180 
May. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
raspberry bushes. On the remainder, besides hav¬ 
ing borders for plants and flowers, (by the way, I 
thought his household flowers the most interesting,) 
he raises all the vegetables necessary for family 
consumption. Some of the trees have already com¬ 
menced bearing,- he has a supply of strawberries, 
currants and raspberries in their season, and in a few 
years, will probably have a plenty of fruit, much 
better than can be obtained in market, because nicer 
and fresher, and the cost of it will be merely nomi¬ 
nal. The most of the labor of planting and culti¬ 
vating this ground has been done in spare moments, 
redeemed from the engrossing cares of manufactur¬ 
ing. 
This shows what can be done with small means, 
even when the cares of business leave but little lei¬ 
sure. Examples of this kind are becoming more 
numerous, as there is an increasing interest mani¬ 
fested in rural pursuits. Thorough cultivation is be¬ 
coming better understood and appreciated, and the 
example of good cultivators has a great influence 
over the careless aud negligent. W. L. Eaton. 
Weare, N. H. 
How to Prevent the mi timely Sitting of Hens. 
Eds. Cultivator —It is the sentiment of some 
benevolent persons, that hens should always be per¬ 
mitted to sit when they are disposed to do so. If 
they were in a state of nature, this would undoubt¬ 
edly be a safe rule, as they would then hatch one, 
and perhaps at most two broods. But the hen, 
when domesticated, and fed artificially, becomes a 
factitious being, and is no longer governed by natu¬ 
ral instinct merely, as in her wild state. Every 
one familiar with the breeding of fowls, well knows 
that they will sit, if permitted, in almost every 
month of the year. Fancy breeders may have the 
time and patience to take care of a brood of young 
chickens in January ; but the farmer, who must have 
a constant eye to profit, cannot. Chickens, in cen¬ 
tral New-York, should never be hatched later than 
the first of September. I once had a brood of six¬ 
teen chickens, hatched the middle of September, 
many of which died of a cold chill on the 2d of De¬ 
cember, although they were treated with ordinary 
care. 
The ordinary notion, that late chickens lay earlier 
than early chickens, is, I half think, true. It seems 
at first, sight, physiologically improbable. Possibly 
the reason may be, that they do not become so fat 
as earlier chickens. 
It becomes a question of interest then to every 
farmer, how he can most cheaply and readily pre¬ 
vent the sitting of hens at untimely seasons. The 
following suggestions, which I saw substantially in 
some book, many years since, will bear repetition. 
I have myself practiced them for five or six years, 
and know their value. The treatment consists in 
putting the hen wishing to sit, in close quarters, 
where she has light, food and water, but. no straw, 
and where she can see her associates. Three or 
four days confinement here will be sufficient. She 
may then be liberated, and will soon begin to lay 
again. 
I use for this purpose, a sort of lattice, made by 
nailing two or three dozen ordinary house laths 
across two or three poles or strips of board eight 
feet long. This is set leaning against the side of 
the barn, in some roomy place, with the ends stop¬ 
ped up. This is cheaper and more effectual than 
any other. To dip a hen into cold water, at a time 
when nature has thrown her into a fever, is often in¬ 
jurious to her health; and to tie a red or white rag 
to dangle behind her, thus making her alternately 
the terror and laughing stock of the whole barn¬ 
yard, is not generous. A. M. 
Live-Stock Insurance. 
The “ American Live-Stock Insurance Company ,” 
incorporated by the Legislature of the state of In¬ 
diana, publish the following classes of hazards and 
rates of annual premiums: 
Bates for Horses. —1st. Horses employed for agricultural 
purposes, under $125 per head in value,. 3 pr cent. 
2d. Over $1.25 and under $200,. “ 
3d. Hackney, gig and carriage horses, under $200 pr head 
in value, for country,. 3£ “ 
do do for city,. 5 “ 
4th. Dray horses, for general use, under $200 per head in 
value,. 5 « 
5th. Horses, $200 per head and upwards in value, for coun¬ 
try,. 5 “ 
“ “ “ in city, 5£ “ 
6th. Stallions, of under $200 in value,. 6 <c 
If $200, and under $375 in value,. 6i “ 
If $375, and under $1000,... 7 “ 
Sheep. —Of every description, if above 3 months old,.5 “ 
Rates for Cattle— 1st. Cattle, under $50 per head in value, 2£ “ 
If worth $75, and under $125,. 3 “ 
Prize Bulls and Cattle of extraordinary Breed —At rates propor¬ 
tionate to their value, from 3£ to 5 per cent. 
Cows kept in large towns are not insurable. 
Stock under 12 months old, not insurable, except at extra rates, 
viz: 
For 6 months insurance, 2-3 the rate. 
3 “ “ 1-3 “ 
Risks of Pleuro Pneumonia , Glanders , and other fatal and conta 
gious diseases , 1 per cent, in addition to the above rates. 
For further particulars, see advertisement. 
Farming in Aroostook. 
Eds. Cultivator — I have been engaged in farm¬ 
ing in this county for about ten years past, and have 
during that time taken several agricultural papers, 
and think they have more than ten times paid me the 
cost of them in the increased productions of my 
farm. I have raised during the past season nearly 
four hundred bushels of excellent Christie potatoes, 
that have cost me only five cents per bushel. I have 
also raised at the rate of upwards of eighty bushels 
of corn to the acre, on one acre and one hundred 
and eight square rods of land, and the crop gave 
me, clear of all expenses, one hundred and eight 
dollars. My success in raising these crops, I attri¬ 
bute entirely to the information derived from reading 
agricultural papers. Parker P. Burley. Linne - 
us, Aroostook Co., Me., March 25, 1850. 
Improvement in Connecticut. 
A correspondent of the Agriculturist, who dates 
at Farmington, Ct., gives a favorable account of 
the improvements in farming in that neighborhood. 
In regard to the production of grass and the quali¬ 
ty of the cattle, we can from personal observation 
testify to the correctness of his statements. The 
writer observes that there is a large proportion of 
land in Farmington which has formerly been consi¬ 
dered exhausted, and has been sold as low as $3 an 
acre within the last twenty years; but which is now 
worth, to cultivate, from $40 to $50 per acre, and 
is still improving. He says—“Our grass lands ly¬ 
ing in the vicinity of our main street, produce on 
the average four tons to the acre, both crops, (we 
always cut two crops, per year;) one field that was 
actually weighed, produced over five tons to the 
acre, and there are others which will equal that. 
There were three acres of oats, averaged 86 bush¬ 
els per acre, one acre of which being limed produ¬ 
ced 92 bushels; of corn there have been several pie¬ 
ces measured, some of the results I will state. One 
single acre produced 136 bushels; one piece of three 
