and we think you will discover the cause of 
non-fruiting. 
About Hedges.—I want to set a cedar 
or spruce hedge. When is the time to do 
it?—D. A. S., Lewis Co., N. Y, 
In the Spring, as boou as the ground is 
warm and dry enough to work easily. Do 
not, as some recommend, wait until the 
trees begin to grow. 
She danten. 
HOW TO KEEP CELERY. 
For the benefit of those of your readers 
who have never succeeded in keeping cel¬ 
ery in eatable condition throughout a win¬ 
ter, (and 1 know of several) I will give a 
rule by which I have preserved celery, free 
from rot or rust, as lato as the last of March. 
Never work at celery' in any' way, except 
the plants be perfectly dry. Earth up, 
never before 10 o’clock A. M., or after 4 P. 
M., uud then only on a very dry and sun¬ 
shiny' day. In the fall, as soon as the 
ground begins to freeze enough to make the 
slightest crust in the morning, select a dry 
and sunshiny day, and as near uoon as pos¬ 
sible, p&ok j'our celery in boxes, (I use soap 
or starch boxes), placing first a layer of 
earth, about one inch deep; then a layer 
of celery, placing the plants just far enough 
apart to not lay against each other, and 
thus, alternating earth aud celery, until the 
boxes are filled, having the first aud last 
layers of earth. Place the boxes where the 
celery will not freeze, (but not in n heated 
room), and your celery will keep splendidly 
and always convenient for use, w. R. s. 
- +++ - 
Marquis of Lome Cucumber.—Some 
time ago we gave an engraving of this new 
cucumber, aud had several inquiries for 
seed, but found that the high price of the 
seed had prevented its introduction here. 
Au English gardener writes: — “I can 
recommend this to every one. I have this 
season out three (only three of this sort), 
and they were respectively 20 inches, 2Q}4 
inches, 21)$ inches long, perfectly even in 
size from poiut to stem, aud hardly' a seed 
in them, the flavor also excellent. Their 
great fault with me, however, is that they 
are very late.” 
