Some extra in milk, butter and cheese, the season, and fect fall into the box at the foot of the plane. adds to her own value and all other animals $5 to times several grades are made. The most perfect $10 each, showing the difference between poor and are caught in one trough, the slightly imperfect in good feed. Why so much neglect of the pasture, the next, a little nearer the plane, and so on to those while the scaffold is an object of such solicitude. almost shapeless particles which must go back to The pasture should make the beef and growth of the kettle to be re-melted. The shot are then polthe young cattle; then why is it not the farmer's ished, as pins are, in a revolving barrel; in which important revenue? also a little black lead is placed, to give them the While the allies are farming out the destruction peculiar finish they have when sold. I did not inof Sebastopol with an open waste-gate of blood and tend so lengthy a description when I began, altreasure, the New England farmer may be more though it may interest the juvenile portion of your honorably and profitably engaged in subduing his readers, but to speak of the process of manufacture tough old pasture lands, which will give him pleasure and revenue in the end. H. POOR. HOW SHOT ARE MADE. peculiar to the place I visited in Water Street.There, the melted drops instead of falling from a high tower, or through a deep shaft, simply came from the hatchway of a four story building, used as a store, the shot being made and sold under the [The New York correspondent of the Congrega-viated by forcing up against the falling shower a same roof. The necessity of the long space is obtionalist gives the following information on this volume of air from a huge bellows worked by a subject:] small steam engine. This current of air so retards On one of the hottest days last week, as I was their descent that the shot are as perfect, in falling passing up Water Street on the shaded side, I no- from the fourth floor of the store, as if they made ticed a gust of hot air from a store I was passing, an unobstructed journey of 200 feet. which struck my cheek with the burning force of a sirocco. Curious to ascertain its origin, I entered the store and drew near the hatchway, from whence For the New England Farmer. it seemed to proceed. Down from the stories above IMPORTANCE OF SOWING GOOD SEED. came pouring a shower of silver drops, which disappeared in the vapor from the apartment beneath. MR. EDITOR :—I have been a reader of agriculThe gentleman who was standing near, perceiving tural papers for the last twenty years, and I like the my curiosity, thrust a stick beneath the white drops New England Farmer about as well as any of and drew it forth covered with melted lead. It was them. a manufactory of shot. The first method of mak- I am a practical farmer, on a small scale. Now ing round shot, was by abrasion; a number of small it is generally agreed that liberal manuring and rough chips or particles of lead were shaken to- frequent stirring of the soil are essential to good gether in a bag or box until they were worn into a farming. I think that good seed is also essential. spherical shape; or, from a sheet of lead, small cu- I have read of large potatoes and small potatoes, bical bits were separated with a punch, and ground and have seen them and planted them; but in rebetween two flat stones, until they were rounded, lation to their relative value for seed the wise disaas a pill is made between the palms of the hand.—gree. In fact there is but little difference. The next process was by casting in a mould, as bul- Not so, however, with the grains; the best should lets are now made, but this, besides being slow and be selected for seed to secure a continuation of good tedious, did not make the shot as perfect as desired. crops. A half-century ago, our most successful The latter method is by granulation, and hitherto farmers were in the practice of selecting their seed this has been only practicable at the top of a high at harvest time; the rye, barley and oats were tower, or over a shaft sunk in the centre, so as to winnowed on the barn-floor, and the seed for the provide a vertical descent of 150 to 200 feet. The coming year was taken from the head of the heap, process is simply as follows: The lead is mixed because the grain was heavier, as they said, while with a little arsenic in a pot placed over a furnace. those who took their seed from the tail of the heap, When it becomes melted it is poured by means of had to come to their wiser neighbors every few a ladle into a colander, a vessel made like a sieve years for seed, saying "that their seed had run with holes in the bottom-which hangs over the out." There was one man in particular, who selectspace through which the shot are to fall. To pre- ed his seed corn in his field, and at harvest time, vent the lead passing through these holes too rapid- having regard to the earliest ripe and the most perly, a layer of dross taken from the surface of the fect ears. Another man came to reside in his molten metal is spread coarsely over them. Through neighborhood and procured seed corn of this man, the bottom of the colander the drops fall in a con- and adopted his manner of selecting it, which he tinuous shower, and after their long descent are re-continued with good success, so that in unfavoraceived into a huge basin of water. This gives them ble seasons, when corn in many fields failed to ritheir rounded form, almost all of the drops being pen, and many procured seed from the North, this perfect spheres. They are separated into their sev- man continued to raise good crops from his own eral sizes by shifting, after being thoroughly dried. seed, and remarked that the good would perpetuA few, of course, from contact with others, and var- ate itself if properly nourished and cared for. ious similar accidents, will be imperfect. How shall The same may be said in relation to garden vegthey be separated from the mass? An inclined etables. If proper attention were paid to the se plane covered with iron is fastened with its lower lection of seeds, we should not hear the complaints edge in a box. Down this plane the shot are care- that we often do, that "the beans are late and all at lessly rolled in a thin stream. Those perfectly the top of the poles," and the cucumbers all run to round acquire so much velocity that they bound off vines, or that the seed has "run out." into a receiver at a little distance, while the imper- Somerset, Mass. E. S. through a long rain, and if a warm one, some of the outside grains are sprouted, but the inside of the pile is uninjured. INJURY TO THE WHEAT CROP. The heavy rains of the past fortnight are reported to have done great injury to the wheat "The Danubian wheat boats are without roofs; crop in New York and Michigan. In many fields the grain is piled up in a heap rounded on top, and the grain is said to be sprouting in the field, and exposed to all the rains that fall during a long in some instances to have grown so badly as to be voyage. If the weather be warm, the outside grows and mats together some inches deep, and that prospoiled. The damage, however, is probably over-tects the remainder. The worst of the sprouted estimated. The following paragraphs from the part is only fit for beasts, while that but slightly New York Tribune, give some facts in the case sprouted sells as food for man, and that below the wetted crust is fit for shipment to France or Engwhich are of interest, and which show that there is land. but little real cause for alarm : "We have no doubt that the grain is injured by "Let us look at the prospect fairly. There is no the present wet spell, but it is not utterly ruinous.' disputing the fact that in all the wheat region north We may doubt whether farmers do not gain more of lat. 41 degrees the wheat, either cut or uncut, is in other crops than they will lose in wheat by the badly sprouted. How great the damage is it is dif- rains. Meantime let us console ourselves that we ficult to determine, as farmers have no precedent to are not likely to be destitute of wheat. judge by, not having had such a season for several worthy writer makes an estimate that Ohio will years. Indeed, we remember only one-it was in yield the present season twenty-two millions of the year 1836, though the worst of wet weather bushels; Illinois, eighteen millions; Wisconsin, came somewhat later. ten millions; and Pennsylvania twenty millions.' ONE BY ONE. One by one the sands are flowing, One by one the moments fall; Do not strive to grasp them all. "That year the wheat was mostly cut, and in There is no prospect of a famine." shocks in the field or in stacks. In the great wheat regions of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the farmers quite generally declared the crop to be totally ruined. In some fields it did look so, for when it was uncut the yellow heads assumed a green shade, and the shocks and stalks became as green on the surface as the adjoining pastures. In due time, however, the raining period was over, the sprouts died, the standing grain was cut, the shocks stacked or threshed; the stacks lost their bright yellow hue and stood a rusty-looking mass of dry, weatherbeaten straw; and yet-mark the result-the wheat inside was as bright and sound as ever. slight was the injury that it was hardly perceptible in the final result. The shocks and standing grain were more injured, but not ten per cent. of the grain was destroyed. So "When wheat is sprouted, a good winnowing machine will remove most of the injured kernels, which make excellent feed for animals. If there be a predominance of sprouted grains in the grist that goes to mill, it is not spoiled for food; it is only spoiled for light bread. The dough, instead of rising by the ordinary process, has a tendency to liquify and spread out and form a sticking mass, that will not be kneaded into loaves. It makes good unleavened bread, and is quite nutritious, with a sweetish taste. By many persons, bread made of sprouted wheat is preferred, but in market the least appearance of grown kernels will injure the sale. Some millers even contend that one per cent. of such kernels will injure the quality of the whole. It is therefore important to the farmer that he should be very careful to keep the sprouted sheaves separate from the sound, and should also separate the sound from the unsound grain in winnowing, as far as possible. Let thy whole strength go to each; One by one thy griefs shall meet thee, See how small each moment's pain; Every day begin again. Every hour that fleets so slowly, Has its task to do or bear; Or for passing hours despond Look too eagerly beyond. Hours are golden links, God's token, Reaching Heaven; but one by one A trust Household Words. The injury of rain upon wheat is quite over-rated in this country, because we are not well used to it -our harvest weather being usually so fine that the straw retains its golden brightness till it has RECIPE FOR FLOATING.-Any human being who been threshed. Not so in England. There the will have the presence of mind to clasp the hands rains are often so incessant that sprouted wheat is behind the back, and turn the face toward the zenith, very common, and the business of shocking or may float in tolerably still water-ay, and sleep there, stacking the sheaves is an art that commands high- no matter how long. If not knowing how to swim, er wages than reaping. There the stacks are al- you would escape drowning when you find yourself ways thatched to preserve them from sprouting on in deep water, you have only to consider yourself an the outside, and often built hollow to dry them on empty pitcher-let your mouth and nose, not the careless. Our wheat is often exposed to complete top of your heavy head be the highest part of you, and you are safe. But thrust up one of your bony soakings. Much of that grown in the West is threshed on the ground, and often lies in a pile hands and down you go; turning up the handle tips the inside. In this country we are much more over the pitcher. Having had the happiness to pre- ing regulations, shall, on the day appointed, be exvent one or two from drowning by this simple instruction, we publish it for the benefit of all who either love aquatic sports or dread them. amined by the Faculty and board of examination, on the various branches of Veterinary Science. At the close of such examination, the decision of the Faculty and examiners shall be declared; if favorable, it shall be recorded by the Dean, and the sevBOSTON VETERINARY INSTITUE. eral candidates are then entitled to the degree of The Legislature of Massachusetts at its last ses- V. S., and shall be furnished with a Diploma bearsion granted a charter for the establishment of an ing the seal of the Institute and the signatures of institution for the advancement of veterinary knowl- the President, Faculty, and Examiners. Should edge, subject to the statute regulations pertaining the decision be unfavorable, the candidate must to other universities in the Commonwealth. An qualify himself in whatever branch he appears to be organization under the charter has been effected by deficient, and present himself for re-examination at the choice of the following officers :-William S. such time as the Faculty shall direct.-Granite King, Chairman of the corporation; John P. Jew- Farmer. ett, Treasurer; C. L. Flint, Secretary; D. D. Slade, President of the Institute; George H. Dadd, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology; Charles M. Wood, Professor of Theory and Practice; Robert Wood, Professor of Cattle Pathology, with a Board of Examiners and References from various sections of the country. For the New England Farmer. SEEDING DOWN TO GRASS WITH MR. EDITOR: :- As it is now settled beyond a doubt that we shall get a light crop of hay, I pro The first session of the Institute will commence pose to my brother farmers a way to supply the deon the first Monday in November, and continue ficiency, in part, that is not generally practiced, and four months. Tickets for a full course, $75, inclu- is, withal, cheap, which is an important considerading the privilege of a course at Harvard Universi- tion, in these times. Now for the way: take a ty Medical College, on Pathological Anatomy and piece of moist land that needs seeding to grass, obon Chemistry. tain Ruggles, Nourse, Mason & Co.'s Eagle No. 1 LECTURES OF THE FACULTY.-The Professor of plow, (or any other good pattern, same size,) and Anatomy and Physiology will lecture on the various guage it to run 54 to 6 inches in depth and turn tissues, organs and structures of the body of the flat. After plowing what you wish, or have manure Horse; demonstrating at the same time their me- to dress, mark off with plow or chain into square chanical and vital properties, their adaptation, de- rods, and spread twenty-seven ox loads (6 squares sign and functions; their position, dimensions, con- to a load goes 162 rods) of compost to the acre, nection and organization; which will be illustrated two loads of which should be equal to one of best by means of the French model, skeletons, dia-barn-yard manure, and with harrow or cultivator grams, and by wet and dry preparations; an exten- mix it thoroughly with the up-turned sod. every acre of land sow one peck of herds-grass, one The Professor of Theory and Practice will lec- bushel of red-top and two ounces of flat turnip seed, ture on the general principles of Therapeutics and and mix all thoroughly together before sowing; afPathology, and on the history and treatment of dis-ter which roll or brush the seed in. For the last eases of the horse. He will describe the various five years I have plowed with a small plow from 51 remedies used; point out their medicinal properties; to 6 inches in depth, with two horses or one pair of cattle alone, instead of four cattle, and a great plow sive collection of which has been secured. and mode of administration. Το The Professor of Cattle Pathology will lecture running 9 to 10 inches, and a driver, &c. My grass on the various diseases of Neat Stock; the treat-seed comes up quick, holds in longer, and I obtain ment of the same; and the remedies best adapted a greater quantity of hay than I did upon land of to their peculiar organizations. Clinical lectures will occasionally be given by the Faculty on cases that occur in their practice. In fact, every arrangement will be made to secure a thorough and scientific course of instruction. CONDITIONS OF GRADUATION.—1. The course of instruction shall occupy a period of three years. 2. Each candidate shall furnish evidence that he is twenty-one years old. 3. He shall have attended two full courses of Lectures; one of which, however, may take place in any other incorporated university. 4. He shall satisfy the Faculty that he has had the advantages of a common school education. same quality, with more manure and more labor, expense and trouble, in preparing the same for seed. This, I know, is not the theory of most writing farmers, was not the theory of my earlier efforts at farming, but is the result of a practical demonstration of its working, so far as my land in concerned. The land prepared as above, if sown before the 10th of next month, will yield from 75 to 125 bushels of turnips to the acre, sufficient to pay all expense, and as it is no injury to the grass that is to come after, it is surprising that they are not more generally cultivated. Concord, July 28, 1855. H. 5. He shall furnish satisfactory proof that he has FARMERS' HIGH SCHOOL IN PENNSYLVANIA.— been engaged in the study of medicine during a We learn from the Repository and Whig, that properiod not less than twelve months, under the di- vision is being made for the organization and manrection of a medical practioner, whose certificate agement of a Farmers' High School in Pennsylvawill be considered satisfactory proof of the fact. nia, in accordance with an act of incorporation, re6. The candidate for examination shall, previous cently passed by the Legislature of that State. The to the time appointed, notify the Dean of his in- Trustees are empowered to make choice of a suitatention, and furnish the documentary evidence of ble location, embracing not less than two hundred his term of study, tickets to Lectures, &c. nor more than two thousand acres; and also to The candidate having complied with the preced- choose a principal and other officers and assistants the soil? of suitable practical and scientific attainments, as grass that came, there was such a crop of mulleins, well as make whatever arrangements the nature of scattered over the pasture, as we never saw before. the Institute may require. The State Agricultural How long had the seed remained there, inert, in Society is authorized to appropriate any sum, not exceeding ten thousand dollars, whenever the school And how long would it, probably, have may require it; and also to make annual appropri- continued, had the pasture remained unplowed? ations, according to the extent of its resources. Al- Experienced nurserymen, however, tell us that ready liberal donations of land have been proffered apple seed cannot safely be relied on after the first by gentlemen in different parts of the State, and other lands offered at reduced prices.-American year, though we do not know that the experiment Agriculturist. has ever been fairly tried, of keeping the seed with particular care for the purpose of planting. EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. COCK'S-FOOT THORN. Apple seed may be obtained, at the proper season, at most of our seed stores, and are worth about twenty dollars bushel. per A CHEAP FENCE. A BEGINNER. Enclosed you will find the leaf, flower and a spine of a species of thorn, which I think would make a valuable hedge plant, as it grows spontaneously on a variety of soils, makes a thick growth, and is covI have a 14 acre lot to fence, and would like to ered with an abundance of formidable spines. Eith- know what kind of a fence would be the cheapest er this species of thorn is not described in Mrs. Lin- and most durable. I should like to have a hedge coln's Botany, or my limited knowledge of the sub- fence, if they did not cost too much. Please send ject prevents me from identifying it; and you will me word what kind of hedging would be the best, much oblige several of your readers by giving its and what it will cost per rod at the nursery. Please botanical name, if you receive the flowers in a con- answer the above questions through your valuable dition to ascertain it. And if you are already ac- paper, the reading of which has induced me to buy quainted with it, will you inform us whether it has the above little farm. ever been tried as a hedge plant. Amesbury Mills, Mass., 1855. REMARKS. In a location as long settled as such profusion as to give a red color to the whole Amesbury, and where timber is probably scarce tree at a distance. In its natural state, the tree and high, we believe a wire fence may be constructgrows from ten to fifteen feet high. Ashfield, 1855. WM. F. BASSETT. ed at a less cost than any other, and will last a lifetime. Use No. 6 wire of the best kind. Set a post REMARKS.—The plant spoken of is the Cratagus 6 or 8 inches square, 5 feet into the ground, at Crus-galli, or Cock's-foot thorn. Thorny, leaves wedge obovate, subsessile, shining, leathery, corymbs compound; leaflets of the calyx lanceolate sub-serrate. We have never known it used as a hedge plant, but think it would answer the purpose well. The fruit is about half an inch in diameter, very much resembling a small red apple, and is borne in APPLE SEEDS. How long do apple seeds retain their vitality? Where can a bushel of them be purchased, and what is the cost per bushel? Hillsboro' Bridge, N. H. M. M. J. each corner, and brace well; then bore the holes for the wires to pass through so close together as to bring the wires near enough to keep out whatever is to come against it. BARREN QUINCE TREES. I have a number of quince trees, seven or eight years old, and they have blossomed every year for four years, and I have no fruit. They are of good size and growth. Now I wish to know the cause of this; and how they may be made to fruit. Holliston, July, 1855. REMARKS.-Cannot tell you-we have some in always preserved in proper condition. It is com- the same condition. Does any one know? If so, monly said that parsnip seed will not come if more we trust he will reply. REMARKS.-We presume there is no limit to the duration of vitality in seeds of all kinds, if they are C. G. W. than one year old; yet we have sown when three years old, and it came well. It has been satisfactoTHE DUTY OF BEING CLEAN. rily proved that wheat taken from the body of an The care of the person is the beginning of good Egyptian mummy, where it had been deposited for manners. Every one not only consults his own three thousand years, germinated, and grew as read- well being, his dignity, and employment, by his ily as though it had been there but one year. It care of himself, but he also fulfills a social duty.was in a condition to keep it in a perfect stateneither so dry as to shrivel it too much, nor so moist and warm as to excite it to germination. If this be so, the vitality of seeds depends upon the condition in which they are kept. Every one should do the best he can for himself, for his own sake, and to avoid giving pain to, or to promote the happiness of others. We enter here upon delicate ground; but the reader will see its necessity, and excuse our plainness of speech. We must run the risk of exciting a feeling of disgust in some readers, that we may A year or two since, we plowed a portion of a give to others the instruction they need. pasture which had been fed continuously for twenThe first moral and physical duty of human bety-five years, and upon and around which there had ing is to be clean. Cleanliness, the apostle says, been scarcely a mullein to be seen. Yet with the is akin to godliness. We would not give much for the godliness of any man or woman who was not general use on extended farms. I am not prepared cleanly. Filth is a violation of the rights of sever- to say, what kind of machine is entitled to preferal of the senses. We see it; we feel it; sometimes ence-though from what I have seen I think there we may be cheated into tasting it; and we smell it is a decided preference in the cutting principle terribly. In all ways, and under all conditions, it applied to different machines. There is much reais vile and bad, ill-mannered and immoral. son for complaint of the bad material and bad finish of the machines. Respectfully yours, July 20, 1855. TOADS. [BUFO VULGARIS.] ESSEX. First of all, then, and above all, and as the prime condition of all excellence of character and beauty of life, O, be thoroughly and perfectly clean! The human organism is so constituted that no person can be absolutely clean without washing the whole surface of the body every day. Millions of pores are constantly exuding waste matter from the body. This matter, if allowed to remain, is filth; in any short chapter on Toads. considerable quantity it is poison. Retained in the From the earliest recollection of the "oldest system, it is matter of disease, and is the efficient inhabitants," this little creature has been under the cause of typhus and similar diseases. ban, a source of terror to every little Miss, an object MR. BROWN:-Permit me to give your readers a 66 It is not enough to change the under garments of disgust to maids and matrons, a by-word and term often. Much is carried away, but much also ad- of reproach for every old aunt and grandma, in the heres. In certain parts of the body, as under the land, who would never seek farther in their vocabuarms and on the feet, it collects rapidly, and in a lary of opprobious terms for a suitable name for any few hours has an offensive odor. little urchin, than to call him a little nasty toad. Cleanly persons have acute senses. I know la- Boys have made it their sport, have pelted it with dies who can tell whether a person bathes daily the stones, pierced it through and through with sharp moment he comes into the room. Many an ex-sticks, substituted it in the place of a ball, upon a pensively dressed man scents a parlor as soon as he bat board, throwing it high into the air, and exultenters it, with the disgusting odor of his unwashed ing in its torture; and even men in the field, hoeing feet and gathered perspiration. We smell it every- their crops, have been wont to rudely thrust it aside where at theatres and balls, in steamboat cabins with their hoes, as a useless reptile, wondering for and omnibuses; everywhere we meet this mortify- what purpose such a loathsome object could have ing and disgusting fact of personal uncleanliness. been created. The Toad has been accused of being It is mixed with tobacco, it is mingled with per- a venomous reptile, a fit object of dread, a poisoner fumes; but these do not help it. The execrable of choice garden plants, deserving banishment from filth is there, poisoning the atmosphere. The wise every one's premises, and fit only to inhabit an Swedenborg tells us that the wicked love the scent uninhabitable morass or desert. The toad has, of their own hells. People, whose senses are blun- however, occasionally been brought into respectable ted by custom, are unconscious of their personal notice by curiosity hunters, and newspaper paraconditions, but they are always liable to meet those graph writers, whenever he has chanced to have to whom their lack of the first decency of life is a been found in a torpid state in the cavity of a rock, violent breach of good manners. or in the trunk of a tree, in which cases, an antiquity Ladies, it is a pity that one should be obliged to has been ascribed to it equal to that of Egyptian write and print so impolite a thing, but it is true Mummies, or perhaps set down as of antediluvian that you are not always careful enough of the purity origin. In this manner poor toady has gone the of your clothing. You may be nice in your persons rounds of newspaper notoriety, not for any merit of -for the honor of all womanhood I hope so-but value it might have possessed, but as a matter of I have met women of beauty and accomplishment mere curiosity. But this poor and despised creawho dressed with great elegance, but when they ture has not been left entirely friendless, nor withcame near a fire in a cold day, there rose from them out an advocate. odors that were not wafted from "Araby the blest." Naturalists have placed him in the scale of useful The English papers call their "lower orders" the ness where he belongs, and have shown that he is great unwashed." The circulation of works on not deserving the very many opprobriums that have water-cure has done much for the cause of cleanli- been heaped upon him. 66 MOWING MACHINE. ness in this country; but it is to be feared that To the gardener the toad is a very useful assistant, there are here, as well as in Europe, vast numbers as it devours a great number of insects and worms who merit this designation.-Illustrated Manners that prey upon the plants. In the dark of the Book. evening, the toad comes forth from his hiding place, and commences its work of extermination. NoiseFor the New England Farmer. lessly it passes through the garden, regaling itself upon the insects that have just begun their nocturnal work upon the tender plants. No one but those EDITOR OF N. E. FARMER-SIR,-Recent ex- who have observed the movements of this little periments, in the use of mowing machines, have animal, can form any correct estimate of its usefuldemonstrated that one machine, well harnessed and ness. A few evenings since, I watched one a short directed, will cut ten acres of grass, containing time, and observed that in the space of fifteen minmore than one ton to the acre, in as many succes-utes, it devoured some fifteen or twenty insects, of sive hours. This shows that the labor of cutting that class too, that in the day time, lie concealed the grass can be performed, for about fifty cents per from the observations of the birds, but at night go ton-less than one-half the expense of cutting in forth in armies to carry on their work of destruction, the ordinary way by scythes. All that is wanted to lay waste the gardener's toil. It would be a matnow is, that they be made in a faithful manner of ter of economy for those who till the ground, to good material, and they will inevitably come into provide the toad with a suitable place for retreat in |