potatoes, and the foreign seeds from the Agri- ^r of 1858 was a successful one to the farmers,
cultural Department at Washington. Love of i ^i » „„ i i i i „ i u„„„
,' , ,1 ] T . »u and that a very commendable advance has been
music ought also to be encouraged. Let the •' ^ ■, nr
echoes of song vibrate the heart strings, and let made in every department of agriculture. "We
it ring in the farm-house. Money that is invest-! want"— say they— "to increase the number of
ed in books, and in promoting intelligence and well educated and intelligent agiiculturists —
true refinement in a farmer's home, is better than ^^^ ^Yio are, in every respect, as well qualified
an investment of hoarded money in a bank at , n ,i a 4- .,,„♦„,! .^.uu ^^
. â– ^ . ,,,, . z 11 for all the varied operations connected with ag-
six per cent, interest. Ihe mind ever pays well i / r , c •
for all efforts to enrich it, in all grades of socie- Iriculture, as are tl^e men of other professions,
ty. Mind is immortal. Money is perishable, who have been duly prepared for their pursuits."
Money never clinks beneath the coffin-lid so| On speaking oi the uheat crop of the Slate,
that it makes music to the dead sleeper who ^w gay that investigations into the habits of
once possessed it. As minds are expanded and . , .. i v i. i • • i • *u 4.
*^ 1 • .• -11 .u 1 1 1 insects has established one principle, viz : — that
improved upon in time, so will they be elevated, ' ' '
"where land is properly dressed and cultivated
there is less liability of damage from insects,
than where the land is poor, and the crop is ne-
c!„^^„ ,^, rr^^. .^ Tu • i e • glected." This is undoubtedly true, as it is in
Sheep in Texas. — there is a sort of mama, ° , • i >
just now, about sheep in Texas. The start made ^he case of poor or diseased animals, who are
a few years ago by G. W. Kendall — and his sue- sure to be attacked by vermin long before the
cess, after going through all the phases of ill luck, healthy and vigorous cattle of the herd are.
losses and discouragements— which perseverance fhis is in compliance with a law of nature, who
overcame — has induced many others to establish i . i n .. n „ a c^t^
great sheep-farms in that State. Maj. Wm. Le-I^^^^^-^^ deformity as well as a vacuum and sets
land, one of the proprietors of the Metropolitan i^n^ediately to work to put it out of sight ! Lean
Hotel, in this city, is one of the number who has land sickly crops, and lean and sickly kine, are
jpor
and rejoice in eternity, if faith and forgiveness
secure to them an entrance into Heaven.
1859.
NEW ENGLAND FARMER.
479
at once attacked by insect scavengers to hide
the deformity from the fair face of the earth.
But when the committee endorse the theory of
Professor Hind, of Trinity College, Toronto,
and English writers, who recommend "good
husbandry as among the remedial measures to
arrest the progress of insects," we think they do
not, to say the least, give the true cause of the in-
crease of insects. They say, "high farming is as
destructive to vermin as to weeds, and it is rare-
ly that the devastation committed in highly cul-
tivated land is very serious."
We believe that the reverse of this is the case
— that high farming produces insects — that it
feeds and shelters them, and produces the condi-
tion of things best fitted to a rapid and wonderful
increase. This, too, is in accordance with a nat-
ural law. The forests of certain sections of coun-
try sometimes yield no mast, or nuts, for sever-
al years in succession, so that the animals that
enlivened their tops all disappear. At length
they blossom again, and lo ! long before the
fruit has matured, the forest is vocal with the
hopeful sounds of its old denizens, waiting for
their accustomed food. And so is it with the
grasses on the prairies — it is the plentiful crop
that increases the destroyers, and not the lean
and hungry ones.
We should aim to secure large and healthy
crops, notwithstanding — but must set our wits
to work to devise the ways and means to pre-
vent their destruction by insects. But we cer-
tainly have done much that is favorable to their
multiplication and vigor, in increasing the varie-
ties and excellence of our crops. When apple
trees were few, the fruit small, gnarly and almobt
as hard as flint, and the leaves were small, tough
and wiry, we had but few curculios ; but now
that the cultivated apple is juicy and tender, the
curculio finds it so admirably adapted to its pur-
poses of propagation that scarcely an apple is
left untouched by this tiny depredator ; and so
the caterpillar finds the leaves of the apple tree
large, succulent and tender, and the very food it
requires in order to sustain millions of its kind.
So the tender leaves of numerous other fruits, as
well as the great variety of vegetables which we
have been pleased to introduce into our gardens
and fields and cultivate, contribute to the aid and
comfort of numerous insects, as well as to the
gratification of our own apj)etites. Life, in this
respect, as in many others, is a continued war-
fare. It is so between us and the insects, and
between them and us. Who shall gain the mas-
tery ? They, by their instinct, or we, by our rea-
son ?
The committee then refer to the want of a
more uniform and systematic mode of collecting
the statistics of agjiculture, so that we may bet-
ter know the number and value of our stock, of all
kinds, and how to form a general estimate of av-
erage crops raised. They also speak of Agricultu-
ral Associations, and quote high authorities in
their favor. The Sorghum or Sugar Cane, and
-Si'eaniP^om/?^ are considered, and the importance
of a choice Agricultural Library is dwelt upon
with considerable emphasis.
Their address last year was given by Joseph
R. Williams, President of Michigan Agricul-
tural College, — it occupies some thirty pages,
and was of so excellent a character as to bs very
generally published in the agricultural papers
during the last winter.
The next paper contains extracts from an ad-
dress by Prof. North, on '"American Trees and
Tree Planters," and is full of excellent facts and
suggestions. He says that trees make generous
returns for the room they occupy. The destruc-
tion of trees not only diminishes the absolute
quantity of rain, but prevents its accumulation in
springs, shaded valleys and swamps. A bare
hill-side will shed water like a roof. Let the
trees remain as nature intended, and the same
soil becomes a sponge, absorbing the rain as it
falls, and sending it down little by little to the
thirsty lowlands. He gives an interesting ac-
count of the leading men who have presented the
claims of trees, beginning with John Bartram,
who founded the first botanic garden in this
country, on the banks of the Schuylkill, and men-
tioning Andre Michaux and his son, William
CoxE, of New Jersey, Downing, M. P. Wilder
and H. W. Sargent. In confirmation of our
theory about the increase of insects, and the
state of warfare we are in, he says — "Every val-
uable tree has its enemies. The more useful the
tree, the more numerous, busy and implacable
its foes."
The retiring President, WiLLlAM T. McCoUN,
made a speech in which the subject of steam as
a motive power on the farm was very ably dis-
cussed, — and then the newly elected president,
Abraham B. Conger, made short, congratula-
tory remarks upon taking his seat. In a gener-
al discussion at another time, Mr. Conger made
an earnest address to the farmers to abandon the
exhaustive process of feeding mainly on hay and
adopt the root cultivation. He believed in the
English dogma, that without roots for food, there
must be few cattle ; that with few cattle there
must be little manure ; and with little manure
there must be light crops.
The report of the committee on Dairy Farms
is a long and interesting one. We notice that
the result of inquiries among dairymen, as to the
amount of milk required to make a pound of
butter, was stated at fourteen quarts. Colonel
Pratt's dairy, of 50 cows, in 1857, was twenty
480
NEW ENGLAND FARMER.
Oct.
quarts ; in 1858, sixteen and one-sixth quarts. It
seems to us that the lowest number is a large
one.
Then follow papers on "Experiments with dif-
ferent Manurt-s on permanent Meadow Land,"
on "Draining," on "Potatoes," on "Winter Fruit,"'
on "the Culture of the Cranberry," on the " Wheat
Midge and Hessian Fly," on " Wheat and Chess,"
and then one on the "Edible Fishes of New
York," by Robert L. Pell. This report gives a
brief account of the fish common to the rivers
and inland streams of the State in a very attrac-
tive style. Mr. Pell cultivates fish — as well as
apples — and says, — "I am convinced that an acre
pond, well stocked with pike, would yield more
profit than a ten acre lot under ordinary cultiva-
tion."
A short chapter is devoted to the New York
State Agricultural College, and then comes a
long, practical and interesting chapter upon Fen-
ces, by S. Edwards Ladd. The subject is dis-
cussed under various appropriate heads, and em
braces every kind of fence resorted to, including
wire, stone, picket and hedge fences.
Following this are one or two hundred pages
of miscellaneous matter, and the volume closes
with the fifth report on the noxious and other in-
sects of the State of New York, by Asa Fitch,
entomologist to the Society.
We have now, briefly, brought to view the va-
ried contents of this interesting and highly use-
ful volume. It has not been made by an indi-
vidual, but by many individuals, and the extend-
ed interest that has been secured to produce such
a work must be a lever of great power in the
State. To say that the work is as good as its
fellows that have preceded it, would l)e saying
much ; but in some respects it is better. We
hope the Society will continue its surveys of
counties.
Mr. Secretary Johnson will please accept our
thanks for the volume which has enabled us to
make these remarks, and to complete our set of
this highly-valued work.
OYSTERS AND STAR FISH.
The oyster beds in Providence river have suf-
fered severely from the attacks of star fish, which,
in some instances, have destroyed hundreds of
dollars worth of oysters. The manner in which
the star-fish contrive to carry off" the delicate
morsel contained within the shells of healthy
oysters, has been more or less a conjecture. By
many it has been supposed that the star-fish
closes its arms over the shell, and so starves the
oyster to death by refusing to let it open its
mouth for food. An old supposition was to the
eflect that the star-fish succeeded in inserting a
ray or finger into the gaping shell, and if it found
the bivalve too strong for it, got rid of the diffi-
culty and the ray at once, conscious of its power
of reproducing another ; which conclusion may
have been drawn from the fact that the star-fish
readily parts with its rays to preserve its body,
reproducing them again very speedily. Star-fish
have been detected in the act of sucking the
juices of bivalves through perforations, and also
with their mouths applied to the edges of the
valves. From the apparently paralyzed state of
the bivalves found in such situations, it has been
conjectured that the star-fish introduces some
deleterious secretion within the valves, and thus
leaves the moUusk torpid, and deprived of the
power of closing its valves against the attacks
of the destroyer. But it is not on living prey
alone that the star-fish feeds. Is seems to assist
materially in cleansing the sea from dead and
decomposing animal matter. A human tooth
has been found in the stomach of a star-fish. Its
mouth and gullet are admirably adapted for se-
curing the animal substances on which it feeds.
When the prey is apparently disproportioned to
the parts into which it is to be conveyed, the
(Tsophagus, or gullet, together with parts of the
stomach itself, can be protruded and everted, so
as to draw the desired food into the cavity by
the application of the inverted surface to it.
Thus small shell-fish are swallowed whole, and
specimens still living have been found taken
from the cavity. — jYewport Mercury.
ABOUT BAEKS.
The careful attention of the reader is called to
an article in another column, on the form and
manner of constructing barns — a suliject of the
first importance to tlie farmers of New England.
We do not mean to be understood as assenting
to all that "J. W. K." says in his article — it may
all be right, but we should rather see a barn so
constructed before recommending them to others.
His ideas, however, strike us quite favorably,
and when we once had him "in our leanto," some
years ago, had we known that his mind run so
strongly to barns, we certainly should have de-
tained him an hour or two to discuss them.
That our barns are too expensive in their first
cost, too liable to rapid decay, and inconvenient
in their arrangement, we have long been con-
vinced, and our correspondent has our hearty
thanks for giving the subject so much considera-
tion, and for giving us an opportunity to com-
municate his views to the public.
LICE ON CATTLE.
Take white oak bark, boil it in water — making
a strong decoction ; wash the animals on the
back and on the sides. In twenty-four hours
the lice will be completely tanned. Tanner's oil
is also first-rate.
Remarks. — If you try this, use it with moder-
ation, as all decoctions of this kind are of a pow-
erful nature. You would not like to tan the whole
creature while living.
18.59.
NEW EXvlLAND FARMER.
481
1 % K
A FULL BLOOD DEVON BULL.
The lover of good cattle â– will scarcely be able
to forbear a criticism of the above symmetrical
and every way beautiful portrait. Look at the
head, and see what a brilliant eye it has, what
slender and clean jaws ; then glance at the legs,
fashioned as though cut out in a modern lathe
for turning irregular surfaces, and then at the
extreme appendage, so small, long and graceful !
Look at the straight back, the short neck, the
powerful shoulders and brisket, and every part
filled with muscle or fat, all so attractive that an
alderman's mouth might water upon beholding
him.
This animal was bred by Col. L. G. Morris,
of Mount Fordham, N. Y., and is the property
of the Hon. John Wentworth, of Chicago, Il-
linois.
As oxen, the Devons make as good as ever
need to be yoked — there are, perhaps, none bet-
ter. They are strong, docile, quick, have good
length of legs, are excellent travellers, and are
handsome ; and when done with the yoke, they
make most capital beef.
Devon cows, as milkers, are frequently of a
high order, having all the good points and qual-
ities of the best milch cows. Occasionally there
is one giving milk of the richest quality. They
are preferred by some to all other cows for the
dairy — but as a general thing, do not stand quite
so high as the Ayrshire.
MILLER'S STEAM WAGON.
In Marysville, Cal., a steam wagon has recent-
ly been put in operation, and is represented to
have proved a complete success. It is designed
for travel on common roads, and to do heavy
work with great power and steadiness. Mr. Mil-
ler, the inventor, has been constantly engaged
for the last two years in improving the mechan-
ism of his wagon, and in satisfying himself that
the principle of his invention was correct. As
is usually the case with inventors, he has strug-
gled with many difficulties, but has at length,
as we learn, the satisfaction of seeing that his
labors have resulted in producing a new and val-
uable means of locomotion. We compile the an-
nexed description of the wagon :
It is twenty feet long, by seven and a half feet
wide, and is driven by a fifteen-horse engine,
geared to work up to thirty-five or forty- horse
power. It is constructed to move on endless
tracks, that are laid down and taken up as the
wagon proceeds.
These tracks are carried round on large wheels,
of five feet diameter, to which motion is given
by the engine, and the weight of the wagon is
supported on small truck wheels of two feet di-
482
NEW ENGLAND FARMER.
Oct.
ameter, which rest on the tracks. These tracks
thus form a movable raih'oad, which is carried
along with the wagon, and furnishes the rails
upon which the wagon moves.
The large wheels which carry the tracks do
not touch the ground, and serve only to move
the tracks under the small wheels, which bear the
•weight of the whole machine.
The two tracks, one on each side of the wag-
on, have a bearing surface on the ground of
twelve feet long by four inches wide, which ena-
bles the wagon to pass over soft or sandy soil
without sinking into it, and hence without any
or very little loss of power by reason of increased
friction.
On its first trials, the wagon was put to many
tests, and with success in all. It ascended and
descended steep grades, as high as one foot in
height ; it ran over soft ground without any loss
of power ; and hauled loads, under the circum-
stances, equal to fifteen tons, at two and a half
and three miles per hour. It was as easily turned
as any mule team, started as readily as a loco-
motive, and was stopped in a shorter distance.
Some persons expected that the motion of this
wagon would be rough and unpleasant — but it
was not found so, as the wheels run on the
smooth metallic surface of the tracks, and the
movement of the tracks themselves is the s me as
that of a belt passing over two pulleys of the
same diameter.
For the New England Farmer.
THE â– WEATHER OF THE SUMMER
MOJSiTHS, 1859.
Clouds and rain, and cold nights, were the
prominent characteristics of the weather of June,
rain falling on fifteen days, including six thunder
showers ; and, according to observations made
by Mr. J. Weatherhead, at the U. S. Armory, in
this city, G.38 inches of water fell on a level.
Three frosts occurred during the month ; on the
mornings of the 6th, 11th and 12th, the first and
last being very severe over the whole nort' ern
parts of the United States, with occasional ex-
ceptions. That on the 12th was the most severe
in this section, doing great irjury, not only to
crops, but to vegetation in general. The grass,
and leaves of plants and shrubs were frozen stifl',
in many localities, and the ground, (in moist,
plowed fields,) was frozen to the depth of one-
fourth to one-half an inch. Ice formed in favor-
able situations. At sunrise, the theimometer
stood at 34°, at my usual place of observations,
but upon carrying it to low, marshy ground,
some thirty rods distant, the mercury fell to 29°,
while suspended in & J'lozen bthsh, and this in
"rosy June !" Many gardens seemed nearly
ruined, beans being almost universally killed,
and corn and potatoes, in the fields, were great-
ly injured. In some instances, the leaves and
young growth of the grape vine and white oak
were blackened and killed. The weather tlirough-
out the month, with the exception of a few da}s,
was so cold that vegetation advanced very slow-
ly, and so wet that farmers were obliged to lose
much time in consequence of the rain. At the
close of the month, they were nearly a week be-
hind-hand in their work, and the prospect for a
corn crop was very discouraging.
July, however, was pleasantly interspersed
with sunshine and rain, moderate heat, agreeable
coolness, and refreshing north-west breezes.
Drought and rain were so well apportioned, that
vegetation suffered not from a too long continu-
ance of the former, nor a superabundance of the
latter, and the season for haying and harvesting
was very good, though somewhat interrupted by
showers towards the close of the month, and if
the crops wtre not remarkably heavy, the far-
mers enjoyed the satisfaction of saving them in
prime order. The weather was very cool about
the 4th and 5th. and frosts were reported in some
sections, as occurring on the night following the
4th, but of not much severity. 1 here was extreme
heat for only a few days, from the 10th to the
14th, the mercury reaching 96° at one P. M., on
the 13th ; but the last ten or twelve days had the
pure atmosphere and agreeable coolness of Sep-
tember.
The weather of August was, in many respects,
fine, being remarkably clear, with l)ut little sul-
try weather er extieme heat. The first fourteen
days were quite warm, however, their mean tem-
perature being 70 09°, but the remaining seven-
teen were veiy cool, and occasionally to an un-
pleasant degree, and the mean temperature of
this part of the month was 63.06°. A few times
the maximum temperature was above 80°, during
the fore part of the month, but as frequently fell
below 68° towards its close. Ihree light white
frosts were observed on low land, on the morn-
ings of the 17th, 29tli and oOih, here and there
leaving traces of their effect on tender vegetation,
but no serious injury resulted. About an ordi-
nary amount of rain fell, more or less falling on
eleven days, but there was a period of ten clays,
from the 13ih to the 24th, without rain, and
symptoms of a drought began to be manifest ;
and re])orts from many sections of the country
re|)resenled \egetaiion as sufl'ering considerably.
The weather throughout the season was quite
unfavorable for the farmer, and rmdered his
prospects for a good corn harvest quite gloomy,
and, at times, very uncertain. The fros s of June
were very extensive and destructive, and many
fields of both corn and potatoes never fully re-
covered from their effects. The consequence re-
sulting therefrom to rye and wheat was for a time
doubtful, but, at harvest, the damage proved to
be slight, exhibiting itself occasion.iliy in the
half-filled heads of the former, in many fields,
while a few pieces were wholly ruined. The light
frosts in August again threatened great injury to
corn, and other late crops, but fortunately the
apprehensions of farmers were not realized ; so
the season afforded the novelty of frost in each
of the summer months, without very disastrous
results. Corn at the close of August seemed to
indicate a fair crop, though very late ; from ten
da3b to two or three weeks of warm weather be-
ing then necessary for its maturity in this vicinity.
The mean temperaturt of the summer months
was 6j.6°; of June, 62.95°, being seven and a
half degrees lower than the mean of June, 1858,
and only about five degrees warmer than May ;
of July, 67.53°, being 42° colder than July,
1858, 3.2° colder than July, 1857, and 6.3° cold-
er than July, 1S56, which was re^markable for its
great heat and drjmss; of August, 66.31°; from
.06° to 1.16° warmer than the three Augusts pre-
1859.
NEAV ENGLAND FARMER.
483
ceding. The mean temperature at sunrise was
55°; at noon, 72.73°; at three P. M., 74.1G°; and
at sunset, G:.23°. Of June, at sunrise, 47.47°;
at noon. 08.83°; at three, P. M., 69.9°; and at
sunset, 61.9°. Of July, at sunrise, 57.71°; at
noon, 75.81°; at three, 'P. M., 77°; and at sun-
set, 65.68°. Of August, at sunrise, 57.78°; at
noon, 73 55°; at three, P. M., 75 48°; and at sun-
set, 68.13°, The mean sunrise temperature varies
but slightly from the mean minimum, and the;
mean temptrature at three, P. M., as here given,
is the true mean maximum, i
The warmest day in June was the 29th, the^
mean temperature being 74.67°; in July, the 12th,!
with a mean of 80.83°, which was also the warm-j
est of the season ; in August, the 4th, with a
mean of 76.33°, The coldest day of June, also of
the season, was the 11th, with a mean tempera-
ture of 45,67°, and at nine o'clock, the thermom-
eter stood at 49°, and at noon at 52°, though the
sun shcne clearly ! Several other days were un-
comfortably cool throughout. The coldest day in
July was the 4th, the mean temperature of the
day being 54.67°, and in August, the 29th was
the coldest, the mean being 54,83.
The extreme tempei'atures occurred as follows :
highest in June, 91°, at eleven. A, M., on the
29th ; in July, 96°, at one, P, M., on the 13th,
also the highest of the season ; in August, 86°,
at three, P. M., on the 4tb, The lowest in June
was 34°, at sunrise on the 12th, which was also
the lowest of the season ; in July, 44°, at sun-
rise on the 5th ; in August, 40°, at sunrise on
the 30. h.
The summer of 1859 was 3,34° colder than the
summer of 1858, and 16° warmer than the sum-
mer of 1857.
Rain fell on thirty-six days ; on fifteen in
June, leu in July, and eleven in August, Four-